CONNECT with People
14 For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
– Galatians 5:13-14 NLT
Do you see what Jesus sees in people or do you only see the negative? Do you offer people grace or do you judge them for their past mistakes? Are you authentic and real about who you are or do you put on a mask and pretend your something you’re not?
For most of my life I always did the latter of these. Then my life became so messy I didn’t want to pretend anymore. What I wanted was to connect with other messy people so I could walk through the mess with someone that had been there. Thanks to God I had 3 people pour into me. Tim H., Mark C. and Mark P. (I withheld their last names to protect their identities as they may not claim me today, lol) Tim H and Mark P would tell me the tough stuff. The stuff I didn’t want to hear but the stuff I needed to hear. I can tell you I didn’t like it at the time but looking back, it was some of the best stuff I could hear because it was God’s TRUTH with love. To balance them out Mark C would give me GRACE, HOPE and COMPASSION.
They took their time to invest in me and built a relationship around trust where I could share my struggles, my passions, and my heart. That’s what we hope Jesus Was Homeless will offer to you as well. It’s about CONNECTING PEOPLE. It’s about building relationships. Not just with the ones we serve but also with the ones that are serving with us. It’s about the opportunity to pay it forward and invest in others.
Our volunteers have logged over 6000 hours of community volunteer time so far this year but it would just be hours served if they weren’t building relationships with one another. One of the things that I love most about what we do is seeing the diversity of the volunteers that come and serve. We have different religious denominations, economic and social classes, nationalities, homeless and those with addictions that come each week and become the church. Side by side they serve others with no agenda other than to show people that they care. It’s the most awesome thing and I get to see it each and every week.
We have to connect as individuals and as a community if we are going to see life change. Are you connecting or are you just letting people (opportunities) pass you by? Come volunteer with us and connect by making meals, serving meals, fixing bikes, visiting a Gateway Gathering, BBQ or other event.
Email us at [email protected]
BIG NEED!!!
Part of our mission is to offer people HOPE out of their present or past life of stress and chaos. We do that by pointing them to God. Without hope or God in their life a person will continue to repeat the very cycle that got them in the position that their in. Without HOPE a person will turn to alcohol, drugs, sex and crime to escape the reality of the life that they are part of. The very definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again yet expecting different results.
To help people take that first step towards God we started what we call our Life Support Discussion Groups. These groups were tremendously successful. These groups are not bible studies but an interactive discussion about how God can transform us and help us in our everyday lives. We saw very good attendance but more importantly we saw lives being changed. We saw the ones being served become servants in our community. We saw the homeless build friendships. We saw hardened hearts become soft. We outgrew the location that these were held in and have been in prayer for a new location.
Our vision for a space includes being able to bring food in to serve a hot meal for the discussion groups as well as hold our Gateway Gatherings on Sunday’s. We need around 1000-1500 square feet and would want to be centrally located to the 76 strip for easy access from the motels that we serve. Church locations don’t work, as we try to reach people that are far from God and most won’t go to church. Unfortunately we are 100% dependent on donations and therefore can not pay much in rent. Do you know anyone that has space that could help? Do you have any ideas?
Please contact Amy at 417-335-0266 or [email protected]
Love Your Neighbors BBQ
People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. So please be our guest and help us show that we care for those struggling, broken, hurting and hungry people that live and work amongst us in our Branson community by attending our final “Love Your Neighbors” BBQ for 2011.
You can bring a dessert item if you would like and share in this free and fun event celebrating the true spirit of “community”. Break down the walls that society has built and experience life with someone that lives on the margins. This will be a great opportunity to build relationships with someone new. There will be food and fun as we cook-out.
We Need Bicycle Volunteers!
to join us on Saturdays from 1-5 pm to help repair or learn to repair bikes for those in need. Without you we can’t help those in our community meet their transportation needs. No bike knowledge is required for this.
If you already know how to fix a bike, then we need your help fixing bikes or mentoring others. We’ve been blessed with lots of bikes that need repairs to give to those in dire need of transportation, but we need people to work on them. If you don’t know how to fix a bike but want to learn, we will have people on hand that can train you on how to make bicycle repairs.
We need youth groups, church groups, men’s groups, women’s groups, bicycle clubs, Boy Scout troops, any group and individuals that can be part of this community wide program. Anyone and everyone are welcome!
Can you volunteer one Saturday a month from 1-5 pm to open the Yellow Bike Shop? Let us know and will plug you in the schedule.
Awakening Branson
We had an awesome group out of Kansas City come down and help us serve meals on a Thursday night. Then that Saturday they collected food and cash and donated it all to us. It was a group of people not from our area “being the church” by serving in our community for God’s kingdom. We were so blessed this year to have all the groups that traveled here from out of town to serve with us.
