September 2011
Friends,
You may notice that your food box is a little different this month. Grace Klein Community has typically delivered mostly food boxes that were provided through Angel Food Ministries; these boxes included a lot of perishable food items like meats, fruits, and vegetables. However, Angel Food is going out of business. Here is the statement on their website: “Unfortunately many if not all other food ministries have gone out of business in recent years. Angel Food has not been immune from the same economic and market conditions that led to the loss of other food ministries. Angel Food Ministries has considered many options regarding our future. At this time we regret to inform you that we have not found a solution that will allow Angel Food Ministries to continue to distribute food on a monthly basis and have decided to cease operations.”
Although we do not personally know anyone at Angel Food Ministries, we do know that they have ministered to many people throughout our country over the years. We mourn with them over the closing of their business. However, Grace Klein Community is committed to continue delivery of food boxes as long as the Lord allows us to. We have redirected donated funds and used donated coupons to purchase mostly non-perishable food items. God has provided this month, just as He always did through Angel Food Ministries. And He will continue to provide as long as He wants us to keep delivering food to our friends that need it.
I am convicted this week of how little I have prayed for the food box ministry in the last few months. We have gotten into a routine with it, everyone does their part, and it goes pretty smoothly each month. But now that we’re in a bit of a crisis mode, it’s on my mind a lot and I am praying a good bit about it. It saddens me to think that the times in my life that I have typically prayed the most are hard times. I don’t want that and I know that God doesn’t want that. Why do we pray? What’s the point? God certainly doesn’t need us to pray. He is in complete control without our help. But, He wants us to pray. The point is communion with Him. Prayer gives us relationship with Him throughout each day, just like a human friend or spouse.
Most of us are probably familiar with the “Lord’s Prayer,” also referred to as the “Model Prayer,” because Jesus modeled how to pray in Matthew 6 and in Luke 11:
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
“This, then, is how you should pray:
‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
Jesus shows us that we should include praise in our prayer first of all. We should long for His kingdom to be restored here on earth. We should ask for what we need on this day only. Not more than we need, and not for more than just today. This keeps us dependent on Him and not on ourselves. We are not in control and shouldn’t believe that we are or live like we are. We should ask forgiveness of our sins every day because we sin every day. We should pray for protection from the evil one because he is after us every day. It is interesting to notice that this prayer uses “our” and “us” instead of “me” and “I.” Jesus was teaching us to pray collectively as a body and for one another. He did not ever sin, yet He prayed, “forgive us our debts [or sins].” He was praying on behalf of His human friends that were sinners.
So, back to the topic at hand. How do we pray about the food box ministry? How can you help?
• Pray that if God wants Grace Klein Community to continue this ministry, that He will give us the clear direction to do so and will provide the means to do it.
• Pray for more volunteers to serve in this ministry. To be honest, purchasing non-perishable food is a lot more work than purchasing and delivering Angel Food boxes. Our volunteers purchase food throughout the month by watching the sales at grocery stores, matching up coupons, and trying to stretch our donations as much as possible to buy enough food to fill 175-200 boxes. This requires space to store the food, empty boxes to deliver the food, volunteers to shop each week, volunteers to clip coupons and match them up to sale items, volunteers to box up the food for delivery, volunteers to move the completed 175-200 food boxes to the delivery pick-up site, and volunteers to coordinate the delivery pick-up day and stay till all the boxes are picked up.
• Ask God to give you direction on whether you should volunteer. We’d be thrilled to have the help!
• Pray about whether or not your family has urgent need for a food box at this time. We want to continue to serve all of our friends that need help. But, we also want to be able to meet the most urgent needs with the resources God has given us. Please do not remove yourself from the food box list if you truly do need the food! We want to serve you. We just ask that you pray about it. You never know, God may show you another resource you didn’t know about or He may show you someone else in your life that needs the food as much or more than you.
• Hopefully, if you’ve received a food box for a while, you’ve come to realize that delivering food is secondary to the relationships our volunteers want to form with you. We don’t want to just drop off some food and wish you well without investing in you. Our delivery volunteers want to know you and your family. They want to become a part of your life and you a part of theirs. Even if God leads you to say you don’t need a box anymore, we hope that you and your delivery volunteer will still be a part of one another’s lives. Make sure you tell them about your prayer needs. Ask them what they need prayer for. God intended for His children to need each other.
• Pray for us to be able to do more community events, such as picnics and worship times. We have LOVED these times in the past couple of years. The reason we haven’t done any of these events in recent months is simply because none of the regular volunteers have had time to plan or host anything. If you have ideas or if you want to volunteer to organize something, please call us.
Let’s not worry about what is to come. Let’s take it to our Father. He knows the plan so we don’t have to. Matthew 6:34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day.”
Love to you all,
Hebrews 13:16 “And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”