Helping Families after Housefires.

Just over a month ago a family of 6 in our community lost their home in a housefire. A member of our congregation lifted them in prayer. Later that week another member forwarded me a news article about the family. Their greatest need was a new home quickly because their eldest son was scheduled for surgery at John Hopkins and it was so complicated that they would not do the surgery if the family did not have a permanent address. The child would not be allowed to recover in a hotel room. Our church had just completed renovations on the parsonage and offered the family a place to live, matching our rent to their previous rent. They moved in that week. The family was blessed by community generosity in re-establishing thier home. People donated furniture, clothing, linens and other home and kitchen goods. The church assisted with restocking their pantry. The extreme generosity sparked an idea in nine year old Lauren's mind. She wanted to use some of the items donated to thier family to make kits that would assist another family displaced by fire. She began collecting items and storing them in a suitcase. Her ministry is called Lauren's Luggage. You can connect via Facebook.

Last week another family in our community experienced a house fire and a member of the congregation lifted them in prayer. Their greatest need was clothing, toys and equipment for a six month old baby girl. The congregation went to work and we gathered some necessities adding diapers and formula. We invited Lauren to present her first gift of Lauren's Luggage on Sunday morning. Lauren's family are not members of our congregation but they have been blessed by us and in turn, through us, have blessed others. God is working through us and the circle of generosity to build something good out of something horrible.

Last week the doctors and nurses at John Hpokins were able to successfully complete the procedure on the Hontz's son, restoring his breath and vitality. He is expected home shortly. Because of the cost of recovering from a housefire, even with the community generosity, the Hontz familiy was struggling to pay the hospital bills. Severna Park a larger UMC in our wider community worked with us to help the family with a financial donation for the medical bills. I appreciate the power of the UM connectional system.

The Holy Spirit is at work in our congregation and in the community! The Holy Spirit is amazing!