As one person I cannot change the world, but I can change the world of one person. – Paul Shane Spear

Some of us have heard this saying but maybe not much thought has gone into it. This cannot be more true than what happened on Saturday, September 23rd, 2017, at the 3rd installment of the Widows Project. It can pretty much go without saying that it was an awesome day coupled with a heart warming event.

The widows and widowers began arriving an hour before the start of the event. There was a buzz of conversation and clamor of feet. Most of our recipients have experienced two other events specifically for them. They arrived excited knowing a bit what to expect and confident they would be blessed.

We definitely were going to be giving the attendees Semolina but we believed we had a message that would do more for each one of them than the physical food that would meet their hunger needs. We had some demonstrations planned that included an exercise that would get the widows and widowers involved. It was called the Joy Of Giving Exercise. We distributed 15 envelopes each containing a specific amount of money. The chosen 15 people involved were given the envelopes and told they could keep what was in the envelope, give it all to one person or give the money to many people. It turned out just as expected. They gave away all that was given to them.

The moral of the exercise is it is easier to give away or be generous with what doesn’t belong to us. If someone is generous to us, our heart should pour out of that generosity to someone else. All that we are and everything we have belongs to God and we should be generous with it. The reality is we all have something to give. It may not always be money. It could be our time, a lending ear, a tender hug or a warm smile. We all have something to give. On September 23rd, we gave away food but we gave away more. We gave inspiration, encouragement, laughs, admiration and last but not least, Jesus. At the end of the event, we offered prayer and a time of ministry. Approximately 50 people stayed for prayer and about half of those were Muslims. Through Him there is hope, there is love and there is life! Not one physical thing can outweigh any of those. It is through our love that we pour out generosity to people we may or may not even know. Thank you again to each and every one of you for what you are doing to change the world one person at a time!