The Birth of a Ministry

To say that the past 24 months have been a challenging time for our family would be an understatement.

AJ lost his job in July of 2007 when his stock brokerage firm went out of business due to the collapse of the financial services industry in the U.S., and his ability to provide for us was practically eliminated. We liquidated AJ's 401k to pay our bills, and eventually sold all of our remaining investments as well. 

Through all of this we remained faithful to God; that He would keep his promise to us to not give us any more burdens then we can handle, and that He will provide for us. There were many times in this period when our faith was questioned and tested to its absolute limits, but each time we stepped off that "roller coaster" we gave praise and thanks that we got off of it unharmed spiritually.  We tithed in times when we were literally giving up our grocery money for the week, and when we were unable to tithe we maintained giving hearts by serving both in our church, and in our community. Eventually it got to the point where if we tithed, we wouldn't be able to afford health insurance.  

In the very early morning of Thanksgiving Day, I was posting an ad on the "free" section of Craigslist to donate Aiden's clothing that he had outgrown. I noticed that there was a “wanted” section as well, and the first ad I read was titled “Dear Santa.” It was a desperate cry from a single mother of two who was struggling to make ends meet, and was asking for help as well as a Christmas tree.  I immediately wanted to help her, and began searching for free children's clothing and items that would be of use to this mother.  As I searched for these items I was shocked at how many people were giving away clothing for free.  In the "wanted" section the ads were just as overwhelming, the need so great!  I responded to every ad in the free section that would possibly help a family in need, and went from home to home picking up the items.  Then I responded to the "wanted" ads and let them know I had what they needed.  

Thanksgiving Day I sent out an email to all of our friends and family asking them for their generous donations and before I knew it I had filled up our car.  Within that first week we received over 500 pieces of clothing.  I then posted my own ad on Craigslist letting families that are in need know that we could help them.

What followed was an email barrage that consumes most of our waking hours. Since Thanksgiving night, more than 300 families in desperate financial need have contacted us. All of these families are either expecting or have children anywhere between newborn to 17 years old. We've welcomed over one hundred of these families into our home, blessed them with clothing & other essential items for their children, and prayed over them.

All of us have, at one time or another, donated clothing and children's items to Goodwill, Church, a neighbor or family member, etc. But ask yourself, out of all of those donations, how many people did you personally impact and create a relationship with? 

This is our goal, to not just donate items but to get to know these families, witness to them out of our own struggles giving them a sense of hope, come alongside them and pray over them if they'll allow us. We want to be someone that not only hands these families a bag of clothing, but someone who is willing to listen to them and minister to them, with warm hearts and sincere smiles. 

How big will this get? Only God knows, but we're ready and willing to be His faithful servants and to continue to help those in need.

Jo Sexton