YOUR COMMUNITY: CHRIST Ministries
Journey/East Magazine, February 2013
A lot has happened since the inception of CHRIST Ministries. Bert McKinney, Michael Sessions and Kenneth Reynolds had the idea for such a ministry. Since then, there have been over 75 people added to the contact list.

“We don’t have a plan. We do not have a budget. We do not go looking for projects. None of this happens by chance or luck. When we are presented with a project, the money shows up. God sends us the needs, and His people fill those needs with what they have to offer. A lot of times it is a group of us doing the work, but sometimes it is just filling a financial need,” says Bert McKinney.

McKinney says a lot of the people they help are people that agencies do not want to help, cannot help, or they simply fall through the cracks because they do not know what to do or where to turn.

He shares the story of how they found one of the couples they were able to serve. “We had a lady that attended Clawson Assembly, one of our partners, working at the Polk’s by the paper mill. One of the lady’s regular customers shared their need of home repairs with the Polk’s employee. The employee and Clawson Assembly church member said, ‘I know a group of men that might be able to help.’ The woman had a handwritten note to pass along to us.”

After they worked at that home, almost a year and a half later, a friend from First Baptist called Bert and remembered that the Bailey’s home needed a septic system. He asked Bert if he thought the Baileys would mind if they put in a new septic system for them. Bert called the family and they could barely believe their ears.

“I had to repeat myself three times. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He told me that they had prayed and prayed and prayed for God to give them the finances to fix it. When he went to get the permit signed, he could barely sign his name.”

The stories go on and on; you can always see God’s hand in this ministry.

Bert says, “We don’t help everyone, only because we can’t help everyone. It is just another way God provides. Sometimes things just don’t come together or they just don’t work out for a project.”

CHRIST Ministries has no idea what God has planned for 2013. They wait for God to put things in front of them. “It’s exciting and encouraging seeing God at work.”