It's much more than a warehouse

While we were driving back from Memphis, TN, a couple of weeks ago, we were talking about the awesome things God has done this year at the Love In Action warehouse in Dothan, Ala. That's when LIA board member Justin Swasey said it was much more than a warehouse and suggested that we call it the Love In Action Ministry Center.

Justin is absolutely right, it is much more than a warehouse. Yes, we do store a large amount of supplies there to help the homeless and needy in Dothan and throughout the nation. It has made that phase of our ministry extremely effective and efficient.

But God has transformed it into so much more than a warehouse. A year ago we started having Bible study on Wednesday nights. At first there were three of us - Martha, me and a homeless man. It has grown to where we average 30-40 people every Wednesday night.

On Oct. 3, we started having Celebrate Recovery at the warehouse every Tuesday night thanks to Tabernacle United Methodist Church. There were 63 at the first meeting. Now we average around 80, in just over two months.

Through Celebrate Recovery and Bible studies, we have seen souls saved and lives transformed. We have become a ministry that has embraced the entire Great Commission Jesus gave all of us in Matthew 28:19-20, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

For the first eight years of LIA we did a great job of "going" and reaching the lost and hurting and leading them to Jesus. Since we didn't have a true headquarters or home base like we do now with the warehouse, we always referred the homeless to churches who will help them and teach them the word of God (discipleship). Now that we have the warehouse, we are providing discipleship. However, we are not a church, so we make sure to encourage everyone to be in church on Sundays. Many of them go to our home church at Harvest.

For the past two months. we have taught Discipleship Phase 1 on Wednesday nights. Last week, 15 people completed all the requirements to move on to Phase 2. It's an awesome course written by our pastor Ralph Sigler of Harvest Church. It's life-changing, and we witnessed some of the men from the Houston County Community Corrections work release program putting what they learned into practice last Tuesday night during Celebrate Recovery.

As the band led worship, a homeless man walked through the front door. I greeted him and he said his name was Jessie and he had just gotten off a train. He had been "riding the rail" from Austin, TX. There are train tracks directly behind our warehouse and the trains are often stopping and hooking up and unhooking box cars.

Jessie said he heard the music and came in. He stayed for the entire Celebrate Recovery service. After Russell Ham preached God's word I gave an altar call. I saw three of the men who never miss a Wednesday night walk over to Jessie and start ministering to him. They listened, talked to him and prayed for him. It was awesome to see. They learned how to share their faith and were putting it into action.

We were able to help Jessie with supplies that we have at the warehouse, like new boots, duffel bags, clothes, food, hygiene items, and an inflatable mattress that rolls up to make it easy to travel with. But Jessie left with so much more. He left with the love of Jesus. After we all prayed for him, he had tears rolling down his face when he gave each of us a hug. You have to understand, the homeless, especially those who have been homeless for years, don't trust people. So, a homeless person hugging others is unusual. We hugged him back, and he left with great encouragement.

That's just one example of what God has done in the lives of people at the LIA warehouse. That's why we will start referring to it as the LIA Ministry Center from now on. It is still a warehouse, but it is really a ministry center.

Thank you for praying for Love In Action and thank you to those who give financially and donate supplies like food, clothes and furniture. We couldn't do it without you.

Thank you and have a very blessed Christmas.