8.17 Message From The Link - We Are a Movement
Want to know what it’s like to be part of a movement? If you’re connected to NeighborLink, you already know.
I was looking at some stats that our website can keep track of and one number I was particularly interested in was, how many new registrations have we had so far this year.
185 New Registrations since 1/09 = 23.7% Growth Since 2008
This number is the combination of people requesting help, those desiring to be volunteers and those determined to coach & lead others in actually doing projects. This number doesn’t include those connected to NeighborLink on the peripheral who connect through their church’s organized efforts.
How is this a movement? Wikipedia defines “movement" by a “change in position" - Nothing profound on the surface but when you relate it to all the different factors that make up NeighborLink and our calling to be missional towards our community, it’s got profound meaning. Our movement is based on what we’re willing to sacrifice and give on someone else’s behalf. It is no easy task to not only offer up your time and money but to also figure out how to help by organizing yourself.
It blows me away every day by the shear number of needs people face that have nearly impossible solutions. The combination of medical disabilities, mental disabilities, broken families, financial contraints, and the simple fact that age works against our physical abilities to overcome the obstacles we once did with ease. It burdens me to know the emotional burden it puts on people and the internal restoration that many of our recipients need.
What exceeds my comprehension is what provokes 100 people to organize their brothers, sisters, friends, small groups and families around a named face who is struggling with all kinds of things, to provide a practical neighbor-to-neighbor expression of God’s Love. Every time a seemingly impossible project is started, I am humbled by God’s devotion to providing the solutions when we commit to something over our heads.
When this happens:
Hope is restored in a recipient who has been given up upon
Hope in the Kingdom has been seen
A struggling faith being awakened in the heart of a servant
God’s people see the need to fight for justice in their own town
My friends….Our combined efforts through NeighborLink are a Movement of Biblical Proportions. They are not of our efforts as an organization but as a result of YOU connecting to the Spirit beating within calling a better, more generous YOU out. God is moving you and I internally to physically move ourselves into an uncomfortable space so He can work through us.
185 of you have registered at NLFW.org believing that when the inter-connection of the worlds of need and plenty combine, Peace can be restored in our souls and in our physical dwelling places.
Continue participating in this movement. Without all of your efforts, our movement will slow down and hope will dwindle. Spread the word about NeighborLink and your story that’s connected you to NeighborLink. If you don’t have a story yet, what are you waiting for?
Andrew
Be Courageous!
andrew@nlfw.org
260.710.7611
PS…If you have a story of a project or a recipient’s story you’ve experienced, please pass it along. A major part of this movement is stories of transformation and the tension that lies in-between.
