Flooding The Community In Other Ways

Day 314 in my "Year In My Life Through Pictures" blog series

Our church, Oak Grove Baptist, here in Paducah today announced that we will be hosting an informational meeting tomorrow evening for those impacted by the local flooding. There will be electrical inspectors and the electric company representatives there to tell the process of getting power restored to a home and to also answer any questions.

This will actually begin a community outreach for anyone that has been impacted by the flood this year. OGBC will be starting a dinner each night for a while to give residents a good hot meal while they work to restore and repair their homes. Without electricity they will not have a lot of options without either going hungry or bringing cold cuts. This will give an opportunity to show the love of Christ to those that have suffered loss through the flood. On their way out of the Oaks Road area, after working hard all day/ evening people will be invited to stop for a little something to eat and for some fellowship. Nothing will be asked for, it's a gift to the community and if you pay for it it is no longer a gift.

Of course the main goal is to glorify the Father, the One whom all blessings flow. We will not push anyone for anything, but we will be sharing Christ in Word and in deed. A lot of these people will be coming in dirty, after working in a muddied house all day, which is fine by everyone. Mud cleans up. As one brother put it tonight that really resounded to me "this gives us an opportunity to wash their feet". Wow! That said a lot. We may not literally wash their muddied feet, but we do have a great chance to serve them without desire of anything in return. We simply want to serve and to show Christ to a community in need.

There are great ideas for this outreach, but we are not inflexible and eagerly await what God is going to do. He has already supplied from some dear brothers and sisters an hour and a half away many cases of bottled water. This was without even sharing a need with them. The Lord laid it on their hearts to do this. I guess this is what Hudson Taylor meant by, "God's work, done it God's time, will never lack God's supply." How very true that is. God will see to it that anything He starts will accomplish what He designed it for, which is always, ultimately His glory.

What an awesome God we serve to take this natural disaster and turn it into a witnessing opportunity. A chance to spread seed and to cultivate hearts to show people just how blessed the children of God are. We love because He first loved us.