Bring Your Bread and Fish

My first experience at Lifeline Pregnancy Help Clinic involved addressing and sealing envelopes. I know it sounds mundane, but if you’ve ever volunteered at Lifeline, whether by preparing huge stacks of newsletters to be mailed around the country or by counting up pennies and dimes from Lifeline’s Baby Bottle Blessing collection, you may have discovered the therapeutic nature of the little things. There’s something satisfying about completing a small task for a big mission. Counting change might not seem like savings lives, but God has a history of shaking the world through the smallest means.

An eager crowd surrounds Jesus, hungry for miracles. Oh, and for food, too. All that’s around is a kid with some bread and fish. Surely not enough to put a dent in the 500+ rumbling tummies. But God provides: He transforms finite matter into endless blessings. Everyone has more than enough to eat, so much so that the leftovers filled twelve baskets.

Another kid named David killed the giant of an oppressive army by picking out five smooth stones for his slingshot. God met him right where David was at and made his shot count.

Not to mention that time when God filled the tiny frame of a baby so that He might redeem the universe.

What if we trusted the Almighty with our tiniest moments? He’s given us more than enough evidence to know that He will take our uninspiring offerings and breathe significance into them.

Our work at Lifeline consists of these little offerings. God has revealed so much of His love to this community by multiplying the strength of our human tasks, creating Christ-sized results. He utilizes the skill and time of countless volunteers, some giving an hour once a year to address newsletters and others giving multiple hours a week to organizing the Baby Boutique.

Does the idea of small efforts for a big purpose intrigue you? Here are some ways you can volunteer at Lifeline:

1. Church Liaison: Represent Lifeline to your church body by communicating upcoming special events, needs, and prayer requests. This is an especially vital role for our annual fundraisers, the Walk-For-Life and Fall Banquet.
2. Bulk Mailing: Preparing and overseeing the bulk mailings for the ministry
3. Baby Boutique: Who doesn’t want to look at baby clothes for a while? We need people to organize the donations we receive and stock our shelves with clothes and and baby supplies.
4. Group Class Instructor: Once a month, Lifeline needs speakers for our Teen Group Meetings. If you have wisdom to share regarding childcare, medical care, career opportunities, or other topics pertinent to young parents, call and ask about speaking at our next meeting.
5. Special Events: The Walk-For-Life, Fall Banquet, and other events wouldn’t be as successful without volunteers to fill in with the little details. We always appreciate help setting up, tearing down, selling t-shirts, and other tasks that make these events fun and functional!
6. Board of Directors: Is Lifeline a ministry you’re so passionate about, you want to help oversee it? Our Board of Directors makes decisions for the spiritual and financial well-being of the ministry. This group focuses on the direction and stability of Lifeline.
7. Dadline: Men looking for a chance to mentor a new dad, this is for you! By volunteering with our Dadline fatherhood mentorship program, you’ll get the chance to walk alongside young men and encourage them in their new, often daunting role.
8. Peer-Counselors: If you have a compassionate heart willing to listen and encourage, please ask about peer-counseling opportunities with our clients. Counselors provide a source of emotional and spiritual support to our families from all walks of life.
9. Pure Freedom: If you have a passion for youth and helping them learn about healthy relationships, check out Pure Freedom, our abstinence education program.

Lifeline welcomes the willing hands of a servant offering to let God multiply his or her gifts. Your place in this ministry is one only your uniquely-crafted talents can fill. He is faithful, and like the boy with the bread and fish or David with the rocks, He will meet you right where you are so that His love would be known.

By Kathryn Farmer