Exceedingly abundantly, more than we can ask or think

That's a quote from the book of Ephesians, in the New Testament. God is able to do ....... Just now and then, we get an idea what that looks like!

It's all about the Foodbank again! It has consumed our life for the last couple of months. When I wrote the last Blog in September, I could not imagine what was to follow.

My vision was pathetically small!! I could see us having around 10 volunteers, a room full of food, and a couple of tables where folk needing food, could come and chat, on a couple of lunchtimes a week,  while we got their food ready.

God had much bigger ideas. Talk about playing 'catchup'!! Let's put it this way - we now have 60 volunteers, we have a 2000 sq ft ex-night club in the town centre, we have 5.5 tonnes of food ( 3 times the most we had planned for), and 20+ front line Agencies holding our Food Vouchers - our eyes and ears into the community.

We've only been open for 2 weeks, and already fed over 80 households, giving away 1 tonne of food!!

The scale of this project is huge compared to our little ideas. God's purpose for 'doing exceedingly abundantly- is to bring glory to the Church. God knows we need it!!

It's time for the church to become upright again. It is Christians who have taken the lead in these Foodbanks - right across the UK. It is an extraordinary move of the Holy Spirit. We've had lots of 'words' that the next Move of God would be totally different from the last one. God is always doing a new thing.

Could it be that the Foodbank movement is the beginning of the next outpouring of the Holy Spirit? Are we part of such a move of compassion and love for the lost, that salvation will be the most natural consequence?  I hope so!

Whatever, it is wonderfully satisfying to see the Foodbank open, and hear the collective sigh of relief all around Rochdale - no longer does a family have to be sent away from anywhere in Rochdale hungry and empty-handed any more. There is an answer, and it has been initiated by Jesus.

Thank God for the unbelieving volunteers who have worked so hard to get the Foodbank open, but God still gets all the glory, and may His church be given its rightful credit in the community for its loving actions.