READING
Listening
One of the questions I get often is “what can we do for single moms? They are a growing segment of our women’s population in our church and community and we want to help them.” We asked that often at my church and a year ago responded with our first event just for them called The Gift. Our second annual celebration of single moms occurred again at Long Hollow Baptist Church on December 5 of this year and I was grateful to be able to be a part of the volunteer team this year after being out of town last time.
Last year we had about 80 moms attend and this year we had 131 moms attend. We also extended the invitation to many of those in our community that are being helped by community agencies but may never have the opportunity to be pampered.
We asked for women to volunteer to pray, provide homemade food for lunch, donate door prizes and gift bags full of goodies, be drivers to pick up single moms, and to serve as greeters and hostesses. We had over 300 volunteers for this one event, because women love single moms and want to take the opportunity to let them know it.
For the moms who drove to The Gift, the men and youth of our church volunteered to take the car keys and check out their cars, wash them and let the know if there was any major work that needed to be done. The keys were returned to the moms as they wrapped up their day.
Many from our community volunteered their time to provide massages, hair cuts, manicures and pedicures. Some of these women cried as they received their pampering. All services were free and there was no charge for registration or the childcare that was provided.
During the home cooked lunch, the moms received gift bags and heard a special speaker, a single mom who is a DJ on our Christian radio station. She understood where many of them were sitting that day and she poured the love of Christ out for them. We concluded with an invitation time and provided encouragers to stand by to minister. We had many moms come forward for prayer.
Have you thought about the single moms in your church or in your community? What are you doing to minister to them and love them to Jesus? Please share your ideas with us and other leaders.
Comments
