Mary Kathryn Tri | December 3, 2020
On Sunday, November 29, Central Baptist and churches throughout Christendom embarked on the four-week journey to Christmas by lighting the first Advent candle, often referred to as the Prophets’ Candle, or the candle of HOPE in the prophesied birth of Christ the Savior and Lord.
Yet you, from the depths of your heart and pocketbooks, had already set off on your own pilgrimage of love and generosity. During the pandemic and lockdown of 2020, when WOM’s usual lively and creative and BLESSED meetings and action projects were pohibited, you answered the Shepherd’s call by donating $1148.52 to our annual Christmas missions focus. This amount funded generous checks to
Central Baptist’s Irishtown charities administered via Charlie and CJ Powell’s voluntarism ($350),
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) Olive Branch Ministries’ shoebox and family support programs administered by CBF field personnel and WOM “sister friend” Scarlette Jasper ($325), and to
The Nest, a 40-year-old comprehensive Lexington “healing place for those [5000+ clients each year] in crisis, facing adversity, or who have unexpected needs.” WOM has a history of contributing monetary and in-kind gifts to this beloved community shelter and couseling and education center ($325).
Several WOM members designated specific additional amounts to a love offering for Evalina “Hazel” Lambert, a long-time Irishtown missions client and Habitat for Humanity homeowner. This love offering enables us to deliver a new Big Lots Thanksgiving Sale sofa to Hazel on Friday afternoon, with Raleigh and Charles as our knights on white chargers (and with a truck) delivery crew. Thanks, guys! If anyone wants to lend a husband, son, or brother to this endeavor, have him—and forgive my sexism—meet us at 3:00 p.m. this Friday in front of the Lane Allen Garden Springs Shopping Center Big Lots located just behind Harrodsburg Road Home Depot. The sofa weighs 125 pounds, which is my weight, but something tells me that the crew could haul me more easily than an 88” inches long metal-wood-foam-synthetic leather object. I’ll take and share pictures documenting transport and Hazel’s surprise.
If any of you wishes to participate in church-wide love offerings and Christmas missions programs, please click https://lexcentral.com/blog/2020/11/mission-support-for-the-holidays which will take you to Charles’ paragraphs of information and how-to for giving online during this socially-distanced holiday season. This link is also embedded in The Latest at Central emails you receive each Tuesday. There is some overlap in WOM and church-wide giving, and please note that we have CBC individuals and families in need as well. Charles explains all these avenues in his “Advent Giving: Mission Support for the Holidays” section of the weekly news brief.
Before closing, I wish to commend our miracle of Trisha for safekeeping our finances and keeping me on track. And gratitude to Regina who has gone waaayyy beyond her treasurer duties in researching WOM’s holiday giving history and commitments, calling individuals and agencies, and prayerfully discussing how to allocate funds during a once-a-century (we hope) medical and socio-economic upheaval. In addition, I ask your forgiveness for my becoming Miss Bossypants during President Cynthia Campbell’s and Vice-President Linda Bratton’s health setbacks and surgeries. Cynthia and Linda, we’re keeping you in our prayers. Moreover, I miss Communications Liaison Connie Enlow’s ever-faithful ministry of calls and cards, pick-ups and drop-offs, to WOM members who communicate best by phone, mail, or in-person contacts. Connie, we wish you well in your upcoming surgery and treatment. Pat Wilson, our President Emerita, and Kathryn Sallee, longtime and unflappably accurate scribe of the often-rollicking WOM meetings, have also proved wise and cautious advisors during this time. THANK YOU all from the bottom of my heart!
As ever, feel free to REPLY ALL with any reminders, suggestions, or comments about WOM endeavors. Clever jokes and heartwarming stories also welcome.
Love, love, love and peace to all,
Mary Kathryn
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