Robert Odom, president of Love In the Name of Christ National Headquarters, will be the keynote speaker for the local affiliate's first ever fundraiser to be held on February 10, 2009. The theme is Deep In the "Heart" of Texas. One can sponsor a table of 10 for $150 or a table of 8 for $120. Individual tickets are $15. Call the Love INC office at (956) 233-1844 for more details.
Robert M. Odom has spent more than 25 years in leadership positions for organizations dedicated to alleviating poverty.Currently Mr. Odom is president of Love In the Name of Christ (Love INC), a national Christian organization whose mission is to mobilize the Church to transform lives and communities In the Name of Christ.Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Love INC has more than 135 affiliates in 30 states, representing a network of nearly 9,000 churches, 6,000 community-based organizations, and more than 300,000 volunteers meeting more than 1 million needs each year.
Previously, Mr. Odom was senior director of U.S. Programs for World Vision, responsible for supervising ministry programs around the country and advising on program, personnel, fundraising, marketing and other management issues and opportunities nationally.Prior to that, Mr. Odom was a partner in Odom & Champagne Consulting, which managed the turnaround of a Detroit area Community Action Agency; he also served as executive director of the Community Action Agency in Milwaukee.In that capacity, Mr. Odom provided leadership and direction to an agency operating 76 programs and employing over 530 staff with an annual budget of over $20 million.
Mr. Odom has also served as executive director of the Minneapolis Community Action Agency, the Minneapolis Minority/Women Business Enterprise Program, and the North Community YMCA of Minneapolis.
Mr. Odom has testified before various U.S. Senate Committees on issues of youth violence and low-income housing, and is a frequent speaker at churches and non-profits across the country.
Call the Love INC office @ (956) 233-1844 to purchase your tickets or for more details.
Well, we're not exactly located in the heart of Texas down here, but this is the theme of our first ever fund-raising dinner.
Here are some details:
Churches, businesses or individuals can sponsor a table of 10 for $150 and have the option of inviting guests to fill all or part of the table. Individual tickets can be purchased for $15. This all take place on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 6:00 PM in the Fellowship Hall of Central Christian Church.
What do you get for this? You get a chance to help Love INC achieve our financial goal, a delicious brisket meal (with all the trimmings) catered by J & B Mesquite & Grill, plus a chance to listen Robert Odom - the Keynote speaker.
Mr. Odom is the president of Love In the Name of Christ National Headquarters in Minneapolis, MN.
Call the Love INC office @ (956) 233-1844 for details
Thank Lenny & Nancy for your kind gift in the name of your children: Russell, Leanne & Steve, Robyn & Doug, Andrew & Elena, Raegan & Marc, and Ranelle & Kurt. You gift will enable lives to be transformed In the Name of Christ!
It is a blessing to look back at how God has used us and provided for this ministry in ways we could not have possibly predicted a year ago when we were pulling together our budget! So we're very thankful. I'm writing to ask that you consider sending a year-end donation to Love In the Name of Christ (Love INC) to help us end the year fully funded and to help us start out the New Year well. If you would ever like a copy of our budget to see how our money is spent, we'd be happy to make it available to you. And all your gifts are tax-deductible. So if you're looking for a write-off for this year's taxes, there's just a couple more weeks that you can do so.
You can send your gifts to Love INC, PO Box 724, Los Fresnos, TX 78566 and we'll send you a return envelope with each gift. And don't forget Goodsearch.com. This year, we received our annual check from them that came to $162.41. So we earned about 44 cents a day from you using your Goodsearch as your web browser and by doing your online shopping through Goodshop.com - and it didn't cost you anything! If you want more info on that, email us and we'll tell you how to use it.
Special thanks to Brownsville Community Fellowship, Christ’s HarborChurch , Church of the Advent, Down by the Border, InternationalChristianCenter, Los Fresnos Church of Christ, and Los Fresnos Fellowship of Christian Athletes for their assistance in meeting needs.
Please announce the needs listed below to your congregation, put in your bulletin, post on your bulletin board or display electronically and please feel free to forward to your contacts. As always thank you for all you do!!
·Queen Bed Frame – Unemployed single mother of 3 blessed with a bed needs a bed frame – Queen-size. [Pt Isabel](11H08)
·Beds, sheets, & towels – A family recently moved to be close to father.Husband is self-employed.Wife had an accident and husband developed health problems. 1 Full & 3 twin beds needed. (*Men’s pants – 34 x 32; 36x34;*Boy’s – large shirts, *Girls 5-6, *Women’s – size 16 pants, large & 2x tops) (11G08) [Boca Chica/Old Pt Isabel area]
·Work –Father with three children, needs any kind of work, experienced in cutting lawns.(11F08) [Los Fresnos]
·Dressers, bed, table & chairs – family with three children recently relocated.Have limited income because they have been helping support elderly mother.(11E08) [Los Fresnos]
·3 Twin beds, beds, and refrigerator – Single mom recently relocated from San Antonio and unable to bring her furniture with her. (11C08) [Southmost area]
·Dining table & chairs –family of 4 with a new baby due any day. (11B08) [FM 511/ Hwy 48 area]
·Table & chairs, bed, dryer – Single mother with a disabled child.(11A08) [Los Fresnos]
·Bed – A couple (wife is legally blind) on limited income in need of a bed.(close to Valley Baptist-Brownsville) (10J08)
·Dresser, bed, night stands – A family recently moved to the Brownsville-area and the husband is working few hours. (10E08) [Southmost area]
·Electrician needed – FEMA helped an elderly widow (on a very limited income) get parts to replace her fuse box but she is unable to pay for an electrician to do the work.She lives outside the Los Fresnos city limits (near FM 510 & FM 803). (10C08)
·Couch – An amputee in Brownsville is in need of a couch.(10B08)
·Ceiling fan & Delivery of 2 doors – an elderly widow in Pt Isabel would like a ceiling fan to help keep her electric bill down. 2 doors located in Los Fresnos need to be delivered. (09G08)
·Window AC Unit – Elderly widow needs window unit while on waiting list to replace central unit. (09B08) [near the Port of Brownsville]
·Bed (Full Size or larger) – Couple’s bed in Brownsville was ruined in their recent move. (07E08) [Brownsville]
·Plumbing repairs – Disabled woman has leaks under kitchen sink & the outside spigot (by Pace HS). (07A08)
·Washing machine – Couple with 7 children (father & 3 of the children are on disability) in need of a washing machine. (02C08) [Brownsville]
·Grocery bags – Do you have an over-abundance of grocery bags?Don’t throw them away!Good Neighbor Settlement House can use them! They can be delivered directly there or call the Love INC office and arrangements can be made. This is an on-going need.Thank you to all who have been taking your bags directly there.
·Old Suitcases– Do you have old suitcases you don’t know what to do with? Don’t throw them away!Give our office a call – the K-9 unit from one of the local law enforcement offices has mentioned they could use suitcases in their continued training of the dogs.(This is an on-going need – those dogs go through many suitcases!)
Please call the Love INC office @ 233-1844 if you can helpwith 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.
Prayer:
·Intake volunteers have the opportunity to pray with most of the clients who call in with needs (sometimes it is the only time they have heard someone pray with/for them).Please pray that the above listed clients will develop a desire to know more about the Lord.
·Pray for 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.
The call came in mid-morning on a Monday.A young mom with 3 children under age 6 desperately needed help.Her husband had been killed in an auto accident six weeks earlier and she was trying to start over in a small apartment close to her in-laws.As the intake worker took her information – the dire situation this young woman was in was overwhelming and she was trying to figure out how these needs were ever going to get met?No promises could be made, but the worker told the young mom that once her application was verified, the needs would be made known to the churches on the list which we send out bi-monthly; and started praying.Twin beds for her boys; a window A/C unit for the bedroom; a refrigerator, dining table, clothes for her 18 month old, and a washing machine were her major concerns along with an urgent prayer that her husband’s death certificate would be released so she could apply for whatever benefits were available as she had no income at all.An extremely tall order but with God, all things are possible.
Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. James 1:27
This is the Scripture the Love INC staff had been given. Events have shown that God had the situation under control before the need was even made known to us.
Many things were happening without our knowledge that, over a short period of time, have shown us how adjectives are impotent to describe how great our Lord is and how, through His church, He was going to be taking care of these orphans and their mother.
This young widow had been unable to get things straightened out with the Social Security Administration because her husband’s death certificate had not been released.Staff and volunteers at the Love INC office started praying for direction and wisdom.A simple call to DPS helped take care of the death certificate and the widow got her appointment with the Social Security Administration to register for survivor’s benefits.
Our director was talking to the pastor of one of the participating churches about another need when she mentioned this case and as it turned out he happened to have been at the scene of the accident where this young mother’s husband was killed.He was asked to please go visit her and pray with her and ask the Lord for wisdom for Love INC as to how assess the best way to help her and he instantly agreed.We shared a few of the needs with the pastor and he mentioned that the church would have a refrigerator available in a few days and could take it to her.A few weeks before this need came to the clearinghouse, someone had made a donation of a dining room table and someone else, a trundle bed to Christ’s Harbor and these were taken to her by members from Los Fresnos Church of Christ and BCF.
The Love INC office received a call from someone at BCF that was moving out of state and they had a window A/C unit and microwave oven available for this family.
And on it goes.As you can imagine, this one family’s needs are on-going.So are the needs of others in our community. Through your heart, help and hands God is making a difference: showing his goodness and love.
Honestly, there are times when we are overwhelmed by the needs which come through our office and are sent out to the local churches and wonder if they are being read.This case, among others, has shown this family in need as well as Love INC staff and volunteers not only that God cares for us but that He is actively interested in our needs and will demonstrate His love for us.
Dale House & Nate from Los Fresnos Church of Christ picking up trundle bed
Pastor Chris Edge from Abundant Life Church helping load items
This is the refrigerator donated by Los Fresnos Church of Christ.
