Pregnant and homeless

Being homeless is tough enough, but imagine being pregnant and homeless. That's the situation Becky found herself in when we met her.

She would try to find a place to stay, but would bounce around from place to place, then she didn't have anywhere else to go, but the streets. Martha and I couldn't let that happen. Love In Action helped her with a hotel room, and then found an apartment for her that was safe and reasonable - two rare qualities put together in downtown Dothan, Ala.

Being lazy isn't a problem with her, neither is drug or alcohol use. She tried to find work when we met her more than three months ago, but nobody wanted to hire someone who was pregnant. Now, she's only a couple of months away from giving birth to a baby boy.

Our desire is to teach her about Jesus and show her the way she should live. In other words, make a disciple of Jesus Christ. Martha is a very strong influence in Becky's life. She listens to Martha and respects her. Mama Tuck and another one of our volunteers, Vicki, are great influences on her as well.

We don't always know why people end up homeless. The reasons are many, and does it really matter? The fact is when you are homeless, you are homeless. The key is surrendering your life to Jesus Christ and allowing Him to make the changes to deliver you from the streets. That's what we pray happens to Becky.

She's been doing good and is taking care of herself and her unborn baby. She's experiencing the love of Jesus Christ through her family at Love In Action, and it's making a difference in her life.

Next month Love In Action will host a baby shower for her, and is she ever excited about that.

Love, compassion, understanding, and genuine caring is what makes the difference. When people experience the true love of Christ like that it will change their lives.

Please keep Becky and her baby in your prayers. We believe this child will be a precious baby and will experience the love of Christ from the very beginning of his life. He already has. They have proven babies hear and recognize voices while inside their mother's womb. In that case, this child has already heard the name of Jesus hundreds of times. He has experienced love and kindness and praise and worship music.

He's already off to a good start. Let's pray that Becky will totally surrender to the lordship of Jesus Christ, and thus, raise her son in the fear of the Lord.

Praise God for new LIA Dothan campus

Ken and Martha Tuck sign papers to close on the new property for Love In Action.

God continues to blow our minds. Today, Thursday, June 7, 2012, was another historic day for Love In Action International Ministries as Martha and I signed papers to official purchase Love In Action's second campus in Dothan, Ala.

This property is located at 277 and 279 W. Main St. in downtown Dothan. If you know where Dakota Coffee is located downtown on Main Street, then you know where our new property is located. Dakota is our tenant at 277 W. Main St. They will remain there and we encourage all of our friends to stop by and enjoy a great cup of coffee and food. The two buildings behind Dakota is where Love In Action is expanding.

There is more than 18,000 square feet in which God will increase the ministry of Love In Action. The new property will be called the Love In Action Compassion Center, and a lot of great ministry will take place there.

We will expand our medical clinic at the LIA Compassion Center. When the suite is ready to move into, the clinic's new name will be the Samaritan Medical Clinic. We have more volunteer doctors, PAs, nurse practitioners, and nurses who are volunteering their time, and our client base is expanding. Many physical needs are being met, and that is opening the doors to meeting more and more spiritual needs.

In the near future, the Samaritan Medical Clinic will be home to health, eye and dental care for the homeless, women from the House of Ruth, inmates from Houston County Community Corrections, and the needy.

The LIA Compassion Center will also be the home of the Harbor House - transitional housing and an in-house drug rehab for men who are ready to make changes in their lives, come off the streets and get back on their feet again. What an incredible opportunity to not only lead people to Jesus, but also to make disciples and see God radically transform lives.

First, we have work to do to get the buildings ready. The work will not be as extensive as our Love In Action Ministry Center at 320 N. Foster when we first moved into it, but there is a good amount of work that needs to be done. HVAC work, a new coat of sealant on the roof, replacing a couple of windows, plumbing, electric, and a lot of cleaning, plus other work. So, if you would like to join us in getting our new facility ready, please help us.

We are so thankful, humble and excited about this opportunity. Please keep us in prayer as we will now be operating two campuses. We will need more prayers, more volunteers and more finances. Our God is more than able to provide.

Please join us now as we celebrate what God is doing right here in Dothan, Ala. To God goes all of the praise, honor and glory.

Click below to watch an audio slideshow of a work day at the LIA Compassion Center on Monday, June  4, 2012. I'd like to thank the Covenant UMC youth group, Martha, Mom and Dad Mills (Martha's parents), and Rick Denney for all of their hard work. There was a lot of overgrowth that needed cutting and trimming back, and they all did a great job.