Dear Faithful Supporters,

First, I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for your faithfulness in praying, volunteering and giving to Leverage Ministries. We have so many ministry partners, and we couldn’t do what we do without you — especially during the holiday season. This busy time starts early in the fall and includes festivals, the Thanksgiving food drive, Thanksgiving holidays meals, decorating Christmas trees, several Christmas parties and meals and more.  It’s busy, but it’s also a very fun time celebrating with all of our kids their families and the staff at the Runaway Shelter.

One of our big goals every year is to provide Christmas gifts to each of the kids that we serve through the breakfast club and runaway shelter.  In many cases, we try to provide gifts to their siblings and other family members as well.  We are blessed to partner with the 7th grade class at Lakeland Christian School, whose generous donations provide many of the gifts that go to our neighborhood kids. There are other location organizations that donate gifts as well.

We spend all of December collecting and wrapping these gifts. We serve more than 50 kids, and we try to have 5-6 gifts per young person. That means we wrap well over 300 gifts!  We have gifts bags for both boys and girls, and we try our best not to get them confused.  Every year this is a giant puzzle because we don’t know how many kids are going to show up prior to each party; we may even have new kids show up.

I only tell you all that so know you can see God’s perfect timing.

Our runaway shelter Christmas party was the final party of our holiday season. We had our meal, sat around the Christmas tree, shared the true meaning of Christmas with the kids, and played some games. The final thing we do is bring out the bags of Christmas gifts for the kids.  We had divided all of the gifts into two categories: boys’ bags and girls’ bags. Each gift bag had 7-8 gifts for each kid.

For over the three months, one of the boys at the shelter had been telling the staff that all he wanted for Christmas was a watch. Although he told the staff many times each day, we at Leverage Ministries had no idea this young man wanted a watch. We watched as this boy opened his first gift. It was a watch exactly like he’d been wanting for the past few months. I have never seen a kid so excited. He kept asking me how I knew. Even the staff, with tears in their eyes, asked how we knew what he wanted.  

We had over 300 wrapped gifts, and there was exactly one watch. The bags were handed out randomly at the very last party, and this boy opened the only gift he really wanted. Only God and His perfect timing can do that. 

Your faithful prayers and generous giving allow us to minister to these kids and witness God’s perfect timing. Thank you.

In His Service, 

Scott Hirdes

If I’m being completely honest, I’m not a great fundraiser. I know, I know. Not a great thing for the executive director of a nonprofit to admit.

So recently, when a man approached me about a matching gift, I was hesitant to take him up on the offer. This man believes in our mission and in our ministry model, and he wants to give Leverage Ministries $15,000 as a matching gift.

I admitted to him that I was a below-average fundraiser, but I committed to praying and letting our ministry partners know about his incredibly generous gift. I also assured him that we would be faithful with every dollar God provides.

I’ve seen God work despite my shortcomings, and I know this man will receive an incredible return on investment. I've personally witnessed how Leverage Ministries has impacted lives. One specific story that comes to mind happened at a local Sam’s Club on a very hot afternoon in mid-June. 

I was rushing to my car after purchasing ice cream for our Wednesday night ministry at the runway shelter. I was almost to my car when I heard, “Hi, Scott!” I turned to see a couple who had been longtime prayer and financial supporters of our ministry. A young man was helping them load a large grill into their vehicle. 

I knew I should stop to talk, but I wanted to get the ice cream home before it became milk from the Florida heat, so I said a very quick hello and took off for my car. As I was getting to my car, I heard a voice calling, “Pastor Scott, do you remember me?”  I stopped and noticed it was the same young man who had been helping load the grill. I looked more closely and realized it was Kendrick, who had been part of our breakfast club years before.  He threw his arms around me and said, “I can’t believe you remember who I am!”

Kendrick proceeded to tell me how camp and breakfast club changed his life. He said, “I am living for the Lord and going to church, and I have never been arrested. Thank you so much for your ministry. If you did not come into my life, I would be in prison like the rest of my family.  Thank you for taking me to camp that week changed my life.”

Wow. I hadn’t seen this young man in more than five years, and here he was, helping a couple whose support had made it possible for Kendrick to go to camp. Their return on investment was standing right in front on them, helping them load up a grill. I can’t help but think what a sweet reunion that will be in heaven.

As we prepare for the holidays and the end of the year, I would love for you to consider making a special gift to Leverage Ministries so we can continue working with so many unreached and underprivileged teenagers right here in Polk County. All gifts will be matched, dollar for dollar, as part of this $15,000 matching challenge. 

I can guarantee you an incredible return on investment as we continue to reach the abused, abandoned and arrested youth of Central Florida.

Each year after a busy summer of ministry, I take time to reflect back over June and July. I think of the hundreds of at-risk teenagers that Leverage Ministries had the opportunity to point to Jesus this past summer.

I think of the little conversations we had with kids each week at the runaway shelter. I think of the conversation I had with a kid named Caleb one hot summer afternoon at camp when he didn’t want to go swimming with the rest of the boys. I think of the short prayers we prayed with the kids throughout the summer—for their brothers, sisters, moms and everything they face each day. I think of the short conversations before meal time about how God provided our meals. I think about taking the teens for ice cream or stopping to get them cold drinks on a very hot summer day. Many times, the teens didn’t know how to respond to all of the love we showed them or why we were doing it.

Was all this work and money really worth it? Are we making a difference? These are the questions I asked myself this past Sunday morning. As church was about to start, a man came up and asked how our summer ministries were going. Before I had a chance to answer, he said, “Scott, don’t ever stop doing what you are doing. I’m old now—at the end of my life and bound to this wheelchair. I was an at-risk youth just like the kids you reach daily. I was headed for a hard life, making bad decisions, and a ministry just like yours pointed me to Jesus. I am living proof that your ministry is effective and changing lives, and you are reaching kids nobody else sees.”

After he left, I realized that he told me exactly what I needed to hear—that God is continuing to change lives even today and that all the little conversations we had this summer would become big things. What might seem insignificant to us is truly significant. What most people would overlook, God is going to use.

Thank you for your continued support of Leverage Ministries. Your prayers and generous financial gifts allow us to continue reaching the forgotten and mislabeled youth in our community.

In His Service,

Scott Hirdes

Director, Leverage Ministries