Thanksgiving Outreach
This Thanksgiving we were able to hand out over 30 food boxes brimming with needed staples and some extra goodies. Although the families in our church have their own needs we decided it would be more powerful to have them hand the boxes off to neighbors, co-workers and other people that they have been praying for and wanting to share Jesus with. This was a good exercise in faith for many, but did open some doors. The great thing is we received some extra food donations soon afterwards and were able to hand out more boxes this time to bless the families that had so faithfully and sacrificially given previously.
Our son, Beniah, helping us pack food boxes.
After
the drama we had everyone write a note stating what they were thankful
for….they then placed it in a box wrapped as a gift as an act of gratitude to
God. Here
are some excerpts from these cards:
- Having a mom.
- That God has not forgotten me. He hears me when I cry. For my family and everything He gives me day by day. Thank you Father!
- My family and wonderful husband and for my pastors who You put in my path.
- This church, this space, these people. The pastor and his family. My life and health. My family, job, parents. For the ministry and His mercies.
- The life of my husband and that he has come to know Jesus.
- My McQueen and Planes toys. My food and the earth and my toys.
- My family and because God has changed me. I’m not the same person I was when Christ rescued me.
As
you can see from all the pictures above we had a great time at our Christmas
banquet. The photo booth is always so
much fun. We had 6 new families join us
this year. One we met at our church’s
yard sale the day before. Another was
handed a flier and invitation the weekend prior by somebody from the
church. The other four families were
friends or family brought by people from our church. It was so fun to be able to pour the
blessings on people and rejoice in Christ coming to be with us.
There
were numerous different crafts and games for the children. We wanted to create a place for the children
to sit down with their parents and create a Christmas memory – and we succeeded
in this.
Our
church is taking more and more ownership and responsibility for each outreach
and event that we do. Our church
understands the vision of what we do and why we do it more and more each
time. We could not have done the
Christmas or the Thanksgiving outreach without a ton of help from special
donations and volunteers though – so thank
you to everyone that donated toys, time, food or an offering to make these
moments possible.
We
served hot chocolate and one of the families from our church catered the event with
a great traditional meal. Families were
able to sit at tables and share life and the Christmas message with people they
invited or that came for the first time.
[The concept of our toy store is to bless parents with deep discounts so that they feel empowered in choosing and purchasing their own gifts and not just hand them a toy. The money we do raise is then re-invested into the programs and ministries that benefit them. In some cases we did give gifts away because even $5 for a $20 gift isn’t attainable for everyone during this time of the year.]
Once
gifts were selected and bought we had another room (all of this was in our new
space upstairs!) where the gifts were gift wrapped and then concealed in a
black bag.
Here is a before and after of
one of the rooms that we painted upstairs.
It looks so much bigger and brighter with a new fresh coat of
paint.
A lot of time, love and work
have gone into getting things ready – this space is designated as the game
room.
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Our youth group took a special outing
to see a Christmas presentation at a nearby church with a “Frozen” theme.
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The
youth group has also put on two fund-raisers this month in preparation for
their winter camp in January.
If you are interested in providing a full ($95) or partial scholarship for the youth winter camp please let us know. We anticipate this to be one of those life-changing events for the group and want to be able to bring as many of them along as possible.
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Would you also lift up our leaders Joshua and Rocio in prayer – they are working so hard to bless and train-up these youth. They need our extra prayers for strength, vision, wisdom and endurance as they invest into this generation.
What
abundant blessings we have in our life!
We count you as a huge
blessing – thank you for your prayers and love and support. We love being a family that ministers
together. It isn’t always easy. This month we have definitely felt
tired. We are taking the last week of
the year off to recharge and celebrate as a family.
Pray
that this time would be special family time and effective in getting us the
needed rest so that we can launch back onto the mission field for 2015.
Here
is Beniah (9 months) as a tough pirate and as a cute shepherd boy.
Please Pray with Us…
Pray
for our upcoming events that will strengthen our church family as well as give
us opportunity to reach more people for Jesus Christ:
· Wolyn’s rest,
recuperate and celebrate for
Christmas – December 22-26
· Movie night – December 28
· Street evangelism – January 2
· Building projects day (refinishing hardwood floors in youth room) – January 2
· New Year’s outreach (carnival & hot dog feed
at park) – January 3
· Week of prayer and fasting – January 4-11
· New small group Bible study begins – January 15
· Finance Conference – January 17
· Winter Youth Camp – January 17-19
Thank
you for being a blessing to us. This
year we have been blessed beyond our ability to comprehend. We thank you for celebrating the victories
with us and for praying us through the hard times. Jesus is King and worthy of all that we
have. It is with that attitude and heart
that we serve along side of you in this ministry.
Merry
Christmas – may your celebration be Christ-centered, memorable and filled with
love.
From
our home to yours,
Chad, Fabiola,
Rebecca, Justice and Beniah
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