Ministries in Action . . .

"And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi,

Let me now go to the field,

and glean ears of corn after him

In whose sight I shall find grace.

And she said unto her, Go, my daughter."

Ruth 2:2  KJV

 

This morning, as we rode the train from Paddington Station (in London, England) on our way up to Heathrow Airport, I got to thinking about several situations that happened to us whilst we were out and about yesterday . . .

 

The first happened to us on the east side of London. After traveling some time by double decker bus and stopping for breakfast we walked around looking for a fabric shop that a Friend had found online. We arrived at the destination only to find that that shop had closed and that it wasn't believed that they had relocated. Bummer! BUT . . . we were redirected to the west side of London where we were told there was a whole street of fabric stores!

 

The second situation occurred during our train ride, to the west side of London. A young Asian man had mistakenly gotten on our train instead of another.

 

Not one, not two but three of his fellow passengers offered him help! All talking to him and pointing to the map above the windows several times showing him where we were and where/when he needed to get off and switch to a different train to take him to the airport. All working together to help this stranger get to where he needed to be.

 

A member of our group, who is familiar with the train system, offered him help. She knew where he needed to get off and told him to get off the stop after we did.

 

A young man sitting next to him offered help. He too was getting off before the other young man needed to get off and would have stayed to help, but would have been late to where he was going.

 

And a woman sitting next to him also offered help. After a while, she said she wasn't in any hurry so she would ride to the end of the line with him and make sure he got there. 

 

The third situation happened after we got off the train . . .

 

We arrived at our stop and looked down the street - yes, just as we had been told on the east side of London, this street was full of fabric shops! BUT . . .  where to begin?? I was the one looking for fabrics, specifically cottons that I could take home and use in some sort of quilting project or projects. The Friend leading our little group noticed the two Jehovah Witnesses standing nearby and approached one of the ladies and asked her.

 

We were told that we might find what we were looking for in the 'market' across the street or in one of the many shops down the street. We walked a ways through the 'market' and didn't see anything fitting what I was looking for, so we went back out to the street and started searching there.

 

After a walking several blocks and checking out several fabric stores, we found a very nice little spot to sit and rest and have cups of tea, coffee and bottles of water.

 

About two or three shops later I found some floral calicos that I thought I could work with and I purchased five and a half meters altogether for what I thought was a very fair price.

 

So, ministries in action??? Yes!

 

The young lady/ladies at the location of the original fabric shop we went to that redirected us over to the west side of London, shared their knowledge with us.

 

The three strangers on the train all working together helped the Asian passenger get to where he needed to be.

 

And the Jehovah Witness who gave us suggestions as to where we might find the fabric I was searching for.