Churches & Giving

Today I wanted to share a note wrote by my friend and fellow servant of the Lord. :)

Churches and GivingShare

Tuesday, June 1, 2010 at 10:01pm

Hi! My name is Lisa... Let me share my passion with you... ok, my second passion! (In case you don’t know, Jesus is my First!) My friends and I minister weekly at our local county detention facility (women’s side). I absolutely LOVE where God has led me. I would say it’s unbelieveable but that just doesn’t sound right when talking about the blessedness of God! (huge grin)

In our local detention facility, the women inmates are awesome, all the women in the jail don’t come to our little church service but some faithful ones do! These are the ones that put in applications for Alpha House. Even though these girls are awesome, when put back in their same environment, even though they mean well, they usually return to their old ways and I’ve seen many women leave jail only to return a few months later and it starts all over again.

***This is the WHOLE POINT of why Alpha House exists – to stop that cycle!!!*** They exist to give women a Godly fighting chance so they do not return to their old stomping ground and get immersed in that culture again; no, they enter a house with four other women and they get immersed in Jesus and they learn employable skills, how to balance a check book, how to pray, how to save money, how to study their bibles, and how to pay tithes, etc! Alpha House has been and “IS” a main stay for most of the girls that have gone through their 3 month program and graduated. They have not returned to jail.

Did you read that? The very women who had been in and out, in and out, in and out of jail got accepted into Alpha House’s program, they graduated, they got a job, got an apartment, eventually a car, they become taxpaying functional members of society!!! Praise the Living God!!

Now, here’s my disbelief. Do you realize that this much needed Christian program in our community is NOT being supported by one single church on a regular basis?????????? Not one. (Fact! I called Alpha House before I wrote this and asked so I would not be lying. Not one church.) The very churches that Alpha House is teaching these women to pay tithes to doesn’t even support these women; I find that ironic, don’t you? Bear with me a moment more, please!!

If just half the churches in the county would commit $50.00 a month to Alpha House, Alpha House could probably expand with a house or two around the county. Alpha House gets calls from all over Tennessee to see if they have a bed available for them; so Alpha House does need to start more houses and programs.

*** Let me add that there are a few churches who have a great missions program and they give a lot to that but sadly, it's all overseas or for their mission trips. (Come on, churches, support places locally too!!) *****

Also, let me state for the record that there are individual pockets of people in some local churches that do help Alpha House in other ways rather than monetarily. AND what they do for Alpha House is needed and much appreciated!! Thank you! God bless you all who stayed with me and read this!! No matter where you give, remember to give and it shall be given unto you.

[If you disagree, feel free to comment! A good logical argument could change my mind!! God bless you!!]

Me again...I just want to add a big AMEN to this. It is so true... and sadly one of the main reasons that at this point in our lives Darrin & I are not attending a 'building'. Oh, don't be mistaken -- we have CHURCH. :~) We have church in our small group each week where we meet, fellowship, worship and study the Lord's word and we have church when we go into Anderson County jail each week.

Now, go on over and check out Alpha House! They are doing awesome things for the Lord and in these ladies lives. www.alphahouseinc.net