STEPPING UP
This Past Month
A young father came to me after playing floor hockey one Thursday night. He had a down cast face and his heart laid heavy with concerns for him and his small family. He shared with me the struggles he’s having at home with his girlfriend, and the struggles with his young child and balancing work in the mix too. I remembered it so distinctly, his face, how overwhelmed he looked. He said this to me, “Dave can you help me, I feel like I’m sinking. There is no one I can go to with my problems and there is no one who cares! I know you work with dads in the community; do you think you could work with me”?
So I asked the young father if I could pray for him and his situation, he responded by saying “Hell Ya!” I laughed at his response and then we prayed for his situation! After we prayed I talked a bit about God’s strength and hope that he wants to give him, I talked about God’s amazing grace. I shared how Jesus wants to take his problems from him, and ease and shoulder the yoke he is carrying. I told him if you have a right view of God you will have a right view of how He wants to help you in every situation you face today and in the future. I told him you are never alone, if you can’t get a hold of me you can always go to Him (God). He knows your needs and HE wants to act swiftly to help you.
Please pray that I will have more opportunity to minister Christ and His love to this young father. Pray that his heart will soften towards Christ. Pray for his girlfriend and young child. Pray that he would find the strength to balance his work in the mix of all the pressures he faces at home!
I believe God desperately wants to intersect the lives of each of these young fathers and help them in their own unique situations; showing Himself in a real way that will leave a deep impression of His love and hope. Opening each young father to the reality that there is a True Living God that is Alive and a God Who still works amongst us today!
I have said this before about prayer in past newsletters; prayer is what furthers us in everything we do andprayeriswhatfurthersthisministry.Withoutprayerwearedoingthisworkinourownstrength! In all reality we can’t do this work in our own strength, we depend on Christ to go before us and prepare the way. Thank you for your willingness to pray for the Stepping Up ministry, we count on your prayers each and every month!
Our Need
We are in need of new monthly donors. Would you consider being a monthly partner? We are in need of 10 more monthly partners at $100 dollars or 20 more partners at $50 dollars a month. Last month we had no response to our monthly challenge for Lent. Would you consider giving financially, partnering with us in this ministry to young fathers in a monthly capacity? It can be a challenge to minister effectively when I feel the pressure of finances in our home. It can be a daunting task to believe for these young fathers and their young families when our family is financially stretched each month. Would you prayerfully consider giving to this ministry in a monthly capacity? We know things are tight for everyone in these economic hard times but some of us can afford to give! Would that someone be you? Would you consider giving today, helping a young father and his small child! Thank you for your consideration, and may you and your family be blessed as you give.
Dave and Shaina’s Update
Well this past month we had two birthdays, my birthday on March 1st and baby Liam’s birthday on March 3rd . I guess I should be calling Liam big boy now that he is two years old, Happy Birthday Liam! We have another Birthday next month, Joah’s birthday April 24th. We are so excited as a family to share Joah’s 10th birthday with him!
On a personal note, Shaina and I have had a month of refining and some financial hardships but the Lord is faithful, we’re expecting him to intervene in our situation. Could you pray for us in regards to our finances? Things have been really tight for us since losing our daycare opportunity in our home. We feel very weighed down. We have been carrying the whole rent on our home; we are spending $2,400 a month, three quarters of my income on rent. We have been living this way for some time now!
All along the way we have been saying to ourselves this is short-term pain for long-term gain; saying this as we were going through the licensencing process with Fraser Valley Health and the City of Surrey. We were given the opportunity to rent the whole house in hopes of starting a day care, with future plans to help the young families we work with in Surrey. However, through the process of licensing we found out that the basement suite in our rental home did not have the proper building permits. This deemed the daycare as a no go; the dream seemed to stop dead in its tracks. Some good news though, Shaina has been deemed as licensable by Fraser Valley Health, but not our home. We have tried desperately to get the basement permitted; it has been a real struggle. We cannot locate the blueprints for the house and it would cost us $2,500 to $3,000 to draw them up. So our hopes of the daycare end here.
Could you pray that we would get a renter for our basement suite? Someone to sublet the bottom portion of our home would help tremendously with our cost of rent in this time. Thank you for remembering us in your prayers. Being on the front lines can be a challenge at times, but knowing that so many of you are praying for us helps us in our mission to the young fathers in Surrey!
Sometimes I feel all alone. Sometimes I feel no place to go. Sometimes I see a path ahead, sometimes I see nothing but dread. You ask us not to question why, for it’s Your job to know on high. You have not asked me to figure things out, or even question why when I doubt. Trust and know is all You ask, knowing full well it’s You who leads the task. You guide us through, You give us strength, You see us through until the end. It’s not up to me to make my situation right, but to put full trust in Your guiding light. It may seem foolish to mankind, but it’s You who makes the plans for my life not mine. Upside down is Your way, making the wise of man stay at bay. Because when Your purpose does unfold, mans wisdom is no match for your goal.
Lead me, move me, do Your will! I know you have me, I will be still.
By David Morgan
