What a Spirit-filled experience! Our life-giving week hosting Family Promise once again revealed the beautiful ministry that can happen when we come together to be Christ at work in the world. In Butler County alone, there are more than 500 hundred children living in homelessness. Family Promise works to bring people together to respond to that need. Lord of Life came together: forty-three different people volunteered in many different ways throughout the week to provide comfort, safety, and hospitality to our Family Promise guests. Along with all those who were praying over Family Promise, I felt the impact of poverty and homelessness. Family Promise plays an important role in our claim that service is at the core of our calling to be the heart, hands, and feet of Christ. Although our work is never complete, it is important to pause and reflect on the impact we have made so far.
When asking our guests about their experience with us, some of their responses in included:
“It is so nice being at a friendly place.”
“There is nothing better than a home-cooked meal.”
“It is great that the children get to be surrounded by so much love and attention.”
Some volunteers from Lord of Life also reflected on the week’s impact:
“I felt that not only were we making an impact on them, but they were making an even bigger impact on us.”
“I love that Lord of Life is keeping the promise to families experiencing homelessness.”
“I could really feel God at work each morning as we prepared our guests to begin a productive day and as we prayed that God would smile down on them.”
May God continue to be at work within us, in our church, in our neighborhood, and in our world. When we pick up the cross together, defeat turns to victory, death turns to life, and despair turns to hope.
With accompaniment and love,
Intern Lucas McSurley