Bicycles and Christmas in July

I recently had the opportunity to meet a group of people who volunteer at a church called Most Holy Trinity in Hyde Park in north St. Louis.

This is a group of people whose love for the people of Hyde Park is apparent through their stories of how the people of this neighborhood have touched their lives, and their testimony to the strength and work ethic of the people who live in Hyde Park.

This parish seeks to build relationships with the people of the neighborhood and is meeting the needs of the area in real, tangible ways. Among other outreaches, they adopt families at Christmastime, plant a community garden from which anyone can obtain food at any time and make door-to-door visits to homes to invite people to church and build relationships with them.

Their faith isn't confined to a building; it lives and breathes and moves outside of the walls, out into the larger community. It isn't merely an exclusive community of believers who already belong, but invites and reaches out to others to be Christ's presence in the world, regardless of others' membership in the group.

Their most recent project is collecting bicycles for the 109 children who attend the parish school, most of whom aren't a part of the church but attend the school to receive a better education.

Many of these children have never owned a bicycle. The group is hoping to collect as many bicycles as possible -- ideally one for each child at the school -- and the group now has about 40 bicycles. They will give the bikes out at a Christmas in July barbecue.

One of the things I love about this project is that it's ecumenical: People from different denominations have been donating bicycles.

In addition, Most Holy Trinity is partnering with St. Louis' Manchester United Methodist Church, which has a full-time bicycle ministry. A group at Manchester United makes repairs to the bicycles before they are presented to the children.

Most Holy Trinity's love for its neighborhood reminds me of a talk I heard a few weeks ago. The speaker raised the question: What if when Jesus told us to love our neighbor, he actually meant we should love our neighbor-neighbor -- as in the people who live next to us? Think of how this would transform our world.

At the same time we're loving our next-door neighbor, it is also good to tangibly love our neighbors who live a little farther away.

If you have old -- or new -- bicycles that you want to donate to the children at Most Holy Trinity School, you may contact the church at 314-241-9165 and arrange to have the bicycles picked up closer to your home. Bicycles should be in working order, although the church can make repairs to the bikes.

Let's be a part of helping each child at this school to receive a bicycle and receive the love of Jesus.

Mia Pohlman is a Perryville, Missouri, native and a recent graduate of Truman State University with a bachelor's degree in English.