We have plenty of reasons to praise and worship our Lord while reviewing all that He did through the Care Mission during 2015. Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord will provide.
In 2015 the Care Mission provided food and/or clothing assistance to 7,961 households, that’s 696 more than in 2014. Those households were made up of 24,615 individuals, which is 2,792 more than in 2014. The number of households and the number of individuals served are both record highs. To God be the glory.
The Care Mission distributed just over 308 tons of food, enough to prepare approximately 271,000 meals. Again, this all to the glory of God.
We could stop here, those facts alone are enough to shout about, but that would not give you all the facts. You would still not know the whole story. So, we’ll continue.
“And without faith it is impossible to please God…”
Hebrews 11:6
Each year when I put together the statistical information for the previous year I am amazed, none more so than this year. In the midst of the battle you kind of know what the final numbers will project. But, when you sit down and put them all together you cannot deny that the hand of God is on this ministry. In fact He is carrying this ministry.
I don’t know if I can, but let me try to explain how amazing God was to us during 2015. I read an article in the newspaper about a food pantry in another north Georgia county. It is a wonderful ministry itself. The article reported that this food pantry assisted approx. 4,100 households in 2015. Those households consisted of approx. 12,000 individuals the article reported. We praise God for this ministry. We are very familiar with their good work. And we know that since this ministry has the support of 31 area churches, monetary support is rarely an issue for them. That is not to say they have a limitless flow of funds, but a steady flow.
However, we have the support of only 8 churches and the demand for assistance is nearly twice as great here in our county. And when you consider that our over-all monetary support dropped more than $22,000.00 in 2015, you have to believe it is God that has kept our doors open. That’s what we believe. We give Him all honor and glory.
I can’t say if God is pleased with the Care Mission, I pray He is. But, I can say this for certain, we are operating off faith. High octane faith. And we need your prayers to keep it up.
Planning to plant a garden? How about planting a row for the Care Mission. We can provide you with boxes or bags to collect your produce for donation. With very little additional effort you can help us help others in our community.
Do you shop at Food City? We have $50.00 Food City Gift Cards. When you purchase a card from us 100% goes to the mission and you have a $50.00 Gift Card for any Food City Store! It’s a win / win. You’re out nothing and we gain $50.00.
Praise Reports and Prayer Request
As always God used numerous sources to provide support to the Care Mission during 2015 and we appreciate each and every one of them. I’m certain that if I attempted to list them all I’d leave someone out so I will not endeavor to do so. Instead I’ll ask you to pray God’s blessing on all who in anyway sowed into this ministry. May they each be blessed many times over.
God continues to bless our Prayer Note Ministry. The responses we receive from these are always moving and remind us how God can work through such simple things. Please pray that we will grow in our discernment in knowing how to express the grace and mercy of Christ.
Jesus Study, our Sunday afternoon Bible Study at the mission, has been a huge blessing as well. We have decided to change the day and time of the study to Thursdays at 6:30 pm, beginning March 10th. We admit we are perhaps being selfish, but we are making this switch to help free up our weekends. Please pray that this change will go smoothly.
We, Kendra and Deon, will celebrate our 30th Wedding Annervary on March 1st. Praise God!
Please pray for our Board Members and Volunteer Servants. Pray for protection, wisdom, and discernment to lead. Pray for hearts to be opened and that God will use us to not only provide assistance to those who enter our doors, but to also represent Christ in a way that makes them desire to know Him better. Please pray for the success of our 2016 fund raisers.
Upcoming Events
Saturday, June 25th, Our 11th Annual Day of Praise will be held at the Care Mission. We will have praise and worship, snacks, and an open house of the food pantry. More details later.
We will be joining forces with the Kids 4 Christ Ministries for the following fund raisers;
We will have a booth set up at the Chickamauga Down Home Days in May.
We will have a booth set up at the LaFayette Freedom Festival in July.
We will have Mission Fest 2016 in September. More details on all of these later.
Food for thought…
In one of the 2015 Christmas cards we received was a short handwritten note. It read in part,
“Thank you all for praying for my eyes. I have my sight back. Praise the Lord Jesus!”
Nothing really more to say.
Thanks and Be Blessed,
Deon and Kendra