THE JESUS TV CHANNEL

JULY 2008 NEWSLETTER

Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, ye have done it unto me. Matt: 25:40

Salem Village Nursing Home Paradise Park Assisted Living

Rosewood Care Center Lakewood Nursing Home

The months are flying by so quickly, it’s hard to believe August is already here. We had great services during the month of July, especially in the homes where the children participated. We have so many comments from the residents when the children come; it just brightens up their day. Thanks to Jacob Miller who sang a special number at Salem Nursing Home, you did a great job Jacob and we look forward to hearing you again. At Paradise Park we had three special performances. Hannah Cherry did a great job playing a special number on the piano, Rhys Fuller sang and, as always, he did a beautiful job and Sam Lutchman played a violin special and it was beautiful. We are looking forward to hearing you all again. What a blessing when our children are involved and have a heart to serve.

We enjoyed special music from some of our other Nursing Home partners as well. Jack and Ruth VanDeLinden and Carol Stevens sang a couple songs that really blessed our hearts. Thank you so much, we loved having you participate. Please come and join us again.

We continually give “Thanks” to God for all our Ministry team who so faithfully serve week after week after week. It’s so easy to get burnt out or find other things to do, especially in the summer months, but we truly appreciate all of you who are so faithful. It’s a great testimony and you are all such a Blessing.

The Sunday we were at Paradise Park, Nancy shared her story with me. She is a Physical Therapist and she had a hole in her heart which caused her to have a stroke. She is paralyzed on one side of her body and she will be transferring to Rosewood for 6 weeks of therapy. She is a very happy lady, positive about her future and looking forward to walking once again. I watched her through the entire service; she sang and had a big smile on her face which seemingly nothing could erase. After the service was over I hugged her and told her she was such a Blessing, even with all her problems, her smile was so contagious. She then shared with me that her son from Chicago had just called her prior to the service and told her he had gone to church with his friend and invited Jesus Christ into his life. What a Blessing to hear those kinds of stories. The Lord just fills our hearts with joy every time we minister to these Nursing Homes. We come away so blessed and lifted up.

The story was told of a bunch of tiny frogs who arranged a running competition. The goal was to reach the top of a very high tower. A big crowd had gathered around the tower to see the race and cheer on the contestants. The race began…..but No one in the crowd really believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower. The crowd talked among themselves saying, “It’s way too difficult”, “They will never reach the top” or “Not a chance they will never succeed”, or “The tower is to high”. One by one the tiny frogs began collapsing, many of them grew tired and gave up as they continued to hear the crowd shouting, “It's too difficult, and no one will make it”.

All the tiny frogs had given up except one and he continued to climb until he reached the top of the tower. All the other tiny frogs wanted to know how he had found the strength to succeed and reach the goal??? It turned out….. that the winner was DEAF!

The wisdom of the story is: Never listen to other people’s tendencies to be negative or pessimistic…..because it will destroy your energies and your strength, as well as, the Joy and Blessings that God wants you to receive. Everything you hear affects your actions. There is no room for anything but the positive. If God has called you into a Ministry of serving, listen to your heart and rely on God and Him alone.

We all go through trials, heartaches, sacrifices and the devil is constantly trying to attack. We live in a world of change but God hasn’t changed. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. We must stay focused on Him and Him alone. He will lead us to even higher levels of service.

The exciting thing about going to new levels or new heights is, “We have never been that way before”. It’s all new. As a result of that, we need greater dependency upon God to lead us. When we need greater dependency upon God, we began to pray more and read His word more. It is so important that we walk close to Him and lean not upon our own understanding, but in all our ways acknowledge Him and He will direct our paths.

If you want your life full of joy, contentment, and perfect peace, Dr. Henry Blackaby writes in his book, “Experiencing God” – “Find out where God is moving and join Him”

The Nursing Home Ministry has been one of the greatest Blessings of my life. I am so glad that we live by faith and not by sight. If I had looked ahead in time and saw the big picture of what God had called the Ministry team to do, perhaps I would have been like the tiny frog and thought of all the negatives that could happen and the big job ahead and lost my strength to go forward but I thank God that when He calls you to do a service, He also sustains you.

When God leads you to the edge of the cliff, (regardless of what the situation is) trust Him fully and let go. Only 1 of 2 things will happen, either He’ll catch you when you fall, or He’ll teach you how to fly!

I thank God that He is teaching me every day, how to fully lean on Him.

PLEASE NOTE: All contributions to our ministry should be made payable to “Sonshine Outreach Ministries”. You can mail them to c/o Joyce Mancke, 509 Rhonda Dr., Lockport, Il. 6044l. If you are a member of First Baptist Church of Lockport, and would like to give through the church, just indicate on your offering envelope the amount you want to designate to the ministry. All other gifts should be made payable to Sonshine Outreach Ministries. Your gifts are tax deductible and you will receive an end of the year statement.

EXERCISE DAILY, WALK WITH THE LORD.

Our schedule for August is as follows:

Lakewood Nursing Home, Plainfield – Aug. 3^rd @ 2:30 p.m.

Salem Village, Joliet – Aug. 10^th @ 2:30 p.m.

Rosewood Rehab Ctr. – Joliet - Aug. 17^th @ 2:00 p.m.

Paradise Park , New Lenox – Aug. 24^th @ 2:00 p.m.

Please come and join us, we need your talents. You will make a difference and God will Bless you for it.

Respectfully submitted by Joyce Mancke jmancke@sbcglobal.net. 815-351-7659