'Wake up and look around'

“Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.” - John 4:35 (KJV)

I like the way the New Living Translation writes these words of Jesus, " But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest."

Jesus was telling His disciples, and He is telling us today, "Wake up, open your eyes; there are hurting and lost people all around you. Go tell them I love them and bring them into My kingdom."

Take a quick survey of what you are doing with your time. How much do you pray? Do you read God's Word? If so, how often? Daily? Weekly? Monthly? How much time do you spend watching TV? Do you tell anyone about Jesus? Do you show His love to others through your actions? Do you do more for yourself or for others? This Christmas season, are you focused more on gifts or on The Gift, who is the One we celebrate?

How did your survey turn out? This blog post isn't meant to condemn anyone, it's to help all of us do what Jesus tells us in John 4:35, "Wake up and look around." It's so important to heed His words. People are dying every day. Eternity is at stake. When we die we will either go to Heaven or Hell, both are real places. Heaven is eternity with God our Father. Hell is total separation from God our Father forever. We can make a difference in a person's eternity by showing the love of Jesus to them, and by sharing with them what Jesus has done in our lives.

Action speaks louder than words, though. I like the way St. Francis of Assisi said it, "Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words."

Let's be sure we are doing that. Let's don't waste time by getting caught up in worldly activities. Now, events and hobbies aren't bad in and of themselves. The problem is when they dominate our thoughts and time.

I encourage you to read John 4 today. Read how Jesus broke down walls by talking with a Samaritan. See how he reached out to the woman and changed her eternal destination. See how He carried out His own "Great Commission" (Matthew 28:19-20) by going and reaching the people and then teaching them. Read how He teaches His disciples and explains things to them in John 4:34-38.

Jesus tells them that He receives His spiritual nourishment from doing the will of the Father; by finishing the work that the Father has given Him. We must do the same. Let's follow His example. God has given each of us a job to do. We receive joy and gain strength through doing it. So, let's do it, and spend our time "doing the will of God."

This is why we do what we do

This afternoon showed me why we do what we do with our Adopt-A-Block program at Love In Action.

On Sundays after church, we deliver bread to people throughout the neighborhood where we do our weekly Saturday Adopt-A-Block outreach. On our last stop, we visited Mr. Freddie. He's an elderly man missing one of his feet. He spends most of his time on the couch or in his wheel chair.

We first met him on Thanksgiving Day as volunteers delivered dinner throughout the neighborhood. The next two weeks we have gone back to clean up and do repairs on his house and take him more food.

Today when Martha, Shaun and I arrived, he just smiled at us, and then started crying. He said, "Y'all are so good to me. The Lord is so good. Everything y'all been doing for me ... I can't even talk about it without crying. It makes me feel so good."

Praise God! I told him that's Jesus showing His love for him and smiling upon him. Mr. Freddie said, "God is good isn't He."

He looked at Shaun and talked about Thanksgiving Day as Shaun was one of the volunteers who brought dinner to Mr. Freddie. A woman in the neighborhood told us about him and encouraged us to take him dinner. Mr. Freddie said he sure was glad she did that.

He told us that in all of the years he has lived at his house in downtown Dothan, nobody has ever given him anything. He said they have only taken from him.

Mr. Freddie is a precious man. It is so good to see him smile and talk about the goodness of God.

I asked him if he had ever asked Jesus into his heart to be his Lord and Savior. He said yes, he did years ago. Then I asked if we could pray before we left, and he said yes, and then he prayed. It was such a wonderful prayer. He thanked God for everything. He cried tears of joy as he prayed.

We left praising God. Such an awesome display of God's love and someone being so thankful for it.

Please keep our Adopt-A-Block outreach and all of our ministries lifted up in your prayers. God is doing an amazing work. We have recently seen seven people make decisions for Jesus. Praise God! Lives are being changed by the love and power of God. It is wonderful to see and humbling to be part of it.

Thank you for your prayers, financial support, and volunteering. Together, we are making a difference for the glory of God.

Making a difference

Making a difference in people's lives is something we should all strive to do. Making that difference an eternal one is what we should all be doing. As a child of God, we can make an eternal difference through the power of God working within us.

How do we do that? It's pretty easy. God has given us all a cause. All we have to do is do it. I like how Jesus puts it in Luke 2:49, "Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” That's it! We must be about our Father's business.

At Love In Action our cause is to reach the homeless and needy with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We do that through acts of compassion. Our newest outreach to show the love of Jesus to people is Adopt-A-Block. This is a powerful weekly outreach and my favorite because we are out in the neighborhood taking Jesus to the people, not waiting for them to come to a building. 


In just two weeks, we are already seeing a change in the community. One woman came to our Thanksgiving Day lunch and accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior. People are accepting our offers of prayers. Today, a young man asked one of our volunteers to tell him more about Jesus. People's needs are being met.


We have raked three yards, worked on two roofs to stop leaks, repaired a screen door and a back door, repaired a toilet and put light bulbs in a single woman's house and a house of an elderly man.


We met an elderly man who is a disabled veteran on Thanksgiving Day. Some of our volunteers knocked on his door and entered when he said to come in. They saw a man in a wheel chair with his left leg propped up. He doesn't have a left foot. What else they quickly discovered was the horrendous conditions he lived in. His house probably hadn't been cleaned in years. Cluttered, sticky ... you pick the adjective and that's what it looked and smelled like.


We went back on Saturday during Adopt-A-Block and a team of volunteers went to work. Bags were filled with trash and taken to the street. Floors, walls, cabinets, tub and toilet were scrubbed. His yard was raked. He was all smiles at the end of the day. He kept saying, "Thank You Jesus." We aren't finished at his house. There is plenty more to do.

Another part of Adopt-A-Block is picking up trash throughout the neighborhood. We were on a street yesterday where there were two vacant lots filled with trash. I told a woman we were going to clean up that lot. She was so thankful. She said the people who live on that street had contacted the city to clean up those lots. I told her we were doing it, and people on that street thanked us as they saw the cleaned lots.

Making a person's house more livable, cleaning neighborhoods and fixing leaky roofs are all acts of compassion that shows the love of Jesus Christ. We are planting and watering seeds of God's love. We will see a bountiful harvest reaped. This is just the beginning. It's exciting watching God transform lives and entire neighborhoods.


Please keep Adopt-A-Block in your prayers, and please continue to financially support Love In Action to help us help those in need

A very happy Thanksgiving

Today's Love In Action Thanksgiving outreach was as beautiful as the blue skies and bright sunshine overhead. More than 70 volunteers selflessly gave of their time to serve about 300 plates of juicy turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce and all the trimmings.

The recipients were the homeless and needy in downtown Dothan, Ala. The love of God was easily seen in each smile and heard in every kind word of the volunteers. The sparkle in the eyes of the needy and their expressions of gratitude let us know those we served were indeed thankful on this Thanksgiving Day.

Our cooking team began the day early at 5:30 at the First United Methodist Church in Dothan. We thank the good people at First UMC for allowing us to use their kitchen to prepare the meal. More volunteers came later in the morning to put all of the plates together, then load them in the back of pick up trucks to be transported to the Love In Action Ministry Center.

More volunteers at the ministry center unloaded the plates and set them up inside ready to be served. Ice was placed in cups and tea was poured. I greeted the crowd and shared some Bible verses about being thankful, then shared about the importance of accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

Pastor Dwight Deal then shared some Bible verses, thanked the volunteers and prayed over the meal. Dwight is a Love In Action board member, and he organized and led the cooking efforts. Dwight excels in logistics.

Then lunch was served and everyone enjoyed it, not only the food, but the fellowship as well.

It was during lunch that one of our volunteers introduced me to one of our guests. A thin, frail woman talked about some issues in her life. We talked for a little while, then I asked if she had a relationship with Jesus; was He her Lord and Savior? She couldn't say yes. She said she went to church. I told her a lot of people go to church, but not everyone has a relationship with Jesus.

I told her I was not going to pressure her, but I wanted her to know if she wanted to make sure Jesus was her Lord and Savior, I would be more than happy to pray with her. She said, "Yes, let's pray," but she wanted to go into the sanctuary. I grabbed Dwight and his wife Vickie as we walked into the sanctuary and we prayed with her. She gave her life to Jesus and also asked for prayer for her family. Praise God! That is what it is all about. Another soul whose eternity completely changed today. She has the assurance of everlasting life with God now. She lives in our Adopt-A-Block area, so we will be able to easily follow up with her. She also said she will be coming to the LIA Ministry Center on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

After the crowd thinned out we hit the streets with plates of food. Our first stop was at a group of apartments where mostly Hispanics live. They are thankful, and seemed a bit surprised that we came to serve them.

Then we went into the neighborhood where we started our Adopt-A-Block outreach. To say the people were happy to see us would be an understatement.

Some of our volunteers visited a house where a man was sitting in a chair with his footless leg propped up. He said he had prayed and hoped someone would bring him food today. God answered his prayer. Praise God! One after another said how they had hoped someone would bring them dinner today. See, the people in this neighborhood are extremely poor. Most couldn't afford to buy food for a big meal.

What a blessing it is to be a blessing, and I can't thank God enough for the honor to serve Him.

Many people helped with this incredible outreach. Martha and I thank all of you ... those who prayed, gave financially, and volunteered. As the Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:16, we also, "... have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers."

It was indeed a very happy Thanksgiving.

Adopt-A-Block underway

 The streets highlighted and those inside that area are the streets where we are conducting Adopt-A-Block.

Love In Action spreads the Gospel of Jesus Christ through acts of compassion, and yesterday we started a new outreach to further our mission. With 18 volunteers, we started our Adopt-A-Block outreach.

This is an outreach we will do every Saturday in the neighborhood surrounding the Love In Action Ministry Center in downtown Dothan. It is an impoverished neighborhood that has pretty much been written off by most people in Dothan. God hasn't forgotten about the people, and we are going door-to-door serving them. We were well received by the people on Saturday.

We learned this outreach from our friends at the L.A. Dream Center in Los Angeles, Calif. (http://www.dreamcenter.org) While in L.A. a decade ago on two difference occasions, we had the honor to go out with the Dream Center for their Adopt-A-Block, and it was amazing.

The concept is simple. Jesus taught us to serve, so that's what we do through Adopt-A-Block. We are not trying to cram Jesus down people's throats. We are serving and loving them. By doing that, we are showing them the love of Jesus and that opens the doors to share Jesus with them.

The first thing we did yesterday was pick up trash throughout the neighborhood, and man, did we ever pick up trash. We filled our dumpster to overflowing with all of the trash we picked up. Click here to check it out in a photo slide show.

We also handed out fliers door-to-door to invite people to our Thanksgiving Day dinner. A number of people were excited about the opportunity to have a good dinner on Thanksgiving Day.

We also pray with people and if there are any projects we can do for them we will. Yesterday one of our groups came across an elderly man who needed his back yard raked. With his bad back, he just couldn't do it, so three of our guys raked it for him. He was very thankful.

That's serving, and the doors God will open through this outreach will be incredible.

The more volunteers we have the more streets we can adopt. So, if you are interested in joining us, please come out on Saturdays at 9:45 a.m. Just two hours a week can help change lives. Once you get involved and help people you will not want to stop.

Thank you volunteers!

I often tell people we have the greatest volunteers in the world at Love In Action, and I mean it. Our folks rock!

Here's a great example and further proof. When Martha and I announced we were going to Ecuador for nearly two weeks, some people asked if we were closing the Love In Action Ministry Center while we were gone. We quickly responded, "No, ministry will continue as usual."

Some people had puzzled looks on their faces after our answer. But we weren't puzzled. See, our team of volunteers are awesome! They are dedicated and responding to the cause God placed in their hearts. They enjoy serving God by serving the homeless, incarcerated and needy.

We have placed leaders in positions to lead the different ministries at Love In Action. Martha and I can't do it all, especially while I work full time as well. If it was just Martha and me, we wouldn't be doing nearly as much ministry out of the LIA Ministry Center. In fact, we wouldn't have the ministry center. We couldn't do it by ourselves.

While in Ecuador, the ministry operated seamlessly, without a hitch in Dothan. Celebrate Recovery Inside had its largest crowd ever at the ministry center. Bible study continued, as did the health clinic for the homeless, Friday night coffee house, Saturday work day and Saturday laundry ministry.

At the same time, LIA volunteers were in Ecuador, by using their own money, ministering at an orphanage, on the streets of Puyo, in the jungle and teaching missionaries about Celebrate Recovery. Wow! Praise God! Ministry on two continents at the same time! To God goes all the praise and glory!

Martha and I can't thank our volunteers enough. Those who lead ministries and those who serve in each ministry are amazing. They take time out of their busy schedules to serve the "least of these" as Jesus tells us to do in Matthew 25:35-40. They are responding to the our Lord's Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20.

God places a cause in each of our hearts. How we respond to that is the key. If we don't step out and do what God calls us to do there is a huge void in our lives and we are not fulfilled. When we do say "Yes" to God and go after that cause with all that's within us, we live rich, fulfilled lives and experience joy unlike anything we can explain.

Thank you volunteers for everything that each of you do. This ministry is not about Martha and me. It's not about any one person. It's all about God and sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ through acts of compassion with the "least of these." To reach the lost and hurting and leading them to Jesus so they can experience His amazing love.

Volunteers, you are the best. Thank you and God bless all of you.

'Wherever You lead, I'll go"

Our trip to Ecuador was simply amazing. There are many things I could write about, and probably will as I continue to digest everything that went on during the trip.

One thing for sure is God directed our paths. We traveled to Ecuador with some ideas of what we would be doing, but nothing concrete except for the work we would do at the Casa de Fe orphanage. And, if that was all we would do we would be very happy and fulfilled. The people who run Casa de Fe do an incredible job. They are certainly God's hands and feet in Ecuador. Amazing people.

Martha and I had prayed a lot about Ecuador before going , and we decided if God wanted us to make connections for Love In Action to make a long-term impact there then we would leave that totally up to Him. I learned long ago that God doesn't need my help. I will only mess things up.

From the moment we arrived in Shell, Ecuador, God started opening doors.

We connected with a two precious people - Rick and Sharon LeBouef. They have been missionaries in Ecuador for more than 30 years. Rick preaches the Gospel of Jesus Christ daily on the streets of Puyo, Ecuador. We had the honor of ministering with Rick and a new missionary named Andy.

Rick just got his plane back up in the air and now flies to the jungle regularly to help the tribes in the Amazon Rain Forest. His son does the flying. The people in the jungle have many needs, and Love In Action will become more involved in helping them and spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ to them.

We met a number of missionaries while in Shell. Our Celebrate Recovery directors Emily and Judy did a wonderful job of introducing CR to them, and they were very receptive.This program can be a great source of encouragement and growth for them.

We also met a great married couple who have started a church in their home in Shell with land to expand. Keith and Loly are precious and they have tremendous hearts for reaching the lost in the Shell-Puyo area. We had a wonderful time of prayer with them.

Also, Andy and Priscilla are two young missionaries with a great vision for reaching the lost and hurting with the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the Shell-Puyo area and in the jungle.

One thing that really stood out to me was the children. They were everywhere playing and running around with little to no adult supervision. When I mentioned the word "futbol," they got excited and we started kicking the soccer ball around. They enjoyed attention from an adult, even if I couldn't speak their language. Just someone to kick the soccer ball with. Kind of like throwing a baseball or football here in the U.S.

And of course there's Casa de Fe. Those children are some of the most precious children I have ever met, and the staff some of the most focused. So loving and caring. Like all kids, they just want to be loved and have a home of their own. There is a great vision and plan for growing the orphanage, and it will be a blessing and an honor to be involved with them.


My mind is churning and ideas keep popping up. I will continue to commit them to prayer and see how God leads. One thing I do know is God has opened the door for Love In Action in Ecuador, and we will continue to pursue His will.


Love In Action is an international ministry. Obviously our strongest focus is on the Dothan area and that will not diminish. In fact, we have plans for tremendous growth, but when God opens doors we will go through them. Just like that old Gospel song says, "Wherever You lead, I'll go."

Street ministry in Puyo

Street ministry is something I love doing. In fact, it is one of my favorite things to do. Martha and I prayed we would get the opportunity to do street ministry while in Ecuador, and God answered our prayers.

Martha, Karen and I have hit the streets twice this week with Rick and Andy, two missionaries living in Shell. On Tuesday and Thursday evenings we went to a nearby city called Puyo, which is a good deal larger than Shell. The first night we ministered around a small park, and the second night around a large shopping market, kind of like a mall.

Rick has lived here around 35 years, so he is very fluent in Spanish. Andy has been here a little more than a year. Rick starts out singing praise songs in Spanish, then Andy preaches a short message and Rick translates it into Spanish. Martha, Karen and I walked around the area handing out Christian tracts.

The three of us do not speak much Spanish, though Karen is getting better at it. However, God still used us to be effective, despite the langauge barrier.

Many of the people would stop and read the tracts, which amazed us. In the U.S., usually only the homeless will do that. A smile translates into any langauge, too. It was cool seeing people who looked down as we walked up to them change facial expressions as we smiled, said "Buenas Tardes" or "Hola" and handed them a tract. Most of them smiled back and said, "Gracious."

The first night, a man walked up to Martha and starting speaking. We couldn't understand him, so he tried harder to explain himself. He kept looking and pointing to the gray streak in her hair. Then he showed us a photo on his cell phone of his daughter. We were able to understand that she died and is in Heaven and that Martha reminded him of his daughter. For about 15 minutes he kept looking at her in amazement and talking about his daughter. You never know what will give someone hope.

Thursday night, Karen was talking with a vendor and figured out he had some kind of infirmity, and he allowed us to pray with him.

In Shell and Puyo, there are a lot of children running around the streets and riding bikes. They all wanted tracts and many read them. I had fun with the kids and played soccer with some of them, which was cool. That was one of the things I wanted to do while here. I grew up playing soccer, or futbol, and even played a year in college. Knowing it is their national sport, I was hoping to play some while here. Plus, these children crave attention from adults, so that made it even more fun.

I have seen God move through us over the years even with langauge barriers. It all comes down to faith and obedience. God will honor that every time.

Please keep the Ecuadorian people in your prayers.

Hurts so good

I have never been so happy to be so tired and sore.

Today, Ted, Rick and I mixed and poured concrete at Casa de Fe in Shell, Ecuador, for their education building. We were working on the first floor, mixing and pouring concrete for the flooring. Knowing the building is going to be used to educate orphans made every lift of the wheel barrow worth it.

Here in Shell they mix and pour concrete the old fashion way. Ted loaded three two-men buckets of gravel and dumped it in a cement mixer. Rick filled four buckets of sand and stones and dumped it in the mixer. I manned the "truck," better known as a wheel barrow, and wheeled it into the building and dumped it. We did that all day. We weren't sure we were going to make it, but we did. We did pray for God to give us strength, and He did. I prayed that prayer a number of times throughout the day. :-)

It has been a great privledge serving beside Ted and Rick this week. They are both true servants. No matter how tough the work has been, they have kept smiling and serving with great joy.

We have mixed and poured concrete, dug through dirt and sand pulling out wood and nails. We have pulled nails out of boards, built cabinets, modified a bed and repaired a bicycle. The whole time we have thanked God for this opportunity. Why? Because this is the heart of God. He tells us in James 1:27, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress."

This has been and awesome experience and we still have four days left. And, it won't be Love In Action's last trip to Ecuador. This is only the beginning.

Introducing Celebrate Recovery to missionaries

The Love In Action team is accomplishing a lot here in Ecuador. One of the areas we are seeing God work is spreading Celebrate Recovery in Shell and Puyo.

One of the goals of this trip is to introduce Celebrate Recovery and it is taking off. Love In Action CR Director Emily Hinderhilter and Love In Action's Tuesday night director Judy Olski have been busy telling missionaries and a couple of churches about CR, and they are all excited about it.

Love In Action Vice President Martha Tuck and LIA volunteer Karen Hils told Patty Sue, director of Casa de Fe about the CR children's program, and she was very receptive.

We brought books and other literature so they can all see for themselves and decide. It looks like each group here is going to start CR groups. We are helping to start groups for children, teens and adults. We know what a great program CR is, and we are humbled and excited that God would use us to start it here in Ecuador.

I am really thankful for and proud of Emily and Judy. They hit the ground running here to fulfill their purpsoe for this trip. They didn't know how it would go or if anyone would be receptive. They just decided to trust God and be obedient to Him, and every day they have had meetings. People are calling the hotel to set up meetings with them. Wednesday afternoon a missionary just showed up at the hotel because she heard about CR and wanted to know more about it.

This Monday, a large group of missionaries and local pastors will come to the hotel to meet with Emily and Judy, and they will give the give a presentation and share about the great impact CR is having in Dothan.

Emily and Judy have really stepped into the calling and cause God has placed in their lives and hearts. They are great leaders and they lead with great compassion. I am so thankful to have them leading CR for LIA.

Praying in the Amazon Rain Forest

What an incredible honor we had today to be in the Amazon Rain Forest with the Houaroni tribe. This tribe killed the first missionaries who visited them 50 years ago. Today, the majority of them are Christians.

We flew to the Houaroni village in a Cessna. The pilot made a perfect landing on a dirt runway. Members of the tribe met us and warmly welcomed us. The pilot gave them bags of rice and other supplies.

They took us to their church and about six tribal elders welcomed us. They didn't know we were coming today, but two of them said they had dreams the night before that people were coming today.

They sang and talked in their native langauge. One of the elder's sons translated it into Spanish, and then our pilot translated it into English.

One of the elders was a member of the tribe that killed the missionaries 50 years ago. Thanks to the family of the missionaries who kept reaching out to the tribe for Jesus, he is a born again Christian.

The elders prayed for us, then I was honored to pray for them. It was an incredible experience, and one that none of us will ever forget.

It is so cool to meet people like the Houaronis and listen to them worship God.

Every tongue, every tribe and every nation will sing God's praises and worship Him.

God keeps opening doors

The doors God keeps opening up in Ecuador are incredible.

Today, Ted, Rick and I were back at the Casa de Fe orphanage working. We did more work on the school building, and we started work on modifying a bed for one of the orphans. Because of health problems, the child has to eat sitting up. We are modifying the bed so they can raise it up to a sitting when she eats.

Emily and Judy talked with Claudia, a missionary, for a second time about Celebrate Recovery. Claudia is very excited about it, as is another missionary named Sharron.

Martha and Karen spent time with Patty Sue, the director of Casa de Fe. They shared with her about Celebrate Recovery for children, and she was very interested in it.

Starting Celebrate Recovery in Ecuador was part of our mission here, and we are well on our way. Praise God!

Then tonight, Martha, Karen and I did street ministry in Pujo, Ecuador. Street ministry is at the heart of Love In Action, and to do it in Ecuador was great. We went out with missionaries named Rick and Andy. We handed out Christian tracts, Rick sang and Andy preached, while Rick translated.

Afterward I had the honor to pray with some people, including members of the tribe who killed the first missionaries in Shell, Ecuador, years ago. They are now Christians.

Then, I played soccer with some children in the park.

It was another great day. Thanks for everyone's continued prayers.

'A Father to the fatherless'

What an awesome blessing it is to be in Shell, Ecuador working at the Casa de Fe orphanage. These children are so beautiful and precious.

Today, Ted, Ricky and I worked all day at the new school under construction for the children. It was a day of hard work, but it was great. As I was walking back up the hill to the construction site with water I smiled and thanked God for this opportunity.

This past year God has sent so many volunteers to help us rennovate the Love In Action Ministry Center. Martha and I understand the importance of volunteers. We know how good it feels when people come along side us to help us fulfill the cause God has placed inside of us with Love In Action. Now, God is giving us the opportunity to do the same for others.

Casa de Fe is Patty Sue's dream. It is her cause. It is exciting to be a small part of it. The end of the work day was the most amazing part. As we walked around the front of the building the children currently live and attend school in, they were playing. They saw us, smiled and said, "Hola!"

I took a photo of them and they all ran to me. I knelt down and they started hugging me. One child who was born with his brain exposed wanted to touch my beard. Another child, a beautiful little girl, started kissing the right aide of my face. She wouldn't stop kissing me. I just wanted to break down crying at their wonderful love for a person they have never seen.

God tells us in Pslam 68:5 that He is a "Father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His dwelling place." Theses orphans are close to God's heart. In fact, they are in His dwelling place.

As the children hugged and kissed me it was like God saying "thank you for helping My children." I am the one who is thankful. I thank my Heavenly Father for giving me this opportunity. I thank Him for providing Martha and me with the resources to come to Ecuador.

I serve an awesome God. He is worth of all my praise. I love God so much, and I keep growing in love with Him more and more every day.

Please pray for the children at Casa de Fe and the amazing staff there. And, please keep the Love In Action team in your prayers, too.

Ecuador bound

It's hard to believe Oct. 22 is already here. We started planning our trip to Ecuador early in the summer. We even took six weeks of Spanish classes. I'm pretty sure none of us are ready to communicate completely in Spanish, but at least we know some phrases.

Seven of us are going on this trip, and we are excited. As we go to minister the love of Jesus Christ, we all know that we will be forever changed by what God does in our hearts through this mission trip.

We are going to serve at the Casa de Fe (House of Faith) orphanage in Shell, Ecuador. These precious children are shown the love of Christ and given a new chance at life through the love and compassion of a wonderful staff and volunteers.

Some of the children were born to tribes in the Amazon jungle with birth defects. In the jungle, the weak do not survive, so they are tossed away. Thankfully, Casa de Fe is there to catch them.They take these beautiful children in and raise them. Other children are at the orphanage because their parents have drug and alcohol problems and are in jail. There are various other reasons, but the main thing is to let these children know that there is a God in Heaven who loves them and people who love them.

James 1:27 says, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." (NIV)

Martha and I have never served at an orphanage, so we are excited about this opportunity. We know it will be heartbreaking and wonderful at the same time.

Another reason for this trip is to introduce and teach Celebrate Recovery to a group of missionaries who are interested in the program. Love In Action's Celebrate Recovery director, Emily Hinderliter, and Love In Action's Tuesday night Celebrate Recovery Inside director, Judy Olski, are going on this trip mainly for this reason. This is exciting, and a great opportunity to make a positive impact and bring great encouragement to missionaries who are on the front line every day.

Another aspect of this trip we are excited about is flying into the Amazon jungle to minister to a tribe.

All of Love In Action's ministries back home in Dothan, Ala., will continue. We have great leaders and volunteers who will keep everything running strong.

This trip is not costing Love In Action any money as all of us are paying our own way.

Please keep the seven of us going in your prayers. We will keep you updated throughout the trip on this blog, and also on Twitter (www.twitter.com/liaministries) and on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/lia.ministries
So please follow us on Twitter and "Like" our Facebook page.

I also have a nifty little device called SpotConnect. It's very inexpensive satellite technology that allows my smart phone to connect to Twitter and Facebook with messages up to 41 characters when there is no cellular service. It also tracks our location, so you will be able to keep up with us even when we are in the middle of the Amazon jungle in Ecuador. Pretty cool.

Thank you for your prayers.

A grand Saturday celebration

What an amazing Saturday we experienced this past weekend at the Love In Action Ministry Center as we opened the ministry center for the community. There were seven people who made decisions for Jesus Christ, and we served 282 lunches. Praise God! Now that was a grand, grand opening!

Our friends from Baton Rouge, La., No Place Outreach and Cooking for Jesus, traveled to Dothan to cook for our celebration. Oh man, did they do some cooking! They started early Saturday morning and cooked a delicious meal of Jambalaya, white beans, rolls and brownies. Watching them put it all together was fun.

I took a team of volunteers into the community around the ministry center Saturday morning, and we canvased the entire area inviting people. Many of them responded.

A good number of the homeless attended. We got the word out to them and they enjoyed the afternoon with us, and we enjoyed them. We get to meet some great people doing this ministry.

A surprise to the lineup was a praise team from the Lighthouse Outreach Center in Waipahu, Hawaii. They were leading a revival at First United Methodist Church in New Brockton where one of our board members, Dwight Deal, is pastor. They wanted to do something on Saturday, so they came to Love In Action. Our new Hawaiian friends were great and led two worship songs.

Then the praise team from Crossroads Community Church in Enterprise, Ala., led worship. We always enjoy worshiping with Crossroads. They did a great job, then Crossroads pastor and LIA board member Gene Oden preached a wonderful message.

Following Gene's message, seven people made decisions for Jesus Christ. Praise God! That's what it's all about. We also had a great time of prayer with people about a number of different needs.

Then, as we like to say, we strapped on the feedbag and ate some Cajun food. It was delicious! Our Louisiana friends have a passion for cooking for the homeless and needy, and they do an awesome job.

After lunch, the "Gospel Jubilees" sang. These precious women love to worship the Lord.

Later in the day, we loaded up the back of my pickup truck and took a team of volunteers to deliver food to people in the neighborhood. We also visited a homeless camp. The excitement of our volunteers was incredible, and the people were so thankful.

We also delivered some blankets to the homeless.

It was a great day and we thank God for giving us the opportunity to serve Him. What an honor and a privilege it is to serve the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Jesus is awesome!

We thank God for all of the volunteers who helped us on Saturday and who help us every week to show God's love to the needy. We also thank God for everyone who prays for us and gives financially. We could not do this without you.

Shower Ministry up and running

When you come home after working hard and sweating all day at work, doesn't a hot shower feel great? Imagine being able to take a shower because you live in a tent in the woods or under a bridge. Or, imagine not having the money to pay your water bill or only having cold water because you cannot afford the electric bill to make the hot water heater work.

All of those scenarios are reality for many people, and Love In Action is providing a way to help through our Shower Ministry. A hot shower can go a long way in helping people feel better about themselves. I often tell people that the homeless really do care about their hygiene. They care about if they smell or not. But, when you don't have a place to go to take a shower, there isn't much you can do about it.

That has changed now in Dothan as our Shower Ministry began yesterday (Oct. 8) at the Love In Action Ministry Center. George, our volunteer plumber, finished installing the shower yesterday, and four men were able to take hot showers. You should have seen the smiles on their faces as they felt good to be clean and to have such a nice shower to get clean in.

We want to thank George for his hard work. He has re-worked the entire plumbing system at the LIA Ministry Center. Thanks to George's expertise and dedication, and people donating the finances for us to purchase all of the plumbing supplies, we are now able to wash people's clothes with our Laundry Ministry and provide a hot shower with our Shower Ministry. Praise God!

These are real needs and we thank God we can help meet them. These two ministries are more ways we can spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ through acts of compassion. When people see you care about their needs, they are open to listening to what you have to say. And, if you are showing the love and compassion of Jesus Christ to them, then they realize this Jesus we talk about really does love and care for them, too.

The Laundry and Shower ministries take place every Saturday at the Love In Action Ministry Center from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Of course, if the homeless need help on a different day we will certainly help them.

Lighthouse Cafe opens

Friday nights can be rough out on the streets, so we decided to give people a safe alternative, create a safe haven for the homeless and people who live in the hotel and neighborhood around the Love In Action Ministry Center.

Friday nights are mine and Martha's date night, and one of the things we usually do is go to Barnes & Noble to enjoy some Starbucks coffee and a good book. It's our place to unwind and relax at the end of a busy week. We wanted to create the same kind of place at Love In Action, so we opened the Lighthouse Cafe.

The grand opening was last night (Oct. 7) and it was a great night. Cynthia is the leader of this ministry. When we first mentioned the idea of this ministry her eyes lit up. She excitedly told us how she managed a coffee house and would love to be involved. Cynthia has been a faithful LIA volunteer for more than two years, so Martha and I had no problem letting her take charge and lead.

The goal is to create a safe, Christian environment where people can come and relax, play board games, listen to Christian music, talk, and of course, drink coffee. We also have delicious homemade desserts and Chill Yogurt donates "Yo Cakes." Oh man, those things are delicious. I have to do quality control on food items, so that means tasting them. Our desserts at the Lighthouse Cafe passed with flying colors. One of our new volunteers, Lauren, baked homemade blueberry muffins. I told her to make one extra, because I was going to eat one before we opened. :-) They were great, and our guests agreed. I gave an older gentleman a ride home from the Lighthouse Cafe and the first thing he said as he climbed in my truck was, "Those blueberry muffins were good."

The young and old came last night. A couple who lives in a hotel has a three-month old baby named Destiny. We have been helping this family, and Destiny has quickly stolen all of our hearts. She is such a beautiful child and is such a good baby. She always has a smile. The mother, Tiffany, brought her to the Lighthouse Cafe last night. Destiny instantly became the center of attention.

We also had the opportunity to ministry to another homeless man last night. His name is CW. He is in his mid 80s. His back is bent over to the point where he is about halfway bent down toward the ground. He cannot straighten his back, but that doesn't slow him down. He rides and pushes his bicycle everywhere.

One of our volunteers paid for him to sleep at a hotel last night, and others fixed him up with hamburgers and other items. That was a first big step to building trust with CW so we can reach him for Jesus and provide the help he needs.

So another outreach begins at Love In Action. We are excited about everything God is doing and we give Him all of the praise, honor and glory. We thank all of the volunteers, people who donate financially, and those who pray for us and those we serve. It takes all of us working together to make it happen. It's called the Body of Christ uniting to reach the lost and hurting. Thank you.

'I was sick, and you cared for me'

God's wonderful display of mercy and grace continues to amaze me. As we opened our free health clinic for the homeless tonight at the Love In Action Ministry Center I watched in awe the goodness of God in action.

Doctors came to volunteer. Dr. H.L. "Chief" Lassiter was our doctor on duty and Dr. Steve Stokes grilled hamburgers for everyone who attended. Other doctors came to support our efforts and check out the new facility.

Volunteers lovingly served the hamburger dinner to our guests. Our six patients enjoyed the meal as did others we invited in who were walking past the ministry center. We were also able to provide hamburgers and chips to about 20 homeless men.

When I look at the health clinic I think about the words of Jesus in Matthew 25:36, "I was sick, and you cared for me." Then he tells us in Matthew 25:40, "I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!"

Jesus had to be smiling tonight at His Body of believers coming together to start a new outreach out of the LIA Ministry Center. He instructs us to care for the poor, and one of the things we need to do is take care of the sick. That happened tonight and will happen every Thursday evening as we open the clinic for the homeless, women from the House of Ruth and the men and women from Houston County Community Corrections work release.


They do not have insurance. They don't have money to pay for medical care. Thanks be to God, we are able to provide them with medical care, including medicine. At the same time we provide a dinner for them, and we are there to pray with them. That is a powerful combination.


I was honored to speak to a large group of social services organizations in Dothan this week and I told them that Jesus tells us to provide social services to the poor. He didn't use the term social services, but providing food, clothing and shelter is what we call social services. I also told them that social services without Jesus doesn't work.


We have to show and tell them about the great physician. Jesus is the one who can heal our bodies and spirits. He is the only one who can save us.


We are so honored that God would allow us to provide this type of ministry to the homeless population in Dothan, and it is an honor to minister alongside such great men and women who will give up their Thursday evenings to take care of the needs of the needy.


One thing this clinic does is show people we care about them and love them. More importantly, it shows them that God loves them and cares about their needs. It lets them know they are of great worth to God.


Please continue to pray for this medical outreach. Next week we will have eye care, and in the near future, dental care.


We thank and praise God for everything He is doing.

Wonderful Wednesdays

If Wednesday nights get any better I don't know what I'll do. Well, yes I do. I'll keep shouting praises to God.

Last night was another incredible Bible study at the Love In Action Ministry Center as three people accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Praise God! If that doesn't make you shout for joy something is wrong with you.

Two of them were homeless people we just met last night. They are a married couple and they met another homeless man we met for the first time Tuesday night. They met him outside of a local restaurant and he told them he was going to church and invited them. Praise God!

The third person was one of our guys from work release. We love our guys. They are part of our family and to see what God is doing in all of our lives is incredible and just blows me away.

A great transformation is taking place. Souls are being saved, mindsets are being changed, and the reality of God's love is radically rocking people's world. It is so cool to watch.

We have grown to about 30 people now on Wednesday nights, and it's always a wonderful time. The food and fellowship is great, and the Bible studies are outstanding. The prayer time at the end is always incredible.

We serve an awesome God, and when you seek Him you will find Him.

Lives are being transformed by the power of God. Dreams are being restored. People are realizing they are of great worth. That's how God is moving through Love In Action, and we give God all of the praise, honor and glory.

Carla out of hospital

The miracle continues as Carla has been released from the hospital.

A month ago she underwent a six-hour surgery to remove two brain aneurysms. The doctor then scheduled a 12-hour surgery to remove two more he found deep inside her brain.

People from throughout the U.S. and all the way to the Philippines started praying. A week later, following a brain scan, the doctor said one of those aneurysms had disappeared. Then he said there was no need for a second surgery. Praise God!

Now she is back in the hotel room with her husband Donald. Her memory is bad. She doesn't remember much from her past, including family members. But, she looks good and Martha and I believe she will regain her memory.

Donald called yesterday and said Carla really wanted to see us. Praise God she remembers us. We visited her and Donald last night. It was so good to see her away from the hospital. We prayed with them and really felt the power of God at work in that room.

Please join us in prayer for God to completely heal her brain and totally restore her memory. If God can totally take away an aneurysm and keep her alive and healthy enough to be released from the hospital, then He can certainly restore her memory.

Also, if you would like to help them, they could use help paying for their hotel room. Gift certificates to restaurants are also good. The ones located near their hotel room are: Panera Bread, O'Charley, Chili's, McDonalds, Long John Silvers, Cracker Barrel, Ruby Tuesday and Longhorns. You can mail the certificate to us and we will give it to them. If you would like to help with their hotel room, mail your check to Love In Action and we will put it all toward their room.

Our address is: Love In Action, P.O. Box 85, Dothan, AL 36302

The roller coaster ride of ministry

Ministry to the homeless is filled with times of great rejoicing and heart-breaking moments.

The past 24 hours was a good example. While eating lunch with my wife and one of our Love In Action board members, Dwight Deal, the ministry phone rang and Martha answered it. On the other end of the phone was a very familiar voice. It was Patrick. We met him when he was homeless in Dothan.

I remember when we first met him. He was totally plastered. We were helping another homeless man at the time and he was friends with Patrick. Even though Patrick had been homeless for a while and was drunk, I remember telling Martha, "We're going to reach that guy." And, thanks to the power of the love of Jesus, we did.

It was a roller coaster ride at times, but we helped him come off the streets into his own apartment and get a job. He eventually moved to Pensacola to work with a company to clean up the Gulf oil spill. When that job dried up, he stayed there and became homeless again. He found a ministry with a shelter and started working with them.

It had been about six months since we last heard from him, so we were excited when he called. He said he was doing good and that this ministry in Pensacola reminded him of Love In Action. He said he was working on becoming a pastor. Praise God! He has an incredible testimony and he realizes what God has done in his life. Our prayers remain with him and that he will stay on this path.

Then, this morning my mom received a phone call from a homeless man in New York City who has become part of our family. Many of you are familiar with Benjamin. He is like a brother to me and a son to mom. Though he is a few years older than I am, he calls me his big brother.

We met Benjamin around eight years ago in Brooklyn. It's a long story, but we worked with a church there to help get Benjamin into a rehab program in Chicago. We brought him to Alabama twice. Once was to sing at mine and Martha's wedding.

Once he made it back to New York, he went down the wrong path and ended up in prison for about four years. When he got out he was doing so good. Martha, mom and I went to NYC last summer and visited Benjamin. What a grand reunion that was.

For the past six months we haven't heard a word from him, which is strange. He always calls. He had strayed again, and this morning he called to apologize over and over again and to say he was going to turn himself into the police because there were two warrants on him. He said that was the right thing to do, and he was tired of running.

He said God used him in prison the last time and he wanted to get close to God again so God can use him again. Mom was in tears when she hung up the phone. It's so heartbreaking. Benjamin knows the difference between right and wrong. He has all the potential in the world, but he keeps falling.

But you know what? God will keep picking him back up and we are still his family. We still love him. What Benjamin and others like him need is stability and accountability. That's why were pray that one day we will have a facility of our own to house homeless men, women and families, and provide a strong, Christian-based rehab program to give them the support they need to change the choices they make in life.

Please keep Benjamin and all the others in your prayers. We can reach them. They are not lost causes. God never gives up on His children. We shouldn't either.

Prostitutes need Jesus too

Prostitution is a trap women in the inner city find themselves in. Many do it for drugs. This lifestyle leads to total destruction of their body and more importantly, their souls.

Prostitution takes place in Dothan more than people think. These women have come to a point in their lives where they have no self esteem ... no self worth at all. It's an extremely sad situation.

That's another reason why we wanted to locate the Love In Action Ministry Center in downtown Dothan. There are many hurting people living in the inner city. Living is the wrong word to describe their lives. Existing may be a little closer. But, dying is more accurate.

Love In Action is here to bring hope back into their lives, and that hope can only be found in Jesus Christ. Society looks down on prostitutes and consider them a loss cause. The Bible tells us a different story.

Remember Rahab the harlot in the Old Testament? She made the Hall of Fame of Faith in Hebrews 11:31: "It was by faith that Rahab the prostitute was not destroyed with the people in her city who refused to obey God. For she had given a friendly welcome to the spies." (NLV)

How about Mary Magdalene? Most people believe she was a prostitute before becoming a believer in Jesus. In Luke 7:36-50 Jesus talks about her. Even if this isn't Mary Magdalene, it is a prostitute Jesus is talking about. Look at what He says, “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.” ... "And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” - Luke 7: 47-48, 50 (NLV)


We have been ministering to prostitutes for years and even more so since moving to our new ministry center. One prostitute ended up in the Houston County Jail and is in our Celebrate Recovery Inside class which meets every Wednesday morning inside a cell block in the jail. She told our CRI director Emily to tell me thank you for talking to her as she was leaving the hotel next to our ministry center and to let me know she was OK.


This past Saturday a prostitute who is strung out on drugs came to us for help with clothing. She had only what she was wearing. We gave her clothing, a hygiene kit and invited her to eat lunch with us at the ministry center. She was so thankful.


This is how we reach these women for Jesus. We take care of their physical needs like clothing and food. We don't judge them. Instead, we show them the love of Jesus. It doesn't take long for them to know that we care about them, then that opens the door to share Jesus with them. That's the beginning of leading them out of a lifestyle that destroys and into a life of love and hope with Jesus Christ.


They never dreamed of living a life of prostitution and drugs. Somewhere, somehow, their lives fell apart. Our mission is to restore their dreams and show them that God has much more for them (Jeremiah 29:11).


Those who support us help us reach these women. Thank you. You are helping us make a difference for Jesus.

God loves crazy people too

Over the past 12 years we have met some interesting people. Some of the people we minister to are what a friend of mine calls, "shot out." In other words, they are not in their right minds.

Some of them have mental conditions that have gone untreated for years. Others have lost their minds due to drugs and alcohol abuse.

There is a man who lives near the Love In Action Ministry Center who has lost his mind because of years of drug abuse. Injecting drugs intravenously and smoking crack has taken its toll. He has told me some very creative stories about his life. One time he was working undercover for the U.S. Army and hot on the trail of his ex-wife who was selling missiles to terrorists. Today, he was working on "flying machines, you know, spaceships." He said he used to be a rocket scientist.

He will make sense for a short time, then his mind flies off to another world. I can't help but laugh at some of the things he says, but at the same time it's very sad. Here is a man who who may have had a dream early in life about being a hero in the U.S. Army. Maybe he dreamed of working for NASA. But somewhere along the way drug abuse destroyed his dream.

The fact of the matter is, no matter his state of mind, God loves him and he needs to be shown the love of God. He doesn't need to be shunned and pushed aside. He needs to be shown that people care about him too. Who knows what will trigger a turn around in his life. Some may say, "Ken, that dude is too far gone." My answer is nobody is out of the reach of my God. He can transform anyone's life, and He can restore a person's mind ... nothing is impossible for God. He still works miracles.

This man knows we care about him, because he keeps coming back, and at the end of the day today we gave him more proof that we love him. We had a large, and very heavy, desk that we didn't need. He saw it and wanted it. He said he could put some wheels on it and push it home. I immediately told one of our work release guys to help me pick it up and put it in the back of my truck and deliver it to this man's home. I told my young helper that God loves everyone and we need to show His compassion to everyone, even crazy people.

He thought it was so great that we did that and thanked us several times. I told him that God loves him, and he said he knows that.

No matter a person's state of mind, we must show God's love to them. You never know when the next miracle is about to happen and God may be wanting to use you to bring about that miracle.

God keeps blowing my mind

If you have noticed an extra bounce in my step and a smile stretching further across my face there is a reason for that. His name is Jesus!

It seems like more and more every day I am seeing the love of Jesus transforming people's lives, including my own.

God has been showing us His great power and grace in greater measures with each passing week. We have seen prayers answered like we've never experienced before. For example, we asked for prayer for a homeless woman who had four brain aneurysms. The doctor removed two and scheduled a second 12-hour surgery. Before that procedure, God removed one of the aneurysms that was deep in the back of her brain and the doctor said now there is no need for that second surgery. Praise God!

One of the guys in our Wednesday night Bible study has been asking for prayer for his sister who the doctors didn't expect to live for another day or two. This was nearly a month ago. Wednesday night, David said, "I have a praise report. My sister is doing so good. She ate a steak and potato dinner and has been getting up every day this week." He praised God. His sister was at the edge of death, but God had other plans.

We are seeing men and women who had no hope in their lives giving their lives to Jesus and now they have hope and understand that God has great plans for them (Jeremiah 29:11).

The renovations of the Love In Action Ministry Center are nearly complete. What started on the last weekend of January is now coming into fruition. God has given us a beautiful facility, and He has worked through the hands of many volunteers. Some were homeless, some work release inmates, others were volunteers from various churches throughout Dothan and the Wiregrass, and others were businesses like Bob Woodall Air Care Systems who donated the entire HVAC systems (five units, duct work, labor, etc). And, other businesses like Lakewood Landscaping who takes care of our yard for free and is planning a renovation of the landscape in front of the ministry center. Lowe's of Dothan donated items like insulation, lights, blinds, doors, etc. and brought an army of volunteers to work. Goldfingers provides lunch free of charge for our volunteers every Saturday, and Chicken Box To Go provided food one Saturday.

Churches like Harvest, Covenant, Tabernacle, Greystone, Highland Park, Wiregrass, Crossroads (Enterprise), Mt. Gilead, and more have helped us in so many ways.

It has truly been the Body of Christ coming together to accomplished a great work. And, lives are already being changed through activities at the ministry center.

Tremendous discipleship takes place every Wednesday night at our Bible study. The spiritual growth taking place is incredible.

The Laundry Ministry has been a great blessing to those we serve. Up to 14 loads of clothes every Saturday keeps our two washers and dryers running all day.

Saturdays are always our big work days, but it's also a great time of mentoring. We get to speak into those men's lives and teach them how to work together as a team to accomplish something for God.

I'm excited because so many people are getting involved. People are praying, giving financially, and volunteering their time. More than 50 people came to our first volunteer meeting. Thursday night 13 attended our Leadership training.

God also keeps opening doors internationally. Martha and I will travel to Ecuador in late October to work with an orphanage, minister to tribes in the jungle, and hopefully some street ministry.

God has opened Asia up to Love In Action as well as we have been working with a wonderful group of churches in the Philippines called Shiloh Bible Baptist Church. They are a family of churches in some of the poorest areas in the Philippines. We have helped some of them purchase land for churches and build/expand their current facilities. We also help one church feed 70-80 children each month.

This week I was invited to be the guest speaker at their Two-Day Revival Conference in January 2012. All of the pastors and missionaries will be there. In addition, we have been invited to help with the outreach to the children, which will include serving them food and giving them gifts.

God is really blowing my mind with all that He is doing. We serve an awesome and mighty God, and every day I am seeing more of His glory and power at work in people's lives and in mine.

I thank everyone of you who support Love In Action in prayer, finances and through volunteering your time. We could not do this without.