Who would have ever thought flipping pancakes could make heaven come closer to earth?
Well, it’s true. On Saturday mornings, people in need of medical assistance in Shepherd Community Center’s neighborhood can come and get assistance from Grace’s health care ministry. While they’re waiting to be seen by our medical team, another group of Grace volunteers is in the kitchen serving up some delicious-pancake-goodness for breakfast.
The volunteers serving through Saturdays at Shepherd prepare and serve a nutritious breakfast to Shepherd’s neighbors in need of medical assistance. It really is a beautiful thing…friends, small groups, families, kids all serving together to bring the kingdom of God here. Today.
If this sounds like something you’d like to do, check out the registration page for Saturdays at Shepherd. If your serving plate is full, would you consider praying for Saturdays at Shepherd this week?
There’s definitely a buzz in the air since our ongoing serving opportunities are back in full swing. Join us in this Kingdom momentum if you haven’t already.
Have you ever wanted to make a difference in someone’s life? Be Jesus to someone? Teach someone something that will stay with them forever? Change the future?
Starting today, you have that opportunity.
Shepherd after school tutoring kicks off for the fall semester today at Shepherd Community Center. Volunteers from Grace tutor every Monday and Wednesday afternoon from 4:00-6:00 p.m. and preschool helpers assist with Shepherd’s preschool program every Friday morning from 9:00 a.m.-noon. If you answered “yes” to any of the questions above, this may just be for you. Click here for the logistical stuff.
If you are already involved or don’t think this is for you, will you pray for tutoring at Shepherd this week?
What always floors me is that I approach serving opportunities like this after answering “yes” to all of the questions in the first paragraph, and those things do happen, but here’s what happens to me (and you):
We aim to make a difference in someone’s life, and then God makes a profound difference in ours.
We aim to be Jesus to someone, and then we see Jesus in them.
We aim to teach someone something that will stay with them forever, and then their story becomes part of ours.
Maybe that’s true for Kermit, but it’s not true for our Shepherd Bag Hunger program at Grace.
In fact, it was as simple as partnering with Shepherd Community Center to order some new, neon green reusable grocery bags and taping the word “green” over “brown” and “yellow” on our signs. While our Shepherd Bag Hunger bags have had a bit of an identity crisis over the past two years (first yellow, then brown, and now green), I think we’ve landed on some bags that will work for a long time coming.
Here’s what the bag stands looked like before this past weekend:
…and here’s what they all looked like on Monday morning:
That poor bag stand looks like a shaved dog after a bath…or, more accurately, a tree in the middle of winter. Whatever the case, the people of Grace once again came through and took home approximately500 bags this weekend to fill with grocery items and bring back next week.
As a side note, I really hope people bring these bags back…they’re really nice. Bring them back, people!
We’re having to scramble around here to re-stock all of the bag stands (which is a great problem to have). We’re really excited that Grace attenders embraced this new “green bag” initiative, and hopefully will continue to do so. More than being green, the important thing about Shepherd Bag Hunger is that we can provide food to our neighbors in need. Simple as that. Thanks for being so generous and eager to serve others.
This week is strategic partner week on Get Compelled. Grace’s 3 strategic partners teach us a lot. Today we can learn from Tim Street with Shepherd Community Center. Tim walks the talk. Listen to his story.
Jay Height, executive director of Shepherd Community Center (one of Grace’s strategic partners), wrote an article featured in yesterday’s Indy Star on the reality of hunger in Indianapolis. You can read his article by clicking here.
After we left LAM/LSA…well, here is Linda to tell you:
The Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic was crazy busy and we really didn’t want to slow them down from serving the clients that they serve, so we basically handed off the check and kept going. Here is a picture of their offices:
Next stop before a quick lunch would be at the Shepherd Community Center. They were also crazy busy. I mean really, us dropping in unannounced and they are busy? Of course they are!! They wouldn’t be such amazing partners if they were not doing their thing day in and day out. Here is the center for you to see:
Both Jay Height, Executive Director of Shepherd, and Geoff Wybrow, Executive Director of LSA, will be at Grace this weekend. It is going to be some great services this weekend!
We will wrap up videos tomorrow, so check back! There are some good ones still to come!
Today’s post was written by Sara Sterley. Sara heads up the Grace Garden and this is one of her recent musings that you can find on the Grace Garden blog. Thanks Sara!
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10
I love this verse. It reminds me that Christ came so that we can have this full life – both here on earth in this life and in the next. In fact, I think it hurts Him to see His creation not living life to the full here on earth, which makes me contemplate where I’m lacking individually and where we are lacking as a community of believers in exemplifying this “life to the full” to all that we meet.
This week, the IndyStar published a Letter to the Editor that particularly resonated with me. According to a recent Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention (CHIP) report, nearly 3,000 children in Marion County public schools qualify for services for the homeless every day. This isn’t news to us in the Grace community – Jay Height from Shepherd Community Center has been telling us long before this economic crisis began that 80 percent of the children in Shepherd’s neighborhood have two meals a day only when they are in school. I’ve been obsessing this week about what happens to all of those children when they aren’t in school.
While the statistics aren’t as readily available for Hamilton County communities, it is apparent that the need has increased dramatically over the last year by the response that Third Phase, a Grace Frontline Ministry and the largest food pantry in Hamilton County, has received in that time. The food that is collected through the Hamilton County Food Pantry Drive is delivered on Saturday, and it is often all distributed to families in need as soon as the food pantry opens for the week. In fact, Third Phase has been forced to limit the amount of food that each families receives because of the huge increase in demand. The poor in Hamilton County often fly under-the-radar, which is even more concerning because of the lack of resources and services available to low-income families living in the Indianapolis suburbs.
Tomatoes of all colors growing in the Grace Garden
All of this to say that these struggling families could use some help in living the full life that Christ came to deliver them into. Christ uses US to bring His Kingdom here on earth. He tells us that He came so that we may have life and have it to the full. I think, in helping others to meet their basic needs, not only are we helping them to live life to the full, but we have the opportunity to truly experience the life that Christ dreams for us in selflessly giving of ourselves.
The Grace Garden is a beautiful picture of what the Kingdom looks like: we provide real food for families in need, we provide good work for our volunteers, and we provide a model of creation care for the community at large.
Watermelon, zucchini, cucumber...just a few of the things growing in the Grace Garden this year.
Join us out at the Garden as we try to live the full life that Christ came to bring us – or get in the game by helping out with the many local outreach opportunities that Grace offers right here in our own backyard!
Walter grew up in New Orleans, where he raised a family while working on the docks, loading and unloading ships as they came into port. When Hurricane Katrina hit, Walter’s home was completely destroyed. The government helped him move to Indianapolis, but he left behind a son in New Orleans and a daughter in Texas. Shortly after relocating, he got connected with Grace as part of our effort to reach out to the refugees. Walter was able to find transitional housing, and began looking for work. He was able to get a few temporary jobs, but despite diligent searching was unable to find a steady job.
In February, Walter’s housing aid ran out, and without a solid job, he found himself homeless. He made his way to Wheeler Men’s Mission, where he entered their residential program. A few days later, another volunteer and I made a run for the Wheeler Shuttle, where volunteers from Grace pick up men from Wheeler and bring them to Grace for a meal and a chance to attend Saturday night service. On the ride to Grace, Walter shared with us how thankful he was that the Lord had continued to provide for him in the midst of his circumstances. I couldn’t believe the conviction he had that God was truly in control and was working these events for good in his life. It was a great honor to worship with my brother in Christ that evening.
A few weeks later, we saw Walter at CHIP’s annual Indy Homeless Connect event. He was excited about the possibility of making some job connections. A week later, I ran into Walter again, but this time in a context I did not expect.
I arrived at Shepherd Community Center to serve at Saturdays at Shepherd, a weekly outreach opportunity where Grace volunteers make and serve breakfast to the community, while a group of doctors and nurses volunteer their time to host a free medical clinic. I knew several of the people who had signed up to volunteer that weekend, since they were all from the same Grace Group, but when I walked in, I was surprised to see Walter. I asked him if he’d heard about the medical clinic and come to check it out, but he said, “No, I’ve come to give something back.” He was not there to receive care, but to help us serve breakfast!
Walter serving breakfast with the team at Saturdays at Shepherd
I found out that he’d gotten connected with the small group while at Grace, and he’d kept in touch with them since then. When he found out they were serving at Shepherd, he decided to come because he knew that whatever his circumstances, Jesus calls him to a life of service. I was again humbled as I realized that although Walter has had so much taken from him, he still views giving of himself as central to his walk with Christ. We often reflect on how Matthew 25 talks about seeing Christ in those with great need, and I have little doubt that I was flipping pancakes beside Jesus that morning.
If you’d like more information about serving at Wheeler or Saturday’s at Shepherd, please visit our website.
Earlier this year, several of our tutors serving at Shepherd Community Center expressed an interest in working more intentionally to help struggling students. This desire spurred us to begin weekly small groups, where a tutor would meet the same children for four weeks at a time. The small group leaders came up with many creative ideas, from bringing books to read with the kids, to games to help them learn math, to impromptu science labs to help the kids learn the five senses.
Image courtesy of shepherdcommunity.org
I was able to work with a group of 5th and 6th graders who needed extra help with division and fractions. I was definitely challenged to help the students who were interested in learning while corralling the others, who had no interest in paying attention. One boy actually joked that he was going to kill me if I showed up with another worksheet for them to do.
Coming off a particularly rough week, I was dreading another hour of trying to bring order to the chaos. However, as soon as I walked in, one of the students ran over and said, “Mr. Jeff! Mr. Jeff! You saved me!” Confused, I asked her what she meant. She explained that she had just finished her ISTEPs, and had come across a section on adding fractions (our topic from the week before). She said the hour we’d spent on the material the week before was a huge help to her. Even though I’d given up any hope on making an impact with my lesson, God used a simple hour of my time to make a difference in this young girl’s life.
Linda, one of the other Outreach team members who volunteers regularly, told me a similar story recently. When she arrived at Shepherd a few weeks ago, one of the students in her group ran over, excitedly clutching a piece of paper. Linda looked at the paper and saw the student’s report card. Her math grade had moved up a full letter, from a D to a C, and she was grinning from ear to ear. She was now passing the class! Linda was struck by the fact that for the first time, this student felt confident that she could succeed in math.
So what about you? Can you be a friend to a child? If you’d like more information about how to get involved in Tutoring at Shepherd, please visit our website.
I have the privilege of being able to serve at Shepherd Community Center each Wednesday as a tutor during their afterschool program. Shepherd is a Christian community whose stated goal is to break the cycle of poverty on the near east side of Indianapolis. They work towards this goal by inviting neighbors into their community and providing holistic services to meet their physical, mental, spiritual and educational needs. The afterschool program provides children with a meal and a chance to receive tutoring from volunteers and Shepherd staff. Grace invites volunteers to tutor on Mondays and Wednesdays during the school year.
Over the past year, I’ve been spending time each week helping high school students with their homework. I’ve been blown away by how God is working in these students lives. Felicia is preparing to graduate this spring, and has already secured a full-ride to Indiana University in the fall. She will be the first person in her family to attend college. I always get nervous when she asks me for help, because although my degree is in engineering, the physics problems she works on each week are way over my head. Shepherd has helped give her the resources and confidence to achieve her dreams.
Sara has a mild learning disability, and has a hard time fitting in with the other students. When I first started helping her, she complained each week about how she had to “put up with me” and remained very cold towards my offer to help. In the following weeks, she noticed how I kept showing up each week, and that regardless of what subject, whether it was math or music, biology or Bible, I was willing to sit, listen, and lend a hand. We began to develop a genuine friendship, and I now know that if I miss a week, she’ll let me hear it the next time I come in. My time with Sara reminds me that often what the kids at Shepherd need most is not a rocket scientist, but simply a friend.
So what about you? Can you be a friend to a child? If you’d like more information about how to get involved in Tutoring at Shepherd, please visit our website. Stay tuned for Part II tomorrow.
