Category Archives: Redeemer 54 Ministries

A Biblical Response to The Coronavirus Outbreak

Yesterday as we were eating supper, I changed the TV from the kid’s shows that had been entertaining my littles to the evening news. As I watched the non-stop coverage of the growing Coronavirus pandemic I could feel fear and anxiety rising up in me. I was overwhelmed by the worldwide effects of this new illness as it is shutting down whole economies! This is NOT our Biblical Response to The Coronavirus Outbreak!!

After supper we loaded up as a family to take several boxes of snack bags to our parent ministry We Will Go. Holy Spirit used Amy Lancaster to bring the situation into Biblical perspective.

We are serving and ministering to the poorest population in our nation. There are no stockpiles. There is no savings. Kids are out of school and the single mom is faced with a decision: leave the kids at home and go to work, or stay home and don’t get paid. How does she make it without her paycheck?

What is our Biblical Response to The Coronavirus Outbreak? The Bible says “Do not fear” 365 times. Once for every day of the year! And the word “fear” is used over 500 times in the KJV! God has a LOT to say about fear!!

Will I give into fear and stockpile resources for my own family? Will I retreat into the safe bubble of my own home and be held hostage by fear? This is a fear based world view.

A Biblical world view says that I will not fear.

But when I am afraid,

    I will put my trust in you.

I praise God for what he has promised.

    I trust in God, so why should I be afraid?

    What can mere mortals do to me?

Psalm 56:3-4 NLT

When fear attempts to creep in, I will declare my TRUST in the LORD! I will declare Psalm 91 over myself and my family! I will use my voice to speak Truth OUT LOUD!

Our Biblical Response to The Coronavirus Outbreak in Regards to Stockpiling

A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosityj— all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

Acts 2:43-47 NLT

Our Biblical Response to The Coronavirus Outbreak in regards to stockpiling is that we will continue to serve the Lord by sharing our resources with our neighbors in need. By sharing what we have today, we are declaring our trust in the Lord to provide for tomorrow! I am reminded of the Lord providing manna for the Israelites as they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. They were commanded to gather ONLY what they needed for that day, and anything extra they gathered in disobedience rotted overnight! This season of scarce resources is an opportunity for the Lord God Almighty to perform miracles of multiplication!! We are certainly praying for multiplication over our last 3 rolls of toilet paper!!

Our Biblical Response to The Coronavirus Outbreak in Regards to Social Distancing

Our Biblical Response to The Coronavirus Outbreak in regards to Social Distancing is that as a family we are honoring the request of our government officials to avoid gatherings of 10 or more people.

We are choosing to worship from home DAILY instead of attending services at our church.

We will continue to check on our neighbors and meeting their needs as we are able based on the resources the Lord provides.

We will continue to have other believers over to our house to share meals and pray together.

We will be constantly diffusing DoTerra OnGuard in our home. And each member of our family has their own bottle of OnGuard sanitizing spray! We will wash our hands often and disinfect our home daily. We will continue to build our immunity by taking DoTerra LLV supplements daily.

We WILL NOT live in fear! We WILL NOT stop serving the Lord!! We WILL share His love as we share the resources He provides!!

How can you help?

  1. PRAY!
    • Pray for the Lord to provide for the needs of our neighbors through His unlimited resources!
    • Pray for divine health for us, our neighbors, and our entire community!
    • Pray for an atmosphere of PEACE to overwhelm our community!
  2. GIVE!
    • CLICK HERE to give financially
    • Email us at meridith@redeemer54.com if you would like to donate non-perishable food items and/or paper products.
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Varnel’s Baptism | Redeemer 54 | Quiver Club

Do you ever feel like nothing is going right? Like everything you do fails? Yea, us too. Especially since starting over here in Mississippi. We feel like nothing is happening because all we do is hang out with the neighborhood kids. We have tried so many times to start something organized, have a program, a meeting, do things our way… and all of it has failed. The one thing that HAS worked is to sit on the front porch and spend time with them. Every time we go outside, the kids from our street come running! They are so hungry for love and attention, and this is the most valuable thing we have to give them!

While it doesn’t feel like “official ministry” like we have been accustomed to, we are still very intentional with the time we spend with the kids. We get to be a mom & pop to all the kids on our street, daily teaching them right and wrong, and using stories and examples from the Bible to explain why we act different, or talk different, or live different from what they may have seen. It seems so unimportant in the moment, but a year into journey in Jackson and this precious kid makes a genuine profession of faith in Jesus! Wow!!

The Gospel is simple. Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. Why do we try to complicate it?

If you would like to know more about Redeemer 54 Ministries, or if you feel led to make a donation to our ministry, please visit our website at www.redeemer54.com.

R54 Block Party!

The month of July brought exciting increase and momentum to Redeemer 54 Ministries!! We have been living in the Broadmoor neighborhood for a little over a year, focusing on building relationships with the kids and families on our street… and now was the time to take these relationships a step further!

Several months ago we began attending Grace City Church as a family. They have moved into the old Broadmoor Baptist Church building this year and have a heart and vision for reaching our neighborhood. As we have shared our experience and vision with the leaders of the church and our community group, we have all felt led to partner together to see the Kingdom come in Broadmoor as it is in Heaven!

Our first partnership outreach was to host a Manila Drive Block Party on July 22, bringing all the neighbors together to cook out, have fun, pray for our community and invite all the kids to the Grace City VBS! We had such an amazing turn out from both the church and the neighborhood! Lee and I walked around like kids on Christmas morning, so full of excitement seeing the vision the Lord has given us being fulfilled in this moment!!

We had a space jump, food truck, and our friend Keith from Sow, Reap, Feed showed up to grill corn and had over 250 lbs of vegetables to pass out to our neighbors! We are so excited to partner with both Grace City Church and Sew, Reap, Feed to share the love of Jesus with our neighbors, and see the Light of Christ shine brightly in this part of Jackson!!

Not only did we have a fantastic crowd, but we had 14 of our kids sign up VBS!!! Be sure to catch our next blog post with more on that fun adventure!!!

Enjoy the photos below from our block party, and please pray for these relationships to continue to grow and go deep!!

This Beautiful Mess

As a mom with young children I clean up a lot of messes. And I mean a lot. Daily. And I find myself getting frustrated as I sweep and mop the kitchen floor for the third time in a day due to dropped food or spilled milk. Well, the Lord is teaching me to see the beauty in messes. And it started with the post-meal mess in the photo above.

It was Sunday, July 1st. The day after I shot the Smith-Vaniz 50th Wedding Anniversary party. The sweet family who hired me also sent me home with TONS of BBQ, baked beans & coleslaw that was leftover from the party to use for our ministry. I was so excited because we planned to take some of our neighborhood kids to church with us for the first time and I was going to bring them home for lunch after and serve them the abundance we had received from Pig & Pint! Oh how much joy I had as I envisioned our neighborhood kids gathered around my dining room table enjoying this gift from the Lord!!

But they were not able to come. And my heart hurt. I was feeling so much disappointment and discouragement as our church service started that Sunday morning. As I sat there I chose to worship and I began to pray, asking Holy Spirit how He wanted us to use this food for His glory and His kingdom.

And then it happened. A homeless couple walked in the church. They sat just two rows in front of us. And I knew. Deep down in my spirit I KNEW that this is who would sit at my dinning room table and eat BBQ with us today!

When the service ended we introduced ourselves to them. They told they were homeless and looking for help. We invited them to lunch. At our home. Around my dining room table.

Lee visited with them as I put the babies down for a nap, heated lunch and fixed our plates. The conversation that began in our family room continued over lunch as they shared their stories and we shared ours. The stories they told were incredibly painful. My heart broke as I began to understand what led each of them into addiction and to the streets. And we were here. We were available to share Truth, to share Jesus. To speak life over them.

Throughout our visit, Lee and I were both praying, listening for Holy Spirit to lead us in not only what to say, but also what help to offer. We both felt led to offer them a plan to help them get off the streets, to gift them two nights in a local hotel, and to fix them to go plates with enough food for a couple of days. We talked a lot about Jesus and the freedom He is offering each of them.

The hardest part of ministry is that each person has to choose for themselves. These sweet new friends have our phone numbers. They know where our house is. They know that we are willing to help when they are ready. Will you pray with us for G & P. Pray that the see we had the honor of sewing in their lives will find good soil in their hearts. Pray for them to see the light of Jesus shining through the darkness that surrounds them. Pray that they will CHOOSE to say YES to the One who can save them! Pray that will see them again, have opportunity to love them again.

Oh what an honor it is to be the hands and feet of Jesus to a lost and dying world.

 

Redeemer 54 Ministries is a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable missions organization. We operate completely on faith that the Lord will provide for every need we have as a ministry. One way to support us is through hiring Meridith Lee Photography which supports both our family and ministry. You can also donate directly to Redeemer 54 by using the link below.