Christmas has come & gone....

...here at Living Water! We had our toy give-away last week and today was our Christmas food give-away. Because our Thanksgiving crowd was so large, we decided to pre-register families so we'd know what to expect today. We ended up helping 92 families--it was a good day.

Andy Dietz was our guest preacher for the day. He spoke about receiving God's gifts--according to His riches in glory. It was very impactful. About 7 people gave their lives to Christ!

Cyndy Lyons-Hall took a lot of our photos today. This is from the back of the crowd as I (Becky) am giving last-minute instructions.

We had a great system down that Gib (our food supervisor) came up with at Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, Gib had surgery this week and wasn't able to be with us. But George, Cairl and Duane stepped in and had it well organized today. We have the best volunteers in the world! No joke.

We were blessed with lots of volunteers who helped us fill the grocery baskets and take them to the cars of our clients. Duane filled baskets from the back of our truck. We had an assembly line going.

Liz Holt & Melody Torio were making sure turkeys and other refrigerated products made it into each basket.

Dennis, Jess & Donny made sure this sweet family was taken care of.

Andy is visiting with our registrars at the end of the morning. Each friday, these women register our clients and then fill out extensive records at the end of the day.

Today, we had a drawing for 2 completely decorated Christmas trees and 1 fresh tree with all the trimmings! These women won this tree and are dismantling it to take it home.

This was the 2nd tree that was won in the drawing. I think they were excited to get it home! (Side note: We called about 6 different names as winners, but those winners declined so someone who really needed a tree could get it! We serve people with great hearts!)

All the time we're taking care of people with food in the chapel, lots of work is going on behind the scenes that no one ever knows about. Zella is hard at work sorting clothes each friday.
Zella recently had back surgery, so we're very fortunate to have her back in her spot. She's one organized lady!

Christmas may have already come and gone at Living Water, but don't forget Santa is still checking his list for who's naughty and nice!

(Cairl Horst playing Santa this morning.)

Christmas Toy Day!

Today was our Christmas Toy Party at Living Water. It was so much fun! We had gifts for 145 children (up from 96 children last year). The parents came to get the toys and were able to giftwrap them before they left.

Andy Dietz & Ember Sherman sang "I Bring An Offering" for us.

Cindy Burris gave her testimony. Even though it was short, it was powerful. Four people gave their lives to Christ!

Afterwards, the parents received the gifts and had the opportunity to giftwrap each toy for their children. That way, they were able to take them home and put them under the tree as a gift from themselves.

People were everywhere giftwrapping!

Cindy found a friend who had a similar life story. As they were talking, Cindy noticed the gifts the girl was wrapping. Cindy had purchased those gifts herself. She was able to tell that young mother that she'd been praying for her and her daughter all week. A Christmas miracle!

These were some of the volunteers who helped make it all happen! Sherry Wingate, right, is the one who organizes our Christmas Toy program. She and a team of volunteers, including Gracie Boyett, left, and Liz Holt, center, shopped for most of the 145 children in one trip to Wal-Mart! They then came to Living Water and sorted the gifts and packaged them by families.

We love helping families with Christmas gifts for their children. It's a special time that means a lot to all of us. Today, I had a mom and daughter, about 8 years old, come to get some clothing for the daughter. I told them to just get what they needed while I set up for our Christmas party in the other room. The lady who supervises our clothing room told me later that this little girl turned to her mom and asked, "What's a party?" That's why we love helping. There are lots of people with needs this year.

Christmas Needs

The needs in Borger have grown exponentially this year. Last year, Living Water gave Christmas toys to 96 children. This year, we're giving toys to 145 children. And since our registration closed last friday, I've probably had 20 families call wanting to sign their children up for toys.

My heart always goes out to the single moms who are trying so hard to make it. There are 2 that I've had calls about this year. One single mom has a decent job, but she's working as hard as she can just to put food on the table for her 4 children. She'd already told her children that there would be no Christmas this year. Fortunately, some people have offered to help them.

Today, I found out about another single mom who has 3 children of her own (2 of them live with their father) and has taken on 4 nieces and nephews. She's attending Frank Phillips College to get a better job (and is almost finished). But she has no way to provide Christmas for the 5 children living with her. They range in ages from 9-16.

You need to understand that neither of these moms asked for the help. Others have known about their situations and have asked for them. If you'd like to help either of these single moms (And I'm sure I'll hear of more!!), just give me a call at 274-6434. And if you don't live in Borger, call your local benevolence agency and see how you can help. There are so many valid needs out there this year!

CHRISTMAS TOYS!

This week, people are coming in to register their children for a Christmas toy at Living Water. We will be giving 1 toy per child at a cost of about $20 each. If you'd like to participate, just let us know! You can either go shop for a toy or bring $20 to Living Water and we'll do the shopping. Last year, we gave toys to 96 children. I began registration yesterday and already have 96 children--in just 2 days! We'll be giving the toys to the parents who will then be able to giftwrap the toy at a party just for them on December 10. Join the fun!!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is so special to us here at Living Water. As reported earlier, we got to give the fixin's to a great Thanksgiving meal to 159 families last friday. That is the largest group we've ever had here on one day. Actually, we had over 200 people in our chapel, but gave food to that many families. But I just wanted to take a minute and tell you what I'm thankful for.

*I'm thankful for the many volunteers who come and give of their time to help Living Water run smoothly. We couldn't help that many people without the sacrifice of so many volunteers.

*I'm thankful for Gib Welch. He's 81 years old and manages our food room. He is so precise and methodical which is exactly what we need. He also preaches at our services from time to time.

*I'm thankful for the 9 churches that support Living Water. I'm also grateful for the help United Way gives us. That's how we're able to assist so many people.

*I'm thankful for the people who have made Living Water their family project and give to us monthly.

*I'm thankful for our board who gives great direction to this ministry.

*I'm thankful for the changed lives we've seen in some of our clients. We now have about 12 people who have been helped through our ministry who now volunteer at Living Water.

*I'm thankful for this ministry and the people who had vision for it. It's a ministry I'm passionate about because I've seen the effects of it. People's lives have been helped and changed because of it.

I'm just plain grateful.

Christmas Gifts

If you have someone on your Christmas gift list that just has everything, you might consider making a donation to Living Water in their honor. Or why not make a donation in honor of your children along with the gifts you're planning on giving them? We'll supply any number of 3.5 x 4.5 cards you want with every donation you make. You can simply fill in your name and present the cards yourself. Or you can make a donation by mail or through our completely secure donation button to the right. Just send us the names and addresses of those you wish to honor and we'll do the rest! This is a gift that will not only bless the recipient, but will change the lives of many others.

Thanksgiving Morning at Living Water

Our Thanksgiving celebration at Living Water started about 2 hours before we opened our doors today. Actually, it started weeks ago! Our Food Supervisor, Gib Welch, has been bagging food for about 3 weeks--and a host of volunteers have helped. But this morning, it started with Cairl Horst & Duane Snyder making a trip to our local grocery store to get 60 more dozen eggs and 100 more packages of Brown 'N Serve rolls to round out our bags. And the work began. A team of men and women bagged food while another team of women were sorting our always burgeoning pile of clothing that's been donated. Both groups were hard at work all morning.

The line began forming as people began signing in and registering.

Everything was calm and orderly...at the beginning...


And our room began to fill with lots of little beauties!


Janice Williams, LaNell White and Sandra Keys are our faithful volunteers who register each week.


Another one of those little beauties.

These men were all hard at work in the back getting the food ready.


Em'Rynn was standing in line with his mom getting ready to come in.

Most of the people were already inside. But this line still went halfway down the street. We ended up serving 159 families today!!

It was soon "standing room only!"

Andy Coffey, from Cornerstone, was our preacher for the day. And a celebrity showed up to help! In the background on the right is Chris Brown, our favorite bass player for the Christian band, A Road Less Traveled. He stayed and helped all morning. Thanks, Chris!

I wanted you to be able to hear a little of the message that Andy Coffey brought. You can hear the challenge of preaching to a crowd that is standing room only. What a great day at Living Water. We have so much to be thankful for! And I can tell you that I'm thankful for all of the volunteers who make it happen every week. God bless you--you know who you are!!

Turkeys Anyone?

I'm sure everyone in Borger knows that United Supermarkets is giving away a free turkey when you spend $100. There's one more week for this fabulous offer! Now I know that lots of people spend more than $100 per month and may have accumulated more than one turkey. If you're looking for a place to give that extra turkey, think of Living Water. We'll be giving them away for Thanksgiving and Christmas! Just bring them by and we'll put them in our freezers. THANKS!

Newest Hunger Report in the U.S.

This is a report that came out just yesterday. I also heard it on television last night. We're beginning to see the effects of this in our area. Living Water is projected to purchase 71 TONS of food this year through the High Plains Food Bank. If you'd like to be a partner with us and help purchase some of that food, please use our completely secure Donation button to the right! As you can imagine, we are over-budget this year because of the great need.

By Amy Goldstein Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, November 16, 2009; 3:14 PM
The number of Americans who lack dependable access to adequate food shot up last year to 49 million, the largest number since the government has been keeping track, according to a federal report released Monday that shows particularly steep increases in food scarcity among families with children.In 2008, the report found, nearly 17 million children — more than one in five across the United States — were living in households in which food at times ran short, up from slightly more than 12 million youngsters the year before. And the number of children who sometimes were outright hungry rose from nearly 700,000 to almost 1.1 million.Among people of all ages, nearly 15 percent last year did not consistently have adequate food, compared with about 11 percent in 2007, the greatest deterioration in access to food during a single year in the history of the report.Taken together, the findings provide the latest glimpse into the toll that the weak economy has taken on the well-being of the nation’s residents. The findings are from a snapshot of food in America that the U.S. Agriculture Department has issued every year since 1995, based on Census Bureau surveys. It documents both Americans who are scrounging for adequate food — people living with some amount of "food insecurity" in the lexicon of experts — and those whose food shortages are so severe that they are hungry."These numbers are a wake-up call . . . for us to get very serious about food security and hunger, about nutrition and food safety in this country," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said during a briefing of reporters.

This is one of the darlings we've helped feed this year.

And this is a group of volunteers busy preparing groceries to give away.

Two things...

Two things are happening around here that I want to tell you about. First of all, we've received about 215 holiday Bags of Blessings! That is incredible. That's the good news. The bad news is that we served Bags of Blessings to 267 families last year and we are expecting even more this year. So we had hoped to have 300 Bags of Blessings by now. If you'd still like to help, the list is below. Just copy it off, take it to the grocery store with you and bring the bag to Living Water before December 11. THANK YOU to everyone who has already helped. We are very grateful!!

The Bags of Blessings piling up here at Living Water.

The second thing I want to show you is this---our flooring has come in! We're so excited and we're just waiting to have the space to begin laying it. Our holiday bags have pretty much taken over our floor space right now.

If you'd still like to help bring a (or another) holiday Bag of Blessings to Living Water, the ingredients for the bag are below.

THANK YOU!!!


HOLIDAY BAG OF BLESSINGS

Instructions: Purchase the items below in the quantity indicated. We need the quantities indicated so it will fit in our bags. Place the purchased items in a bag and return it to Living Water before the deadline given.

CAKE MIX/FROSTING 1 BOX/CAN Any

FRIED ONION RINGS 1-3 OZ. Can
JELL-O 1 Small Box Any Flavor

INSTANT POTATOES 1 BOX
MINIATURE MARSHMELLOWS 1 SMALL BAG
BROWN SUGAR 1 LB. BOX
STOVE TOP STUFFING 1 BOX
CANNED PUMPKIN 1-15 OZ. CAN
SUGAR 2 LB. BAG
CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP 1-10 OZ. CAN
CRANBERRY SAUCE 1-16 OZ. CAN
CHICKEN BROTH 1-14 OZ. CAN
YAMS 1-15 OZ. CAN

PLEASE RETURN THE BAG TO LIVING WATER
BY FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2009.
Thank you and may
God bless you richly!

Christmas Toys!

CHRISTMAS TOYS 2009

Every year, Living Water gives Christmas toys to children. Parents come and register for their child to receive a Christmas gift and then we have a party where we give the gift to the parent. They are able to giftwrap the present at the party and then take it home and put it under the tree as a gift from themselves or Santa.
As a family, a business, a Sunday School class or for your Christmas party, would you consider donating a $20 gift for a child? We'll be giving toys to children from newborns through 15 years old on Thursday, December 10. So choose an age, choose boy or girl, choose a gift and then donate them all to Living Water--or just bring a $20 Wal-Mart gift card and we'll do the shopping for you. It would be great if we could have the toys at Living Water by December 7. You could even do this in honor of someone for their Christmas gift. Just give us their name and address and we'll send a lovely Christmas card telling them how you honored them by giving a gift to a child. We usually give gifts to over 100 children each year--so your help would be awesome.

You'll ensure some kids have a wonderful Christmas!

Holiday Needs

We'd like to make you aware of the needs at Living Water. We know that the economy crunch has hit everyone. As a result, the gifts coming in as operating expenses to Living Water have been down. In fact, it's hit us so hard that we won't be able to assist with utility bills this next week unless a miracle takes place.
This is our most expensive time of the year. More clients come needing food, so our food bill is up. More people need help with utility bills, because gas bills are rising. And we're facing giving Christmas toys to over 100 children in December.
If you'd like to help, you can donate to the right through our completely secure Donation button. Or you can send gifts to Living Water, 103 W. 4th St., Borger, TX. 79007.
The last thing I'd tell you is that you're giving to a ministry that's effective. We're seeing lives being changed. We've had 129 people pray to receive Christ this year--so far. We have over a dozen volunteers who are former clients. That's when you know a heart change has taken place---they've gone from receiving to wanting to give. And that's what we're all about.

Space Needed

Living Water has a good problem---we're busting out at the seams! And we have an immediate need. We don't have the space to store our holiday food. BUT...we have recently acquired the 2 lots south of us on Main St. So if anyone has a truck, trailer or metal building that we could park on those lots and that they would be willing to loan us until after the holidays so we can store our extra food, please let us know! We do have to store our food on-site to be in compliance with the food bank--and this plan would allow that. You can call Becky at 274-6434.

Thank you so much!!

Food Truck Coming!

Tomorrow, we'll be getting a truck from High Plains Food Bank--which is where we purchase our food. This is an actual photo of their storage building. We're getting a LARGE truck tomorrow. It will include 26 cases of our Thanksgiving turkeys, 21 cases of canned peaches....well, you get the idea. We'll have 191 cases of food coming tomorrow. And we're short-handed. If you can come and be a part of unloading our truck, we'd love some extra muscles! The Food Bank truck usually gets here around 9:45 a.m. on Thursdays. THANKS!

New freezers

Living Water has been operating with some used freezers from the day our door was opened 7 years ago. We were in dire need of new freezers. ConocoPhillips Lower 48 and United Way recently each purchased a freezer for us! We are so excited to not only have new freezers---we have new commercial freezers.

Our new freezers were delivered this Monday--a whole day early!

George Nies happened to come by at just the right time to help unload and set up our new freezers.

Here they are in all their glory. And just in the nick of time to hold our holiday meats for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Rhonda & Todd Hutton (right) are the ConocoPhillips representatives pictured with Becky Dietz, Living Water Director. This is the freezer ConocoPhillips purchased for us.

Bag of Blessings

Every year at this time at Living Water, we ask people to fill a Bag of Blessings! These are special holiday foods that we will give the disadvantaged people of Hutchinson County. You don't need to come by and get a bag to fill it; you can take this list to your local grocery store and bring your filled bag to Living Water by Friday, November 6. But...we know it helps to have a grocery bag with this list attached to help remind you. So please come by Living Water and we'll be glad to supply all of the bags you need! We encourage churches, businesses, civic groups, schools---everyone to get in on the fun. It's an easy thing to do to help others during the holidays and it costs less than $20 a bag---but it becomes a huge Bag of Blessings to those receiving them.
We need to fill 300 bags for Thanksgiving and Christmas--so we need your help--PLEASE!

HOLIDAY BAG OF BLESSINGS

Instructions: Purchase the items below in the quantity indicated. (We need the quantities indicated so everything will fit in our bags.) Place the purchased items in a brown paper grocery bag and return it to Living Water before the deadline given.

CAKE MIX & FROSTING 1 Box & 1 Can Any flavor

FRIED ONION RINGS 1-3 oz. Can
JELL-O 1 Small Box Any Flavor
INSTANT POTATOES 1 Box
MINIATURE MARSHMELLOWS 1 Small Bag
BROWN SUGAR 1 lb. Box
STOVE TOP STUFFING 1 Box
CANNED PUMPKIN 1-15 oz. Can
SUGAR 2 lb. Bag
CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP 1-10 oz. Can
CRANBERRY SAUCE 1-16 oz. Can
CHICKEN BROTH 1-14 oz. Can
YAMS 1-15 oz. Can

PLEASE RETURN THE BAG TO LIVING WATER
BY FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2009.
Thank you and may
God bless you richly!

Living Water Wedding

Kelvin Hall & Cyndy (Cory) Lyons

Kelvin & Cyndy met at Living Water. They came to get food....but found each other. They began seeing each other and soon afterward, they were even talking about marriage. Kelvin surprised Cyndy one Friday here at Living Water. He dropped to his knee in front of all of us and asked her to marry him. She said, "YES!"

These are two people whose lives have been changed and are now wanting to affect the lives of others. They have become volunteers at Living Water--where they met! I have a feeling this place will always hold a soft spot in their hearts.

So, this Thursday, they'll tie the knot! And everyone is invited....

Two lives…
Two hearts…
Joined together in friendship…
United forever in love.


Cynthia Ann Lyons
&
Kelvin Dwight Hall


Ask for your attendance in front of our Lord
while taking their vows

Thursday, October 8
at
Four o’clock in the afternoon

Fairlanes Baptist Church
3000 Fairlanes Blvd.
Borger, Texas
Pastor Paul Burwash officiating

Gib Welch

Gib preparing to sing with his 2 sons at Living Water

Gib Welch is the gentleman who organizes our food pantry. He called early this morning to tell me he wouldn't be in today because he was taking his wife to the hospital. Would you please pray for his wife, Wanda?

September Report

I thought you might be interested to see what we do at Living Water in a month. This is the report from September:

53 Walk-In Requests

26 Financial Help Given

138 Given Clothing

258 Friday Chapel Attendance

218 Given Food

And 4 people prayed to receive Christ!

Suited up!

Yes, this is me---Becky. Director of Living Water. United Way began their fund raising campaign this month and since we receive United Way funds, we were asked to help speak at all of the businesses to raise awareness. This week, we have been speaking at Conoco Phillips. In order to go to all of the areas of the plant, we had to suit out in this. I wasn't alone...there were four of us and we were asked a few times if we were part of a chain gang somewhere.
I'm so amazed as I walk around the plant. It's HUGE! Whoever thought of how to make that plant work is a genius--as are the people who keep it working. There are pipes everywhere. It also made me realize I don't pray enough for the men and women who work out there. I'm sure it would be a dangerous place to be if they weren't so safety-conscious.
But those same men and women have been very generous in their giving. So thank you to all of you who have given towards United Way and in turn, helped us.