If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.”
1Corinthians 13:1 – 3
In 2022 God used the Care Mission Food Pantry, our team of volunteer servants and us, to distribute approx. 490 tons of food, enough to prepare approx. 816,670 meals, to 28,328 individuals within 8,840 households, the most we’ve ever done in one year (48 weeks).
That amounts to distributing approx. 10.2 tons of food to 184 households per week.
In addition to the food we also distributed personal hygiene items, cleaning supplies, and Bibles. The estimated retail dollar amount for the food distributed was approx. $2.9 million. The estimated retail dollar amount for the personal hygiene and cleaning supplies was approx. $154,000. And the estimated value of the 1,600 plus Bibles distributed; priceless.
And while things did get tight at times, in the end God provided above and beyond anything we could have ever hoped for or imagined. We received no monetary federal or state assistance in 2022; no COVID grants, no federal or state grants of any kind. Yet, by year’s end we had received more monetary support from the Body of Christ than ever before. God used individuals, churches, businesses, and civic groups to meet our needs.
We greatly appreciate those who were obedient to the nudging of the Holy Spirit and supported our efforts. We are grateful and value you because we know how easy it is to not obey God, to reason away His direction. We know because we have been guilty of ignoring God more than once. But God forgives, restores, and renews. Only a mighty God uses the least.
So we salute and acknowledge you, but we give all honor and glory to God because we know He alone is the provider of all good things.
And we are reminded, if God has used us to do all these wonderful things, yet have not love we have achieved nothing. That is why the most important things we do are to pray, encourage, and share through words and deeds the testimony of God’s love with those we serve. We do this face to face and with hundreds of hand written prayer notes and cards. We also distribute “Birthday Kits” to those under 19 who are having a birthday the month they receive assistance. These kits include Birthday party stuff and an age appropriate Bible, children or youth.
There is no reason to believe that the state of our nation or our economy will improve anytime soon. But our hope is not in man, rather it is in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is greater than anything that could come against us. He is undefeated.
Please join us in praying for our nation, this ministry and all who stand for Christ, our Board Members, our volunteer servants, our supporters, and for those God has sent us to serve. Pray for our protection, for wisdom and discernment, and for our health and strength.
We are in great need of volunteer servants. During 2022 we were unable to open on four different occasions due to a lack of volunteers. Regardless of how well stocked we are if we do not have the hands and feet to operate we cannot distribute the food. If you have a servant’s heart and a strong back please prayerfully consider being a part of this ministry. Whether it is time, money, or talent you simply cannot out give God. You will always receive more than you give. God has proven this repeatedly to us over the 30+ years we’ve served Him.
We have been notified that Amazon will discontinue their AmazonSmile program on
February 20th. Amazon says they will “focus its philanthropic giving to programs with greater impact”. Thanks to all of you who have supported us through this program over the years.
Food for thought…
Even if you’re not a football fan you probably heard about Damar Hamlin the Buffalo Bill’s player that went into cardiac arrest during their game on national TV about a month ago. He is expected to make a full recovery.
An odd thing happened as he lay lifeless on the field, literally lifeless. Almost all the players and coaches from both teams took a knee, not to protest America but to pray. The stadium fell silent as the announcers asked fans to pray. The television audience was asked to pray. After the game was officially canceled the post game sports analysts prayed openly. One analyst prayed out loud for heaven’s sake. Calls for prayer continued for weeks afterwards. Publicly. On TV and radio sports shows. In NFL stadiums. All 32 NFL teams amended their Twitter accounts to “Pray for Damar”.
Why is this odd? Because, the NFL, like many large corporations, has a problem with its employees acknowledging God. Rule 5, Section 4, Article 8 of the NFL Rulebook does not permit “Personal Messages” on a player’s helmet, cheats, jerseys, hand band, etc.
This rule is strictly enforced, except when it isn’t.
You might have noticed highly political and mostly inaccurate “social justice” propaganda on player’s equipment during games. As well as righteous sounding slogans like; “Inspire Change”, “Stop Hate”, “End Racism”, and “Black Lives Matter” spread across every NFL stadium and broadcast. Rule 5, Section 4, Article 8 was never invoked.
But when one devout Christian player wore a headband with the phrase “Man of God”, the rule was indeed invoked and he was fined $7,000.00. This is not an isolated incident. And the Detroit Lions will win the Super Bowl while hell freezes over before we’ll see “End Abortion”, “Jesus Saves”, or “Christ is the Way” slogans strategically painted along the sidelines.
It is unlikely this recent wave of Holy acknowledgement will stay. It will fizzle out, just like it did after 9-11. The NFL is counting on it. It didn’t take long for the phrase “Pray for Damar” was replaced with “Love for Damar” on almost all NFL messaging. The powers that be didn’t stop the outburst of faith in the beginning because they couldn’t stop it. The spontaneous out pouring to God was too powerful and too quick. To even attempt to block it would have been a PR nightmare for them. Besides all they had to do was wait it out. Most Americans have the attention span of a gnat. Many Christians pay even less attention to what’s going on.
Besides, Christians can’t be bothered with such things. Right?
Jesus explains in Matthew 10:32 and 33;
He will acknowledge to His Father anyone who acknowledges Him before men.
But anyone who denies Him before men, Jesus will deny to His Father.
As Children of God we must keep in mind that whatever push-back we might receive here on this earth is fleeting. Heaven is eternal. The National Football League is known as the NFL.
But we all need to remember “NFL” also stands for “Not For Long”.
Be Blessed
Deon and Kendra