General29 Feb 2008 02:52 pm
If there is one thing that is important about this day it is you and your story! Stories define us, they define our lives and our families. Stories also define our Colorado Ridge community. Some stories are difficult, some stories are powerful! Today is the day that your life intersected with the God who came “down here” and changed everything. Today, you had the opportunity to be a part of the “changing of everything!” And we have to hear about it! Do your best, you will not be graded on spelling, grammar… only on participation! Jump in! Tell us what God did in your life today, GO Denver 2008!
March 1st, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Hey Ryan,
Broomfield FISH went well. Did you know that they were donated a building with 3500 sq/ft - and that they will need help moving into it?
This might be a good way for women’s, men’s, couples’ groups & the youth groups to work together for a great cause.
Wait ’til you see the pictures.
Heather Lilly
March 1st, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Hello Ryan: Serving is like exercise for the soul. When I have to exercise, I first try to tell myself I don’t have the time. Then I try to tell myself that there are so many other important things I need to be doing. But once the exercise is complete, I feel refreshed and fulfilled. I went through all those steps today, but after spending the afternoon with my children delivering meals through the Angel Heart Project, I feel rejuvinated and a participant in the “human” game. Today we spent 1 hour making sure that 8 people, all fighting to be alive tomorrow, will be able to do something as simple as eat. One of the people we served even had quite a story… Frank Stipling.
http://www.thenurturefoundation.org/
I never feel more like a disciple of what God intended, then when I step outside my world, and open up to serve others. I was excited to hear that our church plans to sign up for a weekly route, and we have already discussed our commitment as a family. It is my belief that the difference between token charity and true service is the willingness one has to incorporate the service into their routine. Thanks so much for the opportunity - for making service so easy.
Jodi
March 1st, 2008 at 4:01 pm
The turnout for Project Angel Heart was incredible! 30 people, including 6 families with children, were involved with everything from creatively decorating paper bags that the meals are delivered in and making greeting cards to brighten a chronically ill individual’s life to touring the facility and attending an orientation to actually taking on a route and delivering a week’s worth of highly nutritious, made-from-scratch meals. Our group was very enthusastic about wanting to commit to having rotating groups from Colorado Ridge deliver meals up on the north end of town every Sat. for a couple hours. The organization is extremely well-run and has so many ways for individuals and families to help out. I would love to see more people get involved. I personally felt blessed by getting to connect what had previously been names on paper with real people who worship and love the same God I do.
March 1st, 2008 at 4:47 pm
WOW!!! GO DENVER IS REALLY WHAT BEING A CHRISTIAN IS ALL ABOUT!
MATTHEW 25:31-40. I remember being in Romanian villages in the 90’s. A man in a gypsy village came up to me and said, “some Christians already came here…they gave us Bibles…we told them we had no food to feed our children…they said, “We’ll pray for you”. We had to sell the Bibles for food or burn them for heat.” I was so excited to tell him that we brought them food and clothing.
That’s what it’s about …showing His love. I’m very excited to have the privelege to show His love to those who may not look upon Christians favorably. Project Angel Heart has re-awakened the missionary in me! It’s such a Blessing to Serve!!!
March 1st, 2008 at 7:41 pm
We were so blessed to hear the staff member of Project Angel Heart say that this was one of the largest group of volunteers that he has ever seen. It was great to serve so many people in a small way and to see what an impact it made. This day was a great lesson for our children and ourselves to show us how much we take God’s blessings for granted. This day is what living as a servant is all about!!! Thank you Colorado Ridge for the encouragement and motivation to get us all out there.
April and Vincent
March 1st, 2008 at 7:53 pm
The Crossing:
Today 18 of us went to the Crossing which is part of the Denver Rescue Mission. 10 helped prepare and serve lunch to the residents of the crossing and 8 of us worked on the grounds of the facility. The work was good and the food was great! Most of all this is a story of how a great team of people are devoted to helping others through Christ.
The core principle of the Denver Rescue Mission is that true healing comes only through Christ and is is the basis of the help they provide.
At the Crossing they have 2 main groups they serve. The first group is part of the Star Program which provides low cost temporary housing for homeless families. We were startled to find that 43% of the nations homeless today are families. The facility is an awesome place for families and they really focus on trying to provide a safe and kid friendly environment. They have a room that was outfitted by the Denver Broncos that has games, a sitting area where tutors can work with the kids, computers. Basically just a fun place where kids can have a place of their own. Thanks to the awesome skills of Giff and Kirk they now have basketball hoops that they can reach as well.
The second group the Crossing serves is as a transitional facility for men in the New Life program. This is a program for men who are committing themselves to break the chains of drug and alcohal addiction, and to improve their work skills and education to help them have a better chance of succeeding on the outside. They all must work and pay a resonable rent and utilities fee. The program is very strict - if one of the men fails the UA then they are “blown out” of the program. 2/3’s of the men do not make it through. Its tough. We worked along side a few of the guys who are in the program. T’s been there for 32 months. He graduates soon and is excited, but somewhat nervous about it. He said “everyone tells me it’s really hard when you go back out there on your own”. You could tell there was a lot of abrehension there. We talked a bit about the Lord, and how through his power all things are possible. T said thats what’s different this time - he has faith. S - an amazing young man, who works like a mule, is in his second rehab program. The first he graduated from but soon went out and started drinking again. He too said the biggest difference in this program is Christ, prayer, bible studies… He’s been here 3 months and is hopefull.
This was a fantastic experience. They need help - especially Tutors and Mentors. Tutors come in and help some of the men achieve their GED’s, or for some of the children in the Star program. Mentors are needed to help the men in the New Life Program. It involves mentoring one of the men, once a week and possibly a few phone calls. It’s one on one at the facilty and is constructed to provide you with the level of privacy you feel comfortable with.
Personally it was awesome to see what an organized set of helping hands, focused on Christ, can do to help these guys and the familys who are so desperately in need.
My worries are so petty in comparison to what many of these folks are going through.
It was a blessing to serve God in this way.
March 1st, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Today our family went to help at The Angel Heart Project. We spent the morning touring the facility and learning the history behind how this place started. We spent a couple hours dipping into our creative sides by decorating bags for a weeks worth of food to be delivered to people who don’t have that much longer to live due to cancer, Aids, HIV, etc.
As one of the 7 year old boys with us stated, “It was fun, but tiring”. Our son agreed, but then boy did it bring out some discussions within our family the rest of the day. What a blessing to be able to share this experience and communicate it with our 10 and 12 year olds! This cause is so close to my heart because Breast Cancer has hit close to home with us. Our family of four is very involved in that particular cause so Project Angel Heart seemed so appropriate for us to contribute to.
I so appreciate the fact that the Colorado Ridge Family can get our family (of four and church family) involved in an on-going community project where we can help those in need. It fills our needs as well.
March 1st, 2008 at 9:29 pm
Today Bethany and I helped with Project Angel Heart. It was a wonderful, humbling, feeling to be able to look someone in their eyes and see that these wonderfully decorated meals were such a blessing to them. It was especially nice to be able to serve in a way that I enjoy, driving
It was great to follow in Jesus’ footsteps and help those he helped as well.
March 3rd, 2008 at 7:32 am
What Ryan and Jeff said Sunday is so true; it is more fun to serve when you are doing it with your community! Work doesnt seem like work when you get to talk and joke with people who are working alongside you; it makes even the dullest jobs take on new meaning. Thanks to the staff who worked so hard to put this Saturday and the whole Go Campaign series together - I personally am so impressed and proud of the direction this church is headed in…pulling the focus off of ourselves and having that “outward focus” is such a great thing! Keep up the good work!
March 3rd, 2008 at 10:26 pm
Project Angel Heart is such a wonderful organization for meeting the needs of those who cannot repay the giver. Even though they are not a religious organization, the fingerprints of Jesus are all over them as they fulfill His edict: “When you put on a luncheon or a dinner…don’t invite your friends, brothers…for they will repay you by inviting you back. Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind…then God will reward you…” Luke 14:12-14
I felt short-changed today: I didn’t have enough time to do more!! (So I signed up to be a regular meal-delivery person).
March 5th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
With only a handfull of people from our church, we managed to change hundreds of lives that day. In a mere 3-4 hour time period, we managed to help so many and make a true lasting impact on our community. Christianity is about serving those who need it and we most certainly did that.
Now just think of what we could accomplish as a church if we dedicated our entire congregation to a solid full day of service to our fellow man. We have the power, let’s get it done!
God Bless!