Christ Cares - Spring 2013 Update

FAMILY UPDATE:
Thank you for praying for my brother LANE & his stem cell transplant to ward off a leukemia relapse. He has been released from the hospital. Please continue to pray for him that this process will successfully keep the leukemia away and that there won't be complications. We also just found out that my DAD, Ed Reese has AML. This is a very serious and a life threatening situation & we would deeply appreciate your prayers. I seem to be heading the right direction with my atrial fibrillation but I still have to be careful not to overdo things so please do continue to pray for a complete recovery for me. LISA - is doing well and has her hands full Home Schooling & helping with the grandkids. (We love being grandparents!) LEXI is going to Beauty School & her husband David, a Marine, is now in Afghanistan. KATIE is 14 and she just started a Bible Club for girls.

Christ Cares for the homeless... - taken on Christmas Day, some of the homeless ladies we minister to.

Homeless Prayer Need Three mornings a week, I have the privilege of driving homeless ladies & children after they are sent out from area shelters serving & encouraging them in various ways. On Monday nights the church I co-founded (New Life) houses between 50 to 60 homeless ladies. After this program on Tuesday mornings I have a Bible study with them & we are thrilled that many are also working on our discipleship program. Anyway, the PADS program that provides the shelter closes for the summer at the end of April. Many of the ladies are quite stressed not knowing where they will sleep starting May 1. Please pray for them - that God will provide for them and pray for us as we try to figure out how to be a continued blessing and help.
20,000 individual servings of food donated.

Christ Cares is feeding the hungry

We are very excited that the Lord has opened some doors for Christ Cares to reach out in love to help feed hungry families. It started by Rosetta Baptist Church (Central Illinois) taking several mission trips to "Chicago" to help Christ Cares with various urban mission projects. They are involved with Kids Against Hunger and shared our need. K.A.H. will be providing a couple thousand servings of their food packs (rice, soy, vegies, & vitamins) per month. We are thrilled that a Christian Businessman has just now committed to providing hundreds of bags of beans monthly to go along with this.

Thanks for helping us show Christ Cares...

Out of the mouths of babes
I was driving some homeless ladies and children to a warming center and I heard these two precious girls singing. "My God is so awesome!" isn't it wonderful how the Lord can put a song in our heart even in difficult circumstances...

CHRISTMAS
THANKS FOR DONATING THE CHRISTMAS TOYS, HUNDREDS OF CHILDREN WERE ENCOURAGED and God was glorified... First Reformed Church of Lansing and many other churches gave sacrificially to empower us to share God's Love. I also want to thank Crete Church for hosting the wrapping party, and Alvin Herman Jr. & the Gideon's for donating Bibles to go with the gifts.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
Please view our website for pictures, video, & updates on our other ministry endeavors.
This fall we plan on having an afterschool program for grade school and junior high children. It will probably be on Thursday afternoons and will consist of homework help, basketball, computer lab, & Bible Study. Let us know if you might be available to help.

FULL CIRCLE...
Many years ago a volunteer encouraged a suicidal drunk to go into the Pacific Garden Mission. As a result Mel Trotter became a Christian and started Rescue Missions across the country and also a church in Grand Rapids where my father became a Christian. Now I have regular opportunities to preach at the Pacific Garden Mission interesting details are in our

YOU can make a difference!

Special Thanks
Homewood Church for providing so many volunteers Crete Church for providing Valentine Bags for the homeless FAITHFUL PARTNERS who make this ministry possible

MINISTRY BLOG.

Christ Cares
223 W. Memorial Drive Chicago Heights, IL 60411 (708) 539-8939 Learn more & donate online at: www.ChristCares.org

ChristCares

Rev. Scott Reese Pastor / Director 223 W. Memorial Drive Chicago Heights, IL 60411

Phone: 708-539-8939 Web: www.ChristCares.org E-mail: scott@christcares.org

Dear Friends,

May 1, 2013

This summer I am doing something that I really havent done much of since the 1980s and early 90s investing time in missionary deputation. Please pray for me as I share the vision and needs of Christ Cares. A couple decades ago the Lord raised up an amazing support base that has empowered us to do wonderful things for the kingdoma self supporting church has been established and hundreds of lives have been impacted by the power of the gospel through the various ministries of Christ Cares. I can not express in words how grateful I am for the wonderful people who partner with us for the glory of God. I believe their sacrificial investment in the kingdom will be rewarded with eternal treasure that will never rust or fade. Due to the long length of time, many of our faithful supporters are now in Glory or retired and unable to giveespecially now in this difficult economy. After all these years, I still have a passion to share Gods Word and I am excited to see the Lord expanding our ministry endeavors. As I look forward, Lord willing, to the next couple decades of ministry, I realize It is now time to raise up additional support again. We have two goals 1) to get my missionary support fully in place including a little something for retirement at age 53 I realize we cant keep going year after year without setting anything aside due to lack of funding. 2) We also desire to raise the funds to hire a couple part time staff members to help me and our volunteers run our programs. At the very least we hope to hire twoone to help with our various outreaches to the homeless and one to help with urban youthafter school tutoring, Bible Study, & basketball. There are THREE WAYS ID LIKE YOU TO PRAYERFULLY CONSIDER HELPING US (Please see other side)

1. PLEASE PAUSE & PRAY FOR US, even RIGHT NOW if possible... Please pray that the Lord will lead us to the right people and churches who are interested in partnering with us. Also please pray for us as we proclaim and demonstrate God's love to the poor and needy. 2. PLEASE PRAYERFULLY CONSIDER BEING A MONTHLY SUPPORTER. The needs of Christ Cares continue year round. Especially since we hope to hire part time staff we need steady donations in order to plan so we can make this type of commitment. To make it easier our website has secure ways for you to automatically make monthly donations www.ChristCares.org (click on "donate"). 3. PLEASE CONSIDER INVESTING ONE EVENING TO HELP CHRIST CARES. At this time we do not have an annual fund raising banquet like many other ministries but we are encouraging those who believe in our ministry to set aside an evening. (Late summer or early fall) The basic format would be for you to invite a group of your friends to your house for snacks and a missionary presentation (unless you were interested in providing a dinner for them). Then I would share two short videos and explain the ministry for an additional 10/15 minutes (for a total of about a half hour for my presentation & about an hour for the entire night.) I do not believe in high pressure fund raising presentations. In ministry, I am unable to change lives in my own strength, I just faithfully sow the word and try to be a loving example and God gives the increase, transforms lives, and He gets the glory. I believe the same is true in fund raising. My responsibility is to sow and share the need. It is up to God to touch hearts and to provide the needed provisions. I have also learned that an important function of missionary support raising is to raise not just funds but also awareness of the many needs so close to home and to inspire Christians to pray and to make a difference! (*Another option is to host this event at your church - you could invite your small group or have a bulletin announcement, please try to include someone from the Missions Committee!) Thank you for remembering the mission field only a few minutes from your home and empowering us to show the lost and hurting that CHRIST CARES. Romans 10:13-15 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------PLEASE RETURN THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION: NAME__________________________________ ADDRESS_______________________________________________ PHONE_________________________________ EMAIL__________________________________________________ Birthdays_______________________________ PRAYER REQUESTS ___________________________ ____________

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[ ] As God provides, it is my desire to be a monthly supporter of Christ Cares for at least one year at $______ per month [ ] I would like to make a donation of $_____ to Christ Cares [ ] Please send me information how I can sponsor a "Christ Cares Night" at my home or church