God is Working Through Local Initiatives
Planting Seeds
I have to confess that I am not much of a gardener but I do look forward with much anticipation to this time of year and the beauty that springs up all around in garden plots and flower beds. It all starts with seeds. Seeds may not look like much when you put them in the ground but something miraculous happens with a bit of time, sunlight and rain.
Local Initiatives is all about planting seeds. The seeds of relationship, seeds of goodwill, seeds of love and seeds of hope. Then with time and God - something grows.
Over the past year we continued to nurture the seeds that we had planted with our local partners. We tended to them with care, confident the roots were taking hold and strengthening. Many people from our congregation were serving with and praying for The Pregnancy Care Centre, Hope Mission, The Outreach Centre and Schools.
Highlights from this past year include a very successful Love in the Laces campaign supporting The Outreach Centre with over 960 pairs of shoes for children heading back to school. We witnessed continued strong involvement with school breakfast programs and new opportunities to engage with students and staff. There was increased service with The Pregnancy Care Centre Maternity Home in their client advocacy roles and gardens, and a number of people served at the Hope Mission Christmas event. Things were shaping up to be a strong and steady, hold-the-course type of year until one day this spring, life changed for all of us.
COVID-19 has brought to light vulnerabilities that were not visible before and magnified those that we already knew were present, placing a spotlight on the fragility of many in our community.
In talking to our partners, I am encouraged by their ability to adapt to the “new normal” and how they creatively continue to serve their clients so well. They are excited at the opportunity to be innovative; all of our partners have moved to serving their clients and families by phone, text and video. Virtual connections and therapy sessions are now common, and there has been the opportunity for a reconnecting with past clients because trust has already been built.
This virus has presented itself to us at CrossRoads Local Initiatives as a strangely wrapped gift. The seeds that had already been planted in our community schools allowed us to reach out quickly and offer nutritional support for those children and families who had been relying on the breakfast, lunch and weekend nutrition programs offered through the schools.
We now find ourselves in trusted relationships that continue to grow with school social workers who are able to request care packages for families in their school in need of food. At the time of this writing, we have been able to provide for families from 21 schools.
This has also allowed us to partner with The Mustard Seed of Red Deer on a significant level as they address the city-wide need for food. Specifically, we provide care packages to our neighbours who call upon The Seed for support during this time of uncertainty.
So even now, we are planting seeds.
Every care package, whose contents are carefully packed by a CrossRoads volunteer and delivered by more CrossRoads volunteers, is a seed pod, full of seeds. Seeds of hope, seeds that speak of care, community, of light in dark days, of possibilities of better tomorrows. We plant the seeds, we tend them with prayer and sometimes with tears. We wait on God for the harvest that will come.
God knows the story behind the door of each home that a care package is delivered to. He knows their history and circumstances that have brought them to this place today. No child, parent or family member goes unnoticed. Each box that is packed and delivered is part of someone’s story, a piece of a family’s journey. We are honored to play a part in the story of so many people.
Your donations make a difference and have significant impact on the recipients. This is just one story of many,
“One afternoon I received a call from a school social worker who had a special request. This social worker had been speaking with a mom who was in need of a care package. Mom mentioned to the social worker that it was her child’s birthday on the weekend and asked if we might possibly have a cake mix that we could put in the box of food. I was delighted to tell her that I happened to have a cake sitting in the church freezer that had come across our path through donations. And, just the other day a package of birthday candles were donated, as well. I also saw, sitting amongst a table of healthy orange and apple juice, a lone bottle of Ginger Ale. It was with a grateful heart that I packed that birthday party box for this child. How incredible that 3 someones had been prompted to put a cake, a box of candles, and a bottle of Ginger Ale in the bin. These items I would never have thought of asking for, nor thought that they would have such a profound affect on someone. We were also able to pack a few birthday gifts including a hula hoop. Dance away sweetheart! God knows you and loves you and we are so honored to be a part of making your birthday a special day.”
We look forward to seeing what will grow from the seeds that are being planted in the lives of children and families in our city. We are grateful for this opportunity – although it is not what we ever could have envisioned – to bless, encourage and show God’s love to our community in ways that were not available to us before.
Eagerly awaiting the harvest,
