Serving Joyfully in Gettysburg! (photos from Laura Cook)

At the 2026 Dakotas Annual Conference, the theme “Created to Serve Joyfully” showed up in many ways. One example was the hands-on mission project led by the Midwest Mission Distribution Center. In addition to packing over 1,500 Rice and Bean Blessing Bags to feed 9,400 people, the event inspired the participants, including members of Gettysburg United Methodist Church in Gettysburg, South Dakota.

"My lay member, Nancy, and my daughter, Harmony. participated in the project,” shared Pastor Laura Isakson Cook. “It was their favorite part of the weekend! And so we were like, ‘Hey, we should do this.’”

The idea to bring this experience back to their church and community took shape earlier this month, when 135 volunteers gathered at Gettysburg United Methodist Church to help feed people experiencing hunger around the world.

The original goal was to pack 2,500 Blessing Bags, which would translate into 15,000 meals through the partnership with Midwest Mission. By the end of the four-hour event, they accomplished more than they could have asked for or imagined, with volunteers packing 3,520 bags and providing 21,120 meals!

Beyond the meals prepared, the event also cultivated a sense of community and compassion among attendees. Volunteers of all ages and denominations from Gettysburg, Faulkton, Onida, and surrounding areas gathered to put their faith into action. Youth groups, CCD classes, National Honor Society members, families, and seniors signed up for one-hour shifts, offering their individuals gifts to make this larger vision a reality.

“It was awesome, because the tables weren't all segregated to the group that people came with,” described Pastor Laura. “There was a lot of mixture.”

Volunteers partnered with Midwest Mission to create Rice & Bean Blessing Bags.

The generosity began long before the actual packing event.

The church's junior high youth group raised more than $500 through a "Sweet Sips" fundraiser, selling hot chocolate and spiced tea, at a high school football game. The high school youth group and United Women in Faith also contributed financially, along with many individuals and organizations throughout the community. Their generosity helped make it possible to purchase the meals and bring the community together for this event.

The Blessing Bag Pack is part of an ongoing partnership with Midwest Mission, a nonprofit humanitarian relief organization that provides food, supplies, and other essential resources to people in need. As Midwest Mission says, their work reaches people "around the world and around the corner."

Through partnerships with organizations that distribute humanitarian aid like the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), Midwest Mission helps put these resources into the hands of people facing hunger, poverty, and crisis in the United States and abroad. Following events like the Blessg Bag Pack, Midwest Mission emails volunteers updates on where the meals are sent so participants can see the full impact of their efforts.  

As Pastor Laura shared, one volunteer who attended the event was 90-year-old Edith Schwenn, who spent three hours helping pack meals. Edith is no stranger to serving others. She also volunteers weekly with Gettysburg United Methodist Church's Sleeping Mat Ministry, helping turn discarded plastic bags into sleeping mats for people in need. Volunteers recently completed their first sleeping mat and have already begun work on a second. The sleeping mat will be donated to Tree of Life on the Rosebud Reservation.

135 Volunteers from across the region worked together to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

For Pastor Laura, the Blessing Bag Pack event reflected something greater than accomplishing a goal.

"This was never just about packing bags. It was about bringing people together, recognizing that everyone has something to contribute, and putting love into action,” said Pastor Laura. “We hoped to provide 15,000 meals, but together we packed 21,120. This is what it looks like when heaven and earth overlap!"

The project showed that people don't need to travel far or have special skills to make a difference in the world. Sometimes it begins with neighbors gathering around a table, sharing their time, and working together.

“I'm hopeful that there can be more of a realization that we can serve together and we can be the hands and feet of Christ,” added Pastor Laura.

To learn more about Midwest Mission and its work, visit www.midwestmission.org.