A Word From Our District UMM President
Charlie Gray, our Raleigh District President of United Methodist Men shares the following examples of faith and generosity from…..children who have come to MERCI
since the Haiti earthquake.
I was at MERCI Center on Friday and learned of two special volunteers we had this week.
The first story is of a six year old young lady named Emily. She knew her grandfather was volunteering at MERCI Center with the Haiti relief efforts. Emily sent word to your granddaddy that she wanted to give some money to him to help the people in Haiti. Sounded like a good idea. When Emily delivered the check to grandaddy it was in the amount of $1,000.00. This represented every single penny that Emily had in her savings account. Imagine what $1,000.00 must seem like to a six year old …….. imagine what it seems like to a needy brother or sister in Haiti who have nothing as a result of the earthquake.
Here’s the backdrop for story two. We have a current policy not to accept clothing for Haiti. Water, food and medical supplies are more urgent and we have to be sensitive to our space limitations. Clothing will come later. Story goes a little boy showed up last week with a bag full of clothing. His was close to Emily in age ….. six or seven years old. When it was discovered he had clothing, it was also apparent that they were his own cloths, current size and fit. It became immediately apparent that this kid was giving the clothes off his back - not those he had outgrown or were a result of closet cleaning. Needless to say we took the clothes and a couple of hugs to go with them.
What a blessing the innocence of children can be. There is no agenda. These contributions came without thoughts of a tax deduction. Here a young lady sells it all and a young man gives the clothes off his back. The sacrifice was ALL in both stories. When I heard these stories quite frankly I was overwhelmed and felt the need to share them beyond the hearts of our staff.
Doing what is being done at MERCI Center is hectic, stressful, physically and mentally consuming. Long days for many people. But …. there are lives being changed, people being blessed, folks experiencing Jesus in the process. Maybe this week it is about regrets after all. There are none in this place.
Tags: Live Full-Out!
