Servias Ministries Blog

We provided food cards last week for families in need to buy Thanksgiving groceries who would otherwise have insufficient means to celebrate Thanksgiving.

In addition, we purchase winter beanies for kids who had no means to buy their own. We ordered beanies with the school’s colors and logo as that the kids could be proud of their school. We had our first freezing temperatures this last week. The beanies came just in time.

The following is a testimony of the school counselor:

Through Servias’ ministry, I feel like I’m constantly walking around with the mindset of “Who can we help today?” Last week, I had a meeting with a parent to start her daughter in speech therapy services. This child started  here at the end of last school year, and her older sister just started last week. There had been a lot of concerns and red flags, so I wasn’t sure what to expect when mom came to the meeting (honestly, I wasn’t even expecting her to show up.) During the meeting, mom opened up to us about her struggles as a single mom, working a job making $11 an hour, not being home in the afternoons, the older sister makes dinner every night, etc. I gave her a Crest card and just told her that we can see how hard she is working to take care of her kids and we wanted to bless her and partner with her. She was so very thankful, and then shared with us that her husband took his life last year, and she and her daughters found him. It was just another reminder that we truly have no idea what our kids experience when they aren’t at school. But I also know that by providing her with something tangible to show that we care, the mom immediately felt like she could trust us. There have been things that we’ve been needing mom to do that she hasn’t taken care of- and now, she is eager to do whatever she needs to do. 

We appreciate the faithfulness of those who are able to give. We are ministering to the poor as Jesus commanded!

From one of the school counselors:

 I used some of your cards to help feed a family that was kicked out of their apartment and buy them pull ups for this special needs child. I used another gift card to buy a student shoes who was wearing his older brother’s shoes to school which were about 3 sizes too big. And today, I am sending home some Crest cards to a family whose main breadwinner suffered a stroke and cannot work. The child says the food supply is low. These cards have been such a blessing to our students and families!

From one of the elementary school counselors:

I was able to provide a student some shoes and socks. He had outgrown his old shoes and the family did not have the resources to purchase a new pair.

Thank you for your support!

FATHER sees the impact on those kids:

The Village program has been a game changer for the HS (high school). Two specific stories occurred late last year and during the summer. One family who has 4 students in the district reached out to me privately, asking for help regarding some activities they are participating in, While I couldn’t help with those activities, I did give them gift cards to Target, and Crest, and that helped them continue their participation in the school sponsored events. Another story occurred last year when a lower-income student was struggling and Mr. Marchino gave him some cards and the student just wept and fell into his arms. Since then, he has totally changed his attitude in school and comes to Mr. Marchino or myself when he is having a bad day.

I met with Mrs. Donley at the middle school last week. There is a middle school boy whose dad is in the end stages of a cancer diagnosis. This was one of the families that Servias blessed last Christmas. He will be undergoing a very extensive surgery which will require them to be out of state for several weeks. They met with Mrs. Donley a couple of weeks ago to talk about the impact that all of this will have on them. She was able to provide them with some Crest cards provided by Servias to help financially as they’re navigating all of this. In situations like this, we often feel like there is nothing we can do because the situation is so heavy. But what a blessing that she could not only love them, encourage them, and support them emotionally, but she could also provide something tangible. 

A counselor at the local elementary wrote:

I gave a family who just arrived from Nicaragua some Crest and Target gift cards. The mother recently passed away and the youngest daughter ended up in the hospital. Dad was struggling to provide clothes that fit for the children. He greatly appreciated us providing him some support.

Thank you for making this possible!

We appreciate your continued support. Every dollar you give is directed to those in need and you are laying up Heavenly Treasures to your account with FATHER. We provide seeds of hope for these kids as well we are a testimony to the teachers, counselors, and administration. You are examples of Love in action by your giving!

Today, your contributions were used to pay off school cafeteria lunch debt for 71 elementary students who could not afford to buy their own meals. This elementary school has a substantial number of kids in the poverty level.

The cafeteria worker stated that she looks forward to telling each of these students, “Your debt has been wiped out!”

Your contributions (whether large or small) are central to us ministering to the poor. Thank you!