Winter Garden from Florida had a great week ministering to the folks in Floyd Co.. They started off by putting windows and coating the roof to his house. Great fellowship time. They also painted a couple of gazebo’s for the Group Home while having fun and presenting the gospel. On Wednesday they did a movie night and had games and food for those attending. The gospel was presented through testimonies given be the young people in the group. They also had several fellowship meals to continue to build their relationship with some of the clients. Thank you Winter Garden for a great week of ministering. (Please click on the group picture to see more photos.)

The children and youth group from First Baptist Church of Prestonsburg, KY had a one day mission project here at GAP. This group had collected much of the money needed to purchase some the backpacks. They stayed busy by filling 500 backpacks with school supplies. Then we enjoyed pizza together. Thank you First Baptist Church of Prestonsburg for sharing your children and youth with us for a day of ministry! (Please click on the picture in order to view more photos.)

South Point Baptist from Belmont, NC did a wonderful job sharing the message of Christ to our clients and friends in the county. BeansTalk was a blast serving hotdogs, Chuck the Clown made balloons and talking to the clients. They also ministered to kids in the housing complexes with Bible stories and games. They also had a great time visiting our local Seniors and the Group Home with singing and dancing along with Chuck the Clown performing tricks and dancing with the ladies. (Please click on the group picture to see more photos.)

Heartland Worship from Paducah, KY did a great job ministering in the area. Their heart is to serve and bring the gospel to the kids at Weeksbury. They had games, crafts and food that brought them all closer together and they had 3 salvations and 1 rededication. Praise the Lord! Also did some ministry to the seniors by playing Bingo and bringing some great gifts for the winners. Good job, Heartland! (Please click on the group picture to see more pictures.)

Parksville Baptist from Parksville, KY came with a heart to serve. They started off by working at the Christmas store and helping to redo the shelves and toys. Then they ministered throughout the community by going to Minnie Townhomes, The Group Home and also visited our Senior Citizens. They had 6 to accept Christ as their Savior. Praise the Lord! Thank you for a job well done.

Smoke Rise from GA worked hard this week doing several construction projects. One was finishing some work for a lady that they helped in Oct.. They worked on the director’s house, underpinned the lodge, repaired a roof and poured concrete footers at Elk Ridge. Thanks Smoke Rise for a job well done. You are a blessing!

“KidStock 2013 may have been the best we have ever had,” said co-founder Angie Wagoner. 424 children may have showed up for a backpack full of school supplies, but they received so much more this year at GAP’s back-to-school celebration.

As families arrived, they were grouped into clusters that moved together through the event. First, each child received a backpack full of grade-appropriate school supplies. Next, they heard a Bible story and saw a skit presenting the Gospel message. Then they moved to a room where every child sat in a chair and had their feet washed while being told the story of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet. The children heard how Jesus came to serve and to save. After their feet were washed, they were given a brand new pair of shoes. Words cannot describe how excited some of these kids were with their shoes.

Throughout the day families enjoyed playing carnival style games. Many children had a hard time choosing what prizes to get with the tickets they had won playing the games. We also had plenty of free food throughout the day. Many families came early and stayed until late in the afternoon.

What a wonderful day! The Word of God and the Gospel was shared throughout this event in various ways. We were excited this year to have Chris Sullivan who is a former professional wrestler with us. Several times during the day he shared the Gospel message and his testimony of how God changed his life. At the end of the day, 8 adults and 4 children made professions of faith in Jesus Christ. One lady recommitted her life to grow in her relationship with Christ. Several others raised their hands but we were unable to get their personal information.

This is what GAP is all about. Meeting people at their point of need – this time it was a need for school supplies and shoes – and sharing with them the love of Jesus Christ.

KidStock 2013 was such a success because of our many partners like you. 101 volunteers from seven different churches and the Left Beaver Fire Department helped on the actual day. However, there were hundreds of others who sponsored a child, donated supplies and prayed for this event. Thank you all for your partnership, support and prayers. God truly blessed this event in a mighty way. Please join us in giving praise to the Father!

For the last few years, GAP has had an annual furniture sale for our clients. Monday, August 19th was this year’s sale. It was a huge success in spite of the rain we had in the morning. Sunday evening we had 2 large moving trucks and a large trailer pull into GAP full of new and gently used furniture. We are grateful to our partnering churches in GA, Smoke Rise Baptist Church and First Baptist Church Augusta, for all the furniture they provided. Burnout victims were allowed to select items for an entire house free of charge, while other clients could purchase 3 items at low prices. The finances generated by this sale go into a special fund to help clients in emergency situations.

The day was filled with families finding items that they were in need of, but it was one of the last clients that God sent on Monday that really touched all of our hearts. This client was a grandmother raising four of her grandchildren who is in need of mattresses. They did not have enough beds for the kids to sleep on and had no furniture in the living room to sit on. Unfortunately,by this time in the day, we did not have any mattresses left to give her. However, we were apple to provide her with a sofa/sleeper, recliner and a couple other chairs. This family was so appreciative. They threw their arms around our necks and would hardly let go of Brenda and Kathy while all the time saying, “Thank you, thank you! All we can say is thanks be to God! For He is Jehovah Jireh! It is He who provides!”

Once again thank you to all who donated furniture in GA and the men from Smoke Rise Baptist Church who worked all day loading furniture into the vehicles of some happy clients. A special thanks to the three staff members of Immanuel Baptist Church in Lexington, KY who came in for a visit of GAP and worked as personal shoppers during this event.