SERVING

It was Christmas and Pamela was struggling. She was a single mom and had been laid off. She was in trouble and had looked everywhere she could think of for help. Some places helped while others didn't. It had been a hard expereience to say the least. Now to make ends meet she worked a few jobs and her house payment loomed once again. Then she met Linda.

Linda was the prayer leader of a group God had called to plant a church in the area. The two met at a little house. Pamela was putting weather stripper on the porch and Linda was there to pray about the possibility of that little house becoming a coffee house ministry. That meeting ignited a movement that conflagrated into a powerhouse of hope.

Soon the mission of that church plant included the needs of the many struggling families in Comal County and the surrouding areas. The church plant that would soon be called Riverside and Pamela was a part of its DNA. While the church helped Pamela through Christmas, it was Riverside that recieved the gift.

God loves to take the ditch we find ourselves in and make it a well.

God wove Pamela's brokeness to her gifts and her heart. Then he birthed the Hope Center before Riverside ever worshipped on a Sunday. Now people who are in need have a place to go for food, clothing, and almost any kind of help in hard times. The Hope Center also has consolidated information from all the different helping agencies in the area. In doing so we have become a clearing house and touchstone for anyone in need.

At the center of it all is Pamela serving God by serving others. And Christmas is still a special time.

We believe in Serving God and Serving each other. When God walked among us as Jesus, he served. He met brokeness with restoration. We seek to do the same. Whether our service is amongst our local family and friends, the larger community, or international, we believe in bringing to bear all the resources we have to make an ongoing and personal difference in the world. We also believe that when we serve the hurting, hungry, lost, oppressed, imprisoned, and lonely we serve Jesus Himself - that when we look into another persons eyes that has needs, we see Jesus eyes looking back. We believe we are called to ease His pain.