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Jesus said unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:3).
I think children naturally have a compassionate heart for the less fortunate. Last week God used Anthony to help the K5 children of North Hills Community Church share their compassion for the homeless of Greenville.
Anthony has been a faithful volunteer for Food for Life on Tuesday nights. He has a heart to help people in need and encourage others do the same thing. He started a Homeless on Tuesday group on facebook to develop more interest and support for the ministry. This group has 80 members and refers about 60% of the traffic to our weekly blog.
I think children naturally have a compassionate heart for the less fortunate. Last week God used Anthony to help the K5 children of North Hills Community Church share their compassion for the homeless of Greenville.
Anthony has been a faithful volunteer for Food for Life on Tuesday nights. He has a heart to help people in need and encourage others do the same thing. He started a Homeless on Tuesday group on facebook to develop more interest and support for the ministry. This group has 80 members and refers about 60% of the traffic to our weekly blog.
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A couple of week ago, I shared with him a comment by a homeless guy how even a child could perform a simple act of kindness that could mean so much to the homeless. He thought it was a great idea and decided to get the 5 year old children from our church involved in this ministry. The following is how Anthony enlisted the children to minister to the homeless of Greenville.
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~Marc
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As written by Anthony,
As written by Anthony,
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Two weeks ago the K5 children of North Hills Community Church were pleased to be involved in Food for Life’s weekly ministry. A friend of mine and his wife teach the K5 junior church service there. Through conversations about the ministry it eventually came up that it would be fun to get the children involved somehow. After reading in a blog run by a homeless man in Nashville about how receiving a bag filled with simple things that we take for granted can have a great impact on someone who has nothing. These simple things included items like toothbrushes, soap, razors, and other mundane items, the kinds of things that we can’t function without but think absolutely nothing about how easy it is for us to buy them. These bags are inexpensive and simple to put together.
As always, God is fully in control and had a plan for the children as well. It just so happened that the lessons in the junior church classes had been focusing on simple basics like home, family, and school and how God is related to each one. This week’s lesson was on Food. The passage was from Exodus 16 where the children of Israel are complaining about being in the wilderness and were willing to go back into bondage because they didn’t think their needs were being provided for adequately. How God showed His love and patience for the children of Israel by providing for their basic needs in the form of manna and quail. The children were able to have the opportunity to not only see how God provides, but how by providing for someone in need we can show the Love of Christ to someone else. Most children do not realize that there are people right here in Greenville that don’t have the basic necessities of life we so often take for granted. The children were able to see how caring for the homeless is showing the love of Christ, just as God was showing his love and protection for the children of Israel in the wilderness. Each child packed his/her own bag and wrote a personal message (or picture) for whoever would receive it. It was such a blessing to see children learning the joys of serving and caring for someone less fortunate at such an early age. My hope is that this brief exposure to such a great need will yield softer hearts later in life.
Two weeks ago the K5 children of North Hills Community Church were pleased to be involved in Food for Life’s weekly ministry. A friend of mine and his wife teach the K5 junior church service there. Through conversations about the ministry it eventually came up that it would be fun to get the children involved somehow. After reading in a blog run by a homeless man in Nashville about how receiving a bag filled with simple things that we take for granted can have a great impact on someone who has nothing. These simple things included items like toothbrushes, soap, razors, and other mundane items, the kinds of things that we can’t function without but think absolutely nothing about how easy it is for us to buy them. These bags are inexpensive and simple to put together.
As always, God is fully in control and had a plan for the children as well. It just so happened that the lessons in the junior church classes had been focusing on simple basics like home, family, and school and how God is related to each one. This week’s lesson was on Food. The passage was from Exodus 16 where the children of Israel are complaining about being in the wilderness and were willing to go back into bondage because they didn’t think their needs were being provided for adequately. How God showed His love and patience for the children of Israel by providing for their basic needs in the form of manna and quail. The children were able to have the opportunity to not only see how God provides, but how by providing for someone in need we can show the Love of Christ to someone else. Most children do not realize that there are people right here in Greenville that don’t have the basic necessities of life we so often take for granted. The children were able to see how caring for the homeless is showing the love of Christ, just as God was showing his love and protection for the children of Israel in the wilderness. Each child packed his/her own bag and wrote a personal message (or picture) for whoever would receive it. It was such a blessing to see children learning the joys of serving and caring for someone less fortunate at such an early age. My hope is that this brief exposure to such a great need will yield softer hearts later in life.
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~Anthony
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This Tuesday we were privileged to serve 80 meals with the help of 20 volunteers.
