ABC's of Salvation Outreach & Ministry

[Amela]

Greetings to all,

I wanted to share some of the latest activities regarding our online store ministry with those of you who are passionate about spreading the Good News of Salvation in Jesus through the things we use.

A few months ago, the Lord blessed me with an opportunity to partner with some friends and their church groups from the Calvary Chapel Kaneohe. I was asked to come up with a product that would best support their planned homeless outreach. After brainstorming with the team on several different ideas and submitting sample products to them, they zeroed in on a medium-sized cooler tote bag (much like a lunch/snack bag) with the ABC’s of Salvation printed on it.

The idea is to give the homeless individuals something they would want to keep that has the powerful message of the ABC’s of Salvation, unlike a paper bag or cardboard box that would wind up littering the gorgeous beaches of Oahu where their encampments are located. The bag would then be filled with necessities such as bottles of water, food items, toiletries, and whatever else the group decides.

After this project to the homeless was shared with an online member and sister in Christ, she also took it upon herself along with her family members to do something similar in their community in Colorado. They then came up with this awesome idea of creating water bottle labels that would share the love of Jesus through an anointed message. Their plan is to swap out the orginal water bottle labels with the ones I then created, and put the water bottles into the Cooler Tote Bag with some food items, a Bible, toiletries & hygiene products, perhaps a long-sleeved T-shirt that would help keep them warm in the coming fall and winter months. We also have a set of pass-along Bible promises and prayers that they might include in the bag or perhaps as an insert inside the Bible.

I haven’t been posting lately about our small business ministry but thought I’d share this latest development with those of you who may be prompted by the Holy Spirit to do something similar in your community.

My husband and I will be doing the same in our neck of the woods. The homeless population has exploded here in the Sacramento area. We will be going to the dollar store for covered tumblers to put the stickers on, and also for socks, toiletry items and the like, and will keep fresh bottled water and food bars in the car to include in the bag. We also plan to prepare some burgers or chicken patty sandwiches before visting some of the smaller encampments and distributing the bags.

For now, we keep a box of the ABC cooler bags in the car in case we see someone who needs food or cash. If there is time to buy a burger and a drink or any food item from the grocery store, my hubby (this is his role in the ministry ) then places them in the bag and hands them over with a word of blessing. A few days from now, we will have cooler bags filled with goodies that would send the powerful message of eternal life in Jesus through the ABC’s of Salvation on the bags and through our humble acts of kindness and love under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, for the needy and the lost around us.

Below are photos of these items with links to our store, in case you’re led by the Lord to use our products for an outreach of your own.

COOLER TOTE BAG WITH ABC’S OF SALVATION

JESUS IS THE LIVING WATER STICKER

PASS-ALONG BIBLE PRAYERS & STICKERS

We also have some FREE bumper stickers available while supplies last.

I would greatly appreciate feedback and any other thoughts and ideas on how we can all extend the love of Jesus through outreach activity during these last days, before we meet our Lord face to face.

Matthew 25:40 - "The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

In Jesus’ love & service,
Amela

[Amela]

Vicki,

I’m so humbled by your encouraging words, dear sis. Cried tears of thanks and praise to our Lord as I read your message for how He sent you into my life, to help lift up my spirit. Aren’t we just a pair of old cry babies for Jesus!

I’ve previously shared with you that I constantly come under attack by the enemy’s minions in the area of discouragement. I get bombarded a lot by lying spirits that my work for the online store doesn’t really mean much. I KNOW that is not from the Lord because what I do is all about spreading the good news of salvation in Him. Pastor JD touched on this a few weeks ago in his Bible study on Jeremiah, how the enemy and his minions like to employ the weapon of discouragement as their number one tactic against Christians. That was so eye-opening for me and helped put things in the right perspective that the problem is not just me and my insecurities, but a real full-blown spiritual attack.

I thank God for you, Chris, Heidi, Bob and other brothers and sisters in Christ who have been such a source of encouragement in your friendship, love, partnership and support. GR, Pax, Melinda, Carole, Stacey, Stephanie, Letitia, Paula, Greg, Erica, Tina, Lya and many others who have also partnered with me in sharing the love of Christ through sharing their designs and ideas, and supporting use of our products.

My struggle to keep the online store open is a real one. By the world’s standards, my small business venture is a complete failure as it has never returned any profits since I opened its first secular version in September 2018. This is somewhat difficult for me to accept, as my flesh struggles in the area of pride and goes against every grain of what I learned and achieved in my past corporate career. A few changes to my chosen niche finally brought me in December 2020 by the guidance of the Holy Spirit who is truly our Divine Counselor to where it is now, focused exclusively on the mission of spreading the gospel through our products.

My husband and I realize at this point that this has now become a ministry. Were it not for his adamance that I keep it open, I would have shut it down probably earlier this year. The most amazing thing that tells me it is God’s will that I keep it open is in the area of finances, in how the Lord provides just enough to keep it up and running through other funding sources from our personal income outside of the business.

You are absolutely right that there are many different ways we can share the love of Jesus with others. This was the basis of my whole argument with the hubby, that there are many ways we can still serve our Lord wholeheartedly without keeping the store. But what makes it a keeper is that it allows me to partner with other brothers and sisters in Christ who have a similar mindset of sharing the gospel through things they wear and use. A handful have searched the web and found my products to be exactly what they were looking for, to spread the Good News. And everytime I get that type of feedback, I put everything down and have a good cry with tears of joy and a divine humbling that He can use someone like me in His service.

Keep doing what you’re doing, sis. Kindness through a heartfelt smile, an encouraging word and unannounced random act of helpfulness is what this fallen world needs so much more of. Your prayers for others, including me and my family, are a powerful way to minister and show love.

Humanity is teetering on the brink of the end of the Church age, and I praise God for how He brought all of us together for such a time as this, under the covering of our beloved pastor. Pastor JD is a rare breed, and he has provided this forum through his online church for all of us to stay connected. Pastor is unique because he walks the straight and narrow path, staying very close to the Lord and shunning today’s culture of materialism and self-focused activities driven by social media. He dares to incur the ire of many and the loss of would-be supporters through his bold preaching and teaching. And he keeps it real by being so transparent with sharing his own anxieties, fears and struggles. He needs our prayers and support as his spiritual battle is at a much higher level, even as he continues to serve us by rightly dividing the Word of God in truth and divine anointing.

It was Pastor JD’s preaching on the ABC’s of Salvation and the graphic designs of Chris @fluidicice that inspired me to go down this road, and for that I will be forever grateful.

Love from your sis in Christ,
Amela

[anon74937514]

What a great way to get the ABC’s of salvation inn the hands of many people.

Everyone needs and appreciates the items you mentioned.
I will check out your store again

I’m in a heavily populated Mormon area so to hand out necessity items versus just a witnessing tract could bring better results / conversation.
I’m going to brainstorm on how I can piggyback off this using your items and still me of my own ideas.

[anon74937514]

Could you repost the link to your store ?
I found it

[Amela]

Hi Stephanie,

Glory to God that you see the potential in this type of outreach to really touch the hearts of others. The great thing is that as we pray about it, the Lord gives us our own creative ways to build on other people’s ideas. What was birthed in Hawaii has moved to Colorado then California and now Utah (assuming that’s where you live)! Praise Jesus! So excited to see where else this could go.

Below is the link to my store, Amela’s Chamber - amelaschamber.com

God bless,
Amela

[Amela]

We were able to get our first outreach done last Sunday after the Prophecy Update. Glory to God! It was so exciting!

My eldest daughter had her monthly infusion treatment that day at the UC Davis Cancer Center (she doesn’t have cancer but she has mixed connective tissues disease, a very rare and complex type of autoimmune disorder with overlapping lupus, scledorma and pulmonary hypertension). She needed us to give her a ride home because my son-in-law had to go to work after dropping her off, and near the medical center area in mid-town Sacramento are small pockets of homeless individuals who have taken up residence along the sidewalks.

All in all, we loaded 12 cooler bags with items from the dollar store and our kitchen. Do you know that everything is now $1.25 at the dollar store? At least in our neck of the woods, inflation has definitely hit the store. But we were able to get so many great items to put in the bags: toothbrush/toothpaste kits, soap bars, socks, hand sanitizers and covered tumblers.

I then placed the stickers on two different kinds of tumblers as they didn’t have 20 pieces of just one type. The white ones are just the perfect size but the taller colored ones fit in the bag too.

That Sunday morning, my hubby made ham and cheese sandwiches that he cut in half and stacked so a whole sandwich could fit better in the bags. I took whatever individually pre-packaged items we had in the pantry: breakfast biscuits, almond cookies, crackers and some Ricola cough drops. The night before, we bought a bag of small apples to add. Everything fit very nicely!

On our way home, he parked near the streets where we had seen some potential recipients. There was a group of about 3 people in one site we visited, and another group had about 8 people a few blocks away. He didn’t want me to come along with him and take photos, so the best we could do was this photo of a gentleman who just recently began living on the streets because he had lost his job and could no longer afford rent. As my husband waved at him, he biked up to the back of our car and my daughter then snapped this photo.

The night before, we talked about and prayed over what he was going to say to them to open up the conversation as he would hand out the bags. “This is from the Lord Jesus, He loves you! Just follow what these ABC’s of Salvation say and believe in Jesus!” He would then engage them in conversation and weave in the message of eternal salvation in Jesus. My hubby can be very chatty and he had a great time engaging with them. One guy apparently admitted to still being hooked on drugs. Three couples in one group shared that the surrounding neighbors called the fire department on them when they lit up a hibachi grill to cook their meals. They had so many stories to tell.

It breaks my heart and boggles the mind to think that California has the fifth largest economy in the world (!) and yet we have the largest number of homeless residents in the country. A true testament to the brokenness and evil behind our current system of government, even as our tax dollars are being used to fund abortions for anyone who wants it, including from out of state.

BUT GOD!!! I truly believe that by the power of the Holy Spirit and His grace, we can continue to do these types of outreach activities. For now we have 8 more bags allocated for the initial batch and will get more from our inventory. Please help us to pray that they were touched by their conversation with my husband, and that the powerful message of the ABC’s of Salvation on the bag, and Jesus is the Living Water sticker on the tumblers would call out to them to receive the gift of salvation by surrendering their lives to Jesus. All glory goes to God!

In Jesus’ love & service,
Amela

[staceylovesJesus]

@Amela this is wonderful what you’re doing for Jesus. you have a beautiful heart that shines so brightly. i wish you lived close by so i could do this with you. btw i love my backpack i ordered from you. God bless you sweet sister

[anon74937514]

LOVE IT
What an awesome ministry you and your family
have and you never know who or how many could turn to Jesus because of what you’re doing.

It’s awesome and just touches my soul

I am in the process of putting together the ABC’s of salvation stickers onto tumblers to give out to whoever I can when I’m out walking or running errands.

Also I just received numerous “ Halloween “ tracts to pass out with candy.
I always put up a sign on Halloween that says:

Make sure the only ghost you allow in your life is the HOLY GHOST!

I know many are opposed to Halloween but for me, it’s a good way to get the gospel out to children/ young adults.

Bless you and your family for being faithful to the Lord.

[Amela]

Thank you, Stacey! I really appreciate your encouraging words, it is sweet music to my ears and a balm to my soul. Yes, I too wish I could physically do this with you and other brothers and sisters in Christ! As it stands right now, your kind thoughts and suport for our products is partnership enough with me to help keep us going.

I love that you love the backpack, and it is also a way to share the powerful message of freedom in Jesus with others as you use it. That was one of my first original designs and I thought it came out well, by the leading of the Holy Spirit. Sarah (my youngest) uses the same backpack to Aim Higher, which is the adult day program she attends. God bless you too, sweet sis!

Hugs in Jesus,
Amela

[Amela]

Thank you, Stephanie! All glory truly goes to the Lord! I greatly appreciate the encouraging feedback because it helps to motivate me even more. Of course, doing it all for the Lord is the main driver! You’re doing some awesome work of your own as well for the Lord!

You just gave me a wonderful idea! One sister from the forum sent me a bunch of ABC’s of Salvation magnets, and we can pass these out to the kids as well on Halloween. My husband and I were kind of debating on whether to give out candy since we don’t celebrate Halloween, but he wanted to cheer up the kids and so we’ll be passing out goodies. I love the message on your sign and may copy it, if you don’t mind! God bless you too!

1 Corinthians 10:31 - “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

Hugs in Jesus,
Amela

[anon74937514]

Yes! Post a sign

I am going to hand out candy with a tract.

I figure this, kids will trick or treat regardless so at least coming to my house they’ll have a chance for the gospel to be given to them.

Hugs in Jesus to you too , Amela

[Amela]

Dear Vicki,

Bart used to do volunteer work with a non-profit group doing homeless outreach, whose founders went to the same church as we did. As for our own outreach activity, this was our first.

The answer to your question is no, Bart didn’t keep track of the numbers nor did he have any follow up conversations with anyone he previously met. We don’t plan to do this for our small ministry either. Most of these individuals are transient, and the encampments are usually temporary locations as the city governments around here tend to just sweep the problem under the rug so to speak, by constantly relocating them. After we give out the bags, we release everything to the work of the Holy Spirit and continue to pray for their salvation and growth in the Lord. And yes, the gift of salvation is hard to contain to one’s self when received, and we trust the Holy Spirit for His divine movement in how the good news can be further shared in this regard. It’s the same concept we employ in our online store mission, which is that others would share the gospel as they are led by the Holy Spirit while using our Scripture-inspired products.

Our next outreach will be in a different location as the Holy Spirit leads, so the chances are low that we will run into the same people. But you never know how the Lord may allow paths to cross once again. We surrender all to the work of the Lord and simply go with His flow.

Love you too, sis!

Hugs in Jesus,
Amela