Thanksgiving and our new way of thinking at MHCC

Dear friends and MHCC family,

I have been speaking the last few weeks about our desperate need to turn our focus outward and let our light shine before men and women so they may see our good deeds and give glory to God. Thanksgiving provides us with a chance to do just that.

Our annual MHCC Thanksgiving Dinner will happen on Sunday, November 18 at 6p. I look forward to this event more than almost anything we do all year - because of the food, of course, and also the friendship.

There is absolutely no question that many of us (most of us) have been blessed this year with much more than we need. The fact is, my Thanksgiving meal with you will be only the first of several I eat this year. It is probably the same with most of you.

That blessing gives us a great opportunity to provide for many others before we sit down to our Thanksgiving meal. I want MHCC to do this in three ways:

  1. Let’s raise $1,074 for Knox Area Rescue Ministries’ Thanksgiving Dinner fund. According to their Thanksgiving letter, KARM offers homeless folks “a traditional Thanksgiving meal, including turkey and all the trimmings”...plus “a chance to get off the streets for good through counseling, job training and the message of hope found in Jesus Christ.” The price for each Thanksgiving meal is a surprisingly low $1.79. I figure we could have 300 or so at our dinner, so why don’t we pay for twice that many at KARM? 600 dinners there amounts to $1,074.
  2. Let’s collect those 150 gift boxes for the Lakota kids we met on this summer’s trip to South Dakota. The information you need is here. Remember that these shoe boxes of small gifts will be Christmas presents for some desperately poor kids (perhaps their ONLY Christmas presents). Many of you have brought in blankets and we thank you for that.
  3. Let’s welcome to our dinner those guests we have served recently through our food pantry and benevolence fund. Over the next several weeks we will be inviting these friends and praying that they will come. Can I count on you to warmly welcome and share a table with ANY guests who happen to eat with us?

I LOVE our annual Thanksgiving dinner, and I want to stress that none of this grows out of guilt for enjoying a blessing. On the contrary, it is out of thanksgiving for our great blessings that we can rejoice to respond in this way. Let’s make this meal a time of great celebration for what God has done through us for some of his beloved people in Knoxville and South Dakota.

Enjoy God today.

Dennis

P. S. - A few details…

  • The KARM offering must be concluded by Sunday, November 11. We prefer that you make your checks directly to KARM, but please bring or mail them to MHCC or put them in the plate. You CAN make checks to MHCC if you will designate it for KARM on the memo. Also, any funds KARM raises in excess of its needs for the meal will be used in other ways for its ministry. We’re good with that, right? :)
  • The Lakota gift boxes must be turned in by November 18, the night of our meal. If you include a check to help with transportation costs, make it out to MHCC.

October 25, 2007 · Filed Under MHCC

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