SEE
UPDATE
Carol S., a
neighbor,
reported the need of
a family down the street from her home. She had become friends with
the woman. Four months earlier the electric service was turned off
due to an unpaid bill.
For a long time, the
man had struggled to provide for his family, repairing automobiles at a
tiny garage which he rented. He was devastated when thieves broke
in and stole all of his tools. This almost put him out of business.
She began calling churches,
her own friends, and everyone she could think of to collect funds for that
overdue bill. An agency referred her to In His Name Ministries.
In a few days the electricity
service was restored (mainly from $190 which Carol and her husband
paid).
When Mike Bell phoned
In His Name to see who
his 5th Grade class might take food to, Dee Stribling thought of this family.
This was the night prior to the electric service being restored.
Dee called Carol and
she said the family was very proud; they received no welfare aid.
She thought they had been mainly eating beans, so a gift of groceries was
definitely appropriate.
Unknown to us at the
time, God had a larger
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The
World Changers
BY MIKE BELL
Our 5th graders group, called
the World Changers, is going verse by verse through the book of James.
It took us the whole first semester to get through Chapter One. We
began in Chapter Two just after the Christmas break.
A couple of weeks ago
we looked at James 2:1-4 regarding showing partiality to people who dress
better or those who we are more comfortable around. We illustrated
it by splitting the group in two by criteria that we decided upon at the
last minute. Those wearing blue pants were
put in one group and everyone else was another group.
Then we went to McDonalds
for ice cream cones. We made the blue pants group go last. They sat
away from the other group at tables by the bathrooms. We did not
allow them to play in the play area with the other kids until we were almost
ready to leave. We made comments to them about how "people with blue
pants obviously aren't very appreciative of the nice things other people
do for them." These kids are sharp and they got the point very quickly.
The blue pants group was not very happy about the evenings activities.
I share this because
I think it opened a few of kids hearts to the emotional needs of others,
I think the Lord continued with that theme last Wednesday night.
Following
the Royal Law
Our scripture was James
2:8, about loving your neighbor as yourself, which the writer called
"the Royal Law". We looked at a portion of the Jesus Film where
Jesus teaches on who is our neighbor; then we headed to the grocery store
to purchase food. In hindsight, I can see how the Holy Spirit was
working through the World Changers group all evening. Store
clerks were especially blessed when they found out what these 5th graders
were doing, filling their shopping carts with food.
The
Exuberant 5th Graders Grew Silent
None of our group had
delivered food to someone before, so the very experience was just a bit
intimidating for them. I had called the recipient family to tell
them what time to expect us, but I walked up to the house and asked the
family again for permission to let 10 kids help carry groceries into their
house. They welcomed us with open arms. But as the bags were
set down around the coffee table, something happened to our normally loud
and exuberant 5th graders. They were silent. They all noticed
that the only light in the room came from a kerosene lantern, and several
saw the flashlight on the dining
PLEASE
GO
TO PAGE TWO |
