KNOX A Publication of Knox Area Rescue Ministries

Transcription

1 Opportunity KNOX A Publication of Knox Area Rescue Ministries Restoring Lives in Jesus Name MAY 2015 It was like getting a love letter! How Every Bed, Every Day encouraged Janie to embrace hope

2 The restoration of spring Burt Rosen President & CEO Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17 Dear Friend, Spring a time of rebirth, restoration and new life. I can t help but think of what a perfect metaphor this spring season is for God s forgiveness. Just as winter always gives way to spring, so God is always faithful to forgive and allow a new start. For many of the folks we meet at KARM, this fresh start is exactly what they need. No matter their struggle job loss, depression, homelessness, addiction or hopelessness they all need to know there s hope for restoration. In this issue of Opportunity Knox, you ll meet Janie, who found encouragement at KARM through Every Bed, Every Day. You ll also read about Steve, who found Jesus after 60 years of pain and suffering. As we enjoy the beautiful springtime, I hope you ll keep in mind the hurting and homeless in the greater Knoxville area. Your prayers and partnership enable us to provide countless second chances, no matter the season. May your springtime, as well, be blessed beyond measure. Thank you for your love and prayers for those less fortunate in Knoxville this season and beyond. Sincerely,

3 Love makes the difference How Janie found a fresh start at KARM For over 25 years, Janie struggled off and on with drug and alcohol addiction at one point even remaining sober for 8 years. But she felt like her life was purposeless. After completing a treatment program in January of 2014, she was looking for a faith-based program to help her continue making good choices. That s when she found KARM. I didn t know what to expect, she says. Didn t know what I was going to do here. But everyone was nice, the staff was very polite. Janie was immediately impressed by the order she saw at KARM and the way the staff and I came to KARM and I found love and I found Jesus. And that made all the difference. volunteers managed to display unlimited love while still demonstrating boundaries. Since she was working, she loved the freedom to come in at 6 p.m. Her favorite thing, though, was the encouragement she found each night. When I would come home, I would go to my bed and there would be this little piece of paper with a prayer or a note on it. At first I thought it was from one of the other guests. It made me feel so good, it was like getting a love letter! It really made me feel loved. The notes Janie found on her bed came from KARM s Every Bed, Every Day (EBED), where volunteers from the Knoxville area visit KARM each day to pray for every bed in our facility and leave notes of encouragement like Janie found. Janie was accepted into the KARM women s recovery program at Serenity, but relapsed after her first three weeks. I didn t know what to do, where to go, she says. Once I got sober, I figured I would come back here, just to see. When I walked up to the Serenity front porch, a couple of ladies said, welcome home. That was the turning point for Janie. Since that day, she has found a new relationship with Jesus Christ. That was the difference, that s what was missing before, says Janie. The other programs I joined, they were secular, based on yourself. I came to KARM and I found love and I found Jesus. And that made all the difference. Without KARM, Janie doesn t know where she would be today. She believes that God used KARM to intervene in her life and prevent her from eventually committing suicide. What s more, she says she has finally found her purpose. My purpose is this: to give and receive Christ s love. There s nothing else that matters. For more information about Every Bed, Every Day, visit /pray

4 PADDLES UP! 2015 KARM Dragon Boat F Join us June 20 at The Cove at Concord Park Paddles are up and excitement is high as Knox Area Rescue Ministries (KARM) celebrates the 13 th Annual KARM Dragon Boat Festival at the Cove at Concord Park. Paddlers competing in the KARM Dragon Boat Festival commit to raise pledges in order to support the many life-saving programs that KARM offers the homeless in our community. Register your team online, have each team member register a page, and start fundraising! Then on June 20, join hundreds of other paddlers competing out on the water. Event Day Details The festival will be held on Saturday, June 20 at The Cove at Concord Park (The Cove address: S. Northshore Drive, Knoxville, TN). Parking/shuttling is available at the Farragut Town Hall and the old Kroger site in Farragut on Kingston Pike starting at 7:30 a.m., and also at all baseball fields around The Cove. Festivities will begin promptly at 8:00 a.m., starting with an opening prayer, the national anthem and the annual eye dotting ceremony. The first race begins at 8:45 a.m. All support of the race is welcome. Donations for this event can be made at /dragonboats/ Many volunteers are needed. Visit /volunteers or volunteer@karm.org to learn more about how you can volunteer at this year s event. This event is free to the public. It includes a children s play area, food vendors, and fun activities throughout the day for everyone to enjoy.

5 Needs List estival THANK YOU TO ALL OUR EVENT SPONSORS! You can make a powerful difference in the life of a hurting person! Please contact us at (865) or info@karm.org to arrange drop off of KARM Needs List items. The items listed here are our most immediate needs. For a complete list, visit karm.org/needs. Bottled water Travel Size Lotion Cough Drops Headache Pain Relievers Aspirin, Tylenol, Ibuprofen (non-narcotic) Socks all sizes, men s, women s & children s Feminine Hygiene Products Whole Bean or Ground Coffee Men s and Women s Underwear all sizes Diapers all sizes, especially size 4 5 Cold and Cough Medicines (alcohol free) Every Bed, Every Day Want to get involved in Every Bed, Every Day at KARM? It can change a life like Janie s. Visit /prayer to get more information or participate. Once involved, you ll be able to visit KARM each day between 10 a.m. 3 p.m. and pray for each bed in our dorms. You may also write a note of encouragement or a Bible verse to leave on the beds. Not close enough to visit KARM? Contact crosen@karm.org or /prayer and we ll designate a group of beds for you to pray for where you are. This group of women prayed and left notes which Janie received. They eventually met her at Serenity while serving meals there, and made the connection with her!

6 God has another plan Steve s unlikely second chance Just two years ago, Steve checked out of a hotel after running out of money. For the three nights that followed, he pressed a gun to his head, willing himself to pull the trigger. Desperate, alone and broke, he called his daughter from the barn where he was hiding in the 10 degree weather. Soon the police showed up and took Steve to a local hospital, and he was transferred to KARM a few weeks later. Fast forward to now, and Steve is a different man. His eyes are filled with peace, and he smiles as he talks about the grace of God. And he has generous partners like you to thank. It s a miracle I m here, he says. Obviously, God had another plan. I didn t pull that trigger, and it wasn t the first time I tried to end my life. I had tried to overdose and cut my wrists, and both times the doctors told me I shouldn t be alive. Steve didn t understand why his attempts to end his life kept failing until he came to KARM. Then, in October, he was sitting in chapel praying about all the things he needed a job, new housing. They were playing a song in chapel that said all I need is You, and it dawned on me. Jesus is all I need. I don t need that other stuff. I ll get it when He wants me to get it. After his time at KARM, Steve is amazed at the man he has become. After 60 years of denying God, three marriages, mental health issues and a life spent trying to do everything on his own, Steve is living in a vibrant, growing relationship with Jesus Christ. God is very patient, says Steve. It took 60 years of Him sitting there waiting for me to get it before I finally gave up and said I would try it His way. Now it s a totally different world for me. They were playing a song in chapel that said all I need is You. and it dawned on me. Jesus is all I need.. KARM BOARD OF DIRECTORS DAN HURST Chairman Strata-G SALLY FISHER Vice Chairman Morgan, Stanley, LLC DALE KEASLING Secretary Home Federal Bank DR. WILLIAM BURKHART Summit Medical Group NEAL CALDWELL Dalen Products RICK COX Rick Cox Construction CATHY GONZALEZ O Connor Senior Center DR. JOE JOHNSON University of Tennessee DR. LEE MARTIN Clarity Resources, LLC DENNIS McCLANE Woolf, McClane, Bright, Allen & Carpenter, PLLC WAYMAN McLAUGHLIN Jr. G2 Engineering & Management, Inc. TIM McLEMORE Gentry, Tipton & McLemore, P.C. W. FRANK SMITH, III Washing Equipment of Tennessee BOBBY STOGNER The Peoples Bank DOUG YOAKLEY CPA, Financial Consultant BURT ROSEN President & CEO Knox Area Rescue Ministries P.O. Box 3310 (865)

7 KAR1505N A GIFT TO RESTORE HOPE Yes, I want to partner with Knox Area Rescue Ministries to share practical help and Christ s love with homeless and hungry neighbors this spring. I ve enclosed a gift of: []$xxx []$xxx []$xxx []$ Mr. & Mrs. John Q. Sample 123 Any Street Knoxville, TN P.O. Box 3310 (865) Instructions: Please make your check payable to KARM and return this form with your gift. See back to use your credit card. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowable by law. Thank you! Please communicate updates/news via my address: [MOTIVE CODE] [DONOR CODE] KAR1505N A GIFT TO RESTORE HOPE Yes, I want to partner with Knox Area Rescue Ministries to share practical help and Christ s love with homeless and hungry neighbors this spring. I ve enclosed a gift of: []$xxx []$xxx []$xxx []$ Mr. & Mrs. John Q. Sample 123 Any Street Knoxville, TN P.O. Box 3310 (865) Instructions: Please make your check payable to KARM and return this form with your gift. See back to use your credit card. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowable by law. Thank you! Please communicate updates/news via my address: [MOTIVE CODE] [DONOR CODE] KAR1505N A GIFT TO RESTORE HOPE Yes, I want to partner with Knox Area Rescue Ministries to share practical help and Christ s love with homeless and hungry neighbors this spring. I ve enclosed a gift of: []$xxx []$xxx []$xxx []$ Mr. & Mrs. John Q. Sample 123 Any Street Knoxville, TN P.O. Box 3310 (865) Instructions: Please make your check payable to KARM and return this form with your gift. See back to use your credit card. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowable by law. Thank you! Please communicate updates/news via my address: [MOTIVE CODE] [DONOR CODE]

8 Please charge my gift to rush help to the hungry and homeless now! Please charge my: The amount of $ Card Number: Expiration Date: Name as it appears on card: Signature: KNOX AREA RESCUE MINISTRIES P.O. Box 3310 (865) Knox Area Rescue Ministries (KARM) is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA). Membership in the ECFA is your assurance that an organization adheres to the highest standards of stewardship and ethical fi nancial practices. KARM is one of only 38 Rescue Missions nationwide, out of nearly 300, that are certifi ed excellent members of the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions. KARM is supported by the gifts of friends and receives no federal funding to shelter the homeless. In all our communications, we strive to present the needs of homeless and poverty-stricken people with accuracy and integrity. Friends are invited to participate in KARM s work only as they feel led by God to do so. We believe God will meet the needs of the poor through the gifts of those who respond in this manner. All gifts-in-kind are appreciated and will be used where needed most prior to the expenditure of funds. KARM does not rent, sell or otherwise share our donor information. If gifts are received above a specifi c need, they will be used for programs where the need is greatest. No person is denied care based on race, creed, sex, disability or national origin. Please charge my gift to rush help to the hungry and homeless now! Please charge my: The amount of $ Card Number: Expiration Date: Name as it appears on card: Signature: KNOX AREA RESCUE MINISTRIES P.O. Box 3310 (865) Knox Area Rescue Ministries (KARM) is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA). Membership in the ECFA is your assurance that an organization adheres to the highest standards of stewardship and ethical fi nancial practices. KARM is one of only 38 Rescue Missions nationwide, out of nearly 300, that are certifi ed excellent members of the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions. KARM is supported by the gifts of friends and receives no federal funding to shelter the homeless. In all our communications, we strive to present the needs of homeless and poverty-stricken people with accuracy and integrity. Friends are invited to participate in KARM s work only as they feel led by God to do so. We believe God will meet the needs of the poor through the gifts of those who respond in this manner. All gifts-in-kind are appreciated and will be used where needed most prior to the expenditure of funds. KARM does not rent, sell or otherwise share our donor information. If gifts are received above a specifi c need, they will be used for programs where the need is greatest. No person is denied care based on race, creed, sex, disability or national origin. Please charge my gift to rush help to the hungry and homeless now! Please charge my: The amount of $ Card Number: Expiration Date: Name as it appears on card: Signature: KNOX AREA RESCUE MINISTRIES P.O. Box 3310 (865) Knox Area Rescue Ministries (KARM) is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA). Membership in the ECFA is your assurance that an organization adheres to the highest standards of stewardship and ethical fi nancial practices. KARM is one of only 38 Rescue Missions nationwide, out of nearly 300, that are certifi ed excellent members of the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions. KARM is supported by the gifts of friends and receives no federal funding to shelter the homeless. In all our communications, we strive to present the needs of homeless and poverty-stricken people with accuracy and integrity. Friends are invited to participate in KARM s work only as they feel led by God to do so. We believe God will meet the needs of the poor through the gifts of those who respond in this manner. All gifts-in-kind are appreciated and will be used where needed most prior to the expenditure of funds. KARM does not rent, sell or otherwise share our donor information. If gifts are received above a specifi c need, they will be used for programs where the need is greatest. No person is denied care based on race, creed, sex, disability or national origin.

9 P.O. Box 3310 Opportunity YOUR NEW KNOX NEWSLETTER IS ENCLOSED!