Hey All! Thank you so much for following our journey. Today's post is a long one, but filled with some great information and some great stories. So grab a cup of coffee and hang in to the end!
We arrived in Boynton Beach at Faith Farm Ministries on
Kathy’s Birthday. We were so amazed at
the two bedroom home they had for us to stay in. We each had our own bath, there was a kitchen
and living room and cable TV. Boy did we
feel special! Boynton Beach is close to
Miami and other suburbs in which we have engagements. Makes it easier if we don’t have to pack and
unpack every day. Our contact here was Emily. What a delightful young
lady. She showed us around the farm on a
golf cart, (yes, you need a golf cart to tour this facility.) They have about 90 acres.
While doing the tour, we discovered Emily is
from a small town in Oklahoma so that made everyone in the golf cart from
Oklahoma! But it didn’t end there. I
inquired as to where in Oklahoma she was from and she said, “Oh, a small town
you’ve probably never heard of.” Well….I
had heard of it, it was Chickasha! I was
raised in Chickasha! This was just the
beginning of a wonderful association with this young lady. More about Emily in our next story, she’s
quite a testimony herself.
BASECAMP
Even though we were at Faith Farm Ministries, we used it as
our base of operations to go to surrounding communities to serve as there was
no opportunity, at this time, for us to volunteer in that ministry. We got settled in and got prepared for our
next assignment the next day at Pompano Beach.
We went to Pompano Beach Broward Outreach which is
overseen by Miami Rescue Mission but funded by Broward County. The county is trying to help their homeless
population but turned to Miami Rescue Mission for the day to day operations
expertise they already had. We met with Nina,
Sr. Community Development Associate, who plugged us in and got us ready to
serve. She introduced us to her staff, a
group of very nice ladies who are good at their job. They don’t treat it as a “job” but as a
calling. They truly care about their
clients. They are currently preparing
for a Christmas in July celebration which will happen on the 25th.
"NO ONE IS HOMELESS"
Their vision, prominently displayed throughout the facility
and in their literature is, “No one is homeless.” They have career education programs, a career
center in addition to classes helping their clients prepare for getting their
GED, obtaining employment and classes teaching them life skills and addiction
recovery.
We served in the kitchen, spoke with some of the homeless
and got to meet many caring people who volunteer there on a regular basis. Before serving, Nina gave us a tour of the
facility and showed us the places for the single men and women and the families
they care for. Their family center was
well thought out and is a place for the entire family whether that be a single
mother or a husband and wife. They have
a nice playground area for the children.
After serving there,
Nina had set us up to go work with their sister facility in Hollywood the
following Monday.
On Sunday we had been invited to attend the Graduation
Ceremonies at Faith Farm Ministries.
They had 9 men, ages 25+ through 65, a diversity of ages to be sure but
these men were truly brothers in Christ.
They cared for one another, upheld one another, held each other
accountable and were now celebrating being made whole again. They each told their stories and there wasn’t
a dry eye in the church. Such moving
testimonies of being lost and then of being saved by grace and knowing they
have been saved. Through the work/learn
programs of Faith Farm they all now feel they are equipped to stay out of their
addictive habits and lead fruitful lives again.
We felt fortunate to have been there at this time of celebration but, as
we all know, this is not a coincidence, it was a Divine Appointment.
On Monday, we had two appointments. Our first was to be at Jubilee Center of
South Broward County Hollywood Florida in the morning and at Broward Outreach
Center Hollywood in the afternoon. We arrived
at Jubilee Center and met with Michele, Director of Social Services, and a
delightful man named Lucius who is the Logistics Volunteer. Lucius has been a volunteer for over 17 years
and loves every minute of it. He showed
us around and put us right to work. He is retired military and you can tell by
the way he runs the volunteer operation.
It’s very well organized and runs smoothly and efficiently.
By the way, Lucius knows where Muleshoe Texas
is, do you? Everyone knows their job and
the sequence of events. Quite an
operation they have going. Kathy and I filled
over 200 “walk about” bags. They consist
of a drink, a protein, a vegetable, a fruit and a snack.
That afternoon we went down the street to the Broward
Outreach Center Hollywood to meet with Toni, Assistant Volunteer Coordinator. We’d met her while at their outreach center
in Pompano Beach but this is her usual office.
She took us on a tour of their property and told us all the wonderful
things they do there, which was pretty typical of all their mission locations. While touring the men’s part of the facility
where the program students live, I noticed a sign and asked Toni to tell me
about it. As the men progress in the
program, they get more privileges along with more responsibilities.
While in the offices with Toni, we met Parnell. Sammie asked Parnell what his job was at the
missions and he said his job was “to make people laugh.” What a hoot Parnell is. He answers the phone, keeps people calm, and
they just know he’s going to get them to the correct place. But off the phone he is so funny and personable
and just oozes kindness. He had gone
through the program there and is now on staff.
Parnell admitted he’d been in a lot of trouble when he was younger but had
been given a chance here and is working to stay “out of trouble.”
We served in the kitchen that evening and got to talk with
many of their clients. I spoke with a
lovely lady, Lucia, who volunteers with her two sons once a week for the last
year. They are teens and she wants them to
know what it’s really like in the world and how you are only one bad decision
away from being down like some of these people are.
We bid all these new friends goodbye and drove back to
Boynton Beach which was about 30 minutes away.
We decided the next day would be catch up, computer work and phone call
day. I’d been working on the revival
project that we’ll be having in New York City around the 1st of
January to end this Project and begin Project 2014.
"A HAPPY DANCE GONE WRONG"
I had already made some calls concerning this event and
while working on our chores for that day, I got a phone call and it was one of
the men I’d been working on the event with and he had some good news. I jumped up in excitement (while remaining
entirely professional on the phone) and was about to do my happy dance. Because of chemo and being a diabetic at one
time , I have neuropathy in my feet. Since
I’d been sitting, working for hours, I didn’t realize my feet were in the wrong
position for this celebration and when I came down my foot was turned and we
both heard a loud POP! While wincing
with pain, I calmly said to the person on the other end of the phone, “Great,
this is good news. Could you please give
the details to my assistant?” and then handed Kathy the phone. Kathy got the information and then helped me
to the car to go to the emergency room.
Luckily, a new hospital had been built at the edge of the
property owned by Faith Farms so it was very close by. We arrived and there were just a few cars in
the parking lot and one by the emergency entrance. As Kathy helped me to the door, a security
guard met us on the sidewalk with a wheel chair and wheeled me back to the
emergency department.
We got immediate attention because we were about the only
ones there and the floor was fully staffed.
The Xray confirmed the foot was broken.
They put me in a temporary cast up to my knee and made me an appointment
with a orthopedic surgeon for a few days later.
I was supposed to speak to the ladies at Faith Farm that evening but had
to miss it due to this accident. The Devil only got one on me here. Because
then the Ladies all starting praying for me , God Took it back. Yeah...
"CAN'T KEEP A GOOD WOMAN DOWN"
Next day I had two speaking engagements. I didn’t really feel like going but I also
knew they had cancelled other speakers to accommodate me on my time so I felt I
really had to go. My foot was really hurting BUT GOD… My first engagement was at the Greater St.
Paul African Methodist Episcopalian Church in Miami.
Miami is about an hour away from where we
were staying so we left a bit early because I had a friend in from Los Angeles
who was working with a ministry that had set this up for me and I was to meet
them for them to take us there.
At the Church I met Rev. Clayton Hodge who is Senior Pastor
there. As I hobbled to the sanctuary he
introduced us to the pastor in charge of the pre meal Chapel service for the
homeless. I was to take Rev. Hodges time
in that service. I spoke to the group,
at first only a few but as I spoke the number grew. I gave a condensed version of my testimony
due to the time I was allotted. It was
well received. After speaking, we ate
lunch with the people I’d spoken to and all the personnel involved with the
Chapel experience. My friend, Boogie,
from Los Angeles worked in the kitchen and food service line.
My friend, Boogie, is in Miami working with Urban
Resurrection/Interchange of Miami. His
mentor, Laurie is the one who arranged for me to speak that day. She and I visited during lunch and she explained
what her ministry does in the low income portions of Miami. They live in the neighborhoods they serve and
help their neighbors realize the potential for their neighborhood, help them
achieve clean up and rebuilding and are advocates for them with the government
entities they have to deal with in order to keep their neighborhoods clean and
safe. During our talk, we discovered we
had mutual friends in The Woodlands, Texas!
As I’ve said before, it really is a small world.
You may remember Boogie from our stories of LosAngeles. He’s a Christian Rapper and
delivers “the spoken word.” I’d asked
him and Laurie to be my Praise and Worship team for this evening’s speaking
engagement at Miami Rescue Mission. He’s
really growing in his work for the Lord and I’m proud to know him.
Boogie and Broken Society will be with me in New York City
for the revival and closing party for Project 2013. More details on that coming
soon.
Stay in touch! I appreciate your comments so much more than you know, so be sure to leave me a message at the bottom!
-Sammie
