Covid had shut down a lot of businesses and even churches all around; however, God’s favor was still on the small church that I pastor. Since Covid 2019/2020 we finally started seeing people coming back slowly through 2021 and 2022. It started with a young man from the Edinburg Relocation Center located about two and a half miles from the church. This young man happened to be walking pass the church, got my number from the door and called about service information. He told me he had to get permission, but would like to come to our service. The following Sunday he walked in slowly; others started calling and joining him. Soon our services began to fill up with guys and ladies from the center who walked or road bikes every Sunday to be there and of course some of the regular families were coming.
As we approached Thanksgiving, we decided to do something special for the guys as we had heard the conditions at the relocation center were not the best. We decided to have a Thanksgiving dinner for them with the few leaders putting the meal together. That Sunday leading up to Thanksgiving week, we opened the service as usual with praise and worship, then prayed over the food and served the guys and members. We turned our little sanctuary into a banquet hall. After I cut the turkey and the food was ready to be served our leaders began serving the guys thinking nothing of it just simply serving the House of God. The guys were blown away that we were serving them and all they had to do was eat and enjoy.
As the guys were eating, we told them we were going to pass the microphone around to tell something we are thankful for. I started off thanking God for the opportunity to pastor our small church and having the honor of serving the people God leads to us. As I asked who was next, I thought my leaders would jump in but one of the guys said he would go. That is when everything changed and blew me and the leaders away. The young man thanked God for our church and leaders and for the Thanksgiving meal then went on to say it was the first time he sat down to a home cooked meal in 23 years and that was the best food he tasted in years. As the mic was passed around the testimonies kept coming. The next young man said he had not had a family dinner since he was 13 and it had been 13 years since he sat in such an environment of love and family. One by one we heard over and over how long it had been since they had felt this kind of Love and Family atmosphere. Tears flowed down the faces and, of course, our leaders were sobbing away. They all thanked the team for the food and complimented it as being the best they have had in years. One gentleman even said he worked in the kitchen at the center and had not tasted food so good. Our simple act of Love and Kindness turned into a Thanksgiving Miracle for those from the relocation center.
Since that day we have served Christmas Dinner and another Thanksgiving Dinner and they are looking forward to the next one. We have seen more guys and ladies coming in on Sundays from the center and God continues to amaze us with how He uses our little church and few leaders to impact His people. That Thanksgiving Meal may have blessed the guys and ladies from the center but it also impacted our leaders in ways we never imagined. We all left there that Sunday changed forever. Thanksgiving Miracle 2022 -- Simple Act of Love and Kindness.
C.D. Flowers Sr
Edinburg Texas
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