Thank You Cornerstone Fellowship
I’d like to thank Cornerstone Fellowship, in Livermore California, for supporting our organization. This past year has been particularly difficult in terms of getting support, so their gift is particularly welcome. Cornerstone is our home church, so it’s also a welcome affirmation of our our work. As you may know, Cornerstone Fellowship has mission outreaches in many parts of the world, including Columbia, Ecuador, Ghana, India, and Mexico. They also have a local outreach called “Serve the City”, which supports their local Livermore California community. Thanks again Cornerstone! - Charlie
The Holidays
Wow! Things are really tough out there this year. There is so much competition for donations, for both goods and cash. Almost every day you read in the newspapers about charities needing donations, or charities doing wonderful things for their cause, but for smaller organizations like ours, the going is tough. We are not nearly as well organized as many of the larger charities, nor are we able to mount large campaigns. But you know, it’s even tougher on the clients who come to us asking for help. We would like to be able to help more, but our resources are limited. If you are able to help, a donation of even $10 or $25 dollars can make a difference, or donate non-perishable food items (see our website for details). If you are like most people, you probably have a few extra cans of food in your pantry. Donations of food add up quickly, and before long they add up to a box of food sufficient to feed a family of 4 for a few days. If you are not able to help, we ask for your prayers for our ministry.
Holiday Food Drive
We’re starting our holiday food drive. We want to collect enough food to provide 25 boxes of food for needy families. There is a specific list of the non-perishable items listed on our Care 4 My Lambs website at www.care4mylambs.org. It’s no surprise that there is more need this year, as the unemployment rate continues to rise. If you live in the Tri-Valley area, and can spare some extra grocery items for those in need, please contact us using this contact form. We really need your help this year, more than ever.
Divine Meetings
I attended a men’s retreat at Redwood Christian Park in Boulder Creek, California this past weekend, with my home church Cornerstone Fellowship. I haven’t gone to many of these, but I always go with an open mind looking for God’s direction. Men are a strange bunch. Most are challenged with in comes to being in touch with their feminine side, so it’s no surprise that part of the focus of this retreat was relationships with women. This is a topic on which Ted Cunningham, their guest speaker, excels. Over the course of the three days, God put me in touch with three people. The first was a man in crisis; his wife had lost her job, and he was struggling to feed his wife 11 year old child. The other two I can’t really discuss for personal and confidentially reasons. The bottom line however is that God put me in touch with these special people for His purposes, and I will do my best to understand and follow His guidance, praying at each step of the way. What I find most interesting is how God orchestrates these meetings, these divine meetings, and the thing that I love the most is that you never know who is supposed to help who. Most of the time each of us benefits. What an awesome Lord we have.
Difficult Times
These are difficult times, no only for those in need but also for the agencies trying to help those in need. As we seek donations, we find that most of our sources have many more requests this year than last, and the sources themselves have less funding than in previous years. The end result is that it’s harder this year than in other years to obtain support. There just isn’t as much money to go around, and unfortunately there are more requests for help in these difficult times. This can be a bit discouraging, but we continue to seek God’s guidance and we know that he will provide what we need when we need it. I want to thank all of you who are providing support to Care 4 My Lambs. I ask for your continued prayers for our work. Know that we seek God’s guidance in all we do, and it is only through Him that we accomplish anything at all.
Thank You Safeway
We want to thank the Safeway Foundation for their generous donation to our organization. Particularly in today’s economy, it’s refreshing to know that local businesses are continuing to support charitable organizations. Safeway, headquartered in Pleasanton California, is one of the larger philanthropic organizations in our local community. Thanks again Safeway.
Living Our Ministry
Wow, the Lord has called on us to do some things that are definitely out of our comfort zone. We’ve been letting two young adults stay at our house, one 18 and the other 20. This, in addition to our 18 and 20 year old children who are also living at home, has given us a house full. What a difference two more kids makes. It’s been a learning experience for us all, and very trying for Mary Jo and I. The blessings in this obvious for the two kids, one of whom moved on already (after two weeks), and got a job within a few days of moving out. But the blessings are not so obvious for our children, and for Mary Jo and me. We’ve had to structure things a bit differently, setting quiet times and visiting hours, otherwise it’s like we’re having company every night. Also, we’ve had to make house rules to get everyone (including our kids) to pick up after themselves a lot better. A few dishes in the sink were not so bothersome before, but now with 4 young adults, plus their friends dropping by all the time, the clutter and mess can get out of hand quickly - to say nothing of the food bill and keeping the refrigerator stocked. I thank the Lord for providing us with this opportunity to make a difference in the lives of two young adults, and for the learning experience for us and our children.
New Non-Profit!
For those of you who were previous supporters of BasicNecessities.org, it was time a change for me. Although BasicNecessities served somewhat similar purposes, after much prayerful consideration, I felt that it was necessary to resign as Director from BasicNecessities and start a new charitable organization. Although similar in charter, Care 4 My Lambs Inc. has some fundamental differences. First, we have Christian Board of Directors. I felt this was necessary to ensure that we always put our client’s needs first, and to follow the guidance of the Lord in all the things that we do. Second, we are focusing more of our energy towards helping individuals help themselves, for example by providing small business or educational grants. And thirdly, we are focusing more on international outreach areas.
For me, the best news is that I have formed this new organization with my wife Mary Jo. She and I have wanted to do ministry together for some time, and I believe that God created this opportunity for us so that we could begin a ministry together. As directors, we’re still seeking God’s guidance for our ministry, but we have set up some initial programs that you can read about in the attached literature or on our website www.care4mylambs.org. A couple of our programs, notably Belize and Mexico mission support, were transitioned from BasicNecessities, in order to maintain these efforts in accordance with their original intent and without charging for the service as some organization’s do. Note that our ministry knows no religious boundaries. That is, we will help anyone who needs help, regardless of their religious beliefs, without any strings attached. Our vision is “Caring for God’s children as he commands us to do”.
Care 4 My Lambs, Inc. is a 501(c)3 public charity recognized by the Internal Revenue Service, and qualified to grant receipts for tax-deductible donations, Tax ID 26-4535272.
Supporters of Mission Belize
I want to thank all of you who provide continued support to the Belize Mission founded by Julia R. Your support and unfailing faith are uplifting in these turbulent economic times. Due to privacy concerns, I won’t list their names here, but there are several individual donors, plus San De Fuca Community Chapel in Coupeville, WA. Here is a recent picture of the children who visit Da Wata Fountin’ Christian outreach center in Punta Gorda, Belize. Our prayers for the children is that their hearts and minds will be changed and they will start to assist in Da Wata Fountin’s efforts to reach those on the street and others for Jesus Christ. Gideon and Maylin, who run Da Wata Fountin’, are so grateful for how the Lord has gone before them to bless their efforts. - Charlie
Not Sure Where This Is Headed
I’m not sure where God is leading my wife and I this time. My 18 year old son has a large group of friends, and most of them are what you would call ”fringe” kids. They are good kids, very respectful, but somewhere in their background there is a broken home, or parents who lack even the resources to send them to junior college, or maybe they have parents who don’t care - we don’t know the whole story, only one side of it. One teen doesn’t have a place to live, that’s the one we took in temporarily. Another’s mother is moving out of town, not sure where she’s headed, possibly leaving the son behind. For the moment, we’re offering to pay this one’s tuition at the local junior college. We’re asking God what he wants us to do in this situation. Funny, I was expecting to have a quieter house as my kids became of college age, but now it seems we have a house full of teenagers every night. Sometimes when I leave for work in the morning there are two or three kids sleeping on the floor in our living room. I guess the good news is that they’re in our house, instead of out drinking or smoking somewhere, or doing worse. Pray for guidance and strength for us.
