Have you ever complained, but tried to hide your whining by weaving your grumbling in with Christian-speak? I do that sometimes, in fact I did it just the other day. A friend asked how things were going at the mission and my response was “We’ve already exceeded the number of individuals assisted compared to last year.” But then I started to complain. I complained about this and that basically expressing my displeasure in how God was handling the challenges for the mission this year. I sowed in enough Christian-speak to make it sound good, but I was complaining and I knew God was listening. I wanted God to hear.
At least I thought I wanted God to hear. Even though I pray for wisdom every day I can still become pretty arrogant and stupid sometimes. I’d hate to think how foolish I’d be if I didn’t pray for wisdom! After leaving my friend the Holy Spirit really began working me over. I thought any minute some guy would walk up and say, “Hey. I’m Job and you’re an idiot.”
Nothing wrong with acknowledging the increased number of individuals served. Praise God for that! And nothing wrong with acknowledging that our monetary support is down this year. Praise God for what we’ve gotten! Statistics and good record keeping are important. They promote good stewardship, trust, and accountability. However, it is impossible to find within the numbers some of the most important reasons the Care Mission exist. Some of the most amazing things that God is doing through the Care Mission cannot be found on paper.
Recently Kendra and I were lying in bed having some pillow talk and she wondered aloud if what we were doing really mattered. The next day a mother and her daughter spotted us while we were taking care of business in Rossville. The mom, daughter and a son were clients of the mission, but we had not seen them in some time. The two seemed genuinely excited to see us as they updated us on their life, both good and bad. They explained that they greatly missed our weekly Bible studies (Jesus Study) but they’d lost their car so were unable to attend. They went on to explain how important the Care Mission had been in their life, the difference it had made in their faith. The mom said that I was the only Christian male role model her son had ever been close to. He had spent time with me in the food pantry. She said he was working on his GED in hopes of finding a better job so he could purchase a car and return to the Bible study and volunteering with us. We were both humbled. As we drove away Kendra rightly stated,
“I guess God knew we needed to hear that.”
Kendra has always had a gift for note writing. She will send a note to someone the Holy Spirit places on her heart. Her words always timely and encouraging. We expanded that part of our ministry during 2015, sending out prayer notes to those we’ve been asked to pray for. The response has been astonishing. Hardly a day goes by that we aren’t thanked for our simple notes of prayer. As one lady pointed out to me, some people have family and friends who will pray for them, but some have no one. Knowing that someone is praying for you means a lot. This was a point I had not considered. And to send an actual hand written note rather than an email or pre-written card has become a lost art these days. But not one lost on those receiving the note as is often pointed out to us. We’ve been told that these prayer notes are stuck on refrigerators, bathroom mirrors, dressers, and head boards. Each placed to remind its owner that they are being prayed for. We urge you to ask the Holy Spirit to inspire you to write a simple note of prayer to someone in your life, not an email, not a text, not a Face Book message, but a personal hand written note.
Just after Thanksgiving a former volunteer stopped by wanting to talk to us. When we first met him several years ago his life was upside down. He was going through a painful divorce which involved kids. By his own admission he was an emotional and spiritual wreck. He said he had heard about the Care Mission and thought volunteering might help him refocus. But, on this day he wanted to tell us that he never imagined the way his involvement there would change his life. The words of advice and inspiration he received as he worked in the food pantry proved invaluable. He told us he could not fully explain what God had done to him there, how God had used the Care Mission to heal him. Along with his kind words he wanted to make a monetary donation. We knew his situation so we knew the amount he was donating was not without sacrifice. We had given this individual no food assistance whatsoever, yet God had fed his soul.
We can’t tell you how many people we’ve prayed with, how many have been drawn closer to God by the Holy Spirit through the Care Mission, or how many have been made curious about a Savior who’d use two so unworthy to do His work. But, we can say that we have literally thousands of stories such as these which will not be found within the reports of food distributed, clothing given away, or how we’ve made do with whatever God’s provided.
Those are the things I should’ve shared with my friend as we share with you now. Those are the stories that illustrate the awesomeness of God. Those are the things that warrant our attention and deserve our praise. In our first newsletter of 2016 I will present to you all the facts and statistics both good and bad for 2015.
But not today. Today only praises, no complaining.
Prayer Request and Praise Reports
We’ve so many prayer request we couldn’t possibly cover them all, but here are a few:
Marilyn Ransom, Denny Cook, John Kirk, Tom & LeAnn Long, Chris & Hope Spears, Tom & Hope Sullivan, Tom & Melissa Milligan, Winona DeYoung and many other volunteers or friends of the mission that are battling various health issues. Pray for our Board of Directors and for us, not only for our health, but for our wisdom, discernment and strength to not grow weary.
We have many praises as so many have allowed God to use them in so many ways. If we were to attempt to list them we’d surely leave someone out so we will not. Just know we are so grateful for you and we know God will bless you for your obedience.
Food for thought…
In the early years of the Here I Am Mission Team, before the Care Mission was even a vision, I along with other Mission Team members were remodeling a home for an elderly woman. Her home was the only home she’d ever known. She was born there. When she married, she and her husband lived there and cared for her parents until they passed. She and her husband raised their children there. Her husband had passed as had a daughter. She had raised that daughter’s children there.
Her home had been well lived in and it was in need of much repair. She nor her family could afford the repairs. The logical thing to do would have been to tear it down and move her in with family or a retirement home. But, she’d have none of that.
That’s where we came in. And as it often happens when working on old homes, the more we repaired the more we found needing repairs. We soon used up all our funds with much still left to do. Was it too much to ask that this woman of faith be allowed to live her final days in the home that meant so much to her? We didn’t think so.
In an effort to complete the task we began looking wherever we could for materials to be donated or purchased dirt cheap. Before the Care Mission we had our own repair company and we had done a lot of business with a particular carpet outlet, so I went there and described our situation. I’d hoped they’d be willing to donate or deeply discount enough carpet to do a final room. I explained that this was a mission job, not a paying customer.
After a pause he asked, “What happened? Did God run out of money?”
I often think of his words when funds become slim at the mission. It is important that we as Christians do not act as if God has run out of money. The world is watching. Our actions must speak with confidence in the One who has prepared in advance the good work we should do.
Our trust and hope is never in any corporation, church, or food bank, or in any grant, program, or individual. While we greatly appreciate all they do for us, all those things are fleeting. This past year more than any other has proven that.
Our trust and hope must remain firmly in the One who sent us, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. God never runs out of money. He’s just very creative in how He gets it to us sometimes. More than we could ever hope for or imagine.
MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Thanks for your support and Be Blessed,
Deon and Kendra