Tag Archives: Doing good works

Tebow Care Hospital Opens In Philippines

A hospital built by the foundation of Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Tim Tebow and his family along with the Christian organization CURE International has opened in the Philippines.

The ribbon cutting on the hospital took place in Davao City Friday.  The hospital is going to focus on treating children who have orthopedic conditions according to CURE.

The hospital has been planned since 2012 and had been treating some patients since last year but formally opened this past week.  The hospital features what is called “Timmy’s Playroom,” a place for the children to escape the seriousness of the hospital and “enjoy being a kid.”  The room was decorated by the Tim Tebow foundation.

“We’ve been looking forward to this day for a long time,” CURE President and CEO Dale Brantner said. “After many years of prayer and much hard work, I am thrilled to be able to say the Tebow CURE Hospital is officially open! In this place, we will share the love of Jesus and bring physical healing to children and families who desperately need it.”

“The Tim Tebow Foundation is so honored to be working with CURE International and so many incredible donors to make this hospital a reality,” said Erik Dellenback, executive director of the Tim Tebow Foundation. “Tim, who was born in the Philippines, has always had great passion for this country and its amazing people.”

The Tebow CURE Hospital is the 12th hospital CURE International has helped open around the world.

New England Teens Invite Friends With Special Needs To Prom

What was once a night of dresses, tuxes, partying, and popularity has now been redefined as a night to reach out and include everyone in the festivities.

Matty Marcone, a student in Canton, Massachusetts, has special needs and several medical issues. He never dreamed that he was going to be asked to prom, but his friend and classmate, Kaitlin McCarthy, changed that.

Kaitlin invited Matty to Prom after he claimed he was going to buy Disney World for her.

“I said, if he’s going to buy Disney World for me, I should bring him to the prom,” said Kaitlin.

With the help of the hockey team, special education teachers, and school nurses, Matty was able to attend prom with Kaitlin and other friends. Matty and Kaitlin were voted Prom King and Prom Queen.

While Matty was invited to prom by Kaitlin, another special needs teen in New York was about to get asked to prom as well.

Michael Pagano has autism and had been rejected by several girls he had asked to prom. However, senior and friend, Sarah Kardonsky, had a plan to invite Michael to the prom.

Michael is a New York Jets fan, which led Sarah to asking the Jets players via Instagram to help her make a video prom invitation. Nine Jets players total sent videos to Sarah asking Michael if he would go to the dance with her.

And while this invitation to prom led to national publicity, including a spot on a popular daytime television show, Sarah was more concerned that her friend was happy.

“People who worry so much about what dress to wear or who to go with, that’s not what prom is about. Prom is about having a good time. You should just be surrounded by people who make you happy.”

Chick-Fil-A Owner Gives Homeless Man Free Meal & Own Gloves

The owner of a Chick-Fil-A franchise in Birmingham, Alabama is gaining national attention after a customer secretly videotaped him showing Christ’s love to a homeless man.

The unidentified man walked into the store last week and asked owner Mark Meadows if he could work for some food.

“We made eye contact and I asked him what would he like, what we could do for him and then he asked if he could do some work to get something to eat,” Meadows told ABC News.

Meadows responded by having the man sit down and they gave him a meal on the house.  As the man was waiting for his meal, Meadows noticed he was rubbing his hands together and asked if the man had gloves.

When he said no, Meadows went into his office and brought out his gloves and gave them to the man.

Meadows was not intending to tell anyone about the incident but a customer recorded the encounter and posted it on social media.

“[My son] Bryson and I are sitting in Chick Fil A on 280. A man walked in to get warm with all of his earthly possessions on his back,” patron Andrea Stoker wrote in a status that has now gone viral. “The manager, who is on his break, got up and asked the man if he could get him anything. Before the man could even answer, the manager asked if the man had any gloves and handed him his, then got him the meal of his choice.”

“There is still so much good in this world and I’m so grateful that Bryson saw it all unfold,” she continued.

Spiritual Flash Mob Blessed 12,000 On Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve became a little more joyful for over 12,000 residents and workers in the area of Liquid Church in New Jersey.

The pastors arranged for what they called a “Spiritual Flash Mob” after services on Christmas eve where members gave bags of cookies and vouchers for meals at local restaurants as a way to show love to their community.

“It’s exciting to see the enthusiasm to go out and share God’s love after each service,” said Liquid Church Pastor Tim Lucas. “And we just heard from some police officers in Times Square sharing that they just received a bag from a Liquid Church family. It made their day to know that they matter, especially on a day like today. Now that’s what we call putting our faith into action.”

“People who work on Christmas Eve, they’re the shepherds keeping us safe – police, firefighters, EMS, nurses and doctors. And there are plenty others who have no choice but to work today,” Lucas told the Christian Post. “So we are commissioning our families to go and spread good news before they do anything else today. We need to let the people they will meet today that they matter to God and to us.”

The church said it was a way for the members of the church to reflect in a way the herald of good news that brought the good news of Christ on Christmas eve.

Elderly Woman Beaten By Homeless Man Refuses To Stop Feeding Hungry

She may be beaten and bruised but a Florida woman is refusing to let a violent encounter with a homeless man stop her from doing the Lord’s work.

Tara Barnes, 69, was kidnapped by a homeless man who climbed into the backseat of her car and put a knife to her throat.  He ordered Barnes to drive to the Ocala National Forest.  However, before they reached that destination, the man ordered her to pull over, threw a rope around her neck, dragged her from the car and beat her with a club.

The man kept yelling, “you rich [word deleted] think we need your help?” as he beat the elderly woman.

He then stuck Barnes back in the car and took her to a K-Mart parking lot where he then beat her unconscious.

Barnes was hospitalized for over a day with various injuries.  The man who kidnapped the woman is still at large.

“This is God’s work,” Barnes told the New York Daily News about feeding the homeless.  “We’re not going to let this one nut stop us.”

She was back the following week cooking meals for the homeless.

Bethany Hamilton Calls Jesus Her Stronghold

Bethany Hamilton says that when she lost her arm to a shark attack that her first instinct was to turn to the focus of her life.

“I remember after I lost my arm, I just had this sense of peace that God was in control and that’s kind of weird for a 13-year-old to be like, ‘Hey, God, you’re in control,’ like I just lost my arm,” Hamilton told Fox News.

Hamilton wrote a new book called “Body and Soul” where she strives to talk to younger girls to be comfortable in their daily life and with how God made them.  She also wants to encourage them to seek healthier options in their life.

“On top of that, I wanted to encourage them in their faith,” said Hamilton. “And I think God calls us to take care of our bodies and to love and respect our bodies and I think that can be done through the way that we eat and the way that we move but also in the way we think towards ourselves and how we think towards God.”

Hamilton said one of the biggest ways that young Christian girls can show respect to themselves and God is by saving themselves for marriage.  Hamilton said waiting has helped build a big foundation in her marriage to a youth pastor.

“It’s such a beautiful thing now being in a relationship with someone as amazing as he is and being able to share life together and share our same faith and encourage and uplift each other and just be an awesome loving team.”

Tips For Jesus Strikes Again

The men behind the nationwide movement Tips For Jesus have struck again, this time at a restaurant in Philadelphia.

An unidentified group of men have been leaving massive tips for waitresses, bartenders and other lower income workers with an emblem marked Tips For Jesus.  The name of the customer is scratched out so that they cannot be identified.

The mystery men left a $5,000 tip for a waitress and a $2,000 tip for a bartender at Philadelphia’s Rouge restaurant.

“When he wrote down the tip, to be honest with you, it didn’t feel real,” waitress Jess Nguyen told Philly.com.  “I feel like I won the lottery.”

Nguyen said her tip will to go paying for her college classes to earn a teaching degree and the bartender, Sam Trasatti, said she will use the money to help build a personal training business.

The identity of the man behind the Tips for Jesus campaign has been a secret but some media websites are suggesting it is Jack Selby, a former vice president of  the online payment service PayPal.

Arizona Church Sells $1 Million Property For $1

A dying Arizona church made one of their last acts a blessing to keep the gospel moving in their community.

First Southern Baptist Church of Payson, Arizona, sold their church campus to church plant Expedition Church for $1.  The dwindling congregation of the church who had been serving Payson for 51 years could no longer maintain the campus, worth over $1 million dollars.

The church also gave their North Annex to Payson Community Kids, a non-profit group that serves needy children in the community.

“It is a very hard thing when a church closes, but there is great joy in being able to share our legacy with Expedition Church and Payson Community Kids, and to know that the lives, the love, the hard work and the generosity of those who had been part of Payson First Southern Baptist Church will continue to reach people for His Kingdom,” former Payson First Southern Baptist Pastor Rick Hatch wrote on the church’s website.

Expedition Church reported they had been trying to rent space from Payson Southern Baptist and were trying to finalize another offer to rent space when Pastor Hatch called to offer the deal to buy the campus.

“My jaw dropped…We said we would absolutely take it,” Expedition Church’s Lead Pastor Donovan Christian said. “I am not a real mystical guy, but we really felt like God was just blessing us.”

Pastor Provides Compelling Evidence For Witnessing At Abortion Clinics

In a society where Christians are receiving increasing amount of condemnation for publicly standing on their faith, one church is providing compelling evidence for the power of witnessing outside of abortion clinics.

Pastor Jeff Durbin and his witnessing team from Apologia Church in Tempe, Arizona, shared a story at the opening of the 2014 Ignite Conference talking about a couple that they had approached heading into an abortion clinic.  They didn’t yell at the couple but rather calmly presented the gospel and spoke about the value that God places on all lives, including that of the couple’s unborn child.

At the conclusion of the story, a young woman walked on stage with a baby.

It was Tina, the woman who ended up walking away from the abortionist’s table and giving life to the child she was holding in her arms.

“We’re very, very grateful for them saving our baby’s life and opening our eyes,” Tina said.  “They’ve really helped us so much and changed our point of view.  If it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t have my baby.”

Pastor Durbin said Tina and her son were living testimony of the importance of bringing the Gospel into hard places and not being concerned about what the world thinks about it.

“I have an irrefutable argument about bringing the Gospel to hard places despite all the conflict,” Pastor Durbin said, pointing to Tina as she left the stage.

President Hosts Easter Prayer Breakfast

An Easter Prayer Breakfast was held at the White House Monday.

Invitations to the breakfast were sent to members of various denominations.  The President addressed the crowd to speak about Christ and His love.

“We’re reminded how He loves us, so deeply, that He gave his only begotten Son so that we might live through Him. And in these Holy Days, we recall all that Jesus endured for us – the scorn of the crowds and the pain of the crucifixion, in our Christian religious tradition we celebrate the glory of the Resurrection – all so that we might be forgiven of our sins and granted everlasting life,” President Obama said.

The President also used the occasion to speak about the tragedy at Jewish community centers in Overland Park, Kansas, saying that nobody should have to worry about their security when gathering for worship.

The President then encouraged the Christians in attendance to not “remain on the sidelines.”

“I want to thank you for your ministries, for your good works, for the marching you do for justice and dignity and inclusion, for the ministries that all of you attend to and have helped organize throughout your communities each and every day to feed the hungry and house the homeless and educate children who so desperately need an education,” the President said. “You have made a difference in so many different ways, not only here in the United States but overseas as well.”