We have set the date of Monday, January 2 as the opening of the Transition House/180 Ministry. We are now in the final stage of putting in order all the items that have been donated over the last year. And it is a lot, thank you Jesus.
Here is the biggest need at the moment. We need 5 teams with two or three people on each team to “adopt” one of the bed rooms/bathrooms and get it ready to live in. We think each room has all it needs but really, we do not know. There is sooooo much stuff that it is a little overwhelming. If each team of 2 or 3 would go in, arrange, fluff up, make a final inventory of what is needed, that would be fantastic. Our goal is to have absolutely everything ready by Christmas day.
This could easily be a family project, a Sunday School Class project, a civic group, just about anyone. You would be working with Marsha Cline, the director of the Transition House. We will try to have an open house on New Years Day for the Church family and community. Please keep this in your prayers. The need for a transition house was identified by Charleston Outreach and other Community services as a number one priority need in our community. JIBC will be the “experiment model” for how this ministry can be done. It feels like a God thing to me. It is far too big, we have no funding to speak of, while the need is great. If God does not show up, it will not work. I believe it will work, lives will be changed, and this ministry will bring Him glory. One of my favorite stories is David and Goliath. David’s brothers warned him that Goliath was too big to hit. David assured them that Goliath was too big to miss with God’s help. He then picked up the stone and killed the giant. Jesus is our stone, our rock. The needs of these women are too big not to make some kind of difference. I don’t know of many other churches I would trust as much as JIBC to be given the assignment of helping hurting people recover. I love the big ones!
See you Sunday, Pastor Tom
