Luke 21:1-4 (NIV)
As Jesus looked up, He saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “Truly I tell you,” He said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”
The church that I attend is currently running a Vacation Bible School program, as many churches do, and as we are a small church, everything that we do is usually contained within the confines of volunteers and donations. Each year that this goes on, there is usually a special craft of some sort that the children can take home in remembrance of their time spent having fun and learning about God, but this year the craft is considered a “Craft with a Purpose.” The goal is to teach the children about the importance of helping others.
In order to accomplish this task, the members of the church decided to go with a cute little project that consists of a wash cloth and a bar of soap that can be made into bunny rabbits (or Jack Rabbits if you will as we have an Australian theme going), and given out through the Zion Project (our home-based charity/handout) with nice little notes to remind others that God loves them. In order to make these projects, we needed to find wash cloths in bulk (thank you Ollies) and multiple little bars of soap. The soap was where my eye-opening experience/lesson taught occurred this week.
A great idea was thought of in terms of going to different hotel branches to see if they could donate a few bars of soap here-and-there in order to move the project forward. Most were obliging as they donated 5 here and 2 there. In terms of hoping to have the items donated, it was very much appreciated as each bar of soap was another step closer to helping another in need. The leg work was not minded as it was all for a good cause, and the member of the church that was working towards the completion of the goal was lighthearted during the entire task.
It wasn’t until all of the bigger hotel branches were exhausted that a Super 8 was entered. Still short quite a few bars of soap, the gentleman that was in charge of that particular establishment kindly and graciously delivered a large bag of soaps that would have been a one-stop-shop if only they had been approached first! With a great, “God bless you” the donation was cheerfully given without a hesitation or thought about profit or expense. What was initially considered to be the least/smallest of the hotel chains, ended up being the most contributory and beneficial asset to our cause.
This is a fantastic reminder that we should never consider the “least” of anything to be any less willing to put a helping hand forward for their fellow man. Whether we have great gifts that can contribute large amounts or small gifts that can only help to a certain point, each is considered just as valuable as the next. In the end, we are all working towards to greater goal of sowing seeds of faith in what is a tainted world. Each seed sown is another win for the Kingdom of God!
Noise for Strangers 