Dear Friends and Intercessors,
Thank you for joining us last week for our mini-Gathering of the Eagles! Our fight was for our children, to rescue them from the enemy’s grip from the womb upward. Our focus for this GOE was abortion at the state level and every aspect of human trafficking. We must continue to stand in the gap for our children!
We look forward to seeing the fruit of our time together in the coming days.
That said, this week I wanted to share with you what’s happening on the CedarWood side of things. The beginning of the school year is a very busy time for us, and we wanted to share the journey with you all!
Every year at this time, CedarWood begins to prepare for our Back-to-School event. We began this tradition in August of 2016 with a kickoff event to distribute backpacks and school supplies to the children of our Pantry customers who signed up to receive help. All in all, we gave away 100 backpacks for both registered and last minuet requests. There was much laughter and celebration that day, as each child received their own backpack with an abundance of school supplies to get them started off right for the school year. Later, one mother told us her kids were so excited that they wore their backpacks all weekend!
After that, other organizations stepped up to provide these same items to the community, so we began giving away new socks and underwear for the children, a gap that no one else was filling. This year, fewer community resources are available to families in need. So, with prices rising and families having to stretch their budgets even further we are once again giving the children a new backpack along with the necessary socks and underwear. This is just another way for the love of God to be expressed in practical ways to families whose needs God continues to supply through CedarWood!
We began registering children last Monday and had 50 sign-ups on our first day! We'll also notify parents about Evergreen Beauty College's Back to School event on August 16th for FREE haircuts, mini-facials, and mini-manicures for school children in grades K-12. Our desire is to help these kids be excited about the upcoming school year and to provide some of the things they'll need to start it out right.
Our ministry will also ensure each child has shoes and coats for the coming year. There’s been several who routinely send in new winter coats for this outreach which is so meaningful for the families.
CedarWood is such an important arm of our ministry. Many of you contribute to it directly and we want you to know the children and their families are blessed and grateful for you all give.
Blessings & love,
Ricci Johnson-Wilson
PS – We are already receiving letters to send to Mom for her birthday! Her birthday is August 16th, so if you want to bless her with a note of love or share how the ministry has blessed your life, you still have time to get it to us!
WFJM (Attention Nita)
5730 N First Street #105-307
Fresno, CA 93710
