Columbia, Maryland—At a member’s home on Sunday, May 22, the Columbia congregation executed on a plan first proposed at a Men’s Leadership Club meeting in January. At that meeting, we excitedly debated about possible uses for the proceeds, before ultimately coming to a conclusion at our meeting on April 2, when God made the path clear for us. We had just viewed the Good Works program video about Hurricane Dorian relief during the sermonette time that Sabbath before the meeting. We were moved by what we had seen, and the Men’s Club decided that Good Works would be the recipient of whatever we would raise at the yard sale.

The home hosting the yard sale has a high visibility front to a busy intersection, which made the location ideal: cars stopping at the light couldn’t help but peek over at our spread. We had only a few short intervals of rest with no shoppers over the entire five hours! As we told shoppers about the Good Works program and what the money would be used for, many generously donated above the agreed cost of the items they were purchasing.

With this being our first yard sale of this kind, we felt much uncertainty about how it would go. We did not know if we would have enough volunteers onsite or enough merchandise to make it worthwhile. As the day approached, with the yard sale scheduled for the morning until 1 o’clock, the weather forecast showed thunderstorms starting right at 1 p.m.

David Bageant, who proposed and hosted the yard sale, summarized how God answered his prayers: “It could not have been better. I asked for no rain until 3 p.m.—God gave us until 6! I asked for $1,000, God gave us over $300 more! I asked to have a few extra volunteers . . . and God blessed us with a great crew. I had so much fun today! Thank you to our Father and may He bless you all for your love to others.”

The yard sale allowed our congregation an important opportunity to work together, including the many brethren who searched their homes and generously brought out what they could contribute in the days and weeks beforehand. For those volunteering onsite, it was a special learning and bonding experience as we busily and joyfully worked together under the hot sun, first scrambling to get the items from the garage to the curb by the minivan-full as eager customers arrived, then arranging/organizing the items (as well as ourselves!). We all took frantic shifts greeting people to tell them about Good Works, conferring about pricing, and doing whatever was needed. Before we knew it, hot dogs and hamburgers were on the grill for lunch!

Since the rain held out and there was a steady flow of customers, we pressed on until 3 p.m. before taking down. We were already excitedly talking about “next time” as we transferred two remaining minivan loads of donated items down to the basement. It was a rewarding day of hard work!

After sending in our donation, Lena VanAusdle, program coordinator for Good Works, wrote back, “What a generous donation. I’m continuously blown away by the generosity of God’s people and the care that God has shown in providing for His people.”

The full amount raised was $1,365.55. May God bless this contribution we’ve made to provide relief for His saints in their need!