Author: Justin Mullin

The past few weeks have displayed many examples of Christ’s body working together for His glory. A few from our crew helped a family clean their apt. in preparation of a new baby. The mother was overwhelmed and depressed before the first visit a few months ago and now seems to be more mentally ready to move forward after the three visits from our crew. She even accepted prayer before leaving! 

Followed up with a woman who was given help moving before Christmas. She is really motivated to work on her personal goals of quitting smoking etc. She is going to counseling and desires to attend church, just lacks transportation and is bit nervous about going alone. She is looking forward to some home visits that will be focused on praying for her. Last week R&R helped her bring her cat into the vet for shots. Her cat is her best friend and this meant the world to her.  Please pray for continued commitment towards her personal goals and praise God for this wonderful opportunity and friendship!

One of the deliveries made a few weeks ago was pretty incredible. The family had been without a home since 2002!  They had been living in shelters, friends’ homes, their car etc. and now have their own rental. They are so excited about their new start and the household items that were donated that they are having an open house for their friends to celebrate!  The mom reported they have everything they need and they finally have a home that feels like a home. Everything matched too.  The high school boys were putting the computer right to use as they had homework to complete that week!  “Unbelievable” they said.  Thank you for all who contribute to this ministry! Praise God.

A follow up to another move we helped with is really positive too.  This was just a move but the single mom is so so thankful for all of the help. Her son is now attending a youth program in the area and they want to try Sunday church too. Her son needs a new mattress set which we are working on-the springs are poking through.  

A referral was made by a donation source too. A friend of her sister who just got home from the hospital from having her first baby and the father had taken most of their things out of their place while she was in the hospital!  She needed a crib and basic baby items and someone to talk to.  We had a portable crib in storage and added some baby essentials. The new mom was very encouraged and thankful for everything. She will be moving at the end of the month because she can’t afford the rent herself. R&R is helping her search for an affordable 1 bedroom place and will be providing some basic furniture when she moves. She is sleeping on an air mattress currently.  She is a ray of sunshine and a really sweet new friend. She has been touched by grace and is seeing God’s love first hand. Please pray for her as she is healing and must now figure out how to make it on her own.

We have a referral/request for furniture for a family from a school in the area. We’ve been looking for mattresses for them too. Two mattresses were found on line= no boxsprings. God is so amazing.

When the mattresses were picked up the lady said,”I’m sorry they aren’t the same length. I probably should have told you before”.  It was perfect. R&R had one regular box spring and one extra long box spring sitting in storage!  So now we’ve got two complete sets for this family. There have been numerous times when God has reminded us that we don’t need to worry= he provides!

An R&R friend will be helping with our church musical this spring. He has sound experience and it’s wonderful to involve him in a church activity. Please pray that he will be touched by the message of the play the children are doing as he listens. He was assisted with a loan for keeping his car insurance current yesterday. He said we were the only place he knew to turn to for help and was SO relieved to receive it. Sometimes God stretches us right on the spot!   

A social worker requested a small couch for a family who is deaf. A delivery crew member and woman from our church who knows how to sign, delivered a donated couch together. It was incredible to have communication for all involved. Praise God for the hands and feet of Christ to bless others in need as a team!

Something as simple as doing laundry…we sure take for granted. A family received laundry detergent  from R&R this week.

R&R received a donation of dressers from an area senior housing complex. They were going to be thrown out due to a remodel. A woman who worked there made the connection with us and now they will be used by a number of R&R families in the future. Praise God!

Thank you to all who keep this ministry in prayer!

Merry Christmas! 

It’s been really busy the past month around here.

One week we were coordinating three different deliveries which was tough-especially when the weather threw all plans out the window.

Our storage area is on a farm property which isn’t necessarily plowed every time it snows. After the first “big” snowfall, which was an amount that would have gotten someone stuck, this became a dilemma.

In fact, it was the same week of the three deliveries. God provided a connection that took care of it! We got in there and sorted what was needed for the three families with no glitches. A single mom got beds for her two kids, a senior citizen got a bed and other household items and another family who was moving received two needed beds and bedding.  It was incredible to see how God provided that week. 

A referral was received from the food shelf which actually came to them from the local grocery store manager a week before Christmas. His wife had left him for someone else and then he was in a car accident that injured him. He was in a nursing home recovering through October and now was living in his car and had no place to live or work.  Because of his accident injuries, he was not able to go back to the work he had skills for but we were able to give him a lead on housing.  

Another new referral from the food shelf was helped this week. They needed beds and kitchen things too. The woman was embarrassed  to say she needed a can opener. This is something we’ve learned to always ask because when food is coming from the food shelf, a can opener is essential!  Praise God that the beds were provided again.  Most of our beds come to us without knowledge of the need. Other times we request the need for a bed online and a stranger will call with what is needed. Often they say ” I got over 100 responses for this but I saw you are helping someone who really needs it so I called you back”.  That’s God at work, don’t you think?

One of our families was not sure if they’d be homeless or not on the 19th. It’s a long story but basically, the Section 8 landlord has not done the required repairs to make the rental home “legal” for Section 8, even with the deadlines and warnings. The family can not leave or they’ll lose their Section 8 status, which takes years to get, and the lease would be broken which means bad rental history on the record.  They were all ready to move to nowhere and then were told the landlord has 60 more days to fix the home and won’t get the Section 8 money until it’s done. This was bittersweet news for the family. They were able to have Christmas in their place but have to live with the disrepair for another two months. We would love to help them with some of the repairs to make the place safer and more comfortable but can’t touch it. Please pray that a new Section 8 property will be located on the west side of town so her children can attend better schools too.  The mom calls us her “angels”.

A few weeks before Christmas R&R had an open invitation to “adopt” a family for Christmas.  Seven families were served in various ways.  Praise God!  One family even attended the Christmas service with the family that adopted them!  Beautiful! Thank you to all who stepped up and made a difference in someone’s life. 

Two Christmas trees were given to two different families that were adopted. One woman was asked if she had everything she needed now (she had nothing a few weeks before and her help from us came gradually due to delivery glitches) and she dropped her head and said, “this will sound selfish cause it’s something I don’t really need but I would really like flour and sugar so I can make my daughter her favorite cookies for Christmas”.  

A trip was made to ICA to see if they had any ingredients for cookies. The case worker there whom is a great resource for us personally took a look and found flour, sugar, brown sugar, chocolate chips and baking soda!  She said this is very unusual. They rarely have those items because they are perishable.  Always an adventure…