Can donuts change the world?

At Christ's Place during December we've been talking about how Christmas is supposed to change the world and we've been doing some things that we hoped would have an impact on people's lives. On Christmas Eve, we challenged everyone who attended the services to take a box of donuts to someone working that evening. The donuts were provided, it was just a matter of stopping by and giving them away.

We've heard some great feedback. All the donuts we had were taken and given away. Seven boxes made their way to the fire department. One family gave their box to a cop who had pulled someone over:

"As soon as we pulled out of CP we were jacked up. "Who will we give our donuts to!!? Soon after crossing over 27th and Old Cheney, we spotted a patrol car that had a car pulled into an apartment complex. We pulled in behind and waited until they were done with their business. As soon as the officer headed to his car and tried to pull away, we tooted our horn and the kids started hanging out the windows. Mom jumped out with the donut box in hand and explained to the nice man that we were from Christ's Place and would like to bless him with a box of donuts because he was working on Christmas Eve. He was very appreciative and my kids were ecstatic! "We got a police man!!!" My kids are starting to understand how GOOD it feels to bless people. Thanks!"

We even received this thank you note in the mail today from Crestview Care Center in Milford:

Dear People,
Just a short note of thanks for thinking of us. Your kindness of bringing donuts brightened the day and night. This small gesture made a huge impact. My staff found it hard to believe that people who didn't know them would be so kind. You have shown them a bit of Christ's love.

Thank you!

A pillowcase for every child...

Last year, Nancy Gerdes had a dream to give every child living at the People's City Mission a personalized pillow case - something that would make them feel special.

Just before Christmas, Nancy, mentor moms and other women from MOPS made that dream a reality. They purchased fabric in all kinds of designs, patterns and colors and sewed together funky pillow cases for 39 children. Then they had each case embroidered with the child's first name. Over 90 books were donated, so MOPS moms stuffed the pillow cases with age appropriate books and tied them together with rafia.

Nancy got together a group of families who took the gifts down to the PCM for delivery the week before Christmas. Kids lined up to receive their personalized pillow case gift. Some moms were there to pick up their child's case and commented that this was so nice..."to think someone took the time to put each child's name on this. That was very sweet. Thank you!"

Nancy was thrilled to see her dream unfold. "I prayed over each pillow case that each child would know they were special when they saw their name on it. And somehow, they'd find out there were precious to God."

There are so many ways each of us can use our skills and talents to bless others in Jesus' name. Nancy used her passion to ignite other women to join with with her in this great ministry. A little love goes a long way...

Thank you from F Street...

Nathan & all of the members of Christ's Place,
Thank you for the two times you helped us at F St. The neighborhood looked great and the center on the outside was amazing. The inside of the center looks wonderful now. It's awesome what can be accomplished in about 2 hours! I had a lot of fun and hope you all did too. The kids loved the cookies as well as our senior citizens. Thanks again and Merry Christmas!

Dorothy & The F Street Staff

SERVE Saturday in December

December 8 was another successful SERVE Saturday. The snow made it a little difficult to do yard work for single moms and widows, but the rest of the projects went on as planned.

A crew of people worked at Nebraska Family Council's House of Prayer. They cleaned, washed windows, painted, laid tile, installed a sink, scraped old paint and much more. Thanks to everyone who worked so hard.

NFC was blessed by the people of Christ's Place. We look forward to working with them more in the future to bless the whole neighborhood.

Another group of people went to the F Street Community Center. Some ladies and teenagers baked cookies that kids decorated and took home to their families. Some of the kids had never decorated cookies before - they had a GREAT time.

Some other ladies decorated the inside of the center for Christmas. It looked great.

Christmas Can Change the World...

Christ tends to get overlooked at Christmas. Somewhere in the bustle of wrapping paper, shopping malls and endless shopping lists, there is a story we long to connect with. It's a story of a Savior who came to Earth wrapped in nothing more than human skin who would one day redeem the world one person at a time.

What if this year, was different? What if you could usher in a Christmas that put Christ's story at the center of our family's celebration? What if you could see beyond the presents and hustle and bustle to the manger and cooperate with the Lord at Christmas to help change the world in a real way, one person at a time?

The Christmas series begins this Sunday at Christ's Place. And you can be a part of changing the world this year. To help you, we have several local and global outreach projects you can be a part of. From giving away free donuts to people on Christmas Eve, to buying gifts and giving money to people in need, to helping purchase a well in Darfur, Sudan so people can have clean water.

What if this year, Christmas changed the world?

SERVE Saturday

Last Saturday we served in three locations in this city: F Street Community Center, People's City Mission Distribution Center and in our very own parking lot. From 9 am until noon, 31 single moms and widows pulled their cars into our lot to be washed, dried, cleaned and vacuumed, as well as have their oil changed and fluids topped off. Some cars had burnt out headlights replaced, tires filled up and more.

One car even received a new tire. Outreach Coordinator, Nathan Kroll, was afraid the woman's car would not even make it out of our lot, due to the shape of one of her tires. She had no spare and no ability to purchase a new tire. We were able to bless that woman last Saturday by paying for a new tire for her car!

We have received several notes of thanks by mail and email this week. One woman said that her car had never been cleaner. Another women expressed their extreme thankfulness and gratitude that people from our church would do something so nice.

A big thanks to everyone who volunteered last Saturday! A little love goes a long way...

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