Following up on Renae’s post last week about hosting a neighborhood Christmas Party and collecting food to be distributed by her local fire department, I thought I’d tell you about another idea for spreading holiday cheer and the love of Christ.
My family has taken on the tradition of going to Indianapolis and volunteering at one of the lesser known missions to the poor, the Metro Baptist Center. Every December they have a set day where volunteers deliver care packages to people in need who have signed up through the center.
Early in the morning we load our four kids into the van and head downtown. At the Mission there is usually a line of cars and minivans wrapped around the city block. It is quite a sight. We wait in line, listening to Christmas music on the radio. Some of the kids usually go help load up other cars as we make our way along. Finally it is our turn and we get a list of five families to visit. Each family receives a Christmas ham and a box of other food items. They also receive shoe boxes full of gifts for their children. We pray with those receiving the gifts and write down their prayer requests to pass on to the Baptist Center.
I will be honest, it is inconvenient to take four or five hours out of our day to do this. It is scary to drive through high crime areas and visit housing projects. Our kids let us know that they feel uncomfortable or are intimidated. It takes faith to go to some areas and to ask people if we may pray with them as we drop off the food and other items. It is heartrending to see the condition in which some people live.
I will be honest, it is an incredible blessing to touch the lives of these dear people. We are humbled to serve God in this way and humbled by his generosity to us. Our kids always enjoy the day, though they don’t seem to remember that a year later. The joy of helping others and seeing God sustain us through our fears is intoxicating. We live out the truth that it is more blessed to give, than to receive.
Our heart in writing these blogs is to encourage us all to take steps of faith in sacrificial giving. God calls us all to a life of faith-filled generosity. Maybe finding a lesser known ministry is something He is putting on your heart this year.
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” Matthew 25:40 [NIV]
Michael Anderson
Keynote
Comments on this entry are closed.