In November, 2015, Grace Klein Community was blessed with the donation of a 2002 Ford Taurus. When we received the donation, it was our intention to use this for someone who needed a car. Since this is a rare donation for us, we wanted to assess the many different requests we had received for transportation and pray through our decision in order to provide it for the most urgent need. Through the many requests, there was one brought to our attention that we all felt lead to pursue, so we set up a meeting with the potential recipient.
I had the privilege of meeting Ms. Sylvia Miller in early January through a volunteer who has delivered a food box to her for almost a year. Sylvia has lived in the same apartment for the last 20 years, and both she and her dog, Angel, are well known in the apartment complex. She has been an anchor in her community and cannot remember how many people she has helped through the years and talked to about the Lord. She has always been very involved in the community and in her local church, but had to withdraw from several areas where she was serving when her car died a few months ago.
As we sat and talked, we began to assess the true need for a car and how it would be used to both serve her and others. We discussed the details about the car, and ensured that she had a valid license and would be able to pay for insurance and fuel if she was gifted the car. We then began to talk about how she would use the car. Early in the conversation, it was clear that Sylvia’s intention was to use the car to help others as she shared about opportunities to serve both in the community and the church that would be open to her again if she had transportation. She was more than willing to commit to 100 hours of service as her way to give back for receiving the car.
One of the stories that she shared was about gathering with her S.W.A.T. group from church and using her car to go from neighborhood to neighborhood. She explained that S.W.A.T. stands for Soul Winning Attack Team for the Lord. They gathered weekly and ventured out together to canvas neighborhoods and talk to people about Jesus. She also shared with us about how she always strives to help her neighbors. Whether they needed a ride to work, to the store, or to use her phone, she was always busy helping others.
After gathering the information needed, our board voted to gift this car to Sylvia. We had it inspected and the oil changed, and set up a time to deliver it to her. Before we even arrived with the car, Sylvia had already told her neighbors: “God has blessed me with a car, so anytime you need to go anywhere and need me, just let me know.”
When we arrived at her door and she looked out and saw us and the car, emotion overcame her. “That’s it,” she said as she saw it parked out front. She immediately came outside and began looking over the car. She got in the car and we showed her all of the controls and helped her get everything adjusted. As she looked over it further, she exclaimed, “It has a sunroof, I prayed for a sunroof. God has used you to make my dreams to serve the Lord come back to life.”
As we went back inside to complete the paperwork, we continued to talk. At one point, in mid-sentence, she stopped talking to us and broke out in song praising God for providing her a car. Sylvia’s passion and devotion to the Lord is contagious. She went on to tell us that her pastor recently asked her to teach children’s church on Sundays, and now she can commit to do this since she has reliable transportation. At the end of our visit, just before praying with Sylvia, she made a statement that should be a challenge to all of us. “Through the years, God has been good to me. He has taken very good care of me and I thank him for that. I can never repay him, but I try every day.”
How can you try to out-give God to repay him for his love and provision for you?
