PLEASE PRAY FOR EILEEN!!!!

For those of you that do not know Eileen is in the Durham Regional Hospital. She was "mis-diagnosed" with a stroke on Tuesday by a local doctor. We went to the emergency room yesterday because she was experiencing pain in her shoulder radiating into her neck and down her right arm. Eileen is in very good hands now at Durham Regional. The Duke doctors are some of the best it is said. They say that it is not a stroke and that with a CT scan there are two areas on her brain that are causing her to lose some of the control of her right side. We want EVERYONE that prays to pray that this is not cancer!!!! Eileen had cancer about 18 years ago. They are working very aggressive on her that this is what they believe it could be. We know that the LORD is the HEALER and we pray that HE will take care of business today. I will be returning to the hospital shortly. I will keep everyone up to date as I can. We are so blessed to have so many praying friends and we appreciate all of you!!! I need my partner back at my side! Please pray!!!

WILD DAY ON THE STREETS OF DURHAM....

The roads are in absolutely terrible shape out there today. They really do not seem to have a clue on how to plow the roads here. Major highways with only one lane clear two days after a less than 6 inch storm??? The side roads were in very bad condition. Several times we had to go back and forth to get going.

Anyway, Chris Ferrer and I set out to check out the homeless camps and the less fortunate today. We started at one of the homeless camps which we were able to drive right down to not thinking that the uphill slope was as steep as it was coming out. I will get back to that but I was very glad that we went to them. We were able to load them up with different things that they needed. They also told us of how they got the kerosene heater going and how excited they were about that. We gave them heavier coats, toboggins, gloves, blankets, can goods and other food. They had more guys that had moved in the camp since the snow storm. Chris with Javier and Manuel. Now this was the situation as we started to leave the homeless camp. As I said, it was much steeper than it looked. The was a layer of ice under the snow and we thought we were going to make it but only about 50 feet from Holloway Street the rear end started sliding and I knew we were in trouble. Chris and I tried to get it out then I sent Chris to get the homeless guys to help. That didn't work then more people came to help off the street but that didn't work. Then I thought to call my buddy Lee Clayton and he and LeeAnn came down with his Bronco. We had flagged down Lemon's Towing because they are neighbors too. Lee hooked up but he could not get. The van is a one ton van and with it being on a slope we had to have Rick from Lemon's hook up and we were able to get it out. Rick had called Brenda and she said that they would only charge us $25 which was a great deal. When I went to tell Rick that I would have to stop at the house to grab some cash then go pay for it he told me that Lee & LeeAnn had already picked up the tab. That was a blessing! Rick from Lemon's Towing gets ready to hook it up. We really appreciate our neighbors giving us such a great deal.

We had so may ministry opportunities today......

We were able to minister to a lady in one of the Food Lion's that was carrying a quart of beer. She said as many do that she was "a Christian" and that the quart was not hers. I asked her if she was sure that she wasn't a "sippin saint"??
We had a good conversation about living a "Holy life" if she was going to profess to be a Christian.

I had gone in to put the cart back and when I got back out to the van Chris was talking with a young man. He had got his girlfriend pregnant and they were going through a very rough time. They did not have any food so we met them off the Food Lion property and hooked them up with some food.

With the extreme cold many people were wanting blankets. One lady desperately needed a electric heater which we had on the van. We could have passed out many more blankets but I did not think that we would need that many so I only took 15 out. This is what our trailer looks like right now. The supply is pretty good but we will go through most everything before we come out of this cold snap. We so much appreciate the three people that donated to make it easier for us to be able to get the larger coats and other things we need.

As usual, we appreciate so much all of you that help us to do what the Lord has called us to do. God Bless you all!!!

PLEASE PRAY FOR THE HOMELESS

This is what it looks like this morning in Durham. It is very cold out there! Please join us in praying for those that are living out in this weather right now. My only regret from yesterday was that I did not go and get 2 batteries for the kerosene heater. Louis told me that he could get them but I would be relieved to know that they are being warmed by the heater right now. It is hard when we sit in a house warmed by a furnace along with the luxury of a fireplace and think of the conditions that we see people living in on a daily basis.

It also grieves me to think that so many people in this country are so ready to write a check to help in places outside of this country but they close their eyes to what is going on in their own cities. Please don't get me wrong, I know that countries like Haiti need help right now but why do people close their eyes to what is going on around them??? I can take people on tours any day of the week and show them people that are struggling for food, people that sleep in abandoned buildings and many more things that are destroying peoples lives. I also know many ministry people across this country that do the same type of ministry that we do that struggle to make it. Why is this??? I see so many churches in this area that have "Haiti drives" going on when I have never seen them do anything to help the people right outside their own doors. SAD!!!

Our only desperate need right now is for XL, XXL, and XXXL coats, hoodies, and sweaters. We have much colder weather coming in Sunday night which will put the temps into the teens. We do have a place where we can purchase these at a very reasonable price. If you would like to donate to this you can do so by mailing your tax deductible check made out to RAVEN Outreach Ministries to:

6300 Leesville Rd.

Durham, NC. 27703

or you can go to our website http://www.ravenraleigh-durham.com/ to donate by PayPal. Just click on the donate button.

We thank you for praying and any help that you can provide in reaching this need. Also, please keep the following scripture in mind....

Proverbs 19:17 If you help the poor, you are lending to the LORD—and He will repay you!

We are also trying to get help with our fuel bill for the van. I am talking to pastors about their church purchasing a tank of gas every other month. It would be a donation of $600 a year per church ($50 a month or just $12.50 a week from the plate). It is very close to $100 every time we pull into the gas station. We are trying to get 8 churches (or individuals) that would partner with us for this. We hope that this will be "new partners" not those that are currently helping. If you are a pastor we ask that you prayerfully consider helping with this. If you are not a pastor and would like to present this to your pastor I would be glad to speak with them. Sometimes we use more than a tank a week but this plan would save us $400.00 a month which is our largest bill outside of our rent. It would be a great blessing to get this taken care of. We sincerely thank all of you that help us to do what we do. There are so many people that have been such a huge blessing to us and this ministry that the Lord has entrusted us with.

God Bless you all!!!

Visiting the Homeless Camps Prior to the Snow Storm

There are people living in the middle of this thick wooded area tonight. This scene is not the same now as it was this afternoon when I was out visiting the homeless camps. Now the temperatures have dropped and we have a coating of snow. We have heard of forecasts of 6-10 inches of snow. We sit in a warm house tonight but I can't help but think of how our friends are doing during this weather. I took a kerosene heater that was donated out to this camp this afternoon. A huge thanks to Karen Hagwood for picking up a gas can for me and keeping me from battling the crowd in WalMart today. I stopped and filled the can up with kerosene then headed to the camp. No one was around except for the pups when I got there so I opened a container of ham salad and fed them. How could you help but take care of a little guy like this??? He is really growing fast though. He was so small when we first started visiting the camp. I was finally able to locate Louis (not pictured here) then the two men above came by from another camp to visit Louis. They were good on food but were in need of clothes. Our good friend Kenny Bigham had donated some clothes so these two were able to get in on them. The guy in the background was able to get a pair of insulated coveralls which brought a broad smile to his face and a face of envy from the other guys. Louis starts carrying goods back into the camp. We were also able to load this camp up with food. We had a large hunk of deep fried turkey from the deli of Food Lion that we gave them along with bread to make many sandwiches. We also had a couple cheesecakes that we were saving for our meeting tonight but I gave them away today at the camp without knowing. We are glad now that these guys were blessed with them along with many other items. We know for sure that they have enough food for at least a few days. I also gave them several blankets.

We will check on them as we are able with the weather conditions that are expected for the next 24 hours or so. I have mentioned this before but I must say it again that some of these guys have said that they would rather live in the U.S. in these conditions than to live in the native country. As many of us sit in our comfortable homes could you please join us in praying for the men of these homeless camps. I did not see any women or children today which is a very good thing.

• NOTICE: We are extremely low on men's coats. We need larger sizes XL and up.

We want to thank all of you that contribute whether financially, labor or prayer for this ministry. The Lord is touching many lives through this ministry and we are so happy just to be part of it. ---- God Bless you all!!!

MCDOUGALD TERRACE SUNDAY SERVICE & FOOD DISTRIBUTION

I was back at the McDougald Terrace Projects again for now our regular Sunday service. Eileen has been having trouble sleeping so she stayed home. I had around 20 people that I ministered to today. I ministered on people professing to be Christians but not living a Christian life. I spoke to the kids and told them that they must develop a relationship with the Lord themselves and that they must not follow what they are seeing the adults do around them. As you can tell by the picture of the old store that this place is so run down and with that the people are so beat down. I told them that they must put their faith in the Lord and rise up. It is is sad to see the kids exposed to the gang bangers, drug dealers and so many parents (I should say mothers) that have no idea how to raise kids other than yelling and cussing at them. I also made reference to the young man being shot last week and the fact that if people are in sin and they end up dying in that sin then they are headed for hell for all eternity. I thought I might face some opposition because of one of their own being in critical condition and thinking of him going to hell but they were all focused as I ministered on this. The Word was very well accepted and the people for the most part were respectful.

After ministering I had food to distribute to them. I had problems last week with one woman taking too much food so I talked to her about it and then said that she would not be allowed to handle the food anymore is she did it again. I picked another lady to help her but again she ended up trying to hoard everything for herself. I called her on it and she threw a fit. She has got all the other people scared of her since she is large and loud. She tried her same routine on me but I shut her down and told her if she chose to take all the food she would not get any in the future. She tried to get the others to side with her by saying that she was getting the food to help other people which they did but as soon as she was away they thanked me for putting her in her place. Next week she will not have any participation in passing out the food due to dropping the "F" bomb in church.

One of the ladies explained to me that the reason that everyone gets so aggressive is that their kids usually do not get the things that we bring for them to eat. We believe that more laborers will hook up with us to make this easier but also Eileen and I are working to make this "their own" meaning the people of McDougald. So many times they get treated like hogs with people dropping food on the corner and leaving. I shared during my message that we care for them and that we want them to succeed in life. Three ladies that really want to take a role in making this work asked me to pray for them before I left. Overall I really enjoyed McDougald Church today. I am also doing a service at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday's at the Oldham Tower Highrise.

GOOD NEWS TODAY - the young man that was shot in the head is still alive. I will be visiting the hospital this week to hopefully speak with family members. If this young makes it I would love to build a relationship with him. I would love to see him get his life together and see that a life with JESUS would be better than the thug life he was living before. One of the other ladies called and asked if I would visit another resident that is in the hospital. She is suppose to call me with full names so I can locate these people.

For anyone interested in joining us we will be doing a 2:00 p.m. service every Sunday (weather permitting) We will cook once a month in the park. We will be meeting in the park every week starting next Sunday.