Four weeks ago I announced that the Hancock County Planning and Zoning Board approved the site plan for the “Mercy House.” Day before yesterday I posted pictures of the beginning of the new construction. Lord willing, the building will take shape next week. The above drawing renders our idea of what the finished facility might look like. We still need to decide on the color, but Mrs. Bea and I both like the color shown. 🙂 What do you think?
The Lakeshore Mercy House will host our expanding mercy ministry which includes all the efforts currently taking place out of the “Distribution Center” quonset hut on our church property. If you have been following us since the storm, you know that thousands of folks have received assistance through our benevolence efforts. Food, clothing, household items, and other things donated to the church get distributed out to the community from here. This important ministry will continue through the permanent facility.
The location has also morphed into a sort of “third place” where locals congregate in a casual environment to gain support and encouragement from our volunteer staff and each other. While many come in looking for hard tangible assistance, like food for the night, others will often stop by just to say hi and continue relationships forged in the immediate crisis aftermath of Katrina. Daily fare often includes impromptu counseling sessions, prayer meetings, words of encouragement, evangelistic encounters, etc. We pray that this this ministry that God has graciously established will continue, flourish, and expand in the new facility as we point people to the mercy of Christ through the gospel of grace.
The Lakeshore Mercy House will also enable us to add new components to our mercy ministry. Please join Lakeshore Baptist Church in prayer as we seek God’s will in future direction and opportunity. Possibilities on our heart include financial management seminars, drug and alcohol addiction intervention and mitigation, biblical counseling, various food assistance programs, tutoring, and other things.
If you would like to contribute financially to this project, you can send donations to Lakeshore Baptist Church PO Box 293 Lakeshore MS 39558 designated for “The Lakeshore Mercy House.” Don’t forget, the ministry continues to depend on donations of food, clothing, and household items for distribution. Please see our “needs page” for a list of suggested items if you can help in this way. Thank you so much for standing along side of us as we continue to minister help and hope in the name of Jesus Christ to our community.
5 Comments
What a BLESSING!!!
Can’t wait to see the finished project.
Our love + prayers continue,
Paula + Barry
That color doesn’t work!
I kinda like the pink. Looks very New Orleans to me ;>)
[…] The newscaster, Jeff Lawson, summed up our desire well when he quoted, “Give a man a fish and he eats today – Teach a man to fish and he eats the rest of his life.” This seminar is the first event of its kind as we strive to enhance our mercy ministry with education. As we help families become more self sustainable we want to combat poverty in our storm ravaged community. We look to host events like this in the Mercy House on a regular basis. […]
[…] A few weeks ago a group from Missouri built the forms and last week a team from Oklahoma poured the concrete footers for a 1200 square foot storage building that will serve our mercy ministry. A 30 X 40 metal quonset hut, similar to the church, will sit about 20 feet out the back door of the Mercy House. We have poured the footers, now we need crews capable of pouring the slab and erecting the building. If you would like to help with this project, contact us to schedule your mission trip to Lakeshore. […]