What’s a hand-up verses a hand-out? Recently our team experienced this first-hand. Compassion ministry loves people at the point where they exist in life and seeks to build trust and a testimony of Jesus with them. I’m thrilled to be part of a non-traditional evangelism outreach ministry. Thankfully, ladies on the outreach team are in contact with single moms throughout the month forming amazing redemptive relationships with these single mom families.
Recently a single mom from a violence shelter called our ladies’ team leader. She had never attended an oil change outreach event. She holds down a job, attends college, and raises two boys. During their conversation she rejoiced she was able to move into a place of her own after living one year in a domestic violence shelter. But, she mentioned she did not have a table and chairs and wanted to have a Thanksgiving meal with her boys.
The following evening our ladies’ team leader received a call from a lady in our Sunday School class and asked if she knew of anyone needing a table, chairs, and buffet. They miraculously received a new set and wanted to bless someone with her previous set. The provision for this single mom was met! God is Amazing with small details in the lives of these single moms.
Our church blessed this family as well with a Thanksgiving meal which she was able to enjoy with her two boys, sitting at her new table. When our ladies’ team leader and her husband delivered the food they experienced a blessed time of prayer with this precious family. This single mom has been very open and receptive to the Lord and our church family becoming a greater part of her family’s life.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Thursday, October 20, 2011
God Answers Prayer!
God is doing amazing things in the lives of single mom families through the oil change outreach! We give God all the glory. Your prayer and genuine caring creates a great opportunity for God to do His perfect work in their lives.
Real prayer is offered for these moms and they know it. They’re asking us to pray for them. We’re reassuring them we are praying. “Thank-you” volunteers for working at the outreach. Thank you for praying.
Recently a single mom asked us to pray that she could find a place to live. She came back excited this past Outreach Saturday to tell us God wonderfully answered prayer for her housing.
Another lady is finishing Community College as a paralegal. We were praying for a job to open up for her, but she also needed her teeth fixed before interviewing. You see, five years ago she was a meth addict and as a result her teeth were ruined. This need was prayed for. One of her professors shared her dental needs with a dentist in town and he offered her $8,000 dental work for just a few hundred dollars. She’s already paid him a majority of her bill. She recently rejoiced with our team in God’s provision!
Whatever you do to volunteer on this team, your contribution is making a huge impact on these single mom families. They’re helpless at times. They feel desperate for many situations in their life. Yet, faith is springing up in many of them. They’re asking about our church family. Some are worshipping with us. We’re praying for them. Awesome!
I can’t wait to see how God continues His miracles in these single mom families!
Real prayer is offered for these moms and they know it. They’re asking us to pray for them. We’re reassuring them we are praying. “Thank-you” volunteers for working at the outreach. Thank you for praying.
Recently a single mom asked us to pray that she could find a place to live. She came back excited this past Outreach Saturday to tell us God wonderfully answered prayer for her housing.
Another lady is finishing Community College as a paralegal. We were praying for a job to open up for her, but she also needed her teeth fixed before interviewing. You see, five years ago she was a meth addict and as a result her teeth were ruined. This need was prayed for. One of her professors shared her dental needs with a dentist in town and he offered her $8,000 dental work for just a few hundred dollars. She’s already paid him a majority of her bill. She recently rejoiced with our team in God’s provision!
Whatever you do to volunteer on this team, your contribution is making a huge impact on these single mom families. They’re helpless at times. They feel desperate for many situations in their life. Yet, faith is springing up in many of them. They’re asking about our church family. Some are worshipping with us. We’re praying for them. Awesome!
I can’t wait to see how God continues His miracles in these single mom families!
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Outreach and a Can of Olives
Unfortuately, it's not uncommon for single moms to be taken advantage of by some automotive repair shops.
Recently a repair-savy volunteer and I looked at a single mom's car. The motor ran rough and it was reported to have gas leaking on top of the engine. A repair shop told her there was a broken engine mount, the serpentine belt needed changed, and a fuel line needed replaced. The estimated repair cost, $430.
What we saw was unbelievable. A daughter's boyfriend replaced the spark plugs and noticed a vent hose with an open end. Thinking the hose should be closed up, he grabbed a can of olives from the food pantry, stuck it in the opening, and tighted a hose clamp around it to ensure it stayed there. With this he effectively stopped the necessary air flow through the air filtering system. Not good! No wonder the motor coughed and sputtered. This was all done before the car was taken to the repair shop.
The bottom line, there was no broke engine mount; the serpentine belt did not need changed; and the gas may have leaked a little as a result of the can of olives and a clogged air passage. What needed changed was an idler pulley holding the serpentine belt.
This one example shows the value our oil change outreach provides to single moms. This mom was was extremely grateful to the volunteer I brought with me that day. Her anxieties were calmed. I thank the Lord Jesus Christ for our volunteer team!
Recently a repair-savy volunteer and I looked at a single mom's car. The motor ran rough and it was reported to have gas leaking on top of the engine. A repair shop told her there was a broken engine mount, the serpentine belt needed changed, and a fuel line needed replaced. The estimated repair cost, $430.
What we saw was unbelievable. A daughter's boyfriend replaced the spark plugs and noticed a vent hose with an open end. Thinking the hose should be closed up, he grabbed a can of olives from the food pantry, stuck it in the opening, and tighted a hose clamp around it to ensure it stayed there. With this he effectively stopped the necessary air flow through the air filtering system. Not good! No wonder the motor coughed and sputtered. This was all done before the car was taken to the repair shop.
The bottom line, there was no broke engine mount; the serpentine belt did not need changed; and the gas may have leaked a little as a result of the can of olives and a clogged air passage. What needed changed was an idler pulley holding the serpentine belt.
This one example shows the value our oil change outreach provides to single moms. This mom was was extremely grateful to the volunteer I brought with me that day. Her anxieties were calmed. I thank the Lord Jesus Christ for our volunteer team!
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Kindness or Love?
Have you ever thought of kindness as distinct from love? I never really thought about it until the subject came up in our Sunday School class. We were discussing the list of personal qualities found in the New Testament book of 2nd Peter, chapter one: goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. Our teacher made the observation that if this is a sequential list, then kindness comes before love.
I think we make deliberate decisions to be kind, regardless of how we’re feeling at the time. We make these decisions because we know there are single moms who really need and value our expression of compassion. Our awesome volunteers make these choice decisions to express kindness, often in the face of straining work schedules and adverse health conditions.
Beyond the Walls oil change for single moms gives us a vehicle for this deliberate kindness. A simple oil change is a tangible expression of kindness. If our kindness has the right motive then it cannot help but erupt in genuine love.
I love how the Message Bible reads, “So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others.”
I think we make deliberate decisions to be kind, regardless of how we’re feeling at the time. We make these decisions because we know there are single moms who really need and value our expression of compassion. Our awesome volunteers make these choice decisions to express kindness, often in the face of straining work schedules and adverse health conditions.
Beyond the Walls oil change for single moms gives us a vehicle for this deliberate kindness. A simple oil change is a tangible expression of kindness. If our kindness has the right motive then it cannot help but erupt in genuine love.
I love how the Message Bible reads, “So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others.”
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Ministry Outreach
My heart swelled today with gratitude when I viewed the contribution of the volunteers at the oil change outreach. When thrust into new assignments or a different room location, team members responded with the same exemplary service we’ve grown accustomed too. There’s no doubt our volunteer team has learned to roll-with-the-punches of weather changes (good ‘ole Ozarks), fluctuation in volunteer levels, and client demand. I’m proud of our volunteers!
Today I saw our lady volunteers engaged in genuine conversation with the single moms…I saw our men in the registration area completing the paperwork with excellence…I saw our greeters being gentle and courteous towards the single moms…I saw our lady volunteers in the café area serving single moms with smiles and encouragement…and I saw our men in the oil change area working with diligence to complete the vehicle inspections and oil change. Wow, what a team!
And to top off this spectacular morning, Central’s MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group shared their resources in ministry with the single moms. They brought boxes of good used-clothing, toys, and a large cake to share with the single moms. In addition, each single mom received a potting plant to take home. It turned out great and the single moms were very appreciative! Thank you MOPS!
Today I saw our lady volunteers engaged in genuine conversation with the single moms…I saw our men in the registration area completing the paperwork with excellence…I saw our greeters being gentle and courteous towards the single moms…I saw our lady volunteers in the café area serving single moms with smiles and encouragement…and I saw our men in the oil change area working with diligence to complete the vehicle inspections and oil change. Wow, what a team!
And to top off this spectacular morning, Central’s MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group shared their resources in ministry with the single moms. They brought boxes of good used-clothing, toys, and a large cake to share with the single moms. In addition, each single mom received a potting plant to take home. It turned out great and the single moms were very appreciative! Thank you MOPS!
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Teen Volunteers Rock!
Opportunity: “a favorable juncture of circumstances” is a dictionary definition. Opportunities abound at Beyond the Walls oil change outreach because a “juncture” or a point in time is happening right before our eyes. This is caused by a unique set of circumstances. What are they?
Young men, teenage guys are working side-by-side with men in the oil change area and learning basic car maintenance skills. There are a couple things happening to bring this about. First, there are some single moms raising teenage boys without a father figure in the house. They see an opportunity for their sons to get involved with positive men from Central and learn a practical skill which could help them for a life-time. Second, there are awesome teenage young men who want to make a difference in their own life and by helping others, in the lives of single moms.
Please pray for this “opportunity”. As a leader in the oil change outreach I want to facilitate what God ultimately wants and directs. This convergence of circumstances include discussions started several months ago to facilitate a male teenage club, collaborating with the oil change team, to help teach car maintenance skills to teenage guys in Greene County.
Anybody see an opportunity here? This past Saturday there were 5 teenage guys helping in the oil change area, getting their hands dirty, and loving it!
Young men, teenage guys are working side-by-side with men in the oil change area and learning basic car maintenance skills. There are a couple things happening to bring this about. First, there are some single moms raising teenage boys without a father figure in the house. They see an opportunity for their sons to get involved with positive men from Central and learn a practical skill which could help them for a life-time. Second, there are awesome teenage young men who want to make a difference in their own life and by helping others, in the lives of single moms.
Please pray for this “opportunity”. As a leader in the oil change outreach I want to facilitate what God ultimately wants and directs. This convergence of circumstances include discussions started several months ago to facilitate a male teenage club, collaborating with the oil change team, to help teach car maintenance skills to teenage guys in Greene County.
Anybody see an opportunity here? This past Saturday there were 5 teenage guys helping in the oil change area, getting their hands dirty, and loving it!
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