Category: Happy New Year! Can you believe it is 2010? We are excited to go into another year and see what God has in store for Beauty for Ashes Ministry. We are starting a new calendar year, but we are only beginning to wrap up our first official year as a ministry. It is amazing to look back over the last ten months since our first outreach in March and see what God has done through Beauty for Ashes Ministry. On March 1st we held our first retreat at Hope Faith Ministries. We witnessed a miracle as we watched God feed 150 people with food that we had prepared for 40. Since that first retreat, we have hosted two additional retreats and a breakfast with worship service at Hope Faith Ministries. The retreats have grown in number to almost 400 people served at our last retreat.
We have witnessed answers to prayers through our weekly prayer group that we hold at Hope Faith every Tuesday. We are in awe of how God sends down just the right people that he wants to minister to each week. The common testimony we hear is, “I walked in here feeling like I had a weight on my shoulders, now I feel light and so much better.” Weekly we witness the peace of God that surpasses all understanding wash over those that we pray for. We know that we don’t have the resources or the jobs needed to fix their current situation, but we can point them to the one who can carry them through, and God is so faithful to show up for them each time.
In April and in September we held outreaches for the children at Restart Family center and City Union Mission Family Center. Through worship music, crafts, games, puppets, and skits, the children learned about and experienced God’s love. They were taught that God has a plan and purpose for their lives and through Him, there is hope. The hugs that we received those days carry us through and beckon us back to do more.
In June we expanded into prison ministry. Through Chuck Colson’s program, Innerchange Freedom Initiative (IFI), we have began teaching a weekly class on leadership and holding monthly worship services at Lansing Prison. For worship services we bring in a ministry team to provide prayer for the inmates at the end of the service. Each time we return we hear testimony of answers to those prayers. Relationships are being restored and men are making commitments to Christ. It is amazing to witness.
Through the incredible support and donations, we were able to bless the inmates in IFI at Lansing Minimum Security Unit with Christmas gifts and cards. One of the most touching moments was to hear gasps when they found out that each gift had their individual names on the card. It is amazing how blessed a man feels to be known by his name. We have actually witnessed that same affect at our retreats where each guest receives a name tag instead of a food ticket. It seems to take a person out of their situation when you refer to them by their name and not their label.
We are excited about what God has in store for 2010! This month we will be bringing Edward Tandy McGlasson in from Anaheim, CA to speak at the prison. He is a former NFL football player, the author of the book The Difference a Father Makes, and a renowned speaker. I personally know of many men whose lives have been changed after hearing Edward’s message. Please be praying over his visits, that God will anoint the services, and these men will step into the important roles they have as fathers as they grow in their relationship with their Heavenly Father.
In addition to continuing our weekly prayer group, weekly leadership class, monthly worship services at Lansing Prison, quarterly retreats at Hope Faith Ministries, and children outreaches at the family centers, we will begin teaching Oaks of Righteousness at Lansing Prison. Since before our first retreat, we felt led to pursue getting Oaks of Righteousness into prisons. We are excited that God has opened the door so quickly to make this happen. Please add this to your prayer list. This ministry has proven to be extremely effective in people getting healed from emotional wounds and set free from bondages that have kept them in a cycle of addiction and crime. I know that this could be the key to breaking the cycle for some of these inmates and insuring they don’t return to prison.
We humbly thank each of you that have supported Beauty for Ashes Ministry with your time, talents, and treasures. We pray that you are rewarded abundantly for all that you do. We are excited about partnering together to continue this work. Please remember this ministry in your prayers and be sure to come out to be a part of the outreaches. It takes each of us playing our part for God to reach those that he wants to reach through this ministry.
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