Care Center men work with CSM staff to distribute food.
Here at Christian Service Mission, we have been grateful for the opportunity to provide not only food and daily living supplies to those in the Care Center ministry program, but to engage in a personal, reciprocal relationship through our ministry center with those men. Pastor AJ Johnson, with Doers of the Word Church in Woodlawn, AL, and founder of the Birmingham Care Center Ministries branch, met with Tracy Hipps a few years ago to talk about the needs of his ministry, and how he in turn could connect CSM with men who could help serve with the needs there. Since then, Christian Service Mission has been able to meet the food needs of the men through the food ministry. They also receive supplies like paper goods, hygiene supplies, and toiletry items.
As Pastor AJ and Tracy hoped, a reciprocating relationship emerged out of the partnership. The men come to do work in the CSM warehouse (such as sweeping and restocking shelves) in exchange for meeting local church and agency volunteers that want to invest in a relationship with these men and share the Gospel. One man, Ty Cotter, came to the Birmingham branch of Care Center Ministries from the location in Dallas, TX. He was able to find leadership through this ministry and help serve at Christian Service Mission. He describes CSM as "a place where our men learned what giving back is all about and CSM has been a tremendous blessing with lifelong relationships."
More recently, Care Center has been able to extend their serving by going out and meeting with their neighbors in the community to assess their needs. This includes both food needs, as well as getting them involved with the local church. We at CSM are excited to be able to provide food and other needs for the men at the Care Center and are so proud that they are reaching out into their community to serve others in need as well.
