Imagine if you will with me. Small cottages varying from 200 – 800 square feet spread apart on the hillside looking down towards the creek bottom. A drive winds from the main entrance behind the cottages. In front of the cottages is a path, which leads in several directions. Walk to the right and you will go around the property and down by the creek, then full circle back to the cottage area.
Take the path to the middle and you will end up at the Chapel. The Chapel building serves two purposes. Of course there is the main room where you can go and pray, and even hold small meetings with your KR neighbors. But also on the side is a small washroom where there will be a washer and dryer.
Take the path to the left and you will end up behind the main house, where there will is a vegetable and flower garden, and the livestock area where there are chickens and pygmy goats. You will be welcome to help with the garden and livestock.
Various oaks, hickories, cedars and pines will shade you in the summer, and block the cold winds in the winter. A small creek crosses over the property in one portion. Along the path that winds by the creek at certain point there will be benches. Deer and turkey cross the property at leisure, and you may chance to see one.
The cottages will seem small at first, but once you warm up to them you will be amazed at how much room there truly is. 200 square feet with a loft is a wonderful space for a single person, or even a couple. A small front porch begs to be decorated with potted plants, and also for a rocking chair. A personal garden spot with a small raised bed cries out for tomatoes to be planted.
Who will stay at Kinsman Redeemer? That is a great question, but not one with a simple answer. There are many situations that would warrant the doors to be opened.
- A person with an illness that caused loss of job, and subsequent loss of property who simply needs a temporary place to get a new start.
- A mission family who has given ALL to the ministry and then sent back home by a government turned sour against Christianity. This family might need a place to stay for a few months until they get a place of their own in the states, or else go to another country.
- An 18 year old young lady whose parents were suddenly killed in a car accident, and has family to take her in another state, but wants to finish the school year where she will graduate.
There are many scenarios that would cause a person to need Kinsman Redeemer. Kinsman Redeemer is about Pure Charity. The kind of charity that helps a person get back on their feet. Not the kind that encourages them to stay down, and become a burden on society.
We have all heard it said that “God helps those who help themselves”. In a sense that is true, but I have found that the God we serve is more along these lines. God will let you do all that you can to bring about the things that you need, but then there are sometimes things that you cannot do. That is where God steps in and does the things that you cannot possibly do.
Just as it was in Jesus’ days here on earth. When the dead needed raising, the sick needed healing, and the demoniac needed delivering, Jesus stepped in and did what no one else could do for themselves. Kinsman Redeemer exists to be God’s hand in doing things that people who have been cast down cannot do for themselves.
Vicki and I pray that you catch the vision with us. We pray that you consider what part God would have you to play in all of this. We ask that you pray for this ministry. We ask that if God speaks to you, that you simply be obedient. God is ready to do mighty things.
Thanks! And God Bless!
