40 Days in Social Transformation

Or, Just Another Set of Ideas for Lent

Anyone know how many hits you get if you Google “40 Ideas for Lent?” I do.

29,200,000

It takes longer to actually read them than the .046 seconds it took Google to find them. But if you had the desire, you could get over 29 million ideas for Lent. I guess, theoretically speaking, if each of the 29 million links is unique, and each has 40 ideas, then really you could read, well… that math hurts my brain and my calculator just spit out some weird number with an “e” in it (what the heck??) so just forget it and know that it’s a lot.

There really is no shortage of information about Lent: how to keep a “Holy” Lent, activities to do with your kids during Lent, how and why to fast during Lent, and so much more. Prayers and meditations for the 40 days? Easy. A song for each day of Lent? Yep. Recommended reading to do during Lent? You got it.

I spent more time surfing those sites than I care to admit before I realized I wasn’t particularly drawn to anything. I wanted something more specific to our life at St. Andrew’s and in particular, our Hands & Feet Social Transformation Ministry.

So, I figured adding one more to those 29 million links couldn’t hurt, and I came up with a calendar for us to draw nearer to God through our own community partners and schools. If you’d like a copy, grab one at church, or download it here. My hope is that you will pray for and support our community partners and schools throughout Lent, and beyond. Before that though, I wanted to tell you, in case you don’t already know, a little about each of those partners, but first, let me explain how the calendar is set up.

THE CALENDAR

Each week is dedicated to a particular partner(s) or school. In general, each day falls into a category and is assigned an activity related to the partner or school of the week. The major exception is that I purposefully assigned Mondays to the Episcopal Relief & Development (ERD) Hope Chests that we will use to collect coins (pick yours up at St. Andrew’s).

Sunday, Day of Rest: on the Sabbath we rest, but we can (and should!) still pray. Pray for the partner or school assigned to that week.

Monday, Collect: put money in your ERD Hope Chest

Tuesday, Do: a variety of activities

Wednesday, Read: say a prayer from the Book of Common Prayer that relates to the partner/school of the week

Thursday, Go: go somewhere related to the partner/school of the week. Sometimes you’ll “go” online, other times you’ll go to a specific place

Friday, Fast & Pray: use your time to pray about our partners/schools and their needs.

Saturday, Donate: On Saturday, compile gifts for our partners/schools and put them together. Check out office hours on their websites to drop off. If you need help getting those donations to our partners, let me know!

OUR PARTNERS & SCHOOLS

The relationships we have through our Hands & Feet ministry carefully and prayerfully built. I hope you’ll take time out of this season to pray for each of the organizations we support. To help you do that, here is a little bit of info about each:

Week 2: Holy Family School

Originally, Holy Family served the children of migrant workers. Now, nearly 80 children, many receiving scholarships, are served. Just last year alone, St. Andrew’s has painted rooms and the fire escape, made costumes and provided a beautiful lunch for the Christmas pageant, mulched the playground and provided volunteers.

Week 3: Community Lifeline Center (CLC) and The Samaritan Inn

In a nutshell, Community Lifeline Center helps prevent homelessness. When someone has a financial crisis or medical catastrophe that sends them spiraling, CLC steps in to help by providing rent/mortgage assistance, utility assistance, food, job training, and much more. St. Andrew’s provides volunteers for the Lifeline Market and helps stock the pantry. We have also furnished and provided extraneous assistance with transportation and other needs to several CLC families.

The Samaritan Inn is our only homeless shelter in Collin County and houses 160 residents, including 60 children. The Inn provides meals, hygiene products, laundry, haircuts, OTC medicines, and more. Residents attend classes including Financial Peace University, and meet with a caseworker to develop an individualized action plan and goals for their success. St. Andrew’s has plans to renovate the chapel in the Inn as well as help pack lunches for residents to take to work with them.

Week 4: Gateway of Grace and Ragan’s Hope

Founded by Mother Samira Izadi-Page, Gateway of Grace ministers to refugees from around the world. They provide for physical needs as well as emotional and spiritual needs. St. Andrew’s provides furniture and clothing for refugees at Gateway of Grace, and we have hosted luncheons and baby showers.

Ragan’s Hope’s ministers to parents of children with catastrophic illnesses or injuries by providing financial, emotional and spiritual support. St. Andrew’s assists those efforts by providing new and/or gently used furniture, household items and appliances. We also have our Stephen’s Ministry that is currently exploring how to pray and support for the families at Ragan’s Hope.

Week 5: Burks Elementary School

The overwhelming majority of the 500 students at Burks qualify for the free and reduced lunch program, meaning that Burks is a Title I school. Burks is staffed by amazing teachers and a wonderful principal! We mentor, tutor, lead reading groups, do special projects like renovating the teacher’s lounge and putting in raised flowerbeds, and much, much more.

Week 6: Saint Jerome’s

St. Jerome’s is an Anglican parish in Dangriga, Belize where our mission team has assisted in Christian education programs and installing, repairing and painting buildings and playgrounds. The team is currently planning and preparing for a trip in February 2017.

Week 7: Shiloh Place and Hugs Café

Shiloh Place is a temporary stop on the road from poverty to stability for single moms and their children. Both the Hands & Feet ministry and the Little Hands & Feet ministry partner have hosted an Easter party (which we’ll do again this year!), made Mother’s Day crafts with the kids and handmade provided furniture and household items for the apartments.

Hugs Café opened in 2015 with the goal of providing employment and training to adults with special needs! St. Andrew’s helped collect dishes and flatware for the café’s eclectic style, and on any given day of the week, a St. Andrew’s member is sure to be seen either volunteering or eating at Hugs!