Dear Members and Friends of UMA,
Thank you for all the well wishes and prayers after my emergency eye surgery yesterday! Things went well, I slept well last night and actually feel much better today than after other surgeries. The hardest part is that I have to keep my head down and look at my feet for the next 5 days! My neck and shoulders aren’t too happy about it!
So no driving or preaching, ouch, especially for Easter! But Betty has graciously stepped in to help as have many others.
In the meantime, I would love visits! I am not one to sit around much, I prefer to be out and about talking with people so feel free to stop in, might be best to text or call first.
One of the great gifts of ministry is that you can’t feel too sorry for yourself for too long, there are so many others to think of and I love that about ministry. I feel blessed and honored to be with you all when you need someone to talk to or when you are going through difficult times.
And, as you know, I helped initiate the Safe and Warm program in Auburn with the Rev. Paris Price from the Harriet Tubman Zion Church, Larry Buffam from Poplar Ridge Friends, Eli Gansvert, Nicole Gee and many others from local churches. What a gift it has been to work with these caring people, and we are getting other organizations and churches thinking about what they can do in their community! We are meeting with folks from Cortland next week.
But I also want to tell you a little bit about the experience. We have expanded our work into two teams. One team stays at the church, and the other team takes food to the hotels where the homeless are housed. This is such a great experience, the people are so happy to see us, they often have kids, dogs, sometimes 6 people crammed into one hotel room! No one cares about them so when they see us bringing food and love they are touched. One woman couldn’t stop sobbing, it was very moving. We serve over 100 people!
Anyone can end up homeless. I have recently been contacted by an old friend I knew 20 years ago. She was a professor at SUNY Cortland. She lost her parents and moved to Colorado. She is now homeless. Though a very bright woman she has some mental health issues that were exacerbated by the loss of her parents.
When you meet these people it is hard to think of them as unworthy or less than, they are often lovely people wanting someone to care and respect them as they struggle to get out of very difficult experiences.
I invite you to join me some Friday, I don’t go every Friday so let me know when you are interested. It’s just a couple of hours and there are enough volunteers that you only need to do it once in a while. There is a training video to watch ahead of time. It’s our calling to be Christ’s eyes, ears, hands and feet in the world, and this is where Jesus would be!
With much love and gratitude,
Barb