There were monsoons of many kinds at this year’s Father’s Fish Camp. One of the most memorable was a monsoon of mentors - men willing to sacrifice their time to become father-figures for a weekend of fishing and camping.
On the night before the boys from NAOMI House arrived, one of the leaders had a river running through the center of his tent! Marvin just stepped to the side and let the river flow! The rains came a few more times, but the monsoons of rain were quickly followed by rainbows and rays of brilliant sunshine.
Our goal at Fish Camp is to make sure there’s enough men to match the number of boys. That means a one to one ratio of Father-figures to boys. We had more than enough - it was relationship building at its best!
Each year we add a new component to Father’s Fish Camp. This year we created the Fisherman of The Year Award. We give it to a deserving young guy who showed true Christ-like character from the year before. Jesus was the greatest Fisherman of all time! He just told guys where to throw their nets and they caught more fish than they could handle! Then He told them to become fishers of men! We gave the award to Shawnti - a very deserving young man who is also a very serving young man. He’s a great role model for the younger guys and always willing to help.
Monsoons of rain, monsoons of mentors and while the number of fish caught wouldn’t exactly be monsoon-like, the accompanying smiles were! Yes, monsoons of smiles! There were several of us old-heads at camp named Robert. One deserves special mention as he just retired as NAOMI’s “Mr. Do-Everything Father Figure.” He’s one of the greatest mentors we’ve ever witnessed in our over 20 year history. Thank you Robert for your humongous heart to love and serve these children.
We’d like to give a special thank you to Pastor Michael Kistner and Starfish Ministries from Buffalo, NY. Their kindness and generosity helped make this Fish Camp extra special. Everything was free for the boys. We wanted to make the boys feel special and valued - just the way their Father in heaven sees them. Thanks Starfish people, because of you we were able to go the extra mile and freely give what we freely received.
This was a beautiful collaboration of team players and ministries who demonstrated what it means to love God and your neighbor. Thank you to everyone near and far from Starfish Ministries, NAOMI House, Compassion Ministries & Church For The Nations Flagstaff and Youth With A Purpose Inc.
Next year, because of this year’s monsoon of smiles, we’re planning two Father’s Fish Camps. Keep your fishing poles ready, your line untangled, your hooks sharp, your sinkers sinking and your bobbers bobbin! Bring on the heart-smiles! 😍
Thanks for your time. Go do something nice for somebody. Jesus loves you and so do we.
#fathersfishcamp #starfishministriesbuffalo #naomihouse #ywap4Christ #cftnflag #compassionministriesflagstaff #JLYASDW

They come from all walks of life through many hard pathways. They’ve experienced homelessness, fatherlessness, abuse, addiction and other tough times. They know what a jail cell looks like. They know rejection, abandonment and heartbreak.
​
What do they do in the spare time? They go the extra mile to love people! They don’t moan and groan about how bad life is.
They go outside the walls of churches and hit the pavements and curb stones where people in need are.
We’re proud of all you guys who shared your hearts at Grill & A Prayer! And your Abba Father is too!

Our next love offering is at the Flagstaff Shelter on Wednesday 10/19 from 5:30-7 pm. We serve dinner and give away useful items.
We always need socks, underwear, feminine hygiene items and winter clothes for men & women.
Please call, 716-830-8240 if you’d like to help.
Thanks for your time,
Go do something nice for somebody.
Jesus loves you and so do we.
#grillandaprayer #compassionministriesflagstaff #ywap4Christ #JLYASDW #cftnflag

​DEFEATING DREAD & FEAR
 
On Thursday night (10-6-22) at about 8 pm I felt dread and fear. A dark feeling had been growing in my heart for several days. Now, as I drove about 65 mph through a construction area on Rt. 17 in the mountains of Arizona, the dread was spreading.
The freeway had been restricted to one lane by the construction. On my right was a concrete barrier and on my left was a steel guardrail. Funny thing about fear, it changes the appearance of your surroundings. I’ve traveled this section of roadway many times over the last three years and hardly noticed the narrowness of this passageway. Tonight however, the freeway seemed to be closing in on me.
Several days earlier the memory of David Wilkerson’s tragic death in a car accident came drifting into my thoughts. It was one of those random mind droppings that appear out of nowhere and defies explanation. He was big in my life. His life story with Nicky Cruz in the “Cross and The Switchblade” helped define and direct the ministry that God developed in my life.
I have some longevity of life in my heredity. Gram lived to be almost 103 yrs. old. I’ve joked (partly serious) that I’m going to live to be 115 yrs. old! Suddenly, the thought of David’s death caused me to think about my own possible death.
I’ve known gangsters in Buffalo, NY who seemed to know they were about to be killed. They gave things away and made comments about thinking it was their time to die. The truth is, most of us don’t know the day or hour when we’ll die and meet the God who made us. Our thoughts and fears can influence our lives and the times of our deaths.
There’s a verse with deep meaning in the Bible. It’s written the Book of Job when he’s going through a horrible time. This is what it says, “For the thing which I greatly fear comes upon me, and that of which I am afraid befalls me.” Job 3:25 AMPC. I’ve taught middle and high school students for years that the very thing you’re afraid of often happens because your fear attracts bad things. That’s what fear is all about.
It was at least a week since the heavy feeling of foreboding and dread had been hanging over me. It was growing. The Bible talks about “vain imaginations.” I take that to mean letting your mind wander into foolish reasoning and stupid speculations.
Romans 1:21 AMPC
”Because when they knew and recognized Him as God, they did not honor and glorify Him as God or give Him thanks. But instead they became futile and [a]godless in their thinking [with vain imaginings, foolish reasoning, and stupid speculations] and their senseless minds were darkened.”
My mind was wandering. I was feeling weak and the dread was growing. I felt trapped and I needed to escape. I needed to examine my heart, see where I’ve been and search out the origin of these creepy feelings.
After I safely arrived home on that Thursday might, I shook my head as I remembered my vain imaginations while driving. I felt like a wimp who had just fearfully and perilously passed through monsters of concrete and steel guardrails, I turned to God. He never calls me a wimp.
          Before I left Flagstaff, I had dinner with our good friends Kai and Amber. I could try and explain to you who Kai is to me, but you’d be better off to go read about Jonathan and David in the Bible. Let’s just say Kai is in the “closer than a brother” category. We have deep life conversations and always pray during our times together.
          Last Thursday I shared a hurtful memory with him and later with Amber at dinner. It was about a time when I was living my “sweet-spot.” I was having the time of my life living out the desires of my heart. A great deal of my time was spent teaching, mentoring, hiking and forming deep personal relationships. Then one day it came crashing to an end.
          Still to this day I don’t understand why, but that’s okay. I’m still in contact with many of the guys in that program, even the ones who’ve left town. Losing a sweet-spot creates a wound of emptiness. A longing replaces the sweetness of knowing you were doing what you were born to do. I think I pretty much buried that wound. Burying is not healing.
          The deep relationship I have with Kai created a safe place for an unburying. Some things need to be dug up and examined before they’re placed in the cauldron of wisdom. I call it a cauldron because it’s in the crucible of brokenness that the chaff of selfishness is burned away and replaced with Christ-likeness.
          Personal accountability and transparency between brothers and sisters in Christ helps create fertile ground where the roots of fear are yanked and burned. Dread and fear will come and go, but when left unchecked (or unsurrendered to God,) it can be destructive or even fatal.
          It’s possible and probably normal for most folks to blame dread and fear on the devil. I didn’t do that, I asked God what He wanted me to learn – after I changed the course of my thoughts and immersed myself in His Word. This morning I experienced joy and repentance. I’m looking at new sweet-spots that are parallel and will probably be much greater than my previous sweet-spots, I also had to repent for a number of things. I’ll leave those between me and God for now.
          What would some steps be to defeat dread and fear?

1. Surrender your fear to God.
2. Examine your heart, attitude, mindset and motives.
3. Respond by picking up the Sword of Truth – the Bible.
4. Ask God to deliver you. It might be from an enemy or situation you created yourself.
5. Ask someone to pray for you. (I always ask my wife!)
6. Focus on Bible verses that speak of trusting in God over fear.
7. Be confident that you haven’t lost an opportunity. Some things will never pass this way again, but I’ve found that by trusting God, He always gives me a greater dream.

 
Romans 5:3-5 AMPC
“Moreover [let us also be full of joy now!] let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance.
4 And endurance (fortitude) develops maturity of [c]character (approved faith and [d]tried integrity). And character [of this sort] produces [the habit of] [e]joyful and confident hope of eternal salvation.
5 Such hope never disappoints or deludes or shames us, for God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us.”
 
Thanks for your time. Go do something nice for somebody. Jesus loves you and so do we.
Tuesday, October 11, 2022, 12 pm
Rimrock, AZ
         
 

The day began with Men’s Prayer at 8 am and continued on to Celebrate Recovery at 4:30 pm. The day unfolded superabundantly above and beyond anything we could have imagined.
Men’s Prayer was about to end when a young man from the Congo showed up nearly two hours early for a community service project at the Market of Dreams. He asked for prayer and strongly noted that it wasn’t a coincidence that he showed up when he did. We read from his Bible.
​“So Christ brings a new agreement from God to his people. Those who are called by God can now receive the blessings that God has promised. These blessings will last forever. They can have those things because Christ died so that the people who lived under the first agreement could be set free from sin. When there is a will, it must be proven that the man who wrote that will is dead. A will means nothing while the man is alive. It can be used only after he dies. This is why even the first agreement could not begin without blood to show death.” Hebrews‬ ‭9:15-18‬ ‭ICB‬‬
Eventually the rest of a large group of volunteers arrived to keep moving the Market of Dreams toward completion. There’s still a ways to go, but it’s exciting to see great progress.
Across the street, the Grill & A Prayer team started serving the community at noon. Many folks stopped for some delicious sloppy Joe’s prepared by Miss June. Lot’s of clothes, toys, books and useful items were freely given away.
It’s always a smile inducing moment when someone stops and asks, “How much does it cost?” We smile and say, “Everything’s free! Gods freely loves us so we freely give away what we’ve freely received!”
After wrapping up Grill & A Prayer, the Compassion Ministries team headed to Urban Hope Church to provide a meal for the folks at Celebrate Recovery. There’s a lot of emotional healing happening at CR and we’re glad to provide a small part to feed hungry hearts.
It was a long and beautiful day. The day presented a few challenges like a dead battery, but that was easily overcome with a little help from our friends. Thanks God for a great day. Let’s do it again!
If you’d like to get involved in community outreach that makes for a beautiful day in the mountainhood, please contact us. Here’s our upcoming schedule:
1. Grill & A Prayer street outreach 10/15
​2. Flagstaff Shelter 10/19, 5:30-7 pm.
3. NAOMI House, (safe home for Navajo children) 10/22, 10 am - 2:30 pm
4. Work Detail at NAOMI to be scheduled.
5. Market of Dreams Community Service every Saturday 11 am - 2 pm.
Need more info? CALLUS! 716-830-8240.
Thanks for your time. Go do something nice for somebody. Jesus loves you and so do we.
#JLYASDW #CompassionMinistriesFlagstaff

The smiles start before we even arrive. Days ahead of our arrival, kids are asking if we’re bringing the bouncy house. They know the last Saturday of every month will be a day of laughter and fun.

Most of the time we only spend one day each month with the young people at the NAOMI House. The respect and love they show us is a residual effect from the care they receive at NAOMI.

The parent-figures here are extraordinary. They’ve been called by God to fill the roles of mothers and fathers. NAOMI House is a safe home for children whose parents needed some help during hard times in the family. Some of those hard times last throughout their childhood. The Mom’s and Dad’s here who care for them go beyond the extra mile. They love these children in God’s more excellent way.

We show up and get our hearts warmed by everyone here. We show up and they cause our hearts to smile! We do bring a bounce house, athletic items, stuffed animals, rubber chickens, squirt guns and a lot of good food! Truth be told - the physical stuff we bring is useful, but the relationships we build are what streets of gold are paved with.

A Dad named Kai brought his two young daughters who joined in and created heart-smiles. Kai fixed several bikes, teaching the kids as he shared his heart. James and Jesse have come so often the kids ask for them by name. That’s important as relationships are built one heart-smile at a time.
There are service projects that we do from time to time. We try and do those while prioritizing our time with the children. We need help with reaping some drywall and heavy weed trimming. Let us know if you’d like to help, 716-830-8240.

We couldn’t show God’s love without some extraordinary collaborators. Diane from the Cedar Closet donates a huge amount of smile-inducing items! Thanks Diane we really appreciate you!

Next month begins a new tradition for us at NAOMI. We’ll celebrate birthdays for the month of October. We do that every month from now on for those whose birthdays fall in that month. We’re calling it “Sean’s Eagle Wings” in honor of Sean Steven Manygoats who’s now in heaven with Jesus. We’ll write more about why we’re honoring Sean in another story.
​
One of our traditions has been “Lunchtime Stories.” We tell a story as the young people settle in with their smiles and lunch. Our volunteers sit among them. Saturday’s story was about never putting anybody down because they’re not good at something. We all have weaknesses and flaws. None of us are perfect and we all make mistakes. Here’s the story, (let us know your thoughts!)

The Story of the Cracked Pot
A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck.
One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master’s house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years, this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water in his master’s house.
Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made.

But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.
After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream.
‘I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you.’
The bearer asked, ‘Why? What are you ashamed of?’
The pot replied, ‘For these past two years I am able to deliver only half of my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master’s house. Because of my flaws, you don’t get full value for your efforts.’

The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion, he said, ‘As we return to the master’s house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path.’

As they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it somewhat.
But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure.

The bearer said to the pot, ‘Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pot’s side?
That’s because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you’ve watered them.

For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master’s table.
Without you being just the way you are,
he would not have this beauty to grace his house.
​(Author unknown)

if you’d like to get involved in outreach to the community, please let us know. We along with forming relationships with the kids at NAOMI, we visit homeless shelters and serve on the streets. 716-830-8240, [email protected]
Thanks for your time. Go do something nice for somebody. Jesus loves you and so do we.

It’s a simple way of showing love for your neighbors. Give away free food and other useful items. When folks are open to it or ask for it - we pray for them.
​Many folks are experiencing dark times. Life can be hard sometimes. Children on drugs. Parents on alcohol. Daughters in danger of falling into human trafficking due to their addictions. Health issues, disease, depression, divorce and death are heavy burdens that affect all of us.
That’s why we pray. We watch each other’s backs in prayer. We support each other. No one should walk through life alone - in good times or in bad.
If your heart beats with a pull to toward outreach, we’d love to hear from you. 716-830-8240 [email protected]
Thanks for your time. Go do something nice for somebody. Jesus loves you and so do we.
#compassionministries #ywap4Christ #JLYASDW

          One of the greatest "un-secrets" of successful ministry is collaboration. We call them "un-secrets" because it's really a no-brainer to know that working together is a more excellent way. Unity in ministry gives greater reach to the hands and feet of the body in building up Love in the world.
          Compassion Ministries in Northern Arizona conducts servanthood beyond church walls, reaching folks who may never enter church doors. Outreach ministry is more than community service. It's about building relationships and getting personally involved in people's lives.
          Service projects have value, but people need to be our priority. Combining both service and relationship building requires commitment and duplication. We can't be a "one and done" ministry. Discipleship doesn't happen without relationship. We have to earn the right to speak into people's lives.
          If you're a church or ministry with a hunger for outreach, let's talk collaboration. We invite individuals or teams to walk alongside us beyond church walls. We can also provide Outreach Mentoring for folks desiring to learn more about going the extra mile outside of their comfort zone. Working together we do more to reach more.
          Here's a glimpse into our current servanthood activities:

•  "Grill & A Prayer" - Free lunch, clothing, toys, books, Bibles and Prayer on the 1st & 3rd Saturday of every month. 
• "LightBreak" - Flagstaff Shelter Outreach with dinner, clothing and friendship building.   
• "Overflow" - Hope Cottage Women's Shelter with dinner, clothing and friendship building.
• NAOMI House - Monthly outreach at a Safe Home for Navajo children. We bring a bounce house, provide lunch and play games. We have a blast with squirt guns and water balloons! We will do service projects as needed. We are scheduled on the last Saturday of every month.
• The Father's Fish Camp - Boys from NAOMI and other families camp for a weekend and go fishing. We have teaching times and talk about the Father's Love.
• Compassion Care Kits are delivered to group homes where folks with handi-capabilities live through a collaboration with Quality Connections. 
• Compassion Care Kits are available to anybody who needs one. Just call the Compassion Hotline at:

          903-917-9947   

• The Compassion Food Service Volunteers provide community meal services for a wide variety of venues including church functions, volunteer projects, neighborhood groups and tent revival gatherings.
• Coming in 2023 is a conference on Outreach & Human Trafficking. We need to train outreach volunteers how to identify and offer assistance to victims of human trafficking in all its forms. We'll assemble a group of experts who will help us become better equipped to battle against the evil abusing and victimizing innocent children and vulnerable adults in our neighborhoods. Whether you're involved in outreach or not, you'll benefit from knowing how to become a soldier in the war against traffickers. This will be a conference for everyone from all walks of life.           

To learn more about Compassion Collaboration, please call: 716-830-8240

          The beginning of putting a vision in action is always exhilarating.. Starting something new is energizing and is fueled by fast paced excitement. News spreads about a new gig in town and folks flock to it like birds at a feeder. Soon though, the newness wears off and volunteers begin to fade like leaves in autumn.
          Most volunteers will come and go as part of the natural cycle in the volunteerhood. There's no need to cover the reasons why, people give what they can give - life is busy and always changing. This article is only being written to provide a glimpse into one of the hardest parts of ministry is finding and keeping volunteers.
          The Bible talks about laborers being in short supply amongst an abundance of people needing to be loved. Here's how it reads from Matthew 9:35-38 in The Message:
  "Then Jesus made a circuit of all the towns and villages.
   He taught in their meeting places, reported kingdom news,
    and healed their diseased bodies,
     healed their bruised and hurt lives.
      When he looked out over the crowds,
       his heart broke.
        So confused and aimless they were,
        like sheep with no shepherd.
          “What a huge harvest!” he said to his disciples.
           “How few workers!
            On your knees and pray for harvest hands!”
          Here's what we're asking you to do. Pray for more volunteers who will meet the need and volunteer to love their neighbors through the activities of Compassion Ministries and Youth With A Purpose. We serve meals on the streets that are freely given. We're blessed by churches and organizations who donate clothes, toys, books and Bibles that we freely give away. Some folks give financially so we can buy socks and underwear for folks who live on the street or in homeless shelters. 
          Our ministry opportunities are growing and we need your help. Many churches are doing many good things in sharing the Good News of Christ. Does your church have an outreach team? Would you like to take your Bible Study and put some real life application to it? 
          In one of our recent outreaches at the Flagstaff Shelter, a young lady put her knowledge of the Bible into action. She went the extra mile to help a lady who was laying next to a sidewalk on a piece of cardboard near a drainage ditch. In her own vehicle, she took the lady and her wheelchair along with her dog to a motel. This is what the young woman said after her act of charity: "I was reading James in the Bible and it talked about doing more than just praying. If we see a need we can fulfill and only pray, we're hypocrites!"   
          You can read for yourself what it says in James 2:15-17 from The Message: 
                    Faith in Action"Dear friends,
 do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything?
  Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it?
  For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say,
   “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!”
    and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup--
     where does that get you?
      Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?"
          If you'd like to volunteer with our ministries or become a sponsor or prayer partner, please let us know. Leave a message below or call 716-830-8240. We will also help train your outreach team. Thanks for your time. Go do something nice for somebody. Jesus loves you and so do we.
#compassionministries #ywap4Christ #JLYASDW

     Each day seems to hold more opportunities for the Compassion Ministries Team to infuse some hope into the Flagstaff community. An opening to serve dinner at Hope Cottage brought heart smiles to a great group of women.

     The dinner and the heart smiles were so good that the Compassion Team is now scheduled to cook up some love on the 3rd Sunday of every month. Marvin and Teresa Johnson are a dynamic duo that leave no stone unturned in their search to serve people. They're great mentors raising up an army of hope planters all over the mountains of Northern Arizona!

     Would you like to get involved in Compassion Ministries as a volunteer or supporter? We're the church in action spreading hope in the highways, byways and alleyways in anyways that we can!

     Thanks for your time. Go do something nice for somebody.
Jesus loves you and so do we.
#JLYASDW #compassionministriesflagstaff #ywap4Christ #cftnflag #nacc