by Steve Paine @ MBC Loudoun
On Tuesday October 5th, members of MBC Loudoun’s IMPACT Singles Ministry provided a home-cooked meal and had a great time in fellowship with the residents of the Good Shepherd Alliance’s Hebron Shelter, a homeless shelter for women and their children. There were 9 women and 12 children residing at the shelter, most of them in need of a listening ear, a little encouragement, and an evening of fun. After a dinner of chicken, salad, and brownies we played a few games of Bingo with the residents and had the opportunity to speak with two case workers who were visiting for the evening. During the evening we were able to learn from the women and the case workers about the struggles these women and children go through on a daily basis. Our hope is that we were able to offer them the encouragement they needed, an evening of fun, and to demonstrate Christ’s love for them.
Upon leaving the shelter we decided we could demonstrate Christ’s love for them by providing money to the residents so that they could visit a local Fall Festival and corn maze. This would provide the women an opportunity to spend quality time with their children with no financial burden to bear. On October 11th, during IMPACT’s bowling social, its members contributed $270.00 to this effort. Along with the purchase of the Fall Festival tickets there was enough money left over for the shelter to purchase some much-needed household supplies.
On October 30th we had the opportunity to serve the Madison House, a low-income assisted living facility in Leesburg. Roughly 52 residents showed up for a home-cooked meal and great conversation. The residents seemed to have an incredible time and were so thankful that we took the opportunity to make an intentional effort to get to know each one of them personally. We hope to make the Madison House our monthly service project, combining dinners with game nights, crafts and singing. Please keep our IMPACT ministry in your prayers as we seek creative ways to serve the men and women residing at the Madison House and opportunities to share the gospel with them.