The Power of God's Love

One aspect of the Vintage Internship is to cultivate a rhythm of service in our lives. Jesus said people will know that we are his disciples by our love for each other. So we have been dedicating one day a week to service in the community as a way of demonstrating the power of God’s love by meeting the needs of others.

One such person we served early on in our internship was a lovely German woman (we will refer to her as Agatha). She grew up in Germany, was a young and innocent participant in the Hitler youth during WWII, and later married an American soldier who brought her to America. After a number of years in Orange County (where I’m also from) she followed her husband’s aerospace career to Seattle, Washington.

Agatha became a widow a few years back. In the time since, her beautiful and once-prized garden has become the eyesore of her busy street as her frailty has made upkeep impossible. So Vintage Interns stepped in for a few weeks to pull weeds, mow grass, rake leaves, and most importantly, spend time with Agatha in conversation to listen to her story.

During our time gardening, we noticed that her car was always parked out front because her garage was full of stuff she had collected over many years. There was also some mold due to a burst pipe. We decided to help clean up her garage. Agatha was so grateful that she constantly kept us fed with delicious German meals for lunch (no surprise we kept coming back to serve her!). The whole time we served humbly out of God’s love and never “pushed” our faith, though she asked enough questions to discover why we served, which we responded “in response to Jesus’ love.” A few weeks after we last saw Agatha, we received this card from her:

You were there for me in such a big way. You are a group like no other and individuals that go to all lengths. All for one…one for all, dedicated to following your calling. Thinking of myself as a good judge of character, I can proudly say I respect, admire, and thank you to the utmost. Right from the start, I found you all to be so likeable, giving me a good feeling, like I’ve known you for a long time. Each of you is such a gem. I was a recipient of your good will, not just one, but three Saturdays. The first one, taking on the mass grass weeds project and what dent you left by the end. And then the big project: you offered to take on the unthinkable garage! I was totally overwhelmed! It is a job that has been hanging in limbo since last December when pipes broke and flooded, not an ordinary mess, and causing me so much anxiety, frustration, and depression. You dears lifted that burden from me! It was like you threw me a life ring! You took charge and accomplished the impossible! Planning, sweeping, scrubbing, sorting, discarding, repackaging…and tackling that unforeseen mold…while generously donating the needed supplies. A garage that once was, now is! My thanks over and over shall be on-going. Your endless smiles, enthusiasm, and helping hands are permanently embedded. Bless you all.

As much as Agatha claimed she was blessed, we were blessed much more…and not just with great German food, but with the privilege of watching firsthand how God uses his followers (us) to meet needs in the world.