Good morning…
This Easter season, I saw God’s Spirit creatively at work, loving, spreading, multiplying. I witnessed the words of Jesus coming true before our very eyes: “I tell you for certain that if you have faith in me, you will do the same things I am doing. You will do even greater things, now that I am going back to the Father” (John 14:12, CEV).
With the Spirit of the risen Christ expanding out through us, our mission circle from Northside Church assembled 40 Easter baskets for the kids at PAWkids and 60 Easter bags for the senior citizens in the Grove Park neighborhood of our city.
Then the kids in the after school program at PAWkids enjoyed making cards and coloring Easter pictures to put in the bags for the seniors, sharing the love of God into the tight-knit community.
A friend from our Monday class donated the cross collection gathered throughout the lifetime of a beloved Northside Church member. The PAWkids kids chose a cross and wrapped one to take home as an Easter gift for their families. How fun to think of these gorgeous crosses spread throughout our city!
After creating cards and giving gifts throughout the month, at our Easter party the kids loved receiving the baskets so beautifully crafted and generously shared by our friends at Northside.
The next day, a group from PAWkids drove to Gulf Shores in Alabama for spring break, with some kids experiencing the ocean for the very first time. This trip was paid in full by generous donors from our written word community. “Good morning!” texted PAWkids’ founder and director LaTonya Gates. “We made it. I truly can’t thank you all enough for helping to make this happen.”
After our therapeutic community group last week, I texted our group leader: “Thank you for reminding us that God is doing all of these great things through PAWkids. What a privilege to watch God at work in so many transformative ways.”
Easter after Easter, God sparks the life of Christ in ordinary people. This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace (Colossians 1:6, NLT).
…Sue…
P.S. We have six more weeks left to enjoy arts and crafts activities at PAWkids from 4:00 to 6:00 pm on Wednesdays. We also have one more open Wednesday to provide a family style dinner for 40 kids from 5:00 to 6:00 pm. I will be at PAWkids each Wednesday, and if you would like to join in the fun, please reply to this email. I’ll send you the sign up link for arts and crafts or to provide the dinner. Thank you for bearing fruit by changing lives!
