Every one of the 535 members of the United States Congress received a personal hand-delivered letter from Rob Schenck on their last day in session before adjourning for the annual Easter break. The letter was accompanied by an invitation to visit Faith and Action’s ministry center only blocks from their office buildings. It also included a colorful bookmark with the ministry’s contact information and an image of a Resurrection message banner above the center’s door.

This is the tenth year of Faith and Action’s Easter-Resurrection Season outreach to Congress. With the exception of only a few lawmakers, it is usually received very well. Last year two senators and only a few representatives refused the packets.

“Hearts and minds are open in an unusual way during seasons like Easter and Christmas,” said Rob Schenck, president of Faith and Action and lead missionary to Capitol Hill. “We use these opportunities as best we can. While it’s a difficult and expensive challenge to hand-deliver these ministry materials, it guarantees they will actually reach the recipients. There’s really no other way to do it.”

Faith and Action must hire a specially certified delivery service to make the Easter deliveries. Volunteers used to visit the offices with the packets but are no longer allowed to because of security measures in place after 9/11/2001 and the subsequent anthrax attack on the US Senate Hart Building the same year.