Tonight as I get ready to land on my soft comfortable bed in my own bedroom, I reflect on the evening's events.... Let me start by telling you about Pilar. Pilar lives in a community where there are actually people sleeping on the floor. She lives in a community where many families own one car, if any. She lives in a community where neighbors never used to come out and definitely didn't LOVE each other.
Almost a year ago she asked me if we could study the bible. When I showed up expecting to meet a few ladies, it was actually 9. Nearly all of those ladies today still come to the picnic table every Wednesday to study God's Word.
So here is the thing about Pilar. She truly LOVES HER NEIGHBORS. She is still inviting people to our bible study. She invited a woman to our study about 4-5 months ago. Her name is Imelda. Pilar not only wants to meet their physical needs, which are numerous, but she wants to meet their spiritual needs with the hope found in Jesus.
Imelda and her husband and two sons were homeless and doubled up with another family. This week, her family moved into the apartment complex where we spend a lot of time and where she attends our weekly bible study. Pilar asked if she could bring her to Mission Southside because she needed some things. When she came out we discovered they owned a twin mattress......yup. that is all they had to their names. All she wanted was a bed for her boys. She was even so embarrassed to take anything else we offered and with tears in her eyes kept saying we had already given her so much. At that point it was some dishes and Jesus. Well, because of the many generous donations we receive at Mission Southside, we were able to give her so much more. She left that day with some pots, pans, dishes, cooking utensils and some blankets, My husband delivered a couch, a table, a bunk bed, a beautiful queen mattress and box springs donated by a friend from church. Pilar's husband was there to help, and Juan, a gentleman whose family we have helped in the past came to help. As people watched a few other fellows came out to assist in moving this heavy couch to the second floor. They, too, were Loving their Neighbor in action.
When we went into the apartment there was literally nothing. Nothing to sit on, nothing on the walls, and in the boys room, no toys except for 4 tiny carnival or gumball machine trinkets that rested on the window sill. As I looked at the rooms it appeared that there were actually two twin size mattresses. One in mom and dad's room with a bible simply resting on it. The other in the boys room. When we went to move the mattress in the boy's room we discovered it was in fact the box spring. These two little boys had been sleeping on a hard box spring just so they wouldn't lay on the cold tile floor.
Accidentally the awesome Leaders in Training crew had loaded a love seat and an extra twin mattress on the truck. Of course we could take it back to Mission Southside, but, what if there was still a need here? When I asked Pilar if there was anyone else she could think of that perhaps had a need, she immediately thought of a woman who recently moved into the complex the week prior. Pilar's daughter, Litzi, ran over to her apartment and asked if she might like to come look at these two items.
A young woman, probably not more than 25, came over with two little children. The look on her face was one of distrust. Why would these strangers be offering me furniture? Why would these strangers just want to give this to me? As Pilar and Imelda began talking to her and caring for her needs, with tears in her eyes, she conceded.
My husband drove the truck around to her apartment and all of the gentleman followed. They took a twin mattress and a beautiful love seat up to her apartment. As my husband and Juan and Litzi emerged from the apartment, they all started telling me that she was going to need some more stuff. Pilar started chatting with her about her needs. She was just like Imelda, so beyond grateful for these few things, she didn't want to take advantage of our kindness. Pilar invited her to bible study and offered to bring her out to Mission Southside to get some pots and pans, blankets, etc.
As we walked away, Imelda was grinning ear to ear. she just kept saying thank you and thanks to God. And I turned to her and said, "What's mine is yours. Everything belongs to God". We all hugged and left.
When I got home I opened up my bible to the scripture pictured above. Acts 4:32-35 No one claimed that ANY of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God's grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were NO NEEDY PERSONS among them.
What if we shared what we had? I'm not just talking about physically. What if we shared our time? What if we got to actually know our neighbors down the street instead of making assumptions and judging them because of how little they had or the bad decisions that put them in the place they are today? What if we took an hour a week to study God's word with a group of people who have perhaps NEVER studied God's word?
The book of Acts really emphasizes the importance of obedience to God’s Word and the transformation that occurs as a result of knowing Christ. Is that what is happening here?
And isn't the book of Acts a history of the early church? What if our church today looked a little more like what the early church did? What if we were like Jesus' apostles and continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and God's grace was so powerfully at work in all of us that there were no "needy" persons among us.
