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.