|
Thank you for your generosity! Christmas hunger distribution
2007...
Words cannot begin to
explain how much we have seen God’s awesome hand through our hunger
outreach ministry.
In order to set the
stage as best as possible, picture this. Two years ago: three of us
working hard at trying to come up with items for a handful of
Christmas boxes for families in need. Trying… and trying… We were
able to help about a dozen families but it took a lot of prayers and
persistence from those of us at the Epworth Center.
Fast forward to last
year – the plan was to make Christmas for 40 families. So we set to
work trying to get donations… and the donations started to come, but
we didn’t have as many as we had hoped. It was a Monday morning
shortly before Christmas. Our outreach worker, Brenda, and I were
on the phone discussing the difficulties that each of us were
facing. Her husband had just been laid off from his job at the mine
and they have two small children. We still didn’t have that many
donations and were wondering just how we’d pull off Christmas for so
many families. Finally, we decided we should give it all to God and
pray about it. No more than 15 minutes later, there was a
knock on the Epworth Center door. It was this little, elderly lady
saying she had a trunk load of food to donate! At about the same
time, the phone rang and it was Brenda… she said she got a phone
call and her husband was back to work! As you can imagine, this was
a moment neither Brenda nor I will ever forget! And from that time
on, anytime we seemed low on a food item for our Christmas baskets,
it would find its way through our doors.
God has blessed and
continues to bless the Epworth Center’s hunger outreach ministry!
This year has been yet another bountiful example of His provision!
Pied Piper Nursery in St. Clairsville chose our hunger ministry as
its Christmas outreach. They collected five large garbage cans of
food for the Epworth Center! We also had donations from local
churches, youth groups, and a 4-H club. And once again, the things
we seemed to be low on ended up coming through our doors. In
addition, the few items we need to purchase have been made more
affordable through cash donations received. With the help of so
many, we have been able to help make Christmas for 50 families this
year! We have also had more volunteers to help organize the food,
pack the baskets and even deliver them. With the help of Wilson's
Furniture, we received wonderful, new toys that we were able to give
to families with small children. God provides!
We wish to sincerely
thank each and every one of you who prayed for, helped with or
donated to this ministry. You have made such a tremendous
difference and it is our prayer that God blesses you for your
kindness and generosity.
Thank you,
-Dawn Livingston, Administrative Assistant
|
