Is it winter yet? Brrrrrr!!!! Aren’t you glad that you have a nice warm place in which to live? As a part of Calvary United Methodist Church, you’ve also given Katie Lane and her daughter, Elena, a warm place to call home! Through our partnership with Habitat for Humanity, we had the privilege of donating one quarter of the cost of that house ($10,000) as well as 280 hours of volunteer ministry from our congregation. Calvary provided volunteers one Saturday morning a month from May through November and there was no shortage of people willing to help.
Larry Oleson, one of Calvary’s volunteers is a contractor by profession. “It was nice to be able to use my skills and abilities to help someone else in this way. It was also fun to teach other volunteers how to do particular things and watch the smiles on their faces as they completed different parts of the project. We had fun working together and alongside Katie and Elena. Katie was so appreciative of our help and even prayed for me when I was unable to help because of an unrelated injury.”
Part of Habitat’s philosophy is that the homeowner must also work on their home in order to qualify for the build. As a single mom, Katie had to get special permission from her job at McDonald’s to be off on Saturdays to work on her house…..and that permission was granted. In fact, her boss was at both the groundbreaking for the house as well as the dedication when it was finished. We hear so much about what is wrong with our world, it’s nice to hear the good stories about people helping each other.
We put aside $5,000 from the outreach budget in 2015, and added another $5,000 out of the 2016 outreach budget in order to get to that $10,000 sponsorship point. At that level, we are guaranteed to be able to work one Saturday a month (and our people love to be hands on in these builds!). Because of your generosity, in 2017, we hope to be able to sponsor at least one quarter of a house rather than having to wait until 2018 to come up with the full $10,000.
As I sit in my warm home, I think about Katie and Elena and I smile. What a blessing that we get to be a part of their sharing this first Christmas in their own home. Thank you for making this happen!
Questions or discussion? Click here to comment.
Tomorrow on the Daily Connection: A Light to My Path (John 1:14-17)
About the Author
Debbie Reese is the Co-Directing Pastor of Calvary UMC