JUNE NEWSLETTER

 

Dear 431 Family,

As the year continues, the changes in our world continue to be heavy. Housing and gas prices as well as general continued inflation literally keep our staff up at night as we pray how we can continue to make a difference with lower-income clients. We are grateful for the Lord’s faithfulness, for His promise that this world is not all there is, and we have continued to focus on gospel-centered programming even as we wrestle with this world’s problems.

Our Side-by-Side Program continues to grow exponentially. This wraparound program is our individualized, whole-person flagship program. To further grow and improve the care we can offer, we had our first group Mentor Training in March. This training focuses on trauma-informed care and how to bring everyday life and problems back to the gospel and the hope it offers. We currently have 11 clients partnered with newly trained mentors, with an additional 9 on the waitlist. The waitlist is dependent on trained volunteers (mentors and budget allies) ready to pair with a client, as well as funding for counseling and other services.

Please be praying for each of these women who have walked through incredibly difficult things, from spousal affairs, to death of a spouse, or emotional, physical or spiritual abuse. They are looking for hope and a plan and someone to help them put one foot in front of the other while their pain is so fresh. Pray for wisdom and discernment for the volunteers who are getting into the muck and mire of life, and for our staff as we train and encourage the women and their program teams. The next Mentor and Budget Ally Training will occur on July 16, so if you are interested in learning more or taking part, please reach out to our staff.

 
 

During March and April, we hosted our first Life Skills Class - "Spice it Up" with 431 Ministries. This budgeting, meal planning and food prep class served 8 ladies for 6 weeks, where they discussed healthy options that busy moms on-the-go can provide for their families. The response was extremely positive and we will be offering it again this fall.

We also started our first Bible Study on 1 Peter at the end of May, which will run through the end of July. Please be praying for the women who are attending this study, that a sweet community will be built among them and that the Lord is present in their teaching and learning.

One of our goals this year is to offer additional life skills classes and trainings to the community. We are prayerfully considering different classes to offer this fall, including a nutrition and workout class, an additional food security class, a formal Faith and Finances class, and a living and working with trauma class. We are always looking for experts in different areas to come alongside us to offer classes and Bible Studies, so if the Lord is placing a topic on your heart, please reach out to us to let us know where you may be able to serve.

This month, please be praying in particular for our Board of Directors and the planning retreat that they will be going on towards the end of June. Last fall, we prayerfully determined a 3-year growth strategy that our staff has implemented. This year, we have some big decisions regarding our building and continued growth and plans.

Please pray for divine inspiration, and that we would have our eyes open to where the Lord is already working. We never want to lose sight of the fact that this is His ministry and He loves and cares for our women and their children more than we ever could. Finally, a couple of additional items that our staff and volunteers are working on are:

  • a Career Advancement and Job Fair that will take place in July;

  • a donation sidewalk sale in August that we will have at the building for fundraising purposes;

  • the 2022 Hope in Healing Retreat for ladies who have lost a spouse to death or divorce that will happen at the end of September; and

  • our 2nd Annual Fundraising Gala

Each of these items could have several paragraphs of descriptions, prayer requests and volunteer opportunities, but we don't have room for all of them! So, instead, keep an eye out on your email for additional information and how you can get involved. And as always, please reach out to our staff if the Lord has put something specific on your heart. We are thrilled to offer a variety of opportunities to get involved, even if we haven’t done it before. In fact, the territory of potential clients is also rapidly growing, increasing our need for volunteers and church partners in Davidson, Wilson, and North Rutherford counties. If you know of a potential volunteer or church partner who is interested in joining us to make a difference, please let us know.

We are so thankful for you, our committed volunteers, staff and donors who make this ministry what it is. As always, we want you to continue to be involved in events, programming and one-off opportunities. Visit 431house.org/volunteer to check out where you might be able to get involved. We also have a monthly volunteer opportunities email, so make sure you're on the email newsletter list.

Thank you again for your support and commitment to ladies coming out of crisis in Middle TN!

In Him,
The 431 Ministries team

 
Abigail Meier