Our Saturdays continue to be full of activities in and around the center. The children helping with the bread. Others walking the neighborhood. The chapel being opened to share stories about the Bible. Friendship room hosting our friends who come to wash their clothes. While some go and visit our friends in the camps. Come by and join in on the fun.
We have had some changes in our camps. Turner is fine and surviving the cold. Brad and Robert have been asked to move their camp. Robert was in the process of doing that when we stopped by. Travis is now working and living inside. Dave has moved into a motel room. We stopped by to see Sodapop and he was waiting for his Cokes! Scott remembered to get the sodas. You would have thought, we had given Sodapop a million dollars! We did get some bad news during the week, that someone beat up Sodapop putting him in the hospital. Hope to see him Saturday to find out how he is doing. So sad, folks who have nothing, minding their own business, have to endure such tragedy.
One of our stops Saturday, was to go by and visit with Tim and his coworker Donna at the Hope House. They were busy cleaning and getting ready for Monday. Very exciting to see Tim start a new ministry and experience his passion for those who live outside.
Our afternoon activities are going good. Lots of children and lots of helpers. Experiencing new challenges as we see new children and realizing they are far behind in their studies.
Monday afternoon, we met with Pastor Benny Knoxnew and his wife Shelly. Last week, we talked about meeting Benny, who walked around the center and experienced some of what we are about. Evidently that made an impression on him, so he wanted his wife to come by and see for herself what he experienced. Both are excited to see the possibilities of what God has in store for us.
Tuesday evening the men gathered for Bible fellowship reading from Mark 8: 31-38. We had an old friend join us, who experienced a near death experience after being in a motorcycle accident 8 weeks ago. As he said, the medics said he should not be alive, but he survived, wanting us to know, God's lvoe is real and God's lvoe is simple. All we have to do is let go of our pride and arrogance and accept Jesus into our lives.
On a very cold Thursday afternoon, we got our activities started off by our friends, Heather, Derek and Richard sharing the Word through song and word. It was a special time as we got to celebrate our first communion in chapel. A remarkable experience, seeing the many different faces of the Body of Christ coming to the table. Doesn't get any better than that.
Tom supplied our meal, served up by the community. All the cleaning and washing was done by our friends. When I walked into the fellowship hall, the chairs were all stacked up, food was gone, dishes were washed. A very nice evening.
Following our meal, Lisa held a Board meeting. It was a time to talk about the numbers and ideas. We elected two new board members, Carl and Allison. The board met Pastor Knox and he shared some of his vision. It was voted on to move forward on the removal of our old tile floor to replace it was a new one, providing a safer environment for us all.
We need to remember if we make a mess in the center, we need to clean it up. Put things away, don't leave anything on the kitchen counters. Turn off the lights, be sure the heating and cooling systems are shut off. Check all doors to be sure they are locked. If we all do our part, we can help with keeping our costs down.
There was some discussions on having a fundraiser. Several of our members have experience with putting on fundraiser's and we could use their experience in making ours happen. We have do doubt God will provide for our future as long as we stay in His will. So we will pray fully consider our options as we move forward in this area.
Please keep all who are not feeling well in your prayers. Keep William in your prayers. Joe Barefield is not 100% from his last seizure, keep him lifted up.
In Mark 8 verse 33 Jesus says to his disciples . . . You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns. Listening to some of the men Tuesday night, they thanked God for Common Ground. One said, his friends asked him, they did not see him at the Library as much as he use to be there. He said no, because he was at Common Ground. Sharing with his friends, I have found Christ, he is real. Another man said, he use to be angry all the time, but now he has found peace because of Common Ground.
What is Common Ground? It is not a building. It is not a church. It is not a place. It is all of you. Common Ground is just a name. You all make it real. Folks can't hear about Jesus from a wall. The children can't learn from a chair. The hungry can't get fed from a table. Each one of you make the lvoe of Christ come to life and shines hope through the darkness.
In verse 34, Jesus says, whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves . . . You all are denying yourselves and picking up your crosses, leading others to Jesus.
In a world where fame, fortune, prosperity, notoriety are important, you are setting examples of what is important to God, lvoe, hope, compassion, peace. You are, God is more concerned about the hearts.
Continue to stay strong in your journeys to show lvoe, remembering that is what is important to God. Amen.
Hope you can come by the center this weekend and meet our friends from Crowley. Have a great week. Lvoe and peace to all.
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