February/March 2009 – Christian Life Center Update
A Word of Encouragement:
I awoke this morning with calm in my spirit as the Lord brought to mind His faithfulness. The Lord later brought Matthew 8:26 to mind as I was driving to work. In the story, the disciples are all fretting because of a huge storm that is overwhelming them. They look around in fright only to find Jesus resting. They all start freaking out and wake Jesus from what was probably a pretty good nap. He tells them all to relax and stop freaking out and reminds them who He is as He calms the raging storm with only a few words.
The point of the story for me is not that Jesus calmed the storm, but that He was resting in the middle of one! Why would it be surprising that the Son of God, who was present at the foundation of the world, would not be awakened by a storm? Jesus had already established that He was no slouch! It’s as if turning water to wine, raising a dead guy, completely healing a bunch of sick people, and feeding an entire town the size of Waveland/Bay St Louis from a young boy’s lunch box wasn’t enough! Jesus had to once again show them that He was the all-powerful Son of God. A bit irritated, Jesus lovingly chastised His team. He reminded them, again, that fear is not necessary because He was with them.
There seems to be fear brewing across this nation. I have to confess it has crept up in me a few times also. But this morning Jesus reminded me through Matthew 8:26 that the God of all creation abides in me. The same Jesus who calmed that raging storm, who was resurrected from the dead… the same one who God has put in Authority over all things, lives in me and you today. We can rest in that…no matter what storms are in our lives! If Jesus isn’t freaked out in our storms, we don’t have to be either. We can trust that He is in control of all things and that our hearts are safe in His care.
Christian Life Center Update:
I want to thank you all for the tremendous effort given in the first two months of the year. We have had a small but consistent flow of volunteers. We are still working hard to impact the “forgotten” broken-hearted in Waveland, MS. Many of you continue to be on mission with us and, in fact, have named Waveland your “Samaria”! This in response to Christ’s call to go into all the world beginning with Judea (your backyard), Samaria (Waveland, MS) and the ends of the world.
Construction Update:
Please connect with Shannon Lenox, our volunteer coordinator (414-698-3188), to set up a volunteer team this year. Some of you may not be able to get teams together from Church but still want to come down. Our encouragement to you is to come down with a couple of friends and let God use the week to build into your community His heart for the broken hearted. Additionally we are seeing businesses and other groups bring teams down. A week volunteering and working side by side with other team members is a great way to connect and build trust in a team. Business leaders and managers see the opportunity for some wonderful and deeply impactful team building. As many of you know God makes His mark on your heart every time you volunteer. Please contact Shannon Lenox to set up an exclusive week of team building and deeper connections.
Thrift Store Update:
The Thrift Store is going well. We still have folks coming in every week who share heart wrenching stories of how they are still sleeping on their floors, trying to collect minor or major household goods, minor appliances and BOOKS. At this time most clothing items are not in great demand, so please contact David Bartelt at the Thrift Store (282-466-3880) if you have clothing to send or want a more detailed list of what is needed at any moment. We are ministering to a community that lost everything only a couple years ago. This means there is little to be donated to the Thrift Store locally. With this in mind, we are heavily dependent on goods donated from outside ministries and sources.
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
1.) We need goods and we need them consistently throughout the year. There are a couple of ways you can help. The first is the box-a-month program. The box-a-month program is designed for smaller churches or groups of families to stay connected with the ministry by sending one box a month to the Christian Life Center. Fill your box with household goods, kitchen appliances, books, and children’s items. Our goal is 24 communities committing to one box per month.
2.) The second way you can help is by sponsoring a tractor trailer or shipping container and having a church or multiple church wide campaign to fill it. We are praying for partners that can sponsor one container a year for three years .
3.) The third way you can help while you are thinking about the first two is to go through out your house, pick the stuff out that’s nice but you won’t miss, then go over to your neighbor’s or pastor’s house and do the same thing, with their permission, of course! Filling up a box or two of good stuff for the Thrift Store is extremely helpful. Send it the slowest way possible to save a few dollars. If fifty of you will do that over the next few weeks we can get the Thrift Store restocked.
Please call or email David Bartelt or Mark Young with questions on how you can help the Thrift Store (262-689-9285), (david_bartelt@hotmail.com or mark@clcgulfcoast.com).
Long Term Volunteer Opportunities:
1) Kitchen Manager: We are need of someone to help us as kitchen manager. The role is primarily to cook for volunteers and manage our food supply for teams and long term volunteers. If you are interested and the Lord is tugging on your heart to respond, please contact the Director Tom Barbour (tom@clcgulfcoast.com).
God Bless You All!
The Christian Life Center Team
Email us anytime at info@clcgulfcoast.com
For specific questions contact the following: