Stepping Out in Faith

Easter has come and gone. It was a busy but nice day for us.  I volunteer in our church’s three and four year old Sunday School class and usually have from about 17 to 23 kids in there.  I have a helper most days, too, because that’s a lot of kids for one person.

This Easter, we ended up having 35 children in the class.  Thank God for my friend who came in during the first service to drop off her child and saw that I had 31 children already. She volunteered to help me and in the end we split the class up into two classes next door to each other. 

The kids are so adorable.  They love the little games we play in there like playing hot potato with different items or taping stickers to a picture on the wall. They also love to share. One child shared his mealtime prayer on Easter with the rest of us, closing his eyes and singing it to the whole class.

I’m sure you’ve heard of the James 1:27 verse: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

These kids aren’t orphans, but I do think of sharing the gospel with them as a ministry.  Right now, I am thinking about orphans in Uganda though, and considering how I can look after them.

You might remember that for Lent, I fasted once a week until Maundy Thursday when we broke our fast with a Sedar meal.  The meal was wonderful and talking about it could be a whole other blog, but to get back to the point, I decided that I would take the money I saved by fasting and give it to a good cause. 

I gave the first eight bucks I saved to Skip1, which provides food and water to the needy.  Then I got a call from a local mission called Waterfront Rescue Mission which was providing Easter meals to homeless people in Pensacola.

I gave them half of what I had left and was told it would provide 34 meals.  I could hear the gratitude in the man’s voice who took my contribution as he told me they counted on people like me to donate.

I still have $76 to donate and was thinking I might give it to World Food Programme. They do such good work and had sent me an email asking for a donation. They’ve been teaming up with the makers of The Hunger Games movie, too, so they were on my mind for that.

But now I’m considering something totally different. The night I tried to donate to WFP, I couldn’t get through to their website.  I think I know why.

You see, someone has left a message twice on my Volunteer and Charity Guru Facebook page telling me about his orphanage.  I responded to his comment but he didn’t write me back last time. This time he did.

He told me he is caring for 15 orphans in his facility without any regular support. He also mentioned an additional 72 orphans and 23 widows that he helps.  I gave him my email address and he told me he started the ministry in 2005 and it’s only grown since then because of children losing their parents to AIDS. 

I have to admit, at first I thought maybe he was just trying to con money out of me, but I think he may be for real.  I’m still trying to find out more so I can know that the money will go to his Shalom Orphan Home instead of just to him.

You know, sometimes, we just have to step out in faith.  I have had many fake emails from people in other countries asking for my help in transferring funds or saying they had money for me, but there is something about this guy that makes me feel like he is telling the truth. 

I can’t go to Charity Navigator and check him out, but I’m going to ask some more questions and if I’m satisfied, I’m going to send him the $76.  How have you stepped out in faith to help others this Lent and Easter season?