WOW!

I've had quite a day so far. We went this morning to the Chattanooga Community Kitchen, which serves three meals a day to the city's homeless population. They've expanded their ministry into providing health care, life skills, a thrift store, etc... We ate lunch there, then we went to work moving a bunch of donated dry goods from a small storage room to another storage room.

After the kitchen, we went to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga campus and met with the minister of the Wesley Foundation. We had a great discussion about the challenges facing campus ministries today.

After that, we went to The Sanctuary, an Episcopal ministry that helps women who come from addiction, homelessness, prostitution and incarceration transition to stable, permanent lives. They provide free housing, rehabilitation counseling, health care, job skill training, etc... to women for a period of at least one year and up to two years. They have room for seven women in their housing and the women begin working in the greeting card business run by the Sanctuary. They've had some successes and some women who have relapsed.

We did get to meet four of the women who have been living in the shelter and working, going to school, and getting their lives back in order. We chatted with the women for ten minutes or so, learning a piece of their stories. I must say, that of all the amazing things we've seen here, these women might be at the top of my list. As I was in the facility, I wished that my wife could have the opportunity to volunteer with these women. It seems like a place where she would have a wonderful experience.

We've got a little downtime here at the Saint Andrew's Center (where I'm writing this). I'm going to look in on the group of Guatemalan and Mexican children in a few minutes.