In the early days of icoc hope we would do church wide vaccination drives in the poor areas of large cities for several days we would door knock the "projects" meet & educate about the need for child vaccinations. Now we pretty much delegate to our annual special missions contribution count as our serving the poor.
I remember those vaccination drives. Part of the problem though, was that it was an event organized by the local church and most people did not serve outside of that. They basically checked a box. It was not a lifestyle.
The vaccine drives also planted a life changing seed for me. Much later we adopted an orphan from China. In 2021 we sold everything we owned except the car and 80 plastic storage boxes of stuff to move to the middle of nowhere-ville illinois to take care of my widowed 98 yr old MiLand be close to my 95 yr old widowed mom. I would not say that I have the lifestyle of serving the poor & helpless that u describe, but the vaccine drives are always a testimony to the decisions I should make.
Great article and knowing Brett I’m sure it is a wonderful book. The busyness of the world (some of it manufactured by ourselves as we try to keep up with the deluge of media all around us) also keeps us from taking time to notice others. I do better in this area when I am intentional. The habit of serving during set church activities is helpful as Dave mentions below and hopefully will spur us on to take time to notice the needs of others in our daily lives.
In the early days of icoc hope we would do church wide vaccination drives in the poor areas of large cities for several days we would door knock the "projects" meet & educate about the need for child vaccinations. Now we pretty much delegate to our annual special missions contribution count as our serving the poor.
I remember those vaccination drives. Part of the problem though, was that it was an event organized by the local church and most people did not serve outside of that. They basically checked a box. It was not a lifestyle.
True, but it was a step in the right direction…..
Yes definitely better than nothing. You’re right.
The vaccine drives also planted a life changing seed for me. Much later we adopted an orphan from China. In 2021 we sold everything we owned except the car and 80 plastic storage boxes of stuff to move to the middle of nowhere-ville illinois to take care of my widowed 98 yr old MiLand be close to my 95 yr old widowed mom. I would not say that I have the lifestyle of serving the poor & helpless that u describe, but the vaccine drives are always a testimony to the decisions I should make.
Taking care of our elders is a great act of service.
Great article and knowing Brett I’m sure it is a wonderful book. The busyness of the world (some of it manufactured by ourselves as we try to keep up with the deluge of media all around us) also keeps us from taking time to notice others. I do better in this area when I am intentional. The habit of serving during set church activities is helpful as Dave mentions below and hopefully will spur us on to take time to notice the needs of others in our daily lives.