Dinner Church: Christmas Outreach Serving Underprivileged Kids
Do you ever wonder why so much of our Lord’s ministry took place around meals? “The Table” is one of the most important places of human connection. People don’t want to be projects. They want their humanity to be recognized and their potential to be valued. The table is a place for shared community, reconciliation, grace enacted, and dignity restored. That’s the backdrop to our “Dinner Church” ministry.
Read more about the Dinner Church ministry…
One of our Christmas outreach initiatives is to partner with local churches to provide “Dinner Church” experiences that bless disadvantaged children and under resourced families in our communities. Partner churches serve as hosts for the dinner parties and adopt children for gift giving.
These festive holiday celebrations foster a community-atmosphere where all guests are welcomed as equals. This ministry model, fashioned after the example of how Jesus did ministry in the Gospels, aims to blur the lines between those serving and those being served, as to counter an “us vs. them” approach to outreach. This concept is a dignity restoring “shared life” together as opposed to a “hit-and-run” charitable handout. Because these dinner parties are incredibly flexible, they can be scaled up for larger churches or even scaled down for smaller congregations, life groups and community groups, or social distancing measures.
Want to make a huge impact in your community this holiday season? Contact us for more information about how to initiate the dinner church model in your community.
National Suicide Prevention Month: Free Book
Nearly half of Americans report the coronavirus crisis is harming their mental health, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Anxiety, depression, substance abuse, domestic violence, and suicide have been on the rise throughout this pandemic, as federal agencies warn a historic wave of mental health problems is approaching.
Jimmy’s book “13-Foot Coffins” is a powerfully redemptive story of triumph over domestic abuse, depression, suicidal inclinations, and fitting for anyone struggling with mental health issues. We typically offer this book as a free resource for those in domestic abuse shelters, juvenile centers, and recovery programs. With September being National Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month, we are offering 13-Foot Coffins as a free gift to anyone who asks for it (*while supplies last). If you or someone you love could use this resource, simply fill out the contact form below, and indicate in the message section that you would like the book. If you are in a position to help sponsor this book as a ministry gift to those who cannot purchase one (especially those we serve in domestic abuse shelters), donations are greatly appreciated.
If you are in a crisis and need to speak with someone urgently, please take the courageous step in calling the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (TALK). If you need to contact us about bulk copies of “13-Foot Coffins” or have other questions about this resource, email us at info@breakawayoutreach.com
This book is also available from Amazon in print and Kindle formats.
About 13-Foot Coffins
In 13-Foot Coffins, Breakaway Outreach founder Jimmy Larche chronicles God’s redemptive fingerprints through abandonment, abuse, and fatherlessness. Like the ancient Roman gladiators, we don’t get to choose the arenas we fight in, but we do get to choose how we will fight, and to what honor we will uphold. Pain, suffering, and injustice are often the catalysts that God uses to birth champions of His Cause.
Born to a teenage mother, Jimmy spent most of his childhood years fatherless. But he went from one extreme to the other when his biological father remarried his mother and began a seven-year string of violent abuses. At fourteen-years-old, Jimmy ran away over 1,000 miles across the country where he later attempted suicide. He eventually landed in a juvenile detention center; this was the place that served as a spiritual boot camp for him to begin to learn how to face his giants with grace and courage.
When we run from our giants, we rob God of the glory He longs to get from our stories. Jimmy learned that the giants of fear, bitterness, unforgiveness, anger, and a victim-mentality must be slain in order to find holistic recovery, ultimate freedom, and the courage to break generational curses.
There is a dance with destiny awaiting us all if we can learn to live from a forgiving heart and fall relentlessly into the arms of grace. Jesus, the master choreographer of this dance, will never waste our pain and suffering. When we allow him to redeem our past, it gives our life purpose, meaning, and an enduring legacy. Most importantly, our courage to face our giants affords God the glory He longs to gain from our lives.
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