Sometimes I wake up early in the morning around 4 a.m.  I use to hate it when this would happen and I would lay on my bed, tossing and turning, trying to get back to sleep.  Now, I no longer fight it.  In fact, I often am glad when I wake up early in the morning.  It is a gift to be able to spend some quiet, uninterrupted time alone with God.  This morning I woke up at 4:30 a.m. and quietly slipped on my bathrobe and slippers and walked through the house into the kitchen for my quiet time with God.   The  kitchen counter and dining area table was loaded with handmade scarves, children's shoes, soaps, shampoos, t-shirts, granola bars, socks, hats and gloves, mints, gum, candy and boxes of quart size zip lock bags.  My heart was immediately filled with joy, peace and gratitude.  These items had been mailed and given to us from precious people all over the country who generously gave of their time, energy and money to donate these items to Soaring Wings Ministries.  We had recently put out an appeal for help with items to give out to the homeless people and the items all over our kitchen counter and dining room table were evidence of the answer to our appeal.  My heart truly felt blessed from this outpouring of generosity.   

Amidst the scarves, socks, shoes, shampoos, soap, t-shirts, granola bars, mints, gum, candy, hats and gloves I sat down at our kitchen counter with a cup of tea and opened by Bible to read the 6th chapter in Mark.  Part of this chapter describes Jesus sending out the twelve disciples  and in verse 7 it says that "he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits.".  Did you ever wonder why Jesus sent the disciples out two by two instead of sending each one out individually?  Surely they could have covered more area and reached more people had they gone out individually.  I think Jesus knew that the disciples would need encouragement, companionship and support.  I think Jesus knew that teamwork was important.   As I read this verse and looked at all the items on our kitchen counter and dining room table I knew I was seeing teamwork in action!

When Ed and I first began to develop Soaring Wings Ministries we knew that we would not be able to go it alone.  We knew that we would need people from all walks of life to come alongside us and help us.    Teamwork is important.  God knew it was important.  Even though God is able to accomplish anything that He desires, He has deemed that people here on earth need each other and how wise He is!!!  As Soaring Wings Ministries grows,  so does our realization that the growth has come about because of others and because of God.  People have come alongside us and donated their time, energy and financial support to help the homeless here in Colorado.  Without your help and without God's blessing and guidance Soaring Wings Ministries would be floundering and instead it is flourishing and growing each day.   Our hearts are full of gratitude and joy for your outpouring of generosity to the homeless here in Colorado and we are so blessed to see how teamwork in action can move God's work forward.  Teamwork, from all over the United States, will give  encouragement and joy to discouraged, hurting people.  Teamwork, as God intended, will give much needed encouragement, companionship and support to hurting, homeless people.  

All of the donated items for the homeless have been sorted through and bagged and are ready to be distributed to the homeless.  The items that you donated, that you spent your time and money on will go out this weekend to a hurting world.  We will go, as a team, to Jefferson Park in Fort Collins and distribute the socks, hats, gloves, scarves, soap, shampoo and other items to the people who are there.  We will also bring them fresh donuts and hot coffee.   The motto for Soaring Wings Ministries is "Hope in Action".  As we distribute the items that you donated we will see teamwork in action bring our motto to life.  "Hope in Action" because of teamwork in action.....people working together, as God intended, to bring hope and love to a hurting world. 

 
  

It is so exciting to see things become a reality in Colorado that we dreamed of and thought about for so many years back in New Hampshire!  When we were still living and working in New Hampshire we would spend hours thinking about what Soaring Wings Ministries would look like in Colorado.  We wondered about what the property would look like, what the buildings would look like on the property, who our new friends would be and who the homeless people would be that we would help. 


Now that we are in Colorado we can see things with our eyes that we only wondered about with our thoughts back in New Hampshire.  We now know that Soaring Wings Ministries is located on 40 acres of rolling plains at the foot of the Rocky Mountains.  Each day we are getting to know more and more people in the area through our church and in the community.  We are getting to know quite a few homeless people when we spend time with them over coffee and donuts at the park in Fort Collins.  We also know what the house looks like at Soaring Wings Ministries.  It isn't a big house and so we utilize every inch of space.  Have you ever heard of an office/dining room/children's library?  Well that is what we have hear at Soaring Wings Ministries.  It is one large room that has a BIG TABLE, two desks, two printers, a storage cabinet and a book case filled with our granddaughter's books.  It really is something to see....but it works for the time being.  One of the things that really makes this office/dining room/ children's library work is the BIG TABLE that is in the middle of the room.  It is 95" long and can comfortably sit 10 to 12 people around this BIG TABLE.  This BIG TABLE really is the hub of Soaring Wings Ministries and we use it for everything!!!! When we were back in New Hampshire,  wondering what Soaring Wings Ministries would look like,  we always new that there would be a BIG TABLE.   We knew that this BIG TABLE would not be one of those dining room tables that is used only a couple of times a year.  We knew that this BIG TABLE would be used a lot!  Now that we are in Colorado we have the BIG TABLE that we imagined for so many years.  This BIG TABLE is used to grow Soaring Wings Ministries, to work on projects, to sort mailings, to sit for staff meetings, to eat meals, to linger over coffee and tea, to pray, to read, to watch television, to play games, to sit and laugh and sometimes to sit in silence out of frustration and weariness.    Tonight this BIG TABLE will not be used for any of these things but will instead be transformed into a banquet as we serve a Harvest Dinner with all the trimmings to guests.  This is a fundraiser for Soaring Wings Ministries and is also an opportunity for our guests to see the property, to learn more about the  ministry and to spend time enjoying each other's company.  We are so excited and feel so blessed to have this opportunity to share our vision for  Soaring Wings Ministries and to see the BIG TABLE filled with food and people!!!   What we dreamed about for so long is becoming a reality; however, the biggest dream we have is when we will be sharing the BIG TABLE with the homeless people who will be living here at Soaring Wings Ministries. What an amazing time that will be when we can see with our eyes what we are now able to see only with our minds!  I know without a doubt that the BIG TABLE will be used to heal the homeless.  With them we will be eating meals, working on projects, praying, reading, watching television, lingering over tea and coffee, playing games, laughing and also sitting in silence out of frustration and weariness.  

I wish you all could be one of the guests at the BIG TABLE here tonight.  Even though you aren't able to be here I hope and pray that you will come alongside us and help us do God's work here of using our BIG TABLE to heal the homeless.  Bottom line is that we need to raise the funds for an addition.  The house here is small and we need the addition before we can bring homeless families or young adults to Soaring Wings  Ministries.  
Please pray that God will provide the funds for this addition.  If you are able and would like to donate to our building fund we would be so grateful.  You can mail donations to Soaring Wings Ministries at 499 Trinity Lane Wellington, CO 80549 or you can send a donation via PayPal at our website.  

I want to close with one thought....even though we love our BIG TABLE here at Soaring Wings Ministries it is nothing compared to the BIG TABLE that awaits us in heaven where we will have a banquet with our Lord and fellow believers in Jesus Christ.  THE BEST IS YET TO COME!!!! 


Anita Rennells
Soaring Wings Ministries
Wellington, Colorado