Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Monthly Update - November 2017

Making a difference update, from the recovery field – November 2017 edition…

Below are some bullet points of the highlights that happened in the Life Issues ministry over the last month:
· We paid for a student’s phone bill on 11-6.
· We helped to give a homeless pregnant woman a coat on 11-10.
· One of our students accepted Christ on 11-10, while incarcerated, see testimony below!!!
· We helped single mom of 3 with her electric bill on 11-13 (it was off for over 2 weeks).
· Helped give car to a student on 11-21! One of our leadership couples had a nice used car that they did not need any more and wished to donate it to someone, so we pointed them to a faithful student who was in desperate need of a ride to work, church, etc. This was one of the highlights to my year to be able to see this need met through our ministry; this man has cried more than once with tears of thanksgiving for this gift, hallelujah!
· We gave a student a week’s stay at a motel on 11-21 to help him through a financial valley.
· One of our students is on lesson # 8 of 9, hoping to complete our program early next year, and 2 other students are just starting our program!
· Mark and Laura will be heading up Angel Tree efforts for incarcerated moms, 5-6 ladies (12-14 kids)
· Jim’s mom died on 11-24. Jim performed the funeral service and got to lead two of his brothers to Christ afterwards!!! 2 days later, a lady who works with his brother (who was also at the memorial service), called Jim and wanted him to help her be saved too, so he did and she was saved too!
· One of our student who has been struggling, got into a rehab facility on 11-27
· Six (6) of our leaders attended a PTSD workshop @ HBF on 12-2, and received a free book, it was great training!


This testimony is from one of our students’ who is incarcerated…
I want to say “Thank You” for showing me the life I could have, away from the drugs and evil and sin! Life Issues and HBF has already had so much of an influence in my life and I can’t wait for the many more Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. I came across a verse that I read every day and sometimes more than once a day, 1 Corinthians 13:11, which says, “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” To me, “childish things” means drugs, lust, hate, anger, lying, deceit, pride, and basically everything I used to be or everything that used to fill my heart and mind. I’m ready to be “a man” and fill my heart and mind with joy, happiness, truth, hope, love, faith, forgiveness, and life my life the way God wants me to! That old me is dead and gone away as of November 10, 2017, PTL!
Now, leading up to my salvation, I was spiraling out of control, doing a lot of drugs, because they were free; but trying to hide it from my girlfriend, my relatives, and in denial with myself, saying that if no one knows it’s ok! Then the night at Mazzio’s happened (Final Friday of October / 10-27); I don’t know why, but listening to Scott s testimony really really hit home with me! I was intrigued plus at the end of it, he walked straight up to me and gave me his number; I took that as a sign from God. So the next day (10-28), I called into work and attended HBF’s Harvest Party with my girlfriend and her boys and seen how much fun I could have without all the sin. Then, I came to HBF on Sunday and I attended my first church session in a lot of years, but the first one ever on the streets that I willingly went to.
Then Cass County put a warrant out for my arrest on November 1st, and I was picked up on the 2nd. I started to do right and get interested, and then I was brought into Cass County Jail and on the border of losing my girlfriend and her boys, and was faced with the fear of dyeing alone with a hardened heart. My girlfriend is a Christian and she begged me to open my heart and find a relationship with God, and I’ve heard her brother’s testimony and of course Scott’s. Plus having Steve and Pat and Jim always inviting me to meetings and everyone at the Harvest Part showing me a different way. Then, everyone at church being so open and welcoming, I finally felt the need to soften my heart and let my Lord and Saviour take control of my life.
I decided if I wanted to change I needed God; I needed to realize what Jesus Christ did on that cross for me! So, on November 10th, 2017, with another inmate to guide me through the plan of salvation, I literally cried to Jesus and begged him for forgiveness and asked him into my life and instantly after that prayer, I was relieved, but most of all, I was hungry and thirsty! Not for food or water, no, I have been hungry and thirsty and have not been able to read or hear enough of his word, every verse and every chapter draw me more deeply in love with him and I love it. My life has honestly hands down, has never been better. I’m a lot happier of a person and day by day I find myself becoming a better person. I’m finding myself doing the right things because I want to, not because I have to. My relationship with my girlfriend has never been better, and an all-around better life! Chris

Sincerely, Steve Fleshman – Life Issues pastor and founder, Proverbs 4:23…


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