Exciting New Opportunity Coming Soon!

The Lord often has an interesting way of bringing things to fruition. This new project has been a while in the making and it started with the generosity of the saints here at Hope.

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 8:1-5, “We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints— and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.”

Two years ago the members of Hope Lutheran Church began the work of raising money for a special project in the Batesville area by the means of generous matching grant from The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. The congregation enthusiastically responded and gave above and beyond their first fruits giving to bring this new service to our community. I even had the privilege of seeing a couple of our little children giving of their gifts to it!

Then, two months after successfully meeting the matching grant, disaster struck and our church was significantly damaged. Thanks be to God, this disaster brought blessing. It is sometimes hard to see how God works through disaster. Yet, here we have an example of God’s goodness!

Many members came together during the remodel to be sure it was done right. The company that did the remodel, Metro Disaster Specialists, were easy to work with and dedicated professionals. Other members of the church gave much of their time and talents let alone finances to provide a beautiful new church. After being remodeled, this past spring, we were blessed with a family who desired to serve the community and those in need and have taken on the lead of organizing this endeavor. This has bore blessed fruit!

The Hope Lutheran Church Family Life Pantry

The Family Life Pantry is our desire to provide for those in need and to give encouragement to parents that we care for them. None of this can happen without the help of dedicated members of Hope Lutheran Church. It has amazed me how much work goes into this and how much needs to happen before we can even open! And while there remains work to do, we get to announce the opening!

We will be open two days each month. For this upcoming month it will be Monday, October 13, from 4:30pm to 7:30pm and Saturday, October 25, from 9:00am to 11:00am. In November it will be on Monday, November 10 and Saturday, November 15. Breakfast will even be served on Saturdays when we are open!

We are pleased to invite all families of the community with young children to explore what we have to offer. Families will be able to receive supplemental help each month with a gift of diapers and wipes. There will also be formula for those children in need of this as well. Each family will also receive a children’s Christian story book courtesy of Concordia Publishing House.

If you would like to give to this project we accept diapers (particularly size 2 and up), pull-ups, wipes, and baby formula. We also accept monetary donations. Checks can be written out to Hope Lutheran Church and put in the memo line “Family Life Pantry.” We would love to have volunteers for this project as well.

If you have any questions you can call the Church at 870-793-3078 or hopelutheranfamilylifepantry@gmail.com.

May the Lord bless this work and bring care to those in need as families raise up their little ones. And especially given them courage as parents raise their children in the fear of the Lord as Proverbs 9:10-11 says:

  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, 
  and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. 
  For by me your days will be multiplied, 
  and years will be added to your life. 

And so live in the Hope of what Jesus teaches in Matthew 19:14:

“Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”