July is our month of gratitude!
I want to personally thank you for your generosity so far this year. With over 20 years of personal ministry experience it continues to bless my soul to witness our Lord bringing the hearts of His servants together to advance His kingdom. I get the privilege of being on the frontline of urban ministry here in Dallas, TX, because of your heart to support World Impact as we share the gospel of Jesus to the poor in our community.
I can’t help but share one little story about Charles, who we celebrated recently. Charles was a drug addict in our city and due to his own choices ended up homeless on the streets. Charles ended up in a shelter where World Impact was leading a Bible study. Charles got clean and decided to enroll into the shelter leadership program. Soon he was encouraged to begin The Urban Ministry Institute (TUMI) classes and he accomplished fantastic grades for 2 ½ years. He graduated the shelter program and moved into his own apartment with new hope. Unfortunately, he relapsed and started using drugs again.
Thankfully he knew that he needed help and immediately re-entered a shelter program. As you can imagine he was ashamed of his choices and almost lost hope. He re-entered the TUMI courses, became a leader at the shelter, now he is leading Bible studies at the shelter and recently graduated from TUMI. I know I stuffed a lot of his story and you understand it is impossible to capture all that the Lord has done in his life. During the graduation ceremony, Charles expressed his gratefulness through beautiful tears and words. I gave him a big hug for you!
Charles, and the many others like him that I see in our ministry, wake me up every day with a new hunger to advance the gospel in Dallas. What has God given you a hunger and passion for in your city? Where is God leading you to serve in the city? I believe God has another man or woman like Charles in your path, a person that will challenge and bring joy to your life today. May our Lord bless you as you wake up to another day!
