Meeting the need: A back to school project
By: Francis Jhun T. Macalam
Children expressed their thanks by writing a letter
The act of true giving is rather pleasing to the heart of every believer. In truth, God’s generosity has been bestowed to us through our salvation and to those who received Him. Our heart should be willing to give to the Lord and His Church and to the communities who are in need.
Last June 6, 2015, EFC-Ganghaan, one of the outstation churches in Northern Mindanao conducted a back-to-school program in its community. It was spearheaded by Mia Cynthia Adlaon, a volunteer church planter in EFC Cagayan de Oro. Together with the upbeat Xavier Heights outstation workers, they successfully conducted their Back-to-School community outreach through giving of school supplies which aims to uplift the lives of underprivileged children through education empowerment.
“We choose to meet this need because we observe that the families of our kids are having financial difficulties, and since it’s the beginning of class, this will be a great opportunity to bless them and to encourage the kids to passionately pursue their education,” shared Mia.
One of the goals of this project is to encourage the young teens in the outstation to get involved in organizing the said event. The leaders were tasked to list down all the names of the faithful members and their siblings. The lists should be specific as to the age, grade, gender and appropriate notebooks. The program built their collaboration skills as they kept up with each other to ensure the details are correct. School supplies and cash donations were given by the kind- hearted members of EFC Cagayan de Oro. The day before the event, some young people and kids helped in packing the school supplies.
There were twenty-two (22) children in all. Thirteen (13) girls and fourteen (14) boys benefited in the said project. The highlight of the program was the sharing of God’s Word on Giving. Mia, as the team leader, reminded them that the way to be blessed is to give.
As the young people stepped up in their faith by meeting the needs of the community, they experienced deeper commitment to the ministry.
“They need not worry if they cannot give big amount financially. Spending their time, lending their ears and participating in the lesson is also considered generosity, and that means a lot to God. We cast a vision onto them that one day they will be the people who will be empowered to give. “Mia said. Giving is about sowing and reaping. Indeed, these children are privileged to have been chosen as recipients, but they also touched the hearts of the young outstation workers. Before the program came to an end, they all personally made thank you cards to show their utmost gratitude to their benefactors. As the workers saw the smile of every child, a realization hit them, “It is all worth it. Truly, it is more blessed to give than to receive.”
