Living on Mission

Food Pantry Newsletter

How many nights a week do you hear or even ask yourself, "What are we going to have for dinner?" Imagine hearing that question and not really knowing what you are going to have for dinner because your cabinet is empty. More and more people each day in one of the richest counties around are facing that situation. Our pantry saw 99 families this past Thursday. The biggest family which had 11 people living under 1 roof, told us Thursday that they took in 2 more people that had nowhere to go. Wow! I am honestly not sure if I could live in that type of situation but if you have no choice you do what you have to do. We continue to see new families each week. There were 6 new families this week. On Tuesday 9 people came out to stock and on Thursday 53 volunteers assisted guests.

Our needs this week include healthy cereals, oatmeal, cake and brownie mix, canned meat, boxed dinners, dry beans, rice, sugar, flour, boxed potatoes, and toilet paper and diapers.

There is an awesome opportunity that your family can enjoy. David Crowder will be performing a FREE concert, made possible by a donating a bag of groceries per ticket. Food donations will be accepted for tickets TOMORROW at Northview Church Lobby, 12900 Hazeldell Pkwy, Carmel from noon to 9pm. The concert is Friday, February 3 at 7pm. Only 2200 tickets are available. The food collected will be distributed to local food pantries. This is part of the "Souper Bowl Extravaganza."

God's Mission in This World

Read this article in Outreach Magazine today and came across this powerful statement:

"The forces that oppose the kingdom of God in this world are not nearly as afraid of pastors as much as they are the notion of every Christ follower simply embodying and contextualizing the mission of Jesus in their lives"

Can you imagine what the local church would look like and the lives that would be changed for eternity if we all took this seriously and lived it out in an environment that God has specifically placed us to share the Gospel? Where is your mission field today?

National Human Trafficking Awareness Day | January 11th

Learn more about the millions of women and children who are living in slavery today at http://www.notforsalecampaign.org/ and please join us in prayer this Wednesday, January 11th for their freedom!

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice." - Proverbs 31:8-9, NLT

Food Pantry Newsletter

What a wonderful weekend, is this really January? We have to enjoy it because I am sure the snow is coming. We had 121 families last Thursday including 3 new families. They were assisted by 51 volunteers and 18 that helped stock on Tuesday.  It doesn't take long to figure out that our volunteers love what they do. Guests are hugged, loved on and prayed with. For many, the pantry may be the only Jesus that they come into contact with all week. If you are interested in volunteering please contact Deb Diaz or Kim DeMasie.

We are in need of cereal, sugar, flour, pancake mix and syrup, pop-tarts, oatmeal, juices and snacks, cake and brownie mixes.  I was at Meijer in Noblesville today and they still have our food pantry listed for gift cards that they will match a portion of.  We also need paper bags and plastic bags.  We were fortunate enough to receive a lot of canned goods during Thanksgiving and Christmas but our donations are starting to fall off so we really need your help. Please remember someone in our community is in need of your kindness.

Food pantry newsletter

Another 131 families came to our pantry last night in need of food including 11 new families. They were helped by 46 smiling volunteers. Another 27 volunteers helped stock on Tuesday. Children were greeted at the door with a stocking full of treats. With school out for the next 2 weeks families are in even more of a need to get help from our pantry.

Our needs this week include cereal, pop-tarts, oatmeal, pancake mix and syrup, cake and brownie mixes, juices and snacks. We always need paper bags and plastic bags. We have plenty of soap bottles at this time.

We have seen our numbers continue to increase throughout 2011 with 130 families becoming our average. That is a ton of groceries going out each week. We are not seeing things get any better anytime soon. Please consider putting a few things in a bag and bringing it with you to Christmas Eve services or Christmas service this weekend. 

 

Merry Christmas!

Leadership Training

Today (Friday, 12/9) was an excellent day of training. We had about equal numbers of men and women leaders - more than 80 all together. There were leaders from Costa Rica including a leader from a very remote Indian tribe. In addition there were a few of the Indian leaders from various parts of the provinces of Chiriqui and Bocas de Toro and the Latino pastors of Panama. Everyone really enjoyed their time of study and being together. One lady wrote "This training event has been like receiving a Christmas gift for the Lord. I just wish it was longer." Some who traveled more than six hours to attend said they thought it was very much worth the effort they had made to come. It is humbling to be with these leaders who give so much in their areas of ministry. Pray with us that they will go back home encouraged. Tomorrow is another full day of training with the Mountain Indian Pastors followed by a church service. We are looking forward to it even though we are very tired.

Playa Caimito

This week our Panama Teaching Team stopped by the village of Playa Caimito. This is the village where one of our WRCC teams built four houses in four days this summer. The people are doing well. Life is changing for them. We were able to pray with some of them. Here are some pictures of our friends and a couple of our pastors.

Site of Rice Project

On Wednesday (12/7) we went to the island where the new rice project will be located. The land in the picture has been donated to the mission by the Indian Tribe. Construction will begin in January with the foundation and roof. In Febuary our team from WRCC will continue with the construction. The rice hulling equipment should be delivered in February. This will be a great leap forward for the agricultural work among the island Indians. Currently all of the rice they are growing must be hulled by hand or taken across the bay to be commercially processed.

Pastors & Wives Arrive in Panama

"Panama Teaching Team arrived Monday. We are on our way to island Indian villages." Just received this message via email from our Global Expansion Pastor, Dan Crosley. He, along with Phil Heller, Tim Brock, and their wives left early Monday morning on a mission trip to teach & train leaders in the country of Panama. Please keep our team in your prayers as they travel across the water to the islands, where WRCC has served in years past. Thank you and God bless.

"Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world" - Jesus, John 17:18, NLT

Food Pantry Newsletter

Another busy night at the pantry with 150 families including 18 new families. They were assisted by 34 volunteers and 17 volunteers on Tuesday that helped stock. It is disheartening to see so many new families coming through our doors sheepishly looking for assistance. We pray for a change in the economy to help lift the burden to these families.

We are well stocked at this time on canned goods due to several local food drives. Our main needs include cereal, (which can be found at Kroger for $1.99 a box) oatmeal, pancake mix and syrup, sugar, flour, juices, boxed dinners, pasta and pasta sauce and snacks (which include chips, cookies, boxed cakes)

Meijer is selling "Simply Give" cards for $10. The $10 and a portion from Meijer is given to the pantry. Please consider buying a couple of cards at the register to help another familiy this Christmas. This will be benefiting our pantry through the end of the year. We would like to thank Kroger for recently sending us a check for over $500 from their "Feed the Hungry" program. We are also grateful to Marsh for all of their donations and breads and sweets that we receive weekly.

Thanks to everyone that decorated the trees at the pantry and put up decorations. It looks beautiful for our families to enjoy. We also want to thank all of the high school students that come help us after school. You are awesome for being so unselfish with your time and showing others the hands and feet of Jesus.