In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus takes five loaves of bread and two fish and multiplies them to feed more than 5,000 people. How did God take Cassie’s small desire to help others and multiply it into something bigger?It all started with a brochure a friend gave me. The brochure was for Haiti Christian Missions (HCM). It was a simple brochure asking for donations or service. I stashed it in my room and, although I saw it every day, I never really gave it a second thought.
Then several weeks later I heard about the earthquake that devastated Haiti. I was immediately struck with sadness thinking of the three million Haitians affected and offered many prayers for the victims. About a month later the desire to do something more for the people of Haiti continued to nag at me. I saw the brochure sitting where I had left it and called the number.
I started off saying, “I found a pamphlet at the back of my church. It gave me this number.” From there the rest of the conversation was easy. I learned they needed volunteers and that they would be happy to meet with me and show me the ropes. I thanked God for getting me through this call and showing me a path I would never have considered. I called up my friend Rose and together we went to meet with HCM.
In addition to the questions about our age, we were asked if we could crochet, knit, or sew. They seemed pleased to hear that we could actually do all three. Then they explained how we could help. One woman, Mary, unpacked a box containing colorful plastic mats along with plastic shopping bags and many pairs of scissors.
“These,” said Mary, “are bed mats. We made them for the homeless in Haiti before the earthquake, and now they need them even more.” Mary went on to describe how the mats were made by cutting up shopping bags, tying them together, rolling them into “balls of yarn” and then crocheting them into mats.
At first it seemed complicated, but we quickly got the hang of it. Mary then pulled out a crocheted baby blanket and explained they also needed baby blankets for the nurseries in Haiti. Having made baby blankets before, Rose and I felt we could handle this project as well. Mary then pulled out the third and final project. It was a plastic bag filled with travel toiletries (i.e., travel-size toothpaste, toothbrush, shampoo, soap, and wash cloths). She explained that these personal care kits were put together for those in the hospitals who didn’t have the money to care for themselves.
After thanking them for their time and promising to keep in touch, Rose and I left with two huge garbage bags stuffed with shopping bags, huge crochet hooks, and another garbage bag filled with yarn. Before going home, we made a quick stop at the dollar store. After purchasing enough toiletries for twenty kits, we went home eager to get started. Rose and I were busy almost every free minute we had crocheting, knitting, and making personal care kits. Our friends were very supportive too! Many of them took the time to join us in making blankets, collecting bags, and crocheting mats as well.
After five months we had made ten plastic bed mats, twenty baby blankets, and hundreds of personal care kits. We were getting low on plastic bags and really wanted to keep helping HCM. Since many people simply throw out plastic shopping bags, Rose and I sent out a standard letter to everyone living in our area asking them to drop off their spare plastic bags at our addresses. We also included my email address just in case someone wanted to get in touch with us. A day later we had around seventy-five bags. A week later we had collected more than we could store. We brought our finished mats, blankets, personal care kits, and a trunk load of bags to HCM. They were so happy!
Several days later, a women’s auxiliary club emailed me and said they wanted me to come and speak at one of their meetings. I was shocked and overjoyed that they would ask me to speak about what Rose and I were doing. Armed with a computer presentation and sample mats, kits, and blankets, I spoke to the ladies about HCM. The presentation went very well and, by the end, every lady offered to cut plastic bags for us. They also presented us with a basket filled with toiletries they had purchased! I was shocked, not only was I spreading the word about the great work HCM was doing, but everybody was being so generous with donations. I knew God always provides, and their actions confirmed how God was working through us.
We continued making the mats, blankets, and care packages. A few months after I spoke to the women’s auxiliary club, Rose got a phone call asking if she and I could come and speak to a class of third graders. We packed up all our materials again and headed out to the school, eager to see the reactions of younger children. We started talking and, by the end of our presentation, every third grader had their mouths open and were hungry to hear more. When we started teaching them how to cut the plastic bags they were even more interested. We stayed for the morning and when we were leaving, the teacher asked if we could leave some bags for her class to continue to cut. We agreed with enthusiasm, grateful to have other people doing the cutting (it did get tiring after a while). We knew the children listened to us but had no clue how seriously they wanted to take on this new mission.
After the presentation one boy went home and told his mother about us. Later that week Rose got an email from the mother asking if we would be able to speak at her church. We said yes and found ourselves speaking to another crowd of ladies who also cut bags for us. Another surprise was what the mother of the boy brought—ten balls of plastic that were cut and rolled by her son’s class! Rose and I were astonished by their generosity—we didn’t even expect one ball.
We continued to volunteer for HCM, meeting with Mary and her crew once a month to give them what was finished. In late December, I found out my family was moving far away from any HCM location. I really wanted to start up one in my new location but, after looking into the matter, I realized it would be much too expensive to start by myself. I felt sad but I decided to do one last major project as a “goodbye.” I sent out a letter again, dropping them in neighbor’s mailboxes. This time instead of asking for bags, I asked for personal care package fillers.
I knew people may not respond to this request as much, because they actually had to buy things. I was surprised at the results and was able to make fifty personal care packages with the donations from my neighbors. Volunteering with HCM has strengthened my faith and taught me it is possible to love people I have never met. And it all started with a simple, little, forgotten brochure—God took my desire to help and nurtured it into something beautiful!
—Cassie
In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus takes five loaves of bread and two fish and multiplies them to feed more than 5,000 people. How did God take Cassie’s small desire to help others and multiply it into something bigger?
The brochure in this story was just one small nudge from God, and yet it became a community-wide project. What are possible nudges from God in your life? What do you imagine he might think you (and your community) are capable of? Take one small sign you might have overlooked and list three ways you can grow this particular mission.