Our 14th Annual Day of Praise will be held at the mission on Saturday, June 22nd, 1:00 – 3:00 PM. This will mark our 14th year serving our community and Lord. We set this day aside to honor and praise God for all HE has done for and through the ministry of the Care Mission. Refreshments, fellowship, and an opportunity to look behind the scenes of our food pantry will be provided. As our special guests, the Kid 4 Christ Choir will bless us with some songs of praise and Pastor Chris Spears will share some thoughts before leading us in a time of prayer and gratitude. Please join us for this very special time.
Even though our economy is booming, as available jobs are plentiful and unemployment is at its lowest level in decades, we continue to see a genuine need. It’s true that the number of households and individuals we served in 2018 dropped approx. 5% from 2017. That was almost entirely due to a reduction in the number of able bodied adults, 24% of individuals served in 2017 to only 15% in 2018. And through April of this year the number of able bodied adults we’re serving has dropped to just 7% of the total individuals served. But, as the able bodied adults are finding employment, therefore needing our assistance less, not much changes for the children, senior citizens, or disabled adults that make up the other 93% we serve. Nor will it regardless of our strong economy. In fact we set a record high for the number of households served during the month of February and again during the month of May. Along with a record high number of individuals served during the month of April.
It is to God’s glory that over the 14 years we’ve been operating, we have actually run out of food only twice. Both times we were restocked the next day. We do often run out of time, however. We are open Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. We begin serving at noon and stop serving at 4:00 PM. In order to not exceed that 4:00 cut-off we will pull our sign-in sheet once we’ve had enough folks sign-in to reach 4:00. We have had to pull the sign-in sheet as early as 2:00, but only because we had enough clients sign-in to keep us busy to 4:00. It is not unusual for us to work nonstop from noon to 4:00, serving a household an average of every 3 to 4 minutes. And while we may be open only 4 hours on these days, the prep work to make this happen can be another 8 to 9 hours each of these days plus the work done on Monday and Tuesday. So, it’s time and energy we often run out of, not food.
In our last newsletter we lamented the passing of several volunteers and friends of the Care Mission. In March of this year we suffered a tremendous loss with the passing of Kendra’s mom, Flo Franz. While Kendra’s parents lived in Walker County for only 10 years, their impact on this community would be difficult to overstate. Flo instilled in Kendra and her sister, Dana, a devotion to the Lord and a desire to serve others. When Kendra accepted her calling to begin the Care Mission, Flo was instrumental in helping her lay the foundation of this ministry. Without Kendra and her servant’s heart, above and beyond her love for the Lord, there would be no “Care Mission”. And without Flo there would be no Kendra or that servant’s heart. We rejoice for Flo’s new home even as we continue to grieve deeply.
After much prayer and consideration we have decided to discontinue our Bible Study we’ve held at the mission for almost 10 years. We will continue to create lessons for any who are interested, but we will no longer meet as a group. We believe our time would be better spent reaching out to our clients in 2 need of fellowship, encouragement, and prayer through home visitations and/or hospital visits. Anyone who’d like our Bible Study Lessons let us know and we’ll email or mail them to you as you prefer.
The Lafayette Post Office staff and mail carriers collected just over 2,400 lbs. of non-perishable food items for our food pantry during their 2019 Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive. We so appreciate their efforts and the support of our community.
Please continue to keep in your prayers our volunteer servants, Board Members, and supporters. The enemy knows the best way to stop this ministry is to take these folks away from us. Regardless of the amount of food we have we cannot distribute it without volunteer servants. The number of volunteer servants we have is meaningless without the funds to keep our shelves stocked and our doors open. And neither of those things matter without Godly wisdom through our leadership. Spiritual warfare is real. As the daily directors of this ministry we, Kendra and I, often see and feel the enemy attacking from all sides. Please pray that we will not grow weary of doing the good work the Lord has put before us. Pray for our wisdom, vision, understanding, health, and strength. And perhaps most importantly, pray for those we serve. Pray that through this ministry many will accept Christ or renew their relationship with HIM. Pray that while we address their physical needs in a Christ-like way they will become willing to know more about how Christ will meet their spiritual needs as well.
Food for Thought
You might be surprised to learn that many of our new clients hear about us through other food pantries. That’s right, other food pantries. Over the 14 years we’ve been at this there have been literally dozens of food pantries open within Walker County. Only a very few have remained open more than a year or so. The ones that have stuck with it often reduce their service area and/or their service hours, and/or reduce the amount of food they distribute in order to keep their doors open. As a result it is not uncommon at all for other food pantries to refer clients, especially larger families, to us.
This is to God’s glory since it is HE who provides the wherewithal needed through those who are willing to be used by HIM. Because God continues to be faithful to provide we are able to distribute about 7 tons of food each week, enough to prepare approx. 11,700 meals each week. While these facts are remarkable, they are only possible because we serve a remarkable God. From the beginning God put in our hearts the desire to operate the Care Mission Food Pantry as a full-time ministry rather than a part-time hobby. That has made all the difference. It always does. We understand that we must remain Christ centered in all we do. We must be efficient, resourceful, and deliberate in the work God has set before us in order that we may be Ambassadors for Christ.
Still, as we work we can’t help but notice those food pantries that come and go. Which begs the question; why open yet another food pantry instead of coming alongside a wellestablished food pantry, such as the Care Mission, or the Baptist Association Food Pantry at Lafayette Second Baptist, or the Jackson Memorial Food Pantry at Mt. Zion Baptist Church?
Thanks and Be Blessed,
Deon and Kendra