Our 18th Annual Day of Praise will be held Saturday, July 8th, at Gospel Light Christian Fellowship Church (34 Fortune Street, Lafayette, GA). Food and fellowship will begin at 5:00 pm in the Fellowship Hall, with Praise and Worship at 6:00 pm in the sanctuary. Please join us and Pastor Chris and Hope Spears, as we mark the 18th Anniversary of the Care Mission by celebrating what God has done by giving HIM all honor, glory, and praise.
In May we decided to no longer distribute food on Thursdays. Even though the demand for food assistance continues to increase, we were forced to make this change for two reasons.
First, we simply cannot keep enough volunteers to distribute food three days a week. This has been a long time ongoing issue that has now become acute. By only distributing food on Wednesdays and Fridays we can better spread out the volunteers we have available to us.
Second, the ever increasing demand has meant that we had to work extra late on Wednesday evening to prepare for Thursday and then again Thursday evening preparing for Friday. And to be honest, we just can’t do those 14 to 16 hour days any longer, our bodies won’t allow it.
The change has not decreased the number of households we are serving per week. The amount has increased on Fridays now, which is as expected. We have taken volunteers from Thursday and split them between Wednesday and Friday. Enough help on two days is better than not enough help on three days. And we can use Thursdays to prepare for Fridays.
The level of inventory at both the Chattanooga and Atlanta Food Banks has improved slightly. But, we are still struggling to get the quality and quantity of product we would like. And while purchasing food from them is still far cheaper than paying retail, the cost has increased significantly. In May we paid over $11,000 for food which is approximately twice the normal amount spent each month for food. Meanwhile, I assure you the monetary support has not doubled. Still we trust God is able.
The Second Annual Care Mission Benefit Bike Ride raised $1,500. We greatly appreciate the IDMC for hosting the event and all the other motorcycle clubs that took part. Looking forward to 2024!
Buy a shirt, feed a family! We still have Care Mission T-shirts ($15) and denim jackets ($20) available. Drop by to pick some up Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays 9:00-4:00 or Wednesdays, Fridays 9:00-11:00. Thanks in part to Precision Embroidery and Printwear, Lafayette, 100% of your purchase goes to feeding local families. So when you buy a shirt you are truly helping to feed a family.
Our refrigerated box truck needs the front springs, bushings, and shocks replaced. The estimated cost is $2,500. We do not have these funds but we know God is able to provide. Please be in pray about this and let this need be known to your fellow Believers. Who knows who God might use?
Please keep in your prayers; our volunteers; pray for their health and protection. More volunteers with servant’s hearts and strong backs. Our Board of Directors and us; that we may have wisdom and discernment to follow the path God has placed before us. And that God will be glorified in all we do.
Food for thought;
“When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.”
Proverbs 11:2
You may have heard; June is Pride Month. It’s hard to miss. The Alphabet Mafia has captured many of our major corporations, our political leaders, the White House, our schools and universities, and sadly our churches. I’m speaking of the churches of men of course, not
THE CHURCH which has Christ as its Head. The Church remains undefeated as Christ remains undefeated.
Pride is the root of all evil. Pride caused Satan and his followers to be booted from heaven.
So we should not be surprised that Pride Month celebrates sin. Those who worship sin are dismayed that all do not join them at the altar of depravity.
But those of us who are a Child of God recognize pride, and all its attributes, as sin. We seek to humble ourselves before the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth. We desire His grace and mercy, His love and forgiveness. We boast only of the Lord. We are not perfect. We fail and fall short. We sin, but we do not worship that sin. We worship the One who delivers us from our sin nature. Our failures, our sins, our mistakes keep us humble and thrust away pride.
We learn to trust Christ more and in so doing we learn that our greatest obstacle may not be the evil one, but our own pride.
Perhaps the thing Pride Month should highlight to a Child of God is the fact that so many have been deceived by the evil one just as he deceived a third of the heavenly host before earth was created. And just as we were once deceived. As an army of lost souls march and celebrate their king, the Army of God should celebrate our King.
In love and grace we must point those who have been captured by the evil one to the freedom found only in Christ Jesus. We cannot surrender the battlefield nor yield our responsibility.
We have been given the Great Commission not the Great Suggestion. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not for us to keep. It is for us to share.
Thanks and Be Blessed,
Deon and Kendra