(Today’s blog post is an email I received from Joel Vestal, Founder Migros Aid, one of our local missions partners.)
Hello Eagle family,
I wanted to share a quick story with you—one that I hope encourages you and reminds you that your generosity and partnership in the gospel here in our city can have implications far beyond Indianapolis.
Through Migros Aid, we serve refugees and immigrants from more than 20 nations. Many come from parts of the world where there is very little opportunity to know followers of Jesus personally, experience the love of a local church, or have meaningful conversations about Christian faith.
And sometimes those conversations begin with something as simple as a backpack.
Each year, you generously provide backpacks for children in the families we serve. Of course, those backpacks meet a practical need. But what I love is that they also help open doors to relationships that continue long after the backpacks are distributed.
Recently, I was at an apartment complex where several refugee families live. I was sitting in my van with the window down when two boys from Afghanistan walked by.
One of them looked at me and said, “Hey, mister! You’re the one who gave me the backpack!”
I smiled and said, “I sure am! And you’re wearing it right now. How’s the backpack working?”
“Good!”
I got out of the van because I needed to visit someone, and we continued talking. It was nothing planned or formal—just a couple of boys, probably fifth- or sixth-graders, talking with me after school.
Then one of them asked a simple question:
“Why did you give us the backpack?”
What a beautiful question.
I told him, “Because there are a lot of people who care about you. And God cares about you too.”
That led us into a conversation about God and His love. At one point, I talked about God giving us a gift.
The boy looked at me and asked, “How does God give a gift?”
So I told him about Jesus—Isa—and how God sent His Son, who came into the world, lived among us, loved us, and made the great sacrifice for us.
His eyes got big.
And that was it.
No sermon. No long complex theological discussion. No pressure. Just a simple, beautiful conversation with two Afghan boys on their way home from school.
A conversation that started with a backpack.
As I drove away, I found myself thinking about how often acts of kindness create opportunities for something deeper. Sometimes we give the backpack, provide the meal, help with transportation, furnish an apartment, or meet another practical need—and we may never know what God will do through that simple act.
But sometimes we get the privilege of seeing the door open.
That backpack said, long before I ever had the opportunity to say it with words: You are seen. You are welcome. You are cared for.
And when the question came— “Why?”—there was already a relationship through which I could share the love of Jesus.
So, Eagle family, thank you.
Thank you for every backpack you purchased, packed, prayed over, and gave. Thank you for caring about children and families you may never personally meet. Your generosity is helping us build relationships across cultures, languages, and faith traditions right here in our city.
Please continue to pray for our refugee and immigrant neighbors—and pray for us as we seek to be attentive to these ordinary moments when a simple act of kindness becomes an opportunity to show and share the love of Christ.
Sometimes a spiritual conversation doesn’t begin inside a church. Sometimes it begins in an apartment parking lot with a child wearing a backpack you gave.
Joel Vestal | Founder Migros Aid