If you were stuck on a desert island, what would you bring with you?
Such a silly question is meant to act as an ice breaker, letting the questioner know what it is the other person values most. Many of us might answer a good book, or the logical might say food or clean water. But what if we change the question up a little:
If you lived in a war-torn or developing country, what would you need?
The image of palm trees and coconut cups likely evaporates and is replaced with a rougher scene of confusion, fear, and maybe even sickness. Answers to this question go beyond logical into survival territory because living in such a place is not just the individual. Whole families and communities are impacted.
So, what would you need? Many would answer their Bible, others would point towards items used to clean or educate themselves in order to keep both health and mind clear, but few would think about the many uses for something as simple as a well-made quilt.
The Lutheran World Relief Organization (LWR) knows about the multiple uses for quilts. How they provide warmth in the cold, shelter from both rain and intense heat, and swaddling over infant and young children’s bodies as a means to provide comfort and close proximity between parent and child.
LWR also collects the other items needed for survival today. Personal care kits, baby care kits, and school kits are all collected along with quilts during ingatherings. The boxes are then transported to one of the organization’s warehouses (located in Minnesota and Maryland), where they are sorted and shipped out to places in need around the world.
The Michigan District participates in three large ingatherings for LWR every year. This year’s main collections will be held in Saginaw on Monday, October 14; Westland, Tuesday, October 15; and Grand Rapids, Saturday, October 19. Locations and times for these large ingatherings, smaller site ingatherings, as well as instructions on how you can put together your own kits can be found at https://michigandistrict.org/resources/lutheran-world-relief-ingathering/ .
To end, I would like to ask one final question: There are places in need of Christian kindness. How will you help them?
Photos courtesy of Lutheran World Relief
