Father's Day is a hard day for many people. It's a day set aside to honor fathers, but the reality is that many of us don't feel like honoring our fathers. Why? Because many of us have not been given a very good image of fatherhood. For many, the term “father” refers to a man who abandoned us when we were small. For others, it brings to mind an angry man who beat us or a perverse one who abused us.
When someone spends the night at the Visalia Rescue Mission, that person is not a client or a consumer of services, but an overnight guest. Overnight guests are treated with dignity, respect, and love. That is the mood and attitude of this organization, founded in 1981, to represent the church to the homeless, formerly incarcerated, and people with addictions in Tulare and Kings Counties.
H.O.P.E. Sanger formed six months ago when a small group bonded together to give hot nourishing meals to those in need. Julie Mendoza is the leader of this successful organization and she loves every minute of the fast pace and heavy workload. H.O.P.E. Sanger is made up of about 25-people which includes pastors from 11-local churches.
If you ask the Rev. Dr. Sharon Stanley to describe Fresno Interdenominational Refugee Ministries (FIRM), prepare to hear stories. For Stanley, it is the story that makes the ministry, the story of short term assignment that became a life time labor of love, stories of the aspirations of new Americans, stories of hopes and dreams, and stories of the struggle to adjust to a new culture, language, and land.
Less than 30 minutes drive from Reedley, in the little mountain community of Squaw Valley, sits Mountain Valley Community Church (MVCC) under the interim leadership of Pastor Chris Lewis. A core group of members in this country congregation have taken on the mission of making life easier for men and women in the Armed Forces. They have never turned away any military person someone wanted added to the ministry.
How many times have we heard the tragic news of a terrible forest fire sweeping through a forest, taking homes and sometimes even lives with it? It is always such sad news, and many times the fire is started by a little spark: somebody dropped a cigarette without putting it out, or somebody didn't put out their campfire.
As we approach Presidents' Day in America, we are reminded of the legacy left by important leaders who helped lay important foundations for the nation in which we live.
George Washington was a general who helped lead the colonists to independence and then later served as this nation's first president. He helped lay the foundation for us as a nation.
In this day and age, Christian outreach is a difficult thing to accomplish. At Reedley High School, students prove that they can overcome this difficulty and provide a Christian outlet for students on their campus.
It's amazing how many people I hear talking about what they consider to be the most terrible of sins. They usually focus on sexual things when they do so. However, I would like to suggest today that one of the truly most terrible sins is something that you actually find running rampant among many of the people who talk the most loudly against sin.
Dinuba native Jason Naylor is setting off on a new adventure in missions.However, his adventure may be different than what many people imagine missions to be, reflecting a growing field that is embracing a multitude of talents and new skill to accomplish its goals.
