Back to School Bash

This morning my church had our big Back to School giveaway. Background first… We meet in a recreation center in Brannen homes here, and we do so because we want to be able to minister to the families living there. It’s a low income housing development. There are bunches of kids around all the time, so we decided to have a back to school thing. We had a hundred (very nice) backpacks full of school supplies to give away, as well as lunch (hotdogs, etc) and gift bags donated by dentists. Well, we had around 300 people show up!! Praise Him!! We got to meet so many people, and a few families told us they would come tomorrow. I got to play with some little girls, they were all so precious. I’m so excited for what God has planned there. The people of Village Park Baptist Church came up to help us out (btw mom, they said to tell ya’ll hello..) It’s so exciting to be part of this. I can’t begin to tell you.. to be able to give these children things they need.. I think it’s so important to minister to people’s physical needs as well as their spiritual ones. I think it gets neglected sometimes, not always of course. I spent some time with one little girl, she is 5, and could not believe the words coming out of her mouth. What makes it sad is that she knew what she was saying.. I mean, I hear my preschool kids say things all the time, but they never fully comprehend the significance of the words. They’re more like parrots repeating what they hear. This little girl knew. So sad. But all the more for Jesus to heal, right? It must be one of the most heartbreaking things in the world to see a child who has lost its innocence. Innocence is one of the greatest gifts we are given as children, and once it is lost it is very hard to regain.