Newsletter for Christmas 2007
Dear Friends and Family,
The Williams family has thirteen children and lives in a four bedroom apartment. On a recent visit, Ryan and I delivered school supplies and food. At the end of the visit, Mrs. Williams requested prayer for her children’s success in school and for prosperity. Eight of the children were holding hands in a prayer circle, and a few of them said, ‘Prosperity?’ Ryan and I were getting ready to explain the meaning of the word prosperity until another child shouted for Prosperity, and a four-year-old girl ran out of the back room to join the prayer.
We have known the Williams family for a few years. They happily receive everything that is offered but never ask for help despite their obvious need. Their need has to speak for itself. A few months ago, the father left the family, and what was a difficult task for two people has been left to the mother.
The Williams’ greatest need is a larger place to live in a safer neighborhood (the front door of their apartment building has been shot-out multiple times). Our goal is to help this family move by the end of January. This type of special project relies on the extraordinary generosity of our donors and volunteers. Thank you.
“Treat everyone with equal kindness; never be condescending but make real friends with the poor. Do not allow yourself to become self-satisfied.” (Romans 12:16) Many people see the poor with apprehension and reservation, but to love God is to love the work of His hands. A Christian cannot say, ‘God you are all good and perfect, but you created a bunch of repugnant people.’ A lover of God loves his fellow men, and this is a prerequisite for salvation (Mathew 25:31-46).
Befriending the poor is a way God purifies our love. Recognizing ourselves as their equal humbles us and keeps us from becoming ‘self-satisfied’ and ‘condescending.’ It is an honor to befriend the poor as God befriends them. This is the goal of our work.
Two young women we know have been working on college applications. Both of these students have been through many more trials than the average teenager. One of them experienced three evictions and long periods of homelessness during her high school career. Your generosity has helped her family many times over the past three years. Her graduation is an amazing success story and a bright spot in her family’s struggles.
To make sure that these young women stay on track, Simple House volunteers are encouraging them and helping them complete the necessary forms. We are also still searching for the perfect graduation presents.
Volunteers at A Simple House try to have a weekly intellectual development meeting. Sometimes this meeting is our book club and other times it involves discussing an article or trying to grasp the true foundations of charitable work. Pope Benedict has frequently instructed Christians on how to serve the poor, and his writings have been very encouraging to our volunteers.
In Pope Benedict’s latest book, Jesus of Nazareth, he talks about keeping Christ at the forefront of all work. He writes, “When God is regarded as a secondary matter that can be set aside temporarily or permanently on account of more important things, it is precisely these supposedly more important things that come to nothing.” He also notes that, “At the heart of all temptations . . . is the act of pushing God aside because we perceive him as secondary, if not actually superfluous and annoying, in comparison with all the apparently far more urgent matters that fill our lives. Constructing a world by our own lights, without reference to God, building on our own foundation; refusing to acknowledge the reality of anything beyond the political and material, while setting God aside as an illusion – that is the temptation that threatens us in many varied forms.”
Over the last 100 years, there has been a movement to secularize charitable work. When secular charities and welfare programs ignore the premises of Christianity and replace the Christian idea of person with a materialistic idea, they ignore an essential dimension of man’s being and his reason for existence.
Truly effective charity must be God-centered and grace-fed. Please pray for us and pray that all welfare and charitable organizations will foster true love and not be afraid to draw on their Christian roots.
To promote Christ-centered service projects, the Archdiocese of Washington has created a Young Adult Service Panel. Two of our full-time volunteers, Jessica and Kelly, were invited to be founding members of the panel. The panel will meet and organize at A Simple House.
Rerum Novarum Furniture (a side project of Simple House volunteers and board members) has reached a milestone. The corporate logo, the website, and the first prototypes are complete. The company’s goal is to create a Christian work environment and jobs that will pay a living wage to the people we serve. We will tell you more about this project when manufacturing begins and the website goes online.
Also In the (Good) News
- Visitation and Archbishop Carroll High Schools just completed their annual Thanksgiving food drives. Their great generosity filled our empty food pantry.
- Visitation High School also donated and prepared 150 Thanksgiving baskets for our Thanksgiving outreach. Students from Mary Washington University’s campus ministry worked with us to deliver them to the families we serve.
- We welcome Br. Austin Litke, OP as a new part-time volunteer. He has begun volunteering at A Simple House as part of his seminary formation.
- We have been on volunteer recruiting trips to 11 colleges and universities. Please pray for our current and future volunteers. They are vital if our work is to continue and grow.
We hope to give Christmas gifts to 118 children and Christmas baskets to 160 families over the next month. If donations fulfill our hopes, this will be our largest Christmas outreach. Thank you for your generosity. You are in our prayers.
May Christ’s peace be with you.
Clark Massey with full-time volunteers Laura Cartagena, Ryan Hehman, Jessica Hensle, and Kelly Pertee.