Lyle - July 2019

Our purpose is to serve the Church in its mission to help the poor and we have a strategy to fulfill it. We not only offer training and tools for local churches, but a work space designed for volunteers to engage those struggling, many who have histories of addiction, abuse or chronic poverty. That effort to fulfill our purpose resulted in more than 7500 volunteer shifts filled at the mission in the last year. Every month, I send you a story of how a life was impacted by those volunteers. But it’s not a one-way street. Our volunteers are impacted, too. Here’s Lyle.

“I knew two women who already served breakfast here and I asked how I could help. I started bringing bananas in bulk with them each month. Over the next few months, I saw a lot of different people, but I frequently noticed one man in particular, Charles, and once I learned his name, we talked every time I brought breakfast.

Charles challenged how I thought about the homeless. I listened to the hardship he’d already been through and how hard he was trying to change and grow in Christ. After that, I saw a tweet from Watered Garden asking for volunteer drivers and I signed up as fast as I could.

Every time I’m driving with someone new, I always ask about their story. I listened to one man tell me ‘my family is all around here, but they just don’t care.’ Hearing them has made me understand how much I’ve been given and I want to give back, and I want to give back through Watered Gardens.”

Your support helps connect members of the Church, like Lyle, to those in need and fulfill the law of Christ to help carry one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2). Thank you for your continued support.