National
“Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40). Jesus said it: profound, radical words. Every day we meet poor people needing help. What makes us most uncomfortable is that we can’t help everyone. There is never enough money, time and resources. What can we do?
What we can do, and are called to do, is to remember what Jesus said: “When you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” – not, please notice, just the certifiably hungry and truly deserving. The only criterion Jesus set was “least of these”, particularly the small ones, the children. So what you and I can do is not to ignore and overlook, but to look into a human face and to see the face of Christ, because that is what Jesus said.
We serve others through the following forms of ministry:
We provide a facilitated support group for young mothers based on a youth engagement model of empowerment. Teen Parent Connect meet after school from 1:00 – 3:00 Tuesday afternoons September to June at the Lochiel Kiwanis Centre.
We also:
- Advocate to the marginalized in the County of Lambton empowering them to negotiate the system (government and judicial)
- Assist at The Inn of The Good Shepherd by helping with lunches as we are able; another team fills in whenever there is a need at the Inn. We use up any other items from the fridge that have be donated for seconds. There is always lots of donated rolls so we put garlic butter on them and toast them in the oven. There is usually enough deserts to feed everyone, donated from the retail market. We make coffee and cold drinks.
- We send bales of clothing and Prayer Books to a First Nations community in the north
- Internationally, we support the “Sleeping Children around the World” Project by providing mosquito netting and we support Bethlehem, Ministries, as we are able, and depending on the needs of our local community