An awesome and humbling year at Love in Action

Serving the homeless and needy with our new food trailer
expanded our food ministry in 2018.

Seeing people come to Jesus is why we do what we do.

It's awesome and very humbling when looking back at all God did in and through Love In Action in 2018.

Here are just some of the highlights:

- More than 80 of our homeless and needy friends here in Dothan, Alabama, made decisions for Jesus.

- Martha and Ken witnessed more than 100 people, most of whom were previously unreached with the Gospel, come to Jesus in India and Myanmar during mission trips to both countries. More than 1,000 more came to Jesus in India, Myanmar, India, Pakistan, Haiti and Philippines where we partner with indigenous pastors and missionaries.

- Served more than 10,000 meals to our homeless and needy friends in Dothan, Alabama. That is a record number for us in one year.

- Served more than 1,000 patients at the Samaritan Clinic on the campus of Love In Action in Dothan, Alabama. That is a record number for one year.

- Taught the discipleship method Training for Trainers (T4T) to more than 125 people in Dothan, India and Myanmar.

- Baptized new believers in Dothan.

-  New roofs were put on the Love In Action buildings ... paid for in full. This was an answer to a long-time prayer requests.

- Purchased a new food trailer to expand our food ministry. The food trailer was paid for in full.

- Purchased a bus to expand our transportation ministry. The bus was paid for in full.

- Started ministering on the radio on The JoyFM with the "Love In Action Minute" and "Sunday Morning with Love In Action."

- More people involved with Love In Action than ever in financial giving, donation of items, volunteers, and fundraisers.

- A stronger bond of unity with The Ark and The Harbor to better reach and serve the homeless and needy in Dothan, Alabama.

- Seeing more fruit being produced among the homeless in Dothan. Toward the end of the year we saw more hope in the homeless community than ever before.

Providing dental care for the homeless is one of many
blessings of the Samaritan Clinic.

This man in Myanmar gave his life to Jesus during our
 mission trip, was baptized, and is being taught
T4T to become a disciple of Jesus.

We provided water filters to give safe, clean
drinking water for people in rural villages during
our mission trip to India.

Thank you for an awesome year

As 2018 comes to a close today, I want to say a big "Thank You," first to God and then to everyone who made this the best year in our 18 years of ministry.

We thank God for His son, Jesus Christ, and for the opportunity to serve Him through the ministries of Love In Action. We thank God for His Holy Spirit moving through His people to touch tens of thousands of lives this year. We thank God for all the souls saved and lives changed by His power in 2018.

Thank you to everyone who gave financially throughout the year. Without your generosity of investing into the Kingdom of God, we could not have accomplished everything we did this year. You definitely understand Matthew 6:19-21, "Don't collect for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But collect for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don't break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Thank you to all of our volunteers. Without your servant's hearts we could not have shown the love of Jesus to thousands of homeless and needy people in Dothan, Alabama, this year. All of you exemplify the kind of Christian John wrote about in 1 John 3:18, "let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth."

Thank you to everyone who donated items such as food, hygiene items, clothes, camping supplies, and more throughout 2018. Your giving helped us meet physical needs of our homeless and needy friends, which opened doors of hearts to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. "If a brother or sister is  poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warmed and filled,' without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." - James 2:15-17. You put action to your faith by giving items our homeless and needy friends are in need of. Thank you for being doers of the Word and not hearers only. (James 1:22)

Thank you to everyone who prayed for us in 2018. Your prayers are powerful, because of the One you pray to, and the fact that we know God hears your prayers. "This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us." - 1 John 5:14

Thank you to all of our brothers and sisters we are blessed to serve with in the Philippines, Myanmar, China, India, Pakistan and Haiti for your dedication and zeal for Jesus and reaching the lost in your countries. Many of those you reach have never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Most of you live in persecution and the threat of persecution for your faith. You all inspire me greatly. I think of Matthew 5:12 when thinking of all of you, "Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in Heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

I thank God for our Love In Action Board of Directors - Bill Dorminy, Mike Shroades, Ted and Karen Hils, Grant Faulk, Justin Swasey, Shaun Cast, and Mama Tuck. Thank you for your leadership, wisdom, love and support. Martha and I cannot tell each of you enough how much we love and appreciate all of you. "We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers." (1 Thessalonians 1:2)

Thank you to our staff, Pamela Johnson and Dan Levy. Martha and I couldn't think of two other people we would rather serve with. Both of you have big hearts to serve Jesus and lead people to Him. You both have hearts for helping those in need, and desiring to see them come off the streets and experience God's goodness. Thank you both for taking our Lord's Great Commission serious to, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with your always, even to the end of the age."

Thank you to my beautiful bride and ministry partner. Martha has as pure of a heart of anyone I've ever met. She loves unconditionally, and our homeless and needy friends, and those around the world where we've been blessed to minister, know she truly loves them when she tells them. LIA wouldn't be what it is without her servant's heart and leadership. I wouldn't be half the man I am without her.

Martha is the epitome of the Proverbs 31 woman, and she is a perfect example of Proverbs 31:20, "She extends her hand to the poor, and she stretches out her hands to the needy."

All of you have helped us throughout 2018 to fulfill the scripture Love In Action is based on, Matthew 25:35-40: "For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me. Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You? The King will answer and say to them, "Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'"

Thank you one and all. I pray the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord cause His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace."

I look forward to all God has planned for all of us in 2019.

A nostalgic weekend

Martha and Mama making goodies for Christmas Eve.

It's been a nostalgic weekend for me leading up to Christmas. It's not unusual for Christmas to provoke such sentimental thoughts.

As Martha and Mama were out shopping for ingredients to make all kinds of goodies for our annual Tuck-Reid Christmas Eve gathering, I started looking at a cookbook Mama made for us kids. It's filled with all kinds of delicious recipes we all enjoyed while growing up.

Then there's the Christmas section. She made that section like a scrapbook with photos. There were photos of my Dad and all of us when we were much younger, even one from 1979 that included my fat cat named Tippy. She weighed 17 pounds, and was the Tuck house cat for well over a decade.

As I read the different things Mama wrote, remembered all of those tasty dishes, and looked at photos, tears filled my eyes. Those were really good days filled with so many wonderful memories. My Dad went to be with Jesus in 1997, so we haven't celebrated Christmas together in 21 years. Oh, how I still miss him.

Mama is 83, so we are enjoying her. As healthy as she is she may live to be 103, but we should never take our loved ones or such moments for granted. Martha and I have enjoyed Mama spending Christmas weekend with us. I told Mama we will have to make this a new tradition.

Martha and Mama baked six different kinds of goodies for Christmas Eve, and tonight Mama will go with us for the first time to the Harvest Church Christmas Eve Candlelight & Communion Service. I know she will love it. When I was a teenager our church in Fredericksburg, Va., would have a Christmas Eve Candlelight service. Spotswood Baptist Church always looked so beautiful lit up by candlelight. It kept all of our attention, even us kids, on the true meaning of Christmas.

So, what's the purpose of this blog entry? Use it as a reminder. Let's keep our focus on Jesus this Christmas, and all year long. Let's love our loved ones while we can, and while they can still love us. Let's make memories, so we can reflect on them years from now, and for others to remember after we are gone.

I believe precious memories are a gift from God. They can't be taken away. Even after 21 years, I still vividly remember the things my Dad would say. Mama talks about memories of her childhood as if they were yesterday. Memories, they are precious. Make new ones this Christmas.

Praise God for our new bus

Our Chevy 5500 bus is handicapped accessible.

Transportation is a huge need for our homeless friends in Dothan, Alabama. We have been transporting our friends in our mini van and 15-passenger van. Our big van is a 1993 model. It's old and hard to get in and out of for some. We are thankful to say we have been blessed with a 2006 Chevy 5500 16-passenger bus.

Thanks to the generous donation of a precious couple, we were able to purchase this beautiful bus. It's easy access, and it is even handicap accessible. This is a tremendous blessing.

We will be able to easily transport our friends to and from Love In Action, Samaritan Clinic, church and work. We are working on a transportation plan with The Harbor and The Ark, and our bus will be a big help with that project.

God is amazing. He knows exactly what we need and when we need it. We thank God for this incredible blessing to the ministry. May God bless the couple who gave tremendously.

Dan and I are working on our CDLs, and then we will be able to put the bus in full use.

This Chevy 5500 diesel bus runs great.

The inside of the bus is in great condition.