This month’s editorial is by King Island Uniting Church member Beth Vellekoop.
In May the King Island Uniting Church had this crazy idea to ask for extra copies of the out-of-print Together in Song. Our congregation had grown, and we just didn’t have enough books.
Our ‘anguished’ photo for Crosslight of our congregation sharing a single book took stern control to stop giggles and smiles. Our bunch of quiet achievers struggled to show ‘anguished’, because God blesses us in so many ways.
We live in a beautiful place, a safe and friendly community, with a great bunch of committed Christians who nearly all get ‘volunteered’ into some role in our church.
Some worried we were less deserving than others and shouldn’t ask for help; some didn’t want to be a bother. Should God’s people really ask for help?
What happened next was truly amazing. We were contacted by eight different churches. Some were willing to meet our need through excess supplies, some were willing to share scarce supplies and some proposed alternative options. Each week I reported to the congregation on the emails I received. King Island was stunned by the willingness of total strangers to help our remote community.
Leighmoor Uniting Church kindly donated books, some with extra-large print. They even delivered them to the airline for freighting.
This left us feeling humble, amazed, grateful, thankful and a teeny bit embarrassed.
Why embarrassed? Because we are used to being the ones helping others. We are the ones who represent our community in local council, in health and welfare, in teaching, in business, growing food and working in local community organisations.
When the community needs help, someone in our group is somewhere in the background. Nobody thinks anything of it – it is just something that we do. We share God’s love that way.
There is plenty of love in this month’s edition of Crosslight. The cover story explores relationships and dating for young Christians. Robin Purdey movingly looks back on her lifetime love story. UCA minister Ann Scull writes of a different type of love, for a place and a people, in ‘Letters from the Holy Land’.
Finally, you can see the before and after photos of our hymn book request.
As Christians, we can share our gifts, talents and generosity. The simple little things we do every day will count for someone else. We may never know who that is, but God will know.
Beth Vellekoop
Treasurer and member of church council
King Island Uniting Church
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