LOVE IN DEED

For the past several years, a tractor trailer has dumped some 45,000 pounds   of sweet potatoes in our church parking lot on a Saturday morning with one mission: in four hours, bag the potatoes in 10-pound bags for distribution to agencies that serve the poor. That means we need as many men, women and children as possible to get the job done. What is most amazing is to see the zeal our young children bring to this task. Sure, they love the job of climbing on the mound of orange, dirty potatoes and pushing the potatoes down with their feet to the volunteers that encircle the pile. But just as eagerly, they put potatoes in the bags or pull the little red wagons full of 10-pound sacks to load on the truck.

These children are learning at an early age what it means to love, not only in words, but in deed. Sometimes this “love-in-deed” business can be dirty and messy and uncomfortable. But we are called to do it anyway. More often than not, we find great joy.

The Potato Project our church participates in is one of the many programs of The Society of St. Andrew, which was formed in 1979 as an intentional community of two Virginia families who prayed daily for God’s guidance. They were called to life and ministry together in Christ, then felt led to help resolve the problem of world hunger. From this has grown an ecumenical, nonprofit, charitable national organization dedicated to leading others into lives of Christian community and service. It shows me how amazing God is when we work to fulfill the mandate of the Gospel in our lives by striving to adhere to the words of I John 3:18: “Let us love not only in words, but in deed and in truth.”

— Becky Todd York

Courtesy of The Church of the Good Shepherd United Methodist