Love Stories

Ever wonder why we call them Love Stories?

Periodically, we publish stories of Love INC clients and call them Love Stories. Someone asked why we called them that, when that name could so easily be misunderstood. You could see that the person was thinking in terms of Love Story magazines, etc.

The answer is easy. It is because Love Stories is exactly what they are --- but stories of the only kind of true and lasting Love there is --- the Love of Jesus, shown from Him to us and then through us to others.

The following is a Love Story:

Shared by Preston - a Love INC supporter:

I hope your Christmas was full of joy and Blessings, ours was. My wife and I visited with family (09K09) on Christmas Eve. This family has 9 children and they are waiting for beds that are to be donated by the Coast Guard. We delivered some clothes, food, toys, and some butane for the stove. This is absolutely a beautiful family. They would be happy with a couple of mattresses thrown on the floor for the kids to sleep on. They could also use some socks and underwear, and more clothing for the boys. Probably some school supplies as well. My brother donated some blankets to them. The children were very happy with our meager donations, and they were all smiling when we left.

So far we have supplied the family with a good used stove and refrigerator. My daughter suggested I contact her school for help for clothes. In an e-mail conversation I was having with Mrs. Londrie, the principle at Olmito Elementary, I mentioned that there was a family of 12 in need of clothing. Mrs. Londrie then grabbed the reins and took off with it. She is the one who organized the drive for the clothes. She got the kiddies and parents sizes that they wear, had flyers printed out, and passed them out to the school children to take home. About 12 huge bags of clothes were donated by Olmito Elementary, along with some hygiene and toiletry products.

I am teaching the older boys how to use hand tools, and they have repaired some of the flooring in the home. We could use some lumber donations, mostly 2x4's and 1/2" plywood.

This story not only illustrates what Love In the Name of Christ does and how the ministry helps churches to help people in need, but they also illustrate changes that this Love makes in the recipients' lives.

Happy New Year

We pray that you all had a blessed Christmas! We're just about done with 2009. This is the last email of the year and I wanted to share the following:

Year End Report: We, first of all, want to praise God for allowing us to fulfill our mission – by mobilizing the Church to transform lives & communities In the Name of Christ. Those of you who participated in using GoodSearch as your web browser helped us bring in about $138.00 at the end of the year simply through doing your normal web searches! We'd love to have more of you sign up to help us in this no-cost simple way of fundraising. We have something new and exciting we'd like to share with you! It's the new Love in the Name of Christ - Love INC - Brownsville toolbar - once added to IE or Firefox, each time you shop at more than 1,300 stores (from Amazon to Zazzle!) a percentage of your purchase will automatically be donated to Love in the Name of Christ - Love INC - Brownsville - at no cost to you (and you may even save money as the toolbar provides coupons and deals as well!). The toolbar also has a search box and each time you search the Internet, about a penny is donated to Love in the Name of Christ - Love INC - Brownsville. http://www.goodsearch.com/toolbar/love-in-the-name-of-christ-love-inc-brownsville Thank you so much to all of you who partnered with us financially this year! You are truly our partners in ministry and we are grateful!

As we close, we wanted to share these Love Stories with you. Happy New Year!

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Shared by Preston - a Love INC supporter:

I hope your Christmas was full of joy and Blessings, ours was. My wife and I visited with family (09K09) on Christmas Eve. This family has 9 children and they are waiting for beds that are to be donated by the Coast Guard. We delivered some clothes, food, toys, and some butane for the stove. This is absolutely a beautiful family. They would be happy with a couple of mattresses thrown on the floor for the kids to sleep on. They could also use some socks and underwear, and more clothing for the boys. Probably some school supplies as well. My brother donated some blankets to them. The children were very happy with our meager donations, and they were all smiling when we left.

Happy New Year to you!

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Shared by a Love INC volunteer:

Back in October, I took an application from a young mom with 10 children needing beds. Beds are so hard to come by and I remember telling her that there would be no guarantee that they could be found, but her husband is a truck driver for a local trucking company and they had recently moved – they couldn’t afford to buy beds. The very next day, we got a phone call from a government agency asking if we could use some beds! “Wow!” I thought, “This is such a God thing!” Two months go by and we still have not received the bed (waiting for a signature from Washington). This mom called sounding so distraught, wondering if we were just stringing her along and never going to find beds for her – that her children were losing faith. We did get a chance to listen to her and pray with her.

A few weeks go by and we got a call from a church wanting to bless someone close by with some food. We shared this family’s information with them. Mom called yesterday to say thank you. The church had contacted them and blessed them with food and some clothes for her husband. While they are still in need of the beds, she shared they were attending this church and had faith. (10A09)

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Remember to respond in worship for who God is and what He's done in light of who we are and what we've done! He is worthy of our praise!
Blessings!