I LOVE IT when the Church works right. This is the Church that I’m rediscovering. This is the Church that I feared was all but lost.

Trey Morgan made May 5th this year a day given over to raising money for the ministry to the ‘Dump People’, people who make their living and find their food by scouring the dump in Santa Ana, Honduras.

Trey has never been to the dump personally but has been touched by some of the photo’s he has seen and stories he has read on Terri and Marc Tindall’s blogs. That’s the 9th thing the Church did right here. I’m not certain what the first 8 things the Church did right are, but they involve Terri and Marc Tindall going out to Honduras to minister to the dump people. How do I know there are 8 things? I just know, OK! 🙂

Anyway, back to #9… Trey allowed himself to have compassion on people he’d never met in a place he’d never been. That’s actually harder than it sounds. Can you feel deep compassion for some nameless guy on a dump in a city you’ve never heard of in a country you can’t even place on a map?

#10 on the list of things the Church did right here is down to Trey again.. he prayed about the situation. I don’t know Trey all that well but I am absolutely convinced he prayed a lot about this – which is awesome!

#11 is that he took action. Oh that we would act more often instead of sitting around talking about action…. rather like I’m doing now. Ooops! Trey had prayed and he listened to what God was calling him to do and took action!

#12  – well, #12 is the one that really excites me. #12 is that the Church responded – in a BIG way! Between people in Trey’s church and people spread across the world, reading about it through the internet, over $11,000 was given to help feed these people. $11,000! That’s awesome.

I followed on Trey’s blog that day the donations that were given and they ranged in size from single-digits to $2,500. It was incredible to watch people giving so generously. 

What was even more incredible was that the next day, someone challenged those who had already given to give more -and quite a few responded by doing so.

This is the power of social networking – of blogs and Facebook and Twitter and all those things. One person, who I have never met, in Childress, Texas, a place I had never heard of before, does a fundraiser on their blog for a ministry I know nothing about in a place I have never been and I and hundreds of other people like me see it and respond.

That’s incredible. 

What’s even more incredible is how the Church responded. Giving so much to someone we don’t know for a ministry we are not involved in and probably can’t even fathom. THAT is what the Church should be doing. THAT is the Church that I believe God wants to see.

I think what touched me most on the day was Mrs. Jenschke’s Third Grade Class. This class of children heard about the Dump Ministry and scraped together what money they could to give to those who were in more need than them. They pooled their money and collected $8. That was so awesome.

You see, it’s not the size of the donation that counts. God doesn’t need our money. The Tindalls could have one packet of bologna and one loaf of bread and God could make it feed every person on that dump every day for the rest of their lives. God doesn’t need our money, he just wants our hearts and our willingness to love, serve and give freely.

That $8 has already been multiplied many times by people giving matching donations – and it will be multiplied even further as God uses it to feed the poor.

Church, are you listening to God? Are you allowing yourself to feel compassion for those in need both locally and internationally? Are you willing to pray and ask God “What can I do?” Are you willing to listen to his response and obey? Are you willing to give even just the little that you have?

Could you start by matching that third grade class’ contribution? Visit Trey’s blog here if you think you could.

Then… will you open your eyes to the need around you and see what God is calling you to do?

You can be the difference between life and death for someone. You can be the difference between an eternity in paradise and an eternity cut off from God for someone. You can do God’s will. You can hear His voice and obey. 

YOU can do it…. but will you?