Marcel opened Drop Inn Thrift Store on MacArthur Drive in Alexandria last week, the first location in the U.S. for the thrift stores that help fund some of the works of Northern Ireland-based Drop Inn Ministries.

The initial goods at the store — furniture, clothing and various knickknacks — were imported from overseas via Drop Inn Ministries.

“They know what my burden is, what I felt God put on me,” Fulton said. “So they are backing what you see right here.”

Fulton’s family has been involved with Drop Inn Ministries since it was established 17 years ago as a place for youths in Northern Ireland to go instead of the pub or getting involved in drugs or crime.

It has since grown to fund things such as schools, medical treatment centers, churches and orphanages in more than a dozen countries.

Fulton, the only one in his family not born in Northern Ireland, served for nearly a decade at England Air Force Base in Alexandria.

After leaving the military, he moved back to Alexandria and bought Precision Tune Auto Care.

Looking for a cause to support locally, he found one in his own experience as a recovering alcoholic.

All proceeds from the thrift store will go toward the building or purchase of a halfway house for people recovering from substance-abuse problems. There are not enough such facilities to meet the need locally, he said.

“We saw the need for a halfway house, more importantly a Christ-centered halfway house,” Fulton said. “You look around and you say, ‘What do we do with these people? How do we help them?’ We’ve got to have more places to place them.”

Fulton’s plans are for a facility focused especially on women.

Fulton says initial response to the store has been “beyond our expectations up to this point.” The next challenge is to start securing locally donated goods to keep the store successful.

“There is not going to be a continual flow of furniture from Northern Ireland,” Fulton said. “

That would be too expensive. We have to rely on donations, it’s the only way we can survive.

“If you have a garage sale, what do you do with the stuff you don’t sell? Bring it to us. If you have anything large, we’ll try to make arrangements to come pick it up.”

Fulton said there are plans to open several more Drop Inn-affiliated stores in Louisiana, including one more in the Alexandria-Pineville area.

For over half of the group it was the first time they had been to Africa.  We arrived in Ouagadougou late evening on 28^th then made our way to the guesthouse in Koudougou.  Upon arrival we were greeted by the young people of the Church who helped us with our baggage.  The ladies of the church also had a lovely meal prepared for us.

Our first morning in Koudougou was spent visiting the compassion project were over 250 children are brought together and are taught about Jesus and given food and basic essentials.  This year it was great to see our 3^rd school up and running.  It opened in September 2008 and when we had been in July 2008 they had finished the building but when we returned it was painted.

This school caters for 150 Aids Orphans and the cost of putting a child through their education is just £5 a month.  For this they get food everyday, their education and a school uniform and shoes.

We also visited our 2 schools which are situated beside the Church, the 3^rd one is in the bush area outside of town.

At both locations we received on amazing welcome.  The children had lined up and they sang and danced for us which words can’t describe the feeling.  On this trip we also seen the new well in full operation, the pump has now been fitted so the schools have a constant supply of fresh water.  The ministry also support 3 pastors in the bush churches in the area.  We had the opportunity to share in each of these Churches were yet again the people gave us an amazing welcome, singing and dancing for us.   We were able to bring the children some sweets, pencils, balloons and stickers which they loved.  We also left some clothes for them to share out to the congregation.  Back in the Church in Koudougou we also took part in services, were we had an enjoyable experience of dancing around with our brothers and sisters!

Outside our compound everyday the children would gather after school and call our name.  We would go outside to them and play games and give them sweets and balloons.  On the Sunday night we had a youth meeting in our youth centre, which is based beside our guesthouse, after our time together the young people prepared a BBQ for us.

On our last night we had a chance to say farewell to the Church members by having them over at the guesthouse and we had a chance to fellowship with them.

One afternoon we went to the plot of land that was donated to us by the mayor of Koudougou.  The plans are well underway to start the building project for our high school.  This will provide further education for the children who started their primary education 6 years ago.  We plan to have our 1^st intake of high school students in September 2009.

We travelled back to Ouagadougou on 4^th February to catch our flight home, but before we arrived at the airport we called at the government building to meet the government official who recognised and thanked the ministry for the work which they are doing for the orphans of Koudougou. 

You can view the pdf of the brochure here

In November 2009 Drop Inn Canada opened its first Charity Store,located in Amherst Nova Scotia
In December 2009 Drop Inn Canada opened an administration office also in Amherst Nova Scotia this at present is the home base for Drop Inn Ministries Canada

Contact details
Home address:
3344 Highway 302
Maccan
Nova Scotia
Canada
BOL 1BO
Phone contact (902)274 2033

Office address:
Drop Inn Ministries
86a Church Street
Amherst
Nova Scotia
Canada
B4H 3B2

Phone contact(902)660 3205
Cell Contact (902)667 2259

DROP INN MINISTRIES ASSOCIATION VISION FOR CANADA
Short term mission trips trips available to everyone wishing to experience and share in Christ’s working other countries.

• Other programmes planned for the near future:
  GAP program for Youth( Canadians to Ireland)
  Church Plant
  Youth outreach and opening of Youth Centre
  Community out reach projects
  Food distribution to soup kitchens in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick
  Community Kitchen
  Community Garden
  Christian Child Care Centre
  Charity Shops
  Fundraising Events

• Ways to support our Ministry in Canada
  1 Use our Charity Shop
  2 Donate items to us
  3 Donate money online
  4 Join us on our mission trips
  5 Have us come speak and share at your Church or corporate event

Contact us for more details
Email jamesbell@dropinn.net

You can also contact Drop Inn Canada directly by using the form below: