CharMin Ultra

Will you miss us?

2005-08-02T15:06:00.000-04:00

I've been putting off writing this blog for reasons that will become obvious as you read on:

Last Sunday night, when was that, the 3rd?? I can't believe it's been THAT long since I've visited this site, or at least visited it to write. Anyway, we went to the bus station armed with a video camera, questions, and contact cards. One of the things we've said is a purpose for CharMin is to "assess needs." So, after handing over a cup of lemonade we asked if people would mind being videotaped while answering some questions we have about Charlotte, its residents, and of course The Salvation Army. For those of you information seeking souls, here are the questions we asked:

1. What is Charlotte's greatest need?
2. What is your greatest need?
3. What is your impression of the Salvation Army?
4. Do you know how to contact the Salvation Army?
5. Do you believe in God?
6. If you go to church, why?
7. Have you seen us here before?
8. Do you know why we're here?
9. How does the hot-chocolate/lemonade taste?
10. What have you received from us being here?
11. What more could we do?
12. Will you miss us?

The answers we got were from my perspective...comforting. A lot of responses to Charlotte's greatest need is to help the poor. Many of them said they knew why we were there doing what we do. All the people we asked believed in God and many of them attended church to worship, pray, praise, and thank God. Most importantly, EVERYONE said the hot-chocolate/lemonade was fabulous! One of our favorite people said he had received "warm presence" from us being there - and that has touched our hearts.

And, everyone we asked said, "yes" they would certainly miss us. As of July 3, 2005 CharMin in it's current state (hot-chocolate/lemonade people) is taking a rest to assess our next need to meet. The bus station was meant to serve as a stepping stone to something greater. Not greater in size, group, or recognition, but greater in the need being ful-filled. Perhaps we will continue with the bus station in a different capacity. Perhaps we will venture into the neighborhood surrounding the corps so we can have long-range contact with the people. Perhaps we'll find a way to serve the children. Perhaps we'll help people get their groceries. Perhaps we'll minister to the Bobcats or the Panthers. Perhaps we'll help Jack fight to keep his family together. Perhaps we'll take over the neighborhood, city, state, country, and eventually the WORLD for Jesus! Gosh, we'll be there soon!

Thank you to everyone who has brought us to God during these past months. Your encouraging words have been sweet honey to our souls. Please continue to bring us before God so we can know His next move for us. I believe whatever it is we will be challenged, and it may take more than a few people to accomplish.
Pray for leaders, pray for direction, pray for effective assessment, pray for us, and pray that we will find people from all walks of life and help them find the God who has made them and loves them more than they can ever know.

Blessings,

Kristy

Encouragement will always, well, ENCOURAGE

2005-07-05T10:02:00.000-04:00

One of the things we're learning is that in order for a particular ministry to continue, and continue well, there has to be some cheerleaders along the way. Not a lot of people, just the occasional one or two who take you aside and tell you what you're doing is valuable. This will inevitably happen when you are considering giving up. There were people we met on Sunday like Rob, Rusty (needs a kidney transplant), Andrea (artist at Urban Ministries and gospel singer), Rucker, Julia (works at Wendy's), Christian & son, Michi, and Dean.
Our blessing for this night was found in the person of Beverly. She was there with her son Dwayne. Beverly pulled Stephanie aside and began telling her she has seen us there every week. She moved here from Charleston and has gone through the alcohol treatment program at the Center of Hope. She has a job now at a cafeteria but realizes it is not a postive environment for her to be in as most of the workers are coming to work drunk or leaving work and drinking. She is hoping to get another job with the school system in their cafeterias thus getting out of a negative situation. We gave out four Bibles, 4 4 the streets magazines, and 175 cups accompanied by a bagful of snacks.
I say all of that at the beginning because I believe this is a learning experience and any good learning experience is better shared so others who attempt the same thing will know of a better way to do it. One of things about CharMin that we are coming around to realizing is that we never started our ministry at the bus station with an end in mind. "Begin with the end in mind" as Sue Miller puts it. The only way for us to know when our goals have been reached is if we know where we're going. We started the hot chocolate ministry in February as the result of a bunch of us just wanting to do SOMETHING to make a difference. When we started we said we would do it for a while and then build on what we've done. In discussing this with the other members, we were feeling a little guilty that our zeal has dwindled. Further discussion I think revealed to us, that it's not that we're losing our heart for ministry, but that we've arrived where we were going and didn't even realize it! In thinking back to those original conversations when we first started this, some things we said we wanted to do were:

Offer a tangible gift (hot chocolate on a cold night sounds like a good gift to me!)
Get comfortable in being with the homeless (we do it with ease now, nervousness is gone)
Build relationships (have you SEEN the list of people??)
Go further than the bus station (we've gone to Urban Ministries and Samaritan House but I think we were thinking further as in bigger in our offering)
Gain knowledge of homelessness (we are more aware now than ever before)

Lessons learned: God will empower you to do SOMETHING whatever it is. Do SOMETHING with wonderful people around you can count on. Prayer and being in prayer with each other should never be outside of what you're doing. Begin with the end in mind. Know where you're going. Stats ARE important. Ministry that costs you will cause you to constantly evaluate it's effectiveness. Relationships are at the core of ministry. Deciding to change is never easy no matter how far in to something you are. Raise up leaders who will take your place. Encourage each other.

Through the ups and downs of this ministry we have grown closer to God and closer to each other. A pretty good pay off as far as I'm concerned.

Kristy

Power in Numbers

2005-06-27T14:39:00.000-04:00

Last night was a trio. Tilden saw his friend Lamay (I think that's how we spelled it) again. We saw Archie! He is doing well. Please pray for him. He smelled good last night, that's a good sign. His clothes looked clean and he was in good spirits. The names and the stories are as follows: Rosa, Roland (pray for alcohol addiction, praise God Roland has been sober for a few days now), Robert (a guy who loves to see us and usually hangs out to talk or just to sit with people who like him), Gale (last week she needed food, this week she needs summer clothes. Pray for Gale that her needs will be met), Kim (she is in detox, praise God she's getting the help she needs), Ernest (he works at Lava Bistro, pray for his job).
We are really feeling the burden of having people depend on us to be there every Sunday. Even as we were leaving last night, a few people made reference to seeing us next week. With only three or four of us to depend on, it is becoming burdensome. If ANYONE with a heart for this ministry would like to join us, you are more than welcome. We have already extended invitations to the corps folk. You don't necessarily have to physically go to the bus station with us, you can stay at the corps and pray for us while we're there, you can walk around the bus station saturating it with prayer, you can pray for us before we go, lay hands on us, you can buy hot chocolate or cups or Bibles (thanks Mrs. Greer!), you can come make quilts on Tuesday mornings (thanks YAM). We are usually down there pretty late and we have to clean the supplies when we come back which means we are leaving the corps sometimes at 11:30 PM. You could come and help the clean up process as Stephanie did last night because she was unable to be with us at the station. There are countless ways to be involved with this ministry. If you can only commit to once in a while, give us your name and we'll call you when we're short a few people (thanks Booth, Sarah, Daniel, Wayne, Sheri, Josh).
Thank you to those who have given time to this ministry when able. You are appreciated.

Quick Summary...

2005-06-21T18:35:00.000-04:00

Several weeks have passed since the blog was updated so I’ll try and bring everyone up-to-date…

Three weeks ago: We helped Archie with some food, Tylenol, and a bus pass. Hopefully the bus pass will help him get around town a little easier. He tried to come to church but turned right when he should have turned left. Keep Archie in your prayers - pray for direction. This week we didn't bring any hot chocolate and Officer Willis wasn't too happy about it.

Two weeks ago: This was the first week without Desmond and Booth. Both of them were definitely missed. Captain Gainey helped out and spent an hour or two talking with Archie. It's always good to have Captain Gainey out. I think Archie go something from their discussions. Kristy met a mother and daughter, Monique and Ashley, respectively. They sung the ABC's and did the Hokey Pokey! The three of them prayed. Monique would like for everyone to remember her. Oh yeah, we brought a special cannister of hot water for Officer Willis and made his coco on the spot. Also, a corps member brought us some Bibles - thank you! We gave out five that night; two to Monique.

This past week: It was good to have Desmond back with us last night. He was missed. For those who don’t know, CharMin Ultra is down 2 members this summer – Booth and Desmond. They are at Camp Walter Johnson working with hundreds of children. We all hope everything goes well for you both. Archie was around; however, we were not able to speak with him. Maybe next week we'll hear that things are turning around for him. (I'll finish up later tonight...)

This one's for June 19th

2005-06-21T11:48:00.000-04:00

Well...we are trying to play catch up with the CharMin blog. Our apologies for those of you who are faithful in returning to this site for updates. We have been without our webmaster for quite some time and I (the most NON-computer geek of the bunch) am now added to the list of contributors. I have the information for June 19, another member has it for the week before. Hopefully it will be added. There's also a little spot at the bottom of the page where our cup/story total has been updated. I have no idea how to change that, so I'll include it here and if any other member knows how to add it - feel free! So here goes...
Last week. We were in full force. 180 cups were given out. We saw at least 6 people who remembered us from weeks ago, and were able to give us an update on where they are now in their journey. I have a list of names to share, but again, I have no idea how to add them to the actual "name list" located at the bottom of the page. Courtney, Tomeka, Brian, Chaz, Claude, Rabbit, Blue, Cierra, Michelle, Norman, Don, Archie, and Jack.
When we got back this week, the four of us were commenting on how weird it is the people we are meeting and the things we are learning about them. Some of them are one degree of separation from famous people. Well, their all famous according to God, but you know what I mean.
Most notably for me, was Claude. We met Claude a while back. He was the chef who told us about adding a little nutmeg and vanilla extract to our cocoa to make it that much richer. Claude has a CD of recipes. He gave one to Tilden for free.
I am finding my zeal has begun to diminish. I still would rather be no where else on a Sunday night than at the bus station, but my energy while there has gone down the tubes. I've been reading that ministry is never supposed to become comfortable no matter how long you're doing it. Its definitely become comfortable. I know why, and I'm embarrassed to admit the reason.
Pray that we would consciously renew our spirits - no matter what.
Thank you to all for being faithful in your prayers thus far.

Blessings,

Kristy

Ministry is hard when you're tired.

2005-05-30T16:42:00.000-04:00

It was fantastic to have Stephanie and Tilden back on Sunday night. Everything even feels so much different when they're around. The problem was the four of us were completely exhausted. No other way to say it. We were hanging out at Men's Camp this past weekend, maybe staying up a little to late to really be accommodating to late night ministry . . .

But we perservered . . .

We spilled a little hot chocolate, and ruined a few cups . . . but we did get to share a lot.

A couple of interesting things. Archie, whom you should remember from a number of entries now, was back again, and we ended up taking him to his 'spot'. He's trying to work with a temp agency doing security patrols, but there's not much work. Turns out he's living behind a building in our neighborhood . . . very, very interesting. He passes by our apartments every day on the bus.

Also, we found out that there's a monthy/weekly bus pass that we can get - maybe be able to give to someone like Archie. You can ride as much as you need to for that week/month. It would save a lot of money for him to be able to do that.

The lesson of the night, that we really have no reason to complain about anything! And that we need more people.

New Cups

2005-05-28T10:23:00.000-04:00

We found some new cups, cutting down on our overhead - which, realistically wasn't very high to begin with - but rather than spending $70 for 1000 cups - we can now spend $11.

This week - And they're the perfect size - 8 oz. That way, we can fill up each cup and not have to worry about rationing too much or too little. OR, people complaining because we didn't fill up their 16 oz cup.

So we managed to dish (or cup) out 155 cups, and we didn't even get it all given away.

Next week (aka tomorrow) I think we're back at full-force.

Keep checking back.

Grace.

Delta Force, Abridged

2005-05-16T18:13:00.000-04:00

Well, it was a slow night - and a late night. Firstly, Tilden and Stephanie decided that SUNDAY NIGHT (of all nights!) was a great time to get married!

Just kidding - we're VERY happy for them. And I'm sure they're having a great honeymoon already.

But, in the meantime, the mission had to go on. So, Booth, Kristy and I made our way, with one cambro of lemonade to the bus station. Lemonade wasn't such a good choice. It took a long time to get rid of it

But the highlights were:

Booth's friend Jack was back
Kristy met Jose
We were bombarded with requests from the kids on the corner before we even got into position.

Full force is back in action next week!

Grace.

Are they Fresh?

2005-05-08T23:31:00.000-04:00

So, I have to apologize again. I know it's been WAY too long between updates: two weeks now. But I've been in Orlando on business AND sorta kinda misplaced the notes that I took after LAST weeks session.

The good news is I found last weeks and I've updated all of the information on the right.

But I'll combine the past two weeks in this post.

Last week, we met a cool Bass player named Rob. He totally fit the stereotyped look of an old jazz bassist. He plays with a couple of groups around the city and I'm hoping to be able to track him down and hear him some time. He seems incredible.

Anthony chased us down as we were leaving. "Salvation Army!" he called out, to get our attention. He just needed some of the food that we had left over.

Altogether we gave out 148 cups. It was the BUSIEST night that I think we've had yet.

This week was a little different too. Started out REAL quiet - hardly ANYONE in the station. It picked up to normal as the night went on, but there seemed to be an unusually high number of highly intoxicated people that we would run into.

Most notably, Dirk. Apparently, he served time on Death Row (though, apparently, because when he FIRST went to prison, cell 1 on death row was the only space available. Heavily intoxicated and wondering why God was punishing Him. Kristy helped him to see (read: tried to reason with him in his intoxicated state) that his poor choices caused him to be where he is. Hopefully we'll see him again. Hopefully he'll remember us.

We also met Archie (former military man). Young guy with a connection to some people in the Salvation Army. Pretty cool stories (and scars) from differently places that he's served.

Tilden saw our friend Archie again. He hasn't been having a good week and wonders why God isn't blessing him. We see him a lot and have been building a pretty good relationship with him. He'll come around.

The title of this post comes from what Willis asked when we offered him some doughnuts. He's a neat guy.

Tonight, we did 134 cups.

Continue to pray.

AND, next week Tilden and Stephanie get married! They better not think that they're getting out of Bus Station duty.

Grace.

Apologies

2005-05-04T23:11:00.000-04:00

My sincerest apologies. I've been away all this week and I fear (and I hope) that I left my notes at home. I've really been hoping to get this updated earlier.

But I will very soon, I promise. I CAN tell you that Sunday night past was VERY good, though it was EXTREMELY busy: one of the busiest times yet.

But more info coming soon.

Grace.

Prayer Request

2005-04-26T14:17:00.000-04:00

Remember RUSTY in your prayers. He needs a new kidney AND pancreas; he's on a list. Pray for his health and his healing.

A Public Service Announcement for CharMin Ultra

2005-04-26T13:56:00.000-04:00

Actually, the title is a lie - but it's the closest thing I could come up with to hint at one of the coolest things that have happened so far. But I'll get to that in a minute.

Week 10 saw a BUNCH of interesting things happen:

Archie, from a few weeks ago, was back at the station. No longer on crutches, and he HAS found a part-time job. Still doesn't really have a place to live, but is working on getting into the uptown men's shelter and hopefully will be able to grow from that base.

God's blessing Archie.

Niema, a woman with 4 kids is going to come to our corps on Sunday morning. We got to pray with her and she was real excited about getting to the corps. I'll keep you posted.

One of the CATS employees wanted our contact info. Apparently, his wife is REALLY interested in helping out this ministry. We know a number of people from our corps continue to support this ministry with prayer as well.

AND FINALLY . . . you'll remember reading about Officer Willis. If not, look back over a couple of posts. He's the bulldog security guard that never speaks and LOVES hot chocolate. There's a public address system at the station that we've rarely heard used. In fact, I've only ever heard it used if someone is doing something wrong and the guards need to call attention to it. Example: there are no cars allowed in the bus shelter - anytime there is a car in there, an announcement is made over the PA system. The problem is, it's a big boomy area with pretty poor acoustics - I can NEVER really understand what's being said.

So, this week, just as we were getting close to finishing, we hear this long announcement. As you would suspect, we couldn't make out what was being said, except that there was something about Hot Chocolate. The couple I was speaking with, Rachel and Colby, asked if they were telling us to stop. We didn't think that could be it, because they guards are SO supportive of us.

So we go in . . . and bring some HC with us, JUST in case. Turns out, Willis just wanted us to leave some for the third shift, because we would be gone by the time they got to work. It's incredible. We go into to the security office and they just buzz the door open for us when they see us coming. There are some incredibly interesting relationships being built.

Grace.

9 Weeks and Counting

2005-04-17T23:57:00.000-04:00

The Salvation Army Delta Force has been active in Operation CharMinUltra for 9 weeks now. That's an incredible thought. It's a fairly simple mission. Talk to God's people (aka God's creation, not just the people that claim to love him). If they don't want to talk, give them some hot chocolate or lemonade and see if that loosens their tongue.

To answer your first question, I'm getting ready to release a little more information so you can gain a little insight on this Delta Force concept.

We hear a lot of the same thing. People need food, a place to stay, a blanket, some prayer, a ride. We're definitely learning a lot about our community and how we can best meet their needs.

I got to talk at length tonight with a homeless brother named Ken. He's sixty. He's a brick-layer, fallen on hard times. We talked a lot of how embarassing he feels his situation is, but also a lot about how he knows God is still looking out for him. That's amazing to me. I have a roof over my head. It's easy for me to know that God has got my back. Pray for him. Pray that God will continue to lead him and protect him.

If I were in God's position, I would really have a soft-spot for those people that have so little in the world and still worship so very obviously.

Tilden also engaged Isaiah and Robert in conversation: two young guys that were a RIOT to talk to, but really gave some insight into some of the racial difference and even tensions that still exist in this region. Pray for these guys too. We're hoping that they'll come back and see us next week - Tilden wants to bring some of their concerns to the city leadership on their behalf.

Another couple cambros of Hot Chocolate and Lemonade. Lots more prayer needed. God still moving.

'Til next time. Grace.

Bus Station Counseling

2005-04-13T07:25:00.000-04:00

Sorry it's taken a couple of days to get this update posted. It's been a busy couple of days. But, Tilden, Stephanie, Kristy and I did get to share with our friends at the bus station again this week: now our 8th week of ministry at the CATS station.

It was our warmest night yet - luckily we brought both hot chocolate and lemonade. Both were hits, but I think the Hot Chocolate won, even with the temperature.

We spent a long time talking with Rodney and his daughter Banayah. He had taken her out for the day, bowling and having fun. Rodney works at the station doing some maintenance work. We talked for a long time about what he struggles with, his childhood, his love for his family, for his kids especially, amond many other things.

What was interesting was that just before he left he said, "Wow. I haven't talked to anyone like that in a LONG time."

It's pretty amazing what a cup of lemonade will do to loosen the tongue . . . . or maybe it was something else.

Grace.

We Straight

2005-04-04T08:39:00.000-04:00

It only gets better. Last night at the bus station we had a phenomenal time. We got there a little earlier than usual and stayed a little later, so it was interesting to see the changes in the crowd as time when on. The 'movers' & 'shakers' got through their pretty quickly - only later could we really identify the people that really had no where to go.

Johnny Gainey (view his blog at http://peoplesheep.blogspot.com) went with us last night. It was great to have his deep theological knowledge. He shared literally for over an hour with one sheriff, answering many of his "life-long questions".

Daniel also had a good experience this week. I like that he wears his uniform to the bus station - it gives a very real sense of safety. He spoke with Kevin - a butcher at a grocery store and got to learn about who he was.

Some other interesting stories:

Jeff - he's been sleeping in a parking garage for a couple days, so we got to give him a blanket and pray for him.
Archie - He was a bigger guy that hobbled in on a single crutch. When we talked to him, we found out that he is a believer, but that he's currently homeless and trying to find some gainful employment. He agreed to talk to another man that we met, Eric, who felt lonely and had no where to go.
One mother was concerned about the sexual activity of her young daughter. She wants prayer.
Daniel - really wants to be able to see his kids, Christopher, Tiffany, and Jessica.

Keep praying for this ministry and the people on list on the right. God is moving.

Grace.

Jesus and Delta Force

2005-03-29T07:32:00.000-05:00

It really is pretty incredible to realize how far this ministry has come - in just a little while. People really do just want to talk. They want Hot Chocolate and they want to talk. Yes, some a drunk. But a whole lot of others just want to tell you how, for example, they've been having trouble at work, or their 13 year old son is joining the Krips, or they're losing their home, or any numer of things.

Eight of us got the chance to talk and pray with people on Sunday night - continue to pray for the people on our prayer list to the right.

There is a story told by an old Eastern Orthodox Theologian (from the 4th Century), basically explaining why the incarnation of God in Christ was so important. Basically, it says that a "King" had a bunch of cities and in one city, the people started taking advantage of the Kings freedom, doing evil and even declaring their independence from the King.

The king couldn't take the city by force - too many subjects would die. He could intimidate them - they'd hate Him even more. If he left them alone - they'd destroy each other.

So instead, he took off the robes and the crowns and the jewels and went incognito into the city, becoming a laborer and inhabiting his own vacant part of the city. When people met Him, his kindness, and fairness, and goodness, and respect were so amazing that people just wanted to linger in his presence. They would tell him their problems and ask his advice. He told them that the rebels were misguided and that the King had a better way to live. One by one people began to have confidence in Him and live like Him. The wanted to rejoin the kingdom, but their rebellion was embarassing and shameful to them.

The good news, of course, is that the homeless wandering laborer was indeed the king who held nothing against them. They could feel free to approach the king because they had been hanging out with them all this time

He accomplished through a subtle, gentle presence what could never be accomplished via brute force. Jesus knew ALL about Delta Force.

Grace.

Urban Ministries: Visit One

2005-03-24T20:42:00.000-05:00

The beauty of being a salaried employee is that from time to time I can show up late to work - as long as I get my work done - which is exactly what happened today.

Tilden, Stephanie, Kristy and I spent the morning with a couple hundred 'neighbors' (i.e. homeless people) at Charlotte's inter-faith Urban Ministries - they have a soup kitchen at the facility (an old train station on Charlotte's North side). They have other groups that come in to serve drinks, which is what we did. We brought 200+ bottles of water and served them during the meal. I've added some names of the people that we met on the right.

But, holy eye-opening. Charlotte isn't a HUGE city by any means. But it's estimated that there are 5,000 neighbors living in the county. That's incredible to me.

What's even more intense is the diversity of the people that we met. Didn't expect to find an English major, or an Airplane Mechanic, or a master carpenter, or a high-risk loan officer from a major financial institution. But that's exactly what we found.

We also found out that there is a lot of stigma - a lot that isn't so much grounded in fact as it is in ignorance.

God's doing and continuing to inspire some amazing things.

Grace.

The Frist 'Hatchet' We've Ever Met

2005-03-21T12:26:00.000-05:00

I'm amazed at how many stories there are. I think that's probably the biggest lesson that I'm learning is that everyone has a story and they want to tell it. This was first intriging to me when Kristy came back from the last SAMS conference in Atlanta. That's pretty much what they talked about (in terms of evangelism). But to see it in practical situations is stinking incredible. We've had the chance to meet and pray with a crazy range of people.

Last night, a group of New Hampshire college students, on Alternative Spring Break, came to help us out. There were 9 of them altogether. It's a cool program - they give up their spring break to go across the country doing community service. It's not a religious organization or anything - we didn't realize that at the time (nor do I think they realized that the Salvation Army IS). I hope it was a cool experience for them. I think I've got all their names:

Adam
Erica
Randy
Katie
Amanda
Lauren
Matt
Kristen
Jeremy

Thanks for helping us out. We gave out 137 cups of hot chocolate - and struck up conversation with a whole bunch of them. I've added more names to our list on the right of this page - maybe I need to start adding dates . . . soon. Please continue to pray for them all.

OK, couple of cool stories, couple of people stories and I'll be done.

First: it's neat how the people there are accepting us as part of the landscape. Kristy brought some Hot Chocolate to a group of three security guards, one of which was new and a little suspicisous. Perry, one of the guards we met last week said, "Ah, it's alright, they come here all the time."

Secondly: Kristy also got to pray with a man named David, who just wanted to encourage us and said that he really appreciates what we're doing - that he has seen us over the past few weeks.

Thirdly: Claude - a chef/baker. Holy smokes, this guy made us hungry. He works at a pastrie place uptown and started telling us about some of the recipies in the cookbook that he is preparing. He also gave us some tips for our hot chocolate - we'll be sure to put it to use. He has a son, Tyrel, but can't see him because of the poor relationship with Tyrels mother. Pray for reconciliation.

Fourthly: Josh (AKA Hatchet). A homeless teen wearing an Insane Clown Posse hoodie. Kicked out of his house, staying with friends here and there. And he's under 18 so he can't really stay at the shelters. We got him a cab across town and listened - he's got an unborn baby on the way with another teenager. Pray.

Finally: And most crazy. We think we've had our first 'Salvation' experience!!!! Dan. We think that he accepted Christ. He may have been a little intoxicated - but he did say that he needs God and Kristy led him in prayer. Continue to pray for him.

Continue to pray for this rapidly-developing ministry. We're fixin' to take the canteen soon. Maybe this week . . . who knows.

Grace.

Another Day, Another Donut

2005-03-14T11:32:00.000-05:00

I can, without a doubt, say that we are definitely forming relationships. How do I know for sure? A police officer (our friendly neighborhood police officer) brought US his precious donuts. Isn't that incredible.

Last night, we anticipated it being warmer than it actually was - and, so instead of Hot Chocolate we brought some tasty lemonade. It went slower than NORMAL, but we also brought TWO cambros with us (that's the stuff we put the drinks in). Either way, we gave out about 140 cups of it.

But even cooler than that was the number of people we got to talk to - and the number of people that OBVIOUSLY recognized and remembered us. Sgt. Bennett was back and a whole bunch of the other security guards. AND we met a mess-load of other people too:

Tony freestyled for us and told us that he didn't have anywhere to go (we prayed for him)
Ronnie told us about how he's working real hard to provide for him and his fiancée, Fontella (We prayed with him)
Perry wanted prayer that he'd continue to make the right choices
Belinda (and her Grand-daughter, 3 year-old Jamayah) needed a ride across town because they missed her bus.

It was definitely the best night yet. AND we're crafting a mission statement or statement of purpose. Here's what we've got so far:

"CharMin Ultra" exists to assess and meet needs and to share God's love by building relationships with the community.

I like it so far -- I REALLY want to use the word actively . . . I think it may get vetoed though.

There are more names on the right.

Grace.

The Police and Peggy

2005-03-07T07:14:00.000-05:00

We had another great night of ministry and relationship builiding. Starting at the corps. We had a great discussion with the rest of our Bible study group from which this ministry was birthed . . . I think it cleared up a bunch of confusion that may have been hanging over this whole thing.

Then we hit the bus station again . . . just a little after 9:00. As normal, it started with us just handing out hot chocolate. It's always funny to see people who intially don't want any who then see that it's free . . .

In any case, we had pretty much run out of hot chocolate again . . . when we got talking with Sgt. Bennett (from CMPD). He had been policing around the bus station for the past few weeks while we've been there. Last week I understand, that he seemed a little skeptical . . . or cautious about our efforts. And he wanted unsweetened hot chocolate.

So this week when we came back and got talking to him, and Tilden made a point of bringing him an unsweetened hot chocolate, he seemd to change just a little. Stephanie and I talked to him for quite a while . . . . seems like a great guy. We'll keep seeing him.

Then Tilden came out from inside the depot and says, "Do you wanna pray with someone?" Three of us went in and met Peggy. Peggy is a 52 year old wonderful woman who doesn't have any where to live. She's tried some of the shelters, but was just recently kicked out of one. We prayed for her and the Kristy sat and talked with her for what seemed like forever.

Long enough for her to miss her bus.

Luckily we had a van. We ended up driving her across town to where she had some family. Please pray for her!

It's pretty amazing to see the relationships that have already been built just by handing out hot chocolate.

Last thing, I've updated the names over on the right. Keep 'em all in prayer.

Grace, Y'all.

Date Night

2005-03-03T21:30:00.000-05:00

So, anyone wanna have a date night? Good.

Now . . . you can practice that gift of self-denial. Sarah wanted me to post this idea that she had.

She wants to help out the parents at the corps by providing FREE child care so that 'Mom & Dad' can head out for a night on the town. This would be a great way to serve our corps. She's also thinking that we could be a monthly thing -- in that, we start this month, and then start picking one day a month thereafter that may work.

She's suggesting starting right after work and staying as late as the parents need it. That way they can fit in dinner and movie or whatever they want to do. Now that I'm married, and busy, I realize how important it is to spend time with my wife. It doesn't seem like parents get a chance to spend much time alone.

So, give her/us your thoughts. It sounds like an excellent ministry opportunity. If anyone is interested, let us know. She's looking at starting March 10, but it's flexible.

Back at it?

2005-02-25T14:14:00.000-05:00

Well, I think the plan is to hit the streets again this sunday night. Sarah and I both have a rehearsal with the praise band for Youth Councils so we will likely not be able to go. But, it seems like everyone else is rip-rearing-ready to go (I think that's a newfie expression). In anycase, since I won't be there I probably shouldn't plan. But if you want to post a comment to get this party started, that'd be awesome.

I guess depending on what time y'all decide to get out there . . . Sarah and I may be able to meet up with you.

Census

2005-02-24T10:19:00.000-05:00

I was just thinking . . . we saw more people on Sunday night giving out stuff than we did on Sunday morning in church . . . for "worship".

Added some people

2005-02-22T17:17:00.000-05:00

Hey. I've added a list of people that we had a chance to meet on Sunday. It's on the right, closer to the bottom. Keep praying for them.

Night One

2005-02-20T23:09:00.000-05:00

Good Job, team. Let's look at our official stats:

Hot Chocolate Served: 75 cups
Cheeseburgers: 25
'Delta Force' members present: 9

Pretty awesome. Kristy has a list of people that we met and she's going to email that to me - I'll post it here - probably on the side somewhere. It will be cool to post some of our favorite moments here. It was great to get down there and realize that even at the bus depot there are a lot of people that need food and hats.

What we've resolved to do is:

We need to talk to the powers at be - they need to be aware of what's going on, based on our organizational structure alone.
Given that that step goes well - we're going to look at getting down there with the canteen and start bringing people some real food.
We need to do this every week.
We will do this every week - sometimes following Bible study, sometimes on another night (and we do like the idea of becoming 'regulars' somewhere in the area.

Blessings all. Thanks for everyone that came and that bought stuff and that prayed. More to come.

Much more.

Another Need

2005-02-09T12:46:00.000-05:00

Update Time: So everyone knows, we have a thermos. There's a good one at the corps.

For buying the hot chocolate . . . I'm not sure. I guess I'd suggest we nominate someone to get it and we all pitch in. Pitch in what you can . . . we all don't have to pitch in the same amount. We just need to nominate someone to get it. Daniel and Christina were first to mention it . . . perhaps they'd be the best choice. We don't really need that much I guess . . . if we buy a couple tins of swiss miss, i guess that's enough right. You can get a lot of HC out of one tin. Maybe you could get with Tilden to figure out how big this things are that he's getting to hold and dispense it. Don't forget you'll also need one or two boxes of sugar-free.

Stir sticks are covered, thanks to Sarah.

We still need someway of getting this stuff around, like a wagon or something. ANd Tilden pointed out that we may need a few garbage bags. I'll be in charge of both of these . . . but if you have any suggestions, please let me know. I don't know where to find a wagon. Worst case, we'll buy something.

So . . . we're just about covered.

I'll keep you up to date.

The List

2005-02-08T21:28:00.000-05:00

Did you like the title? Charmin Ultra? The charmin is for CHARlotte MINistry. The ultra makes it sound like toilet paper.

So here's the list for sunday:

Hot Chocolate Kegs - Tilden is taken care of this.
Buy Hot Chocolate . . . not sure how much we need or what kind to get (like packets or a tin of powder) - we also talked about sugar free hot chocolate. We could probably buy a box of that and bring a thermos of hot water. Does anyone have a large thermos we could tote around with us?
Cups and lids.
Stir-sticks for the sugar-free hot chocolate.
Some way of getting the hot chocolate around with us . . . like a wagon or something. Anybody got any ideas?
If you have any extra blankets, coats, gloves, other warm stuff, bring it along in a backpack or something.

I think that's all I've got right now. Let me know what you think, or if you can think of anything else.

Praying for you guys. See y'all soon.

Grace.