A couple of the girls from the Victory House and I went to Miracle Baptist Church for the women’s Valentines Party.

We made Valentine bags, shared valentines, ate, and had some wonderful fellowship.  It was really nice to sit around and be really open about our greatest joys and some of our hardest

struggles. It was such a blessing to see how everyone was being lifted up with such wonderful words of encouragement. After all isn\'t that what being true Sisters in Christ all about.
They even gave us bags, stickers and some valentines which we will be using to take to the Nursing Home on Valentines day.

It was the first time I really got a chance to sit down and talk with Cathy Kirkland the Pastors wife, and I look forwarded to getting to know her better. She is the type of person you feel like you have known for years, and you can talk to about anything. They also put together a gift basket for Pam, one of the girls from the Victory House that just had surgery and was unable to go. Pam was really touched that they went out of their way to let her know they was thinking about her.

Some of the women from Miracle Baptist Church have been working as Christian mentors with the women from the Victory House on Thursday night for quite sometime now and have really made a difference in helping them find their walks with Christ. They really have been a blessing to the ministry and Bill and I are so thankful that they continue to share their love of Christ with the girls at the Victory House.

I have included some of the pictures from the Valentine party.

Your Friends in Christ Jesus, Bill & Tamara

As you know Ginger was on a mission to find service projects and she now has applications available for people who maybe interested in volunteering their time to The Good Shepherd Children's Home located in Murfreesboro, Tn. You are welcome to check out their website here.

Ginger is setting up for volunteers to go out one Saturday a month and fellowship with the children there, so if this is something that touches your heart please feel free to call Ginger at the Victory House 793-2118 and become one of the volunteers that help to reach out to these children. Ginger shared a couple of scriptures with me tonight and I would like to share one of them with you.

Religion that God our father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.   James 1:27

Also a list of volunteer for the nursing home visits in Smyrna is also being put together.

Mike Speirs and Jake Smusz were busy working on getting the kitchen cabinets in today and they should have the rest of the cabinets put in tomorrow. The guys at the center are excited about having a working kitchen and getting a chance to start cooking. We are so thankful for the Life Point Mission Team, Mike, Jake and everyone to has made it possible to have such a wonderful kitchen, its really a dream come true for so many of us.

The guys will be in need of dishes, pots and pans and other kitchen items for anyone who would like to help...

Kitchen Upgrades
Also we had a Life Point small group which George and Nancy Espy are apart of come to the Outreach Center tonight and take down the metal plates in the back bedroom. This is a project we started Dec 07 and have been unable to get completed due to the extent of the skill and talent needed to get the heavy metal taken down. I was told one piece weighted 500lbs. This group of men that came out tonight really had their work cut out for them, it was a task no one else had been willing to take on in over a year. This small group also painted the Center last year, and helped in the clothes closet and we are so blessed to have gotten to know them and experience their love of Christ Jesus. The group has been able to encourage each other through so many things, one of them being cancer.. I am amazed how even through that, they are still continuing to look for ways to serve others and serving the Lord Jesus is without saying at the top of their list. A lot can be learned from this small group who are letting their light shine for the world to see.

The men now are able to move on to the next phase of completing their bedroom, drywall and painting is next.


Your Friends in Christ Jesus, Bill & Tamara

I know its been awhile since I have sent out an email. Sorry about that I have been working on a couple special projects that has kept me busy.

Things around The Outreach Center & The Victory House have been such a blessing. It is so encouraging to see the residents stepping up and wanting to get out into the community to

find ways to serve others. We have made a couple changes or I should say God has added a few changes. As most of you know Bill & I have been praying for sometime now about having a House Manager for the Victory House. We wanted someone who would live on site and be able to minister to the women, to encourage, and motivate them to stepping outside their comfort zones to grow spiritually in Christ Jesus. We have named Ginger the new house manager. We started noticing how she was taking time to help the other women work through their differences, and she would help them to come up with solutions for what they were struggling with, and the most important thing is the other women were listening to her and changes are taking place. So praise God for always sending the answer.

Ginger is already campaigning to find outside projects to serve the community, including volunteering time at the nurse homes. Ginger and Kathy stopped by the nursing home today and got the green light, Kathy will be calling them tomorrow to set up sometimes that the women will be able to rotate to may sure everyone gets a chance to volunteer. Ginger said the next call will be to the Tennessee Children's home, so don't be surprised if you start seeing The Victory House women out in the community serving others. If you want to get on the rotation for community service, call the Victory house and ask for Ginger 615-793-2118. If Ginger is not there, Teresa will be taking messages for her and she will give you a call back. Also Teresa is on site which has enabled us to keep the clothes closet open throughout the day, so we are able to serve the community with free clothes 24/7.  

Also as you most of you know we have 5 men at the Outreach site, soon to be 6, and they have also really blessed us. Between Ron ( the manitaience director) and Brian, they have been able to take care of a lot of the minor repairs that are needed around the properties. We also named Johnny as the groundskeeper. He is on site throughout the day, so he is able to welcome people in, get them some hot coffee, free bread and get them connected to Bill if need be. We have had families coming to the Center seeking help, and others coming by to dropping off donations and for fellowship, and having Johnny there has really been a blessing.  Johnny will be starting a garden this spring and will be helping to maintain the yard work with the help of the other men.  Bill, Beres, and Jake have been talking about setting up some service projects for the men. There has been some talk about going out to visit a homeless site and seeing how they maybe able to serve them.

Also, Mike Speirs and the mission team is coming back to finish up the kitchen project. We really had not expected them to come back, and we are just so thankful for all they have done to make the Outreach Center into such a wonderful place; its really more then we ever expected. We can not thank them enough for everything they have done.

So as you see a lot is happening... Isn't God good...

As so many of us are facing hard times right now, it is VERY important that we remember God's got it....
Just keep your eyes on him and, keep walking in faith and he will do the rest.

Your Friends in Christ Jesus, Bill & Tamara