30 Years Influencing a Community
For 30 years it has been our privilege to have been partners of Life Church, Bedworth serving in several capacities over those years. Last month we said ‘farewell’ as we moved out of the area. Unfortunately due to COVID-19, we were unable to say goodbye in person but instead were able to do an interview which was included in the online service.
We have always been grateful for the community focus that the church has had and particularly during this past year. The incredible work of the food bank and reaching out to the needy families in the area has been outstanding.
When the pandemic hit three of the four foodbank venues were closed and everything was brought in-house at Lifechurch. Many of the volunteers were shielding, but amazingly volunteers came from all walks of life, giving of their time to help others. Currently, there are 40 volunteers working tirelessly packing hampers, manning the warehouse and delivering parcels. In excess of 7300 parcels have been given out this year.
In July a new project called ‘Flavour’ was initiated where 21 different clusters of family units were given the opportunity to order online, at a supermarket of their choice, the equivalent of the cost of a food parcel four times. In between each order, some holistic work was done with them. Significant changes were made over a short period.
One of the families who they worked with during the Flavour project was a single Dad with three young children. He had needed to use the foodbank but had confided in us at a later stage, that his children didn’t like the tinned food, stating they would rather go hungry than access the Foodbank again. His Mum was teaching him to cook at the same time we signed him up for the Flavour project. Over the following three months he learnt how to budget and to use online shopping.
Once the project was over, he shared how for the first time ever, he had opened his freezer; took out a meal that he had cooked for his family. He went on to say how he would continue to use online food shopping and how much he had valued the Flavour project which had given him confidence.
Influence in a community takes time. But when you serve with excellence then new doors of influence will follow.
We will continue to champion Life Church and know that the hard work that has been put in this year will bear much fruit in the coming days.
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