Take me to see Jesus

by Robert Odom

excerpt from the Love INC National Newsletter Fall 2009

At the Love INC National Directors Retreat in April, Sister Josephe Marie Flynn shared a story about a class of high school seniors that she was teaching. She had posed the following question to her students, “If I asked you to take me to see Jesus, where would you take me?” One young man, the rowdiest, biggest troublemaker, answered, “I can take you to see Jesus.” Sister Josephe said. “Where?” He said, “I can take you to see my mom. Something happened to her and she’s totally changed. It’s like Jesus is living inside her.” Sister Josephe shared that not long after, she started to see a difference in that young man. His life was changing because he could see Jesus in his mom.

I’ve thought a lot about Josephe’s question. There are more than 37 million poor men, women and children in our country. Can they see Jesus through us, His Church? In their isolation, can they see the community of the Body of Christ?

As large and daunting as the challenge of poverty in America is, there is nothing bigger than God and His Church. God promised that He wouldn’t give us more than we can handle. But to assist in realizing that promise, that we can meet the challenge of poverty, we have to live as Christ did. Even Webster’s Dictionary defines “Christian” as “manifesting the qualities of the spirit of Jesus; showing a loving concern for others; one who lives according to the teachings of Jesus.” We have a responsibility as Christians to live in such a way that people can see Christ in us. And for us to look like Christ, we have to do like Christ. When we do like Christ, we can make a difference on behalf of the poor. We become the light in their darkness.

No one should ever have to ask us to take them to see Jesus, because they should see Jesus in us. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Light. On behalf of the poor, America needs to see the light of Jesus shining from His Church, the Body of Christ, now more than ever. And the poor should be exiting poverty in record numbers because when we do like Christ, we create ways for the poor to break free of their isolation and confinement.

October Angel Food Menu

Host Sites:

Christ’s Harbor Church
We Accept Food Stamps (EBT).

Angel Food Ministries is an equal opportunity provider and employer. Complaints of discrimination should be sent to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights,
Washington, DC 20250-9410

Angel Food Ministries Reserves the Right to Substitute Any of the
Above Items Due to Availability, Cost and Quality
Ordering and Pickup Information – Laguna Vista, Texas
Deadline Ordering: Sunday – 10/12/09 11:59 PM Local Time
Distribution Date: Saturday – 10/24/09 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM Local Time

Pickup Location:

Christ’s Harbor Church
1154 Santa Isabel Blvd
Laguna Vista, Texas 78578

Pickup Time:
10:00 am - 12:00 pm

We look forward to seeing you!!!

VERY IMPORTANT! BRING YOUR OWN BOX!
BOXES NOT PROVIDED!!!

Please go to the following locations to order:
Christ’s Harbor Church
1441 Santa Isabel Blvd.
Laguna Vista, TX
943-5595

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Reyes Seafood Restaurant
We Accept Food Stamps (EBT).

Angel Food Ministries is an equal opportunity provider and employer. Complaints of discrimination should be sent to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights,
Washington, DC 20250-9410

Angel Food Ministries Reserves the Right to Substitute Any of the
Above Items Due to Availability, Cost and Quality
Ordering and Pickup Information – Laguna Heights, Texas
Deadline Ordering: Saturday – 10/10/09
Distribution Date: Saturday – 10/24/09

Pickup Location:

Reyes Seafood Restaurant
716 Hwy 100
Laguna Heights, Texas

Pickup Time:
After 12:00 pm

We look forward to seeing you!!!

VERY IMPORTANT! BRING YOUR OWN BOX!
BOXES NOT PROVIDED!!!

Please go to the following locations to order:
Reyes Seafood Restaurant
716 Hwy 100
Laguna Heights, TX 78578
943-9551

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Living Bread Ministries

We Accept Food Stamps (EBT).

Angel Food Ministries is an equal opportunity provider and employer. Complaints of discrimination should be sent to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights,
Washington, DC 20250-9410

Angel Food Ministries Reserves the Right to Substitute Any of the
Above Items Due to Availability, Cost and Quality
Ordering and Pickup Information - Brownsville, Texas

Deadline Online Ordering Sunday – 10/15/09 12:00 PM Eastern Time
Deadline Ordering: Monday – 10/12/09 05:00 PM Local Time
Distribution Date: Saturday – 10/24/09 09:30 AM – 11:00 AM Local Time

Pickup Location:

Faith Church
1154 Los Ebanos Blvd.
Brownsville, Texas 78520
(Corner of Los Ebanos and Barnard)
Pickup Time:
9:30am - 11:00am

We look forward to seeing you!!!

VERY IMPORTANT! BRING YOUR OWN BOX! BOXES ARE NOT PROVIDED!!!
Due to a number of bad checks –
personal checks are no longer accepted

Please go to the following locations to order:
Excell Auto Services - 1604 E. 7th St. - during normal working hours
Mr. James Brown's home - 4743 Las Palomas St. (off Alton Gloor Rd.)
PLEASE call before coming: 544-6868 or 455-3277

Online menu is now directly maintained by Angel Food Ministries in Georgia.

To view the menu or place your order online, go to:
http://www.angelfoodministries.com/host.asp?id=5314
then scroll down and click THE button labeled "ORDER ONLINE"

Needs List

Special thanks to all Love INC supporters for assistance in meeting the needs of families this past month. We apologize for taking so long in getting this to you, but we sure could use someone in the office to help put this list together – please pray for office volunteers. Please announce the needs listed below to your congregation, put in your bulletin, post on your bulletin board or display electronically prior to your services. As always - thank you, thank you, and thank you for all you do!!

Please call the Love INC office @ 233-1844 if you can help with any of the following needs. Please reference the 5 digit number listed at the end of each request/need. Also, please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions you may have or if more information is needed.

· Beds – migrant family with 6 children back down and are in need of a beds – full size and a couple of twins. (Valley Baptist Hospital-Brownsville area) [06A09]

· Work - single woman recently moved back to the area and looking for work in the Brownsville-area. (06C09)

· Table & chairs, drawer – family with 3 children just moved into an apartment from a small trailer. (Los Fresnos) [06G09]

· Wheelchair – dad (wife & 2 children) released from hospital after an injury. Unable to work for a while and not enough money to purchase a wheelchair. (Martin Elementary area) [07A09]

· Dresser, nightstand, lamp-disabled veteran on limited income recently moved to the area for the warmer climate. (Olmito-area) [07C09)

· Beds, table & chairs – family recently relocated from Florida. Full-size bed donated, still need some twin size beds. (by Brownsville airport) [07H09]

· Wheelchair – bone cancer patient on limited income. (Central Ave & Austin Rd) [07I09]

· Ceiling fan – elderly lady in need of a ceiling fan. (Pt Isabel) [08A09]

· Beds; couch, table & chairs; dresser – formerly homeless mom with 3 children who left an abusive, domestic situation in need of at least 2 full size beds; table, chairs and perhaps a dresser. (International Blvd & 16^th St, Brownsville) [09A09]

· Night stands; lamp; dresser – disabled vet moved to the area for the warm weather. (lamp – pending) {Olmito} [09C09]

· Beds; table & chairs – formerly homeless family on limited income with 2 children in need of beds (a full size and a couple of twins or even some air mattresses). (downtown Brownsville) [09D09]

· Work – 2 single moms looking for any type of work to help support their families. (one lives near International Blvd & Roosevelt and the other near the Brownsville Public Library) [09E09 & 09F09]

Please call the Love INC office @ 233-1844 if you can help with any of the needs listed above. Please reference the 5 digit number listed at the end of each request/need. Also, please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions you may have or if more information is needed.

Please pray for:

- The above listed clients. Pray that they will develop a desire to know more about the Lord.

- Office Volunteers to update the needs list, file folders, answer the phone, etc.

- The Love INC Board members, staff, volunteers and their families. Pray that God would bless them and give them wisdom and insight. Pray also that God would protect them and their families from the attacks of the enemy as they strive to make a difference for Christ.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Thank you for your continued prayers and support of

Love In the Name of Christ!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Check out Love INC on the web

www.loveincsecameroncty.blogspot.com

www.facebook.com/pages/Los-Fresnos-TX/Love-In-the-Name-of-Christ/94945535085

Follow us on twitter: www.twitter.com/loveinc

please do this for us

As you know, the ongoing dire economic situation is affecting everyone. Just this week a supporter who has donated $200.00 a month to Love In the Name of Christ had to contact us to let us know that they can no longer afford to support us due to their financial situation. We understand that and empathize with their situation. So we have to continue to be creative in raising the funds needed to carry on this important ministry. Goodsearch.com and Goodshop.com are internet search engines that donate about a penny for every websearch you make in our name and up to 15% of all the online shopping you do. Before, when we told you about this, you had to make Goodsearch your home page or go to it each time you searched in order for us to be credited. Now, they've made a great toolbar that can be accessed from any site your on and just takes a minute to download.

Right now, we have less than 20 of you who do this and we are raising an average of $120.00 a year from your searches. That's helpful, but so far from the potential of what could come from this cost free source of support! If all 183 who are on our e-mailing list would do this and make just two searches a day, we'd receive about $1317.60 a year and that doesn't even include any funds coming from shopping on line through Goodshop - and it won't cost any of you a penny!

PLEASE DO THIS FOR US AND SUPPORT THIS MINISTRY IN SUCH A SIMPLE AND COST-FREE WAY! Here's how:

This software, which takes just a minute to install, allows you to support your favorite cause even if you forget to go to our site first! This is a real game changer in both the ease of using our site and amount of money your cause can earn.

Here's how it works...

1. Download the toolbar at http://www.goodsearch.com/toolbar/

2. Search the web directly from the built-in search box. Each search generates a donation (about a penny per search) for your cause!

3. Shop online as you normally would at any of our 1,300+ participating stores including Gap, PetSmart, Dell, and Staples. When you're at the store's website, our toolbar will automatically light up displaying the percentage donated and any available coupons. With our new toolbar, your purchases will generate donations even if you forget to start your shopping at GoodShop!

When you download the toolbar, make sure you type in and set "Love in the Name of Christ - Brownsville" as your charity of choice. Once you do that and verify it, it will automatically be set. (You will have to re-enter us if your browser deletes cookies automatically you close it).

Thank you for partnering with us in this way!

God bless!

American Youth Tune Out Media, Tune In to God

There is a time for everything...a time to be silent and a time to speak."
Ecclesiastes 3:1a, 7b

These days, you would be hard pressed to find a teenager who doesn’t own a video game console, television, a cell phone, iPod (mp3 player), or personal computer. It seems that America’s teenage population is defined by fast-paced entertainment, a continual need for electronic connectedness, and a boredom for things not associated as the newest, fastest, or most popular. Add to this the western notion of individualism and the result is a generation who may be “connected,” but in reality are not experiencing God’s communal, loving, sacrificial kingdom.

But this country’s Christian youth are demonstrating something different.

From coast to coast, our nation saw thousands of teenagers sacrifice their comforts for the sake of others this past year, By fasting from all electronic entertainment, these teens were able to slow down from life’s many distractions an discover God’s heart for their neighbors in need. This Media Fast is a program of The Sound Off for Poverty, Love INC’s vehicle to engage youth to take action against poverty in our nation.

While participating in the Media Fast, teens abstain from using all forms of electronic entertainment – such as video games, music, television, cell phones and the Internet – for a specific period of time. Most teens participate with their church youth group and together they use the fasting time for Bible lessons, group activities, and community service projects. Teens also raise financial support for their fast from family and friends, and all funds are used to help those in need through Love In the Name of Christ.

Please contact the Love INC office if you would like more information.

Building Skills for Life

“We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach.”

Romans 12:6-7 (NIV)

When we read in Scripture that we are to share what we have with those in need, oftentimes we think about material resources such as food, clothing, and finances. But another valuable resource we can give is the gift of knowledge. When people share their skills, experience, and abilities, so that others can learn how to improve their situation, these gifts can be passed down from generation to generation.

Sometimes a person’s challenges are a result of never having had the opportunity to learn essential skills that others simply take for granted, such as how to manage money, interview for a job, or set appropriate boundaries for their children. Equipping people to problem-solve their challenges can help them create sustainable changes in their lives.

What’s more, some people have never had the opportunity to develop life skills from a Biblical perspective. Understanding how to use one’s abilities in alignment with God’s will and His principles is key to enjoying a fruitful life.

Love INC affiliates across the country offer a variety of skill-building opportunities for people in need through one-on-one teaching and group classes. These educational opportunities provide information and training through hands-on, interactive learning where participants can reflect on what they’ve learned, practice new skills, and applu Biblical principles to their lives. Love INC affiliates are teaching skills such as:

v Money management

v Parenting

v Employment readiness and job skills

v Computer skills

v GED test preparation

v English language education

v Auto maintenance and repair

v Home maintenance repair

v Nutrition and cooking

v Healthy marriage relationships

v Stress or anger management

v Setting boundaries

v Conflict resolution

v Addiction recovery

One of the most common life skills training that Love INC offers is money management. Consider these facts:

Ø Seventy percent of all consumers live paycheck to paycheck, meaning they run out of money before the end of each month

Ø Ninety-two percent of U.S. family disposable income is spent on paying debt.

Ø Between 1989 and 2006, America’s total credit card charges increased from about $69 billion a year to more than $1.8 trillion.

Ø Nearly half of all Americans have less than $10,000 saved for their retirement.

Ø Thirty-seven percent of marital problems derive from financial situations.

from the Love INC National Newsletter - Spring 2009

Prayer

We are so thankful to all who showed up for prayer yesterday at St. Paul's. This is only the beginning. We hope to make this a quarterly event.