Christmas in July

Tonight at Common Grounds we celebrated Christmas in July and it was quite awesome. We sang Christmas carols, we talked about the birth of Jesus. We served around 90 people dinner. The social hall was so packed there were very few seats left. Often times some of our people leave before the service really starts, but this evening there were about 60 people who stayed for that.

It's amazing what God has done with this service that originally began as an outreach to college students at Marshall University. However, we now serve a different congregation...the homeless and those who are struggling to get back on their feet.

We seek to minister to those who gather with us on Thursday nights through food, fellowship, love, music and the reflection. There have been relationships made that I know would not have been made if this service did not exist. I'm grateful for God's vision that took a while for us to realize, but has now become our vision...providing a loving environment where folks can come together, be fed both physically and spiritually; providing a cool place in the summer and warm place in the winter for folks to get out of the elements; providing a place where all people can truly belong.

I hope this is what we have started doing with our Common Grounds ministry...it has been a blessing to get to know these people that otherwise I would have missed out on.

Thanks God!!