One of the great benefits of being a minister is seeing people take their faith beyond verbal to the actions of providing for others the tangible and material things needed to make lives better.
17Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. 18Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. James 2:17-18 provides New Testament clarity for us who have been saved to demonstrate through our action--work to make a difference in this world. Today my heart was touched by people in different ministries who helped a 28 year old woman with 10 children, be fed,clothing provided for her and her children, gas money given, help with utilities provided, appointments for Social Security benefits set, and scheduled for birth certificates to be issued. For this mother, she was seeing the ever expanding "Arms of the Lord," being revealed. Prior to her seeing these actions I was able to pray for her and hear her profession of faith... taking Jesus Christ as her Saviour. For a minister, it doesn't get any better than that. The mother will need discipleship and a local church where her and her children will grow in Christ. I hope after reading this we work toward assuring her future is filled with blessings. Lavond
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During what was a recessionary period that bordered on equaling the Great Depression with job losses and financial institutional collapse, or near collapse, homeless shelters have seen their populations increase. Five factors are causing an increase in our male population.
The first is an untrained population of men for the market of jobs that are available. From 1980 until circa 2007, construction jobs were at an abundance in Augusta and much of the Southeast. Housing markets have not recovered to their level of boom. Lending has slowed. The argument exist that the immigrant workers have transplanted American construction workers. Unemployment for longer periods has led to shelters being filled with workers and contractors from this industry. But,it was not just construction. Throughout the Southeast, textile industries have closed, or gone to developing nations, and those industries and those jobs are not coming back. The need for retraining has become evident. Jobs in medical, technology, financial services, education, and technical (vet tech, physical therapy, dental hygienist) are growing areas of emphasis based on the paradigms shift we are now working within. The technical colleges and four year institutions in the CSRA are well prepared to train the men to these levels. One of Head of the Giant Ministry's goals is retraining for today's workforce. GED classes are being provided through Augusta Tech, and apprenticeship programs are being set-up. We will also be connected to the other colleges and Jr. colleges for aptitude testing and placement within varying curriculum. (to be continued--Growing veteran population, substance abuse, mental health issues, 18-31 year old population.) Lavond Reynolds |
AuthorsLavond Reynolds is the executive director/founder of Head of the Giant Ministry, Inc. His desire to serve Christ by meeting the needs of the homeless in the CSRA comes from a compassion for people and personal experience. Archives
October 2017
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