Building relationships through service …
Answering God ’ s Call
By Stokes McMillan
Last Spring , a call was made seeking volunteers to help move furniture donated by the South Shore Harbor hotel to LCM . I joined a half dozen or so women and men who responded to the need and spent one warm morning moving a variety of furniture . One man helping to move was a nineteen-year-old resident of Bacliff . As he and I talked during the course of the morning , I learned that he had a four-month-old baby , no job , no transportation , and , it seemed , not many prospects for improvement of his situation . He was a very nice , well-mannered , respectful young man , the kind of guy you want to help .
I asked this young volunteer from Bacliff if he had ever considered joining the military . I have witnessed first-hand how the military has lifted young men and women out of a disadvantaged or troubled background and provided them with structure , discipline , honor , and occupational opportunity , in some cases completely turning their lives around for the better . He said that he had planned to enlist and had actually talked to a recruiter . He explained , however , that he had failed the exam that all potential recruits must take to enter the military . Thus was I introduced to the ASVAB ( Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery ).
It seems that God wanted to use this encounter for something , for he put a powerful urging in my heart to help this young man . Coincidentally , a new program at my church was seeking initiatives to build relationships with people just like him . Creating a course to teach the subjects tested on the ASVAB fulfilled both needs . LCM cheerfully provided the necessary venue and equipment . When a request for volunteer teachers was made to my church congregation , rather than the 5 or 6 hoped for , a total of 27 teachers volunteered ! It has been truly miraculous how
God has opened doors for this project . Our first session of ASVAB courses has allowed us to work with six young men who regularly attend the three-hour sessions two nights per week .
Personally , I have learned so much from this endeavor :
• When there ’ s an opportunity to help God ’ s people , do it , even if it is something small — like moving furniture . You never know when God will use it to bring on something bigger .
• When your heart senses that God is telling you to do something , move out on it . If it ’ s really from God , he ’ ll provide the resources .
• Finally , while my physical hearing seems to be declining with age , my spiritual hearing is improving . And that is a trade I ’ ll take any day !
Thanks to this project , I have a new favorite bible verse :
“ Let us not become weary in doing good , for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up .”
Galatians 6:9 ( NIV )
“ It seems that God wanted to use this encounter for something , for he put a powerful urging in my heart to help this young man .”