Reaching Out Update
Last month we shared in our newsletter about our concerns in the wake of decisions made about coronavirus for those in our Village. We began efforts to engage the families of our Cru, Good News Club and ESL students, along with those in the neighborhood around our building, presenting them with Kroger Gift Cards. Through the generous donations of many, including the Deacons at Faith Bible Church, we have been able to distribute $2300 in $50 Kroger Gift Cards.
When delivering the cards we share “We have friends who love God who are very concerned about how coronavirus has impacted people. They’ve donated funds to help us share with you this $50 gift card. We want you to know that God loves you and is near during this difficult time.” One street-wise man held back tears, another lady said “what is this?” (never having received a store gift card before). We made some good contacts when visiting some of our immigrant families living in the Village. We also met a couple who both are out of work struggling just to get by. The story is very similar for every card we handed out – surprise at the unsolicited kindness, attentive to our words and gratefulness.
We will continue this effort as funds/cards are made available to the Metanoia Center. Thank you to everyone who has participated and helped with showing God’s love to strangers whom we now call “our friends”.
Volunteer Work Day
Saturday, May 23 was our first work day at the building since the coronavirus lockdown took affect! We had around 25 volunteers join in (which included a few from the neighborhood). Mr. Keith Ray, of Cru Lockland Schools, blessed us, and our immediate neighbors with pizza for lunch!
The team tore down walls consisting of drywall and/or plaster, mucked out the mystery room (which was no small task), began demoing a kitchen, tore up a floor, and carried tons of “goodness” out to a dumpster. This dumpster, being our third, gets us to around 10 tons in volume carried out of the building. The dumpster filled up so fast that we began just leaving the debris laying on the floor as volunteers continued their work!
We were delighted to see our team interacting on the street with passers-by as we enjoyed lunch under tents along the walk way!
Work day photos can be seen on our Facebook page here.
More to Come
More work days are already scheduled with two every month thru August! The next one is scheduled for June 13th! Visit the link below to view all scheduled dates and to signup!
Work Days
Also, we are on the hunt for Work Day Lunch Sponsors. There are still open opportunities for you, your church, deacons or other group to sponsor lunch for our volunteer work days. You can view available openings by clicking the button below, and then contacting us to let us know of a date you would like to reserve, or for more information!
Lunch Sponsor
Project List
We have also posted a Project List. These are available projects that can be taken without waiting to join us on a specific volunteer work day. We’ve placed a lockbox on the Center door so that workers can come and go on their own schedule to work on projects. Contact us if you would like to take on a particular project for details and we’ll get you all set up.
Project List
Swag
To help fund Making a Home for the Metanoia Center we are introducing two “fundraisers”.
Metanoia Center Ball Caps
Proudly wear this embroidered cap to create conversations everywhere you go about the Metanoia Center. Such conversations can easily segway into a dialogue about the Gospel. The cost is only $22.00. We can ship your order to you, anywhere in the United States, for only $10.00 more, or you can pick it up at a convenient time at our building! 100% of the proceeds from a cap purchase goes directly to the Metanoia Center!
LaRosa’s Pizza Buddy Card
For $10.00 you can purchase a buddy card that is good for 14 Buddy Card Deal Offers – buy any large pizza, get a large cheese pizza, FREE! This offer is for dine-in and carry out only. Each buddy card is good for one year after activation. You can purchase as many Buddy Cards as you desire. We’ll hand them to you, you can pick them up, or we’ll mail them to your home!
To order a ball cap, or a Buddy Card, go here.
Prayer Topics
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- Pray with us as we consider how to further engage our neighborhood as we move into the summer.
- Pray for those we are building relationships with as a result of the work days at the Center building and the Kroger Gift Card effort.
- Pray for ongoing donations and funding for the Metanoia Center, and also for our own personal ministry support.
- Pray for our volunteers – for safety as they work and to be blessed because of the donation of their time, sweat and muscles!
- Pray for wisdom as we discover “things that need to be done” as we demo the inside of the building.
- Praise God for the great work He is doing in the Village of Lockland and giving us the opportunity to engage cultures from around the world from right here!
- From last month’s list – “Pray for a ministry partner who will take on repairing the back section of the second floor that has been damaged due to roof leakage in the past. A partnership of this nature would be a huge financial, and professional, blessing for the Metanoia Center.” – update. We’ve reached out to six well known ministries who do this kind of work. Of those that did respond, the response was “you’re located in the United States. We only help ministries overseas.” Please continue praying for this need! We’ve begun seeking local contractors to quote us a cost to have this repair completed.
Serving With You Because of Him,
Jim and Phyllis
Galatians 2:20
About Us: Jim and Phyllis are faith-based independent missionaries commissioned by Faith Bible Church, Cincinnati, Ohio serving with the Global Community Health Evangelism Network ministering globally, locally and in their own neighborhood. Donations to their ministry may be made through Global CHE Network, 4702 East Monte Way, Phoenix, AZ 85044or online by visiting https://atm.givingfuel.com/gcn. Please include a note with your donation indicating your desire to direct it to Jim and Phyllis Null’s Ministry Area.
Contact Us: our contact information is: Jim and Phyllis Null, 316 Home Ave., Lockland, Oh, 45215 – Telephone: 502-235-7005.
Visit the Global CHE Network website at: https://www.chenetwork.org
Visit the Metanoia Center website at: https://www.metanoiacenter.net