01-01-10

BLESSED BE HE THAT CONSIDERETH THE POOR

(Zec 7:9,10)  Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassions every man to his brother: And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.

Dear brothers and sisters, God bless you. Thank you. 2009 has been a wonderful year for the Lord at this Rescue Mission. May I personally extend my heartfelt congratulations to you for your earnest prayers, for your sacrificial financial support, and for your active participation in winning 445 lost souls to Jesus Christ in 2009, and freely distributing over $1,000,000 (one million dollars) of food, which converts to about 340,000 meals provided for Father God’s hungry men, women, and little children in Pinellas County. God bless you. Hallelujah!

What does all that mean? Well, through our in-house evangelical Bible studies hosted by different guest speakers every evening seven days a week, and our church on Sunday mornings, all of which are open to the public and broadcast live streaming video on the Internet, and through our outreach ministerial programs at the Pinellas County Jail, at the Wagon Wheel Flea Market, at Pinellas Hope (tent city), and at Arlington Gardens (a hospice), our volunteers and hardworking staff have led 445 men, women, and children to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, and comforted and exhorted and edified many thousands more. Additionally, our two websites www.havenofrest.com and www.tabernacleofmoses.org have enjoyed well over one million hits this year and shared and spread the good news of the gospel of the wonderful love Father God has for His children to virtually every corner and country in the world. “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. (Mark 16:15)”

THE CHANGING FACES OF HOMELESSNESS

Up until three or four years ago, the primary demand upon this Rescue Mission for free food was by destitute homeless persons. Since then, yes the homeless population has certainly grown considerably, but at present, the largest increase by far of hungry people in need for food is coming directly from families – domiciled families, desperately poor families, impoverished men, women, and little children who are still struggling to keep their little family unit intact and retain possession of a home, be it a house, an apartment, trailer, or eventually a cheap motel room. Sad to say, we see new families every day, lovely innocent people, who have lost that battle and joined the growing ranks of the homeless population, jobless, bewildered, hungry, and depressed.

May we note that just a few years ago, most of the homeless population that we were seeing in our Rescue Mission were not really capable of holding down a regular job because they had large mental swings and other unstable aberrations, and were consequently not able to conform to the discipline of a Monday through Friday 9 to 5 routine. When the Federal and State governments closed their mental hospitals several years ago, many of those institutionalized medicated patients immediately became homeless persons on the streets or inmates in prison, depending upon the respective severity and manifestations of their untreated illnesses. Then those truly mentally ill but unsupervised persons who remained on the streets were snared in the net of habitual self-medication which is greatly encouraged by our government and effected through the means of heavily advertised socially acceptable legal alcohol products that are made inexpensively available to the public, even at your local corner convenience store; whereas other drugs that are not under strict government sanctions and control (taxation), such as marijuana and crack cocaine, must be clandestinely purchased under the threat of jail, and are much more costly and therefore much less prevalent in the homeless population. These then are the people that we used to see.

But now, rather than seeing hungry homeless persons who have transitioned from the hardships up north, we are seeing a marked increase in hungry families who are local residents about to lose their homes. These persons have lived here in Pinellas County a good portion of their lives, many went to school and grew up here, and went to church, gained an occupation, paid their taxes, voted, and became a vital part of our community. What happened? Well, first the man or woman lost their job, not because of any inadequacy or unwillingness to work on their part, but because their boss no longer had any work for them to do, and he either cut back, himself striving to survive, or he closed his business forever. Then came sheer panic and 24 months of unemployment insurance and the endless but fruitless hundreds of job searches, and the monthly boxes of groceries from our Rescue Mission to feed the kids, and finally desperation for but unable to find even a minimum wage job. Somewhere during this time he or she became unable to pay the mortgage or rent, and it started backing up, and now he or she is entering into foreclosure or eviction; and he or she is about to lose their car, because they can’t pay the insurance premiums and because they can’t pay for the repairs when the car breaks down, and they have come to our Rescue Mission to sign up for food stamps, and some manage to move in with kindhearted relatives or friends, and all the others become homeless, helpless, and hopeless. Please help us help them. Thank you. God bless you.

Thank you for your prayers and financial donations, and thank you for dropping off all the food and warm coats and blankets for our rapidly growing number of desperately needy patrons, many of whom were once your neighbors. We cannot continue to serve them without your gracious help: sacrificing for your neighbor is loving your neighbor.

If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture,

Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: (James 2:8)

Ye do well.

Thank you,

Sincerely,

Rev. Lionel

Ps. Rescue Mission needs: prayer, a much larger building, financial donations of course to keep the doors open, more Bibles, more food, a new(er) truck, volunteers with happy faces. 

                                                                                          J

(Psa 41:1,2)  To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble. The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.