Your New Money Mindset by Brad Hewitt & James Moline

Author:Brad Hewitt & James Moline
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Personal Finance / General
ISBN: 9781496410191
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Published: 2015-10-19T16:00:00+00:00

“I give back to my community.”

“In my neighborhood, we help each other out when someone needs a hand.”

It’s crucial to develop relationships with people who share our faith. It’s just as vital to reach out to people in need, followers of Jesus or not. Developing connections in our community is another of the “generosity disciplines” we recommend. It naturally results in stronger community, whether we define that as a neighborhood or something bigger.

A dozen years ago, Peter and Cary Bolstorff took a bold step toward feeding the homeless of St. Paul, Minnesota. For some time they had supported local soup kitchens but felt God calling them to do more. And so the dream of building a mobile food kitchen was born. Twelve years later, Peter and Cary, with the help of many others, have served more than 400,000 meals to St. Paul’s homeless population.

Mobile Action Ministries (MAM) is a not-for-profit, 100-percent-volunteer-operated organization bringing healthy, dependable meals to children, women, and men who lack the resources to eat regularly. This service has become more and more vital as government food-assistance programs continue to be cut. As other services dry up, a mobile food ministry like MAM fills the void.

Peter and Cary Bolstorff committed the time, energy, and resources to lead a group of volunteers to do more than they could ever do alone. Meals are prepared, served, and cleaned up by small teams—often families—who make their way into the inner city to be Christ’s hands and feet in action. Independence gives way to interdependence.

I (Jim) have found that my regular involvement over several years with MAM’s food truck continues to remind me that the walls between people aren’t nearly as high as I tend to think. After serving a meal, we climb out of the truck and talk to people. Some come from situations I can barely begin to imagine, even after difficult points in my own life as well as a long career as a psychologist, where I hear people’s stories and offer them a safe space to pour out the worst hurts of their lives. I meet some who are as well educated as people who fill our businesses and boardrooms, and I hear how their lives took a bad turn. Any of them could just as easily be in our place. Or we in theirs. Breaking boundaries and meeting actual people on the street helps me remember that the act of living is inherently risky, and none of us can survive, much less thrive, without practical and spiritual grace from others.

A couple of years ago, I was serving lunch on a cold November day along with my daughters, Mira and Asha, to a large crowd of the city’s homeless. On that particular day, besides handing out lunches from the mobile food kitchen, we were distributing clothing to anyone in need.

At one point a man named Sam rolled up in his wheelchair and asked if we had any blankets. He wanted to keep his lap and legs warm while he sat in his wheelchair.

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