Making Christmas bright for those less fortunate
By Ashleigh Plemper
Farmer Staff Writer
Christmas came early for 120 Watford City area children and their families on Dec. 1, as Jim and Kathie Konsor of the Bakken Oil Rush Ministry held their 6th annual Christmas Event & Toy Mall at the Watford City Civic Center.
The big attraction of the event was the hundreds of new and unwrapped Christmas presents that the children were able to pick from. The toys and other gifts ranged in value from between $10 and $15 and had been donated to the Bakken Oil Rush Ministry throughout the year.
“We intentionally will pull the parents away when the children start picking out their gifts,” laughs Pastor Jim. “They may want their child to pick something as modest as possible. But we think it’s important the children get what they want, if it’s available.”
But the ministry’s annual Christmas party is much more than just about giving the children gifts. The evening includes a light supper, the singing of Christmas carols, the reading of the Christmas story and holiday fellowship.
“The first year, we only had 40 to 70 people show up,” says Jim. “Considering we had 189 people last year, we weren’t surprised that 200 people showed this time.”
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