Motel Ministry
A couple of weeks ago around 20 youth and adults from the church traveled to Winchester, VA to volunteer with Teens Opposing Poverty. We stayed the night at First UMC and that Saturday morning we put together treat bags and signed Christmas Cards. After breakfast we headed out to a run-down motel for what Teens Opposing Poverty calls Motel Ministry. It was a small motel that needed lots of repairs. Not many cars were in the parking lot so we were unsure if anyone was there. To our surprise most of the rooms had someone in them. These were not overnight traveling guests though. Most everyone we met called the motel home. One lady we met had lived there for 10 years with her husband. She even had 10 cats in her one room home! We spent a few hours at the motel passing out the treat bags, socks, blankets, and toiletry items. There was not a large number of people that came out but a few of them spent some time talking to our teenagers. A 9 year-old girl that lived at the motel with her father came out to play with our youth. They played tag and sat around and braided hair. For those couple hours she had a somewhat normal childhood. After a couple hours we packed up and said our goodbyes, went to lunch and headed home.
I don’t think we changed anyone’s life in those couple of hours. We didn’t help anyone that lived at the motel to find a better living situation. We didn’t go in depth with anyone about why they were living there – why that is their best and only option. But what we did do was to show up at a motel – that most people probably believe is closed or condemned – and show the love of Christ to a group of people that probably feel forgotten. We passed out some things that will be helpful in the short term to make their lives a little bit better. We played tag with a little girl that was happy at least for a couple of hours. It also had an effect on our teenagers. It opened all of our eyes to how some people live. The hope is that now that we know, we will now want to help. As a group we have already talked about the motels in our area that have people living in them. What are ways we can reach out to them and show them the love of Christ and that they are not forgotten?
I’m thankful we are a part of a church that reaches out to those that are forgotten. Whether that is the lumberjacks taking a load of wood to them, collecting food, or working to build a home for disabled girls in Haiti. Christmas is often a time when we think about reaching out to the least of these around us. I encourage you to check out all the opportunities Wright’s Chapel offers to do just that. You can volunteer, donate, and help start new ministries. All of that helps us accomplish our mission of Making Disciples and Transforming the World!
