SUNDAY, October 19 was Shoebox Sunday at Crediton Methodist Church and was led by Caroline Colin.

Her theme was “Keep on Praying”.

Shoebox service implies unconditional love for those whom we will never meet from around the world.

Pam Murphy said shoeboxes would be sent by an organisation called Christian Response to Eastern Europe based in Exmouth to people in Moldova and Ukraine where many ordinary families struggle to survive.

Margaret Tucker, a well known figure in Crediton, had hoped to come today to talk about her involvement in shoebox distribution, but unfortunately was not well.

Forty years ago Margaret had heard Hugh Skully from the International Aid Trust speak about shoeboxes in this church and had been involved ever since.

Several of our members had taken shoeboxes in previous years to CREE’s warehouse in Exmouth and were very impressed with the volunteers’ commitment to their work and their desire that these Christmas boxes will bring joy and delight to whoever receives them.

Christian Response to Eastern Europe also run soup kitchens providing a safe space for children, as well as medical aid, education projects and support to the elderly.

Our shoeboxes were brought forwards together with monetary donations towards the cost of transporting the boxes.

Caroline said this generosity to strangers whom we will never meet and who are our brothers and sisters in Christ would remind them that they are truly loved.

Today’s readings were Psalm121 and Luke 18.

The journey to Jerusalem was an arduous one on foot which required perseverance and faith. The New Testament reading focuses on the perseverance of the widow facing the unjust judge.

This judge was not Jewish as ordinary Jewish disputes were taken to the Elders and not taken to court. In any court case there had to be three judges – one picked by the claimant, one picked by the defendant and one independent.

It is probable that this independent one was a magistrate paid by King Herod or the Romans and they were notoriously unjust. The widow represents all who are poor and defenceless. She had no-one to speak on her behalf. She kept begging the judge day after day for support.

The judge did not want anything to do with her at first, but eventually, due to her perseverance, he listened to her.

What was the point of Jesus telling this parable? He was comparing this unjust judge with God, the Heavenly judge, who is aways completely fair.

How much more would a loving father give to His children what they need? Are we like the persistent widow? Do we really believe that God not only hears our prayers but knows what is good for us in the long run?

Do we have the faith that God hears and answers prayers? Do we have persistence? Jesus asked when the Son of Man comes will He find faith on the earth?

Caroline said she often finds herself praying the same prayer over and over again, wondering is she bothering God with the same request that she has been praying for days, weeks, months, years. Or, on the other hand, remembering the hardship of the pilgrimage and the persistence of the widow it is her privilege and invitation to pray.

In the Old Testament we are told that our prayers are like incense lifted up before the Lord, before a God who is just and a compassionate father who delights in hearing our prayers.

The story of the persistent widow encourages us to carry on carrying on our prayer requests because what feels to us like ages, like unanswered requests, is known by God and held by Him and answered in His good time. “Thy will be done”. Do we really mean what we have just prayed?

As Christian Response for Eastern Europe is needed for yet another year, as humanity fights with each other for territory, as people suffer, do we have the faith to keep on praying?

Remember every act of kindness in preparing shoeboxes for someone you will never meet is an act of faith. What appears to us as unanswered prayers are acts of faith as we trust God for His timing.

So be encouraged friends to keep on keeping praying and to have perseverance and patience and the persistence to continue your own pilgrimage in prayer. Indeed may each of us be found faithful when the Lord comes.

Bronwyn Nott