Ministry Milestones - Gulf Coast Community Ministries

Ministry Milestones
Summer 2013
Volume 3, Issue 3
The Promise of a New Day
GCCM MINISTRIES:


Free Medical Clinic


Food Pantry
Clothes Ministry
Homeless Outreach
GCCM services are
offered free to the
community and are
made
possible
through donations from
individuals, churches
and grants.
Partners
with GCCM
Working for
a Healthier Coast
Ways You Can
Make a Difference
Memorial
Hospital
Gulfport donated an
enormous contribution
of food and commodity
products earlier this
year. Their donations
were like Thanksgiving
& Christmas in one
awesome gifting! Thank
you, MHG, for sharing
with people who are
hungry and in need.
We’re so proud of your
tremendous donation!
As a member of the
National Association of
Free Clinics, GCCM
operates the only free
clinic in Gulfport & one
of only three on the MS
Coast. Each month, we
hold six four-hour clinics, including two clinics on Saturdays.
If you can’t volunteer
due to time, work or
physical restrictions,
here are other ways
you can help now:
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Dr. Pamela Baker, Chair
James Bates, Vice-Chair
Margaret Shore, Secretary
Dr. Steve Mooneyham,
Treasurer
Dr. Robert Bowles
Kandi Farris
Felice Kelly Gillum
Martha Rounsaville
Grace Memorial Baptist Church gave tents,
sleeping bags & supplies for people who are
homeless. These items
are requested almost
weekly by people who
need shelter during bad
weather or hot days.
We gave the largest
tent to a couple who are
homeless & expecting
the birth of their first
child. Thank you, Grace
Memorial, for making
this couple’s life easier
with a tent large enough
for them & their baby.


The free clinic provides
basic healthcare for
uninsured people 18- 
64 years. The clinic
does not offer OB-GYN

care. Since January
2013, the free clinic
has offered healthcare
to more than 300 people. The majority of
these clients have hy- 
pertension or diabetes.
Many clients suffer
from both conditions.
The clinic uses up to
1,000 doses of anti- 
hypertension medicine
every two weeks. Each
client receives an average of five prescrip- 
tions. A gift of $25 will
buy 1,000 doses of this
badly needed medicine.
Give a donation in
honor or memory
of someone you
love.
Give a gift in honor
of special occasions, such a birthday or anniversary.
Donate Wal-Mart
or Visa gift cards.
Give new casual
socks or tee shirts
for adult men and
women who are
homeless.
Donate small tents,
sleeping bags,
flashlights and batteries of any size to
help people who
are homeless.
Donate large print
Bibles for people
who need this extra
visual help.
Give $25 or more
to purchase supplies for someone
with diabetes.
First Christian Church VBS Makes Impact
on Local Hunger Needs
Rev. Lashaundra Smith and her congregation
gathered more than 100 containers of food for
our pantry. Rev. Smith and First Christian
Church Disciples of Christ work with Bread for
the World. This international food advocacy program urges decision makers to end hunger
through policy changes and active food distribution programs. We’re grateful for our partnership
with FCC for creating this valuable education
program among its youngest members.
Gulf Coast Community Ministries
Gulf Coast Community Ministries
works to alleviate the nutritional,
physical and spiritual needs of
impoverished people living on
the Mississippi Coast.
3914 15th Street
Gulfport, MS 39501
Phone: 228-868-8202
Free Clinic: 228-868-1936
Fax: 228-868-1938
E-mail: [email protected]
www.gulfcoastministry.net
The Promise of a New Day
FAITH IN ACTION:
One is a well-traveled missions worker. The other
has just celebrated a much-anticipated 16th birthday. Megan and Mike are two people who live their
faith. Earlier this summer, they traveled from Chicago to Gulfport with 21 other young people & adults.
The group tackled badly-needed renovations for the
main building and clinic. June 26—28 were three
hot, humid, exhausting days. But this group’s resolve didn’t wilt in our south Mississippi humidity.
At 23, Megan is a young adult leader and missions
veteran of seven local, out-of-state & international
service projects, including a mission to Africa.
As an 8th grade student, her youth leader recruited her to join C.R.U.S.H. As a seasoned member
of Catholic Religion Understood Spiritually Here, Megan says that service enables her to be the
hands, feet and face of Christ to others.
When asked about the challenges of being a young adult in 21st century America, Megan said that
we are all called to “live in the world but not be of the world.” She sees her future in full time religious life.
Mike’s trip to Mississippi was his first C.R.U.S.H. service project. With no prior mission experience,
Mike soon found his niche in prepping and painting GCCM’s expansive exterior trim and woodwork.
He found that work also offered opportunities to try new things such as installing a ceiling fan in the
dispensary with the able guidance of Tom, one of the adult sponsors.
As a young person growing into adulthood, Mike said that “staying in his faith” means commitment:
going to church every Sunday, being an active member of that church and surrounding himself with
caring friends. He praised his church as “a family of very caring people who are one with God.”
GCCM was blessed immeasurably to have worked with C.R.U.S.H. this summer, a remarkable
group of young people whose faith is witnessed by their obedience and good works.
As summer moves into fall, we know that every new day is just a little briefer than the previous 24
hours. Seconds are pared away, as 2013 marches along to December’s winter solstice. In one of
his meditations, John Piper wrote, “Time is precious. We are fragile. Life is short. Eternity is long.
Oh, to be a faithful steward of the breath God has given me. Surely, God means for our minutes on
earth to count for something significant.” 1 Corinthians 4:2.