I’m sure we’ve all felt weary, anxious and uncertain over the past nine months of the coronavirus pandemic, since the first lockdown in March. Some have managed to cope well, to adapt and find different ways of doing things in our very changed circumstances. Others, through no fault of their own, have struggled – with loneliness, isolation, ill health, the loss of loved ones, loss of jobs and maybe even their homes. The situation is ongoing and for many it’s hard to see a way through.
How do we, as the body of Christ, respond to all these needs around us – and within our own fellowship? More and more there are people in the communities where we live who are in need of God’s love in a real and practical way. The big question is - what can we do about it? What is God saying to us as a Christian family about looking after each other and those who live in our neighbourhoods?
Back at the beginning of the first lockdown, the church began to take practical steps to help those who were shielding and unable to get out of their homes, and to provide much needed food supplies for those who were struggling financially. This Helping Hands ministry continued until restrictions began to ease in the summer. In recent weeks, however, we have become increasingly aware of many ways in which those needs have not gone away, and may indeed be growing. We believe God is moving us to restart Helping Hands and to expand its original vision to include the lonely and anxious, as well as those in physical need.
So how do we do this? As we take our first tentative steps, we are looking to be able to help provide and deliver much needed food and supplies for those who are in real financial difficulty and are struggling to look after their families. We are also hoping to start a ‘phone a friend’ ministry, to keep in touch with people who are feeling more and more isolated and cut off from normal everyday contacts. God may well lead us into other new directions that we haven’t thought of yet, but we feel these two areas are a good place for us to make a start.
In order to start things moving we would like to make a call for all those who feel God is prompting them to get involved. This can be in any one (or more) of a multitude of ways. We need people who are able to give – and that can be in the form of food items and other supplies, or financially. The aim is to build up a stock of non-perishable essentials at church, and to provide what people tell us they need.
We also need help from those who will be able to use their cars to make deliveries. And we need people who would be happy to ring someone who lives on their own and keep in touch with them. It doesn’t matter how small a contribution you feel able to make, we would really love to have as many people as possible involved. After all, we are a family in Hendon Baptist Church – and families look after each other!
We can certainly see these principles being worked out in the life of the early church. The apostle Paul wrote to the churches in Galatia, urging them to ‘carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ’ (Gal. 6:2). And in Acts we read how ‘All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there was no needy person among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need’ (Acts 4:32–5). The apostle John adds to this by saying ‘If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth’ (1 John 3:17–18).
How amazing that this should be God’s model for the church! He doesn’t tell us, if we see someone in need (whatever that may be), just to pray for them and put the onus on him to help them out. He tells us to get stuck in and be his hands and feet, he wants us to take action ourselves and make sure that NO ONE is left out or in need. Certainly we pray, but we also act and reach out in practical ways to those in trouble – and in this way we are fulfilling the law of Christ. As Mother Teresa said, ‘Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love’. And John Wesley wrote: ‘Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can’.
So please do think and pray about what God wants YOU to do in order to reach out, not only to our own Christian family in Hendon Baptist, but beyond, to those living in – or indeed on – the streets around us who are finding life a struggle in one way or another. To sum up, here’s what you can do:
· Pray – both individually and as part of a regular prayer team
· Give – make a financial donation (one-off or regularly)
· Donate food and other supplies (more details on this to follow shortly)
· Join our Helping Hands team – to make deliveries, collect prescriptions etc for those shut-in
· Become a phone friend – join our team to keep in touch with those who are isolated and alone
In the first instance we are aiming to put together our team – our workforce – and to get things in place for launching Helping Hands as soon as we can. We are looking for volunteers and ideas, and we will then let you know specific requests for the kinds of foods and other supplies that we need to build up, as well as ways in which you can donate them. We would really like to get the volunteer team together before Christmas, so we can start in January. HBC will be delivering Christmas hampers, in association with Jesus House, on 22 December, and we are also inviting everyone to think about whether they can cook an extra portion and share their Christmas meal with someone living on their own. But our giving doesn’t stop here, and these two initiatives dovetail beautifully with our conviction that God wants us to make a real difference to people’s lives here in Hendon.
Do you need help yourself? Or do you know someone who would value help and support? If so, please do get in touch (details below) – your calls will be treated as completely confidential.
You may well have other suggestions – if so, we would love to hear from you! We have created a dedicated email address for all things relating to Helping Hands – hbchelpinghands@yahoo.com – so whether you would like to offer help or receive it, you can get in touch with us. If you’d rather use the phone, please ring this number and leave a message: 020 8203 4982. Someone will get back to you as soon as possible.
Jacqui and Perin