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WHAT WE DO / MINISTRIES

The Love INC Difference, Visually

Individually, churches attempt to address community needs.  Often, this results in gaps in service as well as duplication of efforts.  With proven effectiveness, Love INC unifies churches to transform lives.

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List of Ministries

Bedding and Blanket Ministry

The bedding and Blanket Ministry of St. Paul Lutheran Church, Sheldon, distributes both new and used bedding of all kinds.  Pillows, mattress pads, sheets, blankets, quilts, afghans are cleaned, sorted, and organized by volunteers at the church.  Bedding is then delivered with beds paced by the Furniture and Appliance Ministry.

Baby Layette Ministry and Good Night Sleep Tight

Both of these ministries are coordinated by volunteers from First Reformed Church, Sheldon.  Boxes of baby items include: clothing, receiving blankets, onesies, sleepers, baby toiletries, homemade blankets, etc.

Many children benefitted from receiving Good Night Sleep Tight kits that contain books, blankets, toothbrushes, hand soap, nighttime check-off charts, etc.

Loving Help Corner Grocery

A ministry of St. John's Lutheran Church, Sanborn, Loving Help Corner Grocery provides groceries for families enrolled in the Loving Help Budget Program.  When families attend class faithfully, meet with their mentor weekly, and complete their homework consistently, they can earn vouchers for free groceries through the Corner Grocery.

Friday Backpack Ministry

The Friday Backpack Ministry is coordinated by volunteers at Immanuel Christian Reformed Church, Sheldon. This short term ministry provides food for children whose families are going through a crisis or having difficulty making ends meet.

The Loving Help Program

Our powerfully effective Bible-based, weekly program is designed to help people who struggle with ongoing financial challenges.  By first addressing ongoing financial concerns, individuals and families then have opportunities to address a wide range of personal growth opportunities.  The Loving Help Program provides a wide range of Bible-based classes and provides personal mentoring with caring Christian volunteer.

Although the Loving Help Program requires volunteers from many partner churches, every week Bethel Reformed Church (Sheldon) hosts this vital ministry.  As host church, Bethel provides greeters, refreshments, childcare workers, course materials, and classroom space.

Call Love INC at (712) 324-9707 to enroll.

Gift Closet Ministry

Giving is an essential part of life. The gift Closet Ministry, housed and coordinated at the United Methodist Church in Sheldon, allows people to shop for new items at reduced prices. Those in the Loving Help Program can earn vouchers for shopping at the Gift Closet. The Gift Closet allows Loving Help clients to "purchase" - with vouchers- new items for Christmas and birthdays without breaking their budget to do so.

Personal Supplies Pantry

The Personal Supplies Pantry is coordinated by volunteers at Immanuel Christian Reformed Church in Sheldon. This ministry provides basic hygiene supplies, cleaning products, and other personal items to clients in the Loving Help Budget Program.

Computer Ministry

A Ministry of Parkview Assembly of God in Sheldon, the Computer Ministry takes donated computer components, repairs and rebuilds computers to be given to clients.

Griefshare Ministry

A Ministry hosted by Our Savior Lutheran Church in Sheldon. This 13 session Grief Recovery Support Group is nondenominational and features biblical teaching on grief and recovery topics.

Combined Churches' Ministries

The following ministries are coordinated by Love INC but they take volunteers from many different churches to make them happen.

Furniture and Appliance Ministry

Transportation Ministry

Household Items Ministry

Delivery Ministry

Chore Ministry

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Needs Met Through Love INC:

Love INC of Greater Sheldon has experienced much growth since opening in 2003! The graph below shows how many needs were met by church volunteers each year, not including those served through the Loving Help Budgeting Program. Following is a breakdown by category for needs met in 2010.

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Key Terms

Clearinghouse:  The Clearinghouse is the foundation of Love INC. Love INC receives requests for help, screens the requests for extent of need and legitimacy, and refers the request to a local church ministry, church volunteer, or community agency.  Love INC follows up to ensure the need was met. Though the Clearinghouse, Love INC also identifies gaps in services and resources in the community and helps churches develop ministries to "fill in the gaps" of needs not being met by the government or other agencies.

Gap Ministries: A Gap Ministry is an outreach that fills an unmet need or "gap" in community services for people in need. Gap Ministries meet needs that are not currently of sufficiently being met by agencies, government, entities, or churches. Each Gap Ministry is focused on a particular need. Examples of Gap Ministries include:

- Bedding and Blanket Ministry

- Furniture and Appliance Ministry

- Friday Backpack Ministry

- and many more

Relational Ministry: Love INC helps individuals and families in chronic need make lasting changes in their lives.  Through Relational Ministry, Love INC trains and links church members with people in need on a long-term basis to provide mentoring, goal setting, skills training, and spiritual and emotional support, along with the full array of services and resources available though the Love INC network.

Partner Church: Church partnerships are essential to Love INC.  Without partner churches, there is no Love INC. Each Love INC partner church commits to joining with other churches to provide volunteer and financial support for the operation of Love INC.  Additionally, each partner church agrees to the Love INC Statement of Faith, the Apostle's Creed. Churches may have differing abilities to partner with Love INC. For example, one church may host a Gap Ministry, while another church commits to praying weekly for clients, while another church will collect items throughout the year to support the various Love INC ministries. Love INC works with churches wherever they are at to encourage them and help equip them for service.

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