April/May 2007 Report

This is Daniel. He covets your prayers
to help him quit smoking. He's praying,
too. Check out what it says on his hat.

STEVEN’S STORY

We first saw Steven a couple months ago down-n-out near the downtown library. He gladly accepted a lunch and asked us to pray that God would help him find a job.Fast forward to April 4, when he resurfaced at our weekly outreach. He told us how he landed a job after we prayed. It lasted for a couple of weeks, and it paid him $3 more per hour than he usually made.

He was so grateful for what God had done that he wanted to bless someone else, even though he was unemployed again. So he decided to give away the sack lunch that he had just received before telling us his story. And sure enough, we watched him give it away to a needy lady walking by.

A WORD FROM THE WHITE HOUSE

Our local outreach continues to receive some highly credible national commendations. Last year we won a Jefferson Award for public service. That honor took us all the way to Washington D.C. Well, Washington has come knocking again, this time in the form of a Presidential Volunteer Service Award. Christian Recording Artist Michael W. Smith, who is the vice chair of President Bush's council for civic participation, presented the honor to Filling The Void's Kelly Swan at a concert in Tulsa on May 3 at Victory Christian Center.

2,000 AND COUNTING

So far for 2007, we’ve distributed 2,207 sack lunches. That’s an average of 116 lunches for the first 19 Wednesdays of the year – our highest average ever. And it was about this time last year that we saw a major spark in the size of our crowds. We’ll be ready again.

C’MON OVER KATHY

Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor almost found herself in the middle of our outreach on April 18. Her staff had prepared a lunchtime press conference in the same area where we minister downtown. The purpose was to promote a new farmer’s market to be held on Tuesdays. We quickly slid our own crowd way off to the side so that both events could harmoniously co-exist. The media all migrated toward the mayor. Too bad. They missed out on a free lunch and an encouraging word.

SHARING SHARES

You can now donate stock options and shares of stock to Filling The Void. We set up an account with Fidelity to conduct these transactions. And you’ll still get a tax break for blessing us. The first such gift we received (30 shares of mutual fund EUROX) covered the cost of an entire month of ministry. What a blessing!

DENVER: A DIVINE APPOINTMENT?

We continue to sense an opportunity to expand to Denver, Colorado. Right now we’re simply praying, waiting and preparing. But God is already placing many people along our path (even on airplanes) who are recruiting potential volunteers for when the time comes. Stay tuned.