by Leisa Parsons, Area Media Specialist
At this time of year our list of “to do’s” seems to grow exponentially as the holiday season rolls forward — too quickly for parents and agonizingly slow for children. Clad predominantly in red “Light the World” t-shirts, a congregation in Seguin ditched their lists in favor of what the Savior Himself would do — they went about “doing good.”
“Doing good” is probably an understatement! Youth and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Seguin spent their last Saturday before Christmas helping six Afghan families receive much needed household furnishings and supplies. Bishop Tim Bird said: “Many years of moving families in and out of wards prepared us for today. We have been on moves when it rained, been on moves where they were on the third floor of a building, been on moves where you couldn’t park close enough to the home and had to carry stuff a mile away.” They encountered all of that on Saturday, but the spirit of what they were doing propelled them on.
They had started the day with a plan to deliver to four households, but as they were moving furniture and dishes they became aware of two other families that had nothing. This group from Seguin can’t look the other way — they are too invested in their work of bringing comfort to others.
The families were living in empty apartments before the Seguin congregation showed up. The sizes of the families they helped sound a little like the song “12 Days of Christmas”. They helped a family of nine, another family of eight, two families of seven, a family of six and an apartment of five single men.
Most of the families didn’t know they would receive this wonderful gift. In fact, they stumbled upon one family as they followed a child into the wrong apartment. They found the refugee apartment bare with a family of seven living there. It looked a lot more like home after they left. Bishop Bird said: “Somehow that family wasn’t even on anyone’s radar but we know that Heavenly Father knew them and their situation. He knows us all, individually and He used us to find and help this family out, the joy that you could see in the children’s faces will never leave me.”
Gratitude can be seen and felt despite language barriers and with a little help from Google translate they were able to help meet the various needs of the different families.
Most of the household items they delivered to the six families came about as a result of their Texas Giving Machine and it’s subsequent registry. They are grateful for so many who have contributed. So far, they have furnished 12 apartments for Afghan refugees. They have a lot more families that they plan to help. If you want to be a part of their “Stable Project” ministry please check out their Facebook group. They have an Amazon registry set up or you can purchase IKEA gift cards for larger items at a better price. Also, share this post with others to help spread the word.