It is Thanksgiving time once again and we have so much to be thankful for. We thank God for His son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit who guides, directs and teaches me. I thank God for life, health and keeping the mission open. We thank those who have supported us over the years and those who support us today. We thank the many volunteers that come and help us serve the homeless. We thank staff for their hard work day in and day out. Thank you Ventana for your help and have a great time ministering in Mexico. We thank Nob Hill, Safeway, Uppercrust Pizza, Second Harvest and other churches and people that donate food. Thank you for all the clothes and blanket donations this year. I can go on for pages of all the thanks we have for what God and others are doing but I have many things to do. I have to thank my wife for putting up with me. (This requires much prayer I am certain) Keep praying for us as we always need it and to God be all the glory for what He has done and will do.

Ben Palm

Well it has been quite awhile since last post. We have had many things going on at the mission. One of the big ones was Lynaea Palm. We have been going through the normal sleepless nights and frazzled minds. God has been with us and helped us constantly. We are thankful that she is now, after two months, sleeping through the night. We went to Arizona to take a break from everything around here and it was great to get away. We are back in full swing and the battle is raging as expected. When you are fighting for souls it isn't easy. Prayer is tough when you are burdened for the lost as there are so many to pray for. I think about the ones who were burdened for me and kept it up. This is why I am here today and I will keep going. When we look at all the lost in the church (who think they are okay) and those who don't care in the world it weighs heavy on me. I hope you have that weight also and if not, slow down it's waiting. God is looking for those who will stand in the gap. He needs people to intercede. Keep going and God be with you, we need your prayers. Ben

When I think of what Jesus has done for me tears well up in my eyes and my heart is full of praise. It makes the trials seem so small and distant. When I think of the love that He put in my heart for others it amazes me as well as drives me to see them born again. We have had some pretty big changes here at the mission. I went into a time of prayer and fasting to hear from God as to what He wanted. John 15:2b is the scripture that I received as God wants us to be more fruitful. We have pruned Monday night Coffee House, Wednesday night feeding, Friday service and Saturday lunch. We have many we are working with that are close to repentance and we are looking forward to working more one on one. We also feel, due to the economy that the pantry program will be expanding. We are waiting on God because we want Him to build the church. Programs don't build His church but the power of the Holy Spirit bringing souls to Him. Mike and I have been teaching a Bible study at the Roundtree Medium Jail and God has been so near. Pray for those that we have been working with and praying with that they will be saved. We at the mission are excited and unified with the direction God is moving and look forward to the outpouring of His Spirit.

Well I hope that everyone who reads this is doing well and God is on the throne in your life. It has been interesting to say the least at all the things that is happening around here. We are tearing out the old swing that I use to swing on in the seventy's and putting in a whole playground setup. We are building a new shed and fixing up the other one. This will increase our ability to help more in the pantry area of ministry. Last month we gave out food for around 165 persons that have a place to live. We see this is going to increase due to the down turn in jobs and money. This will be one more way to share the love of Christ to those in need. I am heading down to Mexico next week to see the great folks at Ventana ministries. They have a group of young people that are looking at going into ministry and they are learning what it means to serve. They have invited me to go speak to them and encourage. May God be glorified. Hey if you or someone you know doesn't know what they want to do in life and just out of high school or college check them out. Tiff is a little over six months along and we are looking forward to a new life. Pray for Frank and LJ she came up to give her life to God. Pray for many others who are turning to God and those that have been under conviction but are fighting surrender to Him. We have had people crying in the services and many run out under conviction but pray that they will repent and turn from sin. It is time to hate sin, especially if it's in your life. Get rid of it once and for all. Crawl up on the altar and give yourself a living sacrifice. God wants to use you where you are living but He wants, requires clean hands and a pure heart.

Hope all is well on the battle front. We are always fighting on the victorious side, praise God! Pray for Jeff and Brooke who just left to Oregon. We have been working with them showing the love of Christ. We started a men's Bible study on Wednesday which Mike Crane is leading and it is going well. Next week we are starting a Bible study in the medium security jail, pray that many lives will be touched. Eric and Jason showed up to help us last week from Teen Challenge and it is great to see how God is helping them. Eric was on staff at the mission and had some tough times but is back on track and running after God. It is so important to never give up no matter how far down we think someone has gone. Where sin did abound grace did much more abound. Lift up Everett (Jay) Cousins who grew up around the mission as a kid. He is working with the poor in Idaho and wants to get a mission up and running. This is a big task but we serve a God who can do anything. I want to thank all the churches who help us out in serving, cleaning, and praying for all these lives that come through the mission doors. Most of all I want to thank Jesus for taking our place on the cross. Thanks for shedding you blood to free me. Without Him I would be laying somewhere passed out or dead. Praise the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Thank you for rising again to give us life and so abundant. Without Him we can do nothing let us not forget that. All for Jesus!!!

Happy February as I am not sure what happened to January. God has been helping us preach and pray. Oh how we need Him and the Holy Spirit to help and teach us. Pray for Mike who we took to Teen Challenge on Sunday night. He took a look in the Holy Ghost mirror and saw the wreck his life had become. How we want many others to see this and recognize the condition of their heart and lives. Friday Mike C. preached on repentance, Saturday Steve S. spoke on not falling back as they walk out the door and I spoke on Sunday night on turn and live. It is amazing when you don't share notes and yet we are all on the same page. We have had many groups come in a help clean up and fix up the place. Thank you for all your work. We thank God for staff that work so hard to keep the place up and running. When you feed 4000 to 5000 meals a month it takes alot to keep everything going. We currently have 4 services a week and three Bible studies and one prayer night so it keeps us busy. Keep in mind as our first purpose in life is our relationship with Jesus our second is to love our neighbor as ourself. (If you love them tell them about Jesus) Show them His love by your actions as well as your speech. Don't forget if you need more information go to elmstreetmission.com