Special Delivery
May 29, 2010
So today after our outreach, 4 of us gathered behind our truck at the Willows to pray. As we are praying we hear the noise of a vehicle approaching us. As I lift my head up I notice it’s a U.S. Mail truck pulling up to where we are standing. We begin to drop our hands and the “mail lady”, Judy, says ”oh don’t stop praying, I would like to join you.” So Judy joined us in a circle of prayer…. And I might add Judy gave Lauren an inspirational message on life. The U.S. Mail had a special delivery. It was truly God at work.
So my vision is seeing people in the community around us coming together in circles of prayer. Complete strangers coming together as a branch of the body. – DP
Right Place, Right Time
February 3, 2009
Dear Dave,
I have been attending the Vineyard for about a year and a half. I can’t even begin to express the difference the church and the amazing people who are part of it have made in my life. I found VCC through a friend shortly after the end of my second marriage, following a couple of very long years living with an alcoholic.
One of the biggest changes that I have seen in myself is that I have stopped spending so much time thinking about me. I have gotten involved with several of the serving opportunities that VCC offers, but I kept waiting for that chance for God to use me to make a difference. I read your book and would talk with other people who had been in a situation where they were able to pay for someone else’s meal, help them carry-in their groceries…you know what I mean, but I never seemed to be in the right place at the right time.
Last week, my sister and I were on our way to Good Sam Hospital to visit our mother who was having some heart problems. My sister was driving and needed to stop for gas. I was sitting in the passenger seat while she was out pumping the gas when a beat-up old “boat” of a car pulled in next to us. I glanced out my window and noticed that there were blankets and pillows piled on one side of the backseat. I watched a woman get out of the driver’s seat and go in to the gas station/convenience store. After a few minutes, she came storming out ranting about them not allowing her to pay for her gas the way she wanted, that she didn’t want to pump the gas first, that she was broke and how was she supposed to pay for the gas, etc. Her language may have been just a bit more colorful.
I sat there for a minute thinking that I was a little uncomfortable with the hostility that the woman had displayed, but also feeling sympathetic to her situation. I have certainly been there before! When my sister got back in the car, I knew that I couldn’t just let her drive away and leave this woman to deal with her situation without doing anything, so I asked her to hold on a second.
All I had in my wallet was a $10 dollar bill, but I grabbed it and told my sister I would be right back. I got out of the car and walked over to the woman just as she was bending over to put the nozzle into her car and reached out my hand. She hadn’t seen me coming and I could tell by her jump that I had startled her. I smiled and put the money into her hand and told her that I couldn’t help but overhear, and that I had been there, too. I told her that God loves her, wished His blessings on her and got back into my sister’s car.
I don’t know if that $10 made any difference, but I did see a smile cross her face before we pulled away.
I thanked God for putting me in the right place, at the right time, and I just wanted to thank you for inspiring in me the courage to step out of my comfort zone to follow His lead.
K. B.
Turkey Call
December 17, 2008
Turkeyfest turned out to be fantastic. Our small group had 5 baskets to deliver but we only took 4 names. We figured, somehow, we would be directed to the fifth family. We asked the first 4 families if they were aware of a family that really needed help. We were led to just such a family.
Four boys, ages 2,3,5,6 and Mom and Dad. All living in an apartment with NO, absolutely no furniture. All the contents of the apartment had to be destroyed because of bedbugs, that or pay $3800 that they did not have, for a “bedbug treatment”.
They were great people and they realized we were there to help. They were joyous over the turkey dinner and all the fixings, but we somehow realized a turkey dinner would not cut it,.
At our next small group meeting, we decided to try to “adopt” the family for Christmas. We didn’t really know what that meant, yet. We made contact with them and they accepted our offer. We asked for the children’s names, and ages and what they might want for Christmas. We also asked what Mom and Dad might want for Christmas.
The answers surprised us. The boys could each use one pair of pants and perhaps one “learning” toy. Mom and Dad said they had no needs. No needs. We were expecting more toy requests or “fun” things, but Mom knew exactly what they needed. Mothers somehow always do.
We dug a little deeper to find something that Mom could use. An iron and a blender said the father.
We divided up the list and each member of our group obtained the requests, and we all seemingly added a little bit more. We called to set up a time to meet with the family and Mom would be available on Tuesday night. She wanted to know how many of us were coming so she could serve us some coffee.
During this time period we have, through the generosity of a number of people, started to get some furniture for the family. The husband of one of our members delivers them bread each week. I think we found a calling here.
Tonight is the evening we are going to their apartment, to take our small gifts to help to change their world. While the gifts will be helpful to the family , the real gift is that, through the Turkeyfest, we found this family and I think we will discover that we are the real recipients.
I didn’t know a Turkey could be so powerful!
Thanks for the Turkeyfest and everything else you and The Vineyard do for us.
Regards,
Wayne
In-Step with the heart of the body of Christ
December 17, 2008
We have an awesome small group! We’ve only been together since “The Call” series but everyone gets along so well that you would think we’ve been best friends for years! Everyone is flexible in last minute get-togethers, fun to be around and serve with, and has a heart for spiritual growth and outreach.
Here’s our story.
I have a son who was brain injured in a car accident when he was a toddler. He lives in a nice group home with two roommates and 24-hour caretakers. About five years ago while at a Christmas party with him and other physically and mentally challenged adults Bill and I noticed that not everyone received a gift at the party. However, when another group home’s name was called for receiving the door prize gifts, the others clapped with excitement for those that won, even if they didn’t. We wanted to do something to make sure everyone received a gift at the next party but time got away from us until this year.
Last year one of our group members said that she thought we as a small group should take gifts to my son’s group home. This year we all took action and decided to collect gently used or new re-gifted items (nice gifts that were received but not wanted or useful and that may just be sitting in storage), wrap them and go as elves to give the gifts and serve at the party. The morning we shared our idea with Dan Henry was the morning the Vineyard announced their outreach that was similar to ours. It was exciting to see that our small group was “in-step” with the heart of the whole body of Christ!
Shortly after Thanksgiving lots of nice donated items started coming in. Soon our living room, dining room, kitchen and guest room was so full that I doubted that we could get them all wrapped in one evening and wondered how we’d ever get our home ready for Christmas with the “mess”. The evening before the party we set up “wrapping stations” at the kitchen table, breakfast bar, dinning room table and a folding table in the living room plus a folding table for our chili dinner before wrapping. Because I am a planner and one that functions better in an organized environment, the clutter of wrapping paper, ribbon and boxes and bags of stuff looked overwhelming. However, seeing how calmly and well everyone was working together made the task look easy! In less than three hours over 100 gifts were wrapped, the scraps of paper picked up and folding tables put away with the help of many hands!
I say all this to encourage those who may think such an outreach is too much when in fact, with God’s people working together to serve in any way, it becomes a great blessing!
The next evening our small group plus four other Vineyard volunteers put on our elf and/or Santa hats and served drinks and dinner to each table. The people were so excited and wanted pictures taken with us. It is difficult for one or two caretakers to carry drinks and help take each of those in their care through the food line, especially if they are in wheelchairs and/or using walkers in the crowded room so they were very happy to be served! Our volunteers then mingled with and danced with those with disabilities and helped everyone pick out a stuffed animal from the two tubs full. There were enough wrapped gifts and stuffed animals and new gloves for every single person, including the caretakers!
It was so much fun to serve these special people and we are looking forward to doing it again next year!
God is great!
Sue
Being Available
December 4, 2008
Our small group is in the midst of reading Dave’s book and are really into it! The chapter on “availability” spoke volumes to all of us. So, we have been praying everyday and asking the question “God, I am available; how can I serve someone today?” Well, needless to say, God is faithful and he has answered our prayers everyday and then answered them in a bigger than expected way. What I mean by that is our small group had the privilege of providing two different families in the Winton Terrace area Thanksgiving dinners. One family we took food over on a Wednesday night to a single mom and 5 children. The mom wanted to prepare the meal herself and requested all the needed ingredients to make a Thanksgiving meal. She wanted the meal to be a way of bringing her extended family together because she lost her mother recently. She was murdered this past June. To make matters even worse, the mother that was shot and killed was holding this woman’s 2 year old son (the 2 year old’s grandmother). In addition, two other children of hers were present and witnessed this terrible murder. This all sounds surreal, but it is true because I have staff members who are serving this family and attending to some of their needs. Fortunately, this mom was open to prayer and we got the privilege of praying with her and her children that Wednesday evening.
The second family we served was a single mom with 6 precious children ranging from 7 years to 7 months We took fully cooked meal to her on Thanksgiving morning. She too allowed us to pray for her. The small children were so receptive to prayer; we joined hands and prayed in our little circle. The mom specifically asked for prayer to pass her driver’s test. When we finished praying, the little 4 year old tugged on my shirt and gleefully said, “My daddy’s out of jail now.” The mom laughed very nervously in response to her child’s statement. What a heart break!
We did not leave either place feeling good about what we had done, instead we felt overwhelmed by the needs of our community and asked ourselves, what else can we do? Taking a few meals is just not enough!
Of course, we will continue to lift the families up and many others just like them and also continue to ask God what else can we do. Our small group is meeting again this coming Wednesday to walk through another chapter of the Outward Focused Life book. We know God has a plan for our group and we are praying that we pay close attention to His voice as we enter into this busy holiday season.
We are grateful for your prayers!
Annette (and Mike)
Christ in Action
November 18, 2008
Just wanted to let you know about some great news that could have only been pulled off by our God, our Christ Jesus and man, was it awesome!
During LA La Viña, an outreach which reaches out to the Hispanic poor in our community, one of the families we serve had one sole immediate need – three kids under the age of 10 in need of beds. The mother, who works very hard couldn’t afford beds for her children and it wrecked her to the core. For her kids to sleep on the aged carpet and warmed only by thread-bare blankets…well, how would it make you feel?
But here’s how God shows up: Two people, who’d never been on that outreach felt they “needed” to see what it was all about Saturday morning and when the mother’s needs were known, each one had a missing component – one had a toddler bed, the other a twin bed for two. And another first-timer had sheets and pillows for the twin bed.
And while the mother was embarrassed to tell us her family’s needs, the people who had the items were bursting with excitement, joy and were more than ready to help. (I think there was a suppressed high five floating about the room amidst the tears of joy.)
So today, twelve people, most of us strangers, regrouped again after meeting each other for the first time yesterday, to go back over to deliver two beds and bedding for three kids who’d been sleeping on matted, worn out carpet for over a year.
And that….that…is Christ in action, kids. Princess bedding for the girls. Batman bedding for the little boy.
And let me say, this is not about a good deed, or about a “warm and fuzzy” at the end of the day, it’s all about Christ in action. Period. And how He puts the right people in the right places in the right time to help three little amigos in others path just to so He can say, “Sleep well tonight…for you..are a child of God.”
So to Kimberly, Jennie and Railey. “Jesus te ama.”
And we do too.
Fun Note…
November 4, 2008
Serving the Vote
November 4, 2008
Just another average day of voting and serving in our town of Mason.
Emily and I were standing in line at a church in Mason at 6:30 waiting to vote. It was pretty chilly inside the church too. After about 40 mins we made it to the table where the volunteers were working and they were talking about how cold it was in the church. Someone said something about Starbucks and one of the workers said she wished she had gone to get a coffee before she came to work.
I wish I could have opened up the café that was there in the great room of the church seeing that I have a “degree in coffee making on the hospitality team” J I could’ve whipped up some lattes in a hurry to help warm them up. Well of course couldn’t do that…
After I got done voting and walked out of the church maybe that little voice just said… this is Byron’s New English translation cause I don’t remember exactly what the thought was J “hey Byron, go to Starbucks and pick up some hot chocolate and coffees for these folks to warm up and thank them for what they are doing as volunteers”.
Couldn’t ignore that thought… so I drove to the Tylersville Starbucks where if you wore the I voted sticker you get 10% off your drink. Well I actually got 12 coffees and hot chocolates for the volunteers. I think my drink (13th) was actually free today… how cool!
Of course I had some VCC serving cards in my car just for occasions like this. And wouldn’t you know there were exactly 12 cards left in my car, one for each cup of drink.
So I took the drinks back to the church and let the 2 table leaders know that I got hot chocolate and coffees for them and thanked them for what they are doing.
Don’t know what they thought or how they reacted… but they will know that God was a part of their day in a little hot drink sort of a way…
Thanks for what ya’ll do and how you lead our church! It’s a blessing and a blast to be a part of the mission!!
Blessings
Byron
Scout’s honor
October 28, 2008
As I was coming out of IGA store I saw the girl scouts selling cookies. I am a diabetic so I cannot eat sugar. As I politely said no thank you, I got to my car and heard the Lord instruct me to go back and buy the cookies. I sat in my car saying loudly “but Lord you know I cannot eat them? “ He said “did I say you were to eat them? I said then what do I do with them?” Immediatly My precious Lord showed me a way to witness His love in a greater way I have ever known.
As I approached the Girl scouts and their Leader again, I asked How many of you know My Jesus? With such excitement they all started chattering I know Him I Know Him. I asked them How many Boxes of cookies do you have left? They counted them all up and told me how many. Well I said Jesus is going to buy all of your cookies today How about that? They all began to become so excited. I said now after paying for them all, Jesus wants to know that you know Him and Love Him .
So what your going to do for Him is give the cookies away from Jesus today with great love and enthusiasm. They all started to scream yes that will be so fun. I left the stand and the Leader ran after me and said what Is your name, we have a website and I have to put this on our website. I told her I cannot give you my name but feel free to let your readers know that The Lord stopped by today to buy Girl Scout cookies. She hugged me and as I was driving away what a thrill it was to see these young girls passing out their cookies in our Fathers name. Thank you for hearing my story
In His Service
Love Connie Ciccone
A lifestyle choice
October 28, 2008
The historic storm that just rolled through Cincinnati in September damaged a large oak tree on our property. The tree is estimated to be around 100-125 years old and as you can imagine quite large. Just two days ago we had it removed because it posed a significant risk to our house along with the neighbors. The crew arrived with a pot of hot coffee waiting for them. It was a cool morning and they seemed to enjoy this unexpected warmth as they prepared the equipment. Once the crane went skyward and the saw blades fired up the neighbors came flooding out. It was a great experience as many of the neighbors stood outside talking with each other (there’s an idea) while they watched the crane at work. Many of these interactions were new. My wife baked dozens of cookies for the crew as they broke for lunch. More significant than even that was the opportunity for a half dozen of the neighborhood kids to sit in the crane and help the operator hoist the climbers. The fun those kids had taking pictures and videos; they had a blast. Also, the neighbor at the end of the street heats his home with a wood burning stove. LIGHTBULB! He is now able to enjoy at least a whole winter’s worth of oak for his stove. All for free. Consequently, dropping these massive logs in the neighbors front lawn also served the tree service as they did not have to take 4-5 trips dumping the huge chunks of trunk in addition to paying to have those burly pieces disposed of.
The point I’d like to make is that this service project was a community event. It seems to me that all involved were both served and serving. The serving opportunities weren’t altogether planned but spontaneous displays of practical needs being met. Serving is a lifestyle choice not a program in which to participate.
-Randy Henson
