John to Sudan

A 15 year old boy named John wanted to go to Mundri from Uganda for the holiday's to visit family. The trip is very long (2 or 3 days) and cost about 100.00 usd. Thanks to Western Union (Quick Money), John is on his way to Mundri by bus and taxi. Kamaru Martin - helped John, who is under age, pick up his money transfer. He will visit Andrew's sister in Juba, which is the first stop, while waiting for a taxi to Mundri to be with Andrew's mom and dad for the holidays.

Thank you, Jesus that we are able to help one another in a time of need. We give You all of the Glory.

Ricky Bobby Barwick

As a front row sitter at the 11 o'clock service at The Church at Brookhills, Rick was given the opportunity to meet and pray with a boy named Ricky from the Alabama Youth Home to accept Jesus Christ as his Saviour last year. This 18 year old young man has no mom or dad, has grown up in foster care most of his life, has one real sister a few years older, a brother in Tennessee who isn't his real brother, many health problems, no concept of real life, no clue on how to take responsibility or provide for himself, has repeated the 9th grade 3 times, has lived in every southeast state as foster families passed him on, has lost every job given and all of his stories are exaggerated or fantasized. Ricky has been given a new opportunity to go back and live with a former foster parent in Remlap, Alabama. It is a single divorced man named Commander. Ricky went to Remlap for Thanksgiving and fell off of a 4 wheeler and hurt his arm. After he was returned to the Youth Home, he was playing basketball with the other boys, tripped and fell hurting his arm again. To the doctor - Broken Arm from the 4 wheeler accident. According to social workers - Ricky will be leaving and going to live with Commander forever. Ricky just wants a family and to be accepted and loved. We will see Ricky one more time before he goes to his forever family.

I found Junia

Junia is a precious girl that I met will working in the slums of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. I had to tell her during my last visit there in 2005, I could not be her mom. I love this girl so much.

Stephanie Feitosa sent me this email today.....

Lisa,
I just wanted to tell you that I found Junia. I told Bel to get the word out that I was looking for her. and she showed up at the LightHouse looking for me. It seems as though she left for a while but now she is back in the same area, but with her father. Yesterday I went to her house to visit her home. Very simple but SHE keeps it very neat and tighty. I told her that you were crazy to contact her. So she wrote you a letter and sent you a picture and I lot lots of pictures of her for you. I haven’t downloaded them yet. But she is so cute. I actually became very proud of her, after she started speaking of how the LightHouse had helped her find the Lord and continue to seek after the Lord. Even though she is no longer in the Project. I saw some really good fruit in her that came from our work at the lighthouse. I will try and call you because she has said a lot in this letter of hers and the thing is that her birthday is coming soon and she wants to talk to you on that date, and the letter will not get to you by then.

She is crazy crazy to see you Lisa. She asked if you could come down for Christmas….I said it isn’t likely. Maybe at a later time though. You are mommy to her. Ya, I realized that. The mommy that she never had and still does not have. It looks like her mother still has not changed a bit. But Junia has faith in God that some day she will come back home. Poor thing. She is so precious Lisa. Very sweet girl. So much that it scares me because of the environment she lives in. Anyway, we got to get together to talk about her. Ok. my phone is now working, I will see if I can call you soon.

Hope this news makes you happy! It did me!
Love ya Lala.
Steph

Beyond Blessed

Seven of us left for the Black Belt at 8:45 am. It was a beautiful day and we were off to be the hands and feet of Jesus in LA (lower Alabama). We met the social worker at the York drug store to follow her to the Ethridge's with 5 children. Ms. Lisa Ethridge was so sweet and she had written us a card of thanks. We left the middle of nowhere and headed to the Bolden's.

Ms. Bolden has six children - stair steppers - up to age 10 and no running water. She looked so young to be a mother of six and was so thankful for the food. All of the children came running out of the house when we arrived to help carry the items. As we loved on the children their little hands were so cold, but their smiles were so warm.

Back in the car to travel to Board of Education Office to reach Ms. Jackson before she got off from work. We arrived too late, Ms. Jackson was already gone. Kesha began a man-hunt to find her. In the meantime, we drove to the Butler Piggly Wiggly to see Ms. Nora Compton. She has just started a new job at the Pig after new management at the KwikMart laid her off. Ms. Compton was a short round faced lady with a genuine heart of thanks. She is working so hard to make ends meet with two teenage children.

Ms. Jackson called Kesha back and she was at a friends house around the corner from Ms. Compton waiting on a ride home. We delivered Ms. Jackson's food to the front porch. A nicely dressed lady who requested prayer for her husband and his unspoken situation. She expressed hard times making ends meet and thanked us so much for the help.

Last family was approximately 5 miles away. We drove up to this nice house, with Christmas lights strung across the front porch, a two car carport that was as neat as a pen, a nice grass front yard and a shy little girl (9) peeking over the rail. Ms. Carrington greeted us with a hug in her velour sweat suit and her hair tied up in an Aunt Jemimah scarf. We entered this super clean house with new floors, a nice futon sofa and a table and chairs. Mom and daughter appeared very cowed, but very thankful for our generosity. As we left the house, Kesha's eyes were filling with tears. What! This precious little girl had come to her office last week hungry and told her that she had been eating syrup made from sugar and water due to hard times. Kesha explained that this nice home was an old daycare that has been empty for some time and Ms. Carrington had acquired it trying to get back on her feet.

My heart is heavy and my mind is racing on how to help these people - --------

IT IS SO MUCH BETTER TO GIVE than to receive! We are beyond BLESSED!

Choctaw Social Worker

Today I talked with the social worker in Choctaw County, Alabama. We were mapping out the delivery of meals for Thanksgiving to several families next Tuesday. Kesha has been such a blessing to the people of Choctaw County. She is always helping these families with every day life. She is being used by God to help the poor. She is the angel who has been sent to see the needs of the people in this community. I am so thankful that we can be a part of this process. Lord, go with us to this community and help us to show Your love and compassion for those in need. We thank You so much for the abundance of food that we can share.

"Dressing" Day

Today is Dressing Day. Mom and I will be making Thanksgiving dressing for our family and 4 families in Choctaw County, Alabama. Mucho cornbread, loaf bread, celery and onions. This dressing is a recipe that has been handed down from my paternal grandmother. It is SOOOOO delicious and it could be the only thing on the menu as far as I am concerned.

A small group Bible Study will deliver Thanksgiving Dinner to 4 families in Choctaw County next Tuesday.

Rita

This is Rita, she was previously homeless and living at the Bethany Home in 2005.
We became friends during several visits to the homeless shelter. My friend, Rita, won this trip on ABC 33/40 and she needed someone to drive her to Florida. Rick and I traveled to the beach, it is her first trip to the beach in over 15 years. Sun, surf, seafood and sleep were on the agenda. We all decided to travel very light and inexpensive, but we have been to Publix everyday. Lord, Your creation is so amazing and beautiful! Thank You for letting us enjoy it for a few days with a new friend.

a goat

Tonight was the last night of our Precept Genesis part I study at our home. The group of Christ Followers that gather every Tuesday night presented us with a wonderful gift in appreciation of our hospitality. The group purchased us a GOAT!!! Yes a real GOAT. Rick and I were so excited. This is the best gift ever! Our GOAT will be given to a family in Africa or Central America for milk. Thank you Father that we can scatter Your Name by helping the poor. We will miss each of you until 2009. Thanks a MILLION.

Secret Church

Rick and I are so excited to be able to spend this weekend with our new sons from Mundri, Sudan. Manga is 25 yrs old and Snowman Tawil is 23 yrs old.

God brought us together in 2006 when they visited the United States for the first time. We were privileged to hear their testimonies, visit with them in our home, eat Dreamland ribs together and pray with each other before their return to the Sudan. I was mesmerized by their stories, my heart was melted by their love and I longed to spend more time with them. Rick and I continued to communicate with them in Uganda while they were in school with computer access. Rick was given the opportunity to go into the bush (Sudan) and visit Mundri in November 2006. Rick and Manga prayed as they walked in Mundri for God to bring them together again for His Glory.

Six weeks ago we received an email from Snowman Tawil. They were in the United States. They were in Alabama. They were in college in Wadley. Wow! This could only be accomplished by one person - Our Creator, Father and Savior. We give Him all of the praise!

The four of us will be participating in Secret Church. We will study God's word for 6+ hours just like the persecuted church in many parts of the world. We will learn about the Holy Spirit and pray for Africa, China, India, Ecquador and all of the other parts of the world where they do not know the name of Jesus.

Choctaw SUN

Here's the article I wrote on your ministry here in Choctaw County. I am pasting it into the body of this email. Great to hear from you again! Hope all is well with the awesome work you do!  Thanks, Dee Ann 

'It's what angels do' 

By Dee Ann Campbell 

The Choctaw Sun  - BUTLER, BIRMINGHAM, Alabama

This is what we think angels do,? says Lisa Mitchell of Birmingham. 

Last Thursday, a truck filled with gifts arrived in Choctaw County, destined for the homes of 11 needy families. The gifts were part of an outreach to bring Christmas to those who needed it most.  Through the efforts of Social Worker Tikisha Brooks-Graham of the Choctaw County School System, and a Birmingham-based ministry team called Angel Friday, needy families in the area were given a hand of encouragement and love for the holiday season. 

For Graham, it is a way to extend her work to touch the lives of local families who need extra help. For Mitchell, it is simply a way to put feet to her faith. 

And for the families who have been touched by the outreach, it is a welcomed extension of Christian love at Christmas. 

Based through Brook Hills Church in north Shelby County just outside of Birmingham, the Angel Friday ministry got its start following a mission trip to Guatemala that spurred Mitchell into action.  Some friends of mine and I met during a foreign ministry trip to Guatemala, Mitchell explains. We worked in the orphanages there, and when we got back to Birmingham, we did some work with a homeless shelter called Bethany Home through The Church at Brook Hills. Since Friday is only day that we don’t work full-time, we began to just practice a random act of ministry that one day. That’s where Angel Friday came from. 

We’ve gone back to Guatemala and taken books to a school without books, helped Katrina victims, taken homeless ladies to get their hair done, continues Mitchell. We’ve paid power bills for families who were about to have their power cut off, and given people rides to the bus stop. Those are the kinds of things we feel like God wants us to do. Working through the Angel Friday ministry, Mitchell and members of her group have been reaching out to fill the needs of low-income families in a variety of ways in their own Birmingham area and beyond. This year, beyond included Choctaw County. Their first experience in the county occurred around Easter, 2006. We heard about the problems in the Black Belt, she recalls. So we called the Governor’s office and asked for contacts in Greene, Choctaw, and other counties to do some mission work there. Through the Governor’s office, Mitchell was put in contact with Pennington native Billie Jean Young, who serves on a committee with the Black Belt Action Commission. 

I met with her (Young) at Judson College where she teaches, Mitchell says. She gave me the name of a family in Choctaw County. The father had gone to fight in the war, and their young son was trying to pick up work here and there, but they were eating what they could kill in the woods around their home.  Mitchell came to Choctaw County just before the Easter holiday and put together Easter baskets and a special holiday meal for the family, which included 8 kids, age 4 to 20. The Angel Friday ministry also provided tons of food items to help the family through the following months. The provisions allowed the family to use their limited income to purchase a part for their car that had been disabled for some time. After that, says Mitchell, we knew that was where God wanted us to be. 

With Choctaw County on their hearts, Mitchell and her group began to look for other ways to help the needy in the area. They got their opportunity when Hurricane Katrina hit. We had collected schools supplies for Katrina victims, Mitchell explains, and we had a lot of supplies that the schools here couldn’t use. That’s when I connected with the Choctaw Board of Education. I called Kesha (Graham) and told her we had some things to bring there for people who needed them. She contacted me over the summer, recalls Graham. Since then, we’ve been in contact on a regular basis. Graham says that the Angel Friday outreach has now become a vital part of her work with the school system. It is, she says, a way to ensure that the children within the school system are cared for in every facet of their lives. Since their first trip to the county, the Angel Friday ministry has been working alongside Graham to pursue every avenue open to them in order to help Choctaw County families. We’ve provided school uniforms, backpacks with school supplies, and we came back right before school started and brought more supplies, says Mitchell. It’s an ongoing thing with some of these families. In November, with the holidays approaching, the opportunity to help presented itself once again. The ministry grew during Thanksgiving, Mitchell says. We picked up 4 more families in the Southern Choctaw area then and provided them with Thanksgiving dinner. This time, the Angel Friday ministry was joined by another ministry team from Brook Hills. 

The MOMS group is made up of mothers at Brook Hills, Mitchell explains. When we told them what we were doing in Choctaw, they wanted to help. They made the boxes that we delivered on Thanksgiving.

Altogether, Mitchell -- along with the Angel Friday team, the MOMS group, and Graham -- helped 10 families during Thanksgiving, giving them non-perishable food items that would last, as well as items they could use for a traditional Thanksgiving meal. 

"We came Monday before thanksgiving, and went to each house and delivered it to them," Mitchell says. "Kesha had contacted them before we arrived so they knew we were coming." 

"It was an eye-opener," she adds. "One house had no windows, and they had turned the eyes of stove on to heat the room because they had no other source of heat." Mitchell admits that, for some families, their gifts were a little difficult to accept. 

"One lady drove to the school while we were there in August delivering school supplies," she says, "and saw us loving on her two children, telling them that Jesus loved them. She came in and said she thought we were there for a tax write-off. I told her I was there to love her and her children, and when we came back, she welcomed us with open arms."

With Christmas approaching, Mitchell and Graham began to plan another outreach for the families. Through an angel tree project at Brook Hills, gifts were purchased for the families, with delivery set for just before the holidays. On Thursday, as Mitchell, Graham, and the group from Birmingham gathered in Butler to deliver the last of the Christmas gifts, they paused to pray with one needy family who had met them at Board of Education office. The moment was a tender display of emotion, and an opportunity for the group to say "thank you" to the God whom they credit for the outreach. 

This is something we do in order to walk with Jesus everyday, Mitchell says. We have been so much more blessed than these families have been, just by being able to help them. "We want God to get all the glory," she adds. "We are just His hands and feet."