Winter Update

Greetings from Love In the Name of Christ! I sure hope you have had a great start to 2019. I would like to take a moment and give you an update about what God has done through the ministry of Love INC since our last newsletter. First and foremost I would like to personally thank all of the volunteers who adopted children for Christmas through their local church, business, and/or agency. From October through December the Love INC Clearinghouse received calls from families who requested their children be put on our Manger Network list because they were going to struggle to provide gifts for them this year. Our loving staff and volunteers received calls from 202 families needing extra help. We were able to mobilize volunteers from 9 churches, 2 businesses, and 1 agency to serve 534 children ages 0-17. Other individuals stepped in to help as well. I would like to say a special thanks to Brian and Kindle Crews with Toys For Tots and the Lufkin Marine Corps League Volunteers for helping 150 of the children that were processed through our clearinghouse. In total, the Toys For Tots organization served 1,600+ children ages 0-14  from 587 families. Another special thank you goes to Lockheed Martin for the generous monetary donation they made to Love INC before Christmas which allowed us to buy grocery cards for 13 families and gift cards for 16 teenagers ages 15-17. An additional thank you to Lockheed for the 40 gifts provided for children in need. We are so grateful for all of our partners! Hundreds of children and their families had a happier Christmas because of the kindness of volunteers in our churches and community.

Dental Evangelism

On Friday January 25, Love INC was privileged once again to partner with a local dentist for our first Dental Evangelism Day of 2019. For approximately ten years now our dentist partner and his staff have offered their services for free to disadvantaged neighbors who were in need of having their teeth pulled. The dental clinic also coordinates with a retired pastor who mobilizes other pastors and church volunteers to share God’s love with the people waiting to be served. Hundreds of neighbors have been served and many have made decisions to trust in Jesus through this ministry over the years. This time fifteen neighbors were helped and four made decisions for Christ at the clinic. Praise God! One lady who was served wrote to us thanking us saying, “What a great blessing Love INC is. Thank all of you for help with my teeth. God bless and many thanks.” This has been such a beautiful partnership between Love INC, a business, and church volunteers.

As you can see, God has done much through such a small staff at our affiliate, but none of these referrals made or needs met would have been possible without the partnerships with our local churches, agencies, and businesses. Thank you so much for your continued support, in prayer, finances, and volunteerism.