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Christmas is around the Corner

Christmas is around the corner, but here at Mission Arlington^®, we have been preparing for Christmas all year! December 8th is the first day of our annual Christmas Store where parents choose free gifts for their children.

We are decorating the store, stocking the shelves, and praying daily for the lives that will enter the building and be blessed. Families don’t only receive gifts; they also hear the Christmas Story read from Luke chapter 2. More than 30,000 children were helped last year.

Here is a note from one special mother who wants to reconnect this holiday:

“I would like to share with you how I am so grateful with Mission Arlington. A few years ago, my family and I were struggling through a financial crisis. My husband and I had literally nothing to offer our 3 children that year ( then ages 9, 7, and 3.)

We wanted to make it special for them, but we didn’t know how – until we came across the Christmas Store the Mission had to offer.  I know I will forever be grateful for the gifts given to our children that year.

This year, it would be such a great honor for me to be a part of that special giving and love that was once shared with me. It would be such an honor for me to volunteer for the Christmas Store this year.   

I would like to know, if perhaps, there is a possibility I could volunteer and what I need to do in order to participate.”

A Memorable, Life-Changing Experience

The Christmas Store is a memorable experience for people who give and those who receive. We are grateful to God for the way he provides toys, volunteers, and resources so people can be blessed and, in turn, bless others.

In 1994, James was pastoring a church 20 minutes away from Mission Arlington^®, but he meet Tillie Burgin at a conference far away in south Texas. Tillie was the speaker, and everything she said touched James’ heart so profoundly, he began to respond from the back row, “Amen!” Afterwards, they realized they were practically neighbors. A ministerial connection, and a friendship, was born.

James wanted others to avoid the mistakes he had made when he began preaching and caring for people in the Woodhaven area of Fort Worth. His church gave away food and clothes to the surrounding neighborhood, so he felt at home at Mission Arlington^® where he found people with the same heart.

The years have taken James across Fort Worth, into different ministerial roles, through medical issues, and past an amputated foot. For a year he literally had to be off his feet, but during his time of illness, the Lord showed him that he needed to get back to the people, back to serving on the ground. He says, “I do not want to punch my clock out of here and not be significant, not make a difference. Not by numbers but by impact.”

About a year ago, James found himself driving through Arlington, hurting, around 4:00 on a Sunday, which has been the time of the Mission Arlington^® Worker’s meeting every week since 1986. He knew where to find his family. James slipped in the back of the meeting, crying, into open arms. After the meeting, Tillie told him to come visit during the week.

Since then, James has been as active as he can at Mission Arlington^®. Despite continuing health concerns, he says he has to keep reaching out, ministering directly to the people. “I’m too old just to do church. I’m too old just to preach three points and a poem. I don’t want to leave without fulfilling God’s mission for my life.

“There are other places I could be, other things I could do. But I don’t think there’s any place I would be more significant, any place I would be more loved, any place I would be more appreciated, or any place that I care more about.”

Originally published in February of 2016.

Tori grew up at Mission Arlington^®. She attended Grace Street Fellowship, a Mission congregation, and her mother has been involved in many capacities for all those years.

Last spring, Tori graduated from Arlington High School, and, after applying for work at a few places, she realized Mission Arlington^® was the perfect fit. She started full time this past summer doing clerical work and Bible Studies every afternoon in Grand Prairie.

Toni, Tori’s partner in Grand Prairie, has nothing but praise for Tori and the good work God is doing in that city. Toni says, “I prayed for helpers, and God provided a young lady from among our own kids!  …She uses her energy, creativity, compassion and servant’s heart to work beside me in Grand Prairie! God exceeded my expectations when He called her to the ‘mission field next door.’”

Tori says, “I love teaching. That’s something I wanted to do regardless of where I was working.” She teaches on Sundays and helps plan crafts and activities for their weekly meetings. Toni is great at listening to Tori’s ideas, and they work together well.

Since coming to Mission Arlington^® to work, Tori says she has learned to “put everything in God’s hands. After I did that…everything was much more peaceful.”

Tori will be leaving after our Fall Festival this year to join her mother in Oklahoma to help care for her ailing grandmother.  We have been so blessed to watch Tori grow into the beautiful young lady she has become, and into the maturing Christian servant of the Lord.  We will miss her, of course, but we are excited about this next part of her journey, and we look forward to her return.

{First published 1 year ago, October 29th, 2017. Edited and republished October 23rd, 2018.}

Two brothers, sitting on the steps of the apartment where their Mission Arlington church meets each Sunday.

As soon as Jesus could walk, he was volunteering for Mission Arlington®.  He would toddle around behind his Bible Study leader, Rebecca, and knock on the apartment doors to invite everyone to church.

Ricardo, Jesus’ older brother, has been attending Bible Study for years and, even though their family moved away from the apartments more than ten years ago, they still drive back every week because that’s their church.  They say they like the environment and love to learn about God.

Some may recognize these boys from previous Mission Arlington® publications. Rebecca always has her camera, so Jesus appeared in many newsletters as he grew up. Ricardo wrote an essay for school a few years ago about the work they do on Fridays, which was published as well. Read the essay here. Last year, Rebecca wrote a piece about Ricardo and his friend that was featured on this website. Find that article here.

Ricardo’s working on his college degree now, and says he uses the things he learns at church in his everyday life. “Everything I’ve learned, I’ve put in into my life.  There are things I’m still working on to change with the help of God.” And while at school, he shares his faith whenever he can.  His goal? He wants “to show people that their life can be full of hope.”

Jesus is in junior high, While this is difficult territory, Jesus says he has a plan. “Always keep going forward and make better choices. There is another way of life.”

Mission Arlington ^® is so much more than clothes, food, and Sunday morning Bible Study.  Those things work together towards the overarching goal of investing in lives to further God’s kingdom.  Ricardo and Jesus are just two of many who are following Christ, and we praise God for the work he is doing in their lives today.

Originally published on February 1st, 2015.

“It’s a blessing to see God work miracles every day” – Audrey.

Last fall, Audrey was working in Tulsa at a shelter that was soon to close. She was planning to return to family in New York when to someone casually mentioned Texas. And God said, “You are going to Texas.” Audrey says, “It was embedded in my mind. I couldn’t take my thoughts from it.”

Shortly thereafter, Audrey was in Arlington, Texas. She started volunteering at Mission Arlington and wondered if this was the reason God had whispered “Texas.” Tillie confirmed Audrey’s suspicion when she told Audrey she had a place for her. Since then, Audrey has been working in the front room, on the phones, in the food pantry, and doing Bible Study at a central Arlington apartment complex.

Every day, about 500 people come to the front room of Mission Arlington^® looking for help with food, clothing, rent, utilities and other assistance. Audrey is glad to pray with the people and see how we can help. She remembers one woman came needing food, furniture, and had a prayer request. Audrey asked about the prayer request and the woman cried, telling about her entire situation. They prayed and talked for a long time. By the time the woman was left, Audrey says although we didn’t have every last physical thing she asked for, she received something else that God prepared for her, and the woman left in better shape than when she had come.

Recently, Audrey was restocking the food pantry and a request came for more vegetables. Audrey knew there were no more vegetables, but she went back to the stockroom to see if anything else had come in. At that moment, a man came in with a box of canned vegetables and asked where to put them. “Oh, great! We need those in the small pantry,” Audrey told him. He answered, “You don’t understand. “My truck is full of vegetables.”

The next day, a similar issue came up with Ramen noodles. Audrey had just given away the last package of noodles, a very popular item in the pantry, so she went to the stockroom to see what else was available. As she was walking by the donation area, a man pulled up and opened his trunk to reveal it was full of Ramen noodles. Audrey laughed, “Not just one pack, no, boxes and boxes of noodles.”

Audrey thinks about God’s provision in terms of Luke 5. The disciples have been fishing with no success, but when Jesus tells them to throw their nets on the other side of the boat, the nets break because they are so full of fish. Audrey explains, “Mission Arlington is a broken-net place. People come in a hopeless situation, but leave with nets so full, the nets are broken.”

Originally published in May of 2017.

When Tillie Burgin returned from Korea, a woman named Doris whom she did not know approached her saying, “I’ve been praying for you.” This began a decades-long friendship between the two women and their families.

Doris volunteered at Mission Arlington in countless ways from the beginning. From clerical work to cleaning the kitchen, she was always a familiar sight around the office. She also served on the Mission Metroplex Board of Directors.

The position most important to her, though, was the time she spent teaching the ladies’ Bible Study at South Street Church. She guided the women that she taught to follow God. They loved her so much, even when she was no longer well enough to teach the class, the women still asked about her and checked on her consistently.

Doris loved telling people about the Lord. She once found, while proofreading a Mission Arlington publication, someone had written the phrase, “a chance to tell people about Jesus.” She suggested a word change, explaining it was not by a lucky “chance,” but telling people about Jesus is always an “opportunity.” She took these opportunities seriously because of her deep love for her Savior. She wanted everyone to know him the way she knew him.

We are thankful to God for sending this beautiful woman to teach us all how to love the Lord and serve people well. Doris went to be with her Lord this spring. She now knows by sight what we only know by faith.

At her memorial service, one speaker asked everyone to stand who had been taught by Doris. Nearly one-fourth of the congregation stood to be counted as Doris‘ pupils. Almost all of these have gone on to teach their own classes, or lead their families or friends in the way of the Lord.

Doris‘ legacy, taking opportunities to spread the word of God, will make an impact for generations to come.

When Dennis was five, he told his parents he knew what he wanted to be when he grew up: a missionary, someone who “goes around the world and tells people about Jesus.” Rather than just a cute passing phase, Dennis has kept this goal consistently through the last two years.

Recently, Dennis’ parents encouraged him over lunch. “You don’t have to wait to make an impact. You could make an impact now.” Dennis considered his favorite toy, Legos, saying, “Maybe I could be a Lego missionary.”

In Dennis’ own words, “We go around and tell the gospel to kids and help them to do legos and give them a toy to play with.”

And so Building Blocks 4 Kids was born. While Dennis recruited some friends from his church to help, his parents contacted Mission Arlington to see if there were any groups of children that would want to build Legos and hear the Gospel. Of course, that was easy to set up.

Two months later, at an apartment complex in North Arlington, Dennis and friends passed out Legos, sang worship songs, and told how God should be the architect of your life. If you follow God’s instructions, your life will look like what he has planned. They read Jeremiah 29:11, then they all built Legos together, following the Lego diagram.

Since then, Building Blocks 4 Kids has visited two more locations and six more are planned for the summer. The word is out: co-workers and friends are dropping off Lego donations with Dennis’ family. Through a connection with a missionary in Africa, Dennis will send sets of Legos overseas with the Bible Study translated into Swahili.

The mission of Building Blocks 4 Kids is spreading across Arlington and into the world. We’re so glad that God asked us to be a part of this fun gospel project.

There’s no reason to wait if God has put a call on your life to share the Gospel. How can you share Christ today?

Visit Building Blocks 4 Kids on Facebook here:

https://www.facebook.com/buildingblocks4kids.org/

Thirteen-year-old Jaborian has been going to church at a Mission Arlington^® apartment community since he was about 2 years old. His face lights up when asked about the day he accepted Jesus as his savior.

When was it? Without hesitation, he answers, “It was May 14, 2011 – It was really good, because I just felt like I was clean.” Now, he wants everyone else to know what it feels like to be forgiven. He volunteers often at the Mission Arlington^® office and teaches Pre-K at his home Bible Study plus 1st-3rd grade at another location. He doesn’t have a favorite kid – he says he loves them all.

Jaborian likes it when the children get excited about the Bible. “This one kid, Anthony, he hooks on so fast. One time I was teaching him about when God split the water so everyone could walk through. He was asking lots of questions and really engaged in it.” Anthony is a preschooler and blessed to have Jaborian as a teacher.

He runs track, so one of his favorite responsibilities is to knock on doors inviting people to church, because it’s active and a bit of a challenge. He says, “Sometimes they say they don’t want to come, but I continue to knock, continue to knock. And sometimes even if you think they won’t come, they come.” He remembers one man in particular who, after many weeks of invitations, finally did come to church. Jaborian was so pleased to see him there.

His love for Jesus doesn’t stop when he leaves the church walls. Last year, someone at school teased him a little saying, “You just love going to church,” and he answered, “‘I do love going to church.’ They know I follow Jesus Christ for sure.”

Mission Arlington^® is better because Jaborian volunteers and shares the gospel wherever he goes. What a blessing he is!

[Originally published in February 2018]

We meet so many beautiful people here. When they receive, they don’t forget, and they pay it forward.

Thank you Sonya Boler for sharing this note with us. Gifts like the ones you gave keep on giving even after they leave here.

The following note was published by Ms. Boler on Facebook and is republished here with permission.

“When I moved to Texas back in 2001 I had no furniture or a bed. Mission Arlington^® donated to me a bed, kitchen table and chairs and sofa. I was so blessed. My sister, minister Carolyn Boler, came to volunteer sometimes here. When I moved back home to Charlotte, NC, I donated all of my furniture and new stuff that I bought to Mission Arlington^® to be a blessing to someone else. Blessings to you and your families.”

 We are so grateful  for people like Ms. Boler who make a difference with others from what they have received through here.  We are so blessed to do what we do every day.  Thank you so much for your constant, faithful support.

About 11 years ago, Chad found himself in a hard place, but he found help and work at the Arlington Life Shelter and Mission Arlington^®.  He says he felt love during that time, but God had other plans, and Chad ended up leaving for several years. He had some more growing and changing to do.

While he was away, he completed nursing school and got married. “It never left. Tillie, Bob and Mission Arlington^® never left the back of my mind. I knew something had happened here. I’m pretty sure this is where I found the meaning of Christ and love, definitely love.” Although he had not visited Mission Arlington^® in many years, he found himself often telling his new wife the ways he had seen God working here. The seeds of love were planted and God was slowly bringing them to the surface. This went on until Chad bumped into Bob Burgin one night picking up chicken nuggets at Wendy’s.

They talked and, even more, Chad could not get the idea of returning to Mission Arlington^® out of his head. It took 2 more years, but he did finally visit with Tillie again.  Everything fell back into place at the right time. Now he’s working part-time at the Mission Arlington^® Medical Clinic and is the full-time youth minister at Parkview Church. He talks about it like it’s the life he’s always wanted.

He says, “When you see Mission Arlington^®, you see God. The love that’s expressed, the forgiveness, the grace, the dedication that everyone here shows. I realized that I didn’t have to be everything I thought I had to be. I didn’t have to be the best at this, this fake life, being someone I’m not. I really found myself in ‘not,” – in giving everything up and letting God have control.”

At the clinic, Chad says, apart from the medicine, he enjoys teaching the nursing students about relating to patients and sharing Christ with everyone who comes in. Opportunities abound.

At Parkview, God has grown the youth group from 3 very faithful students to more than 30, many who have no church background at all. They meet up on Saturdays to beautify the church grounds and volunteer at Mission Arlington^®. Chad is teaching them the value of hard work and planting more seeds in kids who need it. It’s exciting to think about what God has in store for this next chapter of Chad’s life. He says, “God has had this purpose for for me. It was amazing to see it come to fruition.”