July And August Recap — Furnishing Families of Texas

It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work.

1 Cor. 3:7-8 NLT

Greetings to all!

First, we want to thank the tremendous support of our donors for Furnishing Families of Texas who have made this summer robust in impacting the lives of many families. Your generous contribution has fed, clothed, and created homes for the families we are honored to serve. Because of you, living conditions that were dire became comfortable, hungry families ate, and hope broke into their lives! You are changing lives and are creating great doors of possibilities! Together, we all play a part in the sowing and cultivation of the seeds of transformation in serving these families, knowing that God will bring forth the seeds' growth!

OUTREACH Growth

This summer in Texas has been quite hot but very fruitful. We aren’t normally in town during the summer months due to our travel schedule, but even though Covid exists, there’s been a great expansion in the ministry. Your prayer coverage and generous giving has caused an increase in our outreach capacity. The Lord is making our foundation go deeper!

This July, I was fortunate to meet Pastor Rob Summer, the outreach Pastor of Gateway Church. Inadvertently, his team had supplied all those rice packs a few months ago that you may have seen in a previous newsletter, bur I hadn’t met him until now.

He introduced me to Rachelle and Bill Fletcher, who have The Goodness Project in Fort Worth. They took over the 150,000 sq ft warehouse, formerly occupied by Coors Beer. It was built 30 years ago out of concrete, which means it never gets to a temperature over 85°F. Why am I telling you this? Cement is a dream for storing things. Metal warehouses like ours get into temperatures over 100°F and are a challenge to cool. The Goodness Project has cooling systems, as well. They just aren’t needing them all the time.

One of the main initiatives of the Goodness Project is that they’re first responders when storms hit or a disaster happens. Like now, they’re in St. Charles, Louisiana responding to the latest storm! They are an enormous resource to 501C-3’s all the time because our $20 buys $100 value. As partners, think of the way that MULTIPLIES your seed. We knew you’d love to hear how God is increasing your money value to bless 5 TIMES your original investment. The Goodness Project is a total game changer for Furnishing Families Of Texas. We can shop there weekly and buy food, clothes, toys, houseware, bedding (even anti-bed bug mattress casings), and more with big savings.

In August, we had an outreach in Fort Worth to Regency Oaks Apartments, where 93 apartments are inhabited. Through the Goodness Project, each home received a gallon of milk, a box of dairy products, and a box of FDA fruits and veggies! We were able to spend $.20 on a dollar, while spending $1000. We received over $5000 worth of food, drinks, toys, household goods, and makeup!

To learn more about their organization, check them out at https://www.teamgoodness.com.

Shelley Green, of The Green Team real estate company, loaned us her truck to transfer all the pallets of boxes that day. Not only that, we had 22 volunteers who mobilized like an ant farm to knock on doors, deliver food, and pray and encourage people. Some people helped give away the swag on the tables outside provided by Youtube power couple Preston and Brianna (whose merch can be found on https://www.prestonsstylez.com/). Preston (Preston and PrestonPlayz) is #5 on YouTube and makes fun gaming and entertainment videos. Brianna (Brianna and BriannaPlayz) does the same and has a large following, as well. Their company has donated over $25,000 value of brand new sweatshirts and T-Shirts that we dispense to the homeless and everybody we furnish with clothes.

The other ladies were inside hosting The free “shopping” expedition. There were over 100 bins of clothing that were cleaned and sorted in various sizes in bins. The apartment which served as our HQ had a room full of shoes with chairs set up for trying things on and a prayer room in the back, hosted by our ministry intercessor team of Karen Kelly, Craig Cunningham, and Rhonda Lapp. We used the back bedroom to feed all the volunteers discreetly since we weren’t feeding the neighbors lunch that day. We did, however, feature exquisite cupcakes from Bird Bakery of Highland Park for all who came. The Bakery is beyond compare! They gave us full size cupcakes and some smaller portioned ones that come in egg cartons. At the end of the workday, they’re happy to donate to 501C-3’s whatever hasn’t sold. The people rejoiced and were delighted to enjoy such delectable sweets. Posh pastry at its best! We are so grateful to all the people who made the outreach a huge success!

The new owners of the Regency Oaks Apartments were deeply touched that an organization cared about their tenants to the point of scheduling an outreach to bless their apartment house!

Check out this amazing video that our very own Selena Hope put together from our event!

My Biggest "AH HA"

My biggest “AH HA” lately is how many people don’t have food in their home. Creating connections with food pantries is becoming a central thrust for the families we meet along the way. They’ll thank us for the furniture and almost always follow it by saying, “Do you know where I can get some food?” Families in need often have the challenge of deciding whether to pay rent or buy food.

Deborah was in Home Depot the other day, when Jeff, the store clerk who was helping her, shared some of his struggle with her. His wife was in a car accident and now lives in bed full time. They don’t have insurance. He works two jobs. They’re raising 4 of their grandchildren and are both out of food and $400 short on rent this month. Deborah sent me his picture and phone contact, and I sent it over to Terri, our Case Manager, who will help him know about several free food pantries in his area and also direct him to several web sites who still have Covid money available for assistance. HOPE began to fill Jeff’s heart as Deborah said she’d connect him with Furnishing Families and described how we operate.

It feels like a basketball game, the way the ball is tossed around and different team members get in the key, receive the pass, and score the points for the families! I feel like a switchboard operator, myself, most of the time, connecting people with either provision or the right people who can help.

This summer, we have met some remarkable new friends who have provided both guidance and clarity, sharing from their experiences in ministering to families. We want to acknowledge the major role you have played in helping us get to this point in time. Your prayers, financial help, and contributions of clothing, furniture, and home furnishings have stocked us up for our families’ war chest, and we are giving it all away freely!

CALLING ALL CARS

If you live within driving distance of Keller, Texas and would like to donate a good working car to Furnishing Families, please contact me at hope@furnishingfamiliesoftexas.com. We have several single moms who need to own a car to get to work. Uber and Lyft have been a great support to many. By the end of the month, however, the cumulative costs could have been an insurance and gas payment for them to make on their own vehicle.

Thank you for giving a family a hand UP.

Praise Report!

Thankfully, we have finally completed installing the electricity and a hot water heater with the appropriate outlets to handle a large capacity washer and dryer. We went all out and purchased metal laundry baskets with wheels to accommodate large loads of bedding and clothes (like you see in laundromats). Now, the girls can bring their garbage bags full of clothes to the warehouse and get their laundry done while they’re visiting, working, volunteering, or doing community hours of service.

The BEAUTY of COMMUNITY

Gayle loves to volunteer so she invited her roommate Abigail. Abigail has been enjoying her many hours of serving so she invited her friend Evan. CHAIN REACTION. Selena, our friend and videographer, came to cover the event to create the video posted earlier. She invited her mom Juwarna and sister Destiny to come help. They fell in love with the people and the mission. Rhonda and Gideon Lapp drove in from Tulsa, bringing 2 of their children Kirsten and Joel to help Furnishing Families for the whole weekend. Gideon is a man for all seasons. He helped a woman named Sunday fix her flat tire during the outreach. She was missing the tool that would fit the lug nuts on the tire. He then asked everybody if he could check their socket wrenches in their car. The one for my SUV didn’t fit either. He flagged down a perfect stranger, and they let him use theirs. If her car was left with a flat, it would have been towed, but with the tire fixed, she was back in business! We love that our tribe can be led by the Spirit and pray and prophesy, but also handle every day tasks! They love to love people and dispense joy.

People are beginning to write in to volunteer to come help at the warehouse. I’m going to meet 2 or 3 of them this week. We have an application process and hope to match individuals with their gift mix.

The warehouse flows like ocean tides. When we receive a lot of donations, it’s High Tide in there. We’ve already outgrown both our current warehouses, and you can tell as soon as you open the door. WOW. This week will have 2 days of deliveries, and soon we will look like low tide again.

We hope these updates sparks your gusto both in giving and contribution to yourself and others. YOU have inspired our whole team at Lance Wallnau Ministries and Furnishing Families as we serve together!

A friend of mine named Lara has a daughter named Sofia, who will turn 8 on September 14th. For the past few years, she’s donated her birthday gifts outside of herself. She told her mom she has enough stuff; so last year, she asked everybody to donate pet food and blankets instead of gifts for her. She donated everything to a pet shelter. She’s been running outreaches for several years on several occasions and hasn’t even turned 8 years old yet! She’s even given her hair to make wigs for children!

I’m telling you this to inspire you and to welcome you to send Sofia a greeting through our mailing address, PO Box 2688, Keller, TX 76244, since her birthday is September 14th, and she’ll be collecting items for hygiene kits with gift cards and anything that goes in a care package. Furnishing Families is gathering things to send her now. She is calling her own charity: Creative Hope Foundation. Her mom has applied for the 501C3 organization status and hopes it comes through by the birthday to surprise her.

It’s one of life’s greatest joys to see a person’s eyes light up when hope is reignited. Imagine that she's already creating these loving experiences for people at such a young age!

Jim and Lori Baker were in town so Lance invited them to come by and shoot a show at our studio. Since the crew was ready and the friends hadn’t arrived yet, Lance said, “Ok, Annabelle, let’s interview you…Ready?” I said, “Sure” but looked down and noticed I was wearing sneakers. “No matter,” he said. “I’m wearing polka dot socks!” Haha!

One of my mentors named Bobbi Vitality introduced me to Martie Whittekin. She invited me to be on her radio show called Healthy by Nature. (https://www.hbnshow.com/). You can listen to my episode recording HERE. I had never been on a radio show since around 1974 when I anchored “Pennsbury on The Air” in high school. This felt like the first time ever and was great fun. Martie is a marvelous host.

Lots of connections in the Spirit and in the atmosphere continue to ripple out on the air waves so that people can learn about Furnishing Families of Texas, but more than that, hopefully people will look around and notice others in need and respond in some way.

Sowing and Watering Seeds

I hope that these updates into Furnishing Families and into my life have encouraged you in the power of an eternal investment. This summer has been an important one in the continued growth and effectiveness of this work, and it's all possible because of those who have sown into us!

We trust that as we continue to sow seed and water seed in the DFW Metroplex, God will bring the increase!

XOxo

As One,

Annabelle and Lance