An encouraging start to 2022

This new year is off to a great start. It's been a very encouraging start of what I'm expecting to be another tremendous year of growth in spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ, making disciples, and meeting needs of the homeless and poor.

God knows how to encourage us, and that's what He did in the first week of 2022.

Let me start with a young man He directed to Love In Action for the first time. Abdul Karim is originally from the country of Turkey. About two years ago someone in North Carolina told him about Jesus and led him to give his life to Jesus. However, that was it. There wasn't and hasn't been any teaching about what to do next or how to live this life for Jesus.

Bro. Suhail started talking with him and teaching him about Jesus. Suhail told him about baptism and he immediately said he wanted to be baptized. I was in the warehouse at that time, so Suhail brought him to see me. This young man was excited to be learning about Jesus, and when I said let's fill up the baptismal trough and baptize him, he started clapping his hands and saying, "Yes! Yes!"

I told him I wish everyone was as excited as he was about following Jesus in baptism. Suhail and I baptized him. I believe in baptizing as soon as possible, and since he understood and was so excited, there's no way I could put his baptism off. He had gone two years without knowing anything other than he prayed to surrender his life to Jesus.

He is excited about starting discipleship classes and going with us on outreaches to learn how to pray with others and share Jesus with others. Please keep Abdul Karim in your prayers. He is homeless, but he has a car and is excited about getting a job and moving forward in Jesus. And, praise be to God, he was hired for a new job yesterday.

One More Soul came to Jesus and was baptized yesterday (Tuesday, Jan. 11) at Love In Action. Praise Jesus! After he prayed to surrender his life to Jesus, Bro. Suhail talked to him about baptism. Our new brother, Abdul Karim, encouraged him by saying, “You need to be baptized today!” Abdul Karim is so excited about Jesus. He is telling others about Jesus and says, “I love Him so much.” He even helped in the baptism yesterday.

God is touching hearts and lives are being transformed. This is another reason we are remodeling Suite 1 to turn it into the Love In Action School of Discipleship.

Then on Thursday God encouraged me again with two individuals who are at The Ark. We hold our Samaritan Clinic for the homeless on Thursdays, and on the first Thursday we start with patients from The Ark. These men and women are trying to put their lives back together, and it all starts with a solid foundation built on Jesus Christ. So, to further encourage them, we set a day and time aside for them.

As I walked out of Suite 6 last Thursday, I heard, "Bro. Ken." It was a man I knew from the streets. He had been homeless, and like so many of our homeless friends, he was spinning his wheels trying to do things his way and not taking the time to let Jesus transform his life.

He said, "I've finally made it here." I am so thankful. We encourage our homeless friends to go to The Ark, which is a Christian ministry with a 12-month in-house program. I hugged him and encouraged him to stay with the program and let Jesus do a great work in him."

Then, there was a woman who we knew for the past 3-4 years. She had been in and out of homelessness. We had encouraged her several years ago to apply for The Ark's women's program, but she didn't. Thursday was the first time I had seen her in a long time, and it was so good to see she made the decision to get the help she needed.

Both, the man and the woman, thanked us for all we did for them while they were homeless. They remembered everything, even what we might think are little things. It was a reminder that everything we do matters. Everything we say and do should always bring glory to God and give grace to others.