Tremendous Turnout!
New Hope Counseling Center wishes to express a big Thank You, to everyone who helped make Rummage Mania an incredible success in 2015. As always, we were overwhelmed by the outpouring from the people in this community. Your giving blessed hundreds of people and dozens of families.
We heard many words of praise from people who were in need. One of our workers heard a little girl who got several stuffed animals say, “This is the best day ever!” It puts a lump in your throat to see little children who have so little become so elated with others’ greatly loved and gently worn toys. Witnessing this can really give you a new perspective on life.
We have so many awesome volunteers who helped us get everything unpacked and organized, not to mention the clean up afterwards. This year we set up a table for shoppers to request prayer and obtain brochures about our ministries. Many people wrote out their needs on a card, which we gathered and will continue to be praying for.
Of course there are always leftover items from an event this big. The remaining shoes and clothing were donated to C.R.O.S.S. Ministries, located in Osceola, Ia. This Christian Ministry offers supplies and services to those in need, sending medical equipment and supplies to other countries, as well as recycling and a variety of other mission works. The miscellaneous items were taken to a consignment auction and will add to the financial blessing for New Hope. This year’s event raised around $6000!
It’s hard to find adequate words to express our appreciation to all of the people who helped with this massive project, but a special Thank you goes out to First Baptist Church, Pastor Lloyd Johnston, and the entire church family. We are so blessed to live in a community where people really care about people. Where they see a need and step up to help. God Bless You All!
Testimonies from Rummage Mania 2015
Three little sisters came to Rummage Mania and were enthralled with the huge pile of stuffed animals. The oldest sister was thrilled to find the large number of Beanie Babies. Her little sisters were drawn right to the Teddy Bears and other stuffed animals. Each little girl picked out several Teddy bears, stuffed animals or Beanie Babies. The big sister was overheard to say, “This is the best day ever!” It sure puts a lump in your throat to see little children who have little become so elated with others’ greatly loved and gently worn toys. Rummage Mania is much more than a fund raiser. It is a blessing upon New Hope staff and volunteers to watch the faces of little children light up out of our abundance of what to these children are little treasures.
A woman who recently placed on disability came with her bag of items to the check out desk. She repeated over and over what a blessing it was for her to be at Rummage Mania. She dug in her purse and put the few dollars she could find in the donation jar. She left the church and soon was back. Outside, she found a small piece of exercise equipment that she said would be a great help for her swollen legs that her doctor had recommended for her to use. She said she found a couple more dollars in her purse that she had forgotten about and put it in the donation jar also. Could this woman’s story be the modern day manifestation of the Woman’s Mite found in Mark 12: 41-44?
A new addition to Rummage Mania for 2015 was a New Hope information and prayer table. We provided people the opportunity to share prayer requests by placing them in a prayer box. We watched several people with tears in their eyes write their requests down and put them in the box and talk to us about them as well. We later took out the prayer requests and went to the prayer room in the Church and a few of the volunteers prayed for each request. These prayer requests will also be lifted up at the New Hope Prayer Center on Wednesday mornings.
At the Prayer & Worship Center the week prior to Rummage Mania, the staff prayed that not only would we be a blessing to those who entered Rummage Mania, but that those attending would provide a blessing to us. The Lord went beyond what we imagined possible in answering that simple prayer request just like it promises in Ephesians 3:20. We were blessed by the faith of those entering the doors as well as the generosity of people of little means.