A Wealth of Riches That Money Can't Buy
Posted: Saturday, February 07, 2009
by Nancy Daniels
Voice Dynamic
Imagine a church in the shape of a cross. The wooden pews are filled with large plastic bags as well as laundry baskets. Each pew has a number and each number refers to a family. Congregants, young and old, hustle through the aisles checking the lists attached to each overstuffed bag. The laundry baskets are examined for the items they hold. In a few hours, more than 70 families will come to this church to take their bags and their new laundry baskets home. These families are not members of this church. These families, however, are in need. On the left side of the church in front of the pews, there is a large space with a few folding tables that weekly hold information or materials relevant to the current event of the church's year. Today the tables have been pushed aside to make room for a few bicycles, a tricycle or two, and maybe a couple of doll coaches or a scooter. In the front of the church, where the choir normally sits, the pews are filled with new toys, books, and clothing.
Today, each plastic bag contains 3 or 4 wrapped presents that the child has asked for. Items in the bags are counted so that one child in a family does not get more than another. If there is a discrepancy, a toy or a book from the front of the church is quickly wrapped and added to the bag.
On Christmas day, those 70 plus families will have presents under the tree for their children and a Christmas dinner complete with a turkey or ham, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, vegetables, rolls, cranberry sauce, and, of course, a pie.
Referred to as the ‘food bank' of Gloucester Township, a very large area encompassing many towns, this church not only provides for those in need every Christmas, but also feeds these families every month with foods and household products donated by its members. These items are stored in one of two bungalows across the street which the church purchased years earlier.
Complete Thanksgiving and Easter dinners are part of the giving as well as new backpacks filled with pens, paper and rulers for the children going back to school in September. Those fighting for our safety are not forgotten either. Boxes of toothpaste, shaving lotion, razors, suntan lotion and other sundries are also sent to our military forces.
In a blue collar town in southern
I am blessed and ever thankful for the day I walked through the doors of
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More commentsI am always blessed when I hear or read about the spirit of giving. Keep spreading the word. Thank your for sharing.Linda,I thought it might be nice to read something uplifting. It is easy in writing opinion pieces to complain too much and not rejoice.Thank you for reading this,Nancy
Hi Nancy, I love the way you wrote this. Very beautiful! It's good to be a part of a fellowship that is living out the principals that are taught within its walls. Lord bless you as you continue to serve Him! TeresaTeresa,Have you noticed that some articles are more fun to write than others? This was fun.NancyHi Nancy, I could see that it was fun to you,and warm to. And I agree, some are funner than others :-) Have a wonderful day! And congrats for being the pick of the day!Teresa,I see you're an early bird as well. I wasn't expecting a response at the moment. (I'm up at 5 every day -- love the early morning -- didn't always -- but now I relish it.)Guess I better check out pick of the day. Didn't know about that. Thanks for informing me.Nancy
Great article, Nancy. Having been on the receiving end of such generocity I can tell you it is never forgotten. Thank you.Ken,I understand and agree with you Ken. These families count on us. And with the economy in such need, I would imagine that the number of families we serve will be increasing.Thank you for your kind words,Nancy
Nancy, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this article. It epitomizes what Christ requires of us as a church . . . and Christians. Those four walls are only symbolic but He and the church are inside each of us. You are blessed to be apart of such a giving ministry! Blessings to all of you!Avis,I knew the moment I walked into this church that I had found my 'home.' Pastor Schmidt stood in the aisle with Bible in hand and talked Christ. He didn't read to us; he hadn't memorized it; he spoke from the heart (& did 3 services every Sunday morning to boot!) As one who teaches voice and presentation skills, I loved his ability to build every sermon around Jesus and the scriptures and to talk to us, not at us, while sharing The Word. Pastor Schmidt retired in 2005; Pastor Englehard has been with us now for 4 years and he preaches exactly like Schmidt. Bible in hand, speaking from the heart. We at Trinity are blessed.Thank you for commenting.Nancy
Hi Nancy,Wonderfully written article exemplifying "loves conclusion." Caring for others before considering ourselves is just the way Christ designed it to be. Bringing comfort to a hurting soul, something money can't buy. God bless you and your church family.DeborahDeborah,I thank God for the day I found this church. It was a blessing for my boys as well!Thank you for your comment.Nancy
Nancy,This is a beautiful article. I thank Christ for places such as: Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church. Thanks for sharing this with us.Ronyae,You are welcome. Good news is wonderful. I wish we could hear more of it.NancyNancy,Amen to that!
Dear Nancy, What a beautifully written article! And, it is also useful, with a clear picture of how to do the same. We never really know when someone we know or ourselves could be in line for a gift bag. As you show, equally important is that strangers are in line, and they have needs no different and no less important than ours. Life can change so quickly. God bless you. Surely, many children now have memories of a church that loves and God's love inspiring it!Fewer SearchWarp articles have touched my heart and challenged my faith like this brief account of your 'love-in-action' kind of church, the truly Jesus church. I'm taking notes on this one. I have a feeling that other readers will do the same and spread this invaluable wealth not only as churches but as families and individuals, especially in the current economic climate. ~mogama~Mogama,Thank you for your response. You touched my heart as well.NancyJane,Thank you for your comment. While I never see the children, I am confident that they appreciate their gifts.Nancy
While I do not agree with nor really like "The Church" in general, there are exceptions and you highlighted the exception in this great article. If a Church is not preaching and brain washing, but instead out there and helping people, than that Church is good, and should stay that way!Gregory,Thanks for reading my article.A little hard to respond to your comment, however, without 'preaching'. One of the most important reasons I attend church is for the sermon - preaching. While we may be a very giving church, one of the strengths of this particular church is that the Pastor stands in the aisle, with Bible in hand, and speaks to us about God's Word. And that is good preaching!NancyYou call it "preaching." I call it brainwashing.I'm mainly commented that this church acted as a sanctuary for those in need and THATS a good thing.Gregory,I question your anger at the church in general. Were we not a church, with music, with sermons, with fellowship, and with prayer, we would be the local food bank at some corner in a ghetto.My ministers have not brainwashed me. They teach, they enlighten, and they talk about a man who gave his life in the most painful, humiliating, torturous, barbaric methods possible so that YOU could live.NancyWhat would of happened if Jesus didn't die?Many say he had a Wife, and a child, maybe theres a blood line?It sucks he was turtored and all but I bet people have died before and were tortured more.Gregory,I am so glad you asked. Had Jesus not died, He would not be the Messiah, which was prophesied in the Old Testament. The whole point of the Christian church is that He died for mankind (which is why we call the day of His death, Good Friday) and then rose 3 days later, Easter.Yes, a lot of people have been tortured but from what I understand, some tortured in that manner would never have survived to be hung on a cross. Pretty extreme.Nancy
This made me tear up. Real people make a difference every day, you are proof.Rebecca,People do make the difference.Nancy
Dearest Nancy, you are so blessed. And so is the church for having you as its member, I am sure that you too, are well involved in making life easier for those less fortunate, I can tell that you are by the passion you hold, and the pictures that you paint. You are lucky to belong to such a marvelous church, but God has blessed the church, by sending you as one of its members. God bless you for helping those in need, and God bless you for being you.........Your fan, and friend in pen.......Gary....God bless.Gary,I can take no credit for my church's giving. While I help, I don't give nearly as much of my time as I wish I could and it is something with which I wrestle. But I thank you for your kind words.Nancy
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