Road Trip Relief

Summer road trips can be great moments.  They can even become God moments when we seize opportunities to go beyond.  Read about one family whose road trip took them on a journey of generosity and compassion...  

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This summer myself, my mother in law and my two children (9 and 11) took a road trip to Kermit, West Virginia to visit my Aunt Therese. She is the Director of Christian Help, a nondenominational public charity helping to meet poverty and emergency needs in the area. Christian help provides food, clothing, transportation, and financial help for basic necessities to people in dire need in Mingo County and the surrounding area.

The US Census Bureau identifies West Virginia as having the second highest number of people living in poverty in all of the United States. It has the very lowest level of median income in the entire nation, and the highest level of children under the age of five living in poverty. Among all 55 counties in this very poor state, Mingo County has the fifth highest number of people living in poverty, the fifth highest number of people under 18 living in poverty, and the fourth lowest average of median household income. My aunt had described it as a third world country that exists here in the U.S.

We reached out to friends before our journey and filled the trunk of our car with donations from winter clothing, shoes, school supplies, blankets, bedding, toys, and books. We purchased XL ziplock bags to try to maximize every inch of space we had. We spent two days working in the store helping to organize, and stock donations. We prepared, sorted, and inventoried all of the school supplies so the kids would be ready for back-to-school. We spoke with local residents as they came in to shop (all items are free) and we moved by story after story. We even rescued two 4 week old puppies that had been thrown out of a moving truck, injured and abandoned. We got them to a local vet, took care of them during our stay and worked with a rescue in Illinois that agreed to care for them and find the loving homes so they made the 10 hour car ride back home with us.

We saw God working in many ways while we were there and how a county would be lost without the few employees and volunteers and Christian Help and their dedication to be the working hands and feet of Jesus. We feel compelled to go back and set a goal to fill a trailer full of items to assist a community in great need.

Changing Careers

For one family, going beyond started out as giving and it turned into receiving. And what they received was immeasurably more than they could ask or imagine—it was a calling to a new way of life, and a new career... 

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Most of you know Ryan (musician, singer, and Worship Leader) and Bethany (Director of Family Life- Children’s Ministries) from their roles around Good Shepherd. You may not have known that they are parents to two young children and that, until recently, Ryan was also a teacher in the Naperville school district. Just like other young families, the demands on their time and the financial commitments of life in the suburbs could be incredibly stressful.

Yet, as the Hammers listened, prayed, and talked about how they were called to go beyond, they soon realized that for them it wasn’t just about giving more and doing more. Although they started doing and giving more, it became clear that for them, going beyond would in a strange way mean giving less and doing less… so they could be more of who God was calling them to be as individuals, as professionals, as a couple, and as a family. After much discernment, they realized that Ryan was being called to leave his teaching career (and the stable salary, pension benefits, and top-notch health insurance) to go into ministry full-time.

Questions, doubts, and concerns soon crept in. Could they still give generously on a lower income? How would they save for college for kids without his school pay and what would retirement look like without his pension? What about higher daycare costs? All real-world questions that were addressed… and that didn’t necessarily come with easy answers. But there was something else… what about the great beyond? How many more people could be reached and transformed at Good Shepherd through music, worship, and their work? And what did God have in store if they followed the call?

They listened to that call and Ryan accepted a full-time position at Good Shepherd. Now, the story is just beginning—and it involves more than the Hammers. It’s also about you! Without the recent financial commitments from the people at Good Shepherd, there wouldn’t have been funds to hire Ryan full-time. And, without the faithful commitments before these, there wouldn’t have been funds to build the Worship Center that is packed out each week!

The story continues to unfold and if we listen to what God is calling each of us to do, there’s no doubt it will be immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine. Is God calling you to do more, give more, be more … or maybe even give up something so that God can give you more? These are all incredible ways that our most generous God shows us that generosity is for us, not from us, and the experience is waiting for you!

Zac L.

Business as Unusual

It's amazing what can happen when a community embraces generosity as a way of life and shares the gifts God has given them. Below is a story how people went beyond with their business skills to help a man from Good Shepherd...

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I have been struggling for several years now to get my own business off the ground and what has started to happen slowly in recent months through my connections at Good Shepherd, is that God is putting people in my life that are reaching out and wanting to help me. I have a videographer, an editor, a business coach, a CPA and a photographer. The biggest part of the equation is that a business coach has not only pointed me to some key people, but has also offered to help me out as a favor to get my business off the ground with a solid foundation, which is the biggest blessing and example of someone going Beyond. I'm grateful to God and the Church for all the blessings and people he has put in my life.

Mike M.

Flooded with Generosity

Moments of crises can become opportunities for radical generosity. Read how one family went beyond to help another family in crisis...

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My wife and I experienced an amazing example of a family from Good Shepherd going Beyond. A few months after moving in to our new home, our basement flooded. We were looking at a HUGE physical and financial undertaking. Unfortunately, our insurance wouldn't cover the complete cost of the rehab and we were stressing over the added strain that would create for our family. One day a week or so after the flooding, our doorbell rang and it was one of the men I met during our CRHP retreat. He said he couldn't stay long as he handed an envelope to me that contained a check for a substantial amount of money to help cover some of the cost of our rehab. Overwhelmed I said there was no way we could accept such a gracious gift. He insisted and said that he and his wife had started budgeting for opportunities like this as part of their commitment to the culture of radical generosity through Beyond at Good Shepherd. My wife and I experienced firsthand the power of church community and generosity. It was something we'll never forget and since then, we've been intentional about budgeting to help others as well.

Ryan H.