Taking The Next Step

By Nick Davis – Christ’s Family Church
There is a Coptic Christian who works in the slums of Cairo, Egypt,
with destitute children, both Christian and Muslim, who “are hungry
every hour.” She is known as Mama Maggie Gobran. She was asked, “Young
people in the United States have a new social awareness. They want to
help the needy around the world, yet sometimes they don’t know where
to get involved. How should they get started?”

Her response: “Jesus takes us always step by step. He doesn’t reveal
the whole all at once. So I would tell anyone who feels this: Please
take another step and do something to the closest person—inside your
family, inside your town, inside your church. You can encourage
someone with a word. You can give a flower to someone. You can do
something. When you do, Jesus will open the door for you for more.
Take the step.” Pastor Don White urged us all with this message and
encouraged us to ‘let’s move from theory to practice and “TAKE THE
STEP!’ And take the next step we did, and another, and another.
Christ’s Family Church continued in His path shown to us for outreach
to friends and family in Christ over this Christmas season at
Timbercreek Apartments.

The next step started out with a gift wrapping social. In previous
years gift wrapping was done at a local department store, but this
year we thought it would have a greater impact and continue to build
relationships if we made it a personable social event. We were able to
use Timbercreek’s clubhouse and set up with refreshments, desserts, a
coloring and craft area for the kids, Christmas music, and as much
socializing and gift wrapping as we could fit into a few hours. One of
the best parts of the whole evening was that there were some who came,
not to have gifts wrapped, but just wanted to spend time with the CFC
volunteers simply because of the previous outreach events and
relationships we have with a lot of the residents there. We also
invited everyone to our Christmas Eve service.

A few days later we were back in the clubhouse again to bring gifts in
the name of the Lord. We held our second annual Christmas at the Creek
drive to help those at the apartments needing a little assistance this
season. We were able to beat our giving goal of last year, and this
year we had seven families, with a total of twenty three kids to buy
gifts for. They were all able to receive some toys, personal care
items, and warmth (hats, gloves, and full size blankets!). The local
Vineyard church also gave some assistance and was able to help out
each family and provide each family with not only a good size bag of
groceries, but a bag of various meats for each  family as well. While
they weren’t as extravagant as gold, frankincense, and myrrh, they
were received as such from those we were able to serve. All the
families were open to receiving a Christmas blessing prayer, and
several had additional prayer requests as well.

At the end of the event, as we prayed in closing and expressed the
compassion we had for the people and situations which people asked for
prayer, Pastor Don reminded us that we were not doing this to ‘get
people to come to church’ (even though some have come because of it),
it is about serving where we are at, meeting them where they are at,
and sharing Christ’s love and the Good News with them. We were also
given great wisdom from Lollie Hofer that we do not look upon them as
just people living in a low income apartment complex in less than
favorable situations, but friends and family in the name of Christ,
and that we are their Church (some of them just don’t know it yet). We
left with a great feeling of joy that day.

In addition to all of this, the CFC Roots Youth group also ‘Adopted A
Family’ through the local Salvation Army, pooling resources from the
teens, they were able to buy gifts and a Christmas dinner for a family
of five here in Omaha. They will be Jesus’ hands and feet and present
it to the family later this week.

So remember the words of Jesus ‘…and you will be my witnesses in
Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth’
(Acts 1:8). Here at CFC we are serving, and in the words of Mama
Maggie Gobran ‘taking the next step’ in our own Jerusalem, while being
connected to our Judea and Samaria. What is the next step to take in
your own Jerusalem?