Bless... Then Be Blessed

[newyorknewyork]

yes i have donated to an international charity just this last week. my husband and i did it together.

its called samaritan's purse.

what we did was fill lots of shoeboxes with toys which are sent over to countries like papua new guinea, vietnam, cambodia, ethiopia etc. and the poor children there are given the presents as christmas gifts and at the same time they are told about the love of Jesus

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/OCC.asp?MPGID=1

 

[Breezy3]

My friend is a coordinator for the food pantry at our church. She was telling me about some of the needs of the pantry, and feeling like sometimes no one cares about it... that it's just there. Apparently it is also controversial because people have their opinions on this issue. Some people think that the food pantry just enables people to use their money for other things and they are "using" people, while others think that it's a necessary function of the church and community.

Well... I happen to be a person who believes it's a necessary function. There are two times in my life that stand out... once when I was a pre-teen, and my biological parents left me to take care of my two brothers - one a few years younger, one a toddler. There was never enough food... so rather than let my brothers go hungry, I went hungry. The second time was during a time when I was very, very in debt and was unable to buy food and pay bills and rent and take care of my responsibilities, and I needed to utilize a food bank. There may be people who take advantage of the system... but what about those who don't? Where would they be?

So in this time of the holiday season, when people will be trying to buy presents for their children, to be more generous and invite others to thanksgiving, here is the challenge.

I have 10000 blessings right now. I will give away all of these blessings if that is how many people are willing to get involved. Here is how it happens: NUGameFund has donated an additional 1000 blessings for this, so we have up to 11000 blessings to give away!

Seventy-five (75) blessings if you donate at least 5 cans or boxes of non-perishable foods to your church or community food pantry over the next two weeks and posts after you did so. (blessings increased due to added donation).

One-hundred fifty (100) blessings if you get friend who isn’t already donating to the pantry to donate at least 5 cans or boxes also.



During this time when Christ has blessed us with so much, please give with your heart and within your abilities.



If you read post #32 and #33 in my blog, you will see two of the articles I have written for my church's food pantry - 32 is more informational about hunger, 33 is more on getting people to look at this from another perspective.

Those are very informative articles!!!

I totally agree that it is so important to have food for the needy, in spite of food closets being taken advantage of at times. It is much more important that it is there for those who truly need it! We need to take our focus off of the negative aspects and focus instead on what Jesus wants us to do. We don't stop being nice to people because people don't always respond the way we would like them to respond, we don't stop being kind because some people are not kind back, and we don't stop praying because everything doesn't work out just the way we think it should... so why stop stocking the food closet?

 

[Breezy3]

yes i have donated to an international charity just this last week. my husband and i did it together.

its called samaritan's purse.

what we did was fill lots of shoeboxes with toys which are sent over to countries like papua new guinea, vietnam, cambodia, ethiopia etc. and the poor children there are given the presents as christmas gifts and at the same time they are told about the love of Jesus

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/OCC.asp?MPGID=1

Yes, I know what you are talking about Operation Christmas Child.. Samaritan's Purse. My husband and I are donating 8 boxes this year. It is so exciting to think about the children receiving their boxes and opening them up!

 

[Breezy3]

Honey and I bought tickets for 8 hungry people to enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving feast!

 

[Kristen.NewCreation]

yes i have donated to an international charity just this last week. my husband and i did it together.

its called samaritan's purse.

what we did was fill lots of shoeboxes with toys which are sent over to countries like papua new guinea, vietnam, cambodia, ethiopia etc. and the poor children there are given the presents as christmas gifts and at the same time they are told about the love of Jesus

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/OCC.asp?MPGID=1

Great! I did that a few years ago when the church I was attending signed up one year. Blessings on the way.

Those are very informative articles!!!

I totally agree that it is so important to have food for the needy, in spite of food closets being taken advantage of at times. It is much more important that it is there for those who truly need it! We need to take our focus off of the negative aspects and focus instead on what Jesus wants us to do. We don't stop being nice to people because people don't always respond the way we would like them to respond, we don't stop being kind because some people are not kind back, and we don't stop praying because everything doesn't work out just the way we think it should... so why stop stocking the food closet?

Exactly. Lets keep the food pantries stocked!

Honey and I bought tickets for 8 hungry people to enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving feast!

Awesome! Blessings are on the way.

 

[Concetta]

It is a joy to read of everyone's giving spirits! Those shoebox presents will delight those youngsters. Giving to pantries through the year is a good point. It's great to have such helpful facilities for if/when needed. My children each took 2 more items to school for their food drive (I am not posting this for blessings). Their backpacks will only hold so much lol.

 

[Kristen.NewCreation]

It is a joy to read of everyone's giving spirits! Those shoebox presents will delight those youngsters. Giving to pantries through the year is a good point. It's great to have such helpful facilities for if/when needed. My children each took 2 more items to school for their food drive (I am not posting this for blessings). Their backpacks will only hold so much lol.

I do think it's great the kids get to be involved. Thanks for sharing!