Acts 6:3 “Look ye out therefore, brethren, from among you seven men of good report, full of the Spi

This month is time to celebrate Jesus’ Resurrection. PRAISE THE LORD! It’s one of my favorite holidays. We get to focus and celebrate the power of the Gospel. As I read the 6th chapter of Acts, it focuses on the growth of the church as the Apostles carry out the call of preaching the Gospel. As the church grew and the gifts brought to the church grew so did the needs of the church members, especially of the widows. The Apostles were trying to do the duties associated with prayer and preaching and all that was associated with that call, while also dealing with the increase gifts and needs of the people. So they appointed 7 “deacons” to oversee the feeding of the needy. The 7 men had certain requirements and the following verses described that Steven was a man of great faith and full of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 6:8 “And Stephen, full of grace and power, wrought great wonders and signs among the people.” These men were not just waiters; they were carrying out the ministry of the Word in practical ways. This is the model and mission that the Christian Caring Center provides today. We are so blessed to be able to provide what the church, businesses, government, civic groups and individuals bring to the ministry of the Christian Caring Center. It is also our responsibilities to be good stewards of what is given to the Christian Caring Center. Matthew 25:14-30 talks about the ten talents and what the three slaves did with the master’s money and who the master was pleased with. The Christian Caring Center is in a situation similar to these verses with two gifts that we want to be good stewards of. One is the land next door to the Christian Caring Center that has been donated to the ministry-PTL! We would like to develop a micro housing building with 6 units in it for homeless individuals. We went to the Pinelands Commission, which is the first step in development and because there are 6 separate kitchens and 6 separate bathrooms, the Pinelands deemed it a multiple and access a $27,000 development credit on the project. So we need to raise $27,000 or find someone who owns Pinelands development credits to donate them to the project. We believe someone might have such credits that believe in the ministry to homeless persons and we are asking all of you to put this on your prayer list. The second gift is our truck. The Christian Caring Center owns a 24 foot refrigerated, diesel, 5 speed truck with air brakes. It’s a wonderful gift but it is old and has thousands of miles on it. The cost of repairs, registration, insurance and most importantly –only one driver is able to drive it to the Food Bank, Shop Rite and other places that wish to donate goods to the ministry is over our budget. We would like to sell or trade the truck for a smaller 15-18 foot automatic truck that is a gasoline, automatic transmission that any volunteer could drive. We are asking all our supporters to contact us with someone who want to buy or sell such a truck. Both of these gifts will further the ministry of the Christian Caring Center. We are so grateful to you who supports the ministry of the sharing this Gospel and hold up the Christian Caring Center and clients with prayer and then providing love through the sharing of food, clothing, shelter and other physical necessities when available. We know that we always don’t get it right, but thanks for your love and forgiveness so we can continue to support, love and forgive our clients!

Abiding in Him,

Madelyn Sutton