Often in a church, there are ministry happenings that most of the congregation may not know about. This past April, our Quilters Corner group made a difference in Ukraine. They did so by sending 26 quilts to the border of Poland to a church that was handing them out to Ukrainians as they crossed the border.
It all started with a quilting shop in Dade City called Quilted Twins. Some of the ladies from our quilters group frequent this shop owned by two sisters. One sister lives here and the other lives in Poland. The one in Poland attends a church that is deeply involved in supporting those coming over the border from Ukraine. The two sisters got inspired and began to collect quilts to send to Poland. The ladies of St. Andrew's heard about the need and jumped in as well. Twenty-six quilts were delivered from St. Andrew's and several trips were made to the shop to help pack quilts for shipping. Our own Sid Eskridge helped the owners of the shop come up with a process for shipping the quilts, which was going to be a bigger challenge until Sid jumped in with his expertise. Ultimately, four thousand quilts were shipped to the Ukraine in the month of April from this small shop in Dade City.
I love this story because this is how the body of Christ is supposed to work. We are all called to use our gifts when we see a need in front of us. Scripture teaches us in 1 Corinthians 12:4-7, “There are different spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; and there are different ministries and the same Lord; and there are different activities but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. A demonstration of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good.”
What this reminds us of is that through our baptism we are given unique gifts that we are called to use. Some are spiritual gifts like compassion or empathy, yet others are talents, abilities, and life experiences we can draw from. God uses all of us to meet the needs of others. Maybe for you it is quilting, or maybe you are good at developing processes like Sid. For others it may be cooking or delivering meals for a ministry like Meals on Wheels. What is important is to be on the lookout for ways to serve that may be right in front of you. Ask God to help you see the need and then know He will help you meet the need.
If you are interested in helping the people of Ukraine, join us for our Virtual Night of Prayer on Thursday, May 26 at 7 p.m. We'll be praying as a community for the people of Ukraine, as well as sharing opportunities for you to support them with your offerings and time. Visit SAUMC.Life for the Zoom link the night of the event.