Reach out and touch someone,
whether it be a family member or a stranger.
There are so many great ideas for doing fun things and reaching out to others this month! Check out all the ideas for different days during the month in our Entertaining Section!
Tinley Park resident raising money for Haitian orphanage
January 31, 2010
By Becky Schlikerman, article from the Southtown Star in Tinley Park, IL
Anthony Thompson was on a flight from Europe back to his home in Los Angeles when inspiration struck.The 29-year-old Southland native realized he needed to find a way to raise money to give back - he simply couldn't afford to donate to the many causes he wanted to give to.
Anthony Thompson created a brand of graphic T-shirts to raise money for his philanthropic efforts.
"I always felt like I didn't have enough money to give to everything," he said.
That was in 2008. Two years later, Thompson's newest design under the brand name Gesu Cristo is raising money to benefit an orphanage in ravaged Haiti.
Profits from the graphic T-shirt emblazoned with colorful blocks and a crown will go toward an In Touch Ministries orphanage in Saint-Marc, Haiti.
The orphanage is run by Beverly-native Carolyn Walker, who used to babysit Thompson when he was a kid.
The orphanage hasn't been damaged, but they're seeing a lot of children who need help, Thompson said. So 100 percent of the profits from the 2,000-some T-shirts that are sold will be a great help to provide food, fuel and other necessities to the kids, he said.
This isn't the first time the fledgling project has helped children in need.
Last year, Thompson's Gesu Cristo project sent about $2,000 to an orphanage in Uganda.
Thompson decided to continue the project this year, but hadn't yet chosen a recipient of the cash collected. But then the earthquake ravaged Haiti - killing and displacing thousands of people.
"When the earthquake happened, we jumped in," Thompson said.
But Thompson isn't going door-to-door selling the trendy shirts.
He's taken to the Internet - using social media including Facebook, Twitter and a blog - to spread his message.
"Someone that is ordinary can be extraordinary," he said of using these new methods.
Thompson, who now lives in Tinley Park, grew up surrounded by philanthropic efforts.
His father, Robb Thompson, is the pastor of Family Harvest Church, where Anthony now works.
"I grew up with my parents giving to a lot of people," Thompson said.
To contact Anthony about his T-shirts go to:
http://ihatechurch.com/2010/01/20/haiti-the-next-100-days <http://ihatechurch.com/2010/01/20/haiti-the-next-100-days/>
White House Hotline Number
If you ever want to make a comment to the President about anything, this is the comment line to the White House.
(202) 456-1111
25 People Make a Difference in Guatemala
A group of 25 people aged 10-62 from our church just returned from Guatemala. These people gave freely of their time and resources. The church sent supplies, but most of the individuals raised their own money to pay for their airfare. They took a week of vacation time to go help others in the jungle.
The team offered medical, dental and optical services free for hours everyday.
While the patients waited, the team prayed with them and shared the gospel. This was not the first trip for some of the team members. Last year they ventured into the same area. Dental hygienists, led by Dr.Mary Beth Pozdol examined, cleaned and extracted teeth for hours. Another part of the team taught dental hygiene and dental supplies were given away. When they returned this year, they discovered that the children and adults who were taught dental hygiene last year kept it up. Not only were their teeth healthier, but their overall health was better. At the same time, Dr. Michael Philips, an ophthalmologist, did eye and medical exams. Those who needed glasses and prescriptions for medicine were given them.
Three registered nurses, a pharmacy technician and an occupational therapist helped with the medical exams.
People were given anti-parasite medicine. This was given to them because the water they drink is contaminated and causes worms and disease. The medication kills the parasites. Although other medical mission teams have been to this area, it was the first time patients were given anti-parasite medication.
The team trained a group of young people to do puppet ministry out on the streets.
They also ministered to a group of pastors. Each minister was given a book written by my husband, Robb and the baptism of the Holy Spirit was shared with all. The people were ministered to spirit, soul, and body. I have great respect for each person who made the sacrifice to bring the gospel in a tangible way to these people who live in the jungle. Thank you for being an example and for making a difference in their lives and in ours.
Here’s a picture of the team.
“By the Way”
And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David.
Matthew 20:29-31 (in Context) Matthew 20 (Whole Chapter)
Yesterday, my partner, Steve and I were driving back from Bloomington, Illinois where we came across two teenagers stranded on the roadside, they had run out of gas. Looking at the two of them, not too many people were going to stop for them, it looked like they could have easily been running a scam to rob you. However, this was not the case and we believed it the right thing to do was to help them. So we pulled over and offered our services of assistance. We took one to a gas station to get gas, while the other stayed at the car located on the side of the expressway. As we drove we learned about this 19 year old who loved music, was kicked out of the church and was offended in life. He had a Mohawk haircut, but only weighed a little over 120 pounds. His name was Herb. Of course, we didn’t pass up the opportunity to preach to this young man. We told him of the love of God. We addressed the issue of him being offended for being kicked out of church. He believed that it was now his place to have the church on the inside of him and not follow the leadership of another. We challenged him with the Word of God and asked him where in the bible, what scripture was he now building his foundation on. Sure, along life, people will offend you and if you allow yourself to fall into offense, you are in big trouble. I know how I wasted many years of my life being offended. Look at an excerpt from an article regarding negativity and the acids / diseases it causes in our bodies.
We are alkaline bodies by design, but acid generating by function. Acid is produced by the parietal cells of the stomach to aid in digestion, and acid is consumed in organic form in fruit. However, other than the stomach, no part of the body should be acid.
Despite this, one of the most widespread and insidious causes of illness that plague our society is acidosis - an accumulation of more acid than the body can effectively process. Patients often initially consult a doctor seeking relief from symptoms of a chronic condition - arthritis, diabetes, emphysema, arteriosclerosis, or cancer. Regardless of the particular symptomatology, all of these conditions originate with an increase in the amount of acid in the body.
Acidosis is generally seen by medical science as a part of the pathology of several different diseases including impaired liver function. It is encountered often enough to be assumed to be normal, however, acidosis is definitely not normal. It is the forerunner of most, if not all, chronic degenerative diseases including cancer, diabetes, arthritis, and heart disease. These diseases are rampant enough to be considered epidemic in our country. …
Negative thoughts act to stimulate the action of the adrenal glands that in turn speed up the body's metabolic activity. As this occurs, more acid is produced and since the process is continuous, the amount of acid overpowers the alkaline from the good food and the net result is acid. And the cycle can be perpetuated; the more acid we become, the more negative, defensive, argumentative and unpleasant we become. The pessimist who can find nothing good about anything is almost certainly in some degree of acidosis.
You can read more about this on www.snyderhealth.com and click on the “the PH Miracle” and then “Acid”.
Look at what happens to the human body when we build excess acid, we are killing ourselves. If you look at most people with these diseases, they are negative people. Of course, there are exceptions, but most are.
Here we were speaking with this young man who was at 19 years old, dealing with lots of negativity in his life. We were on our way home, we thought about flying to Bloomington earlier, but the weather on the radar looked bad. As we drove, the weather was perfect all the way there and back home. I believe God wanted us to stop by the way and meet two young men that needed to hear from Him. We got them the gas and returned the one to his car. When we arrived we had the other join us and we prayed for these two young men. I believe God touched their lives in a special way.
God has a way of interrupting your plans, if we listen, and allowing you to become apart of His plans. My hearts desire for each of us is that we avail ourselves to God’s purpose as we continue by the way! You just never know where that may lead you and who may be calling out to God, crying for mercy and Jesus sends you. Steve said that he prayed that morning for God to give him an opportunity to minister the Gospel to someone. Well, God answered that prayer and gave us two young men to speak to and pray with. May your today be filled with many interruptions from Heaven as you travel by the way, in the direction of your life.
I love you, Dad
PRAYER
Father, thank You for Your Word today. May we forever be conscious of the path we take and the road you lead us in. Help us to eliminate the negativity from our lives and live in peace with You. We know that we must plan our day if we are to accomplish anything, but yet we say “interrupt, interrupt, interrupt” as You see fit. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done! We love you. In Jesus’ name…Amen.
Article submitted by Erin Lashley. It is a letter written by her Dad to her. He sends all four of his children a word of encouragement daily.
My Niche
This is a testimony from Joy Herth and how
she is finding her “niche” in reaching out to others.
Good evening Mrs. Linda….thank you so much for your message tonight…
I’ve always sought to find my “niche” in reaching out. When I first came to Family Harvest (House of Glory) twenty-something years ago at 12 years old, one of the first things I remember Pastor Robb saying was “What would you do for free? That’s what you should be doing.” For the past 3 years I’ve been listening to one CD by Pastor Robb entitled “Pursuing the Principles of God.” In that message he says, “God hasn’t called you to do a thousand things! God has called you to do one thing!...” He goes on to say, “Your assignment is to a place; your assignment is to a people…if you can’t tell me in one word or one sentence what your assignment has become, then rest assured, you’re not doing it.”
At the last Women’s Conference, Talese gave her testimony about how she came to open her own salon. She said her friend asked her what was it she always wanted to do ever since she was a young girl. Her friend told her that, that thing she always wanted to do has never gone away. I thought back to that statement I heard Pastor Robb say over twenty years ago, and I remembered at that time knowing that I wanted to work with children/adolescents in some capacity, but not knowing exactly what. Since the women’s conference I’ve gone back to listening to Pastor Robb’s CD as he goes on to break down Romans 12:2… “let God transform you into a new person THEN you will know what God wants you to do…” Then, not too long ago Dr. Mary Beth spoke on a Wednesday night about getting out of our comfort zone and reaching the world… I’ve served in Children’s Ministry, SOP, JSOP, Character Club and YMAD throughout the years I’ve been here and have enjoyed it, but it was in my comfort zone. It’s easy to minister the Word to children that you know have heard the Word before.
Earlier in the year, I’m not sure what ministry came up with this, but Pastor Jacques gathered people that had attended the church for a while and during Praise & Worship they held up cardboard signs with their dilemma on one side, and the manifestation of God’s Word for their situation on the other. The thing that touched me the most were the ones involving children – mothers told to abort, children without a home to live in, etc. My heart broke for these children! Dr. Murdock says what touches you is probably where your assignment is.
While spending consistent time in the Word and remaining faithful in Children’s Ministry I noticed my heart began to turn towards children in foster care – children whose parents cannot or won’t care for them. My husband and I have talked about becoming Foster and Adoptive Parents (my calling in life!) within the next couple of years, and soon I’ll be a Relief Parent for SOS Children’s Village. However, going back to Pastor Robb’s CD he says, “What are you doing NOW! What are you doing TODAY! What are you doing TONIGHT to prepare for what God has called you to!” Well, foster parenting doesn’t happen overnight, so I did some research on programs that dealt strictly with foster children. I recently completed 30 hours of training to become a Court Appointed Special Advocate for Foster Kids. I have been assigned a case by the court and am responsible for building relationships with the 3 young girls, follow up with their case worker, teachers, foster mom, lawyers, and other primary individuals in their lives and then stand before a judge as their voice. I prepare a report for the judge stating facts I have gathered based on my conversations with the girls and the others and report findings, whether good or bad, as well as present necessary recommendations on their behalf. Our goal is safety and permanency for children in foster care. Your message tonight helped me recognize my “niche” in reaching out – that I don’t have to do what someone else is doing. CASA workers are strictly volunteers—this is what I would do for free!
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