Newsletter Update

Neighborhood Ministry
Newsletter Update

The Son of Man Will Judge the Nations

Matthew 25:31-40 “….When the Son of Man comes in His glory….will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me. “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.

Dear Beloved Saints, It has been a while since my last newsletter. In a moment I will discuss why I picked the verse above. But first I would like to fill you in a little since my last newsletter.

So much has happened personally in my life in this past year. You may have even been wondering if this ministry is still going. Well, I am pleased to say that it is. In this past year I’ve had tragedy hit my family in the form of murder as well as hardship and many trials and tests have followed, but I also am very pleased to announce that in September of last year I got married to a very wonderful God fearing woman with 5 children so now I am a father of 6 children, which keeps me extremely busy! Since I cannot raise 6 children with 8 of us living in my trailer that I had before, I had to move. Now, we are living right outside of Chesterton City limits here in Indiana. However Our mission to the at risk neighborhoods remains the same.

There are about 3 projects that we are currently working on....

1. To record my testimony on a DVD and send it to as many people as I can. It is my deepest hearts desire to bring hope, and the message of salvation through the gospel and through my testimony of what the Lord has done in my life. My intention is to reach as many people as I can that are struggling with such despair that they feel they may have no hope at all. I have also put it on YouTube....

Youtube video titled: Overcoming The Odds By The Grace Of Jesus Christ: By Doug McGowan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wmsuh1G5-hU&feature%E2%80%8B=youtube_gdata_player

If you would like more information, or to schedule a visit or a speaking opportunity please let me know. It is my passion to help as many people as I can through the Lords message, and to glorify His lovely name.

Now, these next two things especially the third one are the reasons I picked the bible verse above.

2. A community Garden. The Lord has placed it on my heart to have a community garden so that it could provide healthy food but also to establish relationships by the community getting involved together. Being that I have no knowledge of how to do a garden I was reluctant to do this but as I brought this idea to people it was overwelming of the response I received that YES you should do this! So I take that as a confirmation. I have presented this idea to the trailer park in Portage where I used to live and surprisingly they said yes we would like for you to do this and they would provide the land for free and the water for the garden! However, the owner of the park recently changed his mind after realizing how much is going to go into this. So, now we are in need of a new place to put the garden.

3. An awareness of homelessness. Recently I have received an invitation to partner up with this ministry to help raise an awareness of Homelessness. this ministry is called PADS. And this is thier site...

http://www.sspads.org/box_city.html

The intension is to join together and raise an awareness of Homelessness by staying all night in a cardboard box out in designated areas. This is opened to anyone, even preteens and teenagers along with adults. It is Neighborhood Ministry's passion to help those who feel they maybe stuck without hope. We feel this is a great opportunity to meet them where they are at and at the same time gain a small understanding of what they go through on a regular basis.

Please consider these needs. There are so many people out there that are stuck without any hope at all! All they may see are their surroundings which can be extremely overbearing. I think back to the time before I gave my life to my precious Jesus. I was screaming inside with so much hurt and anger and hopelessness. I needed someone to come along side of me and speak with compassion and understanding to me but more than that I also needed truth about the ONLY one who could save me!

Brothers and Sisters, sons and daughters of the King, won't you please join with us to help those who may feel stuck with no way out and shine light to them that there is HOPE! There is SALVATION! And you have the answer in your heart which is the Gosple of Jesus Christ! They need you and God wants you to express this to them!

Thank you and God bless you and may His countenance shine upon you!

Doug & Cyndi McGowan
Neighborhood Ministry Inc.
"Shining God's light to our neighbors"

This is why I hate religion!

Jesus was a homeless man who hung out with fisherman with prostitutes and tax collectors and surrounded himself with people who had catchy deceases. He probably smelled bad because he was homeless and was with fisherman and the bible says he was an ugly looking man. Now, lets put this into perspective. People with leapercy would be like people with aids today but would have the shame from people as if they were a sex offender. And a tax collector was someone who was a cheat who was a greedy thief and a traitor.

So, would we (as a church) let someone who smelled bad, was ugly and homeless and who had thieves and prostitutes and people with aids and sex offenders as friends. Would we let someone like that into our lives and be friends with that person? Would we let Him into our church building with a glad and sincere heart? We need to consider who Jesus the Christ really is and what is his heart. His heart is agape love and mercy to every need everywhere no matter what you think is comfortable!

Get rid of religion and replace it with a close intimate relationship with Jesus Christ and show mercy and Love to a person who needs Someone to care! Jesus hates religion!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chXECFpGwu8&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Lowly Jesus shows up as lowly people

Jesus is in the lowliest of places with the lowliest of people. Just a few moments ago I heard of a story that was on my wife's FB page that just broke my heart and it reminded me of this.... It breaks my heart to remember there was one time a man was waiting to get into the church building one Sunday morning when I went to unlock the doors. He was a black man that had a mental disability and he had been sleeping on the park bench all night by the doors of the church. As I approached the doors with church keys in hand he said to me (with an usher standing near), "can I come in and help serve?" I said "sure! We would love to have you." the usher pulled me aside and said "you have to get him out of here. He is scary looking." and I can't help but think of the passage in Matthew 25:33-46 where God separates the sheeps from the goats.....

"He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' "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.' "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' "He will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

We must never forget what Jesus has done and always be mindful that Jesus always ministered to people like that in the lowliest of places!

How do I truly Surrender and give it to God?

Years ago I had a friend who was and still is a believer in Christ. And when I would talk to him about trying to stop having these sexual urges and lusting He kept telling me "you got to surrender and give it to God" and I would just say I know and I would just kinda go on my way not really knowing how to do that. I mean really! How do you give something that is not tangible that you can't hold in your hands to someone who is not tangible and you cannot see or hear? At least that was my way of thinking at those times before I became a follower and believer of Jesus Christ. You see, I went to college for design and engineering classes and I have an associates degree in Design Technology. I have 17 years experience in that field so I like to grab hold of things that are tangible to understand it. If i can't see or hear it that it is hard for me to believe in it so this concept was really difficult for me. And then the Lord finally revealed it to me. It's not about me and my feelings. I am a very feeling oriented person. I think we all are. And it is easy for me to go on my feelings and let them lead me throughout my day and letting them determine how I respond to certain things. But if I do that then I'm saying its all about me and what I'm going through and how I feel. And that is a lie from the pit of hell! As I think about this I'm reminded of the lyrics to the song "Surrender".......

"I'm giving You my heart, all that is within 
I lay it all down, for the sake of You my King 

I'm giving You my dreams, laying down my rights 
I'm giving up my pride, for the promise of new life* 

And I surrender all to You, all to You 
And I surrender all to You, all to You 

I'm singing You this song, I'm waiting at the cross......

I believe that to surrender our will to God means that we first start with a filter. By that I mean we need to take a look at what the Word of God says. Are we living according to His will? Are the circumstances in our lives a result of disobedience? Or are they simply out of our control? All we have to worry about is to simply obey. Follow what the Word of God says and you can't do this on your own! It's impossible for anyone except Jesus! So we need to ask Him to help us follow His way. Then simply release it. In your heart and in your mind just release it and know with a clear mind that your doing your part to the best of your ability to do what God wants and leave the results up to Him. Sometimes this may mean you do just the opposite of what your feelings are telling you. If your depressed because you feel lonely then find someone who is in need and help them.

This is what it means to take up your Cross daily and Follow Jesus. 

Praise to our Lord!

Saturday I got an urgent call from a lady in Florida saying one of her relatives who is 7 months pregnant is living in a van with her husband and the van isn't even theirs. So, I put out the call and thanks to Pastor Allen Wright and the New Life Wesleyan Church in Chesterton, this couple have a place to stay for a while. Praise the Lord and thank you Pastor Allen!

Update

Just a quick update.

Yesterday New Life Wesleyan Church in Chesterton had a few local ministries like NeighborLink Porter County, Chesterton Campus Life, Frontline Foundations to share about what God is doing in the area. And Neighborhood Ministry was one of them. Since yesterday we have 7 new people who want to help spread the good news of Jesus Christ to our neighbors in need! There are some other doors that the Lord might be opening as well.

What has been on my heart recently is to see if we could get the children in these neighborhoods into summer christian camps and/or Sunday schools or basketball camps. I would also like to see if we could have a way of getting people to the church by van or by bus. I know that there are few churches in the areas of Chesterton, Valparaiso, and Portage that have vans or busses that may be able to help in that way as well as the summer programs for kids.

A couple more things that I think we could do is simply just pray with the people here in the trailer parks and see what God does from that. There are aprox. 7-8 trailer parks within 2 miles of each other and around 1,000 trailers around here and that is just within a couple of miles here on rt. 20! And if we can team up and go with at least 2 people at a time, that would be a good thing. I can't tell you how important it is to have women helping becuase there are a lot of single moms who need us to help. So with new people from New Life Wesleyan Church we have both men and women who can help. This is tremendous! Thank you Jesus!

I'm open to any thoughts you might have. I will be talking to a few people in the next few days to see if this can happen. Please keep praying! God is responding!

Newsletter Update

Neighborhood Ministry

Newsletter

Revelation 3:8 “. . . See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength . . “

2 Corinthians 12:9 “. . . My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Dear Beloved Saints, I am learning to love my Jesus more and more all the time. I am made complete only because He lives inside of me. Without Him, I am nothing. With Him I can be whatever He calls me to be.

These two verses came to me the other morning as I was thinking about what all God has done in me and through me. The verse out of Revelation says that God opens what He wants to open and shuts what He wants to shut, but as He opens a door for us He equips us even when we ourselves feel weak. The Lord wants us to bloom where we are planted.

The second verse out of 2 Corinthians says that He doesn’t always do what we want Him to do but rather His grace which is Him giving something from Himself that we certainly don’t deserve but He does it out of LOVE! And this grace is enough for us and it is made perfect even when we are weak.

I have to say that without the second verse, the first verse would be impossible for us to do. These two verses go together. There have been countless times that God has placed an open door for me but it’s up to me and only me to go through that door, but once I do His grace fills me with strength. Perfect example of this is actually before I was born again in May of 2006 when my life was a pit of mud. And I knew God was calling me to live for at least 6 to 12 months at Pure Life Ministries in Kentucky where I would have to give up my good paying Engineering job, leave my son and my wife and all my friends to go and live in the middle of nowhere in the hills of KY with 55 other guys who I didn’t know who were in a depressed state just like me! I mean talk about stepping out on faith! To be honest, maybe half was faith but the other half is I didn’t know what else to do. None the less, I did it and as soon as I made the decision and took steps toward that decision His strength came pouring in!

I would like to share with you some things that the Lord has done lately. Back a few months ago the father of my ex-wife became very ill with cancer and became obvious that he needed to be cared for 24/7. So, He ended up living at a nursing home in the area. My ex-wife, her brother and my son cared for him day in and day out. Then as his health started to decline I felt the need to go and visit him in the nursing home but given the situation that his daughter is my ex-wife it started out kind of awkward for me. So, I asked if I could visit him and my son went to ask him and he said I could as long as I don’t preach to him. You see, This man has always said he didn’t want to hear about God and about a few months ago a woman lead him in the sinners prayer but he still didn’t want to talk about God. So, I asked the Lord what to do. Then I got a clear and precise answer. God told me to be there every day serving him for whatever he needs even if it is just to sit there next to him while he sleeps. Now, approximately 10 days before this I felt the Lord say to me to fast for 12 days straight and He was going to do something at the end of the fast. I’ve fasted before but never 2 days in a row let alone 12! So, I put it off for about a week until God said its time to make up my mind to do it. So, everyday I went to the nursing home and my “ex-father-in-law” really enjoyed me being there. But he got worse and worse. And as he slept I just prayed over him quietly. Then Saturday Febuary the 5^th came and when I got to the nursing home his breathing was very shallow so I held his hand and prayed as he slept the next few miniutes of his life. I realized later that day he died was the 12th day of my fast! I'm not saying that God saved him. That is between him and God but I am saying that God is true and keeps his promises when we pray according to His will. So, I believe God spoke to him and gave him the choice to surrender. Praise the Lord!

One last thing, I really need your prayers. I have been asked to speak at New Life Wesleyan Church in Chesterton Indiana this Sunday. I want the Lord to speak through me about this ministry and glorify Him in it. Please pray that I don't stick my foot in my mouth and that God would be glorified and that the ministry would get the help that it needs.

Thank you all and God bless everyone of you this week.

Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Neighborhood-Ministry/115242098503472

Ministry Blog: http://neighborhoodministry.blogspot.com/

Email: neighborhoodministry@gmail.com

Doug McGowan

Neighborhood Ministry
"Shining God's light to our neighbors."