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New Year, New Opportunities! |
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Thank you to all of you who have supported the Sheepfold over the years with your time, talent, and treasure. Last year, 2017, brought so many blessings to the Sheepfold, including two new fully operational facilities - a new home in Orange County and the Resale Boutique. The new home allows us to serve more families and is such a refuge of healing. We love the new location and redesigned look of our Resale Boutique. However, having both new facilities up and running increased our annual operating expense.
In addition, we have ongoing needs at all the Sheepfold locations. At a glance most of us see the need for food and shelter, but our program goes much deeper. The needs include costs for day care, counseling, court representation and transportation to name a few.
Did you know 19,895 newsletters go out every month and only 2,500 of those are financial supporters? Have you ever considered giving and felt like it might not make a difference? We want you to know IT WILL—no matter the amount! In the spirit of stewardship and support for the ministry, the Sheepfold Board of Directors have personally created a fund of $62,000 to match “dollar for dollar” any first time, reoccurring monthly gift to the Sheepfold. Every monthly gift counts, no matter the size, and with this matching fund, your first month of giving is doubled! A $20 gift becomes a $40 gift the first month, $100 becomes $200 until the $62,000 matching fund runs out. This is for any first time reoccurring monthly gift from now through May 31st, 2018! If you aren’t giving monthly to the Sheepfold yet, your First month of giving now counts for double!
We make giving easy by visiting our Give Tab online or with the enclosed envelope. Be sure to designate monthly giving online or check the box on the envelope in order to have your first monthly gift matched. Thank YOU for your generosity and heart to serve the families of the Sheepfold. We are so grateful for our family of donors and we’re excited for you to join us. We could not do this without all of you.
- Janice Munemitsu, Board of Directors
To donate securely online, click here.
Open my eyes, that I may see wonderful things in your law.
- Psalm 119:18
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Total Surrender
Too often, when a new mom enters our program, she has been hurt so badly that she puts on a tough exterior because that is the only way she knows how to defend herself. There is a tendency for her to resist our leadership and counsel because it feels like a threat to their own control and pride. Most of our residents have been raising their kids on their own for so long and are comfortable making their own decisions, even though their decisions contributed to their being in a shelter. They have essentially lost everything and want to hold on to the one thing they have: control.
Once they enter into the Sheepfold program, the moms must face a lot of ugly truths and struggles head on; such as paying off debt, taking care of tickets/felonies, getting a job, getting their driver’s license back, etc. Many of these things have been swept under the rug and they have no desire to ever repair this accumulated ugly mess. Much of the time, their imaginations get the best of them and their fear ends up being far greater than needed. You can see that they have been living in bondage to these things unnecessarily.
Recently, I had a woman enter our program who was completely resistant to any coaching offered. She owed a couple thousand dollars for past due tickets and her license had been suspended. When I told her she would need to start paying those tickets off and work on getting her license back, she told me no, that it was not a priority for her right now. One of our goals at Sheepfold is to help our ladies get their life back on track so that when they leave our program, they won’t have anything holding them back from success—that includes restoring Driver’s Licenses. When I explained to her why it was a top priority in our program, she begrudgingly agreed and started paying off her tickets. She ended up getting her license back quickly and was elated and beaming with the pride accomplishment brings!
At that moment, this mom learned that she can trust me and the rest of the House Managers and that we have her best interest in mind. She has since payed off her tickets completely and gotten a full-time job. She has started tithing and is seeing how much the Lord is blessing her obedience to Him. This afternoon, she came into my office and just collapsed, in tears, into my arms filled with gratitude for God’s awesomeness. We prayed a prayer of gratitude and praise as we laughed and cried together. Yup, working at Sheepfold is certainly a blessing, especially when we get to witness moments such as this—total surrender to the Lord.
- Kelli, Sheepfold House Manager
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Christmas Thanks!!
Thank you for being so generous and donating to our moms and kids during this past Christmas season and throughout the year. Our families will savor the memories they shared during this holy season as they celebrated the birth of Jesus. The celebrations were filled with warmth and giving, as they enjoyed the lovely gifts you provided through your donations of time, talent and treasure.
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Never lose an opportunity for seeing anything that is beautiful; for beauty is God’s handwriting; a wayside sacrament. Welcome it in every fair face, in every fair sky, in every fair flower, and thank God for it, as a cup of His blessing.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Resident Plumber!
Rick, one of our faithful volunteers, was called upon to replace the garbage disposal at one of our homes.
A young resident named Daniel knew he was coming and researched online how to install one.
When Rick arrived, Daniel said he knew how to install it from watching YouTube videos. With Rick keeping an eye out for safety and any problems, Daniel accomplished the whole job by himself. Amazing! He felt so proud, and rightly so.
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Dear Sheepfold Donor
Thank you so much for the beautiful van donation. My children and myself are thankful for your generous heart.
We are beyond blessed in so many ways. I am now able to take my kids to school, take them out once in a while, and most important, I am able to get to work without worrying about being late. No more shuffling to see who can take my children to school. I can!
You brought huge smiles to our faces when we received the van. I thank you, thank you, thank you so much.
May the Lord continue to bless you and your family.
- Jennifer, Sheepfold Graduate
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Go Paperless
Do you receive our newsletter in the mail and want to go paperless? You can request to cancel your snail mail subscription and receive our newsletter by email only by going here: thesheepfold.org/newsletter-paperless.php.
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Giving to The Sheepfold
If you are considering The Sheepfold for your year-end giving, you may donate online at thesheepfold.org/donate.
Thank You!
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The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability
The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability is the respected organization that audits non-profit corporations on a yearly basis to verify that all donations were recorded properly and were used for the purpose for which they were given, and requires a full financial statement for supervision by The Sheepfold Board of Directors monthly.
Membership in the ECFA is only granted to non-profit corporations who meet their rigid standards. We are proud of our long-standing membership in this organization.
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Fran Lundquist, Founder
The Sheepfold
Board of Directors
John Wildman, President/Executive Director
The Sheepfold
Jeff Abbott, BBL Group Chair
BBL Forum
Tim Blied, Law Partner
Schmiesing, Blied, Stoddart & Machey
Secty., The Sheepfold
Bob Brumleu, President
Omni Duct Systems
Marie Sackett, Program Director/Finance
Sharon D. Lund Foundation
Chris Hite, Partner
Coreland Companies
Rick McCarthy, Chair/Principal BBL Forum
CPA, McCarthy & Associates
Janice Munemitsu
Generous Giving Field Team
Bruce Bartolomeo
Retired Business Owner
Victoria Botka Williams
Freelance Television Director
Bill Yingling
Business Consultant |
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