“He provides food in abundance…”
Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ, our Precious Savior! I pray this letter finds you well and prospering in the LORD! He is good! This is my first newsletter! Sooo excited about sharing with you. My intentions are to send them out every two to three months, just to keep you updated with what YOU are doing!
Second, I want to thank you even more for your prayer support! We feel them! God has been up to some pretty amazing things as a direct result of your prayers. We started this ministry in November, 2009 with four volunteers and 18 people to feed. Now, April, we have approximately 25 volunteers and have grown to 60 or more people to feed!
God is always enough! We have been blessed to provide a hot breakfast every week for more than twenty weeks! Each week, we have at least four casseroles, grits, biscuits, donuts, fruit, and hot coffee for every person there! You do the math! So many times we doubted God’s provision and thought we would be short, but He has ALWAYS reminds us of the fish and the loaves. Sometimes, we even have leftovers that we leave behind. Just a miracle! One of the gentlemen, Mr. Al, who lives there, was telling a new friend about it, “You don’t ever want to miss coming here. The food and people are the best you’ll ever have. They’re here every Saturday.” My heart just melted when my ears overheard him say that! We want that expectation!
People have suggested to me that I should send in letters to companies for donations, but it is my desire to inspire the body of Christ to be the hands and feet of Jesus. In saying that, I’m very proud to give a shout-out to The JOY FM!! We go through more than five to ten gallons of coffee per week. That’s a lot of coffee! The JOY FM (click here) caught wind of our needs and has so graciously and generously committed to supplying us with Certified Organic, Fair-Trade (our heart’s desire) coffee that is literally called “Good Morning Gainesville.” – NICE! Long and short, I am really amazed at our God.
Meet Mr. Ray! He is absolutely one of my favorites. (So many favorites, HA!) He is 59 years old and just now beginning to live life. He is openly falling in love with Jesus! Since we have been coming to the Plaza, Mr. Ray has been there every week! A couple of months ago, he said he wanted to go to church with me, so I picked him up. Since, he has gone every week! One time at the altar, God spoke to him saying, “I want you to love again.” Given that, he has opened his heart even more to others and has even professed hearing God’s voice again saying that he is called to preach! He asked if he could please get some books on God and theology. I LOVE IT!
In July 2009, our wonderful Gainesville was ranked number FIVE meanest to homeless from The National Coalition for the Homeless. We take this very seriously! There are an estimated 1600 known homeless in Gainesville. We only minister to a small portion of those people, but we do it with great anticipation that the LORD is bringing those who need Him most and are ready for the Harvest! Again, we are growing rapidly. We give God so much praise! Wouldn’t it be great if we could not only minister to these amazing people, but one day, have a place they can call their own… a residency. It is only one dream away from being answered! Though we don’t openly preach at the Plaza, there has been tremendous fruit for the Kingdom! Lately, some have been asking a lot of questions about the Bible and making implications toward having a Bible study. Would you please pray for wisdom and Father’s direction in how to go about this?
Spiritually, since beginning this ministry, the LORD has done miraculous things! The total reward is invisible to the eye, but I want to enlighten you to a small portion of the manifested fruit: Three have gone through Breakthrough (A Spirit-filled weekend set apart for God encounters), Three are registered to go in May, Multiple people have gone and go to church regularly (We go to lunch every Sunday after service, too!), Three Salvations, Two rededications, One Spirit baptism, and countless love encounters! Jesus IS Lord! We have been blessed to provide dozens of blankets, sleeping bags, clothes, and shoes, as well as other necessities. To GOD be the glory! He is our vision!
Clearly, the greater fruit is the Salvations, but we sure are having fun downtown! We are building a community of trust and Agape love. We just don’t wish to be a preaching message. We desire koinonia! Often, we hang out just to fellowship with our friends. We have moved from the porch to the living room, if you will. We play cards, dominos, and have even had parties for birthdays, Thanksgiving, and Easter!
As you can see, I could go on forever! I just love what the LORD is doing… but I will stop here. On another note, I want to give another shout-out to the LORDJ – – – –
CONGRATULATIONS TO MY SON, CHRISTOPHER, for finishing strong on his Freshman year at the University of Louisville!!! I AM SO PROUD OF HIM! Man has JESUS been so faithful to restore and redeem our family! Christopher is really discerning the voice of God, and I am well pleased! In church, Christopher heard the still, small voice of God say, “You are my son, and everything is going to be ok.” HALLELUJAH!! (Never doubt or underestimate the power of a praying mother!) See Deuteronomy 30:19-20!!!!
May God bless you, again and again, as you give to the Kingdom of God! Thank you friends and family!
This is great!
Jennifer,
You are such an amazing woman of God. I am so honored to be able to call you Sister. I love you!
I love you, Jen and am so glad to have you in my life! You spur me on in ways NOBODY else does!!! Your passion for God and people demonstrate to all of us that keeping the MAIN thing, the MAIN thing is as easy as a doughnut-and-coffee-conversation in the course of life… When we walk in the light of Christ and shine his light on the lives of others, we are really saying, “Yes, I believe in you, Jesus!” in he purest form!
Thank you, sistah!