By Molly Guthrey, St. Paul Pioneer Press

When 14-year-old Rachel Steffen pulled out her family’s Christmas stockings for the season, she wasn’t thinking about what she would be getting; she thought about what she should be giving.

This Christmas story starts at church.

“The teen girls at church have started this youth group,” said Steffen, a ninth-grader at South St. Paul High School and a member of St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church in West St. Paul. “We’ve been meeting to figure out how we can help the church and the community. We’ve met with Pastor Cassie also.”

Rev. Cassie Nault, associate pastor at St. Stephen’s, explains:

“We just got started in November,” Nault said. “It’s the High School Girls’ Group and we committed to getting together about once a month for service projects, events, or Bible study and fellowship — I’m using the old ‘women’s circle’ model without calling it that. We are starting a daily devotional together in the coming weeks. My hope is that our group will provide Christian fellowship, encouragement and support for one another.

“These are amazing young women, and I want them to know that they have the power to do whatever they set their minds to.”

The season of Advent — the wait for Christmas — is what gave Steffen the idea for a useful service project.

“Pastor Cassie had told us to think of some ideas,” Steffen said. “As I was setting up decorations around the house, it got me thinking about how not everyone has it as easy as me; not everyone has a place to hang stockings. There are a lot of homeless kids out there. I thought maybe we could hand out stockings to them, filled with things they need.”

“The way I first heard about the project was through Rachel’s mom, Michelle,” Nault said. “I was talking to her one day back in November and she said ‘Has Rae contacted you yet about the idea she had to help homeless kids?’ I contacted Rachel and she let me know her idea and asked if it’s something we could do with the church.”

Fundraising is currently underway at St. Stephen’s for Rachel’s Christmas Stocking Fundraiser for Homeless Youth Kits.

“We plan to fill the kits with snacks like granola bars and juice boxes, crackers, socks, toothbrushes and toothpaste, pretty much just everyday things, plus a note of encouragement: ‘You’re not alone, we’re praying for you,’ “ Steffen said. “Each kit will cost about $5 to make.”

The kits will be donated to SafeZone, a drop-in center for homeless youth located in downtown St. Paul, where one of the congregation members works as a nurse practitioner. Others may also be given to Neighbors Inc., a social-service agency providing emergency and supportive services to the communities of northern Dakota County.

It’s an idea that started as small as a mustard seed but is growing into a mountain (Matthew 17:20).