God's Love in Action
On a cold and quiet night in January, Sharon and Dale’s house caught fire and quickly burned to the ground, leaving them with nothing. Reeling from the loss of their home, they moved into a motel room with the support of The Red Cross and tried to decide what to do next.
The Red Cross reached out to Linda Moorehead with The Salvation Army of Ohio County, Indiana, and Linda jumped into action. Since housing was covered, Linda focused her attention on other essential needs. Using Salvation Army funds, she first made sure that Sharon and Dale had food to eat.
Next, Linda took stock of everything that would have to be replaced in order for the couple to start over. She wrote checks for them to use at their local grocery store in order to buy essentials like cleaning supplies, food, and cookware. Through the work of The Salvation Army, The Red Cross, and other community partners, Sharon and Dale were able to begin to repair their lives after such a devastating fire.
The Salvation Army's mission is to "preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and meet human needs in His name without discrimination”. Preaching the gospel is never forgotten by those who work and volunteer with The Salvation Army, but meeting essential needs comes first. According to the words of our founder William Booth, “You cannot warm the hearts of people with God's love if they have an empty stomach and cold feet.”
The Salvation Army always begins by meeting needs, and by helping Sharon and Dale secure food, shelter, and basic essentials, we could demonstrate how the love of God is displayed through our hands-on ministry. The actions of love displayed by Linda to help Sharon and Dale is one of the greatest displays of God and the love He has for His people. Providing for these essential needs will make a lasting impact on their lives as they begin to rebuild.
Linda was blessed to be able to help in this way. “I just love it,” she said when asked about her volunteer work with The Salvation Army. Each week Linda gets to show God’s love in action and through her actions as she meets human needs in His name.