December 30th, 2009
The hustle and bustle of the holiday season is officially behind us. WOW. What a crazy, busy and amazing season for us as a church. We were able to give and reach out to so many, and while that would seem like we were able to bless others, we as a church are so blessed to be a part. We wouldn’t have it any other way.
Check out this amazing outreach we were able to be a part of through local partnerships and working with our school system:
Dalton Elementary is an inner city school in Baton Rouge with so many children who may go without at Christmastime. HPC partnered with local businesses [The Baton Rouge Business Report, SSA Consultants & Advance Baton Rouge] to provide 55 toys to children. Depending on their age the children either received a MP3 player or a Leap Frog video game, while Cooking for Christ also served up delicious hot meals for all the families. As the icing on the cake we were also able to give each family a ham to bring home for Christmas!
Business Report employee Shannon Rasbury described her experience saying, “It’s an indescribable feeling to be able to participate in giving gifts and food to families in need. Although I don’t know each family’s situation, I would say this is the only Christmas they will have. Without the toy and ham, the kids would wake up Christmas morning with nothing. I love to see people going above and beyond at Christmas time to give kids that otherwise wouldn’t experience it, a great Christmas! I think by providing even the smallest gift or a meal, you can bring hope to people who have none. It shows them that they aren’t forgotten, and that other people really do care. These people truly matter to God, and all we are doing is extending the love of God to people who desperately need it. And you never know…it may be the first or last time they experience Christ’s love. We felt very honored to be a part of such a great outreach!”
November 3rd, 2009
Winter is on it’s way and we are in need of blankets and/or coats, mittens, hats, etc. to give to our homeless brothers and sisters so they can stay warm.
This Holiday season, you can bless someone who will never know who you are.. but God knows. So if you have any clean, used or new blankets and coats that you would like to donate, please put them in a bag labeled “homeless outreach” and leave the bag at the Cooking for Christ shed behind the HPC offices. We will be handing them out at the homeless breakfast on Thursday mornings, at 7am, 450 Roselawn Ave and after the breakfast when we go out into the city where the homeless sleep and live throughout the down town area.
Thank you and God Bless you for helping the less fortunate this winter.
If you have any questions or would like to volunteer, you can contact Vincent@noplaceoutreach.org
October 11th, 2009
Amazing is really the only word that we can use to describe what Jesus did this weekend here at the Donaldsonville campus of Healing Place Church. There isn’t just one thing that happened that made it so special, instead it was a culmination of several different things.Patients were seen, volunteers were able to serve, prayer partners prayed, cooks cooked, and people were loved by Jesus through others. At the end of the outreach a woman came into the room where the volunteers were gathered. She was asked how long she had been serving as a volunteer with the medical ministry and she said she really couldn’t remember, but she knew it was a “good while”. Then someone else asked her how she got started. Her response revealed the heart of Healing Place Church in just a few words, “I came as a patient.”
That is what outreach is all about, going out and REACHING others. It isn’t called “outings”, its called outreaches. She came to see the doctor because she was sick, she came back and served because she was well.
2 Cor. 1:3-4 commands us to do just what this precious woman has done. It says that God comforted us in our time of need for the purpose that we would in turn comfort others in their time of need.
We are honored to watch God move in the lives of people in Donaldsonville, and pray that He continues to transform lives- healing people and enabling them to serve.
