Change It Now: Changing the World through Quarters and Dollars

When one of our small groups campus directors and I were laying out track for our church's small group ministry in 2012, one of the key components that we included in our groups was an element called "Change It Now."  Very simply, each small group -- as part of their worship each week -- takes an offering. We have suggested that each person bring a quarter to a dollar each week. At any point the group can choose to use the group's money toward some cause that will serve a redemptive purpose.

Chances are, not many of our people have missed that pocket change. (Get the double meaning of "change"?). The idea is that we will make a difference for the kingdom of God when we begin to move toward what He is doing on the earth.  Change It Now is simply a vehicle that gets us moving.

There are several goals that we hoped to accomplish through Change It Now.
1. To experience "the power of everybody."  We accomplish more working together than separately.
2. To intentionally look for gospel-centered causes in which to invest and move toward them with our time, prayers, awareness, talents, and resources. 
3. To worship through giving.
4. To go beyond just quarters and dollars in our giving.
5. To create opportunities to share what our groups are moving toward with others, not for our recognition but for how that movement reflects Christ.

One of my small group members and I leave next Monday for Jacmel, Haiti.  Our group is sending us with 15 towels and some black shoes for the children at the House of Abraham orphanage there. I wanted to reflect on how a few towels and a few pair of black shoes originating from Hernando, Mississippi, will change the world:
1.  Jacob and I will be the ones getting on a plane, but our whole small group is going with us in some way.  They have invested their time and their prayers and their money into our trip.  In a sense, we're all going.
2.  The children that we are visiting are hearing the gospel on a regular basis, and we want them to become children of the King and our brothers and sisters with whom we will one day share eternity.  They are not a project; they are people.
3.  Our group has collected $85 since our last investment in a mission team that went to Russia to minister to college students and orphans earlier this year.  Quarters and dollars that have not been missed.  Quarters and dollars that will provide a necessity for daily living (the towels) and a necessity for attending school (the shoes).
4.  Our money only paid for the towels.  The shoes were one family's "above and beyond."
5.  We have already had several opportunities to share why we are going to Haiti and why our group is sending towels and shoes.  I'm sure there will be more opportunities as we travel.  And we will be able to look orphaned children and those who care for them in the eyes and not just show the love of Christ in a practical way but to share the Good News with them.  After we return, we will continue to share our story.  And we will continue to talk about how showing God's love for orphans reflects His love and sacrifice for us.

To our small group, I want to say what a privilege it is to walk through life together with you.  We have shared deep sorrows and breathtaking joys together.  I have been blessed to be allowed into the deepest parts of your lives, to see you move more and more toward God's heart, and to see you become more and more like Jesus. As we have studied God's Word together, I have seen it move you to action in so many ways.  I wish you were all physically going with Jacob and me...

To our other CHC small groups, I rejoice to know that what is happening through our group's Change It Now is also happening many times over in our other groups.  The world is changing because of you. 

To our other readers, please join our small group and pray for us while we are in Haiti from this Monday through the following Monday.

Thanks for reading.  

4theVoiceless,
Al