Story // Sandy Chao

Sandy Chao | Care Ministries Story

Just before Memorial Day weekend, St. Andrew’s received 80 large boxes of fresh produce to share with those in need in our community. Julie Wood offered 20 of these boxes to the Deacon ministry, which we decided to distribute among our own church members as a reminder of our love for them. On Memorial Day morning, many Deacons appeared — our masks on and our temperatures taken — ready to build “Blessing Bags” to deliver that day to bless some members of our church family. Some came to help sort food into bags and others arrived later to deliver the goodies. We missed each other, so it was just a treat to be together! We worked in pairs using gloves to fill mid-sized tote bags with potatoes, carrots, onions, apples, melons, oranges, chocolate candies, and a beautiful red rose with a note attached (in case no one was home) explaining our intent to bless and encourage the receivers and remind them of our love and God’s love for them. I was thrilled to help and be a part of a fun surprise and my joy was doubled in the delivering of these bags as well. It was a pleasure to deliver five bags and I knew three of the people! The recipients were so surprised and felt loved and cared for! One friend told me that the Blessing Bag showed her that the church really loved her, and this touched her heart! It was a privilege to witness God’s love poured out to those 80 lucky individuals; I was blessed too, especially in knowing that God has not forgotten his beloved ones even during the quarantine. This was a beautiful picture of God’s grace & kindness in action.