A Beautiful Winter
In this update I want to tell you about some of the things we've seen God do this winter at the East Dayton Fellowship and let you in on how you can get involved.
The image above comes from our big Christmas Eve event. We had nearly 40 volunteers come out to distribute 140 gift bags to neighborhood kids, more than 90 Christmas meal kits including turkeys, and 300 warm lunches! The fact that all these folks were willing to give up a large portion of that important day to help their neighbors was a beautiful sign of the love of God in our midst. That sign that was not missed by the many folks who came out to receive these gifts given in the name of our Savior.
This winter we also had the privilege of baptizing one dear brother, as well as receiving him, his wife, and two other long-time attenders into membership. Greg, the man we baptized, originally told me he did not think he'd speak much when it came time for him to proclaim his faith publicly before the baptism, but he ended up giving a better sermon than mine! He encouraged us all with the story of God's faithfulness to himself and his wife through their struggles with addiction and their redemption by God's grace.
We are a little church serving a poor neighborhood with big needs, but God continually multiplies our resources so that our little bit can have a big effect. For instance...
Our Friday food-and-clothing ministry has continued to grow. The clothing closet we operate now fills half of our large fellowship hall, and we give large amounts of clothing away each week. We see homeless folks, refugees, and a good number of cash-strapped parents all benefiting from that ministry. Our partners with the Food for The Journey Project actually ran out of food on a couple of recent Fridays and have had to up their production to make sure we have enough to feed all those who come for the food on those days. One of the men who we connected with through our Friday ministry has taken it upon himself to stock pantry items for folks alongside the fresh lunches prepared by the Food for the Journey Project, so folks not only get a good meal for that day, but also some food to help them through the week.
That same man, Dave, is currently trying to gain custody of his two nephews. He's raised them for years, but their home was in such poor repair that CPS removed the children recently. We took up a love offering and raised over 500 dollars to help him, while our Associate Pastor Susan and her sister have donated labor, time, and materials to help repair some of the most pressing problems in the home. With our help, Dave has secured a reliable car (another need) and is well on his way to reuniting his family!
One of our new members, Adam, has been helping repair the cars of others in our midst who run into car troubles they can't afford to address on their own. Sometimes he donates the materials, and sometimes, when costs run too high, we share the cost as a church.
We've seen multiple of our addicted street friends enter into treatment over the course of this winter. One of them even showed up to church after he finished the in-patient portion of his treatment with his long-estranged mother right beside him. Seeing them walk in together was such a joy!
When a young mother and her son ended up homeless after an unscrupulous landlord cheated them out of their place, our Associate Pastor Susan spearheaded an effort to help them out. She set them up in a hotel for as long as resources allowed, and then solicited donations from some outside friends with deeper pockets than we have. Those donations allowed our friend to afford the deposit and first month's rent on a place for her and her son. With a new job and a new home that mother and her son are doing much better now!
I could go on and on! The Narcotics Anonymous group we recently arranged to host in the building has already grown to have between 80 and 90 attenders regularly! We put on a large outdoor brunch on Palm Sunday powered by 50 volunteers from a sister church who not only set up the tents and served the food, but who made and distributed care kits for the homeless along with books for neighborhood children. At the end of this month, we are partnering with an evangelistic ministry and a drug recovery ministry to host a weekend-long tent revival on our front yard focused on hope for recovery. That event will include a neighborhood cleanup, multiple meals, and multiple worship services. (Below you will find a couple of photos from our recent neighborhood brunch, including one of all the volunteers from St. Augustine's in our parking lot.)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
All of this ministry, done in the name of Jesus in this beautiful but beleaguered neighborhood, is possible because we serve a generous God who moves folks to donate their time, their efforts, their gently used clothes, and their financial resources to the work. We've also managed to fund a large portion of recent expenditures through grants. Our Associate Pastor's salary, for instance, is largely paid for by grants. But those grants will soon run their course. We have no doubt God will provide for us to continue his work here, but we also believe that one way he will do that is by moving some our friends and supporters to donate to this work.
So, I ask you to pray for us as we share the good news in word and deed on Dayton's east side. I also ask you to consider donating to support us. You can do so at the link below, either as a one-time gift or in a recurring way. The link takes you to the website of Fairview BIC Church who handles our online donations for us. When you give, make sure to select the "East Dayton Fellowship" as the fund you wish to give to from the drop-down menu.
Thank you for your interest in our work, your prayers in support of us, and your generosity toward us!
May God bless you!
Pastor Zach
