Upcoming Events!!

           I just wanted to update everyone on what is going on with Living Bridges.  Our next event will be the clothing exchange on March 28^th. Please see the website ( www.livingbridgesministry.org ) for details.  We are still looking for assistance in several areas for this event.  If you can donate clothes, have a truck to haul clothes or can volunteer to hand out clothes please email me at tony@livingbridgesministry.org.

                We are also getting ready to start our transformations class.  This will teach people how to get out of poverty and live independent lives.  The Lord is blessing this class more and more every day.  We were struggling to find a location to teach this class, but right at the point where we were going to have to cancel He provided the perfect setting.   So, we are pressing forward.  We will soon be accepting applications for students.  If you would like to help with this endeavor by sponsoring a student or serving as a mentor to guide them along the way, please email to let me know.

                Last, but certainly not least.  Thank you for your support in the ministry.  We have definitely been blessed by all of your prayers, resources, volunteering and funding.  However; we still need your on-going support.  We definitely couldn’t do what God has called us to do without you.  So, please visit the “How Can I Help” page on the website or email me and we will make whatever arrangements we need to make it happen.  Of course, the most important thing you can do is pray!  So, please keep them coming our way!

                If you have any questions, comments or suggestions please don’t hesitate to let us know.   We definitely value your input.

In His Service,

Tony  `   

Living Bridges Needs List!

Good morning, in our last blog post, I wrote about what we do as a ministry and explained all of our events and programs.  I did that so that those who were unfamiliar with us could get more information and so that those who volunteer in one program could get awareness about what else we do.

      Today, I am going to tell you about our “Needs List.” In our newsletters and on our website (www.livingbridgesministry.org), we share a needs list.  It is a list of all the things that would be helpful to our ministry if they were donated.  We take donations in various forms all year long. Our needs do vary according to the program we are trying to prepare for.

     We start our list with the most important donation information (or the most pressing needs).  This month we have a blurb about Easter Eggs, which is on top because this is the season that everyone is purchasing those.  People who are having Easter Egg hunts are wondering what to do with the eggs afterward.  Also the eggs will be going on clearance immediately after Easter at stores; which makes that the best time to purchase them to donate to us—as long as they are NOT candy filled.

LIVING BRIDGES MINISTRY NEEDS LIST

We are collecting empty plastic Easter Eggs and plastic eggs stuffed with toys so we will be ready for our Easter event next year.  Please don’t donate candy filled eggs as the candy will go bad before next year.

      

       Next on our list we have the needs for Kids’ Connection—our kids’ camp at the park that operates 2 Saturdays a month from June through September.  We are in the process of learning our eligibility to receive food through the school district because we feed kids/families that would be on subsidized lunches on school days.  At this time, we don’t anticipate needing food donations, but that could change once the school gets its new guidelines for 2015-2016 later this month.

Kids’ Connection Needs

80 bottles of water for each camp x 8 camps

Individual bags of chips to serve at lunch

Paper plates

Napkins

Baby wipes (to clean hands after craft time)

Plastic forks/spoons/knives

Large bottle of hand sanitizer

400 Brown lunch sacks (we send all the kids’ crafts/fliers/etc home in them)

Name tag labels (we need about 400 of these)

     While their children are at the Kids’ Connection, parents participate in a devotion and either play bingo for needed household items or make a take home project that they can use or give as a gift.  The list below is what we give in bingo prizes.

BINGO needs:

Bath towels, blankets, small appliances (coffee pot, mixers, toasters), pillows, everyday tools like screwdrivers, hammers, wrenches, home décor items, yard décor items, rubbermaid storage containers, laundry baskets/hampers, gift cards of $5-$10 to stores/fast food.

     Twice a year we offer clothing exchanges.  Families can come in and some items clothing for each family member for free.  Then they can turn in gently used clothing that they no longer need to get even more items of clothing for any family member.

Clothing Exchange

We are accepting new and gently used clothing year round for our spring/summer and fall/winter clothing exchanges.

We are also collecting brand new underwear in all sizes for kids and adults (we need these in all sizes by October).

     Trunk or Treat offers families a safe place for their kids to Trick or Treat.  However; we can’t in good conscience give candy out without giving toothbrushes and toothpaste as well!

Trunk or Treat

We need 100 toothbrushes (kids and adult sizes) and full sized toothpaste

Candy

Small toys (like kid’s meal prizes), or carnival prize type toys (small balls, stuffed animals, glow sticks, etc)

     At our Thanksgiving luncheon we feed our families a pot luck Thanksgiving meal. Living Bridges provides the meat, a couple of sides and the drinks. Realizing that other agencies give out food boxes for the Thanksgiving meal, we focus on sending each family home with a bag of staple food items to help get them through the holiday season.

Thanksgiving Luncheon

5lb sack of flour

4lb sack of sugar

Cake mix/frosting

Bottle of vegetable/canola oil

Cans of vegetables

Cans of fruit

Large cans of soup

     Last December, we were able to bless our families with board games.  These games were given to the parents to wrap as a gift from them to their children.  The goal was to encourage quality family time.  We were also blessed by a donation of toys which allowed us to bless around 40 kids with gifts.  The charity that provided that donation is no longer in business and so this year we are going to have to collect donations to meet that need.

Birthday Party for Jesus

Board games are needed to encourage quality family time.

Also collecting new toys Barbie Dolls, Legos, stuffed animals, action figures, etc to give to the kids at our Birthday Party for Jesus.

     As with any charity, we have a small amount of overhead for office supplies and we have miscellaneous items we need. So we have an ongoing needs list to capture those things.

Ongoing needs:

Computer paper

Colored computer paper

Postage stamps (postcard and regular letter)

Devotion material and Bibles for the adults

Gift cards to Hobby Lobby, Michaels and Oriental Trading for craft supplies

     We are so thankful for those who have donated to our ministry throughout the last year. God has blessed us with wonderful donors so far and we know he will continue to move on the hearts of those whom He desires to support us in one way or another.  We try to be the best stewards possible with all of our donations. In addition to the items we collect, it takes almost $300/month to cover expenses like renting the pavilion at the park where we hold 90% of our events, paying for curriculum for some of our programs, buying the meat for non-Kids’ Connection events, buying craft supplies for Kids’ Connection, ink for the printer, licenses for the county/city/state, buying miscellaneous things like banners/signs, table covers, tarps to sit on, and to purchase any of the items above that are not donated.  We have also been able to bless other charities with things we have left after an event.  At Christmas, we were able to give extra toys to Telemon (a charity who helps migrant workers). We have shared extra food items with 3 different food pantries, we supplied devotion materials to a local ministry, and we will continue to share our blessings with others wherever God supplies us with more than our needs!

     The awesome news is that we are a 501c3 charity and any donation you give is tax deductible. We write quarterly and year end donor letters so you can keep track of your donations.  Monetary donations can be made through Paypal on our website (www.livingbridgesministry.org) or by mailing a check to:

Living Bridges Ministry

9302 Davidson Rd PMB 175

Moody AFB, GA 31699

     Again, we thank you for any role you play in God’s ministry through us; whether it is by praying for us, donating to us, or serving alongside of us.  It is humbling to see what God is doing through very ordinary people who answered His call.

What do you do?

 

     

What do you do?

Every time Tony and I tell people about Living Bridges Ministry, inevitably the question comes up: “What do you do?”  We are humbled that people care enough to ask and want to know more about this ministry.  We also realize that through social media, we are “meeting” many people whom we don’t ever get to have personal contact or conversation with.  Many of them are curious what we do also.  So this blog post is a summary of each of our programs and what the volunteer needs are that go with those programs.

   In his song, Do Something, Matthew West sings:

I'm so tired of talking
About how we are God's hands and feet
But it's easier to say than to be
Live like angels of apathy who tell ourselves
It's alright, “somebody else will do something”
Well, I don't know about you
But I'm sick and tired of life with no desire
I don't want a flame, I want a fire
I wanna be the one who stands up and says,
“I'm gonna do something”

After reading about what we do and what our volunteer needs are, we hope you will take some time to pray about how/where you can become involved.  Come “do something” and make a difference in South Valdosta!

Kids’ Connection

  Our Kids’ Connection program was our very first Living Bridges program! It runs from June through September on the 2^nd and 4^th Saturdays of each month. The format is similar to Vacation Bible School only we are at the park.  Families come and the kids rotate through 3 stations where they get a Bible story, a craft activity, and a game or music time. While the kids are doing that, the adults are hearing a devotion.  The adults then make something to take home or they play bingo.  We all come back together as a group and eat lunch.  It takes 12 adult volunteers and several youth volunteers to successfully run a Kids’ Connection Saturday. 

Trunk or Treat

  Trunk or Treat at the park provides kids the chance to have a safe environment to get treats and play games.  Volunteers decorate their cars in a family friendly theme and then hand out school supplies, small toys, candy and other goodies to the children who come through. We have roughly 30 spots for Trunk or Treat this year and it will be held on Saturday, October 24^th from 5-7pm (car decorating and set up begins at 4pm.) In addition to those who set up cars, we need about 6 volunteers for registration and to help make sure the cars stay stocked with candy/prizes.

Thanksgiving Luncheon

  Our Thanksgiving luncheon is a potluck Thanksgiving meal.  Living Bridges provides the hams and everyone brings sides and desserts.  At this event, we hand out sacks of staple grocery items like flour, sugar, oil, etc to help our families through the holiday season.  The Thanksgiving Luncheon needs about 8 adult volunteers to serve food and sign in our guests.

Birthday Party for Jesus

  Held in December, our Birthday Party for Jesus is much like a Kids’ Connection program day.  We have 3 stations for the kids and the adults play Bingo to win prizes that they can give as gifts or keep for themselves.  We also collect board games throughout the year to distribute to our families as gifts in an effort to promote quality family time. We hope to have a new toy to wrap and send home with each child. We need 12-14 volunteers during the birthday party to run the stations, serve the food and help with gift distribution.  About a week before the party, we will have a wrapping workshop and 3-4 volunteers will be needed to wrap toys for the kids.

Transformations

  Our newest program, Transformations, is a 10 month long 3 phase program geared toward helping people out of poverty and into self-sufficient living. The first phase helps participants identify how it is they are in poverty and then to set realistic goals toward getting out of it.  The second phase helps with skills like how to fill out a job application, how to build a resume, and interview practice. The last phase teaches sound financial management decision making skills that will help guide participants in both the spending and saving of the money they make. Several volunteers are needed for this program in the following capacities: to serve as mentors for the participants, to speak during one or more nights of class on one of many topics we will be covering, to be a mock interviewer and share constructive feedback with our people, and to serve in the prayer circle that prays for this group.

Clothing Exchanges

  Clothing exchanges take place in the spring and fall and allow people from the neighborhood to show up and get 1-2 gently used outfits for each family member. Then they can exchange gently used clothing that their family has outgrown for more of our clothing in any size.  Our March clothing exchange needs 12 volunteers.  We anticipate needing about 16 volunteers for the one in the fall.

Mom’s Connection

  Mom’s Connection is a program similar to MOPS (Mothers of PreschoolerS.)  It gives moms with children of any age a place to come and enjoy fellowship.  While at the Mom’s Connection, mom’s will receive a devotion, information relevant to the stage of life they are at, and a snack will be provided.  Activities and supervision for children who are not in school will be provided for each of these meetings. Mom’s Connection will meet on 2 weekday mornings each month and will only go on during the school year.  It will take about 8 adult volunteers to run each meeting.

As I said at the beginning of this post, we hope you will be prayerful about becoming involved.  Some volunteers come out once or twice and others are there almost every time we have something.  We are blessed by all of them no matter how often they come. Consider getting your Sunday school class, your small group, a couple of coworkers, or a few friends together so you can work as a group! For more information on our ministry or about volunteering with us (including specific locations/times for each program), please email info@livingbridgesministry.org.

A Year of Stone Soup!

A Year of Stone Soup!

     Toward the end of last year, I began thinking of all that God had done during our first year of ministry and all that He would want to do in 2015.  We and our volunteers worked hard in 2014 and we were physically tired. However; God had done so much with so little.   Tony and I reflected on the first Kids’ Connection where literally no one showed up, but volunteers.  Then we reflected on the Birthday Party for Jesus (our last event in 2014) where we had 50 people not counting our volunteers!  God has brought us so far in such a short time!  We want to make sure to give Him thanks and praise for that!

     We did not schedule any ministry events in January—setting a precedent for years to come!  We wanted our volunteers to rest. Tony and I also rested, prayed, and were seeking to learn what it is that God would have us do in the year 2015.  Then we met with our board and our volunteers and presented a calendar and a budget so we could get going again!

    Our central theme this year is Stone Soup!  It was one of my favorite stories as a kid.  For those who are unfamiliar, Stone Soup is a folk tale about a group of 3 soldiers (monks or farmers depending on the version you read) who are on a journey.  They travel through a village at meal time and begin to ask villagers to give them so food.  Not one villager will share with them, in fact they all say they don’t have enough for themselves, let alone to share.  It is the same story with everyone the soldiers speak to.  Eventually, the soldiers decide to make stone soup.  They ask a villager for a pot and some water which they are given.  In the center of the village they build a fire and heat their pot with water and a few stones.  Curious villagers ask what the soldiers are doing and are told that they are making stone soup.  With each answer, the soldiers comment that the soup would taste even better if it had an ingredient (meat, potatoes, carrots, or spices) which villagers each take turns going home to bring back. Eventually there is enough delicious soup for the soldiers and the whole village!

   Our desire for this year using this theme, is to begin to build a partnership with the people we have been serving. The most effective ministry in our neighborhood is one that reflects a diversity of people and the variety of gifts that God has blessed each of us with!  In 1 Peter 4:10 we are told, “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”  You may notice that it does not say “If you have a gift.”  Each of us has a gift from the Lord that is to be used for His purpose.  We know that while most of these people have needs that require outside financial assistance, they are still blessed by God and can faithfully serve Him and others. We will be encouraging them to find an area of service where they can use their gifts and talents to bless others! 

  We also want to encourage each of you to pray about using the gifts and talents God has given you to partner with us! We are starting two new programs this year so the need for compassionate and loving volunteers and mentors has never been greater! You may serve one time or several according to your schedule and how you feel led to serve.  We have openings where you can work with adults, with children, or volunteer to do more of the office end of things. To find out more about when/how you can volunteer with us, please email info@livingbridgesministry.org we would be happy to tell you about all of the areas we have available and let you select the best match for your gifts and talents!

Blessings, Darcy

Where Is The News??

Where is the News?

     Good morning friends!  Some of us are old enough to remember when Wendy’s fast food restaurants ran the “Where is the Beef?” themed commercials.  It showed a lady peering under the bun of competitor’s hamburgers trying to find the beef which indicated that competitors served smaller burgers.  Since we started Living Bridges Ministry, I have felt the same way about our newsletter.  I picture readers reading the whole 4 pages and thinking “Where is the news?”  The templates we had to choose from just didn’t allow us to get as much “news” into the monthly newsletter as we would have liked and my schedule does not allow me to “lay out” my own format! So we have prayed and searched and prayed and searched some more and we think we have found our solution (at least for now!)

    We are going to a quarterly newsletter which will show pictures and give snippets of information just like many of you have already been receiving monthly.  In between those, we will now write a blog.  Those writings will have more details about our programs and more information about exactly what we are doing in our ministry. As readers, you will probably feel more informed and you can easily share these blog posts with anyone you feel would be interested in the information.  By sharing a single blog post instead of a whole 4 page newsletter you can make sure that the person you share with is seeing exactly the information you wanted them to see.

     Another benefit is that we can blog when we have news instead of storing it up for the next newsletter.  This will allow us to share information faster (although we do share relevant information on our Facebook page fairly often!)  It will also allow us to share news that might not have otherwise gotten included in the newsletter due to space limitations!  Often, those stories are the ones about how God is really working in our ministry!  Stories like how we got the use of the picture of the living bridges that we use on our website and our Facebook page from an award winning photographer for only $100 because he admired what we were going to be doing! Or about how when we are low on funds and have an insurance payment due or other large expense coming up, a check shows up at just the right moment which has happened quite often over the last year (we call this Manna for Today!) Or how when it was 38 degrees outside (at the start), we had one of our largest turn outs ever for an event at our Birthday Party for Jesus! Those moments make us laugh, cry and give thanks and praise to God, but often, because we are trying to get news out about activities within the ministry, you aren’t hearing those stories! So we look forward to sharing more with you this year! We would also like to thank you for your prayers, comments, support, and for sharing our information with others as we continue our ministry in South Valdosta!

Ask and It Will Be Given To You!

     A couple of nights ago woke up for no particular reason.  But, I also had trouble falling back to sleep.  Several things were going through my mind.  One of those was the Living Bridges ministry.  I know that God has called us to this, and since the ministry is growing at such as astonishing rate I began to wonder where the funds and resources will come from.  Well, I prayed and expressed this concern to God and he answered very clearly “ask and it will be given to you.”  I wasn’t exactly sure where it was, but I knew it was scripture and when I looked it up it is Matthew 7:7.  It was then that I realized that we need more partners in this ministry, giving others the opportunity to be a part of what God has led us to do and the furthering of His kingdom through it.

                Let me explain what we have been doing as a ministry.  We started last summer by hosting Kids’ Connections 2 Saturdays a month.  On those Saturdays an average of 30 family members were blessed by what we offered.  The children would play games, do a craft, hear a story about what our father in heaven has, is and will do in their lives and recite scripture from memory.  The adults would have a Bible study, play bingo for much needed household items and on some Saturdays do a craft that gave them something they had created for their own homes.   We also hosted a “Trunk or Treat” that offered an alternative to trick or treating door to door.  This event drew around 60 children from around the area.   Just before thanksgiving we hosted a lunch where around 30 were fed.  Also, at this lunch we were able to send food bags home with each family that contained staple items such as flour, sugar and vegetable oil as well as canned vegetables and soups.  Just before Christmas we held our birthday party for Jesus.  Of course we celebrated the birth of our lord and savior, but we also were able to provide each child with a donated gift.   Board games were given to each family to promote more spending time as a family.  I also forgot to mention that at every one of the events every person was fed lunch that included hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, chicken nuggets, pulled pork sandwiches and other delicious food. But, do you know what the best part of all of this was?   It was the fact that several people accepted Jesus as their lord and savior and a few others decided to rededicate their lives to Him.

                As you can probably guess, as much as we love it, providing these things is not free.  Which is where “ask and it will be given to you” comes in.  Yes, we are asking for your support.  We have prepared a budget that we feel will cover all of the above items and a couple of others that include the pavilion rental at the park where we meet, state and local licenses, accounting software that will be used to track our finances and donations and buying curriculum for this summer’s Kids’ Connection and for classes we would like to teach to assist the people in the neighborhood get jobs and manage finances.  We figure that all together, we need approximately $3500 this year to accomplish what we would like to do.  This breaks down to an average of $290 per month.  So, if we could get 10 families to pledge to donate $30, 20 families to donate $15 or 30 families to donate $10 per month this goal would be met and we could continue to bless this area of Valdosta throughout the year.  Also, as a reminder, we are now officially recognized by the IRS as a non-profit ministry.  Which means that anything you donate is tax deductible.

                There are many ways you can help.  You can donate items that are listed on our needs list.  Of course, funds are always appreciated.  If you are able to donate funds, there are several ways to do this.   If you would like to send a check, please make it out to “Living Bridges Ministry” and mail it to the address listed on our web site.  You can also donate using paypal, the link can be found on our web site,  www.livingbridgesministry.org.  We also have the capability to accept funds by credit card.  If you would like to do this, please call us at (229)234-7427 and we will take care of it.  But, the most important thing you can do for the ministry is to pray that God will continue to bless it and use it to further His kingdom.

                If you have any questions, comments or concerns please don’t hesitate to call at the above phone number or email us at info@livingbridgesministry.org.

                                                                                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                 In His Service,

                                                                                                                  Tony Gunter

                                                                                                President, Living  Bridges Ministry