Volunteer At The Refuge

Hello folks, Andrew Terry here for The Refuge Homeless Shelter of Lapeer.

We open ten days from now. We are getting everything ready for our first week. This week we have check-in training happening - Tuesday was the first night, tonight is the second night of training. This is training for our check-in and pat down process. It is happening tonight at 5:30 pm in the basement of St. Matts in downtown Lapeer.

My wife is working hard to get all the host training scheduled for all the churches. We've had our first training last Sunday, and we learned a lot.

Today I want to read from Mark 6:37, it reads:

"But he answered them, 'You give them something to eat.' And they said to him, 'Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?'

This is an interesting story. Jesus and his disciples went away to be by themselves for a while. But people showed up where they were at. About 5,000 people. Jesus had compassion on them and taught them. When it was getting late his disciples urged Jesus to send the people away so they could get some food to eat.

But Jesus says something fascinating. He says, "You give them something to eat."

The disciples were astounded. Feeding 5,000 people was no small task. And it is very expensive. But Jesus had other plans.

He took what they had, five loaves and two fish and multiplied them. Then he gave them to his disciples and they fed the people.

What I find fascinating is Jesus telling his disciples, "YOU give them something to eat." Many times we pray and ask God to care for the poor, the oppressed, and the homeless, when all this time he is telling us, his people, to do these things.

He is telling you, me, every Christian, give the hungry something to eat; give the naked something to wear; give the homeless shelter; visit those in prison.

Many times we want to send someone else - God send someone else, not me.

But you can't escape the command - Go and do.

So, with that in mind I encourage you to go and do with The Refuge. Our first week is being hosted in calibration with several ministries, and they need volunteers. I've posted a link on this video that you can click on to sign up for your spot to volunteer. We are looking for people to visit with the guests in the evening hours. Also, we are looking for overnight volunteers, both male and female.

My wife and I both will be volunteering during this week. It is the week of Thanksgiving. I know people are busy during the holidays. But, homelessness doesn't take a break during the holidays. So, volunteer and help The Refuge the first week we are open, November 18 to the morning of the 25th.

The question of the week is: Do you think the homeless are completely beyond our ability to help? Aside from housing how would you help them? Look for the post on our Facebook page and join the conversation.

For now, this is Andrew, signing off – Seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.

http://signup.com/go/nbKrhfk

We're using SignUp.com (the leading online SignUp and reminder tool) to organize our upcoming SignUps.

Here's how it works in 3 easy steps:
1) Click this link to see our SignUp on SignUp.com: http://signup.com/go/nbKrhfk
2) Review the options listed and choose the spot(s) you like.
3) Sign up! It's Easy - you will NOT need to register an account or keep a password on SignUp.com.
Note: SignUp.com does not share your email address with anyone. If you prefer not to use your email address, please contact me and I can sign you up manually.