It was our tremendous honor as a ministry staff this morning to represent Central and present a $25,000 check to Gratitude House. As part of our two-year Ignite Initiative, we’re going into deeper partnership with five local organizations who are already doing great Gospel work in our immediate downtown Amarillo neighborhood. Gratitude House is a transitional-housing program for women coming out of addiction and/or abusive situations, providing apartments, counseling, social work assistance, education, and child-care.

These funds from Central will pay for the counseling so desperately needed by the thirty women at Gratitude House, including general counseling and chemical dependency counseling, for the rest of this calendar year. Where it’s appropriate, the money will also fund education and transportation for these ladies. As we’ve been telling our church, we’re not in this thing for a one-time handout — we really want to partner with our Lord and Gratitude House to change lives. We want to join in the work of positively shifting the trajectory for whole generations of men and women. Gratitude House walks side by side with the ladies and their kids as they make the move from substance abuse and addiction recovery programs to living on their own. And we are so privileged to be a part of it!

In addition to the money, Central is sending six mentors who will provide friendship and support for these women, a group of men to paint the newly-rebuilt porches on six or seven of the apartments, and another group to change out a dozen exterior light fixtures.

Diann Gilmore and Donna and the others at Gratitude House received us so gratefully this morning. Our time of prayer and mutual blessing together was beautiful. And she’s asked me to pass her thanksgiving on to everybody at Central. So, Central, consider yourselves thanked and appreciated and official co-laborers in the Kingdom with Gratitude House.

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Never mind that the Rangers were blowing a 5-1 lead, giving up seven unanswered runs last night to lose their season opener during the first half of the NCAA Championship Game. North Carolina’s win over Gonzaga gave Mary the points she needed to leap past me into first place in our Central Staff office pool. Congratulations to Mary. Sort of. She gets the free lunch and a dessert at our next staff outing later this month. Tanner and Vickie tied for third. Mark finished dead last. Again. We stopped buying lunch for the last place finisher once Mark finished last three years in a row.

Peace,

Allan