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I recently wrote an article about
my friend Arloa Sutter, director of
Breakthrough Urban
Ministries in Chicago. She talked about all she’s learned,
how God has met her as she’s come alongside the homeless and other
folks. Read the whole article
here. At the end of the article, I quoted Arloa saying,
“You can't be a Christ follower and not care about people without
coats.” This being an extremely cold winter here in Chicago, that
thought has haunted me, especially as I sleep in my warm bed, under
a down comforter, in my snug suburban home.
I was talking to a friend about
Breakthrough (I
talk about it a lot lately—God’s up to something!). She suggested we
do a coat drive for the ministry. While we’re hoping spring is
around the corner, we’ve had snow every day this week and there’s
still a lot of snow covering the ground. Folks on the street still
need something to fend off the chill—which in Chicago can last until
the end of April or later!
Since the friend is a tennis buddy, we decided to see if our tennis
club would let us put a box in the lobby to collect the coats. The
club’s director not only agreed, but offered to give donors a 10
percent discount in the pro shop as well.
So I took one of Arloa’s miracle stories, which she tells in my
TCW article, and expanded it a bit. I e-mailed it to a handful
of friends, asked them to forward it. I put it on my website. You
can read it here:
www.keriwyattkent.com
I think a lot of folks forwarded that e-mail, because in about a
week, we collected and delivered 95 coats! The next day, I got 20
more coats, which I delivered to
Breakthrough
over the weekend. It’s amazing. And these are not ratty old
coats—most of them are nice wool or down coats, many with upscale
brand names on the labels.
One man called and said he had some coats—he donated 17 coats and
jackets! Seventeen! The two large bags contained everything from
wool blazers to some very nice leather jackets and wool coats.
I was telling a friend about my involvement with
Breakthrough,
and she said, “You’re such a good person.” I said, no. I’m just an
ordinary person serving a very good God. And I’m a grateful person.
Rather than trying to be good (which I often mess up), I’ve decided
to work on being more grateful. And gratitude leads me to care about
people without coats. And collecting coats makes me grateful, for
all I have, and for a God who cares for the poor. Collecting these
coats, seeing how God is using a bunch of suburban folks to provide
for some homeless men and women in Chicago, my gratitude has been
growing with the pile of coats.
How about you? What are you grateful for? If you were to collect
coats or socks or soap and deodorant and deliver it to a local
shelter, do you think you’d feel more or less grateful at the end of
the day?
Collecting these coats for me was an opportunity to watch God work
in amazing ways. Walking into
Breakthrough
this week with bags and bags of coats, piling them on the floor,
gathering with some of the guests and staff for a photo of this huge
pile of blessing—these things grew my faith. Henri Nouwen wrote that
spiritual disciplines are simply ways to create some space for God
to act. In that way, this coat drive was a spiritual discipline—we
created some space, and God filled it up with his provision.
A huge thank you to everyone who donated—your response of kindness
blessed the homeless men and women who are served by
Breakthrough.
Hopefully, it showed you that small things can make a difference!
Until next time,
Keri
 Same
Kind of Different as Me
Ron Hall and Denver Moore, with Lynn Vincent
$21.99
This amazing book tells the story of the unlikely friendship
between a wealthy white man and a homeless black man. It
challenged me to get out of my rather sheltered existence to
reach across cultural barriers.
Writer Lynn Vincent has beautifully crafted this book to tell
the story in both of these men’s voices. It’s an education on
the experience and reality of African Americans, especially in
the south. It’s an inspiration to reach out of our comfort zone.
If that sounds kind of scary, it’s also just a really great
story.
Ron Hall grew up in a lower middle-class small town, but
eventually became a wealthy international art dealer, and he and
his wife Debbie lived a high-society life.
Denver Moore grew up in virtual slavery on a cotton plantation
in the south, but eventually escaped that life, but lived as an
angry, homeless drifter.
They met when Ron and Debbie started serving meals every Tuesday
at an inner-city Dallas soup kitchen.
This is a compelling story that will make you laugh, and cry. I
highly recommend it.
You can listen to a podcast of an interview with Ron and Denver
at
www.breakthroughministries.com. They also were on Moody
Radio’s Midday Connection show with my pal Anita Lustrea on
January 24, 2007.
Click here for the archived audio file.
You can
purchase this book for $21.99 with free shipping by
clicking here
Here I am, writing my
own guest column again. But I wrote about another thing I’m doing at
Breakthrough on my shared blog. Read it here:
www.boomerbabesrock.com/blog. Go to the March 8 entry.
I’m looking for guest columnists. So all you writers out there,
bring it on. However, you have to send me your best column, 500
words or less, and I will select one to run next month. We’re
looking for stuff that will encourage others to grow spiritually.
Selection will be totally random and
subjective! If yours is not selected, I will send you back a short
critique to help you improve your writing.
“If anyone has
material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on
him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not
love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”
(I John 3:17, 18)
Though my
articles and actions, I hope I am challenging you to take your faith
and put it into action. How can you love others “with actions and in
truth”? How can you not just talk like a Christian but act like one?
It doesn’t have to be something huge—what small thing can you do
with great love?
My column this month on Today’s Children’s
Ministry website, For Your Soul, is about “Spring Cleaning for the
Soul.” If you serve in any capacity as a volunteer at your church,
or just serve your family (parenting is the ultimate “children’s
ministry” in my book), I hope this column will encourage you to care
for your own soul as you care for others.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/childrensministry/articles/springcleaning.html
On-line book
club: If you’re interested in reading my new book, Oxygen:
Deep Breathing for the Soul, you’ll want to join my new on-line
book club, Talking About Oxygen. It’s a free Yahoo group. Here’s how
it works: each week, you’ll read one chapter of Oxygen. Everyone in
the group will receive an e-mail from me on Mondays, reminding you
which chapter we’re reading, and giving you a question or two about
the chapter to think about. Group members can go to Yahoo and post a
question, response, comment or whatever (all posts have to be
approved by the moderators). You can read others group members’
posts on the site, or request to have them e-mailed to you when you
sign up. I’m hoping this will become a virtual book club and a way
for readers to connect with me and with each other. Joining is easy,
go to
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/talkaboutoxygen/ Then click on
sign in. If you don’t have Yahoo you will be prompted to create a
free account. Please forward the link to anyone you’d like to invite
to the group. Or try the link below. If you have any trouble please
reply to this newsletter and I’ll send you a personal invitation.
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Keri will lead
two breakout sessions at Willow Creek’s children’s ministry
conference, to be held at Willow in South Barrington, IL, March
15-17. Main session speakers include Dr. Henry Cloud, Tami Verville,
David Staal and others. Nicole C. Mullin is leading worship. To
register, go to
Today’s Children’s Ministry and look for the ad for the
conference.
-
Keri will be
speaking at Christ Church Lake Forest at 9 a.m. Wednesday, April 4.
She will speak to the church’s MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group
on “Listen: Finding God in the Story of Your Life.”
-
Keri will lead a
half-day workshop for Ascend, the singles ministry at Christ Church
Oak Brook, on April 21. Her topic will be “Oxygen: Six spiritual
practices to breathe life into your conversation with God.” For
details, see
www.keriwyattkent.com
|
March 13,
2007
Connecting with
Keri Wyatt Kent
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Oxygen: Keri's
new book!
Keri Wyatt Kent's newest book is titled
Oxygen: Breathing for Your Soul.
"Breathe"
In Breathe:
Creating Space for God in a Hectic Life, Keri looks at how the
hurried pace of our lives affects us spiritually.
Connect with Keri in Person
click here to see my speaking schedule
Visit
Keri Wyatt Kent's Website
Visit MOPS
Contact Keri |
