Envelopes and Water Pumps

Contributed by:
Eric Dunaway
small groups pastor

The more I continue to grow in my understanding of authentic, Biblical community, the more I'm confronted with the reality of it's power. I'm learning that community is so much than just relationships... but what can be accomplished through those relationships. Let me recap a few things that have happened recently as a direct result of community here at PCC.

1. Over 1,000 shoeboxes were collected for Samaritan's Purse.
2. Nearly 60 families were provided with groceries to feed them through the holidays.
3. Hundreds of coats were collected, most of them brand new.
4. $45,000 was raised to pay for Feed My Starving Children.
5. 1,000 volunteers stepped up to pack meals for Feed My Starving Children.
6. As a body, we packed over 206,000 meals, which is enough to feed over 500 children for a year!

I look at those statistics, and I realize that any one of us can do only very little to make an impact on those who are hungry and in need, here and around the world. But when we as Christ-followers come together in community, God begins to move through us, and the impact is so much greater than it could ever be on our own. Those stats aren't about what Pathway did, but about what God has done through us. What a blessing to be a part of it!

As we wrapped up our series entitled "Bring the Love" several weeks ago, we saw a video that featured one of our High School girls Journey Groups who had committed to do something together as a group. So they created a "Love Box" where they would collect money that would go towards filling shoeboxes for Samaritan's Purse. Our Journey Group had already been talking about what we were going to do in response to these challenges. After seeing this video, we were inspired to start our own "Love Box," though we called ours the "Love Pouch" ... it was an envelope.

We still didn't know exactly what we were going to do with the money we would collect. We felt that we'd all be more inclined to really give if we knew what we were giving towards. One of our group members had some interesting connections that intrigued us: 1) pump parts that we could purchase at cost - roughly $60 for a part that would cost $300 in a store. 2) a man who digs wells in Africa to supply local villages with clean water. 3) means to ship these parts overseas. So, as a group, we decided to commit to raise money so we could send water pumps to Africa that would provide clean water for the people. Our goal was 10 pumps.

The following week, we collected our money. After everyone had made their contributions, we opened the envelope and began counting... and what we discovered was that God had far exceeded any of our expectations. We had raised more than enough money to meet our goal of 10 pumps... in fact, we had enough money to send 20! As a group of six couples, we had collected more than $1,200!

As I reflect on that, it strikes me how shocked all of us were... there wasn't one couple there who wasn't utterly blown away at what had happened. I believe that God moved in a powerful way... I believe that he used our individual gifts, and then multiplied them in ways that were completely astonishing to us. What we were able to contribute was a small portion of that. But as a community of believers, the impact of our contribution was much bigger. And again, I don't share these things with you to draw attention to ourselves, but to celebrate what God did in our tiny little community of believers. That's the power of the community!

One of the values that we have for our Journey Groups is to serve inside and outside.

Focusing on ministry partnership mobilizes us as active members within the body of Christ. This moves us to serve together not only those inside our group, but outside as well. In community, we're aware of the needs around us, and we work together to meet those needs. As a community, we're resourced to address the needs outside of us, and we work together toward that endeavor, as well. Journey Groups connect us to this purpose.

I'd love to hear what your group has done to serve inside and outside. In what ways are you working together as a group to meet the needs around you, and beyond? And again, this isn't about you and your group, but about what God is doing through you. Let's celebrate those things together, and inspire others to jump in and do the same!

Please post a comment to let us know what you're doing.