“God, I’m sure there are people in our town who are struggling and suffering with little to eat,” I prayed. “I don’t know who they are. Please show me how to help them.”
Our country had gone into lockdown, and we didn’t dare venture out beyond our neighborhood even though we lived on the outskirts of town. On our evening walks, I looked out over the houses, wondering who needed food. The children and I were alone, as the lockdown had caught my husband while he was traveling, and now he was unable to return to us. I thanked God for the peace He was giving me and for our friends who brought us groceries or went with us to the local markets to speak for us if we were questioned by authorities. We had food, but I knew many others did not. With the lockdown, no construction workers came to the unfinished buildings. No men pushed food carts in the streets. Many of those workers lived a day-to-day existence, able to buy only enough food for a day or two at a time.
Then I received an unexpected message from a friend in the States: “Do you know of any hungry people? We want to send some money to be used in feeding them.” I smiled. God was answering in a way I hadn’t expected. After I shared the opportunity with our members, they visited several areas in town and soon identified a neighborhood in need. They went to work purchasing rice and lentils, repackaging them and organizing the distribution to the poorest families.
As we have had to step back from active involvement due to the lockdown, we have seen our members stepping up. Instead of one home church in our town, now we have four as families worship in smaller groups due to the restrictions on social gatherings and travel. A situation that threatened to stop believers from meeting instead multiplied the number of churches. Praise God for how He is working all things together for good, even using Coronavirus to grow the church!
Let us all look around us. Who is hungry? Who is suffering? Who is afraid? May we be the blessing to the needy in our communities.
