About Us: Telling our stories. Sharing our lives.
- Gerre Brenneman, Evangel Home Executive Director
- This blog is about the Evangel Home--a Christian ministry to homeless women and childen. It is called "Inside Out" because we want to give you a glimpse into our home--to share the joys of being part of redeemed lives as well as the hard landings that are the reality of being in the trenches. And sometimes there's just an opinion or thought we want to share.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Lord, This One's for Gina
An old black and white photo and the testimony of Gina,our newest staff member (a 2010 EH grad), provided one of the most powerful moments at last week's banquet. The photo is from the late 60's when the current Evangel Home was being built. It is of a man on a ladder, hammer in his right hand raised above his head. The sky is full of clouds and the house is just a frame.
Forty five years later Gina saw the picture and used these words to end her powerful testimony: "When I saw that man building the home from the ground up I saw it as he was hitting a nail in the wall saying thank you Jesus. This is for Gina when she comes to this place where she can call home."
Monday, January 23, 2012
Finding Level Ground
There is an old wooden level on a shelf above my computer. Marvin Thiessen, one of our faithful volunteers used it for years as he worked on projects around the Evangel Home. When he left us about 10 years ago he told me to keep the level because he wouldn’t need it any more. I kept it in a desk drawer, found it during a recent cleaning flurry, and decided it needed a place of honor. So it is now poised slightly below eye level as I look at my computer screen.
I kept it because it was a wonderful memory of Marvin, but now I display because it is a pointed reminder of God. I can mock the wisdom of the world, and I can worry about the problems of Evangel Home. However, in the end, it is my responsibility to keep the bubble in the middle — to keep my relationship with Him level.
Because my desk isn’t quite level, the bubble is never in the middle. Pencils roll off of the desk, but I can adjust to the slight imbalance. I can adjust, but in order to be totally level – to get that bubble in the middle – I need help. Isn’t that what our relationship with Jesus is all about? We need His help to stay balanced in a world that is full of subtle inclines and steep curves. Many choose to negotiate the terrain on their own, and like that bubble suspended in the yellow liquid of Marvin’s level, their lives constantly move from side to side and end to end.
Thank you for helping us provide our women and children a place where they can find solid ground and understand what it means to stay balanced in Christ.
I kept it because it was a wonderful memory of Marvin, but now I display because it is a pointed reminder of God. I can mock the wisdom of the world, and I can worry about the problems of Evangel Home. However, in the end, it is my responsibility to keep the bubble in the middle — to keep my relationship with Him level.
Because my desk isn’t quite level, the bubble is never in the middle. Pencils roll off of the desk, but I can adjust to the slight imbalance. I can adjust, but in order to be totally level – to get that bubble in the middle – I need help. Isn’t that what our relationship with Jesus is all about? We need His help to stay balanced in a world that is full of subtle inclines and steep curves. Many choose to negotiate the terrain on their own, and like that bubble suspended in the yellow liquid of Marvin’s level, their lives constantly move from side to side and end to end.
Thank you for helping us provide our women and children a place where they can find solid ground and understand what it means to stay balanced in Christ.
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