Recently, I watched a Christmas-themed short video, a bit of a tearjerker, that focused on a young father's awakening to the idea of getting his family helping others in need rather than just thinking of their own desires. This video pales in comparison to how Christ demonstrated what it meant to put the needs of others before himself.
It has been a joy for our pickleball committee to be serving our community in South Delta over this last year. We have been blessed to have been able to meet so many new people and to develop friendships while at the same time be given opportunities to live out and share our faith.
As SDBC serves our pickleball community, God has used this same community to serve others by supporting both local and international charities to help those in need. By using a portion of the fees collected from the players, we began in February by donating $2500 to our national association, FAIR (Fellowship Aid and International Relief), which was working in Poland. Missionaries working near the border of Ukraine provided relief in the form of food, clothing, and shelter for the Ukrainian citizens fleeing the turmoil engulfing their country. In April, we donated $1000 to support SDBC’s Tutoring Program which helps local children with dyslexia. Then, in May, we were able to donate $1000 to our Share Ministry here at the church to help those in our local community who have financial difficulties. After the kick-off this past fall, we donated another $1000 to Starfish Pack South Delta. This initiative provides close to sixty backpacks of food on a weekly basis to students in need within our school district. They take this food home to share with their families over the weekend. We also were able to provide $1000 for Reach, which is a local charity that helps children with special needs reach their full potential. Over the month of December, our picklers brought canned and dry goods to be given to the Delta Food Bank along with a $1000 donation to help needy families balance out their nutritional needs. Finally, our pickleball community purchased an automated external defibrillator (AED) to be used by the church and our pickleball community in the event of an individual experiencing sudden cardiac arrest.
God has blessed us with many players this past year and in turn, God has blessed so many others by assisting those in need in our community and abroad. God can use something as simple as pickleball to achieve his purposes.
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