love perseveres

November Outreach Update

On Friday night, we visited 10 clubs in Hawthorne and Inglewood, CA and gave gifts to women working there. At one club, a manager welcomed us in and said, “What’s it been? At least four or five years now you have been coming.”

Actually, next month is Treasures’ 6-year anniversary! And from the day we started, I knew that building relationships with the clubs was an endeavor that would take time and consistency. The manager’s acknowledgement of the longevity of this outreach was affirming.

Unfortunately, there are three clubs on this route, all owned by the same person that were less welcoming. We haven’t been able to connect with the owner on a personal level to address any concerns she may have and she has directed her staff not to let us give out gifts. At one of her clubs, the girls found out we were outside and came running to the door, trying to push past security, clamoring for gift bags. Our hearts broke to have to turn away without giving them gifts out of respect for the manager’s wishes. One girl ran out of the club and took one from us saying, “I don’t care what they say, and I’m not going to let them stop me!”

Despite the challenges at those clubs, it was a night of breakthrough in other respects. We were able to hand-deliver gifts at one of the clubs I used to work at for the first time since we started going there! It was incredible to think that I used to walk those floors prowling for customers and Friday night, I walked the same ground for an entirely different purpose!

When we visited another club I used to work for, I found out that one of my old co-workers is still there. At the mention of her name, my eyes welled with tears. She is a woman with whom I always felt a special bond. I could always find comfort in her kind and knowing eyes. And when I left the business, she cheered me on.

It has been 11 years since I last saw her, but when she walked in the room, she recognized me immediately and called me by my real name. It touched me to know that she remembered me after all of this time. For the past 6 years, she has been receiving our little pink gift bags. It felt so good to see her face and to wrap my arms around her. It was worth the wait!

In 1 Corinthians 13, the bible paints a picture of what love looks like saying that “It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” Hugging my friend in that special moment was the fruit of perseverance. When I think of the women in the clubs that we were not able to reach, my hope is in knowing that God’s love for them perseveres. And because of His great love, so will we.


Love,

Harmony
www.iamatreasure.com
www.myspace.com/treasuresnonprofit

The Place of Preparation

The Place of Preparation

But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to (The Promised Land), and his descendants will inherit it. Numbers 14:24

One of the greatest freedom marches of all time is recorded in the Old Testament. It is the story of Exodus—the movement of a people from slavery to freedom.

After leaving Egypt, the land of their slavery, the Israelites entered the desert. The desert was the place between their captivity and the land that God promised them. In the desert, God provided them with manna from heaven. He generously gave them everything they needed to make the journey, yet the Israelites became complacent with the miraculous provision of God and began yearning for Egypt, the very place they so narrowly escaped. “We never see anything but this manna!” they complained. “We remember the fist we ate in Egypt at no cost…”

The fish they remembered, the hopelessness of their imprisonment they forgot.

Moses, the leader of the Israelites, sent spies to scope out the Promised Land. When the majority came back with negative reports, saying that it would be too difficult to enter the land because of the giants that inhabited that place, a man named Caleb had a different account. “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it”, he proclaimed.

Because Caleb had a different spirit and followed God wholeheartedly, the bible says that he and his descendants would inherit the Promised Land.

This story paints a beautiful parallel for our own lives. Often, after escaping some of the most entrapping circumstances, we find ourselves wandering in the desert—that dry, desolate place, standing between our slavery and God’s promises for us. It is in the desert that we experience the hand of God sustaining us in ways we never could have fathomed. Still, like the Israelites, we are faced with the temptation to grumble and complain. Often, we find ourselves wanting to turn back to what is most familiar to us, despite how entrapping. Old habits, old ways, our old lives. In the midst of this desert experience, God is looking for a people that will fix their eyes on Him and determine to lay hold of His promises like Caleb did.

The desert is a place of preparation. During the trials and wandering, our character is uncovered and our hearts lay bare before God. There, he is able to do His most masterful refining, using the dry sands to scratch through the surfaces of our being and uncover the beauty that is hidden there.

The journey can be difficult and there are giants to be faced, but God will sustain us. With grateful hearts, we will enjoy His miraculous provision. If we are wise, we will remember to relish in our freedom. And as we follow Him wholeheartedly, He will give us the strength to face what lies ahead so that we can and will lay hold of all that He has promised us.

Written by Harmony Dust for Treasures
www.iamatreasure.com
www.myspace.com/treasuresnonprofit