http://www.icanteachmychild.com/2011/02/make-it-homemade-liquid-laundry-soap-1/

Please donate your empty jugs (preferably detergent jugs.) Half gallon jugs will be the perfect size but gallon sizes are ok too.

We will start giving detergent to some of the families each month.

Trip 2 – Publix
19 Sun Drop sodas
6 Vlasic pickles
4 Weber seasonings
2 Pepsi Next
Total spent: <$.35>

Combined total: $54.99

Thank you Jesus for stretching our resources! What did you get for $55 at the grocery this week? And how would you cook a bag of carrots? Living in community really does make a difference.

Getting close to the wire… we need $2850.00 to have medical bills paid in full by Friday, May 11, 2012. A young mom with four children suffered unexpected medical bills, which totaled over $90,000. The hospital is willing to settle for $6,150 if paid by this Friday. A miracle! If you can help, we need you. Donate via paypal or mail a donation to:
Grace Klein Community
1678 Montgomery Hwy #104
Birmingham, AL 35216

Two board members were interviewed about the food ministry of Grace Klein Community by Von Goodwin.  Thank you Von for your passion to share food with families in need.  We also thank all the volunteers that make this ministry possible every day.  May God be glorified and people see Jesus with every box of food we share.

The retired couple went to the next family to deliver a food box. They asked the mom if she needed anything. She mentioned a winter coat. They went outside to their car and got the coat from the first family.

The coat fit perfectly. God provided. The second lady praised God for the coat and praised Him even more when they explained they just received the coat at the last home.

The next month, the retired couple shared the God story with the first lady who donated the coat. She was very thankful she shared immediately and was amazed that God would use her extra coat to meet an immediate need of a neighbor she had never met.

What do we have,
That we do not need,
That someone else needs,
That we do not know?

Why do we hold tightly to things,
Just in case we need it one day,
When someone somewhere may need today,
What we have not used in months?

Lord, help us to trust you
For the ‘what if’ one day,
To share with someone right now.
And let our obedience be out of great love
So that hearts may be drawn to You.

On Good Friday, Sally was serving God and her friend by providing childcare for three extra kids besides her two. She had five kids for the afternoon, so they went to a local park to play.

As they were playing, she noticed teenagers walking up and then more teenagers. She started thinking maybe they were about to have a party and maybe she and the kiddos needed to leave. She decided to go ask one of them.

The teenager said, “No, we aren’t having a party. We are having a memorial service for our friend who died yesterday in a swimming accident.”

Sally felt immediately that God wanted her to pray with all these kids. Remember, there were at least 70 teenagers out there. She went to call her friend and ask her what she thought. Her friend agreed that she had to do it if she felt God was telling her to pray. She knew it would be like Aunt Bee meeting the Rolling Stones.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Sally decided to be courageous. She went and asked to speak to the teenager in charge. Someone led her to this young woman and she asked,”Can I pray for y’all?”

These young adults said, “YES.” They proceeded to make a huge circle and Sally prayed and prayed. She shared the Gospel in her prayer. She shared hope. She cried. She begged God to comfort these kids. She asked protection for these kids that they would not run to sex, alcohol and drugs to find comfort. She admitted and even said in her prayer that their friend dying ‘sucked.’ She found herself standing there with both of her hands in the air begging God to show Himself to these 70+ teenagers.

And then she said amen and opened her eyes. They were all staring at her with her hands in the air and tears rolling down her face. No one said a word. And Sally said, “Oh, I forgot yall were there.” And then she decided to go home.

One young man caught her on her way out and said, “thanks, we needed that.” That’s the only thing all those 70+ teenagers said to her. Pray they do not forget and that they are forever changed from the boldness of Sally.

Oh yea, and she did apologize to her daughter for saying the ugly word in her prayer, but her daughter had no idea what she was talking about. (:

Ephesians 6:19-20
“Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.”

Father, please help us be as bold as Sally and obey even when it is uncomfortable. Use us to love people like you love them. Help us be willing to share our time, our resources, our lives, our pain to encourage others and point them to Jesus. Teach us to trust Your voice and follow. Help us not to care about the response others may give or not give us. We love you! And, wow, thank you for Sally. Amen

Last week we spent $53 and saved $351. Here’s what we got for $53:

• 40 boxes of cereal (name brand)
• 7 pkgs of 90-ct napkins
• 3 pkgs of asian noodles
• 2 pkgs of name brand tampons
• 20 soft soap hand soaps
• 30 Lysol cleaning products

In mid-March, a team went to Belize through ZIMM Ministries to dig wells and deliver computers. They shared a wonderful story with us that we wanted to pass on to you because it is yet another example of how God longs for us to commune with Him for our answers. Their first priority was to dig a well for a lady they had visited last year, Ms. Mary. They had tried all week to dig a well for her last time and kept hitting bedrock. They left in frustration, but they also left with a soft spot in their hearts for Ms. Mary because of her great joy and hope. She prayed over them before they left with a humble and beautiful prayer of thanksgiving.

So, over the last year, these guys prayed and searched for equipment that could dig wells more easily in the Belizian jungle. God provided the equipment and provided the means to get it down there. When they got there and went to Ms. Mary’s, they dug and hit bedrock several times. They decided to stop and pray for God to show them where to dig. One of the guys said he felt God saying that Ms. Mary had the answer. So, he went to her and told her what God had said. She was doubtful, but led him to a spot that looked impossible. It was inconvenient, hard to access, and just didn’t look right. They dismissed it and asked her to make another suggestion. She did, they dug, and hit bedrock again. She went back to the “bad” spot, they dismissed it again, and she chose another spot. They dug, hit bedrock again. Finally, they all went back to the unlikely spot that Ms. Mary had picked. They dug and water almost immediately started gushing. Ms. Mary now has fresh water to drink, not just for her, but for her community. There are so many lessons we can learn from this – that God uses unlikely people, places, things, for His glory because they seem impossible to us; that God wants us to ask Him for our answers and to listen when He gives them; that God can always use our frustration and hardship to grow and change us.

Another great thing God did through this team was to deliver computers to King’s College for their computer lab. These computers were donated by a local company that downsized last year. The college desperately needed newer equipment in order to teach the students in their IT classes. They only had 9 working computers for about 30 students per class. They now have around 23 computers, and hopefully will get a few more when a team goes later this year.