The Great Big Giveaway – Bray Review

I started working for Liberty back at the end of 2006 and my most enduring memory from the first couple of weeks on the job remains walking the aisles of Aldi on the Longmile road filling a shopping trolley to the brim with groceries intended as a surprise gift for a family in our community who otherwise would have struggled to put food on the table that Christmas. The memory endures because of the overwhelming feeling of  “I get to do this” that marked the whole episode. It’s an incredible honor and an equally humbling and fulfilling experience to get to be the conduit through which God blesses people and demonstrates his love for them.

Over the years the hamper distribution has evolved into the Great Big Giveaway and what started with helping out a few families has expanded rapidly to the point where this week we were able to bless 1100 families with hampers, but that same “I get to do this” feeling still permeates everything surrounding the events.

When I feel it I’m reminded that life should feel like this from day to day and not just around these big events. God wants to bless people and he wants to use us to do it. When we engage with that purpose he consistently provides opportunities and the means to do so.

Bray’s Giveaway happened on Thursday morning from our new premises in Bray Methodist Church. It was a great day and apart from a bit of panic early in the morning when we lost the keys to a van containing all of the hams for the hampers, everything went according to plan. It was so encouraging and a great marker of the growth in the Bray church family to see so many from there come along to help make it all happen. There were people involved who a year ago weren’t even a part of our church. It really is incredible to see God add to us and witness his hand in forming us into a people through whom he can bless the community of Bray.

– Rob Duff