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Dear Friends and Prayer Warriors,
At the end of his gospel, the apostle John wrote, "21:25 Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written." With all the Lord has done lately, I feel like I can't possibly write it all down. That will not however, prevent an attempt to summarize the main events. December 6-9 we hosted a mission trip from Mount Moriah Baptist Church in Raleigh, NC. A group of 13 wonderful people made the trek across the mountains to serve alongside us for a weekend, and particularly to participate in the Christmas Store event hosted by First Baptist Church of Greeneville, where Meredith and I are a part of the faith family. They spent the morning on Friday helping set up for the Christmas Store. That afternoon they served sorting and folding clothes at our Storehouse, delivering meals prepared at church to shut-ins and families in need, and Friday evening they participated in an I AM SECOND Bible study. Saturday, they served families in need through the Christmas Store. For more info on the Christmas Store check out this video. This year, by God's grace, 10 of our guests made first time professions of faith. The follow-up with those individuals is ongoing, and we praise the Lord for using this event to bring glory to Himself.
Of course, that's not the end of the story, the people of Mount Moriah were so generous in their giving of toys for the Christmas Store that they overwhelmed us, and we had more toys than we had children to give them to on that day. Rather than leave all of those toys in storage until next year, we were able to connect with some families who had not had the opportunity to be a part of the Christmas Store.
One of those families had just relocated to our area. It's a young man taking care of his two small children and his mentally challenged brother. He went through a terrible motorcycle accident in 2010 and spent a chunk of time in a wheelchair while recovering. During that time, his girlfriend abandoned him and their two children and he lost everything. Homeless and broke, they relocated to Greeneville and just got a job at a factory in town. He has now rented an apartment. But they had no furniture except a single chair, and obviously no Christmas presents for his kids. We were blessed to be able to take them gifts for the kids provided by Mount Moriah, as well as beds and a dining room table and chairs to get them off the floor in their apartment. This young man does not know the Lord, but he was sure excited that somebody cared enough to help him and his family. Please pray that the Lord would open his heart to believe as we continue to minister to he and his family in the months ahead.
Another family we took gifts to had three precious little girls. The mom has been attending church and has been walking with the Lord for a while now. As we visited that night, the dad shared part of his story. His uncle loves Jesus, talks often about Jesus, and had been inviting him to church every Sunday, but he thought he'd be judged when he walked in the door because of all of his tattoos. Well, with his girlfriend now walking with the Lord and his uncle encouraging him, he finally went to church on Sunday, December 9 and was warmly welcomed in spite of his tattoos. He said he felt at home in the church, and during the invitation he knew he needed to repent and be saved, so he went forward and did just that. On Thursday, the young couple got married, solidifying their family. On Friday, we were able to take them gifts for their precious little ones, with whom our Lily made immediate friends. We had the privilege of encouraging him in his faith, and it was neat to see how his eyes are now open to recognize the Lord's provision through the body of Christ.
On Sunday, several people from church came up to me about helping a family who had lost their home in a fire last week. The husband is disabled, and the wife works to support him and their two teenage children. Their house was a total loss. By God's grace, they have another house on the family farm that they are renovating to make livable. Some folks from church had provided heaters, and on Monday we were able to take them some chairs, blankets, a pillow and a complete bed. They were so excited to have a place to sit and a place to sleep. The road to normalcy for this family is going to be a long one, but they've already seen the Lord providing and taking care of them.
Like John, I have more to share, but I'll continue this in another day or two.
The Lord has been exceedingly gracious in providing for us so that we are able to provide for others. We couldn't be here otherwise. If the Lord lead's you to give a year end financial gift, please make the check payable to Denton Bible Church and write Shrader, 9756-01 in the memo line. You can mail the check to:
Denton Bible Church
Attn: Serve Office
2300 E University Dr.
Denton, TX 76209
Things you can be praying for this week:
1. Please pray the Lord would continue to open doors for pastor and church leader training in the coming year.
2. Please pray that we will keep Christ at the center of our Christmas, and the Lily will understand the true meaning of the season.
Family update next post. Now, lots of pictures.
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| Our Team! |
Dear Friends and Prayer Warriors,
At the end of his gospel, the apostle John wrote, "21:25 Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written." With all the Lord has done lately, I feel like I can't possibly write it all down. That will not however, prevent an attempt to summarize the main events. December 6-9 we hosted a mission trip from Mount Moriah Baptist Church in Raleigh, NC. A group of 13 wonderful people made the trek across the mountains to serve alongside us for a weekend, and particularly to participate in the Christmas Store event hosted by First Baptist Church of Greeneville, where Meredith and I are a part of the faith family. They spent the morning on Friday helping set up for the Christmas Store. That afternoon they served sorting and folding clothes at our Storehouse, delivering meals prepared at church to shut-ins and families in need, and Friday evening they participated in an I AM SECOND Bible study. Saturday, they served families in need through the Christmas Store. For more info on the Christmas Store check out this video. This year, by God's grace, 10 of our guests made first time professions of faith. The follow-up with those individuals is ongoing, and we praise the Lord for using this event to bring glory to Himself.
Of course, that's not the end of the story, the people of Mount Moriah were so generous in their giving of toys for the Christmas Store that they overwhelmed us, and we had more toys than we had children to give them to on that day. Rather than leave all of those toys in storage until next year, we were able to connect with some families who had not had the opportunity to be a part of the Christmas Store.
One of those families had just relocated to our area. It's a young man taking care of his two small children and his mentally challenged brother. He went through a terrible motorcycle accident in 2010 and spent a chunk of time in a wheelchair while recovering. During that time, his girlfriend abandoned him and their two children and he lost everything. Homeless and broke, they relocated to Greeneville and just got a job at a factory in town. He has now rented an apartment. But they had no furniture except a single chair, and obviously no Christmas presents for his kids. We were blessed to be able to take them gifts for the kids provided by Mount Moriah, as well as beds and a dining room table and chairs to get them off the floor in their apartment. This young man does not know the Lord, but he was sure excited that somebody cared enough to help him and his family. Please pray that the Lord would open his heart to believe as we continue to minister to he and his family in the months ahead.
Another family we took gifts to had three precious little girls. The mom has been attending church and has been walking with the Lord for a while now. As we visited that night, the dad shared part of his story. His uncle loves Jesus, talks often about Jesus, and had been inviting him to church every Sunday, but he thought he'd be judged when he walked in the door because of all of his tattoos. Well, with his girlfriend now walking with the Lord and his uncle encouraging him, he finally went to church on Sunday, December 9 and was warmly welcomed in spite of his tattoos. He said he felt at home in the church, and during the invitation he knew he needed to repent and be saved, so he went forward and did just that. On Thursday, the young couple got married, solidifying their family. On Friday, we were able to take them gifts for their precious little ones, with whom our Lily made immediate friends. We had the privilege of encouraging him in his faith, and it was neat to see how his eyes are now open to recognize the Lord's provision through the body of Christ.
On Sunday, several people from church came up to me about helping a family who had lost their home in a fire last week. The husband is disabled, and the wife works to support him and their two teenage children. Their house was a total loss. By God's grace, they have another house on the family farm that they are renovating to make livable. Some folks from church had provided heaters, and on Monday we were able to take them some chairs, blankets, a pillow and a complete bed. They were so excited to have a place to sit and a place to sleep. The road to normalcy for this family is going to be a long one, but they've already seen the Lord providing and taking care of them.
Like John, I have more to share, but I'll continue this in another day or two.
The Lord has been exceedingly gracious in providing for us so that we are able to provide for others. We couldn't be here otherwise. If the Lord lead's you to give a year end financial gift, please make the check payable to Denton Bible Church and write Shrader, 9756-01 in the memo line. You can mail the check to:
Denton Bible Church
Attn: Serve Office
2300 E University Dr.
Denton, TX 76209
Things you can be praying for this week:
1. Please pray the Lord would continue to open doors for pastor and church leader training in the coming year.
2. Please pray that we will keep Christ at the center of our Christmas, and the Lily will understand the true meaning of the season.
Family update next post. Now, lots of pictures.
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| Lily sitting in mommy's chair reading a book to Chester the Bear and Buddy Buffalo. |
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| Despite the cold, we had our largest group since the summer come out on our first Thursday food distribution! |
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| Helping! |
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| Not helping, but still cute. |
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| Lily loves to drive the big truck with daddy. She calls it "furniture time." |
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| We went to see Santa at... Lowes! So very fitting this year! |
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| Sorting clothes at the Storehouse. |
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| One of the guests at the Christmas Store receiving toys for her kids. |
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| There were lots of toys to choose from. |
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| Mrs. Joan wrapped gifts all day long. |
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| Guests also received socks and underwear for their children. |
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| That's a big bag of stuff! |
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| The team from Mount Moriah Baptist Church! What a blessing they were! |
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