Moving time

Many of these broken families live in poverty and struggle with communication, as the generation gap can be at times too great. This is a need that I had never really been aware of before, and I was thankful that God opened my eyes to it.

A few of the families that Namaqua assists had pressing needs that Namaqua could not physically meet in the time they had available.  So, Mike, Jarred, and I had the opportunity to team up with two mission teams Texas and Arkansas also working with Pursuit Church to meet some of those needs.

I was stationed at the home of a great-grandmother who raises her 4-year-old great-grandson alone. Because of her increasing health problems, she had decided to move into a smaller, more manageable one-story house. Her old house was filled to the brim with knick-knacks and odds and ends that had been accumulating for years. There was no rhyme or reason to it. All we could do was pile item after item into boxes to be taken to the new house.

My heart broke for this woman who had been trying to make it on her own for so many lonely years and had little time to take care of the place where she lived. I was reminded that I should not stick up my nose in disgust at the condition of what she had been living in and had to ask the Lord to help me serve without judgment. He answered my prayer and filled my heart with his impartial compassion and a determination to complete the job better than I would even do it for myself.

I was inspired by the excellent attitudes of the youth groups that we were packing and cleaning alongside. They worked tirelessly, even canceling other activities they had planned for the rest of that day. They wanted to fully prepare the house to be placed on the market and move all the woman’s necessities to the new house. I hope that the grandmother and her grandson feel refreshed by a new beginning and that Christ’s love was evident in our efforts. What blessing to meet a need and work together with some awesome teenagers.

Student missionary correspondent Amber Cassady, a communications student at Texas A&M University in College Station, is serving in Colorado with Go Now Missions. See all Students On Mission Blog posts.