An ordinary table, an extraordinary purpose

I sent a picture of a kitchen table to Jan last fall. After a few decades in Colorado, Jan relocated last summer and reached out to me when she heard about the donations we were receiving to serve our community, especially furniture and household goods for migrants settling into apartments with their clothing, a few blankets, and not much else.

Jose and Paola had both their sons baptized

The table in the picture was part of the haul that we transported across the span of metro Denver to deliver to a new home. I remember Jan mentioning her own family moments and special memories that happened around that table while raising her kids, but as she was downsizing and moving across the country, it just couldn’t make the trip with her. She was glad to hear that the table would be a blessing to a family. I also remember it was a pain to take apart and, even in pieces, quite heavy, requiring two grown men to maneuver it up from the basement. Yes, it was in the basement, and the thought crossed my mind to decline the donation simply out of my own laziness.

However, that day I sat at that same table with Jose and Paola and not only enjoyed a delicious plate of food but also shared God’s Word with them and prayed with them. The conversation even turned to setting up a time to baptize their two small sons. During our conversation, Luis, a young man staying with them, stopped scrolling on his phone while on the couch nearby and took a seat at the table to join us with his own questions. Since then, more conversations and more Bible studies have taken place and several new faces have joined us around that table. The boys were baptized in our Spanish service in February. Jose and Paola want to keep studying to grow in their faith and knowledge and become members of the congregation.

God is blessing donations we have received in ways we couldn’t ever imagine. Jan was so happy to hear that another family is being fed with God’s Word around the same table where her own family held devotions and shared so many memories. As we continue to serve our neighbors by connecting them with clothing, food, diapers, English classes, and even used furniture, we remain excited to see how God will use that generosity to connect them to their Savior.

To God be the glory!

Written by Rev. Paul Biedenbender, home missionary at Christ Lutheran Church in Denver, Colo.