The Easter season has become bitter sweet for us. Four years ago Kendra’s mom, Flo Franz, passed away a few weeks before Easter. This year her dad, Ken Franz, has done the same. Ken was a man of faith who served the Lord in various ways throughout his life. He was eager to join his bride of 59 years in the Kingdom of heaven. I’m certain their first embrace will last a thousand years or so.
Bitter is the grief that breaks our heart. Here on this side of heaven we grieve. Deeply we grieve for our great loss. A loss that cannot be regained, only endured. Yet we rejoice for all that Easter means, our sin debt paid and our hope secure in Christ. And we rejoice in the certainty that Ken and Flo are now reunited and stroll golden streets in glorified bodies. Sweet is the comfort that assurance brings.
Ken grew up in Loveland, Ohio. He became a Gunnery Sergeant in the United States Marines during the conclusion of the Korean War. After returning home Ken took on the even greater challenges of husband, then dad to two beautiful daughters, then father-n-law, then granddad (Pops), and finally great-granddad. He excelled in all of these.
Ken, Flo, and their daughters, Kendra and Dana, would eventually move to Roswell, Georgia. I am certainly glad they did because in time Kendra and I would cross paths. That’s a tale for another day. After retirement Ken and Flo moved to Lafayette to be near their grandkids, and then later to Oak Ridge, Tennessee to be with their other grandkids. Wonderfully done. Perfectly timed.
Ken and Flo became instrumental in the mission’s early success. Among other things Ken cleaned, swept, and mopped the entire building once a week until they left for Oak Ridge. Kendra’s heart for serving was nurtured by her parents. They deserve much credit for the woman of God she is today.
In 2022 God provided so we could assist a record amount of individuals and households. In the first quarter of 2023 we are ahead of last year’s pace, up 1,093 more individuals and up 112 more households compared to the same time period in 2022. God continues to provide.
Each year seems to bring unique challenges. Currently we are struggling to keep the variety and nutritional quality of food that we like to distribute. This is primarily due to the greatly reduced inventory at the Chattanooga and Atlanta Food Banks. They cite the ongoing supply chain problems and a delay in funding from the federal government. This affects both USDA and GNAP food availability which is about 90% of the food we purchase. In some cases this has forced us to pay 10 times our regular cost for food. We purchase about half the food we distribute. The rest is donated. Unfortunately Amazon of Chattanooga has become a return center rather than a distribution center. They had been our biggest food donor, but this shift has dropped their contributions to nearly nothing. And other sources of food donations have decreased as well. Nevertheless, we are still distributing roughly the same amount of food. We are just not meeting our self imposed high standards regarding variety and nutritional quality. But, God continues to provide.
We moved April’s Fellowship / Bible Study to Sunday, the 16th, at 5:00 pm since Easter fell on the
Second Sunday. Everyone is welcomed to attend.
The Second Annual Care Mission Benefit Ride will be held on Saturday, April 29th, at O’Reilly Auto Parts in Lafayette. Registration is at 10:00 am, Kick Stands up at 11:00 am. $20 per motorcycle. All proceeds benefit the Care Mission Food Pantry. More Info at 423-260-5161. Sponsored by Immortal Darkness MC. Don’t ride? No matter. Come show your support and enjoy the fellowship.
Buy a shirt, feed a family! We have T-shirts with our logo on sale for $15. And light weight denim jackets with “Care Mission” embroidered above one pocket for $20. Proceeds from each shirt / jacket will feed a family. We will have these at the Benefit Ride or you can come by the Care Mission. Special thanks to Precision Embroidery and Printwear, Lafayette.
Please pray for; our supply chain issues, our monetary support, our Board of Directors, our volunteer servants, wisdom and discernment as we steer the ministry, and for those who are sick or hurting.
Food for thought…
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
Colossians 3:23,24
We have an important mile stone coming up; at least for me it’s important. We closed down our business, Battlefield Service and Supply, August 2006. For 18 years and 2 months God had used this business to provide for our family. As we matured in our faith we did begin to understand this business was actually a ministry. Not in the beginning, but eventually we could see God using us to witness to our customers. We were able go into thousands of homes to make repairs and to offer prayer and encouragement. It broke our hearts when God said it was time to move on from that season.
This August will mark 18 years and 2 months that God has used us to guide the Care Mission. It struck me that everyday beyond that we will be serving God through the Care Mission for longer than anything else we’ve ever done. For some reason that notion has had an impact on me.
I’ve heard folks say that if you do something you love you’ll never work a day in your life. I can’t agree. We love what we do. However, make no mistake, it is work. Hard work. But when we do it as unto the Lord we are renewed. We delight in serving Him.
Unfortunately we get knocked off track at times and forget Who it is we serve. But God is gracious and faithful to direct our path back to the place we should be. He restores our soul.
Let me remind you, as I must remind myself; when you do whatever you’re doing, wherever you’re at, as unto the Lord, He will make your work a ministry. He will use it for His glory.
And there is no greater reward, this side of heaven, than to be used by God for His purpose and for His glory. God doesn’t need us. He wants us because He loves us.
He laid down His life for our sins. His life was not taken, He laid it down.
Thanks and be blessed,
Deon and Kendra