Sheds For Tornado Victims in Alabama

What an honor it was when I was asked by the editor in chief to take pictures for the Alabama Baptist Newspaper of some churches building sheds for victims who lost everything in the devastating tornadoes this April. This was a great way for me to experience ministry and my enjoyment of photography at the same time.
Here is the article:

Sheds built, delivered as ministry to survivors

By Courtney Searcy
August 11, 2011

When people displaced by tornadoes gather what is left of their possessions and begin to rebuild, where do they keep their salvaged belongings?
Westmont Baptist Church, Birmingham, partnered with Pathfinder Mission, a ministry associated with Gateway Baptist Church, Montgomery, to provide the answer to that question: sheds.
Teams from Bethsalem Baptist Church, Billingsley, and Pleasant Grove Presbyterian Church gathered with Westmont Baptist volunteers July 16 to assemble 18 of these storage units from prefabricated parts prepared by volunteers at Pathfinder’s headquarters in Eclectic.
Then they delivered them to homeowners in the Pleasant Grove area. That day, only eight or nine homes were scheduled to receive sheds. However, as they delivered them, they encountered others in need.
To qualify, homeowners had to be registered with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and have proof that they lived on the property before the April 27 tornado.
Many receiving the storage units didn’t believe they were free until volunteers drove away without leaving a bill. The act of kindness opened doors to share the gospel and give Bibles to several unchurched families and individuals. 
Brad Eubank, pastor of Bethsalem Baptist, said the experience moved some of the volunteers from his church to tears as they recounted stories from their day. He said ministering to people who had been through so much was an emotional experience for them.
“Sometimes it’s hard to find the right spot for a church to fit in to minister. … It’s great to find a place to serve in a unique way,” Eubank said.
The unique ministry began in 2005, when Pathfinder began to assist in disaster relief on the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina. Volunteers met a woman who had her property cleared and her belongings recovered but needed a place to store them.
The April 27 tornadoes revived a need for the sheds, and the effort evolved into a collaboration of countless individuals.
Charley Elgin, co-founder of Pathfinder, had connections with Westmont and Bethsalem, which had members eager to meet any needs possible. Westmont has worked toward disaster recovery alongside churches such as Pleasant Grove Presbyterian since the tornadoes hit.
Monetary donations from across the country linked more and more people to the ministry. Each shed costs about $300.
While builders were obviously key players in getting the sheds prepared, cooks from Westmont prepared and served meals to them.
“This was a joint effort. Really and truly, I don’t know how many people were involved. This has been a corporate effort of Christians in the Kingdom to put this together,” said C.B. Scott, pastor of Westmont.
For more information, visit www.pathfindermission.org/AlabamaShedsFromGod.html.

Metro Ministries

Please read this article about Metro Ministries. I had the priveledge to serve with this ministry many years ago in Mobile, Alabama. This article is found on their website.



Bill Wilson, Founder & Senior Pastor

As a child, Pastor Bill experienced the pain and hopelessness of abandonment. One day, as he walked down a street with his mother, they stopped to sit for a while. She instructed him to sit there and wait for her to return. He sat and waited for three days straight. She never returned. A Christian gentleman who had seen Bill stranded and alone stopped and picked him up. It was here that Bill's relationship with God began.








Mission to Help Hurting Children
Out of the pain, impoverishment and isolation of his own abandonment, Bill developed a heart of compassion for suffering children everywhere. From the ghettos of America to the garbage dumps of Manila, Bill has sought to rescue hurting children.

Founding of Metro Ministries
Pastor Bill established Metro Ministries in 1980 in what was one of Brooklyn's roughest neighborhoods, the Bushwick community, most commonly known for its history of gang violence, crime, drugs, and poverty.
Here, violence is a way of life and a constant threat. Pastor Bill has been beaten, stabbed and shot in the face. Yet, he perseveres and refuses to leave the area or give up on the children growing up in such an environment. Because of that, his efforts have made a difference, not only in the lives of children but in the community as well.
Due to the success of Metro's programs, President George Bush, Sr. appointed Pastor Bill to serve on the National Commission on America's Urban Families in 1991. Metro's influence was also identified as a factor in the noticeable reduction of crime in the Bushwick community and the organization was featured on ABC's Nightline.

Today, Pastor Bill travels widely, speaking in churches nationally and internationally each week. He is frequently featured on Christian television networks throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe. And his programs, curriculum and techniques are being duplicated in cities all over the world. However one thing remains the same. Every Saturday, Pastor Bill is there in the heart of the urban jungle in Brooklyn, driving the school bus to pick up boys and girls for Sunday School.


metroministries.org

Ross Bridge 8k

Come out and support this great race benefitting Alabama Teen Challenge.
God has been using this ministry for 50 years to change the lives of men and women who have life controlling issues. I will be there helping them to the glory of God.

The Great Commission

The Great Commission


"Go therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age. Amen" (Matt. 28:19-20, NKJ).

Here are some great links to sights that have a strong emphasis on missions.

www.imb.org

 
www.wmu.org
 
 

 
 
 
 
www.cpmissions.net
 
 

 
 
 
 
www.namb.net
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Human Trafficking

What a HUMAN tragedy ! Trafficking human beings for profit. This is truely modern day slavery. The enemy is playing for keeps and he sure does not care who he destroys. The scriptures tell us that the " thief comes only to kill, to steal and destroy, but I [Jesus] have come that they might have life and have it to the full."
John 10:10
Please PRAY for these women and children to come to know freedom in Christ and the tremendous love God has for them.
Here is some of their stories.
Good Night, Red Light
by Jeanne Rogers


"Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning." (Psalm 30:5)

During my first mission trip to India, I heard about the Kamathipura section of Mumbai, where approximately 100,000 women and children live in sexual slavery. The number of trafficked persons is difficult to determine due to the clandestine nature of the crime, but the Indian government claims that there are about 3 million prostitutes in the country and 40% are children.
The RescueLIFE program in Thailand and Cambodia ignited my passion to liberate victims of sexual slavery, so I was excited when our mission team partnered with K.K. Devaraj, an Indian minister doing an amazing work in the red light district of Mumbai.
“We will take you and Lisa Bevere inside the brothels to minister and pray with women and children who live there,” Devaraj said during our preparation. His explanation altered our western concept of a brothel, which has been somewhat sanitized by an indifferent society.
“The young women working the brothels in Kamathipura,” the Indian minister told us, “are forced into prostitution by human traffickers.”
The idea of prostitution as a profession certainly strikes Christians as shameful, but the thought of forced prostitution, especially for children, brings an element of criminality and debauchery that confounds the senses. It’s the equivalent of daily rape and pedophilia -- all for sale in the slums of Kamathipura.
The first day in our mission headquarters, I listened to the stories of young women who escaped the sex trade and now live in the care of the missionaries. One lovely girl, the daughter of a prostitute, told how she had been raped every day by her mother’s owner. The abuse, which her mother witnessed, began when she was only nine years old and continued daily until the man sold her at the age of seventeen.
Others were kidnapped from their families and imprisoned for months or years. Children are literally kept in cages, like animals at a market. One girl described her torment: “I was raped and beaten daily--then put back into my cage.”
I couldn’t control my emotions as these girls described the terror they had experienced at the hands of such cruelty. As my heart broke for the victims, an intense rage rose toward their offenders. God spoke a warning to me: “Guard your heart against hatred. These men are captives too—captives of Satan.”
With the Holy Sprit’s help, I prayed for God’s love and deliverance to reach the men who control the women and children. The missionaries encouraged me to also pray for the madams who manage the brothels, demanding quotas from the girls.
We gathered the next day at the AIDS clinic in Kamathipura and met a dozen former madams who now love Jesus and have been trained to rescue women and children with the same love that rescued them. God has miraculously given these women access to minister in the brothels six days a week.
Anita, the leader of the group, led us through the filthy, narrow streets. My eyes caught the movement of a large rat over a doorframe as we entered a brothel. Inside, each girl eagerly embraced Anita and God’s presence instantly filled their place of torment. I was overwhelmed as Anita prayed a soul-wrenching petition for the women, spoken in their native language. Their weary eyes filled with tears as love flooded their prison.
With the help of an interpreter, Lisa Bevere gave her testimony and prayed for every woman and child. As she spoke, she placed her hands on their shoulders and stared intently into their eyes. Again and again the interpreter boldly repeated Lisa’s words, “God has a plan for your life!” Though many wore their shame heavily, each felt the impact of her message. We all ministered and prayed for the hope of spiritual and physical freedom to consume them.
In the second brothel, a certain woman captured my attention. I felt God urge me to move closer, so I crawled through the others seated on the floor and pulled her into my arms. Suddenly a wailing cry immerged from deep within me, and I cradled and rocked her like a child. She welcomed the embrace and when the travail lifted, God’s peace covered us both.
I learned afterward that she had recently placed her five-year-old daughter in the safety of the LIFE Center. Her precious child was the only pure love the woman had in her life, so she placed her with godly people to protect her. I felt blessed to mourn the loss with that young mother and offer hope for her own life to be rescued.
On our last day, a young woman brought her eight-year-old daughter to Lisa. The day before, she had invited Lisa to her tiny space inside the brothel. Lisa was shocked to learn that while mothers are with a client, they must hide their child under the bed, put them into a small compartment or drug them to sleep. Lisa knew the mother didn’t believe she could be free, but she wanted her child rescued.
Our team witnessed the difference the LIFE Center makes in the lives of children, but we also discovered they have a long waiting list. One missionary explained, “We want to rescue all of the children! We have the land, but no resources to build.”
That scene plays in my memory--an imprisoned young mother and her child who remains vulnerable to sexual predators until she can be rescued. It continues to motivate me to pray and do all I can with the resources God provides to rescue children from brothels. I asked Devaraj to answer the question everyone asks when they hear about human trafficking, “How do enslaved people get free from captivity?”
He smiled confidently and said, “This is not too hard for my God!”

James, Betty and all of us at LIFE believe that God is their only hope, so we are increasing our efforts to rescue innocent ones. Our goal and our prayer is that God’s love and grace will shine upon the darkest corners of the earth. So as we say “good night” to the red light district of Kamathipura, we look forward to the dawn of a new day in the light of God’s love.

This Week
Pray for the women and children of Kamathipura and every other area where sexual slavery reigns. Ask the Lord to protect and empower the missionaries and move mightily in the lives of those living in darkness.
Prayer
“Jesus, send Your good news to those trapped in bondage. Use Your people to touch those bound by hopelessness, wickedness and shame. Amen.”