Marie was up to her arms in boxes, frantically searching for something to keep her six kids, including three teens, occupied. Sequestered for months in their crowded Bakersfield, California home, Marie was on her last nerve with incessant crankiness from moping offspring.
Well before COVID-19 brought her family's rhythms to a screeching halt, Marie became increasingly isolated after her husband's unexpected passing. They were transplants to the region, moving to the Central Valley farming community for her husband's job. His death left Marie far removed from extended family, and state-mandated stay-at-home orders only exacerbated her despair.
Without school and other outside distractions, the entire household was going stir-crazy and Mom was running out of options to keep their minds busy and tensions low.
"They couldn't go anywhere," said Chris Frech, a Cru® Inner City team leader. "They were bored."
In desperation, they started rifling through old boxes in their house, scouting for something to do.
| The entire household was going stir crazy and Mom was running out of options to keep their minds busy and tensions low. | During their search, Marie came across gospel literature given to the family the first Thanksgiving after her husband's death. The literature was featured in a Box of Love®, a simple cardboard container filled with all the fixings for a Thanksgiving meal for six: Turkey or other meat, vegetables, potatoes, juice, stuffing, cranberry sauce, rice, fruit, dessert and more. |
Boxes of Love® are a ministry resource that Cru Inner City provides to its partners so they can tangibly demonstrate God's love in marginalized communities. By partnering with urban entities, Inner City is able to invest in established, gospel-centered ministries which already have a well-honed sense of the pulse in their neighborhoods. As a result, resources get to where they are needed most.
After the loss of Marie's husband, the household need was great as she struggled to provide for the family, still entangled in grief.
"It (Box of Love) gave them a sense of peace," said Lessie Holiwell, founder of United Souls for Christ, a ministry that started as an in-home prayer group and has now expanded into a community-helps group. Lessie delivered the box to Marie after receiving a referral from an official associated with their neighborhood school.
"I thought that was the end of it," Lessie said. "A lot of times, we don't get to talk to the people, so we put literature in the Boxes of Love. She was a real humble lady and she just kept thanking us."
When Marie unpacked the Box of Love, she set the information off to the side, intending to toss it later.
"But for some reason, the resources that came with the Box of Love were stored away," the Cru leader said, paving the way for the unexpected discovery months and months later.
In the stack of materials was a Bible study. Marie decided to take her children through the study and other resources, including a little book introducing the reader to Jesus.
"They went over the books and the pamphlets," Lessie said.
Soon, Marie and her kids started attending a local church and were growing in their faith.
"They accepted Christ because they started seeing how God started blessing them when they prayed," Lessie said.
Lessie marvels at the effectiveness of the Box of Love campaign.
"To know that it's not all in vain, that is just — it's a blessing," she said.
Eventually, Marie decided to return home where she could receive day-to-day support from her extended family, who traveled to Bakersfield to help with the move.
| “They accepted Christ because they started seeing how God started blessing them when they prayed.” | Before she left California, Marie had one final stop. She dropped off a love offering to help the ministry that reached out to her during her most vulnerable season. It was Marie's way of honoring the spiritual support they received, adding she and her three teens "could see the power of God and what God could do in their lives." |
Lessie was touched by the simple, but profound gift.
"We're a little ministry, but we're great in God," she said. "We have so many people, and so many lives, that God has allowed us to see the fruit of our labor. There can be no other joy than to introduce somebody to Christ or know that, through what you gave them, they were introduced to Christ."
Photo of children by August de Richelieu/Pexels.
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Lori Arnold serves as senior writer for Cru's inner-city ministry.
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