Now THAT is Church
May 3, 2010 by cloften
Filed under Bible, Church and Leadership, Family and Parenting
It was a rough weekend for many people in Arkansas. There were some terrible storms, some with tornados that causes a lot of damage and destruction. One tornado hit just outside of Cabot and took out several homes and businesses, leaving many without power and without a place to live.
Out of that destruction, I get some phone calls and notes. (Of course, one person unable to find my phone number, knew that FB would be a great way to get a hold of me) “We need to do something to help.” Out of those calls came two guys who wanted to lead a team of folks with chain saws to clear yards if possible. We decided that we would announce that folks are going to meet in the parking lot around 1:30 and see what we can do.
This is where the story gets really cool. One of the men in our church is an insurance agent who insures many of the people who were hurt by the storm. He tells us that he knows of an 80 year old lady whose husband passed last year and all of her family lives out of state. She lost her house, her yard is a wreck and she had always prided herself on her lawn. During the first service he drives out to her house and tells her that some folks from our church want to help someone and asks if we can come by. She told him that she had just gotten finished praying that God would send her some help and that God told her that he would.
So now we announce we are meeting at 1:15 and going to this lady’s house to help her. Coincidentally (yeah, right) Tim Lundy was preaching on the Good Samaritan. After that story, the invite is easy. “Do you want to help this lady who has no one to help her?” Knowing that many people had plans they couldn’t change, we didn’t know what to expect. What we had was 50-100 people swarm this lady’s yard and like an (un)tornado cleared her yard. You may wonder why such a bad estimate of people. One, we were too busy to count and even trying to estimate it was like estimating the number of ants scurrying in the grass. Constant motion and work.
The best part of that story for me is this. No one, except the agent, had any idea who this lady was. She wasn’t famous. There was no TV or newspaper. No publicity except here, which means that you and my mom will know. People did this because the love of God through Jesus compelled them to go. No glory, no fame, certainly no quid pro quo, just a love for others that comes through experiencing God’s love.
I was very proud to be a member of Fellowship Cabot on Sunday.
