Rev. Neil Dunnavant,
Executive Pastor
While solving big problems with big ideas is needed and important, it is also true that most positive changes will come in very small ways one life at a time, one little plot of land at a time, one person willing to do the right thing against all odds and with little encouragement.
I have been impressed and inspired at how many church members are willing to get involved in the lives of people who need some help. Perhaps it is the guy who mows your grass or a server at a restaurant or a struggling gardener at the farmer’s market. It could be the high school student next door who is not getting along with his parents and needs another adult mentor.
Often church members have sought my advice about how to help someone. Am I doing too much or too little? Can the church provide some funds? Reaching out like this comes with some risk. Sometimes you get taken, lied to, manipulated. Sometimes you can get sort of burned out or fatigued. Usually the honest person does not ask for help and gratefully and sometimes even reluctantly accepts help. If a person starts asking for more and more and shows no signs of progress, this is usually a clear sign that the person is not genuine, and it is time to quit.
However most of the time the risk is worth taking and the results are profound. That car repair you paid for prevented a real spiraling down that could easily have led to homelessness and joblessness. That class at GTCC you paid for allowed the person to improve and become more financially stable. Those generous tips to your favorite server made all the difference. Those visits kept someone from falling into despair.
If we all can keep our hearts, minds and eyes open to helping someone (just one person or maybe two) in need, it multiplies into being something big and profound that changes the world and brings the Kingdom of God close at hand.
