Look on the Fields: Cast Thy Bread on the Waters

Reprinted with permissions:

Truth and Tidings, August 2013 issue and 

Gaius Goff

She had been widowed for 15 years and had worked hard to make her living at what she knew best as a wife and mother. If she had a dollar for every loaf of bread she made, she would be quite well-off. He was a preacher of the gospel and his wife had died a few years previously. God in His kindness and wisdom brought these two people together and they married "in the Lord." Now, together as older people they were starting a new life and she wondered how to best connect with the people in the community where they lived. Baking bread wasn't her hobby; for years it had been a necessity in order to feed her large family and to help make ends meet.

"How can I connect with the people in this community? I am a stranger to them. They have lived here all their lives and now I am married to one of their own people; everyone knows my husband is a gospel preacher."

One day when baking bread, she decided to make some extra loaves and take them to the neighbors. Each loaf of bread was made by hand and formed with the care of 50 years of experience. Then she and her husband took a loaf of bread to the neighbor's door and he introduced her to the neighbors as his new wife. With few words and a very nice smile she greeted them and a neighborly bond was formed. Now she is on a first name basis and speaking terms every time they meet. Sometimes they take a pot of stew over, and now the neighbor is occasionally bringing them some expression of neighborliness back. The neighbors now count it a privilege when they are asked for help in some project.

Now, before Christmas every year, 70 neighbors receive a loaf of bread, made from scratch, and formed with a desire that they might see and know the love of Christ through the work of her hands. When she walks through the town everyone knows her. The post-mistress said to us, "When she walks in, this place lights up." When she and her husband go to deliver packages containing a Via magazine, an assortment of tracts, and a calendar, every home is open in the town. All the people respect them even though they won't come to hear him preach. Whenever they need help of some kind they know there is an older couple in their community that genuinely cares for them. They are "peculiar people, zealous of good works."

This is "casting your bread upon the waters."

In most cities, doors are closed to people who folks don't know, even those living in the same apartment building. But it is surprising how the smell of freshly baked bread can open a door. A small jar of homemade jam, or a little bit of molasses in a container in a basket with a nice towel around it to go with freshly baked bread right out of the oven, is very hard to resist when someone from down the hall and the second door to the right offers it with a nice smile and a first name.

"Oh, just keep the basket if you want it. But if you want to bring it back sometime, come on in for a cup of coffee or tea. And maybe the basket will get filled up again. I like to bake, but we are getting older and don't eat as much as we used to. Do come and visit us. We are just down the hall and the second door to the right."

This is "casting your bread upon the waters."

In a fairly upscale suburb of a big city, a new family moved in just across the street. When the moving truck got there it was almost noon and the moving men and the new family were carrying things into the house. A soul-winner packed up a container with sandwiches, carrots, and celery sticks, and some peanut butter to go with it, pieces of cheddar cheese, two thermos bottles of coffee, and one with hot water and some tea bags, and a pie - and went across the street.

"Hi, I'm your new neighbor right over there and it looks like maybe it is time you all had a rest and something to eat. I'll just spread this cloth over the front steps and you all get some strength back. I'll pour the coffee. By the way, my name is ... and I live right over there. If you need a phone or to get on line, feel free to come on over. I will be home all day. If there is anything I can do to help, let me know. Otherwise, I'll just stay out of your way while you get settled. I know all the folks around here and if you need a bunch of hands for anything, just let me know. We will all be glad to help, and welcome to the neighborhood."

This is "casting your bread upon the waters."

Much of the privilege of reaching people with the gospel is done without fanfare and sometimes without a word of gospel testimony being spoken the first few times we meet. A casual word about praying or going to "church" after awhile gives a new acquaintance a little understanding of who you are. "Good works" and soul-winning go well together. Don't spread yourself too thin. Take time to pray each day that the Lord will allow you to make contact in some way with someone. If the person is a Christian, rejoice in the blessing of "doing good to all men, especially those of the household of faith." There may be several days go by when you have not been able to make a connection with an unbeliever. At least use the phone to call one of God's saints who may live alone and have a talk about something that can cheer their heart. If you have someone of special interest in your life, ask for prayer and if possible pray over the phone with that person.

Fellowship in prayer is part of "casting your bread upon the waters."

Easter Ideas from Kitchener, Ontario

This post was submitted by Keri Halliday from the Kitchener Gospel Hall, Kitchener, Ontario, CA.

We've had ideas in the past, but the bunnies and chocolate and church traditions sometimes overshadow the ideas we have! Last year was the first year we did anything as an assembly for Easter.

Looking to reach out to our Sunday School families and the community, we've hosted meals in the past at noontime and suppertime. These were well attended but when we thought of doing something similar on Easter, we worried we’d be short on help because of the Easter Bible Conference in Toronto. The truth is, we are not very far from Toronto, and we can be back at our own meeting for the Sunday!

We started small: we bought two cakes at Costco and ice cream.  One cake said “I am the Resurrection and the Life...” and the other: Happy Easter! This made it easy for the families in the assembly who were busy the rest of the weekend, and yet, it was still a ‘celebration’.

We had done crafts with the two youngest classes the week before Easter and they were displayed on a peg board in the main foyer. The craft was a coloring page that you fold into a kind of kite, and then attach a ribbon as a tail and cross bars in the back. Simple but a natural reminder of the 'death to life' as it was a coloring of a caterpillar and butterfly. (Additional instructions below)

The kids had fun, the parents got to see their kids' work (and take it home). We had a special speaker (open Sunday School message), cake and ice cream, and Easter lilies with a ribbon and a little tag on it as a greeting. Simple, but hopefully different from the churches around, with meaningless traditions and their Easter Bunny and chocolates!

We're looking forward to another Easter event this year. We hope to advertise using our sign for the community; we will also post invitations in and outside the Hall and maybe have them delivered to the nearby homes as well. Invitations will be sent home with the SS kids and will be advertised for free on kijiji and our assembly website.

It would be interesting to know if other assemblies have found that doing the program the week before Easter gives a better result in terms of numbers, or on the actual calendar date for Easter.

I guess our focus is the Sunday School. We are so blessed to have the children come along week after week and their fragile families are open to the gospel that we send home with their kids! We get more kids when there are 'events', so we cater to that - it doesn't always have to be a meal. We open it up to 'Families' - in the community too, as well as other contacts. We feel that a Sunday School message is in essence a gospel message and therefore relevant and powerful for all ages. Sometimes the timing is better for families, too, at noon time as opposed to the evening, though we have been switching it up as well.

PS. Kite Instructions:  Here is the kite: (print on 8.5 x 11 or bigger, fold along the dotted lines after it's coloured, tape down centre leaving a 'fin' at the back, where you punch a hole and tie a ribbon. Add a clear or white coffee stir stick perpendicular on the top across the design and secure with clear tape.) I got the pattern online and added our own images to colour.

Taking the Gospel into Prison

Andrew Adams, Dominion Street Gospel Hall,  Orillia, Ontario, kindly submitted this report. If you have any questions you can contact him by email.

In 1993, a former Sunday School scholar found himself in the Barrie Jail and word got back to Andrew Adams that he was there. He went and visited him. After sentencing, he was transferred to the institution in Brantford, and met some Christians who were doing prison outreach work there. He told them that someone in Orillia might be interested in that kind of work. Andrew Adams was contacted by the leader of New Life Prison Ministry from Arva, ON because the chaplain at Beaver Creek (a minimum security institution) in Gravenhurst was asking him for some inmate visitation services.

Some brethren at Dominion Hall in Orillia were willing and started an inmate visitation program in May 1994 which has continued to this day. Hundreds of men have been exposed to the gospel, some have been saved, and others are routinely being brought by their fellow inmates.

When the medium security institution (Fenbrook) was built in the same area, the chaplain recommended we apply for access to it. That was done, and now we alternate week by week between the two institutions. Since then, the assemblies who gather at Deer Lake, Midland, Lindsay, and North Bay have also started their own inmate visitation activity. Deer Lake is close enough to the Beaver Creek site that the brethren from that assembly go and pick up approved inmates, bring them to their own weekly gospel meetings, and then take them back before their curfew.

The men come willingly, there is no coercion by the guards, so we must make the time attractive and informative. Our brethren use Christian films and videos that depict the changes in lives through the salvation of God, and then have time for one-on-one with the inmates. The spiritual growth in the lives and testimonies of the participating brethren has been a real encouragement to the saints at the Orillia assembly.

The greatest challenge is to supply meaningful Christian contact for the men after they leave the minimum security institution, because they are only there for about two years. Unfortunately, some find themselves back in again, and the brethren recognize them and have to start all over again!

ANOTHER STORY

In 2001, Andrew Adams (a professional accountant) was approached to help financially with the books at a local soup kitchen and men's hostel in Orillia, known as Lighthouse Christian Ministries, operated by a multi-denominational group from this city. Every day, before the lunch is served, the street people who gather must listen to a brief gospel message. He was asked if someone from our church might be interested in participating in this work. Harry Pronk, from the assembly here, took on this work himself and has faithfully gone Monday mornings to preach the gospel to them. They call him "the Pastor", and he has had many a conversation with the street people who gather there each day. That work also carries on faithfully.

ANOTHER ITEM

In the fall of 2007, the assembly was challenged to have a monthly "Community Supper" when any citizen in the City of Orillia could come to the Hall, have a meal prepared by the sisters of the assembly, and hear a gospel message. This now takes place on the third Lord's Day of each month from October to June. Presently, we are averaging about 45 to 60 guests each time. Many of them are the folks from the Monday morning lunch time, who come because Harry Pronk has invited them! But the word is being preached and they are responsible. Some have come to our regular gospel meetings as a result, but most are just interested in "the loaves and fishes" (John 6:26). If the Lord suffered the same rejection of His word, what can we say? This work, too, is ongoing.

Brethren and Sisters, preach the Word simply and faithfully. We are not responsible for the success of the gospel, but we are responsible to communicate the message that we have believed! The Holy Spirit of God will do His own work with the Word that has been preached.