BREAKING NEWS
PEANUT BUTTER COLLECTION TO SWITCH TO CRACKERS:
EPUMC has been asked to switch our donation emphasis from peanut butter to crackers for the month of June. PB donations have come from unexpected sources in addition to ours. We were planning to request crackers in July anyway…
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We had a very special speaker on World Hunger during worship this past Sunday. It was EPUMC’s own Abbey Sweeney. Abbey is an almost 8th grader who has a passion to do something about world hunger. She emailed me about a week ago and asked if it would be Ok for her to stand in front of the church and talk about this subject.
Abbey reminded us of a couple of things we are doing and what we can do to address the issues of world hunger here in Eden Prairie. She did this in a way that startled me. In a voice that did not fit her smallish frame, she said something like, “Do you know there are kids in Eden Prairie who go to school hungry!” She then gave a statistic of the percentage of children in Eden Prairie Schools who are on free and reduced lunch. It was too many… and as I listened to the tone of her voice, especially as she said the word “kids” it seemed personal for Abbey. And it’s not that Abbey is hungry as much as….my guess is…she might know someone who is.
Then she asked, “What can we do about this?”…and told us about going to Feed My Starving Children and collecting another 400 jars of peanut butter in the month of June. Abbey went to the trouble of looking at the sign up sheet for Feed My Starving Children for next Monday… there were four spots open. She was a little worried about mentioning this, asking me beforehand what if more than four people sign up. She expressed this concern in her talk and then quoted me saying, "Pastor Dan said, 'that would be a good problem.'” It became a great problem: we have 34 signed up for Monday…thanks, Abby
Abbey addressed the peanut butter drive by both congratulating and encouraging us. She’s right; we did a great job of collecting 400 jars of peanut butter in May, but the task is not completed. I know she didn’t say this, but we have a long way to go for the month of June. To date we have something like…. I know Abbey didn’t say this either but if she doesn’t mind, I’ll say what I think she might have said which is… “if we don’t come closer to our goal, some kids are going to be hungry.” I was still hearing Abbey in my head when I was shopping this past Monday and went by the peanut butter.
(See Breaking News above…. The thought easily translates to crackers. I mean what is peanut butter if you don’t have crackers…. I have not heard the goal so you might figure how far does a jar of peanut butter go and match them up…And don’t be skimpy with the peanut butter.)
When asked once about how it is we might know God’s ways in a world a bit more clearly, Jesus referred to having faith like a child. We often interpret that to be innocent and obedient. But I think Abbey showed us something different…Children can also be passionate, tenacious and very persistent about what they want. Abbey wants our church to be concerned and informed about World Hunger and what we can do about it in Eden Prairie… let’s not only listen to her, but also follow her and make this issue a little more personal. If you ask me, in following Abbey’s lead, we are also becoming servants who are following Jesus.
Keep the Faith,
Pastor Dan
PEANUT BUTTER COLLECTION TO SWITCH TO CRACKERS:
EPUMC has been asked to switch our donation emphasis from peanut butter to crackers for the month of June. PB donations have come from unexpected sources in addition to ours. We were planning to request crackers in July anyway…
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We had a very special speaker on World Hunger during worship this past Sunday. It was EPUMC’s own Abbey Sweeney. Abbey is an almost 8th grader who has a passion to do something about world hunger. She emailed me about a week ago and asked if it would be Ok for her to stand in front of the church and talk about this subject.
Abbey reminded us of a couple of things we are doing and what we can do to address the issues of world hunger here in Eden Prairie. She did this in a way that startled me. In a voice that did not fit her smallish frame, she said something like, “Do you know there are kids in Eden Prairie who go to school hungry!” She then gave a statistic of the percentage of children in Eden Prairie Schools who are on free and reduced lunch. It was too many… and as I listened to the tone of her voice, especially as she said the word “kids” it seemed personal for Abbey. And it’s not that Abbey is hungry as much as….my guess is…she might know someone who is.
Then she asked, “What can we do about this?”…and told us about going to Feed My Starving Children and collecting another 400 jars of peanut butter in the month of June. Abbey went to the trouble of looking at the sign up sheet for Feed My Starving Children for next Monday… there were four spots open. She was a little worried about mentioning this, asking me beforehand what if more than four people sign up. She expressed this concern in her talk and then quoted me saying, "Pastor Dan said, 'that would be a good problem.'” It became a great problem: we have 34 signed up for Monday…thanks, Abby
Abbey addressed the peanut butter drive by both congratulating and encouraging us. She’s right; we did a great job of collecting 400 jars of peanut butter in May, but the task is not completed. I know she didn’t say this, but we have a long way to go for the month of June. To date we have something like…. I know Abbey didn’t say this either but if she doesn’t mind, I’ll say what I think she might have said which is… “if we don’t come closer to our goal, some kids are going to be hungry.” I was still hearing Abbey in my head when I was shopping this past Monday and went by the peanut butter.
(See Breaking News above…. The thought easily translates to crackers. I mean what is peanut butter if you don’t have crackers…. I have not heard the goal so you might figure how far does a jar of peanut butter go and match them up…And don’t be skimpy with the peanut butter.)
When asked once about how it is we might know God’s ways in a world a bit more clearly, Jesus referred to having faith like a child. We often interpret that to be innocent and obedient. But I think Abbey showed us something different…Children can also be passionate, tenacious and very persistent about what they want. Abbey wants our church to be concerned and informed about World Hunger and what we can do about it in Eden Prairie… let’s not only listen to her, but also follow her and make this issue a little more personal. If you ask me, in following Abbey’s lead, we are also becoming servants who are following Jesus.
Keep the Faith,
Pastor Dan
RSS Feed
