Beauty For Ashes Leaf Day

Adam Sylvia led a team of 26 people from Stafford Crossing to clean gutters, rake leaves, and beautify the grounds at Beauty for Ashes. Below is his report.

"To bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.”

Isaiah 61:3

 A team from Stafford Crossing worked to assist the Beauty for Ashes team in beautifying

their facility on December 1st. We spent the morning working together with the residents to move the large volume of leaves from throughout the area around the house, and growing together in Christ.  This work helped to prepare the grounds for their Christmas Open House which will be coming up next weekend.

Beauty for Ashes will be holding their Christmas Open House on Friday, December 7th from 4-8PM and Saturday, December 8th from 10-5PM.  This Open House is a great opportunity to support the Teen Challenge of Fredericksburg men and the Beauty for Ashes women and children. Our men make handcrafted wooden items (crosses, puzzles, and ornaments) and our women make beauty products, candles, and seasonal jewelry as well as everyday jewelry. Home baked goods will also be available for purchase. You'll want to include these exclusive gift items in your Christmas gift-giving. ALSO, a very dear friend of Beauty for Ashes will be donating a selection of their prized photos for silent auction during the Open House. Some of the featured photos include beautiful Maine lighthouses, gorgeous scenery, birds, and some famous bridges. They're beautiful!

Hope House Collection

The Stafford Crossing family knocked it out of the park, again!
A few weeks ago, we collected items to donate to LoisAnn's Hope House, here in Fredericksburg. Hope House is an amazing organization that seeks to help struggling families find work and a place to live. They offer temporary housing, training, job skills, etc to families in crisis and then Hope House helps them get into a home of their own.
One of the difficult pieces of the process is that transition from Hope House living to independent living. To help with this step, they have developed a program called Home Sweet Home. They collect household items and make them available to a family as they move into a home of their own. The items you donated will be made available to these families.
As you can see, you overwhelmed the storage area. Volunteers will spend a few days recording inventory and organizing the pile. While it is a big task, they are so grateful for your generosity. Here is a note from the Home Sweet Home coordinator.

I just wanted to thank you and the entire Congregation at Stafford Crossing Community Church for the

incredibly generous donations for Loisann's Hope House and the Home Sweet Home Program.
You and your Congregation are extremely generous and we appreciate everything you have done for us!
Please express our heartfelt gratitude to your Congregation.  Thank you all for Blessing us so much!
God's Blessings to you all,
Vicki N.