When the day was almost over, the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so that they can go to the nearby villages and countryside and find lodging and food, because we are in a deserted place.”
He replied, “You give them something to eat.” Luke 9:12-13
Ask Your Church this Question:
There is a question all churches need to ask themselves once in a while. It has a lot to do with the focus of ministry, the lighthouse versus fortress mentality, and it goes something like this: “If our congregation suddenly ceased to exist, what difference would it make to this community?” Or, “If this church disappeared would anyone in this town even notice?”
Consequently, I’m always excited when I see our Christian Life Center full to bursting with over 400 people and probably 350 of them aren’t Presbyterians. Not only that but a lot of them don’t even go to church at all.
What everyone does have in common is a love for Wake Forest and a commitment to work together to fight food insecurity – hunger – in our part of Wake County.
Stop Hunger Feed Hope:
The occasion was the annual “Stop Hunger Feed Hope” fundraising dinner for Tri-Area Ministries. The reason we host the event isn’t just because we have the best facility, it’s because WFPC members are leaders in the community, leaders in the fight to end hunger, and leaders when it comes to following our faith up with community action.
People who are part of the WFPC faith community are well-known around town as carriers of gospel light, and our campus is a kind of epicenter for the kind of purposeful activity that flows directly from worship and discipleship into love in action.
People who are part of the WFPC faith community are well-known around town as carriers of gospel light…
Between ticket sales, auction items, and flat-out donations, Friday night’s crowd of people raised upwards of $30,000 (my estimate, based on some hard data), helping to add fresh produce to the food packages TAM distributes. Add to that the literally thousands of pounds of sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and green beans that have come directly from our community garden this year and you can see why people look to WFPC for leadership in light and encouragement and love and hope.
Here are a few photos from the event. When I returned Saturday morning for Bible study I could still feel the reverberations of love and joy.
Peace, and the promise of the gospel of light – DEREK
