Mercy Ministry - A glimpse of a free health clinic

"But Peter said, 'I don't have silver or gold, but what I have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!'"
-Acts 3:6, Holman Christian Standard Bible

He was a little guy.  His eyes rested shut as he was sleeping, and the woman carrying him glowed as she introduced herself and the sleeping baby boy she was holding.  Every once and a while, his eyes would peek open, then he would fall back asleep.  I was told he loved to be held, and sure enough, when someone held him, his eyes opened with life as he scanned the person holding him.

In the Bible, we can read so much about how believers can come together in community and then go out to share their faith.  What does that look like, though?  We can love our brother and sisters in Christ, forgiving each other, and we can remind each other of the Good News of Christ.  A neat thing, too, is that Jesus asked us to go out and make disciples.  He not only wanted to take care of the body of believers, but He also wants us to go out and share His love and message with others.  That's so others may know God and have a relationship with Him, too.

Last weekend, my community group and some others helped my church host a free medical clinic in town.  From noon until about 4pm, the doors of the church were opened for people to have free health services.  I was a part of a group serving as advocates.  We walked a person or a family through the services offered.  Not everyone was a member of the church who was serving that day.  Some stations included nurses, a chiropractor, Pharmacy items, warm spaghetti, doctors, and a clothing room.  One of my favorite parts was when the lady and baby boy I was with were on the third floor, and a little girl ran up to show us her beautiful magenta fingernails - there was free nail painting, haircuts, and massages offered on that floor.  It was neat to see how many people came together to love and help people from the neighborhood in a way that they could.

I realized that really I am in need, too.  Sometimes, we do not see known physical needs, but we all of us need Christ, the Savior, who came to sacrifice for us.  We can come to Him in brokenness, seeing that we do not having anything to give that would match what He has to give.  He gives those who believe in Him the Holy Spirit to transform us from the inside out.  Even though putting on or serving at a health clinic is not something we all may do soon, we can share Jesus and who He is with others, wherever we go today.  

Here's a link to a video from the clinic last year - http://vimeo.com/20145427
and a blog post from the clinic this year - http://seed.sojournchurch.com/projects/highlightsfeb25medclinic/
Logo/photo created by Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, Kentucky

Fragmented Lives

"Now to Him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think - according to the power that works in you - to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen" (Ephesians 3:20-21, HCSB).

This morning, I feel very fragmented. It is Monday again and I have numerous projects scattered around the office and the house that need to be taken care of. Things like writing projects, emails to respond to, messages to prepare, papers to grade, a shower that still needs a new shower pan, a computer that is with the Geek Squad being fixed, food to prepare for Thanksgiving, and well...the list goes on. Not too much different from the list that you have of things that need to be completed.

I am reminded that no matter how many broken pieces that there are right now, that God will use them all together for His glory. He still has a plan. He is still on the throne. He can make all the broken pieces come together into a beautiful story - much like a stained glass window.

Stained glass windows are dark until the light shines on them and through them. Today, let's commit together to let Jesus shine His light through out dark and broken lives. Let's let Him work our lives together into a beautiful masterpiece. Oh Lord, shine through me today to a broken world - let me share with one who desperately needs to know you.

"For we are His creation - created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10, HCSB).