We wanted to share with you some of the conversations we had as we served families in our community through our Christmas Outreach Project. Please continue to pray for these individuals and families to come to know Christ. Here’s a firsthand testimony we received via text message.
“I wanted to thank you again for the wonderful gifts I have wrapped everything and now I'm so excited for Christmas morning!! Thanks to you and the church my son will have a nice Christmas. If it wasn't for you, Garrett and I would have no Christmas at all! I am super busy at work and even with the extra time I couldn't buy gifts or Christmas dinner. Our landlord is having us evicted because I am not catching up on the rent fast enough so I must save every penny I have to hopefully find us an affordable rental very, very soon. I'm sorry but I wanted to explain how truly blessed we are for what you have done. From the bottom of my heart, thank you! God Bless! - Nicole”
DEACON AND STAFF UPDATES
“This is my 3rd year of experiencing our Christmas Outreach deliveries; each year has had its own personality and this one was no different. After simply arriving and asking, “How are you doing?”, I realized 30 minutes into the conversation that the family is experiencing loss, fatigue, death, confusion, financial hardship, and anger. A set of sweet grandparents raising and caring for their children in midst of trial; I was able to listen and share. I shared the hope of Jesus and I shared stories of his restoration in my own life. I shared our Sunday morning service times and offered to greet them at the door any Sunday morning. I was told that the only Christmas that would be experienced in the house this year was what Summit provided in the envelope I had handed to them. I learned that the morning of my visit the family was due to have their electricity turned off.
People want to be heard and seen and to know that they are loved and that their words matter. Finally, I learned that the simplicity of a few gift cards in an envelope at just the right time can change the entire trajectory of a family Christmas. Although the family has not visited us on a Sunday morning, we were able to share Jesus and we were able to BE the church and go visit and give to the hurting and the downcast. I’ll continue to pray for this family. ”
“Meeting our Christmas outreach family looked completely different this year compared to last year’s pre-Covid dinner outing. I met Patricia and her family inside of Publix for a masked exchange of introductions and passing along gift cards. I told her about the Spanish Summit Ministry (Ministerio Summit Español) and invited her to the Spanish Christmas Service. It was such a blessing to be able to share this wonderful news with her and offer a tangible way for her to take part in the church. ”
“This morning I had the pleasure of meeting St. Lyse Thervius. She is married and a mom of three boys. She was hesitant when she stepped out of the car and promised to show me her ID so that I would know for sure that I had the right person. I assured her that wouldn’t be necessary. I handed her over the envelope with gift cards and showed her a Creole Bible that the church was also gifting her. Her mother and father are from Haiti and she was overjoyed to have it. I asked her if her family needed any specific prayers and her response to me was “we always need prayers, you aren’t alive if you don’t”.
I asked her if I could pray for them in the Dunkin Donuts parking lot and she agreed. I thanked God for bringing us together on this day and asked him to bless her family and fill in the gaps where needed. I prayed for Him to draw her and her family closer to him and gave thanks for all the people that donated and gave in our outreach project. When I was done praying she thanked me and said she accepted that prayer. She then asked where our church was located and asked that I text her the address and service times. I am praying and trusting that God will draw them to our church body through Christmas outreach and that they can become another family that our church can minister to and share the hope of Jesus with. I am so thankful that each year I get to be a deliverer of such a blessing to families in our community and I hope and pray that God moves in their lives.”
“Amanda Scott (our Summit Kids Director at UNV) and I met Melissa, a single mom, who came to our University Campus to pick up gifts for her daughters. She struggles with chronic illness and crohn’s disease. We were able to bless her with those gifts and as we walked them out to her car, we asked to pray over her. We shared that God loved her so much that he sent Jesus to forgive our sins and secure a future for us with him, in a place without brokenness and illness. That’s what Christmas is about. We prayed for her and her daughters to experience that love this Christmas and invited her to our services. She texted us later to tell us that the boxed lunch we gave her was amazing and that she is interested in bringing her girls to Summit.”
“I met with Mary and her 12 year-old daughter, Whitney, at the Gateway Campus. Mary is a single mother with 4 kids, 12 and under. She is currently unemployed and is searching for a job. She has been on hard times but is hopeful to find employment in the new year. Her daughter Whitney has moved up to a new school this year and is struggling with social anxiety. She gets so overwhelmed that she throws up and is not able to stay at school and usually has to be picked up early because they will not let her due to Covid protocols. This has also made it difficult for Mary to gain employment since she is having to pick up her daughter a lot from school.
I was able to pray with both of them and invite them to services. Mary seemed excited for the extra Christmas help.”
“I was able to deliver the gift cards that our church collected for Laura on Wednesday evening. She said it would save Christmas as they didn’t even get a tree and that she couldn’t begin to express how much this would mean for them. Laura has a son in 2nd grade and a young daughter not yet in school. She mentioned that she loves God, that he is her only constant, and that she knew this season would be hard, but that this (gift from Summit) was God’s way of letting her know she’s doing the right thing and he’s got her.
The next day when I knocked on the door, she and her kids came out. Her son was especially excited that someone wanted to give them gift cards for Christmas! We chatted for a little bit and the kids went inside to eat their happy meals. Laura asked how we knew they needed help and I mentioned Summit’s relationship with the school and that they helped us identify families in need. As we talked, she said that she had recently got out of 20 year abusive relationship. Her and her kids are just beginning to rebuild their lives. She said she’s been talking to her kids about the real reason for Christmas and that they have kid Bibles they are starting to read. She even said she watched one of the Summit services in October. I told her the times of our services and let her know she could reach out to us if she needed anything.
Summit was truly the hands and feet of Jesus to this family who needed to know they are cared for and loved.”