D Street Feeding

One of our small groups did the nightly dinner at the "D" street mission tonite. I was not able to attend, Because DR V. placed me on the sidelines with pneumonia. This outreach event is an eye opener to say the least. 120 men and women whose only Hot Meal on this winter day is here at the Salvation Army run, City of Modesto facility. People of all shapes,sizes, ethnicity and many types of cultural backgrounds. This shelter differs from the Mission in that it is less restricted on who can stay or not stay. If you are among the first 100 men and 20 woman you have a meal and a place to stay. No time limit and not to many personal question. Meals at this facility are all brought in by a different Faith Based Group every night of the week while the facility is open amd all the meals are free. Tonight the food was Chilli, Cornbread, Salad and Lemonade. One of the volunteers commented, 2000 years ago the masses were feed by Jesus with loaves and fish, tonight Jesus used chilli and cornbred. I wish I could have been there to see the Chilli and Cornbred stretch to fit the hungry stomachs on hand. I wish I could have seen Jesus meet their needs, while our Christian Soldiers were His hands. Next Year we will reach out and feed at this shelter again.

Outreach Update . . .

We have just finished another succesful week ministering to the homeless. The two families were ministered to by seven different families as obvernight hosts and by dozens of folks during supper and the evening each night. Both families are about to secure housing and move on with life. The young man in the program had several great questions concerning God. Planting seeds and working the garden are what God expects from us and that is what this program is all about.

My friend Jacob from a local store is still struggling with life issues. Please pray for Satan to release him from the bondage and hold he has on him.

Family Promise: February 2009 Day 1

The folks we have in Family Promise are among some of the nicest people we have ever had in the program. Last night we had 5 in the program, tonight we will have 7. Our over night hossts cooked breakafast this morning and it was delicious. Thanks to Susan and Michael Brown for the food. Lee and Sheila Walls provided some incredible Chilli Mac for the Sunday evening meal, great food, great fellowship.

Krista, my wife, invited a homeless man named Ryan and his friend Mark to breakfast and to come in out of the rain at the church building. They filled up on pancakes and sausage, and put away alot of hot coffee. Each of them normally stay at the "D" street shelter but the lines were long at the shelter last night and they stayed outside. We were able to give them some new socks and a pair of new shoes to make life a little easier for them.

What a great start to week of serving . . .

Family Promise is coming this weekend

Family Promise is coming to our building in just a few days. We will be hosting approximately 3 families and as many as 10 individuals ffrom Sunday to Sunday. What a great way to be Jesus to the community. People without jobs and homes, coming to our building to find the things that they are in need of. It is always exciting to see what god has in store for us during that fast moving week.

Comedy Night with Bob Smiley was a great success. . .

Great! Fantastic! Amazing!

Bob Smiley is one of the most gifted performers that I have ever seen. He had all the audience captivated for over one hour with his off the wall humor. His Christian message was easily understood by people of all ages. We had 609 in attendance which is the largest crowd at the building since I have been in Modesto. God brought people of all flavors and stripes to hear the message of Jesus.

Our members are to be applauded for their effort to invite people to this event. Over 200 nonmember/ non-christian visitors.

Christian Comedy Night . . . Saturday Night 7:00 pm.

Bob Smiley is coming to town tomorrow night. We are gearing up for a packed house. He is hilarious and family oriented. He performs throughout the United States and maintains a very busy schedule. Tickets are available at the church office and will be available at the door. To see his humor style you can go to Bob Smiley.com

Apartment Fire 2200 Coffee RD. . .

The Red Cross was called to the scene of an apartment complex fire last Thursday morning that involved 16 units. In matter of minutes 40 individauls were displaced from their residences. I was called to the scene to help those who were unsettled with the events of the day. Emotions were high to say the least. Many of the residents had lived in the complex for more than a decade, many had their earthly treasures inside their apartments. All of the residents were told on Friday that the buidling was beyond repair and even though half of the apartments were untouched by the fire.

3 of the individuals have no family in town and no means to move to other apartments, physically by themselves. All three disabled in their own unique way. The property management company and the City of Modesto required them to have their belongings moved by Tuesday, morning Feb.3.

The Red Cross asked if our congregation could help with the moves. Aaron Scott and the youth group volunteered to help these people move. 20 of our teens and their parents packed boxes and moved them. Tears of joy flowed from one of the residents eyes as the last box was placed in his apartment. Aaron commented that it was amazing to see Jesus working at the apartment complex.

I was amazed at he power of the Gospel displayed by our youth. The apartments were dark and smelly from the smoke of the fire, the folks we were serving were frazzled by their life situation, yet they served with smiles on their faces.