"One Less Homeless in Ft. Worth"

The flooding that has taken place in the past couple of months here in the DFW area has devastated many. Lives have been lost, and homes destroyed. These heavy rains have taken a toll on the homeless of Ft. Worth as well. Grandpa Charlie lives in the woods next to a spillway. When it rains heavily the spillway backs up and floods his entire camp. Since January we have gone over to his place to clean up after a flood several times. During each flood many of his belongings were washed away and never found again. Not only did each flood cause damage to Charlie's "home", it also meant a shopping trip to replace necessities. After doing this three times as a group, and Charlie doing it many more times on his own we decided it was time to relocate…

At first, we didn't know what to do. After all, we are just a group of "twenty somethings" trying to make a difference. We don't have the resources to buy Charlie a house, or place to stay. However, the entire body of Christ working together has the power to do anything. We knew that Charlie couldn't continue to stay there. A few nights before he was awakened at 2am as the air mattress in his tent was floating. The front entrance of his tent faced the creek, which was completely full of water. Right outside of his tent was fast flowing water. So, he had to throw his boots on, cut through the back of his tent, rush up the hill, and seek shelter under the bridge. The next morning when we came our hearts were broken. What was left of Charlie's camp was soaked. His tent was worthless, and he was extremely discouraged. The only thing we knew to do was get him out of there. He stayed with a family that is a part of I.G. for a few days while we figured out a game plan.

The Lord is provider. By Friday we had permission from the owners of a piece of property to move Charlie in. There was an old garage with a room attached to it. It needed a lot of work, but it was a shelter! Charlie was hesitant; after all, everything he had known for eight years was in Ft. Worth. He quickly decided that this would be best. He could receive his social security check at the mailbox instead of having to go check his P.O. box. There was a Wal-Mart right down the road, and running water on site! Once again, this place needed lots of work…

What I am about to share is probably the most beautiful aspect of this entire day. As you know, every Saturday morning we hook up with Michael Hatcher on E. Lancaster to build relationships with, and serve the homeless. Over the past six months we have developed some great relationships with some guys out there. This particular Saturday we offered them some work; a way to earn some money. They were excited, and came back to North Richland Hills with us. The rest of the day was spent working hard…What we learned is that when the body of Christ comes together and serves, something beautiful happens. Those of us involved in I.G. spent the day with Darren, Chris, Charlie, and Robert (All four of which are homeless). Chris, Darren, and Robert graciously worked their butts off all day.

It was beautiful; the homeless serving the homeless. Three homeless men helped move a homeless man into a home. Once we got everything out of the room we had to clean the floors…Then we started painting…Then Carpet & Furniture…Meet the crew…Robert, Darren, Chris, Me & the Guys, The "I.G." Crew, and Paige with Papa CAs you can see this project was a blessing to many people all at the same time. We had a blast with these guys and were able to pay them for their work. Charlie now has a new home that is flood free, not to mention an actual roof over his head. He's closer to where we all live now, so we visit him several times a week. This has been a beautiful thing. Charlie has a real family. We pray daily for the Lord to invade His soul. All we can do now is continue to love on him, pray, and openly share the Gospel of Jesus with him. There are needs all around us as the church. My prayer is that we would all be aware of those needs around us, and make a move toward action to see those needs met. When this happens in communities we will see true "Church growth".

Written By
Aaron Snow

Scarlet Redemption

Scarlet Redemption

I see you, lady,
though you try to hide.
Militant black boots,
flaming stockings under flowing roses,
rouge on your cheeks beneath a red veil.
A daughter of the king
cannot be disguised.
Royalty walks these streets,
stands on the corner,
holding court with empty bottles,
cloaked in crimson.
I see you, lady,
though you try to hide.
Your Father sees you, too.

Stay On Track

We are running behind on contributions to purchase a building on Lancaster! Although we are staggering it has not and will not defeat God's calling and direction for the Lighthouse. We have an additional month to come up with $65,000. I received these words early this morning :

"On track. I heard the steady sound of a night train traversing the tracks to its next destination. The sound of the train engines hinted of a train functioning well. Clearly the Lord spoke to my heart His word: Stay on track. I have already determined your destination. You will do well to keep moving according to the plan I have placed in your heart. This is no time to change tracks or for an unplanned stop. To do so would be disastrous not only to you but to proper functioning of My body. Keep moving steady and straight ahead. On track."

Hebrews 12:2 "We must focus on Jesus, the source and goal of our faith. He saw the joy ahead of him, so he endured death on the cross and ignored the disgrace it brought him. Then he received the highest position in heaven, the one next to the throne of God."

I pray the Lord keeps the me and Lighthouse on track completing the task he have set before us and if He returns today He will find us faithful doing what we have been called to do!

Phillip Yancy in his book Prayer Does It Make Any Difference? writes these powerful thoughts: "Prayer allows a place for me to bring my doubts and complaints---in sum my ignorance---and subject them to the blinding light of a reality I cannot comprehend but can haltingly learn to trust. Prayer is personal, and my doubts take on a different cast as I get to know the Person to whom I bring them."

God is faithful and He tells me and you: "He that begins a good work will bring about the completion of that work." Once more this journey with Lighthouse has revealed my utter hopelessness and need for the Father. It has revealed in me what I thought was a mature faith in reality struggles with the faith level of an infant just learning to walk. Stumbling, falling and bumping my head and crying for help and afraid to get up and continue the task set before me. Another thought Yancy shares in his wonderful book says this: "It occurred to me one day that though I often worry about whether or not I sense the presence of God, I give little thought to whether God senses the presence of me. When I come to God in prayer, do I bare the deepest, most hidden parts of myself? Only when I do so will I discover myself as I truly am, for nothing short of God's light can reveal that. I feel stripped before the light, seeing a person far different from the image I cultivate for myself and for everyone around me. God alone knows the selfish motives behind my every act, the vipers' tangle of lust and ambition, the unhealed wounds that paradoxically drive me to appear whole. Prayer invites me to bring my whole life into God's presence for cleaning and restoration. Self-exposure is never easy, but when I do I learn that underneath the layers of grime lies a damaged work of art that God longs to repair." "We cannot make Him visible to us, but we can make ourselves visible to Him"

I do not know all that God has for me or the Lighthouse--but the struggles and battles me and my family endure are designed to develop us into depended children that long even more today for our Father.

Please pray that we stay on track with the Lord and not let this building or money get in the way. Thanks for loving me in spite of all my blemishes. I pray that you will see the One who matters---JESUS!


Shalom,