4-27-24
We had the most volunteers we’ve had (maybe ever?) and the majority were new faces! Praise God for their willingness to serve, especially on a day that the weather was so bad- it was sleeting/snowing/raining all day, and not a single concern or complaint about it was heard. We had a bit of a slower start but it provided a really sweet time for our volunteers to be able to chat and connect.
The most impactful thing this time was being able to see the hearts of our volunteers so clearly set on building the kingdom. A past volunteer, AJ, who couldn’t make it to the event this time connected us through his company (Arapahoe County FCA) with Panera to collect yesterday’s unsold items… which turned out to be an entire car trunk’s worth of pastries and bread.
We had a couple, Nick and Sarah, who not only joined us for the first time ever, but also volunteered to pick up the donations from Panera super early in the morning before our event, donate supplies ahead of time, and bring Narcan that we, for the very first time, were able to offer to our neighbors experiencing life-threatening drug addiction.
We had a volunteer, Katie, who made 36 servings of lasagna from scratch the night before and early in the morning before the event, which we were able to give out as part of our meal offerings.
We had several other volunteers come for the first time, whether they were brought along by friends or just heard about us randomly. We had incredibly tight quarters for prep, as the apartment was all packed up and ready to be moved out the next day, and everyone just made the most of it.
We had several often-returning volunteers, donate their time and resources to gather supplies before the event so we would be well-prepared for the day-of.
We were also able to spend a slightly more extended time in prayer beforehand, which was a really wonderful gift that we wouldn’t have had if all our prep plans had gone more smoothly. Once again, we all experienced how much we ourselves were blessed by being able to share the love that we have been so freely given to those who don’t often feel the love that they, too, are so freely given.
Some post-outreach prayer requests:
- Ty: believes that God is real but that we are in the midst of Satan’s reign and sees visions of demons calling out to him; pray that the Lord can use these visions he sees to show him who He is and that there is hope in life everlasting with Him.
- Jermaine: pray that he can strengthen his faith in God; he prays every morning and desires relationship with Christ.
- Dustin: pray that he can overcome his drug addiction, and for his sister and her partner to change the trajectory of their life decisions so that they can provide adequate care for their new baby.
- Juan: pray that he has the longing to continue to strengthen his faith in Jesus.
- Tammy: pray for her health, as she just got out of the hospital after almost dying from MRSA and is returning to her family.
- Victoria: pray for her 3 kids to grow in health and wisdom, and for their safety.
- Brittany & Malachi: pray for healing for Brittany’s mom who is sick. Pray for Malachi, who considers himself spiritual but thinks other people need prayer more than him, that he is able to think about what we talked about how prayer is to strengthen relationship and bring him and God closer together. Pray for their safety, as they have recently gotten off the streets but just had their new apartment keys stolen and can't get into their apartment for another few days while the weather is bad.
- Rashad: pray for peace and healing, as he is going through drug withdrawal.
- Curtis: pray for protection over his life.
- Joseph: pray for his son who just got out of jail and is already getting in trouble again, for direction and conviction in his life.
- Harold: pray for him to be drawn to Christ through personal experience and relationship with Him, as he doesn’t believe in Jesus.
- Lilly: pray that she is able to stay safe as she travels from Kansas to Idaho to visit her grandma.
- Michelle: pray that she is able to find shelter and safety.
- Alexander & Nieves: pray for provision for a place to live as they are migrants and don’t have a permanent residence.
- Kervin: pray that he is able to find work.
Our neighbors that didn’t have specific prayer requests, but that we’d like to pray for anyway:
- Anthony
- Victoria
- Josie
- Marty
