Last Friday night our women gathered together to raise funds for a vital ministry called "Acres of Hope."  The night was called, "An Evening of Hope", and women, young and seasoned gathered in the name of Christ to share crafts, sing praise, sell backed goods etc, with one purpose in mind, to give all the proceeds to a dynamic ministry to single moms and their children.



$1200 dollars was raised.  Thank you Lord for using our women to make such a big difference.

Last month, my LIFEgroup visited Acres of Hope, located in Applegate just up the I-80 from our church.  The facility can handle 11 women and their children.  Since we had two hairdressers in our LIFEgroup, we decided that we wanted to cut everyone's hair for free as a ministry to these recovering families.

We were so impressed with the ministry.  77% of the moms were abused or neglected as a child; 41% lived in foster care; 73% were sexually molested as children; 89% suffer from addictions with 77% haing been exposed to drugs or alcohol as children; 95% have experienced domestic violence by a past partner.

We spoke with one women who has been clean for two years and became a Christ follower one year ago.  Another woman had graduated from the program and was plugged into a strong church and was working in a computer business run by Christians.

What an honor to partner with this special ministry!

One of our Women's LIFEgroups recently participated in fund raiser for another vital ministry to women in our community.  It is called "Mercy House" and it is opening up a home in Lincoln that can handle 40 single women who are recovering from addictions, eating disorders, depression, self harm, unplanned pregnancy, abuse etc.

The home will open in February, 2009.  Check out this video.  See progress on the home.