18…let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.
– 1 John 3:18
If you were asked, “What is the mission of the backpack program?”, what would you say? Would it be to give backpacks to children in need? If so, that is partially true, but the real mission is to let the children know that they are loved.
How do we do this? By treating each person with love and respect. By treating them like they are a guest in our home and providing them with unconditional gifts. You see, we aren’t just people of Wesley Church. We are people of God, and through our actions we demonstrate God’s grace and love.
This is the 8th year of the backpack event, and this year is like no other. We can’t have an outdoor festival. We can’t serve hot dogs and watermelon. We can’t provide haircuts and health screenings. We can’t even have the Lehigh Valley Therapy Dogs come to bring joy to children and adults alike. Instead, we need to social distance. We need to come up with procedures so that our volunteers and guests are safe.
The amazing backpack team is meeting weekly and has been going over these questions: Some cars may not have air conditioning; how can we reduce the wait or provide them with comfort? What if a car runs out of gas? How do we communicate with Spanish speaking people with masks and barriers? How do we limit contact to provide a safe experience for all? The event is entirely outdoors, how do we provide comfort for the volunteers? What about the people who take the bus to the event, how do we serve them?
These and many other questions are being answered and some solutions will not be perfect. What we do know is that in all that we do, we consider love first.
A favorite song of mine goes like this:
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
And we pray that our unity will one day be restored
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yeah they’ll know we are Christians by our love.
May they know we are Christians by our love. May they know of God’s love for them through us. The backpack team asks that you join us in praying that God guides us in our mission to share His love and provide much needed supplies, that we are able to let our guests know just how important and valued they are.
Sincerely
Sue Kiefner
Charperson
Show God’s love, and remember:
Our God is bigger than coronavirus.
Our vision is bigger than coronavirus, too.
We are people blessing people.
We are Wesley Church.
Want to know more?
- Learn about our church and its ministries: https://wesleychurch.com/
- Make a gift to support our mission: https://wesleychurch.com/giving-2/
- View our recent messages: https://wesleychurch.com/sermon-message-on-video/
- View previous devotionals: https://wesleychurch.com/pastor-candys-devotionals-2/
