A Vessel
Lifeline is staffed by real people and serves real people. Real people grow. Therefore, Lifeline must grow, too. Every year, we collect client surveys to assess how we’re doing: Do clients feel welcomed? Are our services making a difference in their lives? How else can we connect with them?
We try to figure this out with a series of multiple choice questions. The results are interesting and encouraging. But what’s most delightful are the open-answer comments. We made sure the clients had place to leave any sort of feedback, positive or negative. Clients that had anything to say responded with heart-warming affirmation.
“Lifeline has greatly helped me while being a single mother,” noted one woman, age 25 “I greatly appreciate each and every thing that I have got from Lifeline including the knowledge I’ve gained from the educational videos!” Sometimes when I meet with clients and start their DVD lesson, I wonder how much they really get out of it. But this woman wasn’t the first to say that the information she learned from the PLANS program made a difference in her life.
Another client, age 31, expressed her gratitude: “This program has been such a help. It has made it a lot easier to get the things that my baby needs when my finances were in crisis. It also made my pregnancy, after care, and baby care a lot easier because of all the information provided. Lifeline has provided my family with a strong support line and plenty of prayers to help us through an extremely stressful time in our lives. Thank you and God bless.”
On this side of heaven, we don’t always find out if our efforts do any good. In light of that reality, we at Lifeline are so grateful for this insight our clients have provided. God is generous in how He validates our work–not because we work, but because He loves.
God cares for each child of His enough to not only serve them, but to work through His other children in order to reach them. He is big enough to change this world in whatever way He likes. The idea that He chose humans for His vessel seems ridiculous, yet it’s the way of the Creator.
Lifeline will keep charting new courses for this vessel, seeking out people and places in need of Christ’s truth. Ultimately, He’s the Captain and He’s steering, but He has let us in on the adventure. Please pray with us that He would keep revealing how we can better reach His children.
By Kathryn Farmer
