What amazing and inspiring ways Trinity members are impacting the community!

Trinity’s Missions Committee recently sponsored a reverse giving event. Those attending worship the weekend of April 22 were each given an envelope containing a small amount of cash of varying amounts along with a simple instruction: use the contents to share Jesus’ love with someone else. Participants were also encouraged to share a brief report about their reverse giving experience.

Below are a few of the reports we received. They are shared as an encouragement to each of us to be looking for the opportunities God provides us on an ongoing basis to be a blessing to others. May God continue to bless each of us as we share His love and mercy!

To cheer retired couples:

We visited two couples and gave them each a lovely geranium plant. The first couple has recently experienced the sudden death of their adult daughter.  The second couple is in their 90s and both deal with health issues and he with severe pain.
—Anonymous

For missionaries around the globe:

Our youngest daughter (Ivy, 5 years old) gave the money to her teacher and asked that it be given to the team of missionaries who had visited her class from Haiti just a few weeks earlier.  —The Draper Family

We have sent $30 to Sarah Kanoy, a missionary nurse with the Lutheran Church -Missouri Synod. She is living in Kenya and serving in East Africa. What joy  fills her heart when she teaches about health, provides care, alongside sharing and proclaiming Jesus Christ in East Africa! —Pastor and Dolores Boehnke

For the homeless:

Kathy Mitchell, Kevin Harlow and Maureen Harrop pooled their money together and purchased bread, lunch meat, and apples. They prepared lunch bags and delivered them to the homeless at the tiny houses village built by the veterans community project.

As we were driving home one evening, our daughter, Eva (8 years old) saw a man standing beside the road. Eva quickly asked me to give the envelope to this man, along with the picture of Jesus that Rhonda gave the kiddos during the children’s message. —The Draper Family

To show gratitude:

I purchased lunch for two hard-working custodians at my school.  Often times their hard work and “dirty” job goes unnoticed by others.  —Erin Lutz

For victims of domestic violence:

Clara and I matched our ‘spread the love’ giving funds to purchase paper towels and disinfectant wipes for the moms and children to use at the SAFEHOME in Overland Park.   —Tiffany and Clara Rupp

For neighbors:

New neighbors moved in next door. We took over a plate of baked goods, gift card to our favorite restaurant and a little note about our wonderful church!   —Justin Lutz

To those in crisis:

While having coffee with a dear friend, she shared that one of her neighbors was in the midst of a medical crisis in their family. She had decided to give them some gift cards to help alleviate some emotional and financial stress, and I was led to give her our special offering to add to the blessing. —Sandy Linville

For immigrants:

A mother and four children have emigrated from Nigeria to Olathe. The father is still in Nigeria, yet to come to America. Two of the children are in elementary school and two are in high school. One of the high school students has a medical condition in which they must travel to Children’s Mercy twice a week for treatment. I used the money to help purchase gas for the trips to Children’s Mercy. —Jan Obergoenner

For families of premature babies:

Our children, Caroline and Benjamin, were born at 26 weeks 3 days and our son, Andrew, was born at 35 weeks 6 days. The Circle of Hope NICU Foundation is an organization that services the families who have babies in the NICU at OPRMC, by providing support through various ways. As a family, we collected board books and marked them “Donated in God’s name by Trinity Lutheran Church – Mission, Kansas.” We hope this encourages those who receive each book that even in their darkest times, God is there for them.   —The Webster Family

For the grieving:

Within these last six weeks, I lost a beautiful, young and very talented violinist colleague name Sarah to a very serious brain tumor. She was only 28 years old and was a wonderful mother to two little girls – one and three years old. The money will go toward Sarah’s extremely high medical bills and then also to the educational fund set up for their two little girls.  —Darrel and Linda Thomssen

For the convalescing:

I spent the money to help a preschooler named Charlie who broke his leg and is in a wheel chair. He has to spend a couple of hours a day sitting by me at the front desk because he cannot go outside to play. I used the money towards snacks for him because he’s always hungry. — TJ Wichtendahl

For children with illness:

Harper said she wanted to “share her love by giving money to families with babies in the hospital,” like our new baby had been. Gwenda and I specifically chose the Children’s Mercy Cystic Fibrosis clinic, and our family committed to match whatever amount was in our four envelopes. We began a Go Fund Me campaign and turned $25 into $965 to purchase an iPad for the cystic fibrosis children at Children’s Mercy. —The Hawk Family

Stories have been edited for brevity and clarity.

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