A great weekend

Since the weekend of Thanksgiving 2008, Martha and I have been working with three men in Dothan, Ala., (Russ, Dave and Bryan) who found themselves homeless and needing the hope of Jesus Christ in their lives. It's been a good, and at times tough, six weeks. This weekend was a very good time as we all enjoyed great times of fellowship together.

Martha and I worked at the warehouse painting and getting the conference room completed. This room will be used for Bible studies and meetings. Martha did a great job painting. The room looks great. Our friend Franklin Moore had already cleaned the carpet and floor, so the room is now ready to use. Praise God!

Saturday afternoon Russ called me and said, "I promised you that I would help you frame walls for the bathroom at the warehouse." We had talked throughout the week about doing that. We picked him up and went to Lowe's to pick up some supplies. There isn't a bathroom at the warehouse, so one is badly needed.

We got the walls framed and put up Saturday afternoon. Well, it was mostly Russ. He's an outstanding carpenter. I told him to tell me what to do and I'll stay out of the way the rest of the time. :-)

Sunday morning all three of the men were once again in church. The praise and worship was great as always, and Pastor Ralph really brought a great message, which happens every week. This week his message was about the new year and what will we do with our time. Russ enjoyed it so much he got a copy of the message.

Sunday afternoon Russ and Bryan joined Martha and me at the warehouse. We put up sheet rock and got all the tape and mud on it. Dave came by as well. We got a lot accomplished, but what I enjoyed the most was the fellowship.

We all need good Christian fellowship and they experienced that this weekend, and they enjoyed it. Bryan told me as he was leaving, "I really enjoyed that." He hasn't had much to smile about for a long time, so to see him smile and say that he enjoyed the fellowship and ministry was awesome! I explained to them that what they did this weekend was ministry. It isn't all about preaching and teaching. A lot of ministry happens behind the scenes. They thought that was pretty cool and were thankful that they did indeed do a lot of ministry this weekend.

Russ told me, "I really enjoyed this weekend. This is what I need."

I see God working in all of their lives. They each are hungry for God and I know God is working miracles in their lives. They still have a ways to go to get back on their feet, but they are progressing.

Keep them in your prayers. Keep all of the homeless in your prayers. God loves them just as much as He loves everyone else. We're all equal in His sight.

Go to our Web site at www.loveinactionministries.com for a photo slideshow from this weekend.