"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. And here's why: I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was homeless and you gave me a room, I was shivering and you gave me clothes, I was sick and you stopped to visit, I was in prison and you came to me.'"Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.'" Matthew 25:34-40 The Message
Yesterday, a small group of teenagers decided not to go to church. Instead, they were the church. And I'm sure Jesus was smiling down on them.
Don and I took part of our youth group to downtown Denver to pass out coffee, donuts, oranges, and orange juice to the homeless. Most of them were middle school age and had never experienced seeing or serving the homeless. Their eyes were opened wide but their hearts were opened even wider.
At first, they were timid and even scared. But it only took them walking up to one or two people before they found themselves feeling comfortable and enjoying the act of giving. They engaged in conversation, making all those they came in contact with feel cared for, if only for a short time. They made people smile and heard the endless thank yous. Our group's purpose statement is Love God ~ Love Others ~ Impact the World. They knew what they were doing was having an impact.
After we were done, we sat in the park, among the homeless, and talked about our experiences. We also read the above scripture, which makes it clear that Jesus is telling us that how we treat those that are less fortunate than ourselves is important to Him; that when we treat them with love, we are also loving Him.
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link of the day:
http://thepostitproject.blogspot.com/
12 comments:
that is just really awesome. that made my day.
Awesome. Just no other word for it.
What a good thing to do. The scripture version you used is very powerful - something about the words used. Makes it seem kind of simple, doesn't it? duh. It is!
Your photos are really great. Those are some pretty young kids, too. Thanks for sharing this.
Nancy
Wow it so great to see the young adults go out and spread the love of Jesus!! You guys have an awesome youth group. they are Blessed to have you:)Keep up the great work of our Lord, Amen Girl!!
Deb
How wonderful, Diana. I'm sure this memory will stay with them a long time and hopefully be the beginning of a pattern, not just an "I did that once".
I'll be posting about the Tattoo and what it is as soon as I can!!!
Susan
Oh, I miss this kind of thing with the youth group. Eric and I have such a passion for reaching out tothe world. Eric was in charge of the missions things we did locally - I remember on Superbowl the kids took a sofa downtown and plugged in a TV and watched the game with the homeless who we had been bringing food to for so long. (when we worked with college kids) The police just looked the other way for that night.
We visited AIDS patients and that was life changing for the students involved.
I am so glad you all did this. I do believe these are the places that Christ would be found today!
I love being the church.' Those kids will never, ever forget that experience. Great pictures to go along with it
It's good that the kids will have pictures to keep and keep the experience alive.
You have done so much for youth ministry.
Praise the Lord! I love to hear about things like this! So many people are afraid of the homeless. What a wonderful experience for the kids. :-)
What an awesome mission statement, not only for the youth, but for us adults as well! We all need to take time to impact the world in such tangible ways.
What a blessing these youth are! Thanks so much for sharing such a great, heart-warming story!
Have a blessed day!
How wonderful!!
I have never forgotten the impact that has - we would travel down to Philly with our youth group!
That? That is just amazing! What a wonderful opportunity for those kids!
That's an amazing thing to do. I'm sure those young people will have been greatly affected by what they saw and heard.
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