The Gift of Chairs

If you haven't already done so, next time you're at the church be sure to go downstairs and check out our new chairs! They look great and are very comfortable. As one who attends many meetings and functions in the church basement I am very grateful for the blessing of chairs with cushy seats! The purchase of these new chairs was made possible by a very generous gift from Dick and Louise Affholder. The Affholders live in Eau Claire now, but have not forgotten their love for Burke Lutheran or Jesus' command to do good for others.        Their generosity was on my mind in August while we were on our youth mission trip. Seven youth and two adults, we met and served people who are poor and homeless in inner-city Denver, CO. It was a great ex-perience for all of us and we had many "God Moments" on the trip. One of the highlights of our experience was working at Christ's Body Ministries. This Christian mission is an inner-city pipeline for people in the larger Body of Christ to serve poor, homeless, and broken people. They are funded entirely by donations from churches, businesses, groups, and individuals. They serve hot meals, provide clothing, offer daytime respite to those who are sick or injured, and lead a Sunday evening worship service. The ministry is run by Pastor John and his assis-tant Sally.        On our second day of working at Christ's Body, some of us were sent upstairs to wipe down the tables and chairs they use for their Sunday evening worship service. I had learned from Pastor John that they had a steady congre-gation of about 200 worshippers, even though they don't serve a meal on Sun-days. People are coming just for the worship! Before we wiped things down, Sally told us, "Don't scrub the chairs too hard or they'll fall apart!" We thought she was kidding, but when we saw the chairs, we knew she wasn't. They were old and cracked. Many were missing screws that held the back or seat of the chair to the frame. They looked terrible.        And that's when I had one of my God Moments. Immediately I thought about the nice, new chairs we had just received at Burke. I thought of the generosity of the Affholders. I saw how terrible the chairs are that worshippers have to sit on when they come to Christ's Body. And in my heart, God spoke to me. God said, "Don't just feel sorry for them... help them! Do what the Affholders did. Pass the blessing on!"        So, I talked to Pastor John and found out that it would cost them $1,600 to get new chairs. The next Sunday when we shared our trip with the congregation I told everyone about my God Moment and ask you all to help me pass the blessing on and give to a special fund for new chairs for Christ's Body Ministries. That very day we collected $1,300! By the next Sunday we had received the entire $1,600! We have sent the check to Christ's Body and the chairs are ordered!        In an e-mail to me, Pastor John said, "Dear brother, what a blessing! I can't wait until we have new chairs for all our friends to sit in on our Sunday service and I can tell them that the Body of Christ gave these chairs to them. Truly every good and perfect gift does come from our Father (James 1:17). Please tell your congregation how encouraging it is to us to know that there are brothers and sisters in Wisconsin praying and caring for us."        Please keep Pastor John, Sally, and the people of Christ's Body Ministries in your prayers. Thank you to all who helped pass on the blessing of good chairs! And thanks to Dick and Louise Affholder for setting the exam-ple and reminding us what the Body of Christ is really all about!

Peace,

Pastor Russ burkelutheranweb@tds.net

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