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Dear Partners,
I am so thankful to have you connected to this ministry. Being supported by you, whether through prayer, spiritually, emotionally or financially, is such a treasure to me.
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The Ladies |
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Over the past few months, tension has been stirring between me and some of the ladies who live nearby my apartment. They don't like the fact that I serve hamburgers to the guys on Wednesdays. Because of this and the disrespect that I receive from them, inside I was beginning to get an attitude towards them as well. I knew something needed to change. I asked God to change my heart towards them and show me how to reach out to them. About a week later one of the ladies approached me and asked if I had any toilet paper. I had an extra pack and gave it to her. I have never seen this lady smile before, but as I handed her the toilet paper, she smiled beautifully and giggled like a little kid. Before this, I hadn't seen her smile, in fact, it was just the opposite. She always had a mean look on her face and was very intimidating. But, that day, I believe I got to see the real her and walls were broken down between both of us. Shortly after this encounter, a friend of mine baked cookies and made homemade hot chocolate for the ladies. She wrote notes for them, with a scripture verse included. We hand delivered the goodies and the ladies were so blessed. We were thrilled to see the huge smiles on their faces. | |
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Hiding Place |
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Tuesday night prayer and Bible study, also called Hiding Place, has turned into two afternoons a week now! YAHOO! It got to the point where we didn't have enough time to worship, have Bible study and pray all in one setting. We were rushing trying to squeeze everything in and it wasn't working. We would spend most of the time in Bible study and then I would answer any questions that they had. This was GREAT that they were getting hungry for the Word, but then we never had enough time to pray. So, after asking the kids, they said they would like to meet two separate days. Having it on two different days allows us to have Bible study on Tuesday afternoons and prayer on Thursday afternoon. I'm so excited to see what God does with this extra time! | |
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Sowing Opportunities
I have FINALLY finished up the 501 C3 paper work in order to become a tax exempt organization. YAHOO!!! It costs $750 to file the paper work with the IRS. If you would like to give a one time gift to help pay for the filing fee, or if you feel that God is leading you to sow into this ministry on a monthly basis, checks can be written to "ESL DC" and mailed to the address below or you can click on the Pay Pal "donate" button below. If you are sowing towards the filing fee, please mark that in the memo.
Even though the 501 C3 paper work isn't filed yet, all donations are retro-active. This means that anything you give will still be tax deductible since the ESL DC is a non-profit organization.
You are safe in His arms of LOVE. God longs to spend time with you this holiday season.
Rachel Buttig
Director
East St. Louis Dream Center
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Contact Information
1235 McCasland Ave., Apt. 9B
East St. Louis, IL 62201
618.482.279 |
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