“Thank you for holding up our arms.”

“Thank you for holding up our arms.”

A note from Rick.

Last year, Wheeler Mission launched the Mary Wheeler Circle, a vibrant association for women to come together to support and serve our Center for Women & Children (CWC) in Indianapolis. Circle members donate funds, volunteer their time, and periodically gather to learn about our CWC and how we serve the guests in our care. A special component of the Circle is that once a year, members gather for a night of celebration, hear various project proposals submitted by the CWC staff, and vote on which project to fund. It’s an encouraging time of fellowship for both the Circle members and our staff, as the women came come together to rejoice in what God is doing and what He will do through the CWC. I’ve invited Amanda Craig, Case Manager at the CWC, to share a bit about the evening.

A community of support.

Back in August, I had the opportunity to attend the Mary Wheeler Circle celebration. Parties and social gatherings aren’t really my thing, unless it’s with a group of people that I know well. While I love people and love Wheeler, large groups of strangers make me a bit uncomfortable. Kind of a strange characteristic for a social worker, but I just roll with it.

I am so thankful that I attended. I was surrounded by women who truly want to make a difference in their community. Not only do they care about the guests we serve, they care about our staff as well. They are genuinely interested in the CWC, in the guests, in the staff, and in the barriers that our guests face in the community. They love Jesus, and they love us.

    

I cannot tell you how encouraged I was to see so many people crowd into our overheated, smelly gym. This job can feel very lonely sometimes. We have a great staff and leadership team who are wonderfully supportive, but it can feel like it is just us fighting these battles alongside our guests. It was wonderful to be reminded of the many women who are fighting the fight with us. They are fighting against poverty, racism, sexism…against the enemy himself.

Exodus 17 tells of the Israelites’ fight against the Amalekites. God promised Moses that the Israelites would win the battle as long as Moses held his staff up over his head. Of course, Moses’s arms grew tired. So Aaron and Hur came alongside him to help hold up his arms. This beautiful picture reminds me of the community of support we’ve found in the Mary Wheeler Circle. Thank you for holding up our arms as we fight. Together, we’re transforming the lives of women and children in desperate need.

If you would like to make a difference and join the Mary Wheeler Circle, please go here for more info.