Gib & Wanda Welch

I was the director of Living Water for 5 1/2 years.  When I became director, Gib Welch & Herman Mos became my two biggest supporters from day one.  I overheard someone complaining when I brought a coffee pot into our chapel to serve our guests the first Friday...but I heard these two defend me that day.  They both would come up alone on Wednesday mornings and get organized before the rest of the volunteers came up on Thursdays to bag groceries.  They would sit down for a few minutes and drink a cup of coffee--and I started joining them for that cup of coffee.  Soon, Herman began baking a loaf of banana nut bread and bringing it to go along with our coffee.  (I didn't know for the longest that Herman was baking the bread.  I'd tell him each week to thank Billie, his wife, for the bread!)  It became such a special time.  One day I realized that I had a wealth of wisdom sitting with me each Wednesday and I began picking their brains.  I got input for that ministry.  I asked life questions.  And I fell in love with those guys.  Herman went to be with the Lord several years ago.  After that, lots of people joined us for our Wednesday morning breakfasts.  It became my favorite morning of the week at Living Water--eating something, drinking some coffee--but most of all fellowshipping with some of my favorite people in the world.

Gib kept coming and helping at Living Water and still came for coffee on Wednesdays.  Most of the time, he'd cut his time with us short so he could get home to take care of Wanda, his wife, who had back problems.  But on days she was feeling well, she would come with him and join us for coffee.  She had a wonderful sense of humor and used it to keep Gib in line.  They were so great together.  They celebrated 66 years of marriage this past fall.  I always regretted the day I started keeping hours for individual volunteers at Living Water and turning them in to a volunteer base.  I think when Gib began seeing how many hours he actually spent at Living Water, he decided it was time to back out and turn the reigns over to someone else.  He felt like he needed to be home with Wanda and take care of her with her deteriorating health.  Of course, we understood and blessed him.  And I've never seen a leader like Gib--he was a servant leader who embraced every volunteer and helped them find their place at Living Water.  He led with grace and love and he backed out the same way.  I learned so much about leadership from him.  Gib had been in leadership at Phillips 66 and even trained leaders.  After getting to know him, I knew our church had missed out on having such a treasure in leadership.  Gib always taught Sunday School, but never felt led to become an elder--but he's probably the truest elder-at-heart I've ever met.   

When I decided to resign from Living Water, Gib & Wanda were the first people I told.  I wanted to give them the same grace they'd always extended to me.  They loved me well.  After Andy & I moved to Groom, we would run into them at The Plaza in Borger when we'd go back there to eat and get to hug them and visit with them.  Every time we saw them, Wanda would tell me, "We miss you so much!"  The feeling was mutual.

Wanda finished her journey here on this earth today.  She is celebrating a new body today in heaven!!  I know God greeted her with the words, "Well done, my good and faithful servant!  Enter into the joy of the Lord!"  Gib had surgery this week and is in the hospital.  I know he's grieving--over losing the love of his life of whom he took such diligent, wonderful care--and over not being there.  Please pray for my friend.  I love him deeply and I know he's hurting.  Pray for his physical healing, too!

Cindy's Christmas Miracle

I'd like to introduce you to Cindy Burris. I love this girl! I first met her at Living Water. I knew that she went to Grace Fellowship and was attending Frank Phillips College at the time and soon learned that she had a liver problem and was on a liver transplant list. I liked her...a lot! But that's about all I really knew about her. And boy! Was she growing spiritually. The glory of the Lord was all over this girl. After watching her life the past couple of years, I asked her a few months ago to give her testimony at Living Water. You could have knocked me over with a feather!! I had NO IDEA of her past until then....and never would have guessed it. Not suprisingly, several people were saved that day.

So...when I was praying and thinking of who to ask to come speak to a group of mostly women at our Christmas Toy Give-Away today at Living Water, Cindy came to my mind. So I asked her to come and she did. She did a great job---you can see a video excerpt of her testimony below.

But back up. She came in last week and told me she wanted to buy a toy for one of the kids. Now we had 145 kids registered for Christmas gifts, so she got to choose from any of them. We were talking the whole time she was looking, but she said, "I'll just look through these. Usually the Holy Spirit will just show me which one to choose." And then she came to the name of a little one-year-0ld girl and she said, "This is the one." So she took the name and bought several gifts for that baby.

Today. Today was our big Christmas Toy Give-Away. Andy & Ember sang a song that they're going to sing in our church this Sunday. Then Cindy spoke. She didn't speak long, but she shared her story and her heart. And four people prayed to receive Christ. After the service, we called numbers and people got their toys and began giftwrapping them. Cindy stayed around and helped people giftwrap. As things were winding down, she was talking to a young mom who told Cindy she liked what she'd had to say. Then she told Cindy that she'd grown up in church, but had gotten into trouble---and ended up in prison. As she talked, Cindy noticed the gifts that the young woman was wrapping. She looked at this young woman and said, "I've been praying for you and your daughter all week. I'm the one who purchased these toys for your daughter." I do believe that God led Cindy to that name that day. What a miracle for God to put two lives who walked such similar paths together at Christmas time.

Another miracle is what God is doing in Cindy's life. Cindy lost everything at one time. She lost her family, her relationships with her children and grandchildren. She lost a son and a grandson. She lost her dad this past year. She's lost her health. She lost all of her earthly goods. And she has an income of only $600 a month, she told us today. But God has restored so much. He's restored her relationship with her family (which is why she's so excited in the video about her granddaughter calling her). He's restored her health somewhat---she keeps getting good reports! She's finishing her counseling degree at WTAMU and hopes to help children dream again. And God has restored her finances. Even though she only makes $600/month, she gives and gives. Her house is fully decorated for Christmas and there are gifts under the tree for everyone she loves. God has blessed her and restored her. I love Christmas miracles!

Thanksgiving at Living Water

I'd love for you to check out Living Water's blog and see what God did there today. We served 159 families! Wow! But it didn't come without a battle. We had 2 men pass out (strange!), 1 woman have a diabetic meltdown, the preacher's pick-up broke down and he had to walk to get there, etc., etc. That's when you know God is up to something good---and Satan doesn't want it to happen. Seeds were planted in 190 people's lives. Now that's amazing.

I have no idea how this precious baby slept through the craziness of our morning! But isn't he beautiful? Don't you love how Piglet & Tigger are looking at him?

What my hubby brought by today...

Isn't he the best???

Comforting

We had a death in the Living Water family this week. Terry was a client who'd been coming to LW for some time. She went to visit her daughter in Oklahoma and had a heart attack and died there. It was shocking. She'd been ill with a hernia that was infected and I'm wondering if that led to her heart attack. I don't know. But she wasn't old---she has young adult children. And they don't know what to do. They don't have money for a funeral. I checked with our county---because they do burials if the family doesn't have the money to pay for one. But because she died outside of our county--even though she lived here--they can't help. So I called the funeral home in Oklahoma that was holding her body and they told me that Oklahoma isn't set up that way---they don't do county burials. Everyone was frustrated. The funeral home wanted to know what to do, the family was desperately trying to raise the money for the most basic of help, and...it was just sad.
But there was a ray of hope in the midst of it all. This woman was a believer. There was fruit in her life. So I checked our records and found where she'd prayed to receive Christ into her heart in 2007. That was so amazing. And it gave us all such hope. And...it made me want to redouble my efforts at Living Water. It's such a mission field---and those fields are ripe!
Please be praying for Terry's family.

Two lives redeemed

The following is a photo journal of 2 lives redeemed. Kelvin & Cyndy met at Living Water and were married this past week. It's been sweet to see what God has done. It was also amazing to see people step in and help them. You'll see some familiar faces along the way. And of course, there were those who helped whose photos weren't taken....

I've earned my pay!

This weekend, I developed a facebook page for Living Water. I've been wanting to do it for awhile, but after the seminar I attended this weekend, I decided it was time. It took most of the day to do it---not that it was hard, but just adding friends, etc. I hope you'll add me as a friend if you have a facebook!
Today, I developed a blogspot for Living Water. We live in a day of technology so I decided it was time to add Living Water where most people live---facebook and blogspot. Through these avenues, I hope to make people aware of the ministry we do here. I'm very passionate about Living Water--mainly because I'm seeing lives being changed. But it's also a great place to volunteer. We're a family. A family with a common vision to help others.
Anway, you probably already know about Living Water and what we do. But if you don't, I hope you'll take a look at our pages and become acquainted.

Still learning....

Do you remember when I told you about Mr. Vinson? The hard lesson I learned from that favorite teacher was to read instructions. I realized today that I still have a problem with instructions. I created a facebook page for Living Water and couldn't figure out why Lissa could create a facebook page for her business and I was having to fudge to get my business' name on the page. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS, BECKY! There's a facebook just for businesses, in case you ever need to know that. (By the way, go become a fan on Lissa's facebook page---I need that prize she's giving away!)

I also went to a conference for Living Water yesterday put on by the food bank. I went last year, but totally had my mind closed to learning. I didn't want to be there. But with the fasting I'm doing from being critical, etc., I went with a new attitude this year. And I learned. Amazing! Not only did I learn, but I actually got excited about some new things I plan on implementing at Living Water. Facebook pages for our ministries was mentioned last year, but I didn't do it until this year. I think that new attitude had a lot to do with it.

And speaking of learning, did you know that the median age/profile for facebook is a 55-year-old woman? I love it! (I learned that at the conference.)

I'm learning so much more through this fasting experience, but I just can't bring myself to share it yet. Learning isn't always easy....or painless.

Living Water Library

I'm wanting to start a library here at Living Water for our clients. I want to have Christian books for them to take home and learn from. My policy will be that they can have it---or return it for others to use. So...if you have some books or videos or DVD's (fiction, Christian living, history, children's, biography) just sitting around, would you consider donating them to Living Water? Or if they're good, clean secular books or videos or DVD's, we'd like to have those, too!

One month later....

I ran across these photos tonight and thought I should post them. At Living Water, we gave school supplies to 144 kids this year---a record high. Last year, we helped 117 kids and spent $22.00 per child. This year, we spent $27 per child---that's how much things had gone up in one year! As much as was possible, we tried to supply the entire list for the kids.

This is only the supplies for Stinnett, Fritch and Spring Creek schools on the tables. We'd already bagged the Borger kids' supplies before I thought to grab the camera.

It takes lots of crayolas these days.
You can see some of the filled bags (white trash bags) in the background.

There was lots of stuff....

even piled under the tables.

I think teachers are predicting a flu season....

Meet Mandy

This is Mandy. Mandy is one year older than me---she's 54. And she has quite a story. Mandy has done drugs for years. And she's also been married a few times---15 times, to be exact! I wish you could come to Living Water and meet her---you'd love her instantly. Mandy used to come for groceries but now she just comes to hear the Word and to share God's love with others. Mandy was saved about a year ago at Teen Challenge and was also delivered from drugs. She's been clean for 9 months now. She also attends a weekly recovery program at Fellowship Baptist here in Borger. They've helped her alot. And she mainly shares her story with other people who come to Living Water who are also doing drugs. She has a passion to see other lives transformed. Mandy's 15th husband still does drugs--so it's a daily challenge for her to be around the stuff and stay clean. But she puts the rest of us to shame. She's pulling people up out of the pit and telling them about Jesus. This past week, she brought 2 of them to me who needed help. It was so exciting to be able to call Lindsey's mom, Shala, who works at Faith City Ministries and partner with her in getting help for one of these girls. (Please pray for Joyce---she needs to get clean. She already knows Jesus, but sometimes it's a long way out. And pray for Shala as she deals with these women on a day-to-day basis to help them.) Mandy had also brought a young man at the same time who desperately needed help. He was addicted to drugs and had tried to kill himself twice recently. She had found a place where he could go for a year to get off of the drugs. Mandy was telling him about Jesus. She had a little different evangelism technique than most. She asked this guy if he wanted to spend his life in hell! He wasn't sure, so Mandy whipped out her cigarette lighter (still has that little habit) and flicked it open and held the flame up to this guy's arm. She asked him how that felt! Did it burn? Didn't he know that hell was going to be much worse than that??? (LOL!) Before Mandy got him into this rehab place, he jumped out of a window and cut himself all up and is now in the pavillion. But they're working on getting him well enough to send him to the place Mandy had lined out. I'm telling you...Mandy is a preacher. She can't be at Living Water without sharing her praises---and she can't do that without preaching a little at the people present. She just wants everyone to find the same freedom she's found. In the meantime, Mandy is being transformed. She's just a sponge. Everything she learns, she quickly applies to her life. Something you wouldn't know about Mandy if you met her is that she can't read. But that doesn't stop her. She's memorizing the Word at a steady speed. And she doesn't just memorize it, she believes it and takes it to heart. She actually cried when she found out that hell wasn't created for us, but for Satan and his demons. I have to be honest with you....Mandy challenges me. She questions everything I believe and wants to know why I believe it. She forces me to go places I've never gone. And she is a wonderful contender in the kingdom of God---she doesn't believe there's anyone too far gone for God to love and bring back. I just looked up the meaning of Mandy's name. I wasn't surprised to find out that it means, "Worthy of love." I think God loves this girl a lot! I'm wondering if she's not a lot like Rahab. Redeemed.

*I just had to add this since it just happened (again) and refreshed my memory. Mandy has been giving regularly to Living Water since last February. She just wanted to give back since we'd helped her. She also comes by occassionally and loads up her large car with our excess clothes and takes them to her neighborhood and gives them away. Love in action....

Gib preaching

I did it!
I videoed Gib preaching at Living Water.
And 8 people were saved that day.
I love this man!
Amazing.

Gib

Gib. He's 80 years old and volunteers at Living Water. Back in the day, he was an overseer at Phillips and trained managers. That has come in handy at Living Water. He may not be the fastest worker at Living Water, but he's steady and meticulous about details. He keeps track of our food (71 tons of food will come through Living Water this year--so it's no small task!). He rotates the food so we'll have first-in-first-out on our shelves and in our freezers. He always knows what we have and what we need to order. He rotates what we give to our clients each week--and this is all written on a board so every other volunteer is able to do their job of filling the bags. Gib is the best kind of leader. He leads with love and humor.

But that's not what Gib does best. Gib preaches. About once a month, Gib lets me know when he has a new message ready. He labors over it and prays over it. There have been times when he's told me that he's had to scratch the whole thing and start over. He'll test out the high points w/ about 3 of us on Wednesdays when we sit and drink coffee together. And then on the Friday he's preaching, you can find him in my office about 20 minutes before we open our doors, preaching to himself. He'll give it out just like he does to the crowd--right there in my office--all alone. I wish you could hear Gib preach. In fact (light bulb moment!), the next time he preaches, I'll have to video a few minutes of him doing just that. He's not exactly eloquent--he reads most of his sermon. And even though he's not a great orator, his messages are simple and yet profound. He's a great believer of the Truth and the power of it to change lives. And therein lies Gib's greatness.
We've seen a pattern when Gib preaches. Hundreds have come to Jesus in the past 2 years when he gets up to preach. I remember one week when 18 were saved. I think there's been a minimum of 2 getting saved when he preached. This week, 13 came to Christ when Gib preached about heaven and hell. He's a gifted evangelist. In fact, I'd say he's anointed. But I think Gib would tell you that it's the fact that he gets out of the way so God can do what He wants to do...because that is his constant prayer as we pray together. And I would tell you that I think it's because of the hours of prayer that Gib puts into each message.

Gib is my hero. I want to be just like him.

I love this photo of Gib. This is Gib in action--and the way we see him most days at Living Water.

Is it just me?

Or does it seem particularly crazy this year before school starts? It's not just the purchasing of school supplies at Living Water for 141 kids and returning about 1/4 of what we bought. It's the BUSYNESS of the last few weeks! It's just been CrAzY!!!!! I don't remember it being this bad when I was trying to get 4 kids ready for school.