Living Room

A group of women from Church at The Mill serves at Miracle Hill every Monday evening. Sandy Thomson is one of these women, and this is her story of participating in ministry at Miracle Hill.

Living Room

The ladies gather, take their seats and prepare for our meeting. Some are tired, some are energized, some are happy, some are downcast, some are chatty and some are quiet. We are sitting in a recently renovated living room; fresh paint, new furnishings, vibrant art and books align the coffee table. It is a pretty environment, a feel good space. This could be any living room of any friend, but it is not. It is the living room for homeless women at the Miracle Hill shelter in Spartanburg.

Just like the familiar surroundings, our lives are similar in many ways. We go to share with a group of women who are much more “like” us than different from us. The ladies at the shelter are so appreciative of our visits, and thank us every week. Their faith is often stronger than ours. They are struggling, yet fighting, to get back on their feet. These precious ladies who come with open hearts and ready to do things right, usually succeed. Unfortunately, some of them return to their old life style and we sometimes see them return to Miracle Hill to try again.

Many of the ladies understand that it is God who has placed them at Miracle Hill so they can get the help they need to stay on the right path and learn the importance of walking with Him. Some of the most powerful prayer times of my life have been standing in a circle with these ladies. We go to minister and often leave having been ministered to, ourselves. That’s the way the Holy Spirit works.

This place is a shelter for lost and hurting women. Our goal is to guide them to have a relationship with the Lord. Each week we do a devotion along with scripture reading. We try to be transparent and humble, while sharing our struggles about how God has helped us to be strong and overcome our own troubles and mistakes. Mostly, the ladies need encouragement and sometimes a listening ear. They are living in a shelter, while at the same time learning to dwell in the shelter of the Most High. “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” (Psalm 91:1)

I asked our team members to share their thoughts about serving with this group at Miracle Hill, and here are some of their remarks:

“I go to share the love of Jesus and the hope that they can only have if they trust in Jesus. I come away more blessed than when I arrived.”  – Rhonda Tukey

“The biggest blessing I have experienced in this ministry is leading a lady to Jesus while she was at Miracle Hill. Then she led someone else to Jesus a couple of years later. Another blessing is a waitress came up to me in a restaurant and told me she remembered me from Miracle Hill. She also told me that she remembered you, Sandy. She called your name and said you had given them a handout that she had saved. She pulls it out when she needs some encouragement. Sometimes we think we are not making a difference, but at times like this God shows us we are.”  – Amelia Dickerson

“I thought I would be ministering to others. If not for the support of my family, I might have had to live in the mission once. It is not about telling them what Jesus can do, but sharing what Jesus has done for me. Jesus understood the power of stories, which is why he used them frequently. It is not about preaching to the ladies. It is about sharing the love, comfort, and hope of our Savior. Going to the mission allows me to reflect on who I used to be, while being thankful for how He saved me and who I am through Him, a loved daughter.” – Connie Thompson Vincent

”What I love about Miracle Hill is when the ladies share in the conversation, our circle prayer time holding hands and just praying for their needs and sharing in their victories. Of course, I love working together as a group of ladies to always share what and who God is and can do for all.” (Psalm 145)  – Pam Johnson

“The smiles of the sweet residents just warm my heart. They are so humble and appreciative of the things we do for them. Our ministry to these women blesses me more than one can even imagine.”  – Cindy Auman Turner

We have two teams that go to Miracle Hill each Monday night, 6:00-6:30 PM.  Group A has the first two Monday nights and Group B the next two. On the months with a 5th Monday we all try to meet together to serve. Amelia Dickerson is the leader of the LIGHT ministry and she can help you get involved with Miracle Hill as well. You may contact Amelia at dickersonamelia@bellsouth.net.

I challenge you to consider joining our team; be the blessing and be blessed.

Step out of your comfort zone, like I did.

-Sandy Thomson

 

Additional Content

Holy Week: A timeline of Jesus’s last week before the crucifixion

The week between Palm Sunday and Easter is often called "Holy Week." This is the last week of Jesus's ministry, which includes landmark ...

Seven Questions to Ask Before Dating

When a student asks if a dating relationship is a good idea, my answer is always the same: “It depends.” I’ve seen some ...

Dementia: A Biblical Approach for Care

When you hear the word dementia, what first pops into your mind? Old age? Alzheimer’s? Nursing homes? The high cost of care? No ...
Scroll to Top