The Outlet By The Trashcan

 
You might miss the electrical outlet behind the trashcan and recycling bin on the church lanai, but most evenings and Sunday mornings this unassuming, gray outlet becomes quite popular.

Though digital-device-addiction and therefore anxiety-inducing low batteries are a real thing in our world, this isn't the only reason for the outlet's popularity. The reality is within our congregation, my best estimate would be half our people live off the electrical grid. A few have solar panel systems that feed into batteries for their electrical needs, but many survive off a gas-powered generator that is turned off and on throughout the day to pace usage. That is, provided they have money and transportation to get gas that week. Some have no power source whatsoever.

While it may seem like a petty thing to charge these often overly-used devices, it's easy to forget how quickly being detached from communication can hinder peoples' lives. Communication for work, medical issues, transportation, or school needs rely on these phones/tablets daily. While it's common to carry around an extra power bank in your vehicle or bag, several power banks are essential backup for most people in Puna. It's common in many public places like restaurants/coffee shops for the outlets to be completely blocked so that lingering to charge a device can't happen. So...people often end up on our lanai after the public charter school hours are finished to charge up, and perhaps to use the WiFi. It's a community need we didn't really realize we had until this outlet started getting so popular. 

Our lanai itself does not have power run to it, so this exterior outlet attached to the original building gets a lot of usage when the building is locked up (at least without climbing into rafters...thankfully I don't think that's happened yet). Perhaps we should setup a designated charging shelf with power strips and amplify this outlet's capabilities? Perhaps with the arrival of our growing electric bill each month, it could be a prompt to pray for all those utilizing this resource? Perhaps someone out there is interested in converted our two buildings over to solar power to serve this need in a more sustainable way...oh, how that would be AWESOME!

All sorts of ideas roll around in my brain when I think about that unassuming outlet... 

As the ideas keep rolling, I pray that those who come to charge devices - whether they stay for a service, meal, conversation, Bible study or not - may know the Church cares about their needs. More importantly that God longs to provide and care for them. May Jesus keep giving us vision, creativity, and provision to see and meet the real needs of our area. May He show all of us the deeper, universal need for connection with our Creator and the people He has made. His power is limitless and available to all, even behind a trashcan.

- Pastor Malorri

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