special week

Wow and Wow! Didn't we just say last week, it can't get any better than this, well I think we topped it! God continues to bless our little community!

Our week got started off by our visits with our outdoor friends. Mr Matt and myself were there to carry the torch as most of our folks were out of town or had other commitments. Richard felt sorry for me traveling by myself, so he rode along with me! Still no report on Robert, not sure where he is. Others are doing fine, just trying to hang in there with this heat and bugs.

Saturday afternoon, we met our new friends from Sherman, Texas. Youth group from Grace Methodist church. Yep, same name just a different location. They stayed at Grace through Tuesday. I told the youth pastor, you sure drove along way to get to Grace!

Sunday afternoon, we met the youth group from Sherman at the center and they worked all afternoon. Pictures are our web site, working in the garden, walking around the area picking up trash, helping us in the Bright House II, helped Lisa and Mark clean up around the yellow JJ house. 

Shortly after the Sherman youth got started, our new friends from Illinois showed up. 47 folks from Winstanley Baptist church, Krysten's former church, came by to see where they would be working all week. We showed them around, shared our story, and got them settled in. They stayed at a church in Marshall during the week.

Winstanley showed up Monday morning ready for work. There was a group of folks who showed up around 6:30 to begin working on the Bright House II. Then the youth showed up around 8:30 to play with our youth and then they helped with summer camp. Both groups enjoyed breakfast and lunch provided by our feeding program ladies. Something unique about a lot of the youth from Winstanley, were the youth was from the inner city of St Louis. What a treat to have young people who loved the Lord, share their stories and struggles with our children. You could see the bonding of the two groups by weeks end.

Tuesday evening, Mr Matt hosted our men's Bible fellowship. Again our circle was full of men wanting to share and learn from each other. We had two neighborhood men show up for the first time. Talk was centered around God's grace in our lives and our relationship to Jesus. Do we continue to sin, knowing God's grace is sufficient? Of course not, but why do we struggle so? We talked about our relationship with Jesus. What if Jesus was sitting in the chair next to us, would we act differently? Would we talk about others? Would we continue to sin, knowing Jesus sees us doing it? We talked about how important our relationship with Jesus is. A good evening of sharing.

Not sure how to describe our Thursday time together. Winstanley brought their cooks over from Marshall and they prepared our meal. The youth taught our children how to praise God through dance. The work team continued working on the Bright House II, a very special day. Lots of pictures and videos will be coming to show you the work performed by these special servants of God.

During the afternoon, we had a short visit by some of our old friends of, Hennington Methodist church. They helped bag our groceries and cleaned up around the center. Very nice to see them.

We were treated by song and dance by some of the youth from Winstanley. Amazing group of young ladies praising God by their hearts through dance. The youth leader, shared the Word by reminding us, we can put our problems before God and He will take care of them. The closing dance was performed not only by our new friends, but by our own children. Very emotional and uplifting showing us where God is leading us.

Our delicious meal was served by our Illinois friends, who also helped clean up and wash. Ms Abbey said it was one of the largest crowds we have ever had. Ms Lisa and Momma T handed out the groceries. Some of the work group wanted to finish up their work on the house, so after supper, they worked until dark to compete the task. Not sure words can describe the hearts we felt, the smiles we saw, the passion to serve we experienced. God has created a special group of disciples, our community was blessed to be a part of.

Don't forget our breakfast this Saturday. Momma T and Tim will be cooking biscuits, eggs, bacon, cheese grits, and serving hot coffee. Come and enjoy the morning.

We will have another youth group with us next week. Cypress Point Baptist church will be joining us all day every day. Come by and say Hi, letting them know how much we appreciate them spending their week with us. They will be leading our chapel time.

Prayer concerns. James as he looks to solve his housing problems. William in his struggles with addictions. Prayers for our young people in our community. There is pressure put on them from their community to not be a part of our community. Hard for our young people to say no to Satan and yes to Jesus.

Hope your week was full of God's blessings. For those of you in town, come by and experience what God is doing in our community. For those of you out of town, please continue to pray for us and enjoy our pictures and videos. Even though you may not be able to join us, know you are important to us and our community. 

We hope everybody has a great week, knowing Jesus is walking along side of us to help us through the days. God is good! All the time! Amen

Darkness and Light

There is not enough time to write down everything we have experienced this week. Truly amazing what is going on in our community. God is sooo good!!

Last Friday we had our new friends from Bossier, with Mr Billy and Mr Matt leading the way as they continued to scrap, prime, pick up paper, clean up around the center. In all the heat, they continued to laugh, tell jokes, work without ceasing, what a group of young people.

Saturday, we made way around the camps. Our visits concluded early because Richard and Robert were not home. Richard was in the hospital he said, Robert, we do not know where he is? I think the highlight of the morning, was seeing Turner laughed as we talked about our visits.

Later on in the afternoon, Ms Vicky hosted a baby shower for Octavia at the center. Very nice of her to take time out of her busy schedule to help Octavia out. While that was going on the inside the center, Matt and Tim were working with some of the guys from the Macroni  finishing up our work on the Bright House II. I think it was one of the hottest days of the year, but all the guys were out there working, very inspiring!

Monday, we got our summer camp started off by hosting the youth from Brookwood Baptist church. The youth sang, danced, drew art, read Bible versus, hugged our children for three days. Mylie, said to them Wednesday as they were leaving, please don't go, can't ya'll stay with us forever! Lots of good relationships were started hoping it will lead to more interactions in the future. Lots of great videos on Face book of the week, check them out.

Monday evening, some of us met with our community members as we continued to share ideas of what God is leading us to do in our neighborhood. Most of the members want to focus on the youth of the community, asking other agencies who have programs going on, if they will bring their ideas to our neighborhood. Transportation continues to be a stumbling block, so we thought if the programs came to our kids, then we don't have to worry about providing transportation.

As Ms Lisa has told us what Joey did on Tuesday, I will only add God is good. Christ Methodist has started a food drive each month and has committed to helping us with grocery donations. Tuesday they brought 60 bags of groceries, Joey and his friends from Brookwood helped unload the bags and put the items on the shelves. The pantry has never looked so full.

Tuesday evening, Matt hosted the men's Bible fellowship, reading from Mark 2. The thing that I remember most, was at the beginning of our time, we had to get up and make the circle bigger! Record number of men and young adult men came, wanting to learn, wanting to share and all having the opportunity to do so. It is awesome, the circle provides a place where young and old can share their feelings about their lvoe of Christ and listening to others as we share what God has done in our lives. Following our time together, we celebrated the birthday of Mr Karl, complete with ice cream and cake!

Wednesday, Brookwood said goodbye to all our children. One of the leaders said, as they were saying their goodbyes,  make sure everybody gets a hug! Remarkable!

Our summer feeding continues to provide meals to the neighborhood, 5 days a week. Yes there are challenges that comes along with this, but it also provides a way for us all to become closer. As Joey was sitting on his front porch one morning, he said to some of the young boys hanging out with him, I've got to go inside and pray. The boys said no Joey, let's pray right here! WE lvoe you, we lvoe God. Isn't that cool! 

Wednesday evening, Ms Ardis hosted our family time at her house. Great food, great conversations as we discussed Chapter 8 of Dr Phil's book, the heart. As the book talked about, as we talked about, the heart is the key to everything. Your actions, your attitudes, your talk reflect your heart. Jesus is not concerned about our looks, our appearance, He is after our hearts. I have come to realize, mr brian is not going to change the community, change will come about when Christ changes the hearts. Thanks Ms Ardis for a great evening.

Thursday got started off with our chapel time. One pastor could not be there, but Pastor Jackson filled in and boy did he fill in! Ms Abbie gives me a few titles, the words are put on the wall, and the chapel is filled with the Holy Spirit through music. I have been around music most of my life. You have choir rehearsals, practice, practice, practice, but to be honest, the music we have in chapel is just as inspiring then anything I have ever heard. Pastor shares his thoughts often going another direction then what is planned. Why? Most of our chapel time, is led by the Holy Spirit, wanting only to glorify God, not ourselves. Inspiring to us all!

Our meal, our groceries, our clothes are all provided by God through folks who allow the Spirit to flow through them. Consequently, the nights are a blessing to us all.

Prayer concerns for the week, continue to lift up William. He is still at the McAdoo, but still struggling with life. Our guys in the camps, hot weather, bugs, are making for trying times.

We will have two youth groups with us next week. One group is from Krysten's former church in St Louis, Winstanley Baptist. They will be arriving Saturday evening, staying in Marshal. They will be with us all week. We will have another youth group from Sherman, Texas join us Saturday. They will be staying at Grace, working with us Sunday afternoon, meeting other folks on Monday and leaving Tuesday. Prayers for safe travel for them all.

Next Saturday, July 20th, we will have our family breakfast. Starting at 8:30 we will have good food, good talk and good friends to enjoy it all. Come and join us.

Momma T, Tim and Scott and Sarah will be busy with Weekend of the Cross, next weekend. Keep them in your prayers as they work with the Methodist youth from all over Louisiana as they share their lvoe of Christ with others.

As I was sitting in chapel Thursday afternoon, typing up the words to put on the wall, I began to listen. As we got closer to 5, more and more folks came in. They sat down, greeted each other and I could hear them ask each other, how was your week. They would talk about, how hot it was. One of their sisters was in the hospital, another one said, we will pray for her. Not enough to eat this week another one said, glad it is Thursday. I heard one say, I love "our" chapel time on Thursdays.

As I was sitting down at our meal, visiting with one of the men of the community, Big Man comes up to me and puts his hand on my shoulder. Didn't say a word, just laid his hand on my shoulder.

Watching Princess and Henry visit after our meal inside the fellowship hall and sitting on the curb after they had finished cleaning up from the meal. Watching Princess work with one of young boys trying to get him behave during our meal.

Joey sharing his experiences with the children during the week. Lvoe being challenged while Satan leading others to destruction.

We had a new family last night, all dressed in LSU colors and t-shirts. While the parents were in the clothing room and getting their groceries, one of the youngsters, was cleaning off the tables and putting up the chairs.

We always seem to pick up on the bad, rather than focus on the positive. The child who acts up gets our attention, more so than the one who is not causing trouble. Ms Dawn went to Sinotra last week and told him how proud she was of him cleaning up around the center. Our children don't ever hear positive attitudes at home. The only time they are praised is around us.

Slowly, very slowly, the Light of Christ is beginning to shine. You have to be quiet and listen for it. Sometimes you have to look real hard. Sometimes you have to stand back and let it shine. But it is happening. It is happening because all of you are allowing the Holy Spirit to shine through you. The darkness is deep. It has been growing in our community for a long time, so our patience will be tried at times. Many times it will seem there is no light.

But when you get a hug, when you get a pat on the shoulder, when you get an Amen, when you get a thank you, when you get a smile, when you get a prayer, there you will find that light. As a pastor said one time, one little light can light up an entire room. We have to pray for that one little light to light up our community. We have to continue to allow that little light to shine in our neighborhood. And then one day, the darkness will be gone and God will be glorified in all His splendor! Isn't that exciting! Much to look forward to as His Kingdom grows in our hearts and in our community! Amen!

Come and join us this week, meet our new friends from St Louis. Many blessings to you all! Amen!

Where are the Christians?

Happy Fourth of July week! Hope everybody had a great time with family and friends. God is good!!

We got our week started off visiting our friends living outside. Turner and Richard were doing fine. Richard had a story for us. Robert Harp is back with us. Robert was one day from completely his rehab, but bolted and has relapsed again, alcohol controlling his life. Terrible, terrible, he was not in a good frame of mind, wanting to quit but mad he did not. Prayers for Robert, he is struggling. We met Brad's friend Charles, who takes Brad to church each week and helps him out from time to time. Smokey had lots of stories to share with us. Matt, Sara and Tim made their way around to the other camps, visiting Catfish, Tim, Joey, Joe, Andy, Brian and Jimalee. Prayers for our friends living outside. Life is hard in normal circumstances, you add heat, mosquitoes, chiggers, sweat,  troubles follow.

We had some friends visit us Monday afternoon. The youth from Temple Methodist church in Ruston came over. They helped with summer camp, picked up trash around the center, worked in the garden, all the while - smiling and having a good time.

Tuesday evening, the men gathered in the Fellowship hall for a full barbeque spread and then talked about Ephesians chapter 4, about supporting each other and lifting each other up. It was suggested we lift each other up in prayer during the week. One of the camps, told us they talk about our gatherings during the week, to help them get through the week, very inspiring.

The Summer feeding program continued. We lost our cook, but the other ladies have pulled together to continue serving our meals. It is great to see a play pen in the fellowship hall. One of the moms brings her child with her to work, pretty cool.

Sports was the theme for summer camp this week. Did you all see the pictures of the week, playing ball, jumping rope and completing the week by going to a skating park. The interns are doing a great job, the children seem to be having a great time. Thanks so much everybody making it all happen.

Travis and Dave have begun preparing the window frames for the windows we have ordered for the Bright House II. They have repaired holes around the house, getting it ready to start painting.

We got a text from our folks who come to chapel on the first Thursday of each month, telling us they were having a church function and could not come. We decided to just have our meal and hand out groceries. Not an hour later, Pastor Jackson texts and says, he would like to come sing and preach if we needed him! Isn't that amazing, God took care of everything. So Ms Abbie and the choir sang a couple of songs and Pastor Jackson shared the Word. TJ and his family spent all afternoon preparing a meal, Ms Lisa and Ms Abbie handed out groceries. All had a great time. We had a small number of folks show up, but that was ok, we got to sit down with many of them and visit for awhile. Thanks to all for coming out and sharing the lvoe of Christ.

Prayers for our Lomax as he, some from the Yellow house and some from First Methodist are helping in Haiti this week. Prayers for Lomax that he doesn't get lost from the group and doesn't come back home!

Prayers for William. The first of each month William has money. He usually spends it all on his addictions. He is trying to not do that this month but it is hard because he has been doing it for so long. Prayers for those involved with William that they can help him through this week.

Our electrician again, has performed his magic for us. He did so, taking time out of his holiday to unhook the electricity wire going into the Bright House II. Now our groups can scrape, prime and paint the house without having to worry about the electricity. Thank you John Williams.

Next week, summer camp will be treated to the enthusiasm of Brookwood's Baptist youth. For the third year in a row, the youth will host their Vacation Bible camp for our children. One of the biggest treats is our kids will get a t-shirt for the week. There will be lots of songs, dance, and activities going on. Come by if you get a chance and check it all out.

An old saying, it is hard to tell a Christian Monday through Saturday, has been rattling in my head this week. Matt talked about Tuesday evening, we need to support one another, lift each other up every day, not just on Tuesdays or Thursdays or when we meet. Pastor Jackson talked about the fig tree, bearing leaves, but no fruit, explaining to Jesus, it is not my season to bear fruit. Jesus saying, we need to bear fruit all year long, just not when it feels right for us.

How often have we said to someone in need, not now I don't have time for you. Why don't you come on Sunday? Or I will see you on Thursday? If something happens between us, we go to someone else and start gossiping behind their backs, instead of sharing our thoughts with each other. We criticize each other instead of lifting them up. Hard to find a Christian when all of this is going on. No wonder folks don't come to church, when they see Christians, fighting, spreading rumors or back stabbing.

The last verse in Ephesians Chapter 4 says, Be kind and loving to each other, and forgive each other just as God forgave you in Christ. Good words to follow, to live by, to show others the lvoe of Christ. Our community is about lvoe, not hate. Our community is about passion not greed. Our community is about others, not selfishness. Let's continue our walks, learning to lvoe others as we grow closer in our relationships with Christ.

Have a great weekend and a blessed week. See you around the center. Amen!