Check out this song...it's so good!

We played this last Sunday, and I'm thinking this will be our theme song for a while.

There is so much greater good that is yet to come!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmC44K0xQLE

Quote

Churches don't need new members half so much as they need the old bunch made over.

There wouldn't be so many non-church goers if there were not so many non-going churches.

Too many churches are little more than four walls and a roof.

- Billy Sunday

Monday Night, December 17th

Tonight at Monday Night Bible Study at the Maxwell House, we had an appreciation service for Sharon. It was beautifully done. It last for ever though! At 10:00 we were finally getting cleaned up and ready to go home. We had fed a whole mass of people, and then a whole slew of them came at the end so we fed them too! Which meant that none of us got to eat, and I was starving. But God always has a plan. While we were cleaning up, there was a lady coming up and down with her grand daughter, who was just under a year old, and we were able to minister to her. Frank was so worn out because during the service, he had just poured out and poured out from preaching then serving then praying and prophesying over people. It was amazing, but he was wiped out.

So the lady we met, Theresa, was absolutely precious. She loved the Lord and was saved, but she was going through so much pain in her life. Her husband had passed away in February and she was hurting so much from that, and her son had gotten a tooth that was infected, and the infection entered his blood stream. He was in ICU for an entire month and nearly died! He was upstairs in her apartment resting. He was 22 I think. Her daughter had already moved in with her along with the little baby. I just held her while she shared with me her hurts, and let her cry and cry. Then we prayed for her.

Then we left with Sharon, Regina, Pastor Adrian, and Frank and I. We went looking for some place to eat. We were so hungry! We finally found a Krystals that was opened and went through the drive through and sat in the parking lot and ate and fellowshipped.

When we left from there and got back to the Maxwell House, I noticed two young men that were walking down the street. As we sat in the MH parking lot at midnight, these young men came over to the building and tried to get in. You have to have a pass key to enter the building, so they couldn't come in. They went over to the dumpster and pulled an old blanket out. You could see their breath in the cold air. It's supposed to get to 19 tonight. So we drove around and gave them the rest of the food we had, prayed with them, gave them some blankets that we had in the van, and also gave them each a duffel bag with a pair of socks and a hat and gloves. They were so very thankful for those! It was a Divine Appointment! By the end of the conversation, we had one salvation, as well as a backslider who was ready to jump back in and get in right relationship with Jesus! Isn't that awesome?

A Special "Thanks" to our Faithful Volunteers

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Thanks GIVING!

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November 25 Peterson Preaches

Bet you're surprised, aren't ya? But ya shouldn't be. That little dude's got a lot of "preach" in him. Peterson spoke on a very difficult subject to speak on: SIN. But he did it with love and was able to convey his message without any one coming away feeling condemned, judged, or worthless. By the end of the service, we had several people up at the 'altar' confessing sins and getting in right relationship with the Lord. It was quite beautiful.


We ended up meeting in the Summit Room again. It was a tad bit nippy outside, with a little bit of sprinkling. We still had a great turn out. Today's breakfast was a traditional after Thanksgiving meal....hot turkey sandwiches. Don't worry, it wasn't actually left overs. We made a whole new turkey the night before and served it shredded with gravy on really yummy rolls. It was a nice change for me instead of the same breakfast casserole and potato soup, however, we did have several people really MISS that breakfast casserole! LOL!


We had an older man come in and growl at me and get really nasty with me while I was serving him breakfast. I was like, "Puh-lease, you see "L" over there....if I can handle him and watch God transform that man, you're gonna be a piece of cake." hahahaha Well, one of the other people who know him well told him to knock it off with his gruffness, which he didn't seem to appreciate, but eventually, we loved that mean-ness right out of that fella. And Frank got the opportunity to pray for him (and get rid of some oppressive spirits). He really enjoyed the teaching and at the end of the service went home and came back and gave Frank a hundred dollars for the ministry. Isn't that something?


During Peterson's message, he talked about how we all have sin, and how we are in bondage to it, but don't need to be, and how we have the power to overcome that bondage to sin. I guess you'll just have to get the DVD, cause it was awesome. And at the end of his message when he had a call for salvation, he had anyone who wanted to repeat the sinners prayer to do it audibly, and quite a few people said it out-loud. Even the saved ones, which is ok, it helps others not feel so intimidated and on the spot. Well, when I was "peeking" (yeah, I was) I saw a reflection in the mirror of "L" who was sitting quite a ways in front of me. And he was repeating the prayer!

Now, Frank will sometimes do the same thing Peterson did, have everyone who wants to repeat the prayer, then tell ya if you said it and meant it, and did it for the first time, to come let one of the prayer team know. But "L" has NEVER repeated it on those days. Ever. So I am very hopeful that he DID mean it when he confessed it. I keep praying that God will please, PLEASE, let me KNOW that he has accepted Christ before he dies. I just don't know if I could stand not knowing for sure. When the time is right, one of us will ask him. He's a strange fella, ya know.

After church Sunday we headed to the hospital to see "S". She is in her early sixties and didn't get to come for Thanksgiving. She and "C" (her boyfriend and living companion), however, did invite a few people from the boarding house they live in to come, and they did come. We found out that "S" wasn't feeling well that day, had some dizziness - that sort of thing. We were so disappointed that they didn't get to come, but sent home a meal for them for later. Well, later she came out of the bathroom and she either lost her balance (from the dizziness) or tripped over some loose carpet in the hall, and literally fell through the wall. We have seen the hole in the wall, and it's alarming, to say the least. Well, she suffered a very serious head injury and was bleeding in the brain. She would have died had "C" not known what to do. He was an EMT at one time, and knew the symptoms of brain injury, and called an ambulance. She had immediate brain surgery and has been in SICU ever since, recovering.

When Frank and I got there to see her, we did not recognize her at all. She was swollen and her head was shaven all the way clean on one side. She had at least two large incisions and staples pulling them together. I couldn't believe it was her. We visited for a few minutes and prayed with her. She did recognize us, but was very, very disoriented and didn't make much sense. I found out on our next visit that she is also going through alcohol withdrawals, which accounts for a lot of her agitation and confusion.

Before we went in to see "S", as we approached the SICU entrance, there were a few people standing there waiting to get in to see a loved one. We still had on our t-shirts from church, so we were a walking advertisement for ministry. The mother said, "Yes, I do need prayer," in a desperate and despairing tone. So we spoke with that family a while, ministering to them in prayer and words of comfort, and the mom just laid her head on my shoulder and cried and cried. Bless her heart. Her son is 22 and was in a serious car accident and has extensive brain damage. His name is William, so ya'll pray for him while you pray for "S, if you would. There is a lot of "out of the walls" type of ministry out there, just waiting for our availability. Everywhere we go, people are hurting, hurting so bad. We need to be available and then God will do the rest.

When we left the hospital, we stopped at Arby's to finally eat something about 3:00. When we were done, we walked out of the restaurant and started for the van when we heard a crash. There was a car accident right there on Walton Way. So we walked over there to see if anyone was hurt. One lady was shaken up, and understandably frightened. In the other vehicle, the man was ok, shaken and banged, but the lady with him was hurt. She was 54 (although she looked MUCH older) and had possibly a broken arm and broken leg. She was crying and very scared. Her name was Betty and she told me it was her birthday. Nice birthday, huh?

I stayed at her side til the ambulance got there, and prayed with her and tried to keep her calm. Then while they were working on her, I went to the lady in the van. I didn't see what happened, but it was probably that lady's fault because of the way she was acting. She seemed to feel really, really bad. She did let me pray with her though. I'm glad no one else was injured. I think that Betty will be ok, and I pray that she really didn't have any broken bones. She had a lot of 'padding'. :)

Then we drove to pick up "C" and take him to see "S". She didn't even remember that we were there just 2 hours earlier. We visited a few more minutes then took "C" home. We got his car and had him follow us to the gas station to fill his car up. He is unemployed, and did not have any gas in his car to go back and forth to see "S." While we were with him, he asked us to pray with him cause he was struggling with some addictions. We prayed with him at the gas station, and he was a little teary eyed. Everything in his life was falling apart. He and "S" had just gotten off the streets and had been in a boarding house about a month when they started having trouble with their addictions again. It's so sad.

The enemy was just beating the mess out of "C". The guilt, condemnation, the whole nine yards. We just have to love him and not judge him. Sometimes that is very hard to do when you see someone continuously making the same bad judgment calls. But addictions are difficult to overcome. It can be done, but it takes a lot of patience and love on our parts while we wait on God to do His work. God is patient with us, and we need to be patient with them, don't we? So finally we made it home and collapsed. It was a looooong day. A day filled with ministry and seeing God move, but boy was I ready for bed early!

(I don't know what to tell ya about these pictures....they are not in order and I'm done fidgeting with the photo thingy~ LOL~

Thanks GIVING!

If ever I could say an event involving food, decorations, music, singing, gifts, volunteers, and hungry people went off perfectly, this would be the one. I am still amazed that everything happened Thanksgiving Day just exactly how I had envisioned it....down to every detail. It was definitely a God-honoring banquet.

First I'd like to say Thank You to those of you who made this happen. It seemed like we had an unlimited budget in this dinner, because every time I would buy something, more money would just come in and replace it! God was so good to us in planning this event. The love and support that YOU gave for these people, overwhelms me. Everything was perfect. Everything was beautiful. And YOU made these people feel like they belonged to a family and that they had value. I just start to cry when I think about the people, and their expressions and their gratitude. Some of the comments were "this was Top Shelf", and "this was better than eating at the Marriot," and "this felt like a family dinner."

Thank You for being used of Him to love them "like Jesus."

A few of us had gone in the night before to set up the tables and decorate. Nick Carnes had set us up in a nice building owned by the Presbyterian Church that he works at. We had a lot of fun getting things ready, and moving things around. Frank Peterson was our Facilitator, and he was doing a very good job at keeping each and every detail perfect. Steve Jones was also heavily involved, and did a remarkable job getting things set up for us. And keeping us laughing. That dude is hilarious.

The day before Thanksgiving, I was set to make quite a few side dishes, a ham, a turkey, and stuff the bags and get the place cards ready. By early in the afternoon, almost all of the cooking had been taken off my hands as some people that the Petersons know had called and wanted to do the cooking and serving. What a blessing! I still didn't go to bed til 2 a.m. but if I had to have done all that cooking....I would not have gone to bed at all! So THANK YOU!!!!

Then on Thanksgiving morning....it was show time! LOL! By the time Frank and I arrived, Steve and Peterson had the turkeys going in the fryer. Several volunteers were there and already working and getting things ready. Jose's wife, Kathy, came and she did an EXCELLENT job directing traffic in the kitchen and serving areas. She handled everything with such grace, she was not pushy or bossy, she was just perfect. And I can see now why she is employed as a Volunteer Coordinator. She is excellent at her job. She was a tremendous asset to us Thanksgiving Day!

All of the volunteers worked so well together, even though there was such a tiny kitchen, they all just moved like clock work and really seemed to enjoy the tasks they were involved in. I was so impressed with how God pulled all of it together.

Once our guests started to arrive, they were given a name tag and their names were written down for the drawings we had later. Then it was time to start the music and Jose really ushered in the Presence of God with his anointed music. We worshiped for a little while, then Frank read a few things from the Word. We prayed and then we were served our dinner. It was so yummy! The food was excellent. The presentation was beautiful. It was just all perfect! I was able to have my children there and really enjoyed taking them around to meet all of our church people. It was a good day.

Then it was time to give out the door prizes. We had 6 gift bags filled with goodies.....a blanket, a package of socks, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, lotion, and facial tissues. You would have thought these people won the lottery! LOL! They were quite excited about winning those gift bags!! I have an awesome story to share with you in another post about a guy named "A" who won one of the gift bags, and what happened to him...stay tuned! (Well, if you read backwards....you already know!)

Then Samantha pretended to call Frank Peterson's name out. The look on his face was really funny. We had Nicki Carnes embroider his name and A Church Without Walls on a black apron as a Thank You gift for doing such a good job facilitating the whole event. I think he was embarrassed. ;)

After that, we had these amazing duffel bags for the guests. We had ordered them the week before and they got here at 7:30 p.m. the night before Thanksgiving! They had "A Church Without Walls" imprinted on them, and we were able to put a pair of socks, a toothbrush, and a knitted hat with matching gloves into each bag. Everyone was so excited to receive those bags. They felt so loved and so special. Thank you to "you know who(s)" for those items!

Oh, we had some first time visitors too. We even had a man come that we got from the "highways and hedges".....literally. (That story will be told later....) There was also a group of 3 young people who came and as soon as the girl walked in, she said, "Ya'll are going to LOVE this!" We were right in the middle of playing some great music when they walked in, and I know they felt God there. I sure did!

After dinner, we were also able to give each person a to go box that was FULL of food, and no one went away empty handed. It was exactly how we wanted it to be. Then we packed up the rest of the to go boxes and Sharon took them to her building at the Maxwell House and fed probably 25-30 more people. It was like the loaves and fishes. So much food left over. Praise God!!! When I looked at the to go boxes that were left over, we used 78 of them and gave them all away! That's a lot of food! God is a God of ABUNDANCE!

Well, meanwhile, last Sunday we noticed that "L" had worn the soles out of his shoes. He probably walks no less than 10 miles a day. So Peterson went and got him another pair this week and we were going to give him the shoes on Thanksgiving. But guess what? He didn't come. I was so disappointed. When we were cleaning up, he showed up. Bless his heart, he had gone to ANOTHER Presbyterian Church quite some distance up the road and waited an hour and a half before he finally gave up and went to the soup kitchen to eat. I was so broken hearted! We gave him a to go box, and his duffel bag and told him to meet us at Sharon's to get his shoes. (We had to get him away from all the rest of the peeps....it would not have been nice to give shoes to only one person! LOL!)

When we got to Sharon's building, he had ridden "P's" bicycle up there. He took his shoes off and Sharon grabbed the Germ X to wash his feet off. He has so many sores and blisters, and that Germ X was not a good idea. Fortunately we had some hand soap, paper towels, and bottled water in the van, so we grabbed that and we scrubbed his little feet clean. We also gave him a nice foot massage and dried him off real good. I wonder when the last time he had clean feet was? He was so embarrassed though. He kept telling us to stop all that fuss. Then, Peterson says, "I know what "L's" thinking." We all stop and look up at him and said, "What?" Now you have to imagine all the fuss that was going on over "L"s feet here. The tender loving care we were taking, putting band-aids on the blisters, washing between his little toesies, drying them really well, the whole nine yards, and Peterson says, "He's thinking there is no way I'm letting these people buy me under ware."

I laughed so hard I couldn't breathe!

So, that was our very climatic ending to a very good day!

But do pray for Nick Carnes. Bless his heart. He ended up going that very night and having to have his appendix removed! So keep him in your prayers. I feel so bad for him because he was feeling lousy on Thanksgiving, but he stayed there with us and never complained.

Enjoy the pictures. Hopefully the PhotoBucket will play for you. I have pics of the ThanksGIVING Dinner, and some pics of the volunteers working very hard cleaning up.