Do you think Atrium Health needs us to come clean the Neo-Natal ICU?

Monthly our West campus participates in a missional outreach like our “No Huddle Days” here. They go as a team and do something for someone beyond themselves.

Next Saturday, Dero, the launch team, and the new families calling West Church Uganda their home will visit the local hospital, specifically the Neo-Natal ICU.

Knowing that was their intended mission, I was puzzled when I received their budget request for money for mops, brooms, cleaning supplies, and buckets.

“Why do you need those things if you are visiting the hospital?”

“We are going to clean,” Dero replied. “Those babies need a safe and clean environment as they fight for their lives.”

Touched by the idea but also concerned that perhaps this was their “idea” and not something they’d researched, etc. So I asked Dero if he had permission from the hospital administration to do this.

“Yes, they are very excited and grateful that we are coming. They thought it was a great idea when I spoke with them!”

Can you imagine? A West “No Huddles Day” and us traveling down to Atrium in Charlotte to clean the Neo-Natal ICU? It was a humbling realization to know that’s what the West Church Uganda team would be doing next Saturday.

Recently I had another email from Dero asking if he could change his hospitality budget. For example, instead of buying snacks for the people before or after worship, could he use the money to buy salt, sugar, and oil to give to the 15 families who have started attending?

“We’d much rather them have the things they need that will help them in an ongoing manner instead of something that will only last for a few minutes.”

Salt. Sugar. Oil. As a gift for coming to church. Another reminder of the privilege we were fortunate to be born into.

We’ve been wracking our brains recently trying to decide what would make “church” more appealing. What can we do that will be relatable and relevant and offer pathways for spiritual transformation while also building community?

I tried to put ourselves in Dero’s shoes . . . . what could we “give away” that would help your life be better as you go through the week?

The odds are you don’t need salt. Sugar. Or cooking oil.

But, believe it or not, by using the resources we have to help others get the resources they need . . . that’s one of the foundational ways we grow closer to the Divine that lives within each of us. When we seek to help those beyond ourselves, that is when true transformation happens.

Jesus said, “What you’ve done to the least of these, you’ve also done to me.”

Thank you for being a part of a movement that buys colored pencils and markers and sanitary napkins and donates money and technology to our Ugandan friends . . . You make the world a brighter place.