Until The Nets Are Full: Helping Without Hurting!

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All dressed up for Easter. (The church choir wore Tuxes)

Dear Friends and Prayer Warriors,

The last couple of weeks have been great! We successfully started our first BTCL class with 4 students. This class is a sermon prep and delivery class, with a heavy initial emphasis on Bible study methods and rules of interpretation. Our first class I laid out the class framework, and then taught the story of the Bible. If you're not familiar with the story, you can read it here. Last week we talked about the purpose of the Bible and Persons of the Trinity. This week, we'll dive into rules of interpretation. The guys are great. The small group size has been a blessing because it allows time to discuss and answer questions along the way. This group has a heavy emphasis on the practical and sharing life in ministry, and the small size facilitates that. Please continue to pray that the Lord would bless our time together, and that these men's ministries would be more fruitful as a result of their time investment.

Last month, Charlie and I tossed around the idea of dropping our first Thursday food distribution. There are some others in the area who provide this service, and we've had some moments of discouragement because of some folks abusing the system and double dipping. Above all, we want to help people and not hurt them. We want to relieve legitimate immediate needs, but not enable laziness. Last Thursday morning, it was under 40 degrees and there was a steady rain falling. Despite the miserable cold and wet weather, nearly 50 families came for help. Many of them seniors. Some of them single moms. Some of them migrant workers. You don't stand outside in the cold rain waiting for a box of food if you have a choice. And so, we were humbly reminded that the Lord has ways of sorting out the scammers that are beyond us, and we'll continue our monthly food distribution.

With that as a backdrop, we're continually discussing ways we can be more helpful to our local church partners and to those who come to see us at the Storehouse. In the world of evangelical Christian benevolence, the book "When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor or Yourself" has been one of the most influential in recent years. It's excellent and worth the read. This weekend, the authors are hosting a seminar and workshop called "Helping Without Hurting" for church and ministry leaders that gives some practical guidelines based on these guy's experience. It's in Chattanooga on Saturday, and I (Daniel) am headed down there for the day. We're praying the Lord will give us some insight into what we're currently doing to help people, as well as some ideas for how to improve.

Baby bump.

In our home life, Meredith is feeling much better. The sickness of the first trimester is fading, and though she struggles some days with fatigue, it's not real clear if that's pregnancy or just trying to keep up with Lily! Lily is truly a delight, but she lives at a dizzying pace for such a small person! She still hasn't met a stranger, and she meets new people every where we go. She really does make everyone smile.

Meredith's job transition is in process. She has finished commuting to Asheville. She's got her TN medical license and is now working on getting credentialed with the insurance companies here. Lord willing, she'll have her first new patients at Gracepointe next Monday.

Things you can be praying for this week:

1. Please continue to pray for our BTCL class, that the Lord would bless our time and that it would spark a renewed interest in pastor and church leader training in East TN.
2. Please pray for Daniel's trip to Chattanooga on Saturday, that the seminar/workshop would be a fruitful time.
3. Please pray for Meredith as she tries to keep up with Lily while taking good care of baby #2! Praise God she's feeling better.