Dear Friends,
In 2011, Merriam Christian Church set out to "FEED 5000". Our goal was to spread the grace of Christ by feeding hungry people. We delivered Meals-On-Wheels, we cooked and served dinners at the Johnson County Food Ministry , we delivered hot, home-cooked meals to the Merriam Fire Department, we took cookies to the Merriam Police department, we bought meals for families, we packed backpacks for kids on free/reduced lunches at Merriam Park elementary school, we paid for hot lunches for kids at three local elementary schools when they fell behind, we collected soup, and baby food, and potatoes, and granola bars, and ramen noodles, and jello for food pantries and the Johnson County Christmas Bureau, we took Thanksgiving food baskets to 50 needy families, we gave out Valentine's Candy to strangers, we bought lunch for the volunteers at Animal Haven, we cooked and served funeral meals, we took lunch to teachers and staff at Merriam Park, and on and on and on. All told, when the dust had settled and 2011 was in the history books, Merriam Christian Church had fed 16,944 people. That bears repeating: In 2011, Merriam Christian Church fed SIXTEEN-THOUSAND-NINE-HUNDRED-FORTY-FOUR PEOPLE!!! We are humbled to be able to serve God in this ministry and amazed at what God can do when we seek to put God first. We, who gather 100 people for worship each Sunday, went out and by seeking to serve God, fed almost 17,000 people.
We will continue to FEED 5000 in 2012. We will continue to deliver meals and pack backpacks and so on. But this year, as we continue these vital ministries, we will start to ask ourselves a more personal question. We have seen what we can do as a collective, as a gathering of believers, as church; we can go out and impact lives and change our world by feeding 16,944 people. In 2012, we turn our reflection inward and begin to account for what each of us does every day. As you go through your day, you have the opportunity to feed people around you; physically, emotionally, spiritually. Often we miss or ignore these opportunities, but now that we have seen what God can do in our midst, we will neglect these chances to do God's work no more. In 2012 we begin to ask ourselves: "Who have you fed today?"
So, friend, associate, reader, I ask you: "Who have you fed today?"
Mark