God remains faithful to provide!
In 2024 God used the Care Mission, its leadership and volunteer servants to distribute over 403 tons of food to 33,705 individuals (up 18.5% over 2023) within 8,943 households (up 9.25% over 2023), enough food for our clients to prepare over 672,300 meals.
The number of households and individuals served in 2024 was the most we’ve ever served in one year by far. However, the amount of food distributed was less than the amounts distributed over the past several years. This was due to the reduced inventory at the Chattanooga and Atlanta Food Banks as well as the increased cost to purchase what food was available to us, combined with a considerable decline in the amount of food donated to us. Nevertheless, the amount of food distributed was significant. This is all to God’s glory.
Our 2025 Board of Directors has been set. Remaining on the Board are CEO Kendra Phillips, CFO Deon Phillips, Pastor Chris Spears, Hope Spears, David Bennett, Thomas Milligan, Jon Afman, and Theresa Dorsey. Kelsey Rasp joined the Board and was voted in as Board Secretary. Please keep our Board in your prayers. The enemy targets anyone who serves the Lord, especially those in leadership.
Elder’s Ace Hardware in Lafayette and Chickamauga will be accepting monetary donations on behalf of the Care Mission Food Pantry February 10th thru the 21st. Customers can choose to “round-up” their purchase when checking out with the extra being donated to us. Please thank the Elder’s Ace Hardware staff for their support of the Care Mission and our neighbors when you visit them.
Our 20th Annual Day of Praise will be Saturday, June 28th at Gospel Light Christian Fellowship Church. We will celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Care Mission and the 25th Anniversary of Here I Am, Inc. Please mark your calendar and plan to join us in Praising God for all He has done. More details to come.
We continue to wait on the Lord. We can see God putting pieces into place, slowly but surely. It is easy to get ahead of Him, but we must not. We are confident that in His time there will be an orderly transition of Care Mission leadership. Until then we will stay the course in obedience to Him.
You can make a meaningful difference to thousands of people by being a volunteer servant. We have plenty of ways anyone with a servant’s heart can be the hands and feet of Christ at the Care Mission. Visit our website or drop by to pick-up a Volunteer Servant Application.
Please keep in your prayer;
Our Board of Directors, our clients, our volunteer servants, our donors and supporters, our national, state, and local government leaders, our military, police, fire fighters, and first responders, those affected by the hurricanes and wildfires, our children, our elderly, and those who do not know Christ as their Lord and Savior.
Food for thought;
At the end of each year, when I put together the statistics and facts reflecting what God has done through and for the Care Mission, I cannot help but be in awe. In the midst of the struggle it is sometimes easy to not recognize all God is doing as He places things in order, opening one door while closing another. It is only when you step back and take an overview of the year’s activities that you can begin to fully appreciate the mastery of God. It is then you realize that He has orchestrated events far beyond anything you could have ever hoped for or imagined. It is then you know that in your weakness His strength has carried you.
And as I reflect back on, not just 2024 but over the past 20 years, it is not the numerous times He has provided just what we needed, just when we needed it that most amazes me. Nor is it all the thousands of lives that have been impacted through food assistance, Bibles, fellowship, friendship, and prayers.
No, as miraculous as they are, it is none of those things. The most astonishing thing to me, the thing I cannot comprehend is that He chose us to lead this ministry. What was He thinking?
Thanks for your support.
Be Blessed,
Deon and Kendra