Stories of Hope (Why I Do What I Do)

Yesterday at staff meeting (whoop whoop!) we went around the table and shared stories about how Mt Vernon is living out our purpose of “creating contagious communities of hope.” The stories I heard reminded me why I love to do what I do. Here are a few of the stories we shared:

• We have a relatively new family that is becoming a strong beacon of hope in their community. They brought nine kids with them to church Sunday, most of them not theirs, most of them from homes without much hope. This family’s intentionality is inspiring.
• There’s a single mom with three kids that came up to me Sunday after service with tears in her eyes. We talked the next day, and she’s feeling overwhelmed by life. She doesn’t have any real community or family, and she desperately needs a support network around her. We’re getting her plugged into a LifeGroup and will become the family she needs.
• One of our staff went to drop off some clothes to someone in need last week. She lives in a trailer park, below the poverty line. In the ensuing conversation with this grateful lady, our staff member was overwhelmed by the lack of hope that seemed to emanate from the folks in the trailer park. We’re establishing a beachhead of hope in that community.
• Last Friday I went to visit the mom of a relatively new family to our church who is currently in prison. She’s finding an incredible amount of strength from her new found relationship with God, and her fiancé and three kids were all in church Sunday.
• One of our precious Air Force families is heading out this week to their next assignment. Looking back over their few years here, we celebrated as a staff how the husband accepted Christ while at Mt Vernon and within the past year has gotten the majority of his squadron involved in church. What a success story!

As we’re embracing this purpose of “creating contagious communities of hope,” we’re finding examples of it all around. People are being intentionally contagious with their faith. People are coming out of the woodwork, desperate for community. We’re seeing pockets of hopelessness all around where the hope of the gospel is desperately needed. That’s why I love doing what I do.