For a long time we’ve been thinking about how to engage the hundreds of people who walk by the Sellwood Faith Community House each week. We’ve tried a few short term, interactive projects which were successful, but our front yard now has a new permanent resident, the Blessing Box.
This box was discussed and designed several times, but it wasn’t until the talented youth intern at Salem First UMC came along that we found the right person to create what the community was dreaming. On the front is an invitation from the community “If you would like to share a place in your life where you long for blessing, support, justice, peace, wisdom, love, and more please use the paper and pens provided to write us a note.’ Inside are pens and heavy slips of paper. The box features a slot to put the prayers through to the container, which is locked.
The box has been out in front of the house for a few weeks now and the prayers, blessings, thoughts, and hopes we have received have been incredible. People from the neighborhood, students from the local school, people in our area experiencing houselessness have all shared deeply about the ways they need God in their lives and the ways they see God at work. I’m stunned by the vulnerability and willingness to ask for prayer each week when we open the container before dinner.
We lift these prayers at our dinner gathering and share them anonymously through our weekly prayer email. I am so thankful that the Parish can be present in faith to the people around us through this ministry.
-Eilidh
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