Care Packs For The Road

Care Packs for the Road

You can’t miss them: people holding signs at the entrances to highways or shopping malls. The cardboard signs look similar, but the messages can vary:

• Looking for work. Please help. God bless.
• Ran out of gas. Trying to get home. Change appreciated.
• Homeless and hungry.
• Family to feed. Need help.

Different families have different attitudes and convictions about how to respond to people on the street looking for help. Money is not always the best solution, because it can be used for anything . . . even purchasing drugs or alcohol. Instead of handing out cash, one family came up with a very practical idea. After considering what Jesus says in Matthew 25:35 about caring for people in great need, this family decided to try to meet the temporary and eternal needs of the people they encountered as they drove around town. First, they bought gallon plastic bags. They filled each one with a bottle of water, a granola bar, a copy of the Gospel of John from the New Testament, a package of beef jerky, a pack of gum, a toothbrush, a tube of toothpaste, a packet of mints or candy, a gospel tract, and a meal ticket to a local homeless shelter. When the weather turned cold, they added little hand-warmer or foot-warmer pads.

The family kept a small quantity of these “blessings bags” in the car. When anyone spotted someone looking for help, they would stop and hand one of the bags out of the car, saying, “Jesus loves you. God bless you.”

When you help “the least of these” in our world, it’s like you’re serving the Lord himself.

Daddy-Daughter Time

Has there been a time when your family needed help? If so, talk about those times with your dad. What did receiving help feel like? How did it give you hope and strengthen your faith?

Think about some ways your family can help those who need it. Maybe you can make your own blessings bags. Look into what local ministries are doing, and find out how you can support them. You’ll be amazed by how great it feels to give.

What’s The Word?

I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home.   Matthew 25:35