Fruit Inspection

Almost 3 years ago Hurricane Katrina devastated the gulf coast. The pictures on our TV screens were unimaginable. Jeremy and I felt like we needed to do something, but we weren’t sure what. Less than a week later, he and his dad had packed up an entire tractor trailer full of food, water, and the neccessities of life. They headed out, not sure how far the military would allow them to go.

Turns out, they were welcomed with arms wide open. They stayed around the city of Biloxi, MS for a few days and when the supplies ran out, they came back home. Jeremy would make one more trip to that area before deciding he just couldn’t go back. The smells and sights were too much. He couldn’t sleep at night. But he still felt he had to use his resources to make a difference.

That’s when The Wooden Cross Ministries was born. Family and friends pitched in and we managed to find donated office space in our small town that we turned into a shelter. People came from all around to drop off clothes, food, medical supplies, etc. It was surprising how many Katrina refugees we had in north east Georgia. They came to us, not only looking to have their needs met, but also for hope and a place where they felt at “home”.

Since that time we’ve used TWC Ministries to provide scholarships to local high school students, supported Vacation Bible school, built children’s facilities, and given over 100 children in our community a fabulous Christmas.

Now we are trying something new. Our church is drawing up plans to build a Ministry Village. The first structure going up is the Hope House whose main focus will be families. Couseling, budgeting, foster care, as well as a child advocacy center, of which there is none on our side of Atlanta.

Jeremy and I have prayed about how we can help raise money for this wonderful idea that will reach thousands of people in our area. And we have decided to raffle off our ’67 Shelby Mustang, giving all the proceeds to the Ministry Village.

Most of our weekends this spring were spent at car shows selling tickets. This summer we’ve gotten away from it but we have plans to begin again really soon. A few weeks ago we set up our website with a paypal button that allows us to sell tickets online. They are only $25 so if you’d like a chance to win, just go directly to TWC Ministries and click on the “purchase tickets” button at the top.

I realize some of you bloggers out there also live in this community, so I supplied the code in my left sidebar for promoting this cause on your own blog if you’d like. Just copy and paste it wherever you want. And I thank you in advance for your support! :)