Dear Fellow Servant(s) of Christ:

 

Hello to our precious friends of Standing In The Gap!  May this Fall be one where we all press in to our Savior and LORD, Jesus Christ, by worshipping, obeying, and honoring Him with increased passion.  He is coming back! 

 

In the NIV Quiet Time bible, a note says, “Broken homes, shattered relationships, damaged emotions – we live in a fragmented and hurting world.  As we see all the wounded people around us, we long to help, to offer a healing touch.”  Today, most people have many troubles.  Last week while asking Jesus what to do about all of the problems that people have, he led us to James 5:13:  “Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray.”  Simple, but very profound! We need your faithful prayers for discernment, guidance, wisdom, etc.

 

For a few years now, our board member, Maureen Boeltz, has had a heart for the legal immigrants that have been coming to Pittsburgh and are now living in Prospect Park in the Baldwin/Whitehall area.  In July, we made our way to these precious people delivering clothes, sunglasses, jewelry, etc. in Jesus Name.  It was a moment made in heaven!  We met families from Bosnia, Croatia, India, the Sudan, and Asia.  Many had been in refugee camps for 12 plus years before they were allowed into the USA.  We were able to pray with them, cry with them, laugh with them, and give out the gospel through tracks and hands-on love.  They are humble, grateful people.  We returned several times in August with furniture and household items that they need and had requested.  While on one of these visits, we were having trouble speaking with them because of the language barrier and just as we were saying “Lord, we need tongues or something right now!”  a young couple came walking out of their apartment and began to translate before we even knew what was happening!  We know that God has much for us to do with these people and we will be returning there on a regular basis.  God has brought the nations to us here in our own backyard!

 

Almost every week, we visit the large, low-income apartment complex on Pressley Street on the Northside.  Our brothers and sisters and those who don’t know Jesus yet are struggling everyday to make their payments and to get enough food and household items that they need. Just recently, the “silver bullet” van was filled with furniture we picked up on Tuesday, and we were praying about where God wanted it to go.  (We try to keep ministering to lives without putting anything in storage.)  By Wednesday afternoon, we received an emergency phone call that one of our elderly lady friends at Pressley had “bugs” in her apartment and they had to throw everything away.  Did we have anything to help her with?  Our LORD loves these people and is supplying their needs according to His riches in glory.  We delivered everything the next day!  Some of our friends at these apartments are “getting it”.  They are beginning to help out their own people in the building by cooking and baking for the elderly who are housebound.  We have been helping those who want to do this get the proper things they need – mixers, baking sheets, small roasters, etc.

 

Behind the scenes and through the mail giving continues -  A Walmart gift card for a college age young lady who is  pregnant and needed encouragement; groceries were bought and delivered to many of our less than fortunate friends; through World Vision our little girl continues to receive a gift each month; additional McDonald’s gift cards were purchased for the foster children that are being transported to their parents homes for visits and are hungry when they are picked up; we purchased some household items from St. Vincent De Paul for a special needs individual;  you bought a walker for a woman who had a stroke last January and her insurance coverage wouldn’t cover this item for her; a family is adopting two children ($25,000 per child) and you blessed them with a small gift to help with costs; and dinner was delivered to a young couple in the city expecting their second child.  To be good stewards of all you give, when we find a bargain for household items such as toasters, coffeemakers, shower curtains, etc., we will pick up a few to have on hand for the next person that God has planned for us to meet and assist.  One of our married couples that we have been mentoring for two years who used to be homeless and are now buying a fixer-upper on the Northside, needed a kitchen faucet for months.  We finally decided it wasn’t going to happen unless Standing In The Gap bought one for them.  What a special day it was for them.  We were hardly at the door and Tim was opening the faucet and putting it together!  A consignment store for large, women’s sizes opened up in Castle Shannon.  We purchased a few clothes for our larger women at Pressley Street.  In addition, a monetary gift was given to a single mom who has worked hard to purchase a home; a few partial utility bills for single women have been made; a partial payment for urgent dental work not covered was made.

 

A traveling farmers market came to Goodwill Manor in Bridgeville for the elderly men and women.  Several of the women kept mentioning that they didn’t have tomatoes.  What were they going to do?   “Go and buy them tomatoes at Shop N Save!” was the command we heard.  We did and one of the women said afterwards, “Nobody has ever done anything like that for me before.”  This just happened to be one of the women that we have been sharing the gospel with!  It is awesome what our God will ask us to do just to show Himself to one person!

 

The list goes on – you purchased a few truck parts to help one of the men get his truck working; we have helped a few single women with some rent and other bills to get them out of difficult situations and relationships.  One of our ladies loves to crochet blankets.  We have her making lap blankets now for the elderly and we will be delivering them soon since the weather is getting colder. SITG bought her the yarn she needs to do this.  A friend who has God’s heart is praying about adopting a young, teenager boy.  We felt led to buy him a devotional that is just right for his age.  Someone donated G. Eagle gift cards one day and by the end of the next day God had brought the people to us that needed them.  His timing is always so perfect!  Finally, a woman with cancer, four children, a husband who has lost his job and their house is in foreclosure received assistance for groceries.

 

If someone listens, or stretches out a hand, or whispers a word of encouragement, or attempts to understand a lonely person, extraordinary things begin to happen. – Loretta Girzartis.  “Blessed is he who has regard for the weak; the LORD delivers him in times of trouble.”  (Psalm 41:1) 

 

Finally, thank you for being His hands and feet with us.  

 

                                                                                                                                Because He cares, gives and lives,

 

 

 

Standing In The Gap is a non-profit corporation that has been determined to be exempt from Federal income tax under section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue code.  Contributions, bequests, devises, transfers and gifts are tax deductible.