"For about a week or two , I stared at the H20 bags sitting on the floor of my car. Of course now that I had the bags, I didn't drive past any panhandlers. Finally one day on the way home from school I took the freeway exit and was stopped at the red. I looked to my left and saw a young woman (she couldn't have been older than 20) sitting on the ground. Her weathered cardboard sign read "sleeping in car, anything helps, God bless." My eyes quickly glanced at the white bags in my car and then to the red light. I sat there for a second, nervously trying to build up the courage to offer it to her. By the strength of God I grabbed a bag, rolled down my window and asked if she was hungry as I extended my arm with the bag in my hand towards her. As she got up and walked towards my car I caught a glimpse of her face, previously hidden under a hood. Though she was wearing old, ratty clothes and was covered with a brown dust there was something beautiful about her. Her blue eyes met mine as she quietly let out a "thank you" and gave a small smile. She gently took the bag from my hands and silently resumed her position on the curb. The light turned green and I was off, probably never to see her again.
Keep in mind this all happened in about ten seconds of sitting at a red light. As I drove off I felt, excited, sad, relieved and yet challenged. This seemingly small event had me feeling so unusual, in a way I had never felt before, but I liked it. I felt like, maybe just for a second I positively impacted someone's life."
-Eric
Whether you are just beginning H2O, handing out bags on a regular bases, or have just given out your first one, we'd love to hear your story. Even the smallest testimony of how God is using you makes a big difference.
Send us your story of your experience handing out an H2O bag.
This Valentine's Day look and marvel at the love of Jesus and the wonder that He would give up His own life because He loved you so much.
In his book "The God of Promise and the Life of Faith", Scott Hafeman wrote, "God did not demand that we first demonstrate our allegiance to Him before Christ would agree to die in our place...God acted first, motivated solely by his own sovereign love, to grant mercy to His people as the ultimate expression of his grace. Christ died for us because the Father and the Son loved the unlovable."
When we look at this love that God showed us --Love that would die for its enemies, Love that chose to love the unlovable, Love that went to all lengths to romance a rebellious world-- we can't help but be moved to action. This love calls us to do the same for the "unlovables" in our lives.
1 John 3:16-18 says, "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."
We make and hand out H2O bags because of love. We give socks and gospel tracts to homeless people because of love. They're not the cleanest, prettiest, fanciest people in the world, but we weren't either when God chose to show us love.
Paul writes in Romans 5:6-8 - "For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
Many stores across America have recently recalled their peanut butter products, due to the Salmonella outbreak heard about on the news. We recently received a notice from Costco informing us of the voluntary recall they’re issuing over such products. Since we usually put Austin peanut butter cracker sandwiches (which we get at Costco) in our H2O bags, we figured it’d be better to be safe than sorry in this situation and so our church is opening all our bags to remove these items. If you’ve been using this product as well, we ask that you take them out also, in order to seek the good of those on the corners and not come across as harmful in anyway.
If you've watched the news recently, you've probably heard a lot about rising waters and flooded in families. As I pondered how destructive those kind of waters can be, I thought about H2O and how it has the ability to be just as powerful. Imagine if the Gospel was being spread through H2O bags to panhandlers all across America. If each bag was like a water droplet, a flood would start. But instead of having negative impact, it would have an eternal, life-changing effect.
If you're interested in flooding America with hope, sign up today to start an H2O chapter in your city.
"There's one at the corner!" my little sister yelled from the back seat. Mom pulled over to the curb on her way through the light and handed an H2O bag to a small lady holding a tattered sign. We watched her as we drove off. Immediately she tore into the bag, pulling out the items one by one and stuffing them into her pockets. When she came across the Gospel tract nestled in the bottom of the bag, she hesitated...and then opened it. To our amazement, she began reading the words on the page. In fact, she was still reading when we drove around the block and out of sight. We don't know what God did in that homeless lady's heart as she read the truth of salvation, but our prayer was and still is that Christ guided another wandering soul to Himself.
The joy we felt that day was so intense and reminded us of what H2O is all about. It isn't about the tuna or socks packed snugly inside a paper sack. It isn't about the logo on the outside. It's about Jesus - all about Jesus!
A friend of mine puts it best, "If it's not about Jesus, then you're doing something wrong." If we fill 100 H2O bags every month, but it isn't about Jesus then it is wrong. If we sell bags to every member in our church, but forget Jesus then we're doing it all wrong. If we hand out bags to homeless people like that lady, but Jesus isn't the reason, we're doing it wrong. No matter what ministry it is, the purpose of it must be Jesus.
Our prayer for H2O, here in Portland and around the world, is that Christ will be lifted high.
