Big Things Happening!

Well, it has been a while since we last updated our blog, so here goes!

We have continued to make our every other week visits to two different downtown Augusta locations. This last visit marked our 18 month anniversary. To say we have learned a lot, seen a lot, heard a lot, experienced a lot would be an understatement. Sadly, it seems almost every visit now, when we ask for updates from “regulars,” that we are told of deaths of folks we have witnessed to in the past. Personally, this gives me even more motivation to develop relationships and continue to share the Good News. The phrase, “we aren’t promised tomorrow,” certainly resonates with us.

Enough melancholy news…we are making a difference! Along with the reality of death and illness, we are also meeting new “friends,” hearing new stories, and almost every week we are blessed through prayer, appreciation, and the kind words “God bless you.” ​

This past visit, we were excited to see a few friends we hadn’t seen in quite a while. Wayne, aka “Goose,” had been in Burke County the last few months, and “Pops” had been helping a disabled friend moving into a new location. Pops usually will pray before we distribute food, and he is a powerful prayer warrior. He always prays for “the men who take their time to minister to us, to bring us food, and encourage us to walk a path of righteousness.” He will also usually pray for our families, which means so much.

Now for some perspective…3 visits ago, we met a young lady and her son at Mercy Ministries. I wasn’t able to talk to them, but most of our contact is with men, so when we see a lady, someone in our group will make an extra effort to bring them anything we can to help. The fact that her 2 year old son was wearing a Thomas the Train t-shirt, the exact shirt my son has, prompted me to ask about her situation. Turns out her boyfriend had kicked them out, burned all of their clothes, and they were on their own. We were able to put together a bag of clothes for each of them, but we haven’t seen them since. Keep that family in your prayers.

Now for a cool story….2 visits ago, we pulled into Mercy and saw a gentleman painting a picture—he had sketched the figures with a pencil and was painting them in when we arrived. His name is Arthur, and his talent was undeniable. The most remarkable thing was his palette…he didn’t have anything more than what even a child would use to paint—he had several colors basically blobbed together in what appeared to be the top of a carry out plastic lid. Amazing. Awesome. Very cool.


As always, we are grateful for you who pray for us and have partnered with us in this journey. We are making a difference…hands and feet,

Graham

Get Involved With Us!

We'd love to have anyone in our community get involved with what we do at Kingdom Here. Every other Wednesday we leave from Warren Baptist Church's parking lot (KFC side) at 6:45am and visit downtown Augusta to minister to the homeless. For first timers- don't worry about bringing anything other than yourself! Our next trip down will be February 22.

If you can't make a trip down with us here are a few things we are always in need of:
- New athletic socks
- New men's underwear
- New or gently used tennis shoes (men's & women's)
- New or used backpacks
- Soap & Shampoo
- Razors
- Toothpaste & Toothbrushes

And of course we are always grateful for your tax-deductible monetary donations. Click on the paypal link to give online. Or, checks can be made payable to "Fireside Ministries" and mailed to PO Box 2525 Augusta, GA 30903. Be sure to put "Kingdom Here" in the memo line of the check.

God is moving in downtown Augusta. We'd love to have you partner with us!

In Memory of Tommy Winters

We received a letter a couple of days ago that I thought would be well worth passing along to our supporters and ministry partners:

"My son and daughter-in-law, Michael and Lynn Winters of Evans, GA, told me your organization 'Kingdom Here' could use some help in the ministry to the homeless.

I am enclosing a check for $100.00 as a memorial gift in memory of my granson, Tommy Winters. He died on December 30, 2005 at the age of 19.

Hope this gift will help you a little bit in your ministry to the homeless.

Sincerely,

Kathleen Winters"


What an incredible way to carry on the memory of Tommy by helping those in need! Kathleen's gift not only honors her grandson's life but will also provide 100 meals for men and women in downtown Augusta who otherwise would quite possible be hungry that day. Here's a big thanks to her.

It's also worth noting that Lynn, Tommy's sweet mother (who Kathleen mentions in her letter) has been one of KH's most committed supporters. Every other Tuesday night, without fail, Lynn drops off crackers, juice, clothes, shoes, hats, & WHATEVER else we might need for our Wednesday morning missions. Lynn doesn't do this for any sort of recognition. She does it because she believes Matthew 6:19-21:

"19Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and ruste destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

We are incredibly grateful for people like Kathleen & Lynn. They truly are the hands and feet of Jesus.

So, here's to Tommy!

Be Love!
Jamie for Kingdom Here

Year End Update

Well, it has been an awesome first year of learning, meeting new folks and spreading the Good News to the homeless community in downtown Augusta. While the first year has taught us many new lessons, we have found several truths to be consistent:

1. God is working in downtown Augusta in numerous ways
2. There is an awesome opportunity and need for local folks to get involved in our community
3. We have a daily impact on the people we meet, and potentially an everlasting impact!

We have also been blessed with contributions and donations, and the partnership with Fireside Ministries and Industries. However, since we make trips every other week, and average seeing 60+ folks a trip you can imagine how any supplies we build up diminish quickly. Currently, our biggest areas of need are toiletries (soap, deodorant, shampoo) and winter clothing (stocking caps, gloves, socks, jackets). We are also in need of a self storage unit where we can store supplies and clothing. If you can help us with any of these we'd be most grateful.

Thank you for taking a few minutes to read about this ministry, and we ask that you pray for our continued progress. We would love to have anyone join us for an early morning trip! We leave out from Warren Baptist Church's parking lot every other Wednesday at 6:45am. We hope you'll consider joining us.

From all of us at Kingdom Here Ministries we wish you a Christmas filled with Christ's blessings and a New Year of love and HOPE!


Graham for Kingdom Here

Kingdom Here on The Morning Show With John & Cleve

Hey folks!


In case you missed it this morning, we had an opportunity to visit with John & Cleve on The Morning Show at 88.3 WAFJ. You can listen to the entire interview below.


Click here for Interview


Special thanks to them for allowing us the opportunity to stop by and tell them about some of the awesome things happening downtown.


Be Love!


Jamie for Kingdom Here

What's Been Going On?

Greetings supporters and encouragers!! It has been a while since we posted a blog, but let me assure you this is NOT a result of us twiddling our thumbs. In fact, the last few months have perhaps been the busiest we have had as we near our 1 year anniversary as a God-focused, feet on the streets, Bible-sharing, biscuit-providing crusade to reach the physical and spiritual needs of the homeless folks in our downtown community. I thought I would just update you on what we’ve been doing.

It seems that each time we make a trip (every other Wednesday) we are learning some new way to be more efficient, more effective, and more impactful. We have had more “first timers” in the past 2 months, and I am sure I will leave someone out so I apologize: Tim Smith, Alan Smith, Drake Carter, Pastor David McKinley, Don Brandenburg (Beau’s pop,) Sean Allen, some youth from WBC, Wade McNeil. These folks give us great encouragement…we usually have a “de-brief” after our trips, and when newcomers share their experiences and thoughts it really means a lot to us and gives us more motivation to keep on keeping on!

We have also been working (in coordination with our ministry partner Fireside Ministries and Industries) on some video clips to better share our story with a larger audience. You can check those out here and here and let us know what you think. Another thing we have done a little differently to better serve and keep some inventory is to focus on 1-2 clothing items and 1-2 hygiene items per trip. This has worked very well on many levels, and helps us monitor inventories and requests much better. For example, we may bring just toothbrushes and toothpaste for hygiene, and just socks and underwear for clothing. We will always have breakfast and juice and water (thank you for you consistent support Mrs. Lynn Winters), and Bibles. One of the most exciting days is what we call Shoe Wednesday. We do this once a quarter, and our next day to bring shoes is Nov. 16, so if you have some softly worn or decent shape used shoes, we’d love to have them! Our last Shoe Wednesday was August 10th (huge thanks to Hitch-n-Post for their help,) and it just warms our hearts to see these folks putting on their new shoes. They show them off to other folks and they are so proud of their new kicks! Also, we would like to extend a big thank you to Drs. Will Anderson and Adam Scott for donating a ton of toothbrushes and toothpaste recently—that was awesome! They will go to great use soon.

We have shared some very applicable and powerful scripture lately as well. This is another fairly new adjustment we have made—having a Bible Study/Devotional time. They last few weeks we’ve read from Heb 4:12-13, Col 3:23-24, and 1 Peter 2. We start at each location (Salvation Army and Mercy Ministries) with the devotion, then we ask one of our friends to say the blessing, and then we hand out the food and clothes. Actually, our friend Donnell (who was baptized a few months back) won’t let us start the devotional without praying first!! Is that awesome or what?!?! I can’t tell you how good it feels when these guys pray for our group, the ones physically there and the folks supporting us. They do appreciate what is happening what we’re all doing.

We continue to meet new folks and learn their stories each week. Just this past week, we met a sharp gentleman. His name is Porter, and he gave me a copy of his resume! He has a college education, is well spoken, and seems to be the type of guy who just needs a break. This is actually one of the goals of our group; of course to reach them spiritually, but also line them up with work and folks who can give them work. That is one of the many reasons we partnered with Fireside and Phin Hitchcock—someone who is actively rebuilding and reclaiming downtown, Harrisburg, etc…one block at a time!

As you can see, things are going well, but we are always looking to share our story with new folks, so please pass this blog along. There a many ways to help us: pray for our visits and that these folks would be open to what we have to share, donate anything you are getting rid of—clothes, shoes, etc.., ask folks you know who may be able to make similar donations, make a financial (tax deductible) contribution, or simply join us one Wednesday morning. Thank you for all you do, and we’re making a difference!!!

Graham for KH

Zac's Take on Kingdom Here

Our bro, Chuck Young, put together a great video of our other bro, Zac Martin, talking about his involvement & the heart of Kingdom Here. You can check that video out here. A huge thanks to Chuck & Zac for making this thing happen!