Kathy and Robert Reyes, accompanied by 6 other Beauty for Ashes team participants, fed over 100 inmates and nearly 200 family members hotdogs, pork & beans, potato salad, and potato chips, followed up with what turned out to be the highlight of  the event, home-made cookies and ice cream.  The men were totally overjoyed by hospitality, many of which just couldn’t thank us enough.

One team member said she just couldn’t believe how these big, grown men just sat there, almost like antsy little boys, just looking and waiting for their parents. Team member Geri Hord remarked witnessing one gentleman who saw his son come in, and when the son saw daddy, he ran into his arms, and she doesn’t think he put him down the entire 3 ½ hours of the visitation!

Jeff Hord and Brother Love had many laughs throughout a 45-minute long ice cream & cookie eating contest.  Though Jeff devoured 4 bowls and several handfuls of cookies, Brother Love came in the big winner at 5 bowls and over a dozen cookies!

It was truly a day of fun had by all including rekindled relationships, and in Godly terms, restoration.

The quote of the day, and probably of the year so far was given to Derk Hanna and Jeff Hord when one of the inmates came up to them after the event was closed out and said “I just want to thank you guys for putting together and bringing this event to Lansing for us.”  “This was the first time in over four years that I have seen my family.”

WOW!!!  God is TRULY a God of restoration.  PRAISE BE TO GOD!!!

Original Can I Get A Witness Event

At our last retreat in 2009 at Hope Faith we opened the day with several guest speakers, and then during the afternoon we opened the microphone up to the Hope Faith Clients.  They shared some very heartfelt testimonies, and was so popular among volunteers and clients alike, by the end of the day we were calling it the “Can I Get A Witness” retreat.

This turned out to be one of our best retreats ever, and was such a HUGE success all around that due to popular demand, we are doing it again!  This coming Sunday, March 28^th, Beauty for Ashes Ministry will be hosting our second “Can I Get A Witness” retreat at Hope Faith, and we are inviting you to participate and be blessed too. 

We will be serving a B & G breakfast  at 7:30, followed by worship at 8:30, and then 2 special guest speakers sharing testimonies and teachings.  We will then serve a Fried Chicken dinner at 11:30, with homemade mashed potatoes, green beans, gravy and bread, and THEN will be opening up the microphone to worship and testimonies from the Hope Faith clients.  I know a gentleman by the name of Brian will be sharing his gift of music and blessing us with some worship music, and another gentleman by the name of Desmond will be blessing us with a testimony.  Where it goes from there, only Holy Spirit knows, but Holy Spirit ALWAYS has His way at Hope Faith, and I guarantee this will turn out to be a very blessed day for all who share in the event.

If you are interested in serving in any capacity, be it food service, ministry, testimony, worship, or just want to come and mingle, be sure to let us know.  You can contact Jeff Hord for further details. Call Jeff at 816.721.3667, email Jeff to learn more.

Many thanks for your loyal and committed participation in the Beauty for Ashes Ministry events, and we are looking forward to serving God with you again soon

When: Thursday, March 11, 6:30p.m.-8:30p.m.

Where: Vineyard Church North Campus Auditorium

Refreshments, testimonies, worship, and inmate art display.

RSVP by March 8 to Derk Hanna at (816) 550-6847 or email to dhanna2403@aol.com

On the first night of Ed’s visit, he took his message to the IFI cell house in the Maximum Security Unit at Lansing Prison.  This is the first time that Beauty for Ashes has put on a service in the IFI cell house.  As soon as the program started, the presence of the Holy Spirit was overwhelming.  Our stage was the bottom floor of the cell house.  Looking up and seeing three stories of cells was a powerful reminder of where we were.  As soon as Ed started his message on receiving a new name from our Heavenly father, you could hear a pin drop.  It’s been our experience that father issues cut deep and this night was no exception.

 Toward the end of the service, we had many men make a decision for Christ, no matter how many times we witness people coming to the Lord, it’s always powerful and always moving.  To end the evening, Ed asked how many men had not received their earthly father’s blessing and had not been called out into manhood?  At least two thirds of this large group of men stood up.  After they stood up, Ed gave them all the Father’s Blessing and called them into manhood.  It was so powerful to witness the Holy Spirit move through the cell house, by this time there were dozens of other men hanging over the railings of their cells, listening to Ed’s message and accepting the father’s blessing.  At this point, our team moved into the crowd and started praying for these newly anointed men in Christ.  What a powerful powerful night.

On the second night of Ed’s visit, he took his message to the general population of the East Unit at Lansing Prison, several hundred men attended.  Again, at the end of the night, Ed asked if there was anyone present who had not yet accepted Christ or who had claimed to be a Christian but felt that they were Christian “posers”, once again a group of men walked to the front of the hall and stood in front of Ed.  Ed led them through the salvation prayer, after which there were a whole lot of hugs and high fives, and a huge round of applause for the assembled group.  At the end of this night, Ed had all of the men who had not been called into manhood by their Earthly fathers to assemble at the back of the hall, on this night at least ninety percent of the men in the room gathered at the back of the hall.  He then had the remaining men form two lines at the center of the room, calling it the “Blessing Wall”.  Then after Ed gave the men the Father’s Blessing, each man filed past the Blessing Wall having each member of the Blessing Wall shake their hand and tell them “you are now a man of God”.  It was so overwhelming to see grown men, so called “hardened criminals” break down and cry after being called out.  It’s a night that we all felt privileged to be a part of.

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.

Please cover the Innerchange Freedom Initiative (IFI) program in your prayers.  God has done many amazing things in the lives of the inmates through this program.  We pray that God will continue to show his favor over them as future decisions are made.  Also please be praying for the inmates that are in IFI.  Pray that they see God’s hand at work through this time and that they grow closer to God as a result.  Remind the enemy that he has been defeated and that in the name of Jesus he MUST FLEE! 

We may not be able to go into the prison at this time as volunteers, but we can still have a huge impact on the prison as prayer warriors.  So armor up and go to battle.  We will keep you posted!

With 15, 20-pound birds being donated so far, we have made great strides toward supplying the turkeys needed to feed 250 people, but still have needs for the fixings to finish out the dinner menu.  Our current needs are as follows:

• 80 pounds of potatoes
  250 servings of stuffing
  300 dinner rolls
  10 more homemade pumpkin pies
  10 more homemade apple pies

We will be preparing the fixings on Monday, November 30th from 8a.m. – 2p.m.  (site to be announced), and will be putting together the gift bags for inmates and their families on that Monday evening at Vineyard Church.  If you feel led to purchase any portion of the above listed items, or would like to help prepare the food or put together gift packages, PLEASE contact Gina Hanna at (816) 721-2803, or email Gina.Hanna[at]bfaministry.com, or contact Jeff  Hord at (816) 721-3667, or email to Jeff.Hord[at]bfaministry.com for details.

We look forward to serving an AWESOME God with you, and can’t wait to see how God makes a very beautiful, meaningful event out of this night.  I know God is in the restoration business, and we believe God will be restoring family relationships in a HUGE way this evening.  Hope you can be a part in some capacity, and I know God will bless you for doing so!

Many thanks to all the volunteers and speakers who made this event a success.    We are the hands and feet; today I would say the church truly left the building!

We also have some great guest speakers giving some very powerful testimonies, along with worship times throughout the day.  If you get a chance, please stop by. You can just listen to the testimonies and worship, you will have opportunities to minister if you’d like, and we can even put you to work if you want us to!  Guaranteed good time and God WILL show up in a BIG way as HE always does!  Hope to see you there.