Family Promise: Blessing Lives and Building Relationships

Foothills Church, Family Promise Ahwatukee Churches, Local Outreach

The value of “Go” at Foothills is our commitment to do the work of Jesus whenever and wherever we are able. This  means doing the work God has prepared for us in our own backyard. Partnering with Family Promise gives us that opportunity to do the work of Jesus by fulfilling our community responsibilities and serving our neighbors who are currently without a home.

During the week of February 20, we had the privilege of serving five families through Family Promise. With a team of 39 volunteers we were able to bless these families in their deepest time of need. By transforming our church campus into living quarters for one week, we were able to provide stability through housing, food, activities and relationship building.

Even though Family Promise lasts only a week, relationships built have the potential to make an impact over a lifetime. We would like to share with you just some of the stories that have emerged from our week of Family Promise at Foothills.

A Simple Invitation

One of our overnight hosts included two mothers and their sons. During the first few days they were able to connect with four of the young men in Family Promise. Our students, Matthew and Tyler, shared their God-stories with these four young men and  invited them to join other students for Wednesday night youth group, Veritas.

All it took to build a relationship was a simple invitation.

Planting a Seed

Sometimes all people want from you is to know that you care.

Not everyone has a great experience with the church and may walk away from a church experience with a broken heart, which was the case with one of the Family Promise mothers.

We don’t know what is happening in the heart of another person or what God has done or is doing. Not knowing exactly what God was doing in the heart of this mother, one of our volunteers simply held a conversation and shared the story of Jesus with this mom. It is up to the Holy Spirit to use the time for his purpose in her life.

We are happy to share that later in the week “mom” was seen reading her Bible. The seed was planted.

Emotions

The Friday of Family Promise also happened to be Family Movie Night at Foothills. This provided a great opportunity for some of these families to engage with our Foothills family.

We had approximately five of the children from three families join in our Friday Movie Night. They all enjoyed the outdoors, the drive-in movie element and all the sweets available for the asking, and boy did they ask! One 12-year-old girl shared that she learned a little more about her emotions by watching the movie and will now see them for what they are … cartoons!

The stories are there: families are impacted and relationships are built. All of our volunteers stepped up and provided the blessings of Jesus to these families.

One week is not a long time but it is enough time for God to touch someone’s heart.

If you’d like to learn more about Family Promise, you can click the button below.

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