Thankful for Thanksgiving outreach

The view inside the Love In Action warehouse Wednesday night made tears well up in mine and Martha's eyes. It was a beautiful sight as 200 people filled the warehouse for Love In Action's Thanksgiving service/dinner.

They came from tents in the woods, from a homeless shelter for veterans, from impoverished neighborhoods, and from the Houston County Community Corrections work release program. People who otherwise wouldn't be enjoying a traditional Thanksgiving dinner that most of us take for granted.

The volunteers came from at least five different churches in three cities - Tabernacle United Methodist, Harvest Church, Covenant United Methodist Church (all three churches are in Dothan), Christ-Life Church in Enterprise, and Southside Baptist Church in Ozark. If I left any out, please forgive me. There was an army of volunteers there. It was the Body of Christ doing what we are supposed to be doing ... lifting up the name of Jesus Christ and not individual church buildings. The church is not a building, it is those of us who believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

Wednesday night, the Body of Christ was reaching out to the hurting. Providing food and clothing to the poor. Visiting those in jail by bringing them to the service. That's what Jesus did when He walked on this earth. That's what Jesus is talking about in Matthew 25: 35-40 when He said, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." (v40). Jesus promises in Matthew 25: 34 that when we live a life like that, we will hear these awesome words: "Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world."

The team of volunteers was awesome. We had so many, at first it looked like we would have more volunteers than people to serve. But then people started pouring into the warehouse. It blessed me to see homeless veterans come from the House of Benjamin. Another Vietnam veteran we recently helped come off the streets was there and he was a great help during the clean up phase of the night. He wanted to help. He asked to help. I love it when he tells me and Martha, "You never get too tired to serve the Lord, do you."

We got the word out through word of mouth and through fliers in a popular soup kitchen and the library. Many homeless people enjoy going to the library. Many of them enjoy reading, plus it provides a warm place on cold days. It worked as there were people there Martha and I had never met before.

Then we cleared out the work release facility. Thanks to Emanuel Christian School giving us the use of their bus and bus driver, we were able to bring 37 men to the warehouse in one trip. And, thanks to Harvest Church for the use of their van, we were able to bring nine women in one trip. There were only three men left at work release on Wednesday night. They chose not to come. All the rest of the men and all of the women were either at the warehouse or working.

We have never had 200 people in the warehouse before. To accommodate them, we had to borrow a lot of tables and chairs. Thanks to Tabernacle and Harvest, everyone had a seat at the table. We also thank Calvary Baptist in New Brockton for donating chairs to LIA. Chairs and tables are a huge need now at the warehouse since our ministry has seen tremendous growth this year.

The night started off with Alan Watson and his brother Phillip leading praise and worship. Alan is on the praise and worship team at Harvest and is a very talented and anointed worship leader. Everyone stood up and worshiped God together. It was awesome! I loved it when Alan and Phillip stopped playing at one point and just let the people sing. I know all of those voices reached Heaven. It was beautiful.

Then Brian Turner preached an awesome message about sharing life together, sharing a spot at the dinner table with others. Brian is on the LIA board of directors and assistant to the senior pastor at Harvest. He is an incredible speaker. He digs deep in the Word of God and explains it in a way everyone can understand. He has a great gift of teaching God's Word. He is very anointed. He is one of the best I've heard teaching and preaching God's word.

When he finished, we invited people up for prayer. Our prayer team members prayed with a lot of people as they responded to God's word. There were many needs and many tears shed. One need that really touched my heart came from a child. He walked up front with his cousin, who is in work release, and simply said, "Pray for my family." Wow! There he was, a child, holding his cousin's hand and wanting prayer for his family. So many children are hurting because they either don't have a family or the one they have is dysfunctional. Do you think God heard that little guy's prayer? I have no doubt God did. We see throughout the ministry of Jesus how He loved children, and in Matthew 18, He tells us that we need to have childlike faith.

After the great time of prayer, it was time to eat. Our army of volunteers served our guests. They remained seated at the tables while our volunteers brought their plates stacked high with food and drinks to them. Jesus calls us to serve, so this was another way to serve others.

Everyone enjoyed their dinner and walked out stuffed and talking about how great everything was, from the music to the preaching to the food to the fellowship. It was simply an incredibly awesome night. Thank you God for Wednesday night and for everything you are doing.

Martha and I want to say a very special thank you to all of the wonderful people at Tabernacle. They sponsored the entire event. They bought the food. They cooked it all. And, many of their members were there serving the people. The event wouldn't have happened without them. We are totally blown away by how they have come alongside LIA. They are investing a good amount of money and time to reach the lost and hurting. Celebrate Recovery happens every Tuesday night because of Tabernacle. Lives are being changed by the power of God, and He is using Tabernacle in a great way.

We also want to thank our home church, Harvest. Some of the best people in the world attend Harvest. They support us in so many great ways too. Their financial support has helped us get close to 40 homeless people off the streets this year. They give us the use of a bunch of chairs. They have donated many different items that have made our ministry at the warehouse much more efficient and effective. People come out an invest their time through volunteer work.

There are other churches like Christ-Life in Enterprise, Southside in Ozark, and Crossroads in Enterpise that have come alongside us and are helping us reach the lost and hurting.

There are so many individuals from our hometown of Dothan, Ala., and throughout the nation who financially support LIA. We couldn't do everything we do without each of you. It takes money to do ministry. We have rent each month on our warehouse, which God uses to reach the homeless throughout the nation. We have utilities to pay each month at the warehouse. We have insurance each month on the warehouse and van. Soon we'll have insurance and a monthly payment for the bus. We purchase and ship hygiene items. We transport items like boots, blankets, hygiene items, coats and other clothing to places like Atlanta, Baton Rouge, and in a couple of weeks, Memphis.

Every dollar, quarter, penny given to LIA goes into the ministry. God has blessed Martha and me with good jobs, so our needs are taken care of through our jobs. Nobody receives any money or perks. Everything is done entirely on a volunteer basis. We like it that way. It means more people can be helped, and for those involved it means more when you do something for others not expecting anything in return except for the wonderful blessings of God.

Martha and I have so much to be thankful for. We thank God for His son Jesus, His Holy Spirit, our marriage, our family, LIA and everyone who supports LIA, and for all of the homeless, lost and hurting God has allowed us to meet and minister to.

Thank you and we pray everyone enjoys a beautiful Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday.