Mar 222008
 

Our church, Flowing River Fellowship, is currently helping several very poor families in our community with food. We know of one elderly lady who’s feeding five on around $500 a month. They ran out of food completely the other day. I peeked in their fridge and freezer. They had some catsup, a bag or two of frozen fruit, and a couple of packages of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix. So, some generous folks are pitching in. We’re going to be spending our day picking up food, and I guess Level Cross now has a food pantry that’ll be run out of our back room :::boggles::: (Yes, for anyone around, I know that LCUMC has a big sign up advertising their food ministry. No one ever answers the phone… after 20 rings it goes to voice mail. No one calls back. Tried. Sad.)

So – if you live in the area and are in need, please let me know*.  If we can help, we will – just be advised that as we’re getting started, what we have in donations might be great at times, and non-existent at times.

If you live in the area and would like to donate food, shoot me an email and we’ll come pick it up and give you a receipt for it.

If you live out of the area but would still like to donate, let me know. The church has a paypal account, or we could take a check or money order, and of course give a receipt.

 Thank you!

* I know that someone somewhere is gonna ask, “How is someone in need even going to see this?” The public library, a neighbor’s, word of mouth, even work (yes – we do have working POOR here. Often poorer than the folks on welfare, as a matter of fact.)

 

I feel like I’ve returned to the land of the living!!

I’ve been sick for -it seems like forever- first stomach, then flu.  But it’s been an interesting week. Tuesday I hadn’t been feeling TOO bad. Sick, yes, but not like warmed over food from last Thanksgiving! I had to run to the post office and grocery store. Between here and Randleman I started to cough, and I proceeded to cough, shiver, shake, sweat, and cry through the next hour until I got home. Went to bed and huddled there miserable.

So a friend called Tuesday night. She’s really been going through some unpleasant things and I wanted to minister to her. Between coughs I did. Woke up Wed morning and promptly went back to bed. I decided I just wasn’t getting up, period.

Well. God had other plans. :)

My friend called back. We talked on the phone a good long while and I really wanted to pray with her. I don’t like to pray over the phone about things which are highly emotional. So I asked her if she was willing to risk the flu and come over. She was willing. TECHNICALLY we shouldn’t be contagious any more (5 days from 1st symptoms) but given that we’ve still got symptoms we want to be sure.

But get this — over the hour or so we talked on the phone, and the rest of the afternoon and into last night, I barely coughed at all and I went from feeling so tired I didn’t want to remain standing, to having a LOT of strength. God did it :)

We ended up praying for a good while and then we went to a church service at a place which has special ministry of the sort my friend needed.  I ended up being ministered too. Awesome stuff that God was doing last night!!

Then I made Ken take me out for a chocolate milkshake :D

 

Ken and I are going to Jamaica for a week!! We’re going on a missions trip with 4-5 others, led by Bob Loflin (who has been to Jamaica before).

We’re going to encourage the saints, support the pastors, and lead some folks to Jesus. :D   This is our plan: “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.”

Pastor Jack is putting together an itinerary for us, arranging for accommodations, a vehicle rental, and so on. We’ll be leaving on or about April 1 and returning the following week.

Ken and I have both been on missions trips before, but have never been able to go together. I went to Panama in 2001, and he went to Siberia in 2004 (I think it was 04!). We’ve never been to Jamaica before but I’m thinking that it will be somewhat like Panama, temperature-wise.

We’re wanting to put together a team of people who will pray for us daily, both in preparation and while we’re gone. If you’d like to be on this team, please email me!

We also need to raise funds quickly (we’re going in just six weeks!).  We’re estimating a total cost of $2000 for the two of us, which will cover the plane tickets, food, car rental, gas, exit fees, etc.  Please pray that we’re able to raise this money, and if you are able to contribute, please let me know! Anything you donate will be tax-deductible.

If you’ve been to Jamaica before – on a missions trip or even as a tourist – I’d love to hear about your experience, what we should bring, what we should leave home, any concerns that are perhaps not mentioned on the Dept. of State and CDC websites. (For example, the CDC is recommending chloroquinine for all travellers to Jamaica; but several (current) websites say that malaria is only a problem in a few small locations, mostly near Kingston. Since we’re not going near there, should we bother to get the drugs? We do plan on coating ourselves with DEET and taking general mosquito precautions.

There’s a temptation within me to start packing TODAY… :D

 

So I asked Ken the other day if he felt like a pastor yet. He said yes, echoing what I’m feeling and sensing.

We’re approaching people and situations differently than we did even a few weeks ago. People are approaching us differently, too. Even longtime friends treat us a bit differently. There’s a sense of responsibility settling in that we knew would exist but we weren’t really sure what it would be like.

Last night we encountered a situation with a family that’s way, way out of our league. We both felt our dependence on God, believe me! I’m thinking, though, we need to approach everything that way.

More on this later – I’m pondering as I clean!

 


Missionaries far and wide should be aware of this air ambulance service. An injury or illness on the field can be an interesting experience – especially if there’s no way to get to a hospital quickly!

My friend Don Capps found this out when he was in Siberia… he flew all the way back to Moscow with a burst appendix. And when I was in Panama on a missions trip, it was a 6-8 hour drive to the closest hospital in David, and at least 12-14 hours back to Panama City (much better hospital). Fortunately none of us were injured, but if we were, that air ambulance would have been ice.

I’ve heard of missionaries getting sick or injured and needing to come home to the US, however because of the nature of the illness or injury, they’re not able to travel on conventional aircraft. They need a doctor’s care or specialized medical equipment. You can’t get a special meal on most airlines… let alone a ventilator, IV, or a heart monitor! This air ambulance even provides care for critical patients during transport.

However, if the patient is able to travel by regular airline but still needs medical attention, specially trained nurses are available to travel with the patient. This saves 40% or so off the cost of the air ambulance. The company has certain criteria the patient must meet, as do airlines.

So, if you’re headed off to the missions field, already there, or even if you’re just traveling for fun, keep the air ambulance service in mind!

Kay Sharpe


I'm a laid-down lover of Jesus Christ. I write about my King and His Kingdom, the Bible, revival, healing, prophecy, faith, and more... plus I throw in recipes, tips, news and politics items, reviews, and all sorts of random things just for fun. Until recently, I was known as "Kathi"... but my name is now Kay. It's a good, God thing... :) The opinions expressed in this blog are mine and mine only - not necessarily shared by my husband, our church, my employers, or anyone else.

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