GULFPORT, Miss.--Trinity United Methodist Church in Gulfport, Miss. will collect phone cards for U.S. troops in their annual "Bring it to the Altar" drive, according to The Sun Herald.
The cards will be taken to Iraq by Lt. Col. Stephen Farragut, a church member who is on assignment with the 114th Area Support Group, a National Guard unit from Hattiesburg. The unit is working to support the Coalition Forces Land Component Command in Kuwait.
"We will give him the phone cards to take back," said Cathy Casano, church member and chair for the worship committee at the church.
Casano said a former associate pastor of the church, now stationed in Kuwait as a chaplain, will distribute the cards. The church hopes the cards reach younger service members.
"It's our young military men and women who receive the fewest packages from home," she said. "We hope it will have a positive impact on their emotional state."
Like many congregations, the church has been praying for the safety of family members overseas. A glass cabinet holds about a dozen photographs of church members or family members who are in harm's way.
"We have a prayer list, and every week we pray for these men and women," she said.
