The Wingard Home Blog

That’s what we’re talkin’ ’bout, COWBOY!!

A couple of months ago, Wingard Home was presented the awesome opportunity to purchase Horse Haven (in Jackson at the corner of McCluer and Henderson Road). This is SUCH AN OPPORTUNITY because the price is far below appraisal and the place is fully functional and already set up as a dude ranch. It is 44 acres of country “heaven” inside the city limits and falls under a “special use” ruling that allows for the riding, roping, rodeos, and farm animals. This will allow us unlimited ministry opportunities and possibilities for helping all types of children and teens. We are so excited, too, that this property is only minutes from the downtown area where our main ministry campus is located.

The deal is for all 44 acres @ $6,795.45  per acre which comes to $ 299,000.00! Now! Just the land alone is worth more than that…….but, the land has 4 ponds, a flowing brook, 3 barns, riding arena (lighted with announcers stand & concession area & bleachers), round pen, wash racks, large party room, and a three bedroom house in good condition!

Our vision for the Trinity Acres Ranch (as we have already given it a name) is MINISTRY!

PHOTOS OF THE RANCH AS IT IS RIGHT NOW!

Please tell everyone you know who wants to invest in the life and well-being of a child. We have about a month to produce enough money to purchase the property…….NO! we are not going to apply for one of those “easy” government grants! We do not accept monies from city, state, or federal programs. We do accept private donations, private foundation’s gifts, and support from groups, individuals, corporations, and churches. God’s got an army out there and we just have to believe and have F A I T H. We are going to “stick our foot in the water” and stand in awe as God “parts the Red Sea!”

Roy Wingard is walking (sometimes, with a cane, sometimes, without) but walking, none-the-less! Can we talk..about miracles…about an awesome and loving God….about the power of prayers cried out to God in behalf of Roy’s healing, our family’s strength, and the ministry as a whole…can we talk about Jesus? We are standing in complete awe of the mighty God we serve in this dark and hurtful world. ” Bless the Lord, Oh! my soul! and all that is within me praise His Holy name!”

We are blessed and have such a spirit of graditude for all of you who lifted us up in your prayers, all of you who visited Roy in the hospital, all of you who lended a hand to me when the work got to be more than I could handle, all of you who contributed to the ministry account to help with the added expenses, all of you who continued to support the ministry even when your times got hard, too….’cause you knew you were serving God by being faithful.

We are doing fine….and the ministry is doing fine! In the Word is a verse that says   “Yea! though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, You are with me!….” God is so faithful!

You will be shortly hearing of all the awesome things going on here at the Wingard Home (God’s little Spiritual Hospital on West Street) . For the next couple of weeks I will be working very hard to get out all the tax deductible receipts from 2009 so folks can get their taxes filed out. I am already running behind on this so I pray that all of you will be patient for a few more days and call me if you need something from me on this and have not received it yet. My office phone is 601-355-9589 and my cell is 601-906-1976.

I am just now getting to the blog to input information, but have established a web page on a “medical emergency” type service called “caring bridge”. I just wanted to let you all know if you want to know how to direct your prayers and check up on Roy’s condition, then you can check the web link I have below and get that information. I need shortcuts and time savers right now, because I am having to be “me” and Roy right here at our very busy Christmas season and it has definitely been an experience s far. God is in charge and He is so good and merciful….we are just blessed to have Roy still with us and wamt you all to keep praying and believing for miracles with us. The web site is:http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/roywingard

Thank-you for your support and  your prayers,

Charlotte, Wingard Children, and all of Wingard Home

Last week, we signed papers on the house adjoining our property on the South side. We have fondly dubbed it “the house next door”. Yesterday (Saturday, 10/24) a precious group of young people and their leaders from Lakeside Presbyterian Church showed up at Wingard Home and helped us clear a great deal of the debris, weeds, and over-grown bushes and trees from the yard. We were able to walk through the house and pray over it and annoint it to God’s work. We are so excited to be blessed with opportunities to serve in this ministry!

Please don’t forget that this is certainly a team effort and we need you now more than ever before. The first thing we need is a prayer covering…….please prayer warriors, lift this ministry, the city of Jackson, and this missionary family up in prayer without ceasing.

The second thing we need is your talents, your time, and your professional expertise. In other words, come spend a little volunteer time at the Home and ministry campus.  Let God use you to bless the homeless, battered, and displaced by helping this ministry serve them better and more effectively.  It will take all of us working together to get this house up to code and ready to use for the Kingdom.

The third thing we need is for you to pray about what God would have you do to contribute to the funds for the fence (which is step 1) and for materials and supplies to get the house fixed back up. If God has been tugging on your heart to get involved and you are looking for a place to contribute, then check us out and do what God says do.

We took photos on Saturday and will take more for you to see as the work continues…….we will be glad to give you a tour around the place if you want to come visit. We will be excited to have you visit and you will, without a doubt, catch the vision while you are here.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=117668&id=530478890&l=47ba727b8d

This link above will take you to the photo section of my face book so you can view the photos from the house next door.

Be blessed, Charlotte

In the hot Atlanta summer of 1988, we were homeless! We found refuge in the Quinn House in Lawrenceville Georgia. Since we are , in a manner of speaking, alumni of the Quinn House program, we are quite proud of their ministry and accomplishments.

When I saw their testimonial video on You Tube, I was taken back to the time we lived at Quinn House and how very much we came to love John & Carrol Quinn. They have both gone to be with Jesus now, but the awesome lives they led and all the folks they helped and led to Christ…….that still lives! Gene Brinkley and his staff are carrying on in glorious Quinn House style and we are so proud of their dedication to carry the torch.

Roy and I are products of their ministry success. In that spirit, we would love to give a “shout-out!” to the wonderful folks at the Quinn House and to say “Thank-you God”!  that they took us in when we were homeless. That spirit of loving and giving is still alive and well in Jackson, Mississippi and in Carthage, Mississippi because God worked through John & Carrol Quinn and changed our lives FOREVER.

Quinn House Testimonial

 22 But be you doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like to a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 For he beholds himself, and goes his way, and straightway forgets what manner of man he was. 25 But whoever looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.   James 1: 22-25

I received a phone call this morning from a dear friend, “John Wayne” Blough in Brandon, MS. If any of you have read materials on our web site, you will know that Wayne and his family helped us with our son, Marcus. By help, I mean that I started taking Marcus out to Hilltop Painted Acres in Brandon, MS when he was only 11 to be trained in the “ways of the cowboys”. Wayne and his family are Christian folk and taught Marcus from the Bible, using the Word of God as a teaching tool for riding, caring for the horses, and roping. Our son was at an age in his life where he refused instruction from us, his parents- even though we are both ministers! But, he would receive from his cowboy friend and now, his life is changed forever because God used Wayne Blough and his C.O.W.B.O.Y.S. ministry to mentor Marcus. I tell you that to tell you this……..

Sometimes, we get so busy with “life” taking care of the stuff like working a job to provide a living for our family and getting through the “rearing children” and paying for their needs, that we put our “callings from God” on the back burner. Sometmes, we just can’t see a way to do what we are called to do and take care of our family too. That is basically what Wayne was telling me this morning, but God has spoken to him in the past few days- spoken in a “burning bush- thunder and lightening” sort of way. Wayne has a non-profit called the C.O.W.B.O.Y.S. inc and God has definitely given him a detailed plan on putting this back as a priority in his life.

Wayne has a burden in his heart for homeless and abused children……God has a plan……BRING BACK HILLTOP PAINTED ACRES!!!! Wayne and his family are sitting on the “promised land” and Hilltop Painted Acres WILL be again……because God said so!!! Get on board and be a part of the miracle that God is performing in Brandon Mississippi. Do it because it is the right thing to do and because it is for the children. We know his program works, because Wayne has always welcomed and helped the homeless children from our ministry; and, of course, he helped Marcus.

Click on this link to photo show

In Jesus Name!

Charlotte Wingard

Thank-you’s go out once more to the Morgan Foundation ……this time, for the money to provide our main house on West Street with a fine metal roof. We had so many leaks that we did not have enought pots to catch the water: and now we have NO LEAKS !!!!  Don Sebren of Sebren’s Home Improvements gave us an awesome price on the roof and since we know him personally (he is also the youth pastor at Castlewoods Baptist Church) we KNOW that he is a man of integrity and sound Christian values. I always love doing business with one of God’s people.

Mr. Joel Price, of Southeastern Wood Products Co. brought a crew of his men and fixed the sagging ceilings in the main house of the West Street property. Thank God for Mr. Joel and his heart for the Lord. I tell you the truth, when his men told him about the severity of the situation at the house and let him know it was going to be a lot more trouble than expected to get it fixed, they had already told me that they did not think he was going to go for the fix-up project after that. Mr. Joel simply looked at them, once he heard their report, and said, “What do I think? Well, I think it is a wonderful opportunity to be a blessing!” What a man of God!!

We have so many projects going on here at the Ministry….and they are all going on at the same time, it seems. There are numerous opportunities for you to come over and use your talents to keep this place maintenanced. Joe Drake, from Pine Lake Baptist Church has also done extensive work on the entire property, as have Paul Atkins, and Darryl Thurman. God’s got an army, folks…..please remember these men in your prayers.

 We are still gathering money for the house next door and need you all to pray for the owners so that their hearts would soften toward this ministry. At present, we have gathered approximately 19,000 of the 39,000 they are asking. We are believing God that they will cut that price down some more.

More later and some photos of the roof will soon be on the blog.

The house next door, still sits next door and still belongs to Mark Samsell. We have received 15,000 of the 39 being asked for it and have also checked to make sure the city is ok with the fix-up possibilities-and they are. We are waiting on God to give us further instructions in the matter.

Are you praying for us? Are you praying that Mark Samsell’s heart will be made tender to the plight of the homeless and to the needs of the ministry in this matter? Are you praying that God’s will be done in this business matter? Are you really, really praying? We need you to join with us as partners in prayer agreeing that God will be glorified in this matter and in all that this ministry does for the homeless and hurting who come here for healing and help.

 JOBS…….

We have some really good people here right now and they are seeking employment. If you can assist someone with a job, that would be an awesome thing that you have done…..to give someone a chance to begin to make their way in this world by working and being accountable. I will list a few and something about them in this post and pray for you that God will move in your heart to give one of these folks an opportuity to work and make a living for themselves. Listed below are a list of the folks we have who are looking for a JOB AND THEIR AREA OF EXPERTISE:

BRITTNEY GIBBS/ CASHIER, FOOD SERVICE, FAST LEARNER, 19 YEARS OLD

BRIAN LAWSON/ FORK LIFT DRIVER/STAND UP OR SIT DOWN/ WILL DO FACTORY WORK

MARY MCFARLAND/ LOTS OF FACTORY WORK IN SUPERVISOR & INSPECTOR POSITIONS/ GREAT RESUME  !!!!

RACHEL CASSATT/ LOTS OF FOOD INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE/CASHIER/VERY PEOPLE ORIENTED

DARRYL THURMAN/ HOUSE PAINTING SUB-CONTRACTOR LOOKING FOR JOBS TO DO OR TO BID ON

PAUL ATKINS/ HOME REPAIR AND FIX-UP SUB-CONTRACTOR/GODLY MAN WHO LOVES JESUS MAKES A GREAT WORKER WHO CAN BE TRUSTED.

BOTH PAUL AND DARRYL HAVE  DONE SOME BEAUTIFUL WORK FOR THE MINISTRY AND ARE VERY REASONABLE IN THEIR BIDS……….YOU SHOULD GIVE THEM A TRY!

I am really praying that these folks all find a way to honestly support themselves and their families…….Paul has children, Darryl has children, Brian is expecting a child in September, & Rachel has three children. Spread the word, call me if you need to…..601-906-1976

Loving Jesus and Running to Win!

Charlotte Wingard, House Director & Women’s Pastor

We have a Christmas program in it’s 19th year of existence. It is the HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JESUS! FESTIVAL. Through God’s guidance, we comb the surrounding communities and find children who are very much in need of things for Christmas. Now, I say things because, sometimes the three Christmas wishes we ask the children for consist of clothing, homework supplies, warm bedding, personal care items…….in other words, necessities! There are toy and bike wishes, too ….and skates, skateboards, CD players, etc.

We target the children or grandchildren of working parents or grandparents. The people our ministry helps (through you, of course) are the folks who are trying to provide and are just temporarily in dire straits. In other words, trying to work a start-up job and attend school to do better for themselves OR grandparents who are still working a little or are disabled and trying to support a household full of grandchildren in order to keep them in the family. We go to the home and meet and talk to the parent, interview the children and find out what their Christmas wishes are and then invite them as special guests to the big party for baby Jesus. We find special needs all the time by doing this …….like children without proper bedding, homes with no furniture, homes needing heat or air. We are so moved by the Christmas wishes we see from the children, that this is our most passionate time of the year.

We have grand opportunities to show the love of Jesus Christ at this time of year, so we want to grasp every opportunity that God gives us to bless families. Won’t you join us! You will be so blessed that this will undoubtably become a “family tradition” for your family, too!

We call the children who need sponsors, “Little Lambs” because Jesus is called the “Lamb of God”. We have written the wishes of the children on lamb-shaped cards and placed them on a Christmas tree at the Flowood Wal Mart on Lakeland Drive. If you are local, I challenge you to go out and sign up to adopt the wishes of one of these children. If you are not local, and want to have a hand in this anyway, call me and I’ll work out something with you……the opportunities are infinite!! The rewards are out of this world!!

Charlotte Wingard       601-355-9589   OR   601-906-1976

e-mail      wwjdcaw@aol.com

Don’t let this opportunity slip by you……..we have 400 children and each one of them needs a sponsor..IMAGINE THE POSSIBILITIES!!!!

From the front lines,

Charlotte 

The link below is a video I just received in an e-mail from an awesome young man who lived here as a homeless and addicted person many years ago. He is, of course, doing very well….great job, new car, home, and soon to have a new wife. We all stay in touch by e-mail. A couple of months ago, he came to our small chapel on a Sunday Morning and gave his testimony to all our folks. I say all this to tell you about the link to the video he just sent. You will be so blessed by this small short video. It certainly re-affirmed to me that I am in the right place and in the perfect will of God. I pray it blesses you as it did me and please pass it on.

www.maximumreferrals.com/videos/bridge/bridge.html

 Roy and I have been married 20 years today. Tonight, we celebrated by going together on a date to see the movie Fireproof. It certainly gets a five star from me. I so enjoyed watching a truly inspiring love story complete with Bible verses, prayer, PG rating, and NO ONE dressed indecently, or used profanity, or even made obsene suggestions or moves. This movie will move you into action in your own personal life…..even if you are not married! The movie truly deals with more than marriage. There are other topic areas…such as gossiping, self-worship, and unforgiveness. I am blessed, so blessed to have a precious Savior who gives me the ability to love people because He first loved me as the example.

Until next time,

Charlotte Wingard

We are so very excited to tell you the good news! Our cry for help has been heard and you are calling and responding to the needs here at Wingard Home. Praise God for you!

 This is not a one time shot, though; God wants you involved and you know that. We have met some awesome people in the past week……the timing was perfect for all of us. God used this dilema and was glorified in it as he turned everything around to bring us “out of the valley” and back up the mountainside.

One of the wonderful friends we have made during this “storm” is Amanda Wells, an incredible Mississippi writer who came to do an article on the Home. She has a blog called “Shamelessly Southern” where you can find a link to her article on Wingard. The beautiful photos were taken by Melanie Thortis, a very talented young photographer, who knew just how to capture the spirit of the Home and our people. All things have indeed worked together for good….and you know that we certainly love the Lord in the good times and the bad.

We have also received a call from the owner of Mac’sCove . This magnificent clothing wholesale fashion designer is also a fine Christian woman who was looking for a way to do what she loves and glorify God “in the mix”. Desire was there- God’s perfect timing- we had a need- and God put us together. Please follow the link to her web site and see how Natasha McLaurin is helping the homeless at Wingard.

I have so many “praise reports” that I don’t know tell you all. I know that God is in control……and that is exactly the way I want it to stay.

We would love to invite you to enjoy, to be informed, and to be challenged to action by this photo tour of our Ministry: the link below will take you to all our photo shows- then click on the “Welcome To Wingard Home” Icon.

We are very open to your suggestions and ideas….so please e-mail us at ….. wwjdcaw@aol.com 

and let us know what you think.

“Welcome to Wingard Home”

We have had quite a month here at Wingard Home. There is not a lot of “strange” goings -on, but we always have a report to make. Lives are being changed for the better and souls are being saved from hell! In one of the parables Jesus told about the shepherd who left the 99 sheep in the flock and went out after that 1 sheep who had gone astray………one soul saved from hell is certainly worth our time and resources.

We are blessed to have opportunities to tell you about the ministry we have here and so blessed to have opportunities to serve God each day through the resources and tools you provide. God called us to serve here day and night every day ministering to people who have given up on productive lives…….God may have chosen you to help in some other way. We all have talents and resources that differ and God wants to pour Himself out over this wicked world by using your life as a vessel for His mighty healing power…….are you with us? Let’s Do It!!

For the whole Jackson area, the month started out with, with some really bad weather and a lot of destruction….especially in north Jackson. We had no damage to speak of; except that we were without electricity for about 5 days. We are so blessed to have a generator from the Katrina days.

On April 25 and 26, we were supposed to have more thunderstorms and more rain. We were also supposed to a group of nursing graduates come over to do some “outside projects”. They came….and the rain stayed away, praise God for the awesome group who came and for all the projects they completed. John-Israel was on hand with his camera to capture the day in photos. The week before we had about four nursing grads come to work organizing our library, but we have no photos of that project to share. All three groups just amazed us with their eagerness to serve and their joyful spitits. We have a wonderful photoshow about that day to share with you…..just click on the following link and choose the Sunny Day Projects photo show from the selection. While you are there, you can view any of our photo shows.

Sunny Day Projects

On Saturday morning, 4/26/08, Crossgates Hands of Hope was due to come and build a playground in conjunction with the Crossgates Ladies Ministry, who designed and funded the project. The storms moved in early that morning, and, as it began to rain, all the volunteers began showing up…..truck after truck after car load! They moved inside an area where we plan to build the family dorms and began to do the necessary demolition work on that project until the rain slacked up…..and it did slack up! Prayer and God’s grace, my friends. God sent Crossgates there to do a job and He never leaves nor forsakes us…..that rain JUST HAD TO GO! I can’t even describe the miracles that happened after that so I will invite you to judge for yourselves by clicking on the following photo show link and choose the photoshow that says: God Bless the Day that Crossgates Came Over to Play!

Crossgates

If you would love to be a part of this ministry support system, know this, Crossgates Hands of Hope is coming back to construct family dorms. They need all sorts of building supplies. If you feel led to help with this, e-mail me and I can e-mail you back a list of supplies needed OR you could purchase and send us a gift card to Lowes or Home Depot and we will get them to the purchasing person with Hands of Hope at Crossgates.

I am Charlotte Wingard             wwjdcaw@aol.com

God richly bless you!

Praise the Lord !!! We finally have all the photos together from Christmas morning. Please click on the link and enjoy the fruits of your labor. I just want to thank all of you who gave and volunteered and also all of you who have been so patient with me throught this very difficult January.

christmas morning photoshow 07

And, I really liked this blogging idea. I seemed to have it going strong…..and then Christmas 2007 came….and went….and then New Year Celebrations and all those resolutions- but no blogs from ME.

Isn’t that the way it is with a lot of our “really good habits and routines”( like Sunday church, Wednesday night church, going to the gym, volunteering at our favorite charity….and the list goes on and on) ? If we miss one, then it makes it so easy to miss another and another until we are looking at weeks, even months, gone and we don’t even remember when we started slacking. Going back is hard for most of us, because so many other things have squeezed themselves  into our schedules….but the going back is necessary and much-needed; because, those are really good habits.

I don’t believe in making “resolutions” and empty promises to myself or to God. I do, however, believe in repenting and then bringing forth fruits to meet repentance. I vowed to keep you all informed about the goings-on of the home and our family, but I have not done well. This blogging is really easy and I am blessed to be able to just write and post……..knowledge is so awesome to have at our fingertips.

Many times, folks have told me that they are willing to help….if they just knew what we needed. I am on the Job with this Blog…….rededicated to communicating with you. Thank-you for your prayers, your love, your support, and your friendship.

Serving with a glad heart,

Charlotte Wingard, ”blogger extraordinaire” !!

If you have seen our festival brochure, you know that the needy children who attend the “Happy Birthday, Jesus! Party” (alias,”the Festival”) are specially chosen children of the working poor in our communities. We call them “little lambs” for two reasons: first, they are the children of the flock of sheep (in God’s word, Jesus said to His deciple, “Do you love me? …….then feed my sheep”) and second, Jesus, himself, was referred to as the “Lamb of God”.

We place the names of these needy children and their three wishes on a card shaped like a lamb. The children are given 3 wishes which is symbolic of the Holy Trinity-Father, Son, & Holy Spirit (3). These cards are then placed on a Christmas tree where sponsors can view them and pick out children to help for Christmas. There is an instruction card on the bottom of each lamb. It looks like this:

We have a new baby girl at the home. She was born Sunday, October 28 at the UMC campus in Jackson. Her mom, Angie, had to have a c-section so please keep her in your prayers for speedy healing. The baby  is Peyton Dakota Templeton and she is perfect in every way. Please, If you have any spare baby girl things, we would love to have them.

We did not know about the baby until a few weeks ago. We have a baby bed and a mattress. Needed items: sheets, blankets, onesies, socks, bumper pads, and a few winter clothes, newborn diapers, and some wipes…..also some bottles.

If you need to ask questions, please e-mail me…….I do answer all e-mails.

wwjdcaw@aol.com

or call me at 601-355-9589

Charlotte Wingard

I tell you the truth, “Never underestimate the cumulative power of a group of kids on a “mission”. The 1st through 5th grades went all out on a mission project to gather food for this ministry. They used the same needs list that appears on this blog. We have been seriously out of some necessary items and had no breakfast foods for children. The children took it and ran with it under the leadership of Ms Bonnie Armstrong and some fine Christian folks who worked with the children. Bonnie has a tender heart for the children and such a burden to bring them to a full understanding of what missions really is.

 I tell you that we are so blessed to be the reciepients of that food drive. We have 20 children here right now…I wish you could have heard what I did when they came home and saw all the cereal, pop tarts, puddings snacks, flavored oatmeals, and just the massiveness of the donation. Almost every kid here wanted to eat fruit loops for breakfast the next morning.

There were many more blessings such a toilet paper, cleaning supplies, canned soup, and personal care items…..oh! MY! “….and they shall be lead by a child!”

God is good and meets the needs……through the vessels who were willing and said “Send Me, Lord”…….precious vessels, the children and their adult leaders at Crossgates Baptist Church in Brandon, MS, USA

Thank all of you! Wingard Home loves Crossgates K.I.D.S Church and Ms Bonnie Armstrong

sanctuary-update-for-blog.pdf