By Hannah Singh
The heart of the Ruston community shined bright last week when Grace Community Church’s youth group received a much-needed gift from a local family. After a Cedar Creek teacher shared on Facebook that the youth ministry was looking for a van to buy, the Wooten family purchased one to give to the group free of charge.
When Mallory and Chad Hall started a youth group at their church, they had only a few kids attending. As of today, they have accumulated over 30 members attending regularly. With many of the teens being new churchgoers, the Halls began picking up and dropping off several in the group for church, bible studies and group activities.
Although the couple was pleased to have a growing ministry, they realized they would soon need to find a larger vehicle for transportation. Mallory even obtained her chauffeur’s license in faith that she would find something for the kids.
Mallory, working at Cedar Creek, mentioned this predicament to her fellow teacher Karen Taylor. Seeing the good that the Halls were doing for their community, Taylor took to Facebook to ask if anyone knew of a van for sale. She was eager to help based on their friendship and how she valued Mallory’s dedication to the kids.
“She was bringing kids to fellowship that couldn’t be there if she didn’t,” Taylor said. “It started with maybe four, but then it grew closer to 30.”
It wasn’t long before Ruston resident Christy Wooten saw the Facebook post in search of the van. She and her husband had found that they were in a position to give more than usual and wanted to find someone in need. Wooten explained that she found herself in prayer often, asking God to guide her decisions. When searching through social media she found the post.
“I knew this was God speaking to me,” Wooten said. “My husband and I searched for a van and found one approximately two miles from our house.”
Wooten messaged Mallory to relay the information about the van and asked if she preferred it over a bus. After some time, Mallory reached out to ask again about the availability of the van, to which Wooten simply replied, “God is Good.”
At the start of February, Christy arrived at Cedar Creek driving the van she and her husband bought for the youth group. In complete shock, Mallory was overwhelmed and grateful for the wonderful surprise. All three women involved in getting the vehicle wanted to honor God’s grace in the process.
“It’s overwhelming the power of God,” Mallory said. “My number one thing is that He gets all the glory and the honor for everything that happened.”
Similarly, Christy revealed a sentiment of how the Lord guided her all the way.
“Though we are honored to be a small part of His goodness, we do not want this to be about us,” Wooten said. “God is good. He is a provider. He is the bread of life. He is the lover of our souls, and He is worthy of all the Glory and praise.”
