October 8 marks 6 months of service

The past 6 months have been a blur.  Many residents have come and gone and the vast majority have found employment and housing which has always been the goal of Johnson County Christian Lodge.  In the first 6 months we have served 4844 bed/nights and 9826 meals.  Many families and individuals have found a safe place to stay while they put their lives back together.  Many churches have stepped up to the plate to support us financially.  God has provided bountifully for the needs of these residents.  We have had as many as 6 families at any one time giving us a maximum total children of 16.  We underestimated our need for family rooms.  We built 2 and have needed many more.  Men's and women's bunkrooms have been converted to family rooms as the need has arisen.

On a day-to-day basis life goes on pretty "normally."  Parents go to work, children go to school, laundry is done, floors are mopped and meals are prepared.  The one thing that is missing is that these things don't take place in the residents' own homes.  But they are working toward that goal.  Pray for these diligent people as they work to create a new "normal" for themselves in their own homes.

New Paint Job

Even as work continues inside the outside of the Lodge doesn't change much except for the new coat of paint that was applied on October 3. Thanks to United Way's "Day of Caring" and Cleburne's "Christmas in Action" about 45 Cleburne High School students painted the exterior of the new structure. The new color really makes a difference.

Inside the work goes on. The plumbing has been completed as has the wiring, framing, air conditioning and we are nearly ready for our inspections. When that is completed we can put in the insulation and hang the drywall. Then things will really snowball. The men's ministries of Field Street Baptist Church and Nolan River Road Baptist Church have volunteered to put up the drywall.

God has been good and continues to be as a $50,000 donation was received just last week. This should enable us to just about complete all of the construction. Now we look to equipping the place with furniture and appliances so continue to pray as we seek his will.

That Volunteer Spirit

I am constantly amazed (I shouldn't be) at the broad spectrum of people who have expressed an interest in volunteering at the Lodge. Lots of people have lots to offer but many don't see that they have anything to offer. I substituted as a Bible Fellowship teacher this past Sunday and the title of the lesson was "Have You Found Your Place?" It told of how Moses gathered the workers to build the taberacle and how almost everyone had a skill or talent or gift that could be used in this process. Exodus 36:2 says, "Then Moses summoned Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the Lord had given ability and who was willing to come and do the work." Note that there were two qualifications: "every skilled person to whom the Lord had given ability" and second and most importantly; "who was willing." The Bible says we have all been given a gift, ability or talent. Now, are you willing? Many retired people have a lifetime of learning and experience that God can use in a wide variety of ways. They also now have the time to use those God-given abilies. How about you? Have you found your place....and are you willing? We can use you in helping these folks who don't even have a home.

A spirit of cooperation

This week I have seen a spirit of cooperation among those who are helping us get the Lodge completed. The size of the Lodge requires us to have 3 heating and air conditioning units and so we called on three different contractors to help us out. After hearing about our need AirMasters, Dugger Bros. Heating and Air conditioning and Pinnacle Heating and Air conditioning stepped up the plate and each donated a unit and all of it's installation.

The picture shows, from left to right, myself, Wade Treadwell,Laura Brondy and Tomas Davis from Dugger and Shane Roye from AirMasters. A representative from Pinnacle was not available.

I think that this spirit of cooperation is just evidence that God is working in this project. We have had so much labor and material donated that there is no way any person can take credit for what is happening.

Stop by and take a look at the facility when you get in the area. We are just 3 blocks east of First Baptist Cleburne on the corner of Wilhite and Willingham.

If you would like to help support the Lodge you can go to our website http://www.jcclodge.org/donations/ and give through PayPal. You can either give a one-time gift or you can subscribe to a monthly donation which can be stopped at any time. Or you can just send a check the old-fashioned way. Either way you will be helping support a long-needed ministry here in Johnson county.

The Lodge Becomes a Reality

Welcome to the Johnson County County Christian Lodge blog. This is the place to come to for the latest updates and happenings at Johnson County's only emergency housing facility. My name is Bill Wissore and I am the newly appointed Executive Director for this ministry. I will be updating this blog on a regular basis.

We hope you will keep track of our activity and check back often. If you would like general information about the Lodge you can go to www.jcclodge.org, but if you want the latest news just check here.Please feel free to leave your comments as well.