New Church Part 3.1

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

In the last post I talked about how each member of our group is involved individually in service throughout their daily lives. We feel very strongly that all you have to do is pay close attention to what’s going on around you and the people you encounter and you’ll have plenty of service opportunities – great and small.

If you get to know those that make your coffee at your favorite java joint, you might discover that one of the baristas has just recently been diagnosed with cancer.

If your neighbors have living room furniture in their front yard during the summer, it might be because they have no air conditioning.

Last Christmas a local church decided that, instead of spending money on a Christmas program, they would give each member $100 (a talent, if you will) and asked them use it in service to someone – to multiply it. The J family in our group is a member of this church and decided they would give the money to Heifer International. This organization hopes to end hunger and poverty by providing people with a source of food. Instead of simply providing a family with a limited supply of rations, they purchase the family a cow, goat, or pig that will provide for the long-term and contribute to the economy. (Go look at their unique gift catalog.)

Daddy-J was sharing with Son-J’s teacher at school how cool it was that they could buy a cow for a poor family. The teacher makes frequent trips to Nepal and is familiar with the poverty in countries like this and thought the idea was great. Together they have started Read to Feed, a fundraising program done by Heifer International, at Son-J’s school. Their original goal was to raise enough money to purchase one whole cow - $500. They have over 30% of the student population participating and they are challenging other local elementary schools to do the same.

I hope to share more of our everyday service opportunities. In the mean time, share some of your own.

New Church Part 3

Part 1, Part 2

Everyone Is Involved In Service

I had a distinct idea of what service would look like for our group. As we discussed our passions and explored the areas of service we'd been involved with in the past, a mystical, divine common element would arise. There would be a pentecostal moment when we all looked at each other and knew how to join forces for a common goal and move united to make an impact on the community.

Of course, this has never happened.

In fact I almost felt like the idea of service was being avoided. I was beginning to wonder if my group was not serious about putting soles to souls.

I don't know what changed during the last meeting. As individuals, were we suddenly in cosmic alignment? Or we were all just getting it?

Week after week, we share about the people we encounter, the worship experiences we have at unexpected moments, and our intense desire to make our faith count. Because we pursue our passions on a daily basis, I realized that we are serving wherever we are with whomever we met. Our “community of service” includes pre-school children and their parents, helping neighbors, making other people successful in their pursuits, the elderly, co-workers, being a great friend, and teaching. This is a beautiful way to serve community. 

I am overwhelmed at the capacity of love in my group. 

What day in and day out moments of service do you participate in?

Have you ever had such preconceived notions about the way things should look that you completely missed what was in front of you?

Part 3.1

Meaning-Full Gift

Paula, who participated in our last SPS Coffee Cup study in the Book of Ruth, wrote this after making these coffee cuffs to raise money for clean water:

Between shopping for the shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child and the Samaritan's Purse catalog that sits in the basket in the bathroom, [my five-year-old] just hasn't understood why we would give toys to the kids but nothing to the moms. Wouldn't the moms and dads feel bad if they didn't get anything? If she wouldn't have held onto this idea of giving something to the whole family, I would never have followed through beyond the shoeboxes.

Last night as I sat sewing, she made tiny pictures of families to put on the backs of the cards all the while chattering away about how excited these kids are going to be to have clean water just like we do! My heart has been pricked - by the Holy Spirit moving in my daughter's life and by thinking about those moms, who are more tired than I, who really need a cool drink of water.

What I've been thinking about is that my part in the "rest of the story" is to just do the next thing. Am I willing to do my part in God's big picture when I can't see the end result. I don't know how taking care of a needy family will impact my children. I can't see if a water system will really make a difference in another family's life. Who knows if this family will ever get to hear about God because we sent money for water. But, my part is to just do my part and let God take care of my children's hearts as well as the physical and spiritual needs of another family. Ruth followed Naomi, Boaz took care of a desperate woman, I work on a simple project with my
family and send money to another family that is in need of water - living water. Today that is my role in the rest of the story.