Thanksgiving in Avondale

Thanksgiving in Avondale

The last few years we have taken Thanksgiving meals to families throughout the city. This year we tried something a little different. Partnering with OneHope and Calvary once again, we expanded our Outreach to bring Thanksgiving to an entire community – Avondale. The hope for the event was realized when the people in our church responded with passion and love for the people in Avondale.

It was our Church members that truly led the way. The whole body participated. The women’s department made all homemade side dishes in 248 ounce containers. Some of the women worked late into the evening preparing the food with love and care, in the same manner they do for their own families. Others got up early before church to finish their dishes. The men came in on Saturday to load trucks with 470 chairs and 48 round tables and then on Sunday they unloaded both trucks for the dinner. Youth in our Church helped with the crafts area. Our families ate dinner with families from Avondale and people from different cultures were united around the dinner table. It was a memorable day.

Perhaps, by sharing some of the moments I recall, you can gain a better understanding of the day. At one table, 7 men were sitting down and enjoying their dinner. I approached the table and saw that Bill Haring was sitting with these men and talking with them about their lives with sincerity and interest. During the dinner some of the men showed a desire to play in the CRPC softball league this year. Bill encouraged them in their lives but he also encouraged them to be involved with league. The hope is that some of these men will come and be involved each week as they receive instruction in the word. They will also be involved in our church community as well through our sports ministry. This was one of the many times that I saw people in our congregation reach out to help people with encouragement and ideas of how to participate in events available to them. Chuck Tiedje spent over an hour sharing the Gospel with a man named Tom. He stayed late after the event to encourage Tom on how to understand his faith and how to grow in Christ. Chuck presented the gospel through Evangelism Explosion. He was one of many EE trained people who were there to share their faith with people who were in need the hope of the gospel. This was another example of how the church worked together to minister to the people in Avondale. Some talked, some served and others shared.

We are partnering with OneHope to establish some baselines that we can begin to measure the impact we are having in the Avondale community. At the dinner, OneHope set up tables in order to do further research on some specific social issues in the community. Research is imperative for us to see where we are having the most impact. Recently English classes have been started because of the research we received from previous surveys. Over 43% of the people surveyed had a desire to learn English as a second language. Because of the information we received back from the people in the community there are now classes that serve the community with English as a second language. This allows people to gain employment more readily as well as helping people integrate more fully in their community.

In Ezekiel 16:49 it says, "Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.” Let our church strive to be humble as we serve others. Let us realize that all we have received comes from the Lord. Let our church be a church that is truly concerned with needs of those who are hurting. I believe that God allowed us to participate in a project that not only helped those in need in Avondale, but it helped us with a blessing that can only be received by serving.