By God’s grace our lung cancer has caused hundreds of you to be praying for us and H.I.S. BridgeBuilders. Many of you are aware that for years our Co-Founder, Velma, has had a dream to open V’s Cafe in the inner city. This cafe will also have a training component to help equip people from the community in culinary training, so they can get a job. We will also have the first business built in a neighborhood that God is transforming one life and family at a time. The Cafe will be able to have true koinonia in a beautiful and safe environment for the community and all who visit. We will be preparing food for the hungry and distributing food, prepared by community workers in the gym across the street from the cafe. Finally, a place where young families can come and rest and be refreshed in their own restaurant in a neighborhood most had forgotten, except for God. Velma prays for everyone and every bit of food she cooks. It will be like Manna from heaven. In these days, God has brought Richard Chamberlain, an incredible chef and restaurant owner, to help shepherd us in this process. We are thrilled by Richard’s heart and desire to serve the least with his amazing gifts and talents. The land for the cafe is also becoming available in a wondrous and miraculous way. We knew to start the cafe we would need $100,000 initial capital. In a down economy and at a time when the ministry is hurting financially, we had written this off as impossible. Needless to say, God heard your prayers! I had lunch recently with a dear friend, Jerry, and discussed with him the operational needs of the ministry. He then asked how much it would cost to begin V’s Cafe, which I had not mentioned, and I said, “$100,000.” He then said he wanted to give a designated gift of $50,000 to help this dream become a reality. Amazingly, I had not asked for this as I knew we needed money just to fund our daily operations. Several weeks later Jerry called me and said that I wouldn’t believe what had just happened. He informed me that in 1999, he made an investment that went bankrupt and that the attorneys would send him updates regarding his portion of the settlement. He said he just received a notice from the attorneys and almost threw it away. When he read the letter, he flipped to the last page of the document and read that his portion of the settlement would be $100,000.76. He has committed the entire $100,000.00 to help us see this dream of Velma’s become a reality. God is able!
In addition, every day God is adding to our BB’s 300 to help undergird us in prayer and support the ministry with $100 monthly gifts. Recently, Duffy Johnson, a young man that I discipled years ago, has become a BB 300 and is committed to finding 9 others. This dear brother in Christ is enabling us to focus on our family and ministry at a critical time. We are now reaching 60 of our BridgeBuilders 300 and by God’s grace enabled to see Velma’s dream become a reality as well. God is so awesome!
On the medical front, after reviewing my C.T. scan 8 weeks after discovering the 2 tumors, with no treatment other than your prayers, the cancer has not grown. I have taken Tarceva (a pill) daily now for 2 weeks. The skin rash has kept me up several nights because of the itching in my scalp, neck and face and the Lord continues to work on my vanity as my nose is red and my face is broken out. I am humbled that this is the only side effect because of God’s grace and your believing prayers. We will get a new C.T. scan of my lungs in 6 weeks to see the progress of Tarceva and our prayers! We believe! Thank you for your prayers that are opening the flood gates of Heaven to bring healing and help to me and to our ministry to the least and the lost. Ephesians 3:20 is my prayer for each of us. No matter what you are facing, God is a miracle working God. “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Eph. 3:20
Thank you for the interesting read! Alright playtime is over and back to school work.