And my God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:19
When in the midst of our busy lives it is easy to miss God’s handy work. Unless we stop and reflect we will often continue to march on without fully appreciating how God has pushed this thing back, pulled that thing closer, made one path straight, another path crooked, opened one door, while closing another, and turned what the enemy meant for evil into a platform of worship.
I’ve only recently had time to tabulate all the numbers for last year. And even though we were there for each step of the way, Kendra and I find ourselves amazed, and humbled, by God’s grace.
In 2017 God used the Care Mission, its volunteer servants, and its supporters to provide food assistance to 23,808 individuals making up 7,888 households. Approx. 76% of those served were children, senior citizens, or disabled adults. This is important to note since this illustrates that even as our economy improves the need remains. For children, especially those of single parent homes, senior citizens, and the disabled, the situation doesn’t necessarily change with the status of our economy. And many of the able bodied adults that make up the remaining 24% served are care givers in some form or fashion for the first 76%. We realize that there will always be those who take advantage, but the notion that most of the folks we serve are unwilling to work, doped up, dead beats, and/or drunkards simply isn’t supported by the facts. Instead the majority of those we serve are the very ones the Scriptures repeatedly point to as those we should extend grace in the name of Christ.
Approx. 350 Tons of food was distributed in 2017, 694,382 lbs. to be exact; enough food to prepare approx. 578,650 meals. Therefore, each individual served received enough food to prepare approx. 24 meals. That amount is even more impressive when you realize that most food pantries across America distribute approx. 9 meals per individual served. To God be the glory!
To help wrap your head around those numbers consider this; since we were closed three weeks in 2017, on average we distributed just over 7 Tons of food each of the 49 weeks we were open. That would be enough food to prepare approx. 11,800 meals each week. That does not happen without the Hand of God on this ministry and those who serve here in His name. Amen!
Yet we are reminded almost daily, as important as the food distribution is, that work is not nearly as vital as sharing the Gospel of Christ with those God brings through our doors. The precious Fruits of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, each presented to the best of our abilities so those we serve might taste and see that God is good. Our words will fall to the ground as foolishness if they are not confirmed by our actions.
And we praise God for those who financially support this ministry. We recognize that God supplies much through those who are obedient to His Spirit.
God’s timing is always perfect. Traditionally we have provided food assistance to the fewest amount of households/individuals in the month of February. That has proven to be true again this year, however surprisingly the month of March has not had the normal huge increase of assistance given that we’ve experienced in the past. Don’t misunderstand, we have been busy, just not crazy busy as we sometimes are. While this was unexpected for us, it was not for God. While considering the reason for this extra rest bit, not complaining mind you since we appreciate the slow days, something occurred to us. We realized that we had spent much more time praying, encouraging, and fellowshipping with those we serve. Could it be that God had slowed things down so we could meant a greater need?
In 2017 we held our first “Food Talk” class. This is an educational cooking class provided by the USDA through the University of Georgia. In the eight classes held over ten weeks the class learned how to improve their diet quality by better understanding the nutrition facts found on product labels. They also learned food safety in the handling and preparation of meals, and how to better budget their food cost. Additionally they were shown some ways to increase food security by stretching whatever food they have. Eight individuals completed and graduated from this series of classes. We plan to hold more of these type of educational classes in the future.
On March 10, 2016 we began a Chronological Study of the Old Testament Books of the Bible during our weekly Bible Study. As we’ve followed the timeline of events we’ve looked for Christ in each of the books. By studying the Scriptures chronologically one gains a better understanding of how the events recorded in the Bible connect together. And by searching for Jesus in each book one can see the thread of hope God has woven throughout His word which, I believe, makes the New Testament even more impactful. We will be wrapping this up in a month or so and we plan to then begin a Chronological Study of the New Testament Books.
Our Bible Study, “Jesus Study”, is held at the Care Mission each Monday at 6:00 PM. When a month has five Mondays, we do not meet on the 5th Monday. All are welcomed.
Please pray for us. Spiritual warfare is real. Pray for God’s strength, direction, wisdom, and discernment against the attacks of the enemy. Pray for those we serve. Pray for our leadership and our faithful servants. Recently we have been blessed with new volunteers, please pray for them especially since we know the enemy will do his best to pluck them up before they can become rooted. And please pray for our health. Since October/November both Kendra and I have been fighting one sort of ailment or another. Pray for healing.
March 1st Kendra and I celebrated our 32nd Wedding Anniversary. We are blessed with three beautiful daughters, a handsome son and son-n-law (another son-n-law in October), two wonderful grandsons, and an amazing granddaughter. All give us great joy. Indeed we are blessed.
Food For Thought
I played a little chess in my younger days. I never really got very good at it. Knowing how difficult a game it is to master helps me appreciate the abilities of those who make it look easy. But, regardless of your skill level there is something worth noting when the game ends and the pieces are put away. All the pieces go in the same box. The kings and the pawns, it doesn’t matter, there’s no difference. The Apostle Peter explains (Acts 10:34, 35) that God is no respecter of persons. God accepts anyone who fears Him and does what is right. King or pawn, the greatest or the least, we are His children. And that’s good news. Amen.
Thanks for your support. Be Blessed!
Deon and Kendra