DESERT MINISTRIES

 

FAITH IN ACTION
HOMELESS AND LOW INCOME MINISTRY PROGRAM

 

MISSION STATEMENT

  1. To provide an opportunity for Christians to grow in spiritual maturity.
  2. To minister to the spiritual and basic needs of homeless and low income families and individuals the goal will be to have 25 participating families for one year.

3.       To provide job training to the families enrolled in our program.

Poverty and homelessness slowly rob a person of self-esteem and self-worth.  It’s a slow process.  It doesn’t happen overnight.  Maybe it starts when you are a child and you sense that your parents are doing little with their lives and maybe that is what you consider to be normal

Maybe it’s when you can’t get a job and you apply for welfare and the caseworker helps you fill out your application and you realize there is nothing better for you than assistance.  You begin to feel that you are worthless!

Maybe it’s when you become homeless because of your lack of skills.  The homeless life is a subtle whirlpool that sucks you into a lifestyle community of others like you and the others begin to reinforce your hopelessness.  They show you how to dumpster dive for food or cans you can sell.

Then without being fully aware of it your life is spent looking for a soup kitchen and then a place to sleep.  Day after day the same routine. You are now in a whirlpool dragging you down and down.  There is no escape.  The only companions now, are anxiety, hopelessness and the sad realization that you are a ghost in a world that pays no attention to you.

Desert Ministries mission is to destroy this whirlpool in an individual’s life!  We accomplish this through providing  them with a Christian based life preserver called Christ coupled with helping them with their basic needs and an opportunity to receive job training.

 

 

FAITH IN ACTION
HELPING THE POOR AND HOMELESS
HELP THEMSELVES
VOLUNTEER JOB DESCRIPTION

BE A FIELD WORKER

  • Work with one or more families by visiting them in their own home twice a month to :
    • Offer encouragement
    • Be the lead advocate for them in getting the help they need. This might include getting information on resource information for low income families {we provide you with training for this)
    • Help with family budgeting and family planning.
    • Be a spiritual mentor in helping them find a church or answering questions about the Bible etc.
  • Help Desert Ministry Director in putting together and implementing a life plan for the family. (this is a common sense plan we are not qualified to do professional level planning)
  • Saturday visitation worker this position is for the individual who doesn’t want to be a field worker but would like to accompany a field worker on making visitation rounds. Keep in mind these are not cold call visits where the worker is likely to get a door slammed in their face – these are visits to families we work with that are expecting to see us.

 

BE A FOOD HELPER

  • Food is a critical part of the Ministry… Those involved in food create a doorway to reaching the needy; Desert Ministries seeks the following volunteers for its food program.
    • Volunteers that participate in planning food preparation and serving food at specific events for our homeless and low income families.
    • A volunteer that feels called to be a liaison between the food collected by the church and the inventorying of that food and seeing that the food is delivered to our participating food bank.  This volunteer is detailed minded and gets satisfaction by the witness they provide by creating an orderly documentation of the food collection process.
    • This volunteer enjoys and feels accomplishment by organizing the food distribution to the field workers making their job efficient and well organized.
    • The food helper plays an important role in advising the field workers and the ministry director on what would make the process of distribution more efficient and cost saving. Without the food helper the Field workers work becomes less efficient.
    • Be a food helper coordinator
      • Workers are vital but without a coordinator they lack focus. Focus is what a Food coordinator provides.  If you like to coordinate projects more than direct them then we need your skills.  The coordinator also spends time developing and promoting food drives...

BE INVOLVED IN THE EDUCATION, TRAINING AND TUTORING PROGRAM

  • Are you a teacher or former teacher that would like to Tutor children in a subject you have taught? This could be an opportunity to use your knowledge and skills in a one on one tutoring environment.

SERVICE PROFESSIONAL PROGRAM

  • Are you or were you an auto repair, air conditioning, or appliance repair professional? Consider donating time to do repairs to our client’s vehicles and appliances. (you would not be expected to pay for parts )

FUND RAISING

  • Do you have fund raising skills? Consider being a coordinator or fund raising worker.

SPECIAL EVENTS

  • Do you enjoy being a part of developing and implementing Special Events?
  • Then consider being a part of our Christmas Children’s program for our client’s children and the children in our church.