Sunday Service

Sunday as part of our gathering we shared some of the ways we redirected our energies this Christmas season. The challenge was to take the resources for one gift we would normally give and redirect it to someone outside our normal circle of influence. 

I was blown away. The number of people at the service was down dramatically due to the blizzard raging outside. The stories started and they continued. 

Our family is going to do some micro-financing on Christmas day through Kiva.org

A couple that was part of our community called me to tell me they put an ad on craigslist in the free section asking if there was anyone who wanted to share a Christmas meal with them. They received 2000 replies, mostly from encouragers. They settled on 2 single women. A chef volunteered his services, someone else volunteered to provide stockings, someone else volunteered to provide gifts if children were involved. They plan on doing it again at Easter.

Another couple got their house church to adopt three families as part of Love inc’s deal. With their two children they gave each child a budget to spend on World Vision’s catalog of options.

Another couple donated some supplies to a local mission and directed some money to a local agency that helps with home heating needs.

Some dropped off a basket to a local school for some families who have been receiving bag dinners.

Another house church sent some boxes of supplies down to New Orleans to a lady they met while on the mission trip.

Another family shared how they gave some money through World Vision to buy some animals for a group of people in Africa. They did “projects” through the year and raised more than $800 to give away. 

Another couple heard what we were doing on Kiva.org and gave us some money to add to what we were doing because they don’t have internet access.

Another person gathered some money to help with house payment challenges and then set a goal for 2009.

A few people shared how they have received help this season and how grateful they were.

There were more stories. It was amazing to hear how many people give. How many give selflessly.

When is the church at its best? When it sees people in need and does something to meet that need.

Amen.

Local News

Dan Currie is the Senior Pastor at the First Baptist Church of Hastings. He has been experiencing some very severe health challenges over the past several months. Pray for Dan and the community of faith at First Baptist Church.

Thornapple Valley Church held their second Rockin’ Christmas under the leadership of Brian Mote. It was loud, well done, and Rockin’. Brian worked with some incredibly talented musicians to pull this off.

I am reminded of how rich we are with the communities of faith we have serving Jesus Christ in the greater Hastings area.

Stuff I am hearing

I received a call this morning from a lady who wanted to mail our church a thank you card for a couple of reasons. 1. some people provided some wood for their home heating needs. 2. a young man from our community of faith remembered her and her five children by name even though it had been three years since seeing them…she was impressed.

A young man from our community of faith donated $100 to help provide dinner meals to children from a local school.

A woman from our community of faith started mentoring a child from a local school. Then she learned that there were some children who needed a dinner to take home with them so they would have a meal that evening, so she got a list of names and began bagging up dinners for the kids to take home with them. She also connected some of these children up with winter clothing.

I am so proud to be serving with this group of people.

my friend

My friend, Paul Dudley, leads a community of faith in Lynchburg, Virginia. You have to read this blog written about an event they recently hosted.

Very cool to hear what’s going on with them from an outside source.

vacation – celebrating 25 years of marriage

What an incredible time I was able to spend with my wife. We went to Mazatlan Mexico for a week. Highly recommended for a time in the sun. We stayed at the Best Western Posada Freeman (Check out the mexican tourism website for significantly reduced rates) with a view of the ocean. The people of Mexico are beautiful. We speak less than ten words of Spanish between us but it wasn’t a problem. The food is tasty and sometimes quite interesting. We read less than ten words of Spanish between us also. We walked all over. We sat in the Plaza. We enjoyed the sunsets. We watched the parade introducing the Carnaval candidates.

The crazy thing is it has been 25 years since we stood up and said, “I do.” We have accumulated this huge bank of shared memories yet it seems like yesterday when we set off for our honeymoon.

We were walking along the Malecon and a street salesman approached us with an opportunity to purchase an afternoon excursion and when I said, “No” he asked what we intended to do for fun during our stay. I pointed at my wife. He stopped and turned to someone else. It’s true I really enjoy my wife. 

I am just hoping that the next 25 go a little bit slower.