The following report is from GCI member Vladimir Grishin.
Every year Grace Christian Community church in Frankston, Australia has put together Christmas hampers for the homeless in our area. We didn’t have much trouble filling 100 hamper bags in the past, but this year, due to declining attendance, we faced a struggle. So we prayed that God would help us fill the bags (though were prepared to settle for 60 bags – far fewer than in years past).
The day came and we set out for church with our car laden with goodies. Once we arrived, we placed the food on tables along with everybody else (32 people, five of whom were children under eight, two young teens and 12 adults on pensions, leaving very few wage earners). We then decided how many items of each food went into the bags. Then we picked up a bag and went along the side of the tables putting in the required number of items.
The bags ended up fairly full and, to our surprise, we had filled 100 bags! Also to our surprise, there was much food still on the tables. So we brought the bags back and kept filling them until the food ran out. Now all the bags were filled to overflowing.
We wondered at the time how it was that we had miscalculated so badly. It was only later that it dawned on us that we may not have miscalculated at all. We had been doing this for many years and not once had we miscalculated to that degree in the past. Loaves and fishes in the 21st century? We think so.
