Trudi Rickman, Buckingham resident and member of Concord Baptist Church, travelled to Charlotte, North Carolina on Dec. 4 to volunteer with Samaritan’s Purse for Operation Christmas Child. Rickman assisted in packing shoeboxes filled with Christmas treasures for children in foreign countries.

“We packed the boxes and prayed over them. You could feel God when you were praying over them. Can’t wait to do it again next year, it’s a true blessing,” Rickman said. Rickman explained that she was in one of the first groups to do dual processing, which means they were packing some boxes for countries that would accept God’s word, and also packing boxes for the “darker countries” which are ones that can’t have anything that says God, but Rickman said “it’s the opportunity to start putting Him in these countries. How amazing.” The boxes that were packed in Rickman’s station were going to one “dark country”, while others were going to Malawi. “When we left 28,060 boxes had been packed,” Rickman said.

Cedar Baptist Church, located at 3932 Bell Road, will have a Christmas Eve Service at 6 p.m. Everyone is invited.

Browns Chapel Methodist Church will be having a Christmas Eve service at 4 p.m. on Dec. 24. Join them for a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.

Come burn off some of that Christmas overindulgence with a yoga class on Wednesday, Dec. 27 at 5 p.m. at the Central Virginia Community Health Center, located at 25892 N. James Madison Highway, New Canton. Don’t let those Christmas goodies weigh you down.

Cattlemen’s College with world-renowned special guest, Tom Curtin (visit http://tomcurtin.net), is scheduled for May 18-19, 2018 at the BARN facility in Buckingham. Both days are scheduled from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Lunch will be provided. During this workshop, participants will learn how to increase profitability without additional input costs through techniques applied during the daily routine. Topics to be covered include: reducing stress, illness, and injury; and increasing effectiveness of vaccines and medications, milk production, weight gain, and pregnancy rates. In order to have your spot reserved, you need to complete the registration form and send it back to the Buckingham Extension Office along with payment by April 20. Call Buckingham Extension office at (434) 969-4261 for registration form and more information.

Who can believe that next week is Christmas? Please take some time this holiday season to reflect on the true gift we were freely given — the promise of salvation and eternal life through Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday to Jesus.

SHERRI WISE can be reached at wise.buckingham@gmail.com or (434) 983-1393.