We’re Not Building a Building
Dr. Fred Craddock is a retired professor of preaching at a well known seminary. He tells about attending a conference on world hunger a few years back. He said that the keynote speaker was extremely eloquent and entertaining, but within five or six days he’d forgotten virtually everything she said.
“But there was another speaker that day,” he said, “a frail, elderly gray-haired woman who spoke for only about seven minutes, yet I’ll never forget her message. She recited the same sentence 53 times in 53 different languages. I understood an occasional word, but it wasn’t until she spoke the 53rd sentence (in English) that I got the full impact of the message. Here was the sentence: ‘Mommy, I’m hungry. Why don’t we have any food?’”
Craddock said, “When I left that night I passed a billboard along the road that said, ‘Buffet, all you can eat, $6.99.’ and I was repulsed. I realized that if any one of us is hungry, we’re all hungry, and since that time I’ve done all I could to fight world hunger.”
This past Monday night on Richmond Road, in the Dillard’s Building, we had the construction workers on the project participate in our meal-packing event for hungry kids in Haiti. I shared a few thoughts with them before we started. I said, "I hope you guys realize that you’re not building a “building” here; you’re building a “tool.” It’s a tool that we will use to restore hope to hurting people. It’s a tool that will be used to mend marriages. It’s a tool that will be used to mentor and tutor children. It’s a tool that will be used to conquer addictions and bring people back from the brink of insanity. Every pipe laid, every wire pulled, every fixture hung, every piece of steel bolted into place is a part of this amazing “tool,” that, in the hands of God, will do miraculous things. Please remember that as you work. And remember that as you pack these meals tonight. We love you and we’re thankful that you care about others and have come to do something tonight about world hunger."
It was a fabulous night! 140 construction workers and their family members packed 14,500 meals. Everyone had a great time... and everyone made a difference!
Gary Black, Richmond Road Campus Pastor