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Dear Friends and Prayer Warriors,
I've delayed writing a blog post the last couple of weeks because I haven't had any real pictures worth posting. Last night my wife reminded me that our ministry here isn't always conducive to photo ops, and that I'm overdue on keeping you up to date on what we've been up to. So, know ahead of time that most of the pics in this post are of our two little munchkins. It's been an interesting start to Spring. Charlie and I have been working on our strategic plan, and it's finally starting to come together. I've come to learn over the last couple of years that there are seasons in ministry. Sometimes, ministry feels like riding a big snowball rolling down hill that's getting bigger and faster as it goes. Sometimes it feels like plowing concrete. Sometimes it somewhere in the middle. Lately, we've been somewhere in the middle.
Ministry at the Storehouse continues in a healthy way. We are blessed to continue to meet real physical needs of people in this community. About a month ago Charlie and I were talking about the Gospel and it's impact on what we do, and whether or not we're making a difference in real lives. Soon thereafter he introduced me to a couple I'd seen but not met before. One day last fall, she'd been sent to us by a friend and had come into the Storehouse looking for a pair of pants for her husband. The ladies found her some pants, and before she left Charlie asked if he could pray with her, and if there was anything specific he could pray for. She shared some of her story, and Charlie shared the gospel. She became a believer that day, and her husband soon followed. She's now an active member of Charlie's church, and lately has become an active volunteer out at the Storehouse. When I saw her last week, I was reminded that the gospel is making a transformative impact in people's lives, and sometimes the conversation starts over a pair of pants.
Launching Jobs for Life has been slower than I hoped, but the need for it is real, and I still believe we'll get it off the ground in the near future. We need to because of folks like Krissy. She needs a job, badly. She's got no income, no education, and no leads. She called me again last week asking if we had the jobs program going yet, and it broke my heart to tell her no. The learning curve for me in this has been realizing that every program has a lot of moving parts, and trying to line them all up simultaneously while not being distracted by "urgent" things has been a bit of a challenge. Please continue to pray that this will take shape in the near future.
Right now, we're also rethinking our BTCL and leadership training initiatives, to try and effectively move them forward.
Things you can be praying for:
1. Please pray that the Lord would send us people at the Storehouse that he wants us to help, and keep the wolves away from the door.
2. Pray for forward movement towards launching Jobs for Life.
3. Pray that the Lord would bless our planning time as we look to the future and set goals for the next couple of years.
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| These two are super sweet together. |
Dear Friends and Prayer Warriors,
I've delayed writing a blog post the last couple of weeks because I haven't had any real pictures worth posting. Last night my wife reminded me that our ministry here isn't always conducive to photo ops, and that I'm overdue on keeping you up to date on what we've been up to. So, know ahead of time that most of the pics in this post are of our two little munchkins. It's been an interesting start to Spring. Charlie and I have been working on our strategic plan, and it's finally starting to come together. I've come to learn over the last couple of years that there are seasons in ministry. Sometimes, ministry feels like riding a big snowball rolling down hill that's getting bigger and faster as it goes. Sometimes it feels like plowing concrete. Sometimes it somewhere in the middle. Lately, we've been somewhere in the middle.
Ministry at the Storehouse continues in a healthy way. We are blessed to continue to meet real physical needs of people in this community. About a month ago Charlie and I were talking about the Gospel and it's impact on what we do, and whether or not we're making a difference in real lives. Soon thereafter he introduced me to a couple I'd seen but not met before. One day last fall, she'd been sent to us by a friend and had come into the Storehouse looking for a pair of pants for her husband. The ladies found her some pants, and before she left Charlie asked if he could pray with her, and if there was anything specific he could pray for. She shared some of her story, and Charlie shared the gospel. She became a believer that day, and her husband soon followed. She's now an active member of Charlie's church, and lately has become an active volunteer out at the Storehouse. When I saw her last week, I was reminded that the gospel is making a transformative impact in people's lives, and sometimes the conversation starts over a pair of pants.
Launching Jobs for Life has been slower than I hoped, but the need for it is real, and I still believe we'll get it off the ground in the near future. We need to because of folks like Krissy. She needs a job, badly. She's got no income, no education, and no leads. She called me again last week asking if we had the jobs program going yet, and it broke my heart to tell her no. The learning curve for me in this has been realizing that every program has a lot of moving parts, and trying to line them all up simultaneously while not being distracted by "urgent" things has been a bit of a challenge. Please continue to pray that this will take shape in the near future.
Right now, we're also rethinking our BTCL and leadership training initiatives, to try and effectively move them forward.
Things you can be praying for:
1. Please pray that the Lord would send us people at the Storehouse that he wants us to help, and keep the wolves away from the door.
2. Pray for forward movement towards launching Jobs for Life.
3. Pray that the Lord would bless our planning time as we look to the future and set goals for the next couple of years.
 |
| Hosea has started solid foods! |
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| I'm not so sure about this... |
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| What IS this? |
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| hello there! |
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| Big smiles! |
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| Hosea loves to watch his sister. |
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| 5 months! (3.7.14) |
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| Big guy likes the spring sunshine! |
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| First ride in the swing, and sister wants to push! |
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| This princess is also a ham. |
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| Chillin', ready for some dinner. |
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| Lily and daddy got kites for daddy's birthday! |
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| I'm flying my kite all by myself! |
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| Our sweet little girl is SO big! |
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| Smiley baby at 3 months old! |
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| Hey Mrs. Holly, what you doin'? |
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| We had a great group for our first Thursday food distribution. |
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| We had some new U-Turn guys on hand to help carry boxes. |
