Hi Friends,

It’s been a while since I sent a true update of our work at Living Water. During the heavy days of Covid, we stepped into the needs of our community in some major ways, and this has shaped the life of our church.

We expanded our food ministry significantly, from a once-a-month small walk-in food pantry, to what was at one point three times per week delivering to underserved neighbors who had little contact with the outside world. We have recently stepped back a bit, asking people to come in to pick up their food again, but we still give out over a ton of food each week.

We also started a pop-up clinic, aimed primarily at folks who are on the street. This clinic is run by Kristin Kellogg, a Nurse Practitioner and a key member of our church since its inception. She has a crew of nursing students who volunteer on Friday nights to help us provide basic care for folks who are reluctant to go to clinics or hospitals, and to folks with minor issues that often frustrate and overwhelm emergency department staff.

Our largest undertaking has been our Inclement Weather Shelter. Between November and March, we max out our space with 28 spots for folks to escape the weather on particularly cold or rainy nights. We are one of the few inclement weather shelters in the entire county, and it has taken a great deal of work to start and maintain this ministry, but worth it to keep people warm and dry.

We have also become deeply committed to helping folks heal from trauma. Almost everybody who has experienced homelessness has also experienced some form of trauma. We received a small grant form Boston University to develop some programming around trauma, which has resulted in our Flow Groups. These groups are aimed primarily at discipleship, helping people who carry wounds from life to find healing and connection so that they can live with a sense of peace, feel empowered to serve, find meaning in their experiences in life, and connect more deeply with others. All of these things areas of the spiritual life are deeply impacted by trauma.

Lastly (well, there’s more, but lastly for now), we have started a podcast. The podcast, too, is aimed at discipleship. I have been interviewing people who are doing cool and inspiring work in the church and academy, and also working through the book of Acts. We have some really great episodes, including this week’s episode with Dr. Ellen Davis. We would love for you to check it out!

In fact, we would love your help and support with any/all of these ministries! We are a very small church, and it takes everything we have to keep these things going. We are especially looking for volunteers to support our Inclement Weather Shelter in what will be our third season. If you are interested, please email me at chris@livingwaternazarene.com for details.

Blessings to you – hope to hear from those we haven’t heard from in a while! And look for more frequent updates to come.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Chris

https://www.youtube.com/embed/ckiYMFgO6sw?si=Zd_lPOXFmXkEWsrk