SALT & LIGHT PROJECT

On Sunday, April 15, 2012 our members were introduced to the Salt & Light Project and offered an opportunity to participate. Twenty envelopes with an undisclosed amount of cash were presented. We asked for volunteers to take those envelopes and go look for an opportunity to be a blessing to someone else. We also had 30 envelopes that were empty and offered them to people who wanted to put their own money in them and do the same thing. We gave 4 simple guidelines to follow in order to participate:

Guidelines:

Pray about this - Ask God who he wants you to use this blessing (and you) for His kingdom, and begin looking for ways that God will answer these prayers. Also, pray for the people who will receive these gifts.
Give it in person - Please do not give this anonymously or to an organization, charity, etc. Try not to give it to someone close to you (family member, etc), but look for an opportunity to bless someone in an unexpected way.
This gift is from God, not from our church - When you give the envelope, simply say something like "This is a gift to you from God. I/We have prayed for it and for you, and I hope this blesses you." We want the recipients to know there are no strings attached to this gift.
Share your story - Please send an e-mail, write a letter, or tell us in person about your experiences in sharing this blessing. Tell how God answered your prayers. Tell the reaction of the person who received the gift. Tell how this made an impact on you.

Their stories will be posted below as they come in, newest on top.

STORIES

I prayed for an opportunity to help someone, and my prayer was answered. One day I had parked on the street next to a vacant house that is on the market for sale. The yard was overgrown and needed work. I was walking back to my car when a man stopped me and asked if I was moving into the house. He asked if I had some work he could do because he needed to earn some money. Head lost his job and his water had been turned off. He said he was needing additional money to have it turned back on. I asked him how much he needed and he said $20. That was the exact amount I had placed in the Salt & Light envelope. I handed him the envelope and told him I had been looking for him. He thanked me and gave me a big hug. He asked where I went to church and I told him. I told him to look for me when he comes to church and he said he would.

The other day I was in front of our house saying goodbye to some visitors when a lady walked by our house. She was talking on her cell phone, and all I heard was “I don’t have a place to stay tonight”. I ran back in the house and asked my wife what she thought about trying to help her. Her response was, “The least we can do is to try to talk to her, and find out more about her problem”.

I got in the car and caught up with the woman a few blocks down the street. I asked her to get in the car, and she began to tell me her story

She was looking for work, and had been sleeping on her father’s back porch. They are estranged, and he has told her that she must find somewhere else to sleep.

I reached in my pocket and pulled out some money and handed them to her, and told her that this this money was a gift from God. She immediately began to cry, and thank me.

I brought her back to the house, and my wife and I listened to her story. She was estranged from her father because of her lifestyle. Among other things, she had been doing a lot of shoplifting. In fact, she had been banned from ever going in some of the larger stores. My wife and I talked with her about her relationship with God, and we suggested that for her own sake, she should start by making arrangements to pay the stores for what she had stolen. And she agreed. We closed our meeting with a prayer.

The day after the Salt and Light project began, my mom and I were doing a couple of errands. I had the envelope with me. As we were driving around, I was keeping my eyes open for an opportunity. We had to get a few things from Wal-Mart and the whole time I was looking around in the store, praying God would give me a chance to make someone happy. As we were leaving, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a man sitting at the stop sign with a card board sign in his hands that read, “Trying to get home. God bless you.” I instantly reached for the envelope, while asking my mom if this was my opportunity, even though in the back of my head I knew it was. After my mother said, yes, I quickly pulled an extra $5 from my pocket and added it to what I had already put in the envelope. I rolled down my windows as the man stood up to meet me. I handed it to him and he gave a nod of his head and said, “Thanks you.” I smiled and rolled up my window feeling a little bad that I didn’t say anything. When I turned around I got ecstatic; all of the cars behind us were rolling down their windows and handing the man money and I felt good knowing I had made an influence.

I have been praying to see opportunities for people to receive a blessing and God answered my prayers……

A friend (not one I see very often) told me her sister-in-law had passed away very unexpectedly at the age of 48 in Minnesota. The sister-in-law grew up in Bartlesville so the funeral and burial was to be here.

My friend decided to host a funeral meal at her house for relatives coming from Minnesota. She said she was a little overwhelmed at the thought since she has been having some major health issues, but felt like the meal was important to gather the family and honor her sister-in-law. She also said the family coming from Minnesota would need help with the gas getting here---they were going to try and help with that too. My friend has a very loving heart, but she and her husband have a limited amount of income—but they are hard workers. I offered to make some food for the meal, and then I thought that God’s blessing in that envelope could help with the gas!

The very night she had told me about her work ahead, I went to her house and told her that I had a blessing from God that would help the family, at least financially, through this difficult time. After I handed her the envelope, tears came to her eyes she hugged me and said, “thank you!” I told her it didn’t come from me. She said, but who do I thank?? I told her I had been praying for this opportunity —you need to thank God, it’s from Him.

I just gave away our first envelope and already I've bent the rules. But it wasn't given to an organization ... it was given to a person ... just not in person! The grocery store where I shop has had some jars for contributions to a 33 year old father that lives in the area, has kidney failure, and is on dialysis. The jars have been there for several weeks, and I read about it when I first saw them. I have been praying about our envelope since last Sunday but was keeping my prayers very open-ended. I thought of several people that needed a blessing but I wanted to stay open to God's direction and just let it happen. Today when I was paying for our groceries I thought "Right here and right now". The funny thing is, I wasn't even thinking about the envelope before that thought. If anyone needed a blessing, and to know that someone was praying for them, I believe it was that father, today. So I folded the envelope, slid it in through the slit in the lid, and said a prayer of blessing for him. Now, I need to know where to pick up more envelopes ... think I'll just carry one or two around with me!

I'm happy to report that I got to use my Salt and Light envelope tonight! Here is my story. I have been praying about this since Sunday. I have been looking everywhere eagerly waiting to get to give it to someone. Today, I wasn't thinking about it at all actually when this all happened.

I picked the kids up at daycare and headed to church. On my way, we drove by Walmart and saw a lady standing on the corner with her daughter holding a sign that said, "Just a family trying to get home." I drove on by thinking, I don't stop to talk to people standing on the corner with signs. I got to Highway 75 and got this nagging feeling that I needed to go see what was wrong. So I drove around and went back through the parking lot and parked and went over to talk to the lady. I asked her what had happened and what they needed. She proceeded to tell me that they were traveling home (they do not live in B'ville) and their fuel pump went out on their car. She said they didn't have enough money to get it fixed and were stranded here. I handed her the envelope and she just burst into tears and hugged me. She told me thank you a bunch of times. She never even opened the envelope to see how much was in it! She was just grateful to get anything.

I almost drove away and didn't even think twice about it. But it was like God was yelling, "Go back! I put her right there on the corner for you with a sign so you would know!!!" This has been such a blessing to me. Thank you for this opportunity. I will be getting an empty envelope and putting my own money in it and carrying it around with me just waiting for God to show me another opportunity to use it.

Last Friday I was going driving through town when I saw a man walking and pulling a two wheel dolly loaded with his belongings (I think). I passed him and headed on down the road toward my office. ( On a side note I had been praying for God to show me who to give the envelope with money too.) After I passed him, I got this funny feeling in my stomach that this was the person I was suppose to give the money too. The closer I got to my office the more intense the feeling was that I needed to go back and talk to this man. I made a u-turn in the highway and drove back to talk to him. He was going to Bentonville, Ark. from Minnesota. He had hitched a ride to Bartlesville, and was walking to Bentonville. He told me he was a preacher and mostly worked with the homeless. He said he slept under bridges sometimes. He appeared to be a well educated man and was very knowledgeable about the Bible. He also had just spent his last bit of money to buy a cup of coffee and breakfast for a guy that was on the street corner begging for food. He wanted to pray for me. So we had a prayer right there on the side of highway. His name was (removed for privacy). He is 65 yrs old and been helping the homeless for over 10 yrs. He also told me he had attended 3 different Bible colleges. I visited with him for about 15 minutes before I was sure he was ok to give the money too. I just handed him the envelope and said this is from God I hope it will help. He thanked me and tears began to run down his face. I said God bless you and drove on. I feel sure God will get the glory. You know this is not as easy to give as you might think. I kept thinking I don't know this guy. He could be a phony for all I know. Then I thought this is God's doing and he is never wrong. I left him feeling very good that I had paid attention to my gut feelings and turned around and gone back to talk to this gentleman. I will do this some more in the future with my money. May God bless this work and the Adams blvd. Church.