Yesterday I sat in church surrounded by those from about seven churches in South Wheaton and Glen Ellyn. We were all gathered together to participate in CareFest, which is a day when the churches come together. The first hour was a combined church service. The next couple hours we went out and worked in the community doing over a dozen different projects. What a powerful thing to see the Church serving the community.
Before the service started I read through a stack of response cards from 11 families in my church, Wheaton Evangelical Free Church (WEFC) who had delivered 16 bicycles to 11 different families in need within our community, over the past 2 weeks. Many bikes went to refugees from several different countries. The project was done in partnership with His Wheels, WEFC and Lincoln School in District 200. Sitting in church on CareFest Sunday, reading these responses was a rich act of worship for me.
When looking for families to deliver these bikes, I wrote in an email, "If you are looking for an opportunity to knock on a neighbor's door, deliver a bike from WEFC, and get a big smile in return, we would appreciate hearing from you." Here are some of the responses those delivering bikes received:
"A 7 year old girl was very excited to hear I had arrived with the bikes! She hopped right on and rode down the sidewalk. Her little brother was too shy to get on his bike with me there..."
"We took the bike to the door and a little girl clasped her hands together with delight and ran out her front door in her stocking feet." After getting her shoes and coat on she was off-"riding around the condo complex in circles. She and her mom both said many "thank you's!"
"The girls were very happy and thanked us several times. We bought them locks, and set the combos with them. We showed them how to use the locks, the hand brakes and the speeds. They offered us old bike parts, which we will go back and get."
"One happy little girl. It was a joy!" This delivery quote described how I felt sitting in church on CareFest Sunday, worshipping with the Church of South Wheaton, Glen Ellyn, and Warrenville.
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