Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Local Mission Trip to a Children's Home

Tomoka recently planned a local, one-day, mission trip to Family Ministries in Seffner, Florida. Family Ministries is a home for children who, for one reason or another, cannot live with their parents. Houseparents provide nurturing and structure for the boys and girls that live in their homes. A team, led by Barbara Shoner, sacrificed their time and spent a day to go and bless this ministry and the children who live there. Read about their experience below.

"What a blessed time we had at the Children’s Home in Seffner. I had an amazing team of volunteers who really worked hard to complete our service project. And it was a daunting task – 15 acres of hedges! The hedges formed a fence around the entire property and they were out of control! But everyone pitched in and did what needed to be done and we actually completed it. We were all quite sore physically, but spiritually we felt very blessed to be used in this way. The ministry was very appreciative. They served us a tasty lunch of pulled pork, baked beans, cornbread, peaches, and cookies. At the end of the day we took some time to play basketball with the kids. Our youth and theirs got along very well. We couldn’t get our youth to leave! Some great friendships were built. We hope to continue that bond and do more with the Home. I will share more about that in another email. They were also thankful for the clothes and supplies we brought them. Anyway, it was truly a blessed time, and we even had great weather. God is good!!!" -Barbara Shoner

Click here to see photos from this local one-day mission trip.

We also heard from Steve, the leader of the Family Ministries' children's home:

"I cannot tell you enough how thankful we are that you all came and trimmed the bushes. I am not even sure how big of a job you all knew you were getting into but the bushes looked great. I am also glad that the kids that you brought and the children here at Family Ministries were able to get to know each other. One of the biggest things that we try to do when a work group is here is to give you opportunities to get to know the children here and to build a relationship with them. From the looks of it your kids didn't want to leave and our kids were talking about your kids and how nice they were the rest of the night. We are grateful that you took a Saturday out of your busy schedule to come and help us. If there is anything that we can do for you please let me know."

Click here to learn more about this ministry.

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