Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”
Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”
John 6:7-9

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A few weeks ago, a friend of my husband’s offered to donate some apples to the Care Center. He called a leader, who called another leader, and then an email went out to volunteers asking for help the next day. There were leftovers in a gracious local farmer’s field. We had a small but mighty band of pickers and I was excited to pick my favorite fruit—apples. 

But on Friday, I looked at all the apples still hanging, and I didn’t have enough time to pick in the row I was in. Suddenly, I heard gleeful laughter all around me. The other pickers weren’t worried, and I felt God’s presence in the task with us. 

The apples started looking like manna to me, God’s manna, God’s provision for the 1 in 5 hungry kids in Chicagoland. That night, back at the Care Center, we unpacked two trucks, two vans, and one full utility trailer, totaling 4,453 pounds of apples! Not bad for God’s small ruffian band of pickers. I will hold this amazing miracle in my heart forever, just like I imagine the little boy in today’s Scripture passage probably did. He shared his food; we should do likewise.

I love this story of a young boy who gave all that he had for lunch to the disciples. Did he pause at all and wonder what his mom would think about giving his lunch away? Did he think like I did while seeing all the hanging apples, that it was an impossible task? I don’t think he did—he just was eager to help. In today’s world, I am eager to help. And like this little boy, our church is eager to help spread leftovers all over Chicagoland—this time it was food and apples, with a very important ingredient: love. It is what the gospel message is all about. 

Hmm… leftovers—God uses leftovers, doesn’t he? Just like the little boy, the apple orchard owner didn’t know the impact of his generous gift. God uses very ordinary people to be extraordinary vessels for his glory.

Next Steps

I hope we can all agree on this one thing: God wants our church and all other churches across the globe to be known as places where God’s people help. Consider giving to the Year-End fund at Willow. Please pray for the hungry people who suffer because of food insecurity.