A Note From Tracy Hipps: We Serve At The Pleasure Of The Father

Tracy with Roger Byrd of Bob's Bikes who donated 30 bikes
to help with transportation needs in Puerto Rico 

I have always been moved by the statement, “I serve at the pleasure of the President.” I heard it yesterday on TV as one of the President’s men were speaking. As a believer in Christ, who has been bought with a high price, the Bible says, “So you must honor God with your body.” To me that means, “I serve at the pleasure of my Father.” My life is not my own.

Last month, God anointed CSM with an assignment perfectly aligning with our mission to “connect resources with needs.” On the same day Hurricane Harvey made landfall, the Lord set us on course to be a part of the relief efforts with His people for His people. I can tell you exactly where I was on the CSM campus the day the Lord gave us the assignment. On that day, trucks and people came just as they did in April 2011, people whom God had given the same assignment. Together we served at the pleasure of the Father. When an assignment is given, God gives the blessing (strength and resources) to fulfil the assignment for His glory.

This specific assignment was to share resources with our partnering churches in Texas for the people whom they already serve. We reached out to CitiIMPACT, one of our national disaster relief partners, and The Forge in Houston. Together, we are serving communities in Houston alongside a network of 24 churches sending 5 truckloads filled with more than 100,000 pounds of supplies to that area. We reached out to a church in Beaumont, Texas, sending much needed supplies to their community. This church partners with a local church in East Lake, and we provided support to strengthen a church relationship at a critical time.

Sent with love from Birmingham

God gave the assignment to serve Texas, and we did our best to accomplish that assignment. However, the biggest blessing for me was to serve the area of Port Arthur, specifically the Coast Guard where my son Tal serves. This has become a permanent assignment for my son and his family to serve for the eternal good. We sent a semi-truck of supplies to care for the Coast Guard families who were affected so they could continue their first-responder work with the knowledge that their needs would be met. We sent laborers and financial resources to help with reconstruction for Hillcrest Baptist Church which was badly damaged during the storm. Hillcrest is also where my son and family attend. The Lord has allowed us to serve the church and serve the community. In the next couple of weeks, we will send a CSM team to Port Arthur to aid in cleaning out and rebuilding homes so that we can continue to serve the Lord with the gifts He has given us.

Our next specific assignment followed quickly with Hurricane Irma. The resources continued to come in letting us know that we were to serve in Florida as well. We sent several truckloads of water and resources to aid the areas in South Florida, Bradenton, and Highland counties. God brought a pastor and his family from Miami for whom we provided chainsaws and yard cleaning tools. They mobilized their church to serve people affected by the storm in the community near their church and in the Florida Keys where many houses have been destroyed.

Water Filters 

The assignment continues with Puerto Rico, working again with CitiIMPACT to send resources to the island. It was important to us to know that the money and resources you have donated would be used effectively and safely as we sought ways to aid the PR. Thankfully, CitiIMPACT has churches and logistics contacts in the area who could let us know exactly what they need. We serve at the pleasure of the Father who guides us at CSM to “connect resources with needs.”

This time, the assignment involves construction supplies, tools for rebuilding, and bicycles. We were told that bikes are needed for transportation since the roads have been widely destroyed and fuel is unavailable. As soon as we put the word out, individuals and business owners answered the call and 30 brand new bikes along with water filtration units, cleaning supplies, buckets, blankets, and other asked for goods were shipped to FL to be put on a container to PR.

When you serve at the pleasure of our Father, you serve the One who owns all the cattle, land, ships, and production by man. We serve at the pleasure of our Father who is immeasurable and unlimited. We can measure what we steward. To date we have sent 33 commercial trucks, 750,000 lbs of resources to over 50 churches, 1 cargo container, and we have served thousands of people. The immeasurable impact is the effect on the people serving and being served. The effect God has had in the lives of people all over this country as His people serve is immeasurable. “God will make this happen, for He who calls you is faithful.” (I Thessalonians 5:24)

CSM exists to “connect resources with needs” and to always serve at the pleasure of the Father who gives us all assignments to glorify His Name. “God can do anything, you know- far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, His Spirit deeply and gently within us.” (Ephesians 3:20 MSB) We serve at the pleasure of our Father who knows our name, who hears the cry of the people, and assigns us our duty.      

CSM Experience Impacts Intern

Lee Baxter, Samford University
Nutrition and Dietetics Graduate Intern

Cooking Well is our six-week healthy cooking program designed to be a springboard for discipleship and relationship in the communities we serve in partnership with eMeals and Samford University. Lee Baxter, our most recent Cooking Well intern from Samford’s Nutrition and Dietetics Master Program shared some observations from her experience.

"Cooking Well is looking to bring life-long change by engaging face-to-face and building trust in under-served communities with healthy lifestyle encouragement and education. Christian Service Mission has been building relationships with church and community leaders all around Birmingham, and paving the way for Cooking Well to dive into some of the most under-served areas of our city. Cooking Well is an opportunity to teach with purpose and effectively reach a community through a non-threatening platform.

I loved hearing the testimonies from some of the recent course graduates. It was awesome to hear them express their own personal journeys and new levels of success with their health goals and lifestyle changes. I can also see the on-going individual and community impact the program has had by the way they are already teaching and encouraging others. 

Lee teaching the Cooking Well nutrition segment

Cooking Well is tackling health equity barriers head-on and can reach a wide array of groups. Faith is foundational to the success of the program since the local churches are the portals to serving these communities. 

I love the “trifecta” of culinary, nutrition education and fellowship embedded in the Cooking Well class structure. The fellowship component is a key element of support and relationship that underpins the information and skills they learn in the classes. 

I am excited to see how Cooking Well continues to grow and develop and what each group get out of it. It will be diverse in successes as it is diverse in the groups that go through the course. I loved being a part of Cooking Well."

We appreciate Lee's hard work for CSM during her rotation as an intern and on-going involvement with Cooking Well as a volunteer. If you would like more information about Cooking Well, please contact Judy Vann. judy@csmission.org

Local Hero Helps With Disaster Relief…

Daniel, Michael, Davis, Jake and Sam 

The last month and a half has been a roller coaster ride around CSM. We have been taking in and sending out donations almost every day since the first weekend in September. We have needed a lot of helping hands to make that possible. As a small staff, we rely very heavily on our volunteer base to accomplish all the different tasks and facets of our ministry, and this past month and a half has proven that time and time again.

Jake Pratt (L) and the Vestavia crew were here working hard
to help Michael (R) sort water to send to disaster areas

There have been days that we have received truckloads of donations for the hurricane victims in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico. Many of these donations were unexpected on our end, and desperately needed on the other end. To meet these emergency demands, often without any way to quickly sort, palletize and ship those donations out, gave us the opportunity to see God’s hand at work!  Seemingly every time a truck, a large donation or a need arose, God sent us people to meet that need! One such volunteer that has been with us for the last two years is our local football hero Jake Pratt from Vestavia Hills High School.

Jake and his friends from VHHS have been coming to CSM for the last couple of years to help Michael Bowen every Thursday afternoon during the school year with our food/garden ministry. This month they have been 100% dedicated to joining in the CSM disaster relief efforts. Jake has had a busy senior year at Vestavia as he made the varsity football team, scored a touchdown in his first game, and got to do an official recruiting visit to Clemson University... not to mention his school work on top! However, Jake has remained committed to his service with us at Christian Service Mission amidst all of that.  Jake and his friends have been so consistent and so helpful this past month and a half to come in and box up water bottles, sort clothes and organize donations to send to those affected by these hurricanes.

To Jake and the rest of the Vestavia Hills ‘High School to Work’ Program, thanks a ton for your continued partnership with CSM and for all that you have done to help those in need in this time of disaster! You continue to help further the vision of CSM by helping us to connect resources to needs through the transforming of lives through the Gospel of Christ! You guys are awesome!

CSM Life-On-Life Housing Ministry

Mr. Bruner's neighborhood

Aaron Parsons and Randy Sain are CSM’s experienced construction and engineering experts behind all the reconstruction work of our Housing ministry in our under-served communities. They came in the office the other day excited to share how affirmed they felt in their ministry. “We go out in twos so that we can always pick each other up, no matter what we face in a day. We don’t want to be so hyper-focused on the tasks at hand that we miss what God is doing all around us. Every day we see how man makes his plans, but God ordains his steps. In our previous professional lives, we would have been head-down in our work. Now we see that the work puts us in proximity to people who need Jesus.”

Aaron (right) up on the roof

This is the story they told: Aaron and Randy left CSM one recent morning to check on the Samuel Bruner job, where they had workers replacing his roof. As they were leaving, an older gentleman mowing his yard two houses up the street sees Randy and Aaron and leaves his mower running to hurry in their direction shouting, “Jesus is Lord!” As they engaged in conversation with him this bold believer told them, “I am a street evangelist. This world is my church and everybody needs to know Jesus!” Randy and Aaron affirmed him, “Wow! The Holy Spirit is evident in you. We know the Holy Spirit is here and we are united in Him.”

Randy happy when he is helping others and has on the tool-belt

From there, Randy and Aaron grabbed lunch at a ‘meat-and-three’ near Acipco, where their waitress immediately let them know that she is “a street evangelist… out of the church and into the streets to share Christ.” Aaron says, “We were stunned to meet two people who referred to themselves as street evangelists within a matter of hours.” They felt that God was impressing on them that they were street evangelists, too!

After lunch, they returned to the truck and were about to pull out of the parking lot when we heard a tap on the window. There was a woman who merely said to them, “I am hungry.” Randy leaned toward her and said, “Hey kiddo, how are you doing? My name is Randy. Let’s go inside and get you something to eat.” They went back through the cafeteria line. The server looked at the woman and pulled out a “to-go” box. But Randy stopped him and said, “This is not a to-go order. She will be eating with us.” Then he told her, “Order whatever you would like.”

Completed Bruner house 

As they were finding a table, Randy flagged the “street evangelist” waitress and told her, “I am bringing the street to you! She is hungry and has had a rough time, and she needs prayer.” So, the waitress stopped what she was doing and prayed over the woman in a powerful way. Afterwards, the waitress looked at the woman and said, “You need to know that Jesus loves you,” then told Randy, “I can take it from here.”

Aaron and Randy were clearly moved by all that happened that day. “We knew we were seeing the perfection of God in a very simple thing. That is exactly what Jesus would do… comfort hurting people as a father or brother. We want to be open to engage with people so that they would be drawn to Him.” This is one of many ways that CSM brings the Gospel to Birmingham.

Hurricane Alley

The day after Hurricane Harvey hit Texas, we started receiving calls asking if we were going to collect donations and send supplies. Tracy said, “Wait. Wait and see where God is working and how we can work with Him.” Everyday there are overwhelming needs and we can jump to action in many different directions, or we can wait and pray and see where He is leading us.

By day two, we had connected with a national disaster relief agency who we have worked with in the past and who shares the same heart and mission of empowering the local church by providing support and logistical help when needed. This was the perfect group to partner with for these disaster relief efforts. They had workers in the affected areas assessing what was needed at each location so we could customize the supplies for them.

As you know, this has turned out to be an incredibly destructive hurricane season. We have had the opportunity to respond to the needs of our brothers and sisters in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico because of your generosity and support.

Twenty-four trucks were sent to Texas with locations in Houston, Beaumont, Port Arthur, Baytown, Rosenburg, Texas City, and Nederland carrying 486,362 pounds of relief supplies! Nine trucks were sent to Florida with locations in Bradenton, Ft Myers, and Hialeah Gardens bringing 237,797 pounds of supplies ready to help the people. Members from our Housing Ministry team and CSM volunteers are on their way to Texas to help with some of the rebuilding efforts this week.

Last week, we sent a container to Puerto Rico with 14,000 pounds of critically needed supplies, including water filtration buckets and bicycles donated from individuals and Bob’s Bikes of Homewood. We are so honored to be a conduit for your outpouring of love and support to those in desperate need around the country.

A Note From Tracy Hipps: Seeing God’s Hand — Even in the Storm

All hands on deck during disaster relief

This month Harvey arrived, lingered, and left behind a path of destruction and then Irma struck Florida and we are watching the Church be the hands and feet of God. In the wake of Harvey we were asked to assist with resources for Houston, Port Arthur, and Beaumont and then Florida. CSM has been in a position to help in the aftermath of both hurricane disasters with truck-loads of supplies. This is what we do: the Lord provides the resources and we open our hands to give to those in need. As of today, we have sent 20 trucks to Texas and 6 trucks to Florida totaling more than 600,000lbs of resources.

To recognize the hand of God, all we have to do is watch, listen, and connect with people. We see the Lord’s hands move here every day. We watched God provide resources to help in Houston in inexplicable ways. God provided the opportunity to share resources with friends we have served with for more than 20 years. One of our warehouse partners, MedMission, had gloves and masks that they were able to donate for us to send, critical items for dealing with flooding and clean-up.

One of our church partners, New Rising Star, had plans for a pastor from Beaumont, TX to guest preach but he needed to stay home and we were able to provide resources to his church after Harvey damaged so much of their city. The majority of the resources we have sent have assisted faith partners, providing resources to share the love of Christ with the people of their city.

It is important for me to acknowledge the hand of God moving in places. My hope is that people will see Him and believers will be encouraged and those whose hearts are being stirred towards God will see Him and be amazed. Port Arthur is located between Beaumont and Houston. My son, Tal, and his family live in Port Arthur where he serves as a first-responder with the Coast Guard. His family evacuated ahead of the storm, but Tal stayed to work and serve. After Tal reported damage to his town, church, and first responder’s homes, we were able to send supplies and a volunteer group to help clean and rebuild. My son has worked hard during the days after Harvey and I am proud.

To come along side what God is doing you need to labor where you are gifted in the place and season of your calling. My friend is the Executive Director of 'The Forge' in Houston. He has used these times to unify the churches so they can work together to help families in need. Antioch Church in Beaumont has used the four truckloads of resources to serve their community with the Gospel at the center. And, Hillcrest Baptist, where my son and his family attend church in Port Arthur, was almost entirely flooded. This week we have people there helping to restore it, sending with them supplies to encourage and share the Gospel with the community of Port Arthur. $10,000 needed to be raised for the restoration of this this church and as of today it has been done. My son and family are seeing the hand of God in all of these miracles.

As a ministry leader, community servant, man of God, and a father, I recognize God’s hand moving, acknowledging His actions in connecting resources with needs, and giving Him my hands to work and in praise for what He has supplied. His hand is at work by answering prayers and allowing CSM to come alongside what God is doing.

A Storm of Volunteers and Donors

This month has brought about unique challenges for the Christian Service Mission family of volunteers and contributors.  We usually have projects and volunteers planned out months in advance, but this month's natural disasters led us to rely more heavily on maximum preparation in a minimal amount of time. As soon as Hurricane Harvey was projected to reach Texas, we started preparing the warehouse for the receiving, organizing and shipping of hundreds of thousands of pounds of donations to send to the victims in Texas. Partnering with the City of Birmingham, we collected over 600,000 pounds and have sent 29 trucks of various shapes and sizes to Texas and Florida filled with items needed to rebuild.

With that being said, our list of emergency and short-notice volunteers definitely came into play for the early part of September. We had 250 volunteers from all over taking time off of work and school to work with us in the effort to connect all of these resources God placed in our hands (and in the warehouse) with the needs created by this disaster. Churches sent their staff members, youth leaders, and pastors.  Businesses sent their employees. Parents brought their kids.  The warehouse has been in non-stop motion for the last two weeks with volunteers unloading donations from trucks, sorting items in our warehouse, and loading them back onto trucks to send out to multiple cities in Texas.

 

The relief response has been a beautiful demonstration of how CSM connects resources with needs in a Gospel-centered and Gospel-focused way.  Families, organizations, churches and individuals donated tangible resources like canned goods, cleaning supplies, hygiene products, and money. Individuals that had available time or those that decided to make time to help others showed up to lend a hand. Truck drivers and owners of trucking companies donated tractor-trailers, 18-wheelers, and whatever else they had to bring to our warehouse. The donations were transported to Texas and distributed to the churches, faith-based organizations, families and individuals that needed them most. And now we are doing it all over again in Florida.

God is an awesome God and his servants are some awesome people!  Thank you all for your donations and support that help us reach people affected most by these storms as they seek to start life anew in the midst of tribulation and devastation.Please contact us if you would like to assist with the remaining disaster relief work we are coordinating and resourcing. michaelb@csmission.org

 

 

  

 

 

Donors have come from corporations, individuals, families, and even children collecting supplies to help out. They have driven from Huntsville and Talladega in rented trucks, borrowed vehicles, and even horse trailers. Whatever they could find to deliver supplies here! We are honored to receive these supplies and want to be good stewards of all that was collected with care and brought here. We tried to capture all the smiling faces but missed many because so many donations were coming in. What a blessing! Here are some of the people who helped collect and transport donations to CSM!

Blount County Pharmacy

Top Trails near Talladega

Unity Baptist Church, Kimberly

Friends from Huntsville

Guiding Light Church

Pell City Police Department

Arian Jack and friends

Hoover Fire Department

Gardendale First Baptist and Fire Rescue

Universal trucking company and volunteer driver taking donations to Houston!

DEX.YP employees donated hygiene kits

Donations galore!

Ashley from 98.7 Jamz!

 

Oak Mountain High School

St. Vincent's Blount County

Boots On The Ground For The Body of Christ

At this time, we are still heavy into Texas and Florida disaster relief.
We have ministry partners invested in sharing needed assistance
and hope through the Gospel in Houston, Beaumont,
Baytown, Port Arthur and now in the Miami and Tampa areas.

This past weekend, we got to see how God works through His people. One of our partner churches got a call this past Saturday, requesting housing for 40-50 people from a church in Tallahassee, Florida who were escaping the storm, including pastors General and Tinisha Bryant with their kids and other church staff and members. One of our main ministry partners in the Tarrant area had just renovated a dorm-style facility with enough bed space for over 50 people. When Tracy went to check and see if it was possible to open that building for this group, already headed toward Birmingham, he found a large group of church members there cleaning the building! They had planned for a “serve day” a few weeks before, and the building was in tip-top shape. The only things needed were twin mattresses, towels and linens, and food to feed the guests.

Meanwhile, back at CSM, a full-size moving truck backed up to our dock to load supplies to take to Texas, but we had pretty much given all we had away. In the meantime, a semi-truck broke down near Gadsden on its way to Florida with relief donations. The Boy Scouts offered to unload the container so that it could make its way to where it was needed, and brought the contents to CSM. CSM staff and a few volunteers were (miraculously) still here (on a Saturday) to help unload when the truck arrived, and load the moving truck ready to deliver.

Tracy was still at the church trying to make a plan with the staff for resourcing the needs there, and got a call from that driver. He had left CSM with a full load, but had been stopped at the weigh station for being 14,000 pounds over. Tracy asked him where he was, and found that the driver was only one mile away! You guessed it, when they unloaded the extra weight, the contents of the boxes included new towels, linens, diapers and an abundance of food. We had mattresses back in the warehouse, and every single need was supplied. You cannot make this stuff up!

We can assure you that your donations are strategically delivering relief and encouragement to people through faith-based organizations. We will continue to collect supplies and donations for hurricane relief, invest in partners who are committed to the Gospel, and invite you to be the hands and feet of the Body of Christ with us.

Right Direction Christian Center Asst. Pastor and family from Tallahassee, FL

Benjamin and Kerry Ann Rapheal, Nicholas, Jakin (r) and Mary

Evacuees enjoying God's abundant and timely provision

Plenty of towels!

Items that saved the day

Transformation by Cooking Well Together

Healthier and happier - Ms. "T" and Allie Sanderson, class instructor

We went to visit a group of ladies from one of our Cooking Well classes this summer. We discovered that the class participants have retained so much nutrition knowledge and are motivated to take control of their own health. They have been busy losing weight and changing their eating and cooking habits since they graduated from the six-week program. Now, they are watching their salt and sugar intake, cooking with cauliflower, making fresh mango salsa and encouraging their families to get healthy with them!

Here is what they had to say about their Cooking Well experience:

Intentional, interactive and inspiring classes

“This class taught me to apply healthier cooking to help with my diagnosis [MS], and for the health of my family.”

“Even if you get just one person in these class, it does its job.”

“My favorite thing about the class was the unity of the class and embracing our womanhood. It was such a blessing to sit down at the table together to see everyone walk through the door, ready to learn new things.  The food is just the beginning.  It allows us to cleanse in all areas of our lives, to sit down and just heal all of our hurts.”

“We don’t always get a chance to sit and enjoy each other’s company. This class allowed that time for fellowship, and it was so nice.”

Celebrating more birthdays
and better health

“The food and fellowship.  I know how to do new things like cut an onion and make mango salsa.”

“Learned about sugar and salt intake and what’s actually good for our bodies”

“I would love to get my daughter involved.”

 “My biggest takeaway was the different teaching techniques— like how to hold the knife, how to cut the veggies, and the different foods that are healthier like quinoa and cauliflower.”

“Our church benefited from it— we would like to see some of the men get involved.  They don’t tend to take care of themselves.”

“The class excited me to want to try different things and eat healthier. For example, the seasonings! I never would have thought to make my own seasonings without salt. “

Friendships forged in the fire of the kitchen

“The class gave me a re-start to think about health with my new sickness [cancer] and a place to share about what I was going through.”

“We learned about sugar and salt intake and how to use seasonings… to use salt afterwards instead of throughout cooking, and it still tastes good!”

“It gave us a way to unite together and communicate and find out about each other.  I like how we got together and learned and laughed at the same time.”

“This class made me concerned about what to eat and made me eat healthier.  I don’t eat fried foods anymore and I limit my salt”

“Your program taught us how to cook healthy and how we could become healthier. For me, it was an awesome experience that changed my life. It taught me to be healthier. When I found out that I have diabetes and high blood pressure, the doctor told me I needed to lose weight. I have lost 5 and half lbs since the beginning of the classes, and I have continued to lose weight. My doctor wanted to know what I’ve been doing, so I showed him my certificate from the class.”

Generations of change

“We learned about healthy food substitutions, like replacing regular oil with olive oil. Olive oil has a better, deeper taste that I enjoy more than regular oil.

“I see a big difference in the women group at church. I have a good friend who’s eating habits needed to change because of her health and now she’s been exposed to more variety of fruits and vegetables. It was the will of God to bring these healthy foods and vegetables to our church and help us get healthier.”

“I’ve been tricking my husband into eating healthier— like I’ve been using wheat spaghetti—
and my husband hasn’t even noticed!”

Class camaraderie

Discovering mangoes

Careful measuring

Add flavor, not salt!

Better grains - fresh whole wheat pasta demo