“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:10

 
Not long ago, I was taking Kasey, one of our camp boys, home. As we got to the front of his neighborhood, I noticed three police cars with their lights on. Kasey said that happens all the time because the church by his house is letting out and the police are directing traffic.
 
Kasey told me that a lot of the people in his neighborhood attend that church, along with his older brother and several friends. He was excited to share all of the good things the church does in the neighborhood.
 
Sounds encouraging, right?
 
But it broke my heart because the “church” Kasey was talking about is an Islamic Mosque. On any given day, anywhere between 500 and 1,000 people attend — including Kasey’s own family. The teachings of Islam are dangerous, and it is disheartening to see how many in the community are being influenced by a false message that goes against the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.
 
My cousin who is the Executive Director of Bangla Ministries Worldwide faces this threat every day in Bangladesh, but now we in central Florida face a very large and active Islamic threat as well.
 
In Colossians 1:13, Paul writes, “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.”
 
Leverage Ministries is working to push back against the darkness of not only the Islamic movement we continue to face, but against the daily struggles our young people face every day.  For example, recently at one our ministry sites, a young girl told our volunteer that she was raped by her father and now has nowhere to go.  Another young man told me that when he turns 18 in less than a week, he won’t be welcome home again and doesn’t know where he will live.
 
I encourage you to continue praying for and supporting ministries like Leverage Ministries, Bangla Ministries Worldwide, and many others as we stand shoulder to shoulder to bring light to a dark world and the message of salvation through Jesus Christ to those who need it.
 
In His Service,
 
Scott Hirdes
Executive Director, Leverage Ministries

Dear Supporter,

With spring break behind us and the days getting longer, our ministry focus has turned to summer camp. 

Recently, I ran into a young man named Charles who was part of my ministry many years ago. I hadn’t seen him for several years. He’s now married with four daughters, and he was excited to introduce me to his oldest daughter who is in middle school. 

I was surprised when she asked, “Are you Pastor Scott? My dad talks about you all the time. He was just telling me about camp and seems to have another story just about every day. Sometimes it’s hard to believe all the stories!” 

Charles looked at me and laughed, admitting that the stories may have gotten bigger and more exaggerated as the years went by, but then he said this: “Pastor Scott, camp changed my life. It was during the time at camp, away from my friends, that I made a decision to follow Jesus.”

He asked if we still took kids to summer camp, and when he found out we still do, he said, “Camp changed my life. I don’t have a lot of money but I would like to be the first to make a donation so others just like me would have the opportunity to go to camp.”

What a touching moment to stand there with a former camper and his daughter, hearing the impact our ministry had all those years ago. And how Charles committed to helping future at-risk teenagers have the same life-changing experiences.

Would you be willing to join Charles and give a special gift to help us continue to take at-risk kids to camp? You can give online at www.leverageministries.org or by mailing a check (payable to Leverage Ministries) in the envelope provided. 

In His Service,

Scott Hirdes
Executive Director

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