My friend Ms. Emily

I remember when Emily Hinderliter approached Martha and me to talk about volunteering with Love In Action. Emily and her husband, Ricky, shared a story with us. Well, Ricky didn't really have a chance to talk much, which we soon discovered was the norm. With Emily, nobody had much of a chance to get a word in.

Emily shared about seeing a homeless man with no shoes at a gas station on a recent trip her and Ricky had taken. She said they didn't know what to do. The image of the "man with no shoes" stayed in her mind. It bothered her that she didn't do anything. She said they could have bought him some shoes or they could have given him a pair of Ricky's shoes. She didn't ever want to miss another opportunity, so she wanted to volunteer with Love In Action.

We were thankful to have both of them with LIA. Emily's vision was to begin a Celebrate Recovery. She said she was retired and got social security, so she had plenty of time. "I just breath and the government sends me a check," she told us. "It's a wonderful thing."

Emily's humor was dry, sarcastic and hilarious. We quickly fell in love with her and Ricky, and told her we would love to have Celebrate Recovery as part of LIA. She was true to her word. She started it and grew it, and she worked nonstop.

We didn't know how many people would attend, but if we helped one person it would be worth it. We had no idea we would have 125 people on Tuesday nights at the LIA Ministry Center, which was located at that time in a warehouse on the Montgomery Highway in Dothan, Ala. Hundreds of people gave their lives to Jesus through Celebrate Recovery.

At 11:49 a.m. on Wednesday, June 8, Emily died following a couple of days in the hospital following a massive heart attack. At that moment, I have no doubt she heard Jesus tell her, "Well done, good and faithful servant ... Enter into the joy of your master." And, she was also reunited with her beloved Ricky, who died last year.


She helped many homeless people at LIA. I'll never forget when she convinced someone to donate a car so we could give it to a homeless man to help him improve his life. Charles was stunned the night she gave him the car keys. She put it in a lunch box and presented it to him. He opened it and found the keys. He asked what were the keys for. She told him he would need them to drive his new car to work. He cried. Emily cried. We all cried.

When I think of Emily's "Man with no shoes," I think about her going to Baton Rouge with us. We took a cargo trailer filled with hundreds of pairs of boots. She helped us give them out to the homeless. She was happy and thrilled that she was able to give shoes to the homeless. Though it wasn't the "Man with no shoes" she had seen more than a year earlier, it certainly made her heart smile helping so many homeless people with shoes.

Emily's desire to reach as many people for Jesus didn't stop in Dothan and Baton Rouge. She traveled to Shell, Ecuador, with us. We worked at an orphanage called Casa de Fe. Emily's mission, however, was not the children directly, but rather indirectly. Alcoholism and drug use is a big problem in Ecuador. Her goal was to teach Celebrate Recovery to ministry leaders in Shell, so they can begin a program to help adults overcome their addictions, therefore, helping the children as well.

Emily and Ms. Judy taught the course and gave all of the literature and books to begin a CR program in Shell. What an awesome blessing. Those ministry leaders in Ecuador were so thankful and excited.

Those three years of ministering with Emily were wonderful. She taught me a lot, and brought a lot of joy into mine and Martha's lives and to so many others.

We are thankful we will see her again in Heaven. I know we will see many, many others in Heaven who gave their lives to Jesus because of Emily being faithful to God's call on her life. She fulfilled that calling, and now she is reaping the rewards of her labor. She has "fought the good fight" and has "finished the race."

We pray for God to comfort her family as they will miss her tremendously. Many people will miss her. I thank God for memories, for we still have those and we will carry memories of Emily with us for the rest of our lives.

Food & Hygiene pantries need restocking

After a very busy month at LIA, we are in need of donations for our food and hygiene pantries. Our shelves are very low and some are empty. Please share these needs with your family, friends, church small groups, etc.. Please help us and please share these needs with your friends on Facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets and ask people to help us as well.

Donations can be dropped off Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., at our LIA office, which is located at 279 W. Main St., suite 2, in downtown Dothan behind the former Dakota Coffee building.

Thanks and God bless you all.

Here's a list of needs:

Non-perishable canned food:Vegetables, Ravioli, Spaghetti, Tuna, Ham, Peanut Butter, Fruit, Pudding, Soups.

Hygiene items:Shampoo, Shaving cream, Razors, Toothpaste & toothbrushes, Men & Women's deodorant, Lotion, Feminine products, New socks, New underwear, Baby diapers.

Human trafficking funding terrorism

Human trafficking is showing up everywhere in the world, and criminal organizations and terrorist organizations are benefiting from selling people.

ISIS is the epitome of evil. The following link is to an article in the Washington Post about how members of ISIS raise money through the selling of women as sex slaves. Here's the link, http://tinyurl.com/hrtnq8y

The following quote by an ISIS member selling young girls proves that point as well, "Supply and demand makes her that price."

The fact there is demand shows the evilness in this world. The fact there are more than 30 million slaves in the world (a conservative number) shows how evil the world is. The fact the U.S. Is one of the top importers of sex trafficking shows how evil our own nation is. All of the top importers of sex slavery are western nations.

Yes, we need to pray more than ever, but we also need to take action more than ever as well. We must share the love of Jesus with everyone, no matter their ethnicity or religion. Jesus says in Acts 1:8, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

Jesus commands us to be His witnesses. Are we obeying? Obviously not everyone who claims to be Christian in this world is obeying our Lord's command, or this world wouldn't be so evil. It's past time to change that. Everyone who claims to be Christian must be His witnesses and show forth His love to all people. When people truly experience the love of Jesus they can't help but change.

We also must stand for justice and help those who cannot speak for themselves, so when we see or suspect human trafficking, we must report it.

Only God can deliver this world from evil, and we need to do our part by following and serving Him as Jesus told us and showed us.

Laundry/Shower ministry makes a difference

Being homeless is tough on many different levels. It's easy to see how people can quickly lose self-esteem and hope when they are homeless.

They don't have shelter, no consistent food source, no toilet or shower, nowhere to wash clothes, and those are just a handful of issues.

Imagine trying to find work when you can't shower or wash clothes. Most employers are not going to give you a second look, not to mention how it makes you feel about yourself. The homeless really do care about their hygiene. They want to be clean. They want to smell good. They just don't have many options.

They do at the Love In Action Ministry Center in Dothan, Alabama. Here, they find a hot shower with shampoo and body wash. The men can safely shave in the spacious shower room.

They find people filled with the love of Jesus ready to wash their clothes. While they wait, they can enjoy a hot meal and look for newer clothes.

It's all part of Love In Action's Mission Statement, which is, "To proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ through acts of compassion." We have been doing that for 16 years, and God uses it to draw people to Him. When you are hungry, in need of a shower and laundry, and someone is there to help you, it makes a big difference. It let's the homeless know they are cared for by God and by people of God.

Know the signs of human trafficking

After my blog about human trafficking two weeks ago, people thanked me for enlightening them that human trafficking happens in our hometown of Dothan, Ala. One person said he was clueless and wouldn't know how to identify a victim or know what to do if he did.

So, this blog is to help answer those questions. The more we all know, the more we can all do to help end this injustice.

Human Trafficking is modern day slavery, and it is the use of force, fraud or coercion to compel another person to provide labor or commercial sex against their will.

Know the signs of human trafficking:

• Have injuries or signs of physical abuse
• Denied food, water, sleep, medical care, and freedom of movement
• Drug addiction
• Current runaway or signs of homelessness
• Does not have identification   
• Presence of older boy/girlfriend
• Inexplicable appearance of expensive gifts, clothing, or other costly items
• Withdrawal or lack of interest in previous activities
• Pimps and traffickers will often "brand" their girls and boys with tattoos.
• Seems disoriented and not know where he/ she is
• Fearful of authority, especially law enforcement
• Avoids eye contact

This list is not all inclusive, but these are some of the key signs of spotting human trafficking victims.

How to Report Trafficking:

If you see a victim, or even suspect you see a victim, call 9-1-1. The Dothan Police Department has told us they would rather for people to call them and it turns out to be a false alarm than for people to do nothing and someone remains a victim of human trafficking.

You can also call the National Human Trafficking Hotline 1-888-3737-888.

Don't ignore this crime. Learn more about it and help. One person can save someone's life by simply making a phone call. If it was your daughter or son who was a victim of human trafficking, you would want someone to call and help them.

Click here to visit the Human Trafficking Awareness page on Love In Action's website to learn more.