December 20, 2024
Lessons From a Train Station in Rome at Christmas
Pino Neglia, a missionary to Italy and Albania, describes 4 lessons he learned in a train station in Rome at Christmas.
Articles for tag: Homeless Outreach
December 12, 2022
December 18 | Application (Caring for ‘the Least of These’)
In Matthew 25, Jesus compares himself to a shepherd separating the sheep from the goats. This Scripture passage teaches important truths about the Lord, and it has practical implications for us.
Tiny House Ministries Sees Expanding Opportunities
Tiny House Ministries in Missouri began as a simple idea to build housing for homeless people, but it has expanded in some unexpected directions.
January 22, 2020
The Dollar Club
“I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.” _ _ _ By Steve Poe Remember when a dollar was worth something? I remember paying a little less than a dollar for a gallon of gas. Today gasoline commonly costs triple that amount. Some time ago, if you wanted hot coffee, you could buy one for yourself and one for a friend and still get change back from your dollar. Today a Starbucks coffee starts at $1.85. You just can’t do much with a dollar anymore. And yet, what
April 17, 2019
Gardenside Helping the Homeless in Lexington
By Jim Nieman Volunteers at Gardenside Christian Church recently finished their sixth winter of helping the homeless population in Lexington, Ky. Gardenside is one of about two dozen churches in the city that participates in the Room in the Inn ministry, says church member Karl VanDyke Jr. Gardenside houses a dozen homeless men on Tuesday nights, twice monthly, during the winter. “We provide everything they need,” VanDyke says. This past winter, 130 Gardenside volunteers were at work seven separate nights. The final tally showed the church provided 84 beds, along with 84 dinners, breakfasts, and brown-bag lunches. VanDyke says volunteers
April 3, 2019
‘We’re Not Going to Lose You, Brother!’
Redemption Christian Church in Jasper, Ind., played a crucial role in setting a young man on a path toward Christ—and toward a productive ministry to people in need called L4G (Living for God). “Our mission statement is trust God, be humble and show love,” Mo Peraza told the DuBois County Free Press. Peraza was born in El Salvador and grew up in South Central Los Angeles before moving to small-town Indiana. As a teen, he started selling drugs, which was the “beginning of a downward struggle.” He hung out with the wrong crowd, bounced from job to job, was arrested
August 11, 2018
Reaching Out to the Homeless and Hurting in Hollywood, Florida
God pulled a neighborhood kid with a rough upbringing out of that life into a new one at Hope Church of Christ By Jerry Harris “Jehovah-jireh means, ‘in the mountain it shall be seen.’ You have to climb the mountain first,” says Alvin Daniels, senior minister of Hope Church of Christ in Hollywood, Florida. “It will take power, effort, and strength to get to the top. But once you’re up there, God will provide the vision for which you had to go up there in the first place. You can’t see it from the foot of the mountain.” Daniels wasn’t
November 7, 2017
When You Can See the World from Your BackyardÂ
By James C. Book The church I serve is located near Walt Disney World in Florida. We encounter people from all walks of life””it”s almost like having the United Nations in our backyard! Because of this, we realized we had a golden opportunity to reach people of many different cultures with the love of Jesus. As David Hesselgrave notes in his book Communicating Christ Cross-Culturally, the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) contains a “single imperative” . . . to “make disciples of all nations.” It”s awesome to be able to do that in our own community and to have those folks
August 24, 2017
David Johnson and a Harvest of Reconciliation
By Jerry Harris It was November in Charleston, South Carolina, but for our group of northerners it didn”t feel like late fall on that beautiful and warm Sunday morning. We had arrived early for meetings that would take place over the next two days, and so we took the opportunity to attend church services at Harvest Pointe Church in suburban North Charleston. It would prove to be a new experience for many of us. At that time, Harvest Pointe was a noninstrumental African-American church of Christ, a part of our brotherhood we had very little connection with until the past
July 25, 2016
He”s the Man!
By Errol Schroeder Brendon Paladichuk is a member at Journey Christian Church in Greeley, Colorado. But he hasn”t always been a believer. God did a rewrite of Brendon”s screenplay, and now he”s living out a better story. Brendon grew up in a single-parent home with his mom working four jobs to make ends meet. Brendon went to church but was present only physically. Brendon wanted to be popular, cool, and noticed. Dirty jokes, cussing, fights, and alcohol were all a part of his story. Brendon was the man! One day his life took a major turn. He was in a
Ministry Synergy
By Michael C. Mack Church ministries often find themselves working as silos, fixating on their own specific objectives and depending on their own resources. Imagine what could be achieved for God”s kingdom if different ministries learned to work together to make a difference in their towns, cities, and the world! For the body of Christ to work effectively to carry out Jesus” mission, ministry leaders must first learn to listen to the Head, that is, Christ, as well as to local church leaders who can coordinate teamwork. They must also see themselves as stewards of the ministry; they refer to
April 21, 2016
No Way to Know
By Jennifer Johnson One of the worst things you can say to a stepparent who is trying to deal with the complications and stresses of a blended family is, “You knew about the kids when you got married.” When you say this you are implying, of course, that because we knew these children existed and had spent time with them, we should also have known what it would be like to share a bathroom with them and teach them to drive and enforce deodorant-wearing rules and be the only adult home when they run over a bunny with the lawn
June 13, 2015
The Summer Ministry Cycle
By Michael C. Mack Do you have bicyclists at your church? Invite them to be involved in ministry together. Here are a few ideas: “¢ Many cyclists are already riding for various good causes: diabetes and cancer research, to support the Arthritis Foundation, and many others. Support them financially and with prayer as they train and ride in these events. Sponsor a cycling team that wears jerseys with the church logo. Promote the events to get more people to ride for these causes. Show up and cheer along the course. “¢ Members of Northeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, started
October 10, 2014
Interview with an Actor
By Jonathan Williams “Most people grind it out for years as servers, bartenders, and baristas before they book their first acting gig. I was lucky.” Ben Jeffery is lucky. After moving to New York from Kansas City, Missouri, almost five years ago, he found work in commercials and in TV shows, including Louie. “I mean, I did spend some time working as a barista at Starbucks,” Ben tells me with an affable nod, “but I basically got the chance to live out my dream as an actor right away.” For the past three years, Ben has entertained capacity crowds as
November 3, 2013
Seven Ways Your Small Group Can Celebrate the Incarnation This Holiday Season
By Michael C. Mack Many groups struggle with meeting and studying over the holidays, and this can be detrimental to the health of your group. Not only that, but this is a prime time of the year to help your group members grow in their faith and invite new people. Perhaps your group will take a break from its normal schedule, but that”s no reason to stop meeting. Here are seven ideas for how your small group can get the most””and give the most””from Thanksgiving through New Year”s. 1. Experience Christmas. This is one of the most wonderful times
August 6, 2013
Ministry and Family””They Go Together!
By Mark A. Taylor One of the questions late in our June BlogTalkRadio* program was, “How can a Christian leader get started with a missional approach to ministry?” All three of those interviewed””Jon Ferguson, Greg Nettle, and Jon Weece””agreed with the same principle: “Start by being a model of missional ministry with your own class and your own family.” Weece, especially, took up the family theme. “We”ve reoriented our whole life around serving other people,” he said. “It”s very normal, for example, for our kids to understand this is what we”re going to do on Tuesday nights; we”re going to
June 15, 2013
Grassroots Group Works to “˜Feed the Street”
By Jennifer Johnson It started slowly. Seven years ago, Jeff Wedge, a member at Churchill Meadows Christian Church in Ontario, Canada, wanted to recruit a team to deliver food and other necessities to the homeless. He approached CMCC senior minister Jim Tune about developing the outreach as a ministry of the church. Tune said no. “Hey, we”re totally supportive of feeding hungry people,” Tune says with a smile. “We encouraged Jeff to start his ministry, but as a church we focus on a few major community projects around the holidays.” Today “Feed the Street” reaches hundreds of homeless people throughout
September 11, 2012
Giving It Away
By Darrel Rowland Mounting a successful fund-raising drive is challenging enough for any church, especially in these difficult economic times. But two churches not only carried out smashing one-day giving campaigns earlier this year, they turned around and gave it away””all $176,000 of it. In fact, most of the money went to places not even associated with the church. Leaders of both churches say your congregation should try it, too. Launched in 2005, Forefront Church in Manhattan began an annual giving event called Celebration Generosity in 2009. That first year, members chipped in about $27,000 for various social service organizations
August 12, 2012
Churches Partner to Offer Hope to the Homeless
By Jennifer Taylor Damon Mendel was once homeless and broke, sitting on a street corner in Las Vegas, Nevada. Today he helps lead 249 & Hope, a ministry to the homeless on Texas Highway 249 in Cypress, Texas. Mendel, his wife, Jackie, and Dave Chavez, missions pastor at Cy-Fair Christian Church (also in Cypress), launched the ministry in November 2010. Each Saturday morning volunteers from Cy-Fair and partner church Graceview Baptist meet to load cars with hot food, hygiene kits, new socks, and other donations. The volunteer teams visit eight different street corners each Saturday. “Sometimes we”ll also have sleeping
February 24, 2011
Restoring God”s Hope
By Jonathan Williams The scene was always the same. Every morning at 8:00 Marcus Jackson was at my classroom door with a scowl on his face and a half-eaten bag of red-hot, extra spicy potato chips in his hands. I think the red-hot chips explained why Marcus had a scowl on his face. I could always count on two things each morning. The sun would rise and Marcus Jackson would ask to go to the nurse after finishing his bag of red-hot, extra spicy potato chips. It seemed that his breakfast never agreed with him. After school Marcus wouldn”t go home.
