1 idea, 2 church plants, 3 big hospitals, 150 parcels and 4,800 gifts of encouragement

We love to hear stories of churches coming together to bless their cities. A couple of weeks ago we chatted to Nicky from East Kilbride Vineyard to find out what they go up to!

“Here in South Lanarkshire we were in a Level 3 lockdown. Hospitals in our area are under increasing pressure as the number of Covid-19 cases is on the rise. 

Two weeks ago, our friends Aly and Dave, (Senior Pastors at Cumbernauld Vineyard) got in touch with us with an idea. Aly works for NHS Lanarkshire and explained just how the increase in cases was impacting on the NHS service and staff. Aly & Dave’s idea was to encourage the staff and thank them for what they do every day.

We are two church plants, and we put our resources, finances and time together. In seven days, we designed thank you cards and packed chocolate treats into 150 boxes for 3 hospitals. In total, we gave 4800 gifts of encouragement to our NHS Lanarkshire staff. The Chaplains for the hospitals were blown away, and told us how timely these gifts were, and what a blessing it would be to so many.  

With the winter approaching, it felt right that we should step in now and show a little kindness. It made sense to do it together and care for our area in a way we knew how. It was probably the most exciting thing either of us have done since planting our churches, and it was even more fun partnering together to achieve it! 

Together we can. Together we care. Together we make a difference.”

We filmed this story for the Vineyard National Gathering. You can watch it below…