Author: Justin Mullin

This weekend has been encouraging as we have been at a mission event at a different neighborhood church sharing with other “missionaries” what God is doing. We all had a common passion and drive to serve the needy in a variety of places.  None others were stemming from the inside of the church which made R&R unique to this event.

Last week, there were a lot of calls coming in for encouragement and a listening ear. Many comments of “thank you for caring and listening to me”.  There was an invitation to a Birthday Party of an R&R child, and news that one of our R&R friends will be moving to the other side of town. Letting Go, Letting God … a hard thing sometimes when so much change has been made in the past 3 months! This person went from wanting to end it all to working and helping others since we met. Very cool.

Many people are searching for affordable places to live. One R&R mom gave her landlord the 60 day notice.  When she was visited this week she was in tears and stressed about everything. She needed to be told to focus and pray and be reminded that God knows and is in control. It’s fun to encourage and pass along hope!  By the end of the visit she was smiling and we teased about taking a daily “Jesus Pill” to be healthy. 

Friday we had a request for a twin bed and the next day someone donated one without knowing the need. Once again, God has his timing in place!

Our second donated dehumidifier works but the coil froze over. It’s chilly in the storage area. We let it thaw while sorting some donations and the Landlord came by. He didn’t know of the problem and felt terrible. He went and brought us 2 fans and an extension cord right away! The timing again was so neat because he needed prayer that day. He just lost his wife to cancer last month and is trying to cope with his loneliness. He was very accepting and grateful for the prayer. Little did we know a storage space would be an R&R outreach too!  Please pray for him.

This week we may be moving a family. Waiting to hear if they’ve found a place to go.

The food shelf in our area is overloaded with new clients right now. The worker that we have connected with there had 10 new cases the day I called her. Times are hard for many right now. If you know of a church who might be interested in doing R&R, please let us know! There are people who need the church right next door!  

Well, our little miracle dehumidifier didn’t have a functioning condenser. But it did move air around. The Lord provides again… an ad was placed for the need and today we picked up a working dehumidifier from a stranger. It’s plugged in and drinking fine.

The past few days have been interesting. A school called with a request from a family for bike safety gear. When we contacted city hall for information on the discounted helmet program and told her why we were calling she said she would take care of it.  That was sure a blessing! The family was so excited to pick up the helmets the next day. With this wonderful summer like weather, the kids surely had a blast on their bikes over the weekend!

An R&R person was connected to help at ICA for an emergency refill on medication. 

We learned of a family in North Mpls that struggles to make it every month but reaches out to the needy folks around them. We plan to connect with this family and bless them in some way soon.

One R&R family has been living in a hotel for a few months now. Please pray for them.  Their past choices are making their next move very difficult.  Things may get worse before they get better but we will not be enabling, just available for friendship and emotional support.  

We had another referral from an area church this week. Someone needed help finding housing here. His family won’t be moving here until the fall but his new job started last week. It was exciting to learn he was visiting some of the places we discovered for temp. housing. He said he thinks his family will visit our church when they all get settled here.

If it wasn’t mentioned in the last entry, the 13yr old’s baby was a healthy 7lb, 8oz. They are doing well except for the high pitched screaming from the baby which may add tension in the house. Especially for her dad who is struggling with cancer-resting will be a challenge. Please pray for this family and the dynamics.  The box of baby clothes and diapers was sent last week.

Still searching for housing for a few families. One of which needs temp. housing after a house fire. If you know of anyone who has space they can live in, Minnetonka School District would be ideal, until their home is livable, please contact us!

Praise- one of our R&R contacts got a promotion recently!