By Christy Barritt

Homeless Elderly Prayed and Got Help

An elderly couple living inside their car in a Walmart parking lot prayed for help. Dee and Gordon Head, both in their 70s, spent weeks living in their vehicle in Florida—with their three dogs. They moved from Texas for a job that fell through, and without enough money to pay for an apartment, they ran out of options.

But Brandi Dussing, her sister, and some friends noticed them in the parking lot and stopped to help. First they offered to buy the couple food. Afterward, one of the girls launched a crowd-funding campaign. They set a $1,000 goal, but ended up raising more than $14,500 at the close of the fundraiser.

The girls continue to help the family and are looking to find them permanent housing. Gordon is also hoping to find a low-intensity construction job. He told a local TV station, “The other day I asked God to send us some angels. And they started showing up.”

Military Dad Refused Entrance to School

A Lieutenant Colonel was in military uniform while escorting his daughter into her high school and was informed that he was not permitted to enter the premises. The 24-year veteran was told that his uniform might “offend people.”

The security guard hired by the Michigan school told Lt. Col. Sherwood Baker that if he wanted to take his daughter inside the building, he’d have to go home and change clothes first. The Army dad had gone with his daughter to help her learn her way around the building as the new school year started.

The school superintendent, a military veteran himself, went out of his way to apologize to the family. The principal of the school also said they had no such policy and that the incident was very unfortunate. He’s working with the staff to make certain nothing like that happens again.

Politics Not Responsible for People Leaving Church

With studies showing an alarming number of people leaving the church, new research has countered one popular belief. 

Professors Paul Djupe and Jacob Neiheisel wrote “The Choice That Matters: Politics in the Role of Leaving Congregations,” which was presented at the American Political Science Association Annual Meeting. According to their study, people aren’t abandoning the pews primarily because of politics. A popular theory had been that those who lean to the left politically leave the church because of what they perceive as right-wing points of view.

The study pointed out that the decline in church attendance has taken place across all churches, even mainline protestant congregations with less conservative social views. Their conclusion was that only 29 percent of congregations had conditions for which politics decreased attendance. Instead, most people leaving a church did so because of other disagreements. And the longer people were members of a congregation, the less likely they were to be bothered by differences.

Christian Group Forced to Reinvent Ministry

Because of a new nondiscrimination policy implemented by the California State University system, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF) must rethink how they minister on certain campuses. The policy requires that the organization allow non-Christians to be chapter leaders.

Historically the group has always required chapter leaders to agree to its Doctrinal Basis. The organization still believes their leaders should be Christian and won’t back down on that standard. Instead, IVCF is developing new ways of operating on campuses while staying true to their values. 

“We have been banned from participating in campus life as a recognized student organization,” IVCF stated. “InterVarsity is introducing creative new ways to connect with students and share the gospel message—though doing so as an ‘unrecognized’ student group will prove considerably more costly.”

Christy Barritt is an award-winning author, freelance writer, and speaker living in Chesapeake, Virginia. She and her husband Scott have two sons.
www.christybarritt.com