#8 Serving the City
What a beautiful opportunity we had to serve Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward yesterday! Not only did a large team of volunteers join us from Mississippi, the wonderful M25 Barbeque team made free barbeque sandwiches for anyone who stopped by. We listened to people, talked with them, and prayed with those who wanted us to. And thanks to some generous donations from some of my ECPC friends, I even had some extra kids’ clothes in my car that I was able to offer to three children who came with their grandmother. It was a mini miracle that I just happened to have a shirt and pair of shorts for each child in just the right sizes! But that is how God is, always doing cool stuff like that!
After serving lunches and visiting with the folks we met, Shawn and I took a bag of clothes to the seven-children family I wrote about last week who are presently living in a shelter. We even got to see the kids and say hi. Thank you SO much to the two ladies in my church who went thrift shopping for these clothes last week! You are such blessings and have captured what Robin Good is all about! And thanks to a family’s gracious donation from their own home, I also had some lovely clothes to meet a need in one of our other communities, as well!
On a personal note, I really miss seeing my friends in the community Shawn and I love to serve the most, as we did not go there yesterday, nor last Saturday. So, I hope to fill the spare space in our car with lots of clothes and useful items when we go there this coming week! And because of the incredibly kind and generous gift from a couple in our church, we have a canopy again, too, in case it rains!
It is a gift to serve in the city and share kindness, clothing, and household items with those in need. But it is especially special to get to know them, learn from them, and be their friends. I truly believe that to fully experience the joy of the Lord, we need to serve those closest to his heart – those the world doesn’t invite to their dinner tables; those who cannot pay us back; those whose lives and stories are very different from our own; those along “the streets and lanes of the city…the poor and crippled and blind and lame…[those along] the highways and hedges” (Luke 14:21-23, ESV). Those who will fill the Master’s table, as many of those we serve are our brothers and sisters in Christ. And for those who are not, we get the honor of showing them He is a God of mercy and grace by the way we love and serve them.
Thank you for your continued support!
Holly