First Baptist Church of Oklahoma City

Chin Church at FBCOKC	OKC First Baptist to hold fundraiser garage sale to benefit accident victims
	The First Baptist Church of Oklahoma City (FBCOKC) and the Spero Project will co-host a benefit garage sale on Saturday, Sept. 12, from 8:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Funds raised from the sale will be given to the Chin Baptist Church, a congregation of Burmese refugees, which worships within FBCOKC each Sunday. “A group of Chin church members were involved in a serious car accident in July, and a portion of the sale profits will help cover medical bills for those individuals,” said Brian McAtee, FBCOKC’s Minister with Global Peoples. The Chin are one of a number of Burmese people groups being persecuted by the ruling military junta in Myanmar, also known as Burma. In 2008, groups from Burma represented the largest refugee population from a single nation arriving in the United States. At least 70 percent of the Chin people are Christian and are actively persecuted for following their faith. Most Chin Christians are Baptist, making FBCOKC a natural home for them. “Due to the Chins’ refugee status, limited income, language barriers and unfamiliarity with our medical and insurance procedures, a major car accident is even more complicated and frightful than it is for us,” said McAtee. Donations of sale items are welcome, McAtee said, and can be delivered to the church on Sept. 9 and 10. Call McAtee at 405-232-4255 for details. The sale will take place in the north parking lot of the church, located at 1201 North Robinson in downtown Oklahoma City. Visitors should enter the lot from 12th Street between Harvey and Hudson Streets. “The Chin are hardworking, wonderful people, who have settled here to worship freely and start new lives,” McAtee said. “We hope our community will reach out to help them in their time of need and show them the spirit that makes Oklahoma and our country so special.” For more information, call Brian McAtee or the FBCOKC office at 405-232-4255.