A few weeks ago, we celebrated something beautiful together. Through our Easter Offering, we set out with a clear and meaningful goal: to partner with Sleep in Heavenly Peace and provide 50 beds for children in the Northland who need a safe and comfortable place to sleep.
That goal mattered because every bed represents more than wood, a mattress, and bedding. It represents a child having a place to rest. It represents a family being reminded that they are not forgotten. It represents hope taking shape in a very tangible way.
But then something unexpected happened. You gave beyond the goal.
Because of your overflowing generosity, we are now able to provide 80 beds for children in our community.
That alone is worth celebrating. But your generosity didn’t stop there. Because the Easter Offering surpassed our original goal, we are also able to take another step in igniting hope in the Northland through a new ministry called Rooted.
Rooted is being launched in partnership with A Turning Point KC, our local nonprofit partner, and it is focused on walking alongside individuals and families who are transitioning from unsheltered living into permanent housing.
And here’s what we’ve learned: getting housed is a huge step, but it is not the final step.
Imagine finally getting the keys to a place of your own after a season of instability. There is relief. There is joy. There is hope. But then you open the door and realize how much is still missing. No dishes. No towels. No basic supplies. No extra hands to help move in. No community waiting to say, “We’re glad you’re here. You’re not doing this alone.”
That is the gap Rooted is designed to help fill.
As part of our Ignite vision, a team from Good Shepherd has spent time listening, researching, praying, and meeting with agencies across the Northland to understand where we might help ignite hope in a meaningful way. What they discovered is that more people are being connected to housing, but the support needed to help them settle, stabilize, and begin again is more than our partners can carry alone.
So Rooted will give us several ways to come alongside our neighbors as they begin again. Through Rooted, we will help provide basic household essentials through welcome baskets. We will show up as move-in crews to encourage, celebrate, and lend a hand. And over time, we will help surround individuals and families with relationships, support, and community as they settle into a new home and begin to imagine a new chapter.
This is what generosity does! It doesn’t just meet one need and move on. It keeps looking for ways love can take root.
Ephesians 3 says that we are to be “rooted and established in love.” That is our prayer for this ministry—that people would not only receive supplies, but experience support; not only a place to live, but a community of love around them.
If you would like to learn more, I hope you’ll join us for Rooted: First Look on Tuesday, May 26, at 7PM at our North Oak Campus. You’ll hear the vision, learn how it works, and discover where you might fit in.
You can find more details at goodshepherdkc.com/rooted, or reach out to our Gladstone Campus Pastor Cathy McIntire at cmcintire@goodshepherdkc.com.
I’m so grateful for the way this church continues to give, serve, and ignite hope. Your Easter generosity is still bearing fruit—and now, by God’s grace, it is taking root.
Peace,
Matt
P.S. I hope you’ll join us this Sunday as we continue Dynamic Duo. This week’s story has had me thinking a lot about the kind of people we all need in our lives—people who care enough to tell us the truth, even when it’s hard to hear.
You can view weeks’ message below:
