| Personal Stories
"A Child Shall
Lead Them"
by Kathy
Riblet
Keyshawn, sitting in
his stroller while his Mom shopped
and shopped, had grown increasingly
tired and agitated. He was miserable
and looked it. He had a very bad
cold and was in dire need of having
someone pay attention to his
discontent, a runny nose taken care
of, alligator tears dried, a soaked
diaper changed and wet clothes
replaced with dry ones. That was the
“before”. This is the “after”
several of our volunteers came to
his rescue with a little TLC (which
was rewarded with a big smile).
Now, I know it’s been said, “ It’s
more blessed to give than receive”;
however, take another look at the
picture. I’m not sure who was more
blessed at this moment! A picture
really is worth a thousand words!!!
An exciting part of working in the
clothing room is not knowing what
the day will hold, and, yet, knowing
as we open the volunteer door at New
Life church, an opportunity will
present itself to show the love of
Jesus. Sometimes it’s simply
“practicing random acts of kindness”
as we interact with our neighbors
and volunteers.
Words that challenge me, that haunt
me, that guide me, that motivate me,
that inspire me……
Love God, love your neighbor as
yourself.
Do unto others as you would have
others do unto you.
Don’t hide your light under a bushel
basket.
No gift or talent is too small to
honor the Christ child.
When you have done it unto the least
of these, you have done it unto me.
In the ministry at
New Life clothing room, we don’t
have clients or customers or
strangers - we are all neighbors,
children of God. Caring for and
welcoming our neighbors is not about
handouts or pity or charity or even
basic politeness - it’s about
respect for thedignity of others,
including those in need.
How do I feel about my volunteer
time at New Life??? Two words come
to mind: 'useful' (remembering that
God has no hands but our hands) and
'joyful' (knowing I will have many
opportunities to connect with our
neighbors in a caring, positive way
that reflects God’s all encompassing
love). I believe a universal need we
all share with our neighbors is to
belong to someone or something
outside ourselves and here, in God’s
house, in New Life’s ministries, our
need is met.
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Partner
Churches Express Reasons Why they
Support New Life
●Our church is blessed by its
partnership with New Life UMC in
many ways. I believe that New Life
is a representation of true
Christianity at its best. In
accepting Jesus as our savior, we
are called to follow in his
footsteps. New Life UMC does this as
it ministers to those who are truly
in need. Jesus gave us the
commandment to love one another, so
that the world will know we are His.
This is what New Life is all about
and why we support its mission.
●The
various ministries at New Life give
us the opportunity to show God’s
love to all our brothers and sisters
whoever they are and wherever they
happen to be. The breakfast ministry
at New Life is one in which we have
the privilege of serving guests who
come for nourishment for their body
and for their soul.
●Why
do we support New Life? We are
called to love our neighbors, work
for justice and be the hands and
feet of Christ in the world. We are
blessed to have this opportunity to
serve, share and learn from our
homeless brothers and sisters.
●The
ministry of New Life fills a huge
gap in our community, in serving the
needs of the homeless in the
difficult realities on a daily
basis. This is evident in the
physical help of food, clothing and
medical care, but even more
importantly, in the area of prayer
and the Good News of God’s love and
care for each individual…You
personally personify that message in
your relationships with so may
guests of New Life.
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A “Young Disciple’s” Thoughts on
Homelessness
Hello,
readers, my name is Destiny
Ashley (age 11) and I go to New
Life United Methodist Church.
This is where I started learning
about Street Speech
[street newspaper].
I don’t live
on the streets. But I do
experience a lot and I do see a
lot of homeless people
everywhere especially in the
city of Columbus. It is so crazy
no matter if you’re in the
Terris, Milo, or Short North –
anywhere. It’s always around
you. I know you see the homeless
people, the dirty streets they
have to live on. It’s not fun. I
wouldn’t want it and neither
would you. Or do you hear the
dogs barking, the gun shots, the
police sirens they have to hear
right up against their cars? Or
not only are they homeless they
have no food, nothing. Yes they
may have some little money to go
to the Thrift Store after
selling pop cans they get off
the streets but that is it.
So think the
next time you go to make fun of
how someone has to live or where
they have to live, or even what
they look like, or what they
have to wear because you
wouldn’t want anyone to crack on
you if you were to be homeless.
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From Doral Chenoweth,
Member
of New Life Church
Robin and I would like to thank
everyone who volunteered for the
summer reading program at New
Life. Our children enjoyed every
minute of it (or every hour of
it, as Cassie read more than 60
hours).
The progress Kurtis, 5, made
during the program was
remarkable. At the start of the
summer, he did not know how to
read. But by the second week,
Kurtis was a solid reader.
The excitement of gathering
every week, the prizes, and the
discovery of the joy of reading
was an enjoyable part of our
summer.
Our Summer Reading Program was
offered to kids in elementary
and middle school grade levels
every Thursday afternoon.
Plugged In, a tutoring program
for kids of all ages, meets
every Tuesday that school is in
session.
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