The week of the March 6 Chaneni House celebrated 14 years of ministry. Our clients often express their thanks to us for the things we are able to give—once with tears over receiving a can opener; once with joy spilling over when she received food for her family. But this is not the most important part of the ministry.
Both clients and volunteers daily receive spiritual blessings. One young man thanked us for “treating him like a human being.” Through friendship and witnessing we form relationships. Often, we are asked to pray with someone about a specific problem. Recently a man asked prayer for a daughter who had been injured in a hit and run accident. We prayed—and then he prayed protection around our church.
One homeless client, who we have been seeing for two years, recently came in with a big smile. She asked if we remembered her and was so happy when we called her by name. She came in to tell us she was no longer homeless—that she had secured a place to live. She said, “you don’t know how much you mean to me and those in the community that you help with such kindness.” She asked if we would pray with her and then led a prayer of thankfulness and blessings over Chaneni and all of the volunteers.
One joy we have had is welcoming those we have met as clients to worship with us on Sunday morning. At one 10:30 service we had friends from Chaneni sitting on front rows of all three sections: a mom and her teenage son, a single woman, and a young couple with their two-week old baby.
So often volunteers rejoice as we receive evidence of God’s blessings on this work through “small” miracles almost daily. Needs were met almost before we had time to recognize them. No white socks for the homeless? Someone walked through the door with a bag of socks. No canned vegetables for the family bags? Here are some, ready to put away.
We know our God is faithful. Sometimes He tests our belief. Once at the end of October, we asked for help because we only had enough money to buy food for about 2 weeks. We continued to distribute food bags on a regular basis. At the end of the month we had enough money for about 3 weeks. Like the widow in Elijah’s story, our supplies never ran out.
For 14 years this ministry has been able to serve God because of the support of FBCScottsdale members and friends. Thank you for your faithfulness—and now we turn our hearts to the difficult work ahead and ask for your continued support.
