When a pharmaceutical company, Takeda Pharmaceutical, reached out and offered a 9-4pm serve day, we were ecstatic. The very week they planned to come was the start of one of our largest community outreaches of the year, No More Safety Pins, AND the first month of renovations to our new community house that will be used to care for single mamas.
God’s timing is always so perfect. He knows what we need before we even ask and sent us an amazing group of men and women that are passionate about loving on people.
The team split into two groups to provide the most impact for a one day serve and really lived out Jim Elliott’s quote, “Wherever you are, be all there!”
At Liberty Church, ladies organized the clothing for the No More Safety Pins event that would start at 5pm the same day of their serve. Except a break for lunch, they moved from task to task, organizing racks, counting and sorting clothing, hanging clothing, vacuuming, making everything beautiful for the mamas that were headed our way. The love and prayers they gave to make our opening night special was heartfelt, joyful and fully present. They were the kind of women that you wished to have time for a cup of tea and a long chat about life, children and to learn about all Jesus has taught them in their careers, marriages, friendships, life. We even had some extra time to give Liberty Church a little extra organization love.
At the community home, the team worked to remove staples from the ceiling and clean out little stubborn broken pieces of drywall, general cleaning, removing a stairwell and constructing a temporary one, and priming some walls in bedrooms and bathrooms.
As the body of Christ we cannot all be the hands or the elbows or the eyelids. We need each other and together we can accomplish so much more than any task we try to take on alone. We are all one unit, operating in our designated part, using our skills and abilities to contribute to the greater good. Together we prove we are so much better.
As an African proverb says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”