The Hispanic man asked for cooking oil. The volunteer prayed with him in the clothing area that God would provide and bless him. A few minutes later one of our volunteers smiled as she shared that she brought cooking oil from her pantry that very morning to bless someone with this prized item. Both the volunteer and the guest were blessed.

A local business owner realized he had a large amount of product that would expire soon. Not wanting it to go to waste, he loaded his box truck and brought four pallets of snacks, chips, packaged treats, etc. for us to give away to the community. With children out of school these treats will be like ‘gold’ to many families. We love partnerships like this with local businesses. Together we are taking care of our communities.

A semi-truck pulled up and donated 75 boxes of juice. They were donating to a neighboring store which couldn’t take it because some of the boxes had fallen from the pallet. There was plenty to share in both WLFJ facilities. The driver shared with our volunteer that he was from the Ukraine. The volunteer ran inside and found a Ukrainian Bible to give to him. At first he declined, but then realized it was in his language.  He happily accepted it.  God is at work in so many different ways!

The leader of a brand new volunteer group followed up with this note to us: “We had a total blast. Everyone at WLFJ made us feel welcome and needed! We were treated so kindly and each volunteer left feeling good about their time serving and talking about wanting to do it again. Thank you WLFJ for the opportunity to serve the community in Jesus’ name! ” It’s fun for us to see the WLFJ fever caught by new volunteers. We can’t wait for this team to come back.

Jessie came for the first time to receive food.  His young son was coming to stay with him for a few days, and Jessie had no food in the house.  His first paycheck was still a week away.  He listened to the short message.  God tugged at his heart.  Jessie received Christ.  He thanked the volunteer for the message and then stopped in the prayer center for the name of a church.  Jessie left with groceries and Jesus!

An e-mail from a volunteer:  “My husband and I were sitting at the dinner table tonight talking about our wonderful morning at With Love From Jesus.  We are building such beautiful friendships with the volunteers, people who are so dear to us, people who bless us in many ways.  And today we both heard many expressions of gratitude from our guests.  People were leaving the building with big smiles and thankful hearts.  What a ministry!  What a great God!  What a privilege to play even a small part.  Thank you!”

It was Anna’s birthday with thanksgiving just a few days away. She talked to her parents about the party she wanted to have. It was an unusual party. Anna invited her friends to join her for her birthday celebration at WLFJ. They hung clothes, stocked shelves, laughed, and had fun all day serving the King and giving back to Him to celebrate her birthday. Afterwards they all treated themselves to Bojangles for a late lunch. What a special birthday! What a special teen. What a beautiful way to give Thanks!

For every church, youth group, community group and individual that volunteers or collects resources for us, we are thankful. You are keeping us in “business.”  God’s great business is all around us. Your partnership with us in this Kingdom Business is wonderful, exciting, and valued greatly.

Watching the beautiful Body of Christ come together to make Jesus known is a constant joy!  Believers from many different backgrounds, cultures, ages, stages of life, and diversity help us value and appreciate God’s unique plan for displaying unity among us.  With our recent expansions in our Wake County facility and the growing numbers of honored guests in both places, we find ourselves always needy for God to show up and do the impossible.  Change is very challenging but also needed if we are to grow!  Growth means that we have to make the accommodations for these great ways that our God is at work among us. 

We love the Body of Christ. With Love From Jesus wouldn’t exist without the Body! Watching believers from many different churches come together to display our unity and bless our communities is always a blessing.  In these huge transition days of moving into our two new spaces, we have more than ever been encouraged and blessed by the diversity of His Body.