Some of you know we have been working to establish a ministry base in Pakistan for over the past year.
In the village we serve, the Lord provided the way and the means to purchase land with the intent to plant and raise fruits and vegetables for as many of the poor as possible. Also, we will be increasing our chicken flock to increase egg production and to provide chicks and chicken meat. There is immediate progress being made in growing food to make the village self-sustainable.
Our team started discussing the urgent need for immediate food production months ago as I truly believe villages like the one we serve will be dealing with life and death starvation issues in the not too distant future. The recent flooding has increased this possibility exponentially unfortunately.
Starvation, a lack of clean water and disease, especially cholera, are the greatest problems facing the people now. The millions that have been displaced will end up heading east toward areas like the one we serve. So, there will soon be a strain on areas that are currently "unaffected" by the monsoons.
If you would like to know more about the ongoing ministry there and/or how you can support that kingdom work, please feel free to contact us. There are huge opportunities to expand this work and to watch as the Lord builds a shining city on a hill for the other surrounding villages to emulate for his glory.
December 1st
It continues to amaze! The amount and variety of vegetables being grown and flourishing in the garden in Pakistan. The Lord blesses this work in ways wedidnt think were possible.
If you have been following the development of the property and the garden project, you know the ground wasn't very well suited for growing vegetables. Dry, rocky, packed solid from being hidden under bricks for years and years, yet things are growing very well.
Today, they harvested eggplant, turnips, spinach and more. Fresh vegetables which many in the village have no access to. Five families received good quantities of healthy vegetables again today.
The dream of helping the poor become more self-sufficient is becoming a reality more and more each day. And more of the villagers have been able to start small gardens on their own properties with the help of our team and the seeds and resources we have made available to them. The Lord is blessing this work, it is clear.
The village is changing before our eyes. There is hope where there was little tope. The poor now see life can be different in the village. We give God all the glory.
December 8th
Every Thursday at our property in Pakistan, there is a Bible study for the young women who are dedicated serving in our ministry. Without fail, some of the village children show up and are welcomed to join.
Between Sunday services, Thursday Bible studies and regular visits to families in the village, four generations are being presented with the good news of the gospel of Jesus. More importantly, our ministry team shows them what it means to follow Jesus and to love others as Jesus has loved them.
They read from and study the Bible in their native language of Urdu. Just another example of what the Lord is doing thru this work. There is so much more we could share. We are grateful for God's grace and favor!
December 14th
Today, we made a down payment on another piece of property, praise God. This piece of land is no more than 75 feet away from our 1st property, the Lord's home in the village.
This new piece of land will enable us to have 2.5 times the space to grow food for the village. It doesn't look like much now, but rest assured, our team will transform this property into a source of much needed fresh fruit and vegetables for many more families. The Lord provided the $2000 to purchase this property, as he always does!
December 23rd
Our ministry family in Pakistan has been serving in the village for over 8 years. Ever since we acquired property there in August (they call it God's home), there has been one reoccurring theme which keeps getting reported by many there. "We have never seen" or "This is all new for us" is repeated over and over again by our ministry team, by villagers who have lived there for decades and by those who are watching out of curiosity.
Our ministry family planned a Christmas service for the children which took place yesterday. Unbeknownst to our ministry family, the villagers had orchestrated a little something which was a wonderful surprise.
The villagers gathered up some money and presented the family and ministry leaders with red flowers which were placed around their necks. I can tell by the looks on their faces, our ministry family was taken by surprise and quite moved.
This was the 1st time they have experienced anything like this in their many years serving the village. Sure, they receive many thanks and see many smiling faces, especially from the kids in the village, but this was different. It was an acknowledgement of what God has done there in the last five short months.
More importantly, this was a sign of God answering their prayers as only he can. The Lord is weaving together a community of believers who love and give to each other. A community that has now even accepted Muslims into their midst and love them as brothers and sisters. And, trust me, the Muslim community is watching and is being challenged by this group of selfless servants of Jesus. In fact, four Muslim women came to the property for the first time to witness this service firsthand, they had heard the good news about what is happening in the village.
And for a little icing on the cake, one of the poor families we have been helping quite a bit is a younger mom and her three young children. Yesterday, mom, kids, dad and mother-in-law came to participate in the service and to get the gifts for the children. The Muslim mother-in-law baked a cake and presented it as a gift to the ministry.
While they may seem small or even trivial to some, these kinds of things are absolutely unheard of there. Many who come to the property say they are drawn there. Once there, the most common report is they are overcome with a sense of peace and presence of the spirit. The village elders are bewildered by what they are seeing and experiencing. Our family just keeps pointing them to Jesus.
To those who have been faithfully supporting this work, our ministry family here and there are eternally grateful. Please remember and pray as this is only the beginning. The Lord is showing us there is so much more to come. Amen
The Compassion Network is made up of local churches in the 15068 zip code. During this pandemic, our outreach goals remain the same. We want to meet the needs of those in our community, especially in times of crisis. Currently, the biggest need we are seeing right now is to provide food. We are meeting that need in a couple of different ways:
If you want to volunteer in any capacity, or if you are in need right now, please contact us:
Phone: 724 448 8173 email: Invr4get911@aol.com
The Compassion Network has never been just about charity. Our goal is to change lives. We strive to build relationships with the people we serve, and to make them aware of the life-changing power of Jesus Christ. To that end, we currently provide:
If you would like to make a monetary donation, you may click the button below.
A few different observations about the Thanksgiving Dinner outreach that took place this year (2022)...
God gets all the glory. Blessed beyond words to serve with such a great group of people.
This year was quite different in so many ways. Donated items came in slowly. Fewer people cooked turkeys. Financial support was down significantly this year. A significant number of the volunteers who helped were silent this year. We didn't have enough delivery people.
But, God has his ways. Everything needed showed up, even if it was at the last minute. A few people cooked 8 to 10 turkeys each. Many new faces came and served with us seamlessly. We even had a last-minute delivery team come from 45 minutes away to fill in a great need.
Yet, we had more meals go out to our neighbors than ever before. Some of those meals were distributed on the streets in Braddock which were a great, unexpected blessing to people in need there. We cooked over 40 turkeys this year and ended up with turkey to give to more families. Our prep day and Thanksgiving day went better than it ever has before. This was the most efficient and cohesive team we have ever had.
The comments from those we delivered too were nothing but positive. The prayer needs in the parking lot and blessings those neighbors received with our prayer partners cannot be measured.
On another note. No matter what outreach effort we are involved in, God has shown we can expect all things to work for his glory, especially when it seems like the future looks bleak. It has been a definite process, but we have learned it is all out of our control and God keeps all his promises. We are ever more grateful for his provision, his people and his wisdom for his ways are greater than ours.
Born out of a desire to connect people willing to help those in need, Compassion Network tries to allow people and organizations to work together to be Christ's hands and feet in the 15068 area.
We look to match needs with available resources, in all kinds of different situations.
Maybe you know about a need that exists, or you have resources and a desire to meet needs. If you do, we want to hear from you! Let us know the needs you are aware of, as well as any resources you can bring to help those in need.
Jesus tells us that when we serve the "least of these", we are serving Him. (Matthew 25: 31-46).
Won't you join us as we reach out to those who need a helping hand?
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