The Ridiculous Hour Foundation’s November 2022 Mobile Monthly Mission
Copyright 2022 Kat Silverglate
It left him weeping in the living room -- the news image of a little girl clutching a teddy bear while being evacuated from a Ukrainian hospital in the midst of bombs. War scenes haunt veterans. Bring them right back to the battle.
JJ was active duty in Beirut in 1983 when a suicide bomber drove an explosive laden truck into a U.S. Marine Corps barracks killing 241 marine, navy and army personnel. He witnessed unspeakable things there. He lost friends. This Ukrainian war scene was more real to him than any civilian can fathom.
“My mom was a devout Catholic. Incredibly compassionate. I had compassion, but not like her. After Beirut, I’d ask myself ‘how can so much pain exist?’ The best way I can explain the impact all that pain had on me is that it took whatever compassion I did have and it hopped it up on steroids.”
Veteran JJ
Maybe that’s why the image of the Ukrainian girl with the teddy bear pierced him. The world was collapsing around the sick girl, but she had something that gave comfort -- even if only an ounce in pounds of pain. JJ felt a peace come over him and knew in an instant that the Lord was nudging him to bring comfort to children fleeing Ukraine.
He shared his revelation with his wife Kris: “We need to fill up a plane with teddy bears.”
This elicited a fairly obvious response: “Where are we going to get a plane?”
At this point it was clear that this wasn’t just a nice idea, or a good idea, or even a compassionate idea. This was God’s idea. And, if the Lord intended to bring comfort to Ukrainian kids through teddy bears, it wasn’t going to be a solo activity. It was going to be a team lift. So, they got a blank pad of paper and wrote down every person they knew with access to a plane. There was the pilot he met through work who had circled the globe. They wrote down his name. And the friend currently working for a major airline. More ink on the white pad. And then there was his brother who’d retired from the airlines. Three. They had three possibilities. It was a start.
That simple focus away from the obstacles toward the possibilities led to a frenzy of scribbles and names. If “plane” was the first major category of need, what were the others? Bears/stuffed animals. Pallets/cardboard boxes. Staging area. Get the word out. Sponsorships. News media. They made each a heading on the page and then started with who they knew in each category.
An email to a major news outlet went unanswered. A call to a reporter got no response. A call to a friend who anchored the local news was encouraging. A radio DJ put something on a web page. A reach to a global mission was a bust. Finally, two friends who made hand-sewn dolls to comfort children (Komfort Kuddlies] offered to make 100 and label them with a message of Christ’s love. The words were translated into Ukrainian. A friend who ran a martial arts studio did a matching drive. A friend from a local business sent 250. So many things happened. Pretty soon, they were arriving home to find boxes of stuffed animals on their door step.
But still, no plane.
Now sharing their home with about 750 comfort items, JJ remembered passing a Ukrainian church in the local area. He drove there, knocked on the door, told them the story and they invited him in. In the sanctuary, the congregational seating had been temporarily moved to make room for donations. The place was overflowing with pallets, some eight feet tall. They didn’t have space for more at the moment, but they were definitely interested.
Time passed, but still no plane. So JJ decided to go back to the church with the donations he had. And a week later, they were in a shipping container bound for Ukrainian refugees.
God intends the comfort we receive from Him to overflow onto those in need. The Apostle Paul praises God for this:
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”
2 Cor. 1:3-4
To hear JJ tell it, the Lord used many brothers and sisters in Christ to bring him through his darkest times. Now, that comfort was for others.
How often do we dismiss the poke, the prod, the nudge from God because we can’t do it on our own? Because it requires a team lift and we don’t know where to start? Or, God is already moving in our Church or in reasonable proximity to us, but it’s not the burning bush moment we were expecting. So we sideline ourselves, waiting. Meanwhile, we’re surrounded by people in need of the Lord’s peace.
Our November Mission:
In your mission pack this month, you’ll find two equipping pieces: a large sticker that says TEAM LIFT and a set of two or three different hands.
Let’s begin November by putting that team lift sticker in a place we can’t ignore it. Let’s ask ourselves daily for the next 30 days, is there is a team lift already in progress in my church, at a local mission, in proximity to where I live? Is the Lord reaching the least, the lost, and lonely already through a team lift? Could they use an extra set of hands. I bet they could. Check it out. Do your homework. Pray about joining God where He’s already working. Take practical steps. Be safe. Thanksgiving’s a tough time for many. A time when a lack of community or family is palpably painful.
Consider this as well: Perhaps God has already prompted you to something that requires a team lift but you don’t know where to start. Pray about it. Consider using those hands to invite others to discuss it. Talk to your pastor.
Watch what the God of all comfort does. He’s always up to something great.
Share Your Story:
We would LOVE to hear your story this month! Feel free to “Donate a Story” on our donation page. Your story donations come to us in a simple email format.
Let's Pray:
May the Lord keep and bless us and cause His light to shine upon us and may we be open to the Lord’s pokes prods and nudges this month as we meditate on Team Lifts and God's comfort. May the comfort we've received from the Lord in our troubles be available to those in need of that same comfort!
Amen? Amen!
