Sometimes the children make the biggest difference
"We had a good time serving last weekend. I was quite worried, having a 12-month old and a 36-month old to tend to. I am so glad that we still came. I was not able to minister much to the families at the motel we served, but surprisingly, in a very simple and quite way, my young daughter was. My daughter Sarah, just turned 3 last month. She has a diagnosis of mild Autism. She is very high functioning, and in a typical preschool, but she has extreme social anxieties and shuts down a lot in social settings. She's very good out in the community and I did not expect her to be a problem at all for the outreach. She came and sat down in a little chair and was quite and well-behaved. I had on the other hand had the daunting task of chasing my 12 month old around.
One of the families living at the motel we went to had at least two children, girls, probably around the ages of 7-8 and 4. The 2 girls came outside, but the mother would only peak her head out the door. She would not come outside the entire time we were there. The older girl brought the younger girl out and they got food and the older girl ran around the parking lot playing with the older kids both from our group and those living in the motel (that was really special too - our group host had orchestrated a lot of outdoor games such as Simon Says and Red Rover for the older kids to play). The younger girl avoided all of that and seemed very timid and afraid. Other adults from our small group including myself tried to approach her and interact with her and she only drew back more. She never verbally responded to any of us. She saw my daughter sitting in a small chair and there was another similar chair about 10 feet away. On her own initiative, without anyone suggesting it to her, she grabbed the chair and dragged it over to where my daughter was sitting, pulled it up beside her and just sat down next to my daughter.
Thank you for this opportunity to allow my family to serve, and give my daughter such a special and meaningful experience, be it all such a simple one, for a child that truly has significant social challenges.
Did you go to the Mini-Conference for lay-leaders yesterday? Several attendees emailed me about a tip I shared for canned responses in Gmail. Here is how
"Blogging with Amy" has a great post that explains how to set up
canned responses in Gmail with a YouTube video to show you how:
Love Sometimes Comes in the Form of a Haircut and Coffee Pot
-Ron W.
2 things are at-war inside our souls—Compassion & Apathy. Please pray for Ben and Roberta Keenan as they battle cancer.
A Poor-life is defined by a lack of LOVE not MONEY. People need a healthy community more than finances!
Easter Celebration at the Breakfast Together Outreach in San Clemente!
Connecting Conversations
We reach out to people living in motels and in city parks every Sunday. The breakfast guests enjoy the presence of small groups and value simple and honest conversation about life, family, and spiritual matters. Your ministry of listening, laughing, and praying together brings God’s love in unexpected and unusual ways. Small talk can lead to God talk.
Food and Fellowship
Small groups meet an on-site leader from our ministry in morning and everyone usually remains until noon. Small groups purchase the breakfast then serve it with cooking equipment that’s already at the motel. After breakfast, the whole group enjoys a short worship service with a message and prayer.
Better Together
We also have an optional three-week training curriculum for your small group, which will help your group discover practical ways to use the gifts God has given to the group allowing your group to get the most out of your experience.
Getting started is as easy as 1-2-3. Here’s how…
- You will need at a group of 8 adults* committed to show up. If you are short handed, see if you can get a few friends or family members to help you. Also we can blend your small group with another small group.
- Schedule a Sunday to serve with our Motel Coordinator by sending an email to: BreakfastOutreach@gmail.com Other groups may have submitted the same date as you so pick an alternate date as well.
- Request the optional three-week small group training curriculum and we will make arrangements for us to get it to you.
*Children are more than welcome to participate. However, we offer no childcare and are not responsible for their safety. After 10 years we have had hundreds of children volunteer without any problems.
Celebration of LIFE for Dan Southwick at our San Clemente Breakfast Together Outreach
So blessed to have a partnership with the city of Dana Point
Hopelessness is not caused by a lack of housing, it's a lack of a loving community.
Today The Dana Point "Blue Flag" Breakfast Together Outreach had it's 3rd monthly gathering with over 50 in attendance.
Hopefully by the end of the year we'll have it happening every week and see God do some amazing thing to help those with no place to call home.
One of our volunteers, Don Haynes, put together great slide show of this new location. Thanks Don, Al, Craig, and everyone making HOPE a reality.
Help for the homeless is on the way! Amazing things happening to improve our advocacy.
Our very own Russ Carter, blue shirt in the photo with Matt Bruce, has been asked to join Costa Mesa's Homeless task force, can can read more about that here: http://www.ocregister.com/news/homeless-284714-task-force.html
The timing is perfect because we are really moving forward with the "Street to Feet" program that Chris Anders started a year ago. Our hope is to see 100 volunteers get the training necessary to truly help offer hand-ups instead of hand-outs. Now with the cities like Costa Mesa forming partnerships with us, we can really change a community.
Street to feet training is this Sunday, Jan. 23 at 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
We will be holding a family-friendly gathering at our Rancho Capistrano campus that you won't want to miss. We are planning to spend the first hour or so eating and visiting with each other with a potluck. There should be about 20 to 30 people and the menu is up to you.
The second portion of the gathering will be about the "Street to Feet" training curriculum. Dave McSwain, one of the leaders at our Santa Ana location, will facilitate the meeting and Matt Bruce will present a rough draft of the training. Let me tell you a little about Matt Bruce, so you can see why, I feel that we are so blessed to have him helping us shape the next phase of our ministry.
Matt graduated from Huntington University (small Christian school in Indiana) with a B.A. in Psychology. Worked 3 1Ž2 years as a Child/Adolescent Case Manager (and later as Team Leader and Juvenile Court Liaison) for a Community Mental Health Center in Indiana providing services to children and families with mental health and behavioral problems. Earned Master of Social Work degree at Azusa Pacific University, completing internships as a Hospice Social Worker and then as a Grant Writer at the Orange County Rescue Mission. Completed several Graduate School papers and projects on the issue of homelessness. Spent several months serving as a volunteer as Union Rescue Mission on Skid Row in LA as well as developing a number of personal relationships with homeless individuals in the city of Azusa. Served as the Missions and Outreach Pastor at Foothill Church in Glendora during final year of Master’s program. Currently serving as a Community PEACE Coordinator at Saddleback Church.
Thank you for making the love of Christ tangible for those how have no place to call home!
Max McGhee
