Showing posts with label ministry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ministry. Show all posts

Thursday, September 20

Robbed!




See the broken glass? A robber did that. He broke in and stole from one of God’s ministries, Surrender40.

Five robberies have occurred in sixty days in the area, including the Pentecostal church down the street from Surrender40.

Not only did the perpetrator rob ministries but he also robbed the ministries’ recipients, like himself, of what God’s workers could have done for them.

Trachena and Steve Muchnick run a wonderful ministry to the homeless in drug-infested Miami. At the time of the robbery, Trachena was in the building and able to hide in the bathroom and escaped harm, thanks to God’s mighty hand of protection.


Through the ministry, they give out meals, shirts, socks, sweaters, blankets, jackets, Bibles, hygiene items, and many other items, feeding over 200 people every two weeks and preaching the Gospel to them.

They also minister to the inmates in the Florida prisons and visit the sick and suffering in local area hospitals. Devotionals are written on a weekly basis and sent out to over 100 women, a large majority of them are incarcerated for life.

The city of Miami recently outlawed all homeless feeding ministries. Anyone violating the ordinance will be arrested and fined $300 for each occurrence. Because of this, Trachena and Steve planned to move north within 30-60 days.


It has also been their dream to open a homeless shelter for those who desire to get off the streets and a transitional shelter for inmates coming out of prison.

Unfortunately, their dreams are smashed. In less then four minutes of ransacking and burglarizing, everything is gone. Now, they must start all over again at the bottom. Their financial coffer is empty.

Never defeated, they keep their coffer of faith full. They know God will restore and replace what the enemy stole from them.

The culprit who did this was arrested days later and is now in jail, facing a life sentence for being a career criminal. At the moment, he is in one of the jails in which the Muchnicks have preached. If you feel so led, please pray for him. His name is Kevin.

I’ve never asked my readers to support a specific ministry, so I hope you will not mind. I believe strongly in Trachena and Steven’s work. They are now turning to others to ask for donations to get to the $10,000 mark that they need to move the entire ministry.

Would you prayerfully consider donating to their cause? If you feel so led, you can donate on their website through PayPal or you can send a check to the address listed on their website

As everyone’s finances are strained in these times, if you are not able to help financially, would you please pray for them? Anything you can do would be greatly appreciated.

May the Lord bless you!

                                                                         
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Sunday, October 2

Taken Aside for a Purpose


(I hope you don't mind another rerun!)

“He took him aside, away from the crowd.” (Mark 7:33a NIV)

Taken aside…In 1666, John Bunyan was imprisoned for unlicensed preaching. What came out of that dark, damp Bedford jail in England? Out of his captivity came Bunyan’s Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners and the most famous of all Christian allegories Pilgrim’s Progress.

Taken aside…Out of years of service in Japan and China, as a missionary in the early 1900s, and out of the imprisonment of her husband’s sickness and subsequent death, came Mrs. Charles E. Cowman’s beautiful, classic devotional Streams in the Desert.

Taken aside…Catherine Marshall, at the age of 33, suffered two years of physical imprisonment with a life-threatening bout of tuberculosis. When her husband Peter died, she took care of their nine-year-old son Peter, Jr. Out of her suffering, she authored over 20 books, among them the well-loved Christy.

Taken aside…Paul, imprisoned. The most fruitful period of his ministry. What did he do? He praised God as a prisoner, not of disease or circumstance, but as a prisoner of the Lord. Out of those times came his letters of encouragement to the churches, giving untold generations the books of Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, and possibly Hebrews.

Have you been taken aside by some life-shattering circumstance? Do you trust that God will be with you through it and use whatever imprisonment you might be suffering for the benefit of others?



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