Sharing the Faith with Richard Ward

Giving back my time in response to God's grace.
by Charlie Ball

As a child, I never went to church much. As I grew older it became apparent that I needed to return to God just a little bit of what He had done for me.

I never had a dramatic conversion experience. Mine has been very much a gradual walk of faith. Iâ€™ve heard of people tell of this â€œgreat happening.â€ Thatâ€™s not what happened for me. But the opportunity to be able to return to God a little of what He has done for me, and to plug in and to have a church familyâ€¦ it becomes more and more important every day. When I come walking in the door here at the church, for whatever reason, Iâ€™m always greeted by somebody thatâ€™s warm and welcoming, and I have the feeling that Iâ€™m at home. And then when I have an opportunity to meet with various people in whatever activity it happens to be, it just feels that much more homey for me - and a place where I know that I belong.

I needed to
return to God
just a little bit
of what He had done for me.

I talked with Dr. Flamming, and he invited me to just find a couple of areas that I thought that I might be interested in and see where I might plug in and be comfortable.

I started at that time in choir and also got hooked up with Steve Blanchard and Community Missions. We started the Mobile Ministry outreach program back in July 2001. So that was how I got started.

Mobile Ministry is an effort to go out and to meet the homeless population on their turf. On Saturday morning, we gather at the church and prepare some beverages and some light food and then take a van out to a given location and we have the opportunity to meet with people, one-on-one, in their neighborhood. We give out things such as toiletry items, food itemsâ€¦ things that we would take for granted, but things that make all the difference in the world for them in terms in being able to make it from one day to the next.

I also help out with Grace Fellowship. That is a ministry which started in the upper level of a house on Grace Streetâ€¦ hence the name â€œGrace Fellowship.â€ Now it meets in the church building. We take buses and pick people up at the Daily Planet and Monroe Park and bring them to the church. We have our own Pastor, Mark Holland. Each week we provide an opportunity for not only physical nourishment by providing a hot meal, but also spiritual nourishment through a brief worship service.

Iâ€™ve recently become the FBC Coordinator for CARITAS (Congregations Around Richmond Involved To Assure Shelter). CARITAS is a non-profit organization which seeks to shelter about 300 people on any given night, especially during the winter months. Churches such as ours throughout the Richmond area open their doors to CARITAS to provide temporary shelter for homeless people for a week at a time. We host it during the week of Thanksgiving.

We never
know what circumstances
have taken
place that will
put people in a given situation.

Iâ€™m single, so I donâ€™t have family responsibilities. So working in these ministries gives me an opportunity to give back to a group of people that really need a helping hand. But for the grace of God, it could be me thatâ€™s in that same situation. We never know what circumstances have taken place that will put people in a given situation. And weâ€™re not here to judge anybody, we just want to try to be of some assistance, and if I can do that in some small way through the gift of my time â€“ that just seems to me to be the least that I can do.

I donâ€™t see it as an obligation. We are commanded by Christ to give back of our time and our talents as well as our money. But that said, itâ€™s still something that I enjoy doing. The opportunity to give back to other people is just something that provides a joy and a fulfillment that canâ€™t be matched in any other way.