Tomorrow marks the end of another Family Promise Week! Congratulations to the staff and Board of Family Promise of Shenandoah County for the outstanding work they do every week in Jesus’ name!
This local affiliate of Family Promise National is the result of Christians in our community working together to obey Jesus’ command to care for those in need. From the beginning of the Bible to its end, we see God’s concern for those lacking resources and His numerous directives for His people to step in and care for them.
Family Promise of Shenandoah County provides temporary shelter and case management to help families with one or more minor children get on their feet. The staff and volunteers provide assistance in finding employment, training, transportation or whatever else might be needed to enable clients to become independent and self-sustaining.
Thanks to the financial contributions of supporters, Family Promise rents twelve different sites in which guests are housed as they work toward better circumstances. As they learn and acquire good habits and establish credit, they are expected to pay more and more of their own bills until they are ready to move into a more permanent home that they can independently sustain.
But Family Promise provides more than just sterile assistance, financial help, and support. All who are involved share encouragement with families and individuals during some of the most difficult times in their lives. Many have lost jobs and homes and feel like quitting until others walk beside them to lift them up and help them to keep going and eventually thrive. This ministry is built on relationships that result in long term benefits for all involved.
In many ways, the work of Family Promise mirrors God’s work in our lives. He reaches out with love and compassion and provides for us all. Through our own families, teachers, and others, He helps us grow and acquire skills and sharpen talents that we can use to support ourselves and others.
In addition to the physical assistance God provides, He ministers to our emotional and spiritual needs as well. He comforts and encourages us when we feel like giving up and He erases our past sins with Jesus’ blood if we ask Him to do so. He raises us from the depths of our sorrow and misery to enjoy His presence and blessing.
There’s another similarity between the earthly work of Family Promise and God’s work in the lives of believers. Families that enter this ministry do so with the understanding that this arrangement will be temporary. As they work through their situations to secure jobs, pay debts, and develop good habits, they will eventually exit the program to live on their own. Family Promise is a temporary assistance program to lead to something better and more permanent.
So too, our time on this earth is temporary. Each of us will one day pass from this life and enter another. If we’ve accepted Jesus as our Savior, we will begin to enjoy eternity in God’s presence in a place that is far beyond anything we can imagine.
But we are not yet ready to enter a land like that. During our time on earth, God’s Holy Spirit is our divine case manager helping us to love and forgive others, manage and share our resources, and trust fully in our Heavenly Father. He comes alongside and empowers us to live like Jesus.
As we consider God’s patient work in our lives, may we pray for and support the work of Family Promise in the lives of others. If you can do so, mail a donation to FPSC, PO Box 733, Woodstock, VA. And if you can offer time and service in some other way to help do this work of Jesus, call 540-459-4599 to find out how to get plugged in. Let’s serve Jesus together.
Blessings, George