New Year!
With the new year comes a time of reflection on what we will bring with us into the new year. We are reviewing every move of the last year and determining what works and what does not. We are prayerfully seeking God’s will for the next steps of the ministry. We are asking that you keep us in prayer as we make goals and plans for 2018. We are adding some programs for the men in the Discipleship Program and stretching them outside of their comfort zones. We have been diligently pouring into these guys for a while. We believe it is now time that they start pouring into others.
Mission!
We are motivated people on a mission here at Outreach. We will be incorporating more mission opportunities. We are excited to share those stories with you in some future newsletters. We will also be allowing the gentlemen in the Discipleship Program to share testimonies about their experiences at Outreach. We know that as you get to know them through these newsletters, you will become more committed in prayer for them. We will also work on posting our new schedule on our website. It is our prayer that more of you will join us in pouring into the lives of these amazing disciples.
Nursing Home!
We are still in need of items for our Nursing Home Ministry. We were unable to get them the items we wanted for Christmas. They need socks, blankets, polident, hair grease, unscented lotion, hair ties, slippers and big tooth combs. Help us bless them. There are approximately 82 residents and we want to be there for them.
Blessing Bag Items
One of our favorite ministries is our Blessing Bag Ministry. This is the most popular one as well. Everyone enjoys stuffing the bags with everything we could think of. We always need items for these bags. We put hygiene items, as well as a hat, gloves, scarves, and a blanket in addition to ready to eat food items and discipleship materials. We try to spend the least amount on these items as possible. We have managed to get the hats, gloves and scarves at Dollar Tree for $1. Sometimes we can get 2 pair of gloves for $1 there as well. We usually do 50-100 bags at a time and it really adds up. We are able to get the blankets for $4 a piece if we buy them in bulk. We have managed to fill the bags with all the items we could think of for about $12 a bag. Sometimes you can get 6 toothbrushes for a dollar and the combs come in bulk packages also. We always need these items. If you feel led to help us with any of these items, they will be put to good use. We love to pull up to an intersection where there is a homeless person and hand them a bag of items that really meet their needs.
Resident Spotlight!
With the new year comes a time of reflection on what we will bring with us into the new year. We are reviewing every move of the last year and determining what works and what does not. We are prayerfully seeking God’s will for the next steps of the ministry. We are asking that you keep us in prayer as we make goals and plans for 2018. We are adding some programs for the men in the Discipleship Program and stretching them outside of their comfort zones. We have been diligently pouring into these guys for a while. We believe it is now time that they start pouring into others.
Mission!
We are motivated people on a mission here at Outreach. We will be incorporating more mission opportunities. We are excited to share those stories with you in some future newsletters. We will also be allowing the gentlemen in the Discipleship Program to share testimonies about their experiences at Outreach. We know that as you get to know them through these newsletters, you will become more committed in prayer for them. We will also work on posting our new schedule on our website. It is our prayer that more of you will join us in pouring into the lives of these amazing disciples.
Nursing Home!
We are still in need of items for our Nursing Home Ministry. We were unable to get them the items we wanted for Christmas. They need socks, blankets, polident, hair grease, unscented lotion, hair ties, slippers and big tooth combs. Help us bless them. There are approximately 82 residents and we want to be there for them.
Blessing Bag Items
One of our favorite ministries is our Blessing Bag Ministry. This is the most popular one as well. Everyone enjoys stuffing the bags with everything we could think of. We always need items for these bags. We put hygiene items, as well as a hat, gloves, scarves, and a blanket in addition to ready to eat food items and discipleship materials. We try to spend the least amount on these items as possible. We have managed to get the hats, gloves and scarves at Dollar Tree for $1. Sometimes we can get 2 pair of gloves for $1 there as well. We usually do 50-100 bags at a time and it really adds up. We are able to get the blankets for $4 a piece if we buy them in bulk. We have managed to fill the bags with all the items we could think of for about $12 a bag. Sometimes you can get 6 toothbrushes for a dollar and the combs come in bulk packages also. We always need these items. If you feel led to help us with any of these items, they will be put to good use. We love to pull up to an intersection where there is a homeless person and hand them a bag of items that really meet their needs.
Resident Spotlight!
David Lee has been a blessing to this ministry before we ever came along. We kind of inherited him. He has been such a help around the office. He is a skilled and knowledgeable, licensed electrician. He also has been a huge help with data entry and the writing and assembling of the prayer letter and newsletter. He is great on the phone. He is currently looking for gainful employment. He is very honest and very detail oriented. We actually believe it is physically impossible for him to tell a lie. He can be trusted with anything you ask him to do. He also has a clean driving record. He is licensed and insured and owns his own reliable vehicle.
Keep Moving Forward!
1 Peter 1:5-10 In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.
The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.
So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away.
Another version reads- Do these things and you will never stumble!
Praise God! This is a guideline for our process that we must go through. Nowhere in this process does it say to get distracted by processing our feelings. Feelings do not even come into play. We are to keep moving forward in spite of hurt feelings. We can experience feelings without letting them trip us up or cause us to stumble. If you have been tripping over your feelings, you are exactly where the enemy wants you. He lays a trap and we can say I am not going to fall no matter how I feel. We can keep moving forward through the process from goodness to knowledge to self control to perseverance to godliness to mutual affection to love, and once we have them all down, we can start over and increase in each. God gave us a little road map to follow and we don't have to make it more difficult than this simple passage. -My take on Oswald Chambers
Nothing is impossible!
We are forever grateful for the outpouring of love and generosity of everyone during the Christmas season. We were able to provide Christmas to 404 children in 151 families. We also helped provide food to 136 individuals in the month of December. None of these things would be possible without the valiant efforts of our amazing volunteers and donors. There were many times when there was room for doubt that we could succeed in helping this many people, but God was faithful!
John and Tammy Savola
Keep Moving Forward!
1 Peter 1:5-10 In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.
The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.
So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away.
Another version reads- Do these things and you will never stumble!
Praise God! This is a guideline for our process that we must go through. Nowhere in this process does it say to get distracted by processing our feelings. Feelings do not even come into play. We are to keep moving forward in spite of hurt feelings. We can experience feelings without letting them trip us up or cause us to stumble. If you have been tripping over your feelings, you are exactly where the enemy wants you. He lays a trap and we can say I am not going to fall no matter how I feel. We can keep moving forward through the process from goodness to knowledge to self control to perseverance to godliness to mutual affection to love, and once we have them all down, we can start over and increase in each. God gave us a little road map to follow and we don't have to make it more difficult than this simple passage. -My take on Oswald Chambers
Nothing is impossible!
We are forever grateful for the outpouring of love and generosity of everyone during the Christmas season. We were able to provide Christmas to 404 children in 151 families. We also helped provide food to 136 individuals in the month of December. None of these things would be possible without the valiant efforts of our amazing volunteers and donors. There were many times when there was room for doubt that we could succeed in helping this many people, but God was faithful!
John and Tammy Savola