Phone call of hope

I just received a phone call from Michael, one of the guys who has been living on the streets in Bellflower for some time. We first met about two months ago when he had just lost his place. He is a great guy, a connector.

He called me to tell me that he is now on general relief and in a hotel while he looks for some work. He asked for prayers. So, church of Bellflower please be in prayer for this friend!

Jeff and Doreen's New Place

Jeff and Doreen, members of the local homeless task force moved into their new place today! It took some time and patience but it paid off as they have moved from homelessness to home-ownership.

If you are interested in helping with this exciting work click here and check out the information on the Homelessness Strategic task force working in Bellflower.

Grateful Hearts -- Los Alamitos Food and Service Provider

My friends Bob and Ron and I went for a visit to Grateful Hearts warehouse today. We toured this extensive warehouse and service facility in Los Alamitos with Darlene one of the faithful volunteers at the site. I was impressed by the openness of this organization to serve people who are in economic hard times from any community in Southern California. I am excited to build a partnership with this organization. Click on the header above for their website. You will find out more about their food distribution times and location. Please help this organization in anyway that you can.

Bellflower Pray-ers Update

Here are a few things that we prayed about this morning at the Bellflower Pray-ers Meeting:

• That God would help his servants in our community to perservere even when it takes some time to see the fruit of our labor. Hebrews 12
• For the Saturday Good News Club that is put on each Saturday at the Child Evangelism Fellowship Office from 11-12 for kids in the area. God please bring more kids!
• Prayer for the homeless in Bellflower. Particularly for "Pat" who the homeless outreach team met last night. He recently lost his mother. Pray for his protection.
• Prayer for more prayer warriors in the Bellflower area.
• Praise for new Homeless outreach parnter Sherri who is a HUGE asset to the team as she has a real heart for connecting with people who are down and out.

If you have a heart for prayer and for our city please join us at the Child Evangelism Fellowship office on Bellflower Blvd just south of Flower St. We pray each Wednesday Morning from 7:30-8:15 am. Contact Teri Larsen at tlarsen@property-taxes.com for more information.

Connecting in Downey -- The Master's Hand

I had a great time of connecting today with Bob Varden a HIGHLY active volunteer from the Masters Hand in Downey. The Masters Hand is a food and clothing bank started by Dave and Kathleen Chappell and supported by several churches in Downey:

• First Baptist Downey
• First Presbyterian Church of Downey
• Downey First Christian Church
• Abundant Hope Church

Wednesday through Friday of each week a team of volunteers provides food and clothing to folks who are in crisis or in financially challenging times. They also work closely with the Southern California Rehabilitation Services an agency that serves the elderly and disabled in the community surrounding Downey with food services, peer counseling, housing coordination, assistive technology and paperwork for government benefits.

I am excited to connect more with this dynamic ministry and see how Kingdom Causes can help support the great work that they are doing!

Homeless Task Force Gets Organized

We had a great meeting this morning with the Homelessness Task Force for the area. This ecumenical team decided to organize the task force into three areas of focus:

1. Mobile Drop-In Center -- This committee is organizing and planning for the creation of a mobile drop in center (RV or Fifth-Wheel Trailer) that could be located at different churches or locations throughout the area. Churches could staff the center when it is at or near thier churches location. Our target start date for use of a trailer is July 12. Keep checking here for updates, or email Aaron Nevarez at artroperiii@hotmail.com for more information.
2. Transitional Housing -- This committe is organizing and planning for the creation of a transitional housing program that would pair up churches with families who are moving from homelessness into trailer homes. Since December of 2004 three churches have helped or are currently helping individuals or families to move into trailers. If you are interested in helping with this program please contact DW Nesper at nesper@primeadvan.com.
3. Central Database -- This emerging committee is working to create an on-line database that will help churches to serve people in chronic need by tracking relational connections, providing contact information for resources that are available, and providing access to a simple tutorial for dealing with people in need with respect and dignity. For information on this committee please email Ryan VerWys at rverwys@kingdomcauses.org

Kingdom Minded Students

I just had a great meeting with some students from Valley Christian School. They are a part of Jeff Westrup's Missions class. Aparently they were given the responsibility to write proposals for missional work locally or elsewhere. Two of the students proposed purchasing a bus and converting it to a Mobile Homeless Center with showers, computers, class rooms etc. What is really amazing about it is that the Homeless task force has been working on a similar idea! What a confirmation that this idea is of God! Let's pray that God continues to move this idea from concept to reality.

New Neighbors Plus Group on the south side of Bellflower

We had a great first meeting tonight with six Christians in the Canehill neighborhood on the south side of Bellflower. The Neighbors Plus idea is a simple grass roots effort to mobilize Christians to serve in thier neighborhoods. During our first meeting with this group we came up with some really good ideas for serving in neighborhood. I am excited to see how God will use this group of servants to transform thier neighborhoods!