Project Hope
We had a neat experience recently.
Our church participates in Project Hope, which is a ministry involving our local county jail. (I'm not sure if it's solely our church or if our church is just one of many involved.) The chaplains had the inmates that would be in jail over Christmas fill out an application that gave the names and ages of any children in their home, so that someone could purchase gifts for the children in the inmate's stead.
We offered to purchase gifts for an entire family. Evidently "our" inmate was younger, so we bought gifts for his 17yo brother, his 8yo brother, and his 3yo neice. We got a K-Nex set for the 8yo and a Cinderella dress-up dress and tiara for the 3yo. We were pretty stumped for the 17yo, so I called (and called and called since she was rarely home LOL) the caregiver (which turned out to be the inmate's mom). She suggested some warm clothing (hat, gloves, etc.) for the 17yo. So we got him a fleece jacket, a hat, and some gloves.
We had the option to drop all the gifts off at the church or deliver them ourselves. I wasn't quite sure what to say when we dropped them off, since they were supposed to be from the inmate. But we missed the cutoff for dropping them off at the church, and I'm SO glad we did!!! I called the lady and got directions to her house, so that we could drop them off after our Christmas Eve service.
When we got there, I was the only one who went to the door - I didn't want to overwhelm them with my crew LOL! (Next year I think I will have the 2-3 older ones come with me.) She had me come in - the inmate was on the phone and wanted to thank me. So I got to talk to him for a few minutes. The whole family came into the room, and I got to meet everyone. They were so appreciative! The 17yo and 8yo were so sweet as well. Then the lady gave me a BEAUTIFUL poinsetta and a card that they all had signed. And then she gave me a huge hug! It was just so wonderful - I was nearly in tears!!!
It was just such a neat experience, and I'm so thankful that we got to do something like this.
vgarr wrote,
What a neat experience! Is it any thing like Angel Tree? (I think that is Chuck Colson’s ministry?)
Link | December 30th, 2005 at 6:54 pm
razorbackmama wrote,
Yes, I think it is somewhat similar. I’m not familiar with all the ins and outs of Angel Tree, but I think it is a lot like it (and it serves the same purpose).
Link | December 30th, 2005 at 9:34 pm
Kathyt wrote,
That is really a neat story. I’m so glad you shared your experience of how the drop off went. We buy gifts for the Angel Tree project every year, and some years our small group has “adopted” a needy family but I have never been the one to drop off the gifts. I’ve always felt very awkward about that. But your story encourages me right in an area I could use some encouragement. Thanks!
Link | January 5th, 2006 at 3:05 pm
Kate wrote,
hey keer - i’m been a long time silent reader and now i am speaking! (in otherwords, i need to get on the stick with leaving comments!) love reading your blog and glad to see all is well.
Link | January 17th, 2006 at 6:31 pm