Himebaugh Ave. Outreach Update

Great turnout!

This last Saturday, (July 19th) we had the outreach in Dunlap, IN on Himebaugh Ave. and it was incredible!! We estimated that over two hundred people came to the free cook-out. Many who came were those we visited with as we went door to door. I had a cool encounter with a brother named Josh, who I actually met in the county Jail, it has now been two years and he is doing great-no drugs or alcohol, he is serving the Lord, he has a beautiful family and he is working -things are good. He brought them all to the event Saturday and they all had a good time!

Also, it was a blessing to team up with Elkhart Community Baptist Church. This church is right in the neighborhood, just blocks from Himebaugh Ave., so it was awesome having Pastor Ed Ritchie and youth Pastor Dustin Vargo out serving and ministering with us along with some of their congregation. Oh, and I don’t want to forget to give a shout of thanks to one of the Churches deacons, named Paul Elswick, he has a motorized kiddy train that he brought out and it was a total blessing- the little ones had a blast being pulled through the neighborhoods.

Hey, also a big shout to Frankie Phillips and his family along with all the neighbor’s, as we literally took over Himebaugh Ave. (ha!) We had the event on Frankie’s daughter’s front lawn and many of neighbors allowed parking on their property. Plus, one of Frankie’s long time friends Ted Wright was stirred in his heart to bring out his grills and grill up 80 pounds of chicken to serve and bless. This whole day was an incredible display of God's love and I thank all the servants and workers.

We were able to do some raffles and give away some neat free prizes to the kids and adults. So many were blessed, it was incredible seeing the faces of the little kids who won the prizes. So we say, “thank you” to those who donated and provided these gifts.

We ministered and prayed with many people, sharing and exhorting people to call out to the Lord and read their Bibles. I was personally able to lead a man named Jack to the Lord, he was unsure of his salvation. His own words were “I am backslid and I don’t know where I would go if I died.” I spent some time with him sharing many scriptures with him as also did Pastor Dustin. It was glorious to then pray with Jack as he called out to Jesus. Jack was so happy that he ran to mother and after he talked to her awhile she said that she also wanted to pray and cry out to Jesus! Totally awesome! We praise God for His working.

So again we thank God for the incredible day and we thank all of you who prayed, served, and gave God bless you all. Thanks for reading…Please see the pics below.

Steve Ignowski

Lifeline Outreach Ministries

574-612-0555 

The kids loved the Kiddy Train!

The bounce house was a blessing!

Ted making up the Chicken

The "Anointed Food Crew" did an outstanding job!

Frankie, myself and Pastor Ed

Sharing the Word!

Pastor Dustin and myself with Jack (in the middle) he called out to Jesus!

Free Clothing to the needy

Josh and his whole family came...He is doing great!

Face Painting Ministry!

Free Bibles - Books - CD - DVD Table

AJ ministering in song

Pastor Ed with a little one

It was a blessed day!... sharing the love of Jesus!!

Street Ministry Update

Below is short testimony from last night’s street ministry on the streets of Elkhart; myself and three Teen Challenge Students were one of several small groups that headed out to different areas of Elkhart to share the love of Jesus. It is totally awesome to see how god is stirring the whole Ministry Center of Teen challenge in stepping out to share the life changing power of the cross of Christ. I was asked to lead one of these small teams- it was a total privilege. Below is one of our encounters.

7/9/14 Street Report:

We walked up to house where we seen a gal we knew from our last outreach. We greeted her and asked how things were going. She proceeded to share her concern for her father who almost died last week. He “flat lined” at the hospital three times before he revived. Apparently, in his drunken stupor he stumbled and fell hitting his head.

I asked her if we could talk and minister to him. He came out onto the porch. After our initial greetings, he confessed his struggle with alcohol. One of the TC brothers asked him where he thought he would have gone if he had died. Without hesitation he said hell. He proceeded to tell us how at one time he knew the Lord-but by his own poor choices, carnality, and lust of the flesh he went back to a lifestyle of sin.

As we all spoke on the porch all you could see was a shell of man, broken, contrite- he confessed his desire to change, his own words were “alcohol is destroying my life.” We shared Christ with him, that God loved him and desires to know him in a personal way. We shared how God can totally deliver and set him free and keep him free!

 We asked him if him if he would like to come back to the Lord? And just like the prodigal son, who came to himself and went back to the Father- This man, called out God to forgive him, cleanse him and make him new. He prayed for God to give him the power and desire to turn from sin and drunkenness- to be a changed man. Amen.

It was a glorious thing. We all embraced, we all encouraged him, we gave him a new Bible, encouraging him to read it and talk to God. We left him our contact info. We plan on following up with him. Please keep James in your prayers. I’m trusting God to keep him safe.

Steve Ignowski

Lifeline Outreach Ministries

574-612-0555

Next Community Outreach July 19th

People ask us sometimes “Why do you have outreaches?” or “why do you do what you do?” The simple answer is “We love Jesus.” I believe that’s the reason the Lord doesn’t just take us home to heaven after we get saved, it is because He has plans for us. Plans for us to impact society with the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

The Bible says that God wishes none to perish for all to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9) We also know from reading and studying the Bible, that God uses men (and women) to accomplish this task. (Romans 10:13-14) If you’re a born-again believer in Jesus Christ, the reason your still on this earth at this time is to reach somebody with the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ. I thank God that somebody took the time and sacrifice to share with me the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We also know by reading our Bibles, that  "love never fails"  (1 cor 13:8) And that is really what these outreaches are all about- love! Showing love in a tangible way. That is why all of our outreaches are free. We charge no admission, we bless, we give, we love- just like Jesus did. 

Our next outreach is about two weeks away and we are excited! I think the person who is the most excited is Frankie Phillips (one of the Lifeline team members)  because this is where he lives, this is his community, these are his neighbors, friends and family. We have planning this outreach for a while now and we are all excited. It's going to be good! 

Outreach location: 24099 Himebaugh Ave. Elkhart, IN

We will be setting up in two large front yards with a bounce house and all the usual outreach stuff: free hotdogs and grilled cheese, chips, free clothing, live music, face painting, balloons, free Bible and books. We will also be giving away some real nice children's toys. It's going to be a great time! 

Another awesome addition to this outreach is we have connected with a local Church in the area, Elkhart Community Baptist and they will be assisting and they will be bringing their motorized kiddy train to give the kids free train rides through the neighborhoods.

The kiddy train will be a blessing!

 

These outreaches take a team effort for to be effective. Yes, we will be witnessing, preaching, sharing testimonies, and praying with people. But outreaches like these also involve servants grilling food, loving on the kids and families, helping set-up, serving food, playing games with kids, helping a mother with four kids, helping at one of our free tables (books/clothing). Every aspect is important and no role is less or more important than another.

You that are reading this and you live within driving distance,  please pray about coming out to help serve. You will be blessed as you bless and serve others.

 

Date: July 19th -Saturday

Location: 24099 Himebaugh Ave. 46516 (near the Concord Mall)

Time: Noon - 3pm (setting up at 10am) *We could use help setting up

If anyone would like to donate clothing, Christian books, Bibles, Children’s Bibles please contact me. The cost of an outreach like this is around $600. If anyone would like to help give toward some of this, that would be awesome. Please contact me.

Thanks so much for reading this email and we so much appreciate your prayers. We are believing for revival and awakening to shake our neighborhoods, towns and cities.. Jesus is the ONLY hope for this nation. Let us all do our part. Amen!

Steve Ignowski

Lifeline Outreach Ministries

574-612-0555