God works in wonderful ways at Madeira-Silverwood, and you are a significant part of it! Thank you for being a part of our family of faith.
One of our regular Facebook viewers has issued a $15,000 matching gift challenge to help us end the year strong! I'd like your help in taking advantage of this great opportunity. Thanks to this gift, your giving will go twice as far!
Through your generosity, we can empower people to take their next steps of faith with Jesus. For example, consider Samantha Perkins' story:
Last January, Samantha stopped to offer help to a person experiencing homelessness. She felt powerfully moved by the encounter and turned to her Madeira-Silverwood family to figure out how to process the experience.
"That January was not the first time I met someone who was experiencing homelessness. However, it felt wrong the first time I saw it so close to home. I was able to provide a small blessing to the man, but there was a stirring that challenged me to do more. My husband and I met with Russell, and I shared the heaviness on my heart and the challenge from the Holy Spirit to do more."
With the encouragement and support of our church Mission Committee, Samantha reached out to the City Gospel Mission, one of our Madeira-Silverwood mission partners. She arranged for us to host a dinner there for people experiencing homelessness.
"I wanted to start small and serve dinner once every two or three months. I worried that we would not have enough money to sustain an ongoing ministry, nor would we have enough volunteers to make it feasible. I'd forgotten about Jesus and the fish and loaves. The generosity of people with their time, gifts, and talents has been overwhelming. The gentlemen at the mission have been so kind, gracious, and thankful. I've been humbled by what the Holy Spirit can do through our hands."
As of November, this ministry has given 27 people the opportunity to step out in faith and grow by serving others. By bringing together students, parents, young adults, and retirees, our serving teams have also created an intergenerational opportunity for families to experience an environment where faith is at the core. Our team members have felt the joy of serving over 550 meals to people in need!
Samantha has discovered that these service opportunities are also great ways to invite friends to take their next step of faith with Jesus:
"Isn't it just like our Lord to pour blessings upon blessings? I found that so many people want to be of service, people who want to be in the community, and people who want to connect. I've been able to invite friends, family, colleagues, students, and other people who otherwise would not enter the church building, but when they have an opportunity to serve others in Christ, they are there ready, willing, and hungry to learn about this gospel of hope and love."
Please help us make more stories like this possible by taking advantage of the matching gift opportunity today.
Giving is easy; click on the Donate link above.
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