HOW A SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME CAN BRING BLESSINGS DOWN THE LINE

By Katelin Moquin
Copy Editor

This summer, Worship Anew was invited to the LWML Ohio District Convention for one of the servant events. We brought care packages for attendees to pack and share with people back home (if they had someone in mind). This article reflects on those unexpected blessings.

A woman clad in a purple blouse hesitated as she approached me. She held out a form, blank in the box titled, “Recipient’s Address.”

“That’s all right,” I told her. “You can leave it blank for now, or we are happy to find a recipient for you.”

I was standing at a table, draped in Worship Anew resources, at the front of the U-shaped assembly line. I was flanked by my trusty teammates, Deb Myers and Thomas Moll. We were ready, but we had never done anything quite like this before. Like the woman who approached me, we probably looked a little hesitant, too.

But there we all were, hesitant and hopeful, with a special mission to accomplish that afternoon. I tried to emphasize to the participants that the goal wasn’t efficiency — it was intentional prayer for whoever would receive each box. With every item placed inside each care package, from a handmade tissue holder to a mug and lemonade, to a journal and pen, to a Hope-Full Living devotional, we prompted participants to pause and pray.

Many started to make their way around the U-shaped line without a specific recipient in mind, just as the woman in the purple blouse had. Elbow to elbow with other participants, they juggled books, boxes, and blankets. “I don’t know anyone who needs a package,” they’d say. “Can you just send mine to someone who does?” Of course, I told them; we can do that. Any box left unaddressed would be sent out through Worship Anew’s Care Ministry to an aging adult or caregiver who needed it most.

What happened next caught me off guard. By the time they’d packed their box, moved through the line, and paused to pray for those who suffer — something shifted. Many participants circled back to my table, address boxes no longer blank. The woman in the purple blouse was among them. “My neighbor just lost his wife,” she said. “Can I deliver this to him myself?” Another had a former teaching partner in mind: “She was just diagnosed with cancer. Can I send this to her?” It was hard not to see the Holy Spirit at work, drawing to mind exactly who needed Christ’s comfort.

Deb described the shift this way: “As I watched people move through the line, it was meaningful to see the mindset shift from a quick ‘assembly line’ approach to a slower, more intentional, prayerful process.”

That June afternoon, we were hosting a servant event at the Ohio Lutheran Women in Mission (LWML) convention to support Worship Anew’s Care Ministry. Thomas knows the Care Ministry well and explained that the process is “about putting love into action as we’re called to do as God’s children.” Last year, that meant 278 care packages sent out. This year, the ministry is on track to send more than 400 — 400 more people who will open a box and know someone remembered them.

Care packages are normally packed each week on-site by Worship Anew’s ministry team and volunteers. The Ohio LWML servant event was our first attempt to recreate that experience in a new location — with new hands doing the packing — and it was a beautiful success.

Deb described the heart that went into the preparation for the servant event: “Careful consideration went into how we would share this process and help transform the experience for volunteers who may not have been familiar with the mission and ministry of Worship Anew.”

In addition to packing care packages, scissors dulled and markers rolled as the participants cut dozens of jean pockets to hold Scripture cards for the Grief Ministry and colored greeting cards to tuck inside.

“I believe the women who participated in these activities thoroughly enjoyed their time together in conversation,” Deb said.

Sure, they labored, but they also lingered and laughed.

In just under two hours, 80 care packages were ready to be hand-delivered by those in attendance or mailed through Worship Anew’s care package ministry.

“The assembly line style had me locked in, and I had a great time going round and round putting together the care packages,” said Rebecca Lichtenberg from Lutheran Special Education Ministries, a servant event attendee. “Worship Anew was so considerate and intentional with what was included in the packages. It was so apparent just how meaningful this ministry was to them. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of that.”

That afternoon reminded me how Christ never needs five minutes or a trip around an assembly line to call to mind — by name — someone who needs His care. Christ does not hesitate. In fact, “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4a).

Worship Anew’s mission to the aging, the homebound, the suffering, and the caregivers reflects Christ’s own ministry to those who can feel marginalized. Worship Anew’s care packages are a tangible reminder that Christ never forgets any of His lambs, and we’re honored to facilitate even a small part in feeding them (John 21:15-17).

Pictured above: Ministry team members Deb Myers and Katelin Moquin were blessed to connect with people at the LWML Ohio District Convention.