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Mission Monthly Newsletter-August 2010 |
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Written by Administrator
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Wednesday, 25 February 2009 15:25 |
Mission Monthly A monthly newsletter highlighting God’s work among the needy in Southeast Hillsborough County. ======================================================================== You May Quote Me On That! "Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." ~Attributed to Howard Thurman ======================================================================= A Moment to Reflect [The following is a Facebook entry of a young volunteer at the Good Samaritan Mission. This volunteer granted us permission to print it.] Making a Difference One smile. One word. One look. One life. Just one can make a difference. I’m learning what it means to live your life in freedom in just being you. The you God is masterfully perfecting. My life is unfolding and I see more of myself everyday in this journey of life with Jesus. I’m learning to become comfortable with my quietness, orderly perfectionism, and perfectly unplanned destination. I’m becoming a flow rider. A person with a desired goal and attacking it one day at a time. I’m seeing the impact of one second, one decision and one life. It’s not a matter of quantity, but of quality. It doesn’t matter how much we have to give because a little can go a long way. Simply, less is more. This summer I began my internship at the Good Samaritan Mission. My first day was full of joy to the point where I wanted to cry all day. I couldn’t see a person in need without being moved. I see and work with a wonderful staff with a vision. A vision that encompasses the purpose of sharing one self to bless others with more than just food or clothing. To bless someone with the love and guidance we ourselves receive from God. I finally finished a book I once picked up, read a little, and put back down. Well, this book I speak of is called Tuesday’s with Morrie. I couldn’t have picked it back up at a better moment than July. You should look into it. It changed my life and challenged me. Proceeding are a few questions that came to mind. How many of us truly live life? Do we truly share of ourselves with time and things that can’t be bought? I’ve experienced moments where I could have stopped what I was doing and said hello, smiled, or showed my appreciation of someone else. At my internship a young man named Jacob made an impact on my life. He took action, lead other volunteers, and spoke with passion. That passion was contagious. One morning in my business I passed by Jacob without even saying hello. Not long after he was rushed to the hospital with an eye virus which could have left him blind. As far as we knew he wouldn’t be returning to the Good Samaritan Mission. I was left with guilt for not acknowledging him and not telling him what an impact he’s made at the Mission. Gladly, I can say Jacob returned and I got to show my appreciation. What if I didn’t get that chance? Well, time would heal the guilt and his impact would go on forever. Honestly, we all have our share of woes and look back to see another milestone overcome. What would it be like to attain faith and strength through every storm? What would life be like to shine bright through every dark, bumpy trail? What would life be like when you hold your head high when worthless thoughts weigh you down? What if you took a stand when everything suggests there is no possible way? What would our lives be like then? What would life be like when we have hope beyond circumstance? What if every task is fought with success even if it means humbling, lowly places? Strength and endurance isn’t an inborn strength, but one that is born under such series of events that foretell who we truly are when life seems to catch us by surprise. I challenge you to take the road less traveled. Make a choice. Take a stand. Do the very thing you never thought you could. Wait and watch in expectancy of beautiful things just waiting to unravel. Life is a journey! Ride the wave. Feel the pain. Without it there is no gain. Close your eyes and see what you cannot see. Breath not just to breath, but to smell. Use your hands not just to feel, but to touch. The very things that make us uncomfortable are the very things we need to make us comfortable with ourselves and others. No matter where you are or what you are doing show love and gratitude. “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” -Winston Churchill
=============================================================================== Healthy Families through Purpose, Community and Gratitude The Good Samaritan Mission continues to fulfill its pledge to elevate, educate, and evangelize individuals and families in the community. We thank you for your continued prayers and on-going financial support for this unique ministry. We also invite you to drop by and see and experience for yourself what God is doing as He transforms the lives of both the giver and the receiver! Register to receive our quarterly newsletter by emailing us at:
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Last Updated on Friday, 06 August 2010 10:22 |
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Written by Administrator
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Saturday, 24 January 2009 19:46 |
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WHAT'S NEWS?  - Dateline: July 21, 2010. We had the distinct pleasure of hosting a group of God's servants this summer who came and helped around the Mission. They brought in dozens of teenagers from around the nation and beautified the grounds. They are members of a group called Teameffort. Pictured below are their leaders (from left to right): Justin and Whitney Spillers, Olivia Jablinski, Tommy Lesesne, Katie Cartwright, Jacob Wyatt, and Tyne Jackson. Thank you all for all your help!
 - Dateline: July 6, 2010. Theresa and I just returned from taping a segment on the Good Samaritan Mission for CTN's Bay Focus with Darlene Greenlee. It should air on Tuesday, July 13th, at 9:30 pm and again on Wednesday, July 14th, at 11:30 am. And, don't worry, we are keeping our day jobs!
 - Dateline: July 1, 2010. Many thanks to Scott Kelyman, Senior Director of Building Operations for the Tampa Bay Rays for his donation of Rays apparel and caps. We look forward to seeing people in our community wearing official Rays clothes as a testament to their kindness. Go Rays!
- Dateline: June 10, 2010. After a little over a week, the final numbers for the Rwanda Evangelistic Campaign are in.
· 3,891 people heard a presentation of the gospel · 2,153 made professions of faith · 1,714 new believers were visited for follow-up (discipleship) · 2,631 people attended our afternoon gatherings · 10 new churches were planted · 1 church was strengthened · 313 nationals worked alongside us … many of them were the new believers that immediately began sharing their faith! - Dateline: June 9, 2010. Well, it took me eight days, but I was finally able to decode the movies I took and put it together into a movie. The video is below. I took it with my Blackberry, so the quality is not the best. I named it Rwanda Fire since that was the kind of fiery worship I witnessed in Rwanda. By the way, that is Gabriel, joining in the fun!
- Dateline: June 1, 2010. Yes, it's true. Gabriel and I just returned from evangelizing two small villages in Rwanda, Africa. It was my second trip there, and Gabriel's first. I tell you, God did wonderful things there! I will let you know later more information and statistics about the trip. Suffice it to say, God is much at work in Rwanda!
- Dateline: April 29, 2010. Our friends at the Suncoast Schools Federal Credit Union (SSFCU) in Ruskin recently had a fundraiser to benefit the Good Samaritan Mission. Pictured below (from left to right): Mégan Rogers (Head Teller), Wendy Yeo (Branch Manager) and Rev. William Cruz (Executive Director, Good Samaritan Mission. We are very grateful to the folks at SSSFCU for their kind donation. God bless you!
- Dateline: April 22, 2010. We seem to have been bombarded via the Media concerning church leaders involved in indiscretions, to put it mildly. Back when I was in Seminary studying to be a Marriage and Family Therapist, I was assigned to write a paper that combined the subjects of Theology and Marriage and Family Therapy. The newspapers and magazines were, at that moment, dealing with the Jim Bakker affair. I chose this "fresh" subject as the theme of my paper. Unfortunately, the paper grew and the subject became so complicated that it seemed like it had a life of its own. My professor, James Hurley, graded the paper but had me promise him that I would publish it. Well, it's been over 20 years now, and I doubt it that I will get to the point of actually getting published. Therefore, I am making the original manuscript available online, with the rest of the manuscripts on Extramarital Affairs. As you know, these downloads are available to Registered Users only, and are available for a limited time only. Just log in as a Registered User and go to the Newsletters and Documents link under Main Menu.
- Dateline: April 19, 2010. We had our first in-home church service last Thursday. It was great seeing three generations of worshippers, together in one room. Theresa helped usher us to the throne of God through worshipful songs. I talked about the Existence of God, using Hebrews 11:5-6. Next week, we are going to talk about the Personality of God. We hope that you will join us.
- Dateline: April 6, 2010. In an effort to improve the lives of the young adults in our community, GSM has formed a working outreach partnership with Two Hoots Farm, Inc. (click here for website). The idea is for our young adults to enter a Grooming program where they will be taught English and engage in "on-the-job" training in the care of horses and grounds. Once they learn these skills, they may work at any of the hundreds of horse ranches in Florida, year-round, and not have to depend on the crops or weather. Two Hoots Farm is under the care of Bob and Lisa Weiss. Bob is a retired Army officer, now working as an investment manager. If you know of anyone who may be interested in the Grooming program, please contact Theresa at 813-634-7136. If interested in Bob's services, check out his website for more information.
 - Dateline: March 6, 2010. When the Disney company decided to launch their Give A Day, Get A Day campaign, we at GSM joined the other non-profit agencies in giving the local community an opportunity to contribute. This event fit all of our core values: people showed up with a specific purpose, they worked together as a community in accomplishing the tasks, and we were all grateful for their help. Below are some of the pictures (Attn: Disney, these are "protographic evidences") of the folks who made this Saturday in March a memorable one.
             - Dateline: February 25, 2010. I was perusing through some of the GSM related videos and stumbled on an interesting video from last year. A group of teens from an area church stayed at the Mission and helped evangelize the people in the area. Two of these teens, Adam and Kishane, made a video-blog of their time here with their Youth Leader, Frank. Their video can be found here. This is the kind of on-fire-for-Jesus youth that God is calling to Himself.
- Dateline: January 25, 2010. Last year, the Mission stepped up its Bible instruction and evangelism efforts. Every Tuesday we would read the Bible to the crowds that came for food. We would also share the gospel using the EvangeCube. Finally, we would hand out New Testaments to those who showed up. Yet, Theresa and I were convicted that there were those around us who could not come to the Mission and hear the message of God's love and His gift of salvation. After weeks of praying and meditating, we finally sat down on a Monday afternoon and wrote down a plan of outreach evangelism called, Operation: Outreach Fellowship. Before this meeting, a gentleman by the name of Earl showed up at the Mission because "God told [him] to come to the Mission." We gave him an EvangeCube and taught him how to evangelize with it (to date, Earl has had over 100 professions of faith using this tool). The following day, during the morning vespers, Earl told the gospel story with the EvangeCube and 42 people made professions of faith! During the vespers, Mitch showed up with Gaston and Flauvia. Gaston and Flauvia were missionaries in Argentina and were in the States as guests of Mitch. However, this young couple did not wish to be idle; they wanted to evangelize in America! Mitch brought them to the Mission and they hooked up with this project, doing children's sermons, illustrated evangelism talks, and one-on-one witnessing. We sent out an email to local churches, couples, and individuals. A precious group showed up on Sunday, January 10, and were taught on using the EvangeCube, the eband, children sermons, and discipleship. Since, we've had groups of people showing up on Sundays at 2:00p to be a part of an exciting, fresh evangelism event, some from as near as Brandon and as far as Sarasota. Please check out the January Mission Monthly for more pictures of what God is doing in our neighborhood.
  (L-R) Gaston, Angel, and Mitch doing Illustrated Evangelism Debbie follows up with new Christian children. - Dateline: December 23, 2009. Many thanks to Fox affiliate WTVT, Fox 13, specially Denise White, Danny Harman, Russell Rhodes and the crew, for their continued support in the raising of toys, clothes, and food for our neighbors. Please follow the following link: http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/care_force/good-samaritan-mission-121109# to their website and check out the different spots they ran on the work God is doing here at the Mission. We distributed the toys received from Fox 13 on Tuesday, the 22nd, at the Mission. On the following day, we packed four trucks with toys and took them to three migrant camps in the area (see pictures below).
- Dateline: December 19, 2009. Three words: Christmas, Volunteers, Children. This was a great recipe for a successful, joyful time we spent on our Annual GSM Gift Give-Away event. Thanks to all of the volunteer and churches and organizations who pulled together to make this occasion a memorable one for all.
The crowds were treated to Christian music by the worship band from Lake Magdalene United Methodist Church. Volunteers fed the crowds hot dogs, chips, and sodas. Smiling faces express the gratitude for the event. Dozens of volunteers share the Christmas spirit and the Christian love to over 1.700 children and their parents. Okay, she's so cute, I don't even know what more to say. Mother and child are welcomed and served. Our best friends from Beef O' Brady's in Summerfied. Friends and relatives share their time and spirit. Theresa and the Crewe of Pair O' Dice at the event. Mrs. Claus making sure that William Cruz behaves! A sample of the toys donated by the Hillsborough County community which went to make this a memorable Christmas. - Dateline: December 12, 2009. Students from Lennard High School, under the direction of Ms. Elsberry, dropped by the Mission and created a work of art! The inventor of the EarthBox donated 65 EarthBoxes to the Good Samaritan Mission's Self-Reliance and Memorial Garden. Ms. Elsberry's class took it upon themselves to prepare the boxes and plant them, including setting up an irrigation system. But, enough of my words. I will let the pictures below tell the story.
Start with 65 EarthBoxes... ...go through them and weed them... ...prepare the soil and plant the young plants... ...doing it very carefully, so as not to hurt them... ...taking care of all the details. The Proud Ag Team of Lennard High School The finished product, with the irrigation system. A wide view of the Self-Reliance Memorial Garden - Dateline: November 27, 2009. We had our annual Thanksgiving "Festival de Gracias" on Thanksgiving Day. This is an event organized and carried out by the folks at Exciting Idlewild Baptist Church. These precious friends, along with Lupton's BBQ, served 1,800 meals in one hour! All the families went home, not only satisfied by a delicious meal, but they also left with food baskets filled with food, and a frozen chicken. A million thanks to all those people and organizations that were involved in making this Thanksgiving a memorable one for many families and children.
- Dateline: November 24, 2009. A very special thanks to an anonymous contributor from Virginia. For a long time now, this gentleman has been sending us packages with Spanish and English New Testaments. These are the new testaments that we hand out, freely, every Tuesday morning. We praise God for using His servant to provide His word in South Florida.
- Dateline: November 9, 2009. Special thanks to the Grants Committee of the Interfaith Council of Sun City Center for their generous grant in the amount of $4,000.00. This donation will be used by the Seeds of Change program in providing training that will assist individuals and increase their job market skills. Your organization's heart is an inspiration to us all! May the Lord bless you abundantly!!
- Dateline: September 10, 2009. Did you get our newsletter yet? So far we have heard that it is the best one people have seen so far. Allow me to say something. For years we would send out our quarterly newsletter to a national chain printing company, which turned out to be pretty expensive. Then, in order to save money, we started printing them in-house. Well, with wear and tear on the copier and paper and ink (which are both pretty expensive), we had to look at other options. Allow me to introduce you to Phil Sanchez. He is the head of Central Printers, Inc., in St. Petersburg (www.centralprinters.com). Phil and his gang did an excellent work on the copy, printing, design and folding of the newsletter. Kudos to the folks of Central Printers, Inc. It is rare to find such an outstanding company as theirs!!
- Our friends from the Church of the Cross in Bradenton, FL visited us during our Back to School Event. If you'd like to see their video, click on the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XdSAGoUynQ
- You can find the St. Petersburg Times newspaper article here: http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/article1007043.ece
- Find the newspaper article on the Health Fair here: http://southshore2.tbo.com/content/2009/jun/17/ss-event-gives-area-a-healthy-glow/
- We received a call from a local NBC affiliate, wishing to interview us in reference to the Swine Flu epidemic, specifically wishing to find out what we had done ( http://www2.tbo.com/video/2009/apr/30/migrant-workers-highest-risk-68800/video-news/ ). For the record, early Monday morning Bill Cruz phoned the Center for Disease Control (CDC) twice, but was unable to get through due to "heavy volume" of calls. He promptly sent an email to the CDC asking for advise as to procedure, with the Daycare and Food distribution. At 10:00 am he met with the directors of the Seeds of Change and Daycare, and handed out and discussed the literature he secured from the CDC website. These directors then educated their staff. We went out and bought a large number of alcohol-based gels and placed them in strategic places all throughout the Mission. On Tuesday, as individuals and families were coming in for their food baskets, each of them was required to "squirt" gel on their hands before signing in. A local nurse provided education to the crowd as to the dangers of the virus and also provided suggestions on keeping safe. Early Wednesday morning Bill Cruz received a four-page response from the CDC. He made copies and distributed them to the directors. By the time the media showed up on Thursday, the situation was well under control. Katie Coronado, with Newschannel 8, appeared impressed with the safety measures that the Mission took..
- Dateline: 04.15.2009. Ben and Sarah Ansley dropped by the Mission recently and brought with them a load of food and more new sewing machines for the Sewing Workshop. Little did they know that we have been experiencing a significant shortage of food, especially of rice and pinto beans. Thank you so much for being used as God's instruments of provision.
- Dateline: 03.31.2009. The last of the Fields of Harvest newsletter was mailed yesterday, so you should be receiving it shortly. Many thanks to all the staff involved in its development and editing, and to those volunteers who stuffed envelopes, stuck labels and stamps, and sealed hundreds of mailings. Great job! Incidentally, while I have your attention, due to the high cost of mailings and with stamp prices going up soon, we have decided to continue mailing the quarterly Fields of Harvest to everyone in our mailing list. However, we are going to "field-test" posting the monthly Mission Monthly newsletter exclusively online. We will also attempt to send these via email to those who have provided us with their email addresses. In other news, a representative for Workforce Alliance came today and registered 36 people and found employment for six of them. In a time of economic upheaval, it is great to hear how God is taking care of his people through the Mission. Lastly, we had hundreds of individuals show up for Chapel today; a mixed crowd of Latinos and Americans. For the second Tuesday in a row, we read the scripture reading for the day (Mark 3) in both English and Spanish. God is truly great!
- Dateline: 03.24.2009. It has been a while since our last newscast, but not because of a lack of events. Much of what we normally would report on will appear in the upcoming issue of the Fields of Harvest. However, we want to highlight a number of exciting events that have transpired since our last report. First of all, March 14 was a very busy day for the Mission. We started with the Keller Williams Walk-a-Thon to benefit GSM. Bill, Theresa, and Gabriel (age 11) joined Kathy McGartland (GSM Special Events Coordinator), some of the GSM volunteers, and the staff of the Keller Williams Realty and walked four miles down Apollo Beach Blvd. (see picture below, during the "warm up" before the walk). They collected over $5,000 for the ministry of the Mission. After this event, the GSM staff went to the Manatee Arts Festival, where Keller Williams had paid for a GSM booth, filled with information about the Mission. After that, the GSM staff drove to the Hillsborough County Sheriffs Department (HCSD) Latino Outreach event. There were tons of people at this event, filled with providers, free food, a mariachi band, inflatable bouncy toys for the kids, cotton candy, even SpiderMan himself! Kudos to Sergeant Susan Bradford and Hillsborough County's Finest for putting on a successful event. After the event, they dropped off a large donation of goods at the Mission. Our community is a much better place because of the care and protection of these public servants. Servants they truly are!
 - Many thanks to all of God's servants who answer the call to provide food for the needy: Mr. Bill and his associates for his continued donation of pinto beans and fresh vegetables, Don and Aaron with Troyer Brothers for the tons of fresh potatoes donated, and Dickey and Sissy with Terra Ceia Produce Stand for the tons of fresh cabbages and onions they sent. You are all great!
- Dateline: 03.04.09. We've had a great response to our Mission Monthly newsletter. Folks seem to enjoy the format and encouraged us to continue to provide this publication. Just in case you don't know, we have the Mission Monthly available at this website; just check the Homepage and it is featured under Latest News and Popular. If you would like to save us the postage, and catch the newsletter online earlier, let us know via email. Or, if you would prefer to receive it in your email as an e-newsletter, you have that choice, too. By the way, last Monday we had our first Sewing Class. It was a great success! We have seven ladies signed up for this class. Today we began our Computer 101 class. We had 4 ladies show up and begin to get hands-on experience with the computer. There was an overall sense of excitement with what they learned and with the prospect of returning next week for more.
- Dateline: 02.26.09. Exciting news! Beginning in March, Judith Morales will teach our first sewing class, marking the beginning of our "teaching people to fish." Pastor Bill will be teaching Computer 101 at our computer lab center.
- Dateline: 02.25.09. A big THANK YOU to the folks from Braden River United Methodist Church. Joe and Lucy Morales dropped by today and blessed us with large bags of rice and Maseca for distribution. They have been contributing to the Mission for some time now. God bless you!
- If you wish to have a tour of the Mission, please contact us at (813) 634-7136, and schedule it. You will not be sorry!
- Our food giveaway is on Tuesdays, from 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. From 8:30 - 9:00 we have been having a number of area providers training and educating the population that comes. From 9:00 - 9:20, our resident pastor, Bill Cruz, has been reading the Bible to a group that is mostly illiterate. We also have more providers training in the afternoon. The people have responded very favorably to these programs.
- Special thanks to Ray and Nancy Murray for their help with this website. God bless you!
- Please check out our monthly newsletter!
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Last Updated on Friday, 20 August 2010 09:31 |
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