McKinley and Darlene Winters, current Seminary students on track to be the next ordained Moravian ministers in Newfoundland & Labrador, sent us the following update about a recent act of ministry in their community. This Christmas, they provided Daily Texts, Bibles, and meals to all who wanted to receive them. Thank you to the Winters family, the Moravian Church in Newfoundland & Labrador, and the Nunatsiavut Department of Health and Social Development for making this work possible.
When we opened our hearts to Jesus, our hearts began to open up to others. We felt the need to serve and share with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. It began with God’s word; it changed our lives. As someone once said I won’t just tell you I changed, I will show you. We wanted to put the message of Jesus into action- to serve and to love. Reading the Moravian Daily Text, early in our walk, gave us a chance to read the Bible slowly. The Bible can seem like a huge book and a feel a little overwhelming, not knowing where to start. The Moravian Daily Text gave us direction and having other people reading it also, gave us a chance to ask questions and learn from each other. We thought that everyone should have a chance to experience the Bible (like we did).
So, we wrote a letter to the Nunatsiavut Department of Health and Social Development requesting funds to purchase 242 Bibles and Moravian Daily Text- one for every household. Once we finished our schooling for the year, we began going door to door, delivering the Holy Bible and a 2022 Moravian Daily Text. To date we have delivered 239 copies and we have 3 more to go ( homeowners out of town).
The people who received the Bible and Daily Text were very thankful and surprised it was free. We had comments such as: ” oh I was meaning to pick one up (Daily Text),” “oh I was wanting to start ( reading the Bible),” “NIV -good Bible, easy to understand (began to kiss the Bible),” “I was wondering if I will get a copy”- people were talking about receiving the Bible and Daily Text and telling family and friends- the message was getting around faster than us. Another person said ” I can’t wait to start (reading).”
Last year, as we sat down eating our Christmas meal, we had a thought. We began to think of all the people in our community that don’t have a chance to enjoy a hot meal on Christmas. So last year, we decided that next Christmas we would do something. Early in November 2021, we began writing letters to businesses for donations to help cover a community turkey dinner. North Mart, Franks, and Goose Bay Wholsalers donated things such as turkeys, veggies, and plates. The Nunatsiavut Department of Health and Social Development also allowed us to use their building to cook and serve the Christmas meal. Once the location was finalized, we posted the event on social media and in local public areas. On this notice we also asked for any donations- people in our community stepped up and we had donations streaming in and by Christmas Day we had everything we needed. One community member by the name of Ruth Flowers offered to help cook that day. So, we ( McKinley, Darlene, our children McKinley Jr., Bianca, Brody and Ruth Flowers began to prepare the take-home meal for 4:00 on Christmas Day. We made 83 plates filled with: turkey, potatoes, turnip, carrots, cabbage, corn, stuffing, cranberry sauce and pudding. We gave away 20 plates and the remaining 63- we (McKinley, Darlene and Ruth) delivered the meal to people who were alone, sick, widowed or just needed a meal.
Faithfully serving others is what we feel we need to do and delivering Bibles/Daily Text and offering a meal on Christmas Day is the start of this. Praise God!
