AS CHARLOTTE HOOPER attended regular services at The Father\u2019s Refuge Church, she saw more than hymnals and church bulletins; she saw children and families in need. Wanting to help, she and her husband agreed to pray for doors to open to make it possible. The collection of monetary donations to fund the program was the answer. The couple\u2019s first mission utilized the monies to assist families with necessities such as utilities, medication, and everyday living expenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Later, they recognized a great need for warm clothing. The Hoopers began to pray for God to open doors for their next steps. Again, God answered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It wasn\u2019t long until donations of clothing and household items poured in. A tractor-trailer loaded with donations arrived from an Indiana Sunday school class that supported the couple\u2019s mission twice a year. Hooper\u2019s helping mission grew with the church\u2019s assistance and generosity from the Lincoln County community. The Old Time Christian Outreach Center became the realization of a dream soaked in prayer. The church assisted with locating a portable building and offered its property for the center\u2019s location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt just became a family thing to help everybody in our Lincoln County community. It doesn\u2019t matter if they\u2019re in Lincoln County or not. We\u2019ll help them. My calling is just to help somebody,\u201d Hooper said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her other strong supporter has been Peggy Mitchell. Mitchell shares a love for the less fortunate and has provided Hooper with advice and support from the earliest days of the ministry. Mitchell\u2019s health prevents her from working as often at the center, but her influence and prayers are always present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rather than focus on all the negative things in life, Hooper looks for places to make a difference. She passes on donations of coats and blankets to the homeless. Victims of abuse have benefited from the center\u2019s work, as have individuals recently released from jail or prison. Hooper sees that persons who\u2019ve lost their homes to fire or other disasters receive needed items. She\u2019s delivered donations of women\u2019s pajamas and sweatsuits, and men\u2019s shirts to nursing homes and other skilled care facilities. She\u2019s seen the impact of donations large and small.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hooper said, \u201cI had a dream day where we took 200 pairs of jeans to the high school for girls that were homeless or in foster care.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A single 14 x 40 building houses the donations where Hooper works to organize and distribute the items. She\u2019d love to share more oversized items like furniture but presently lacks the space for it. A donation of such a storage building would be another answer to prayers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hooper and her husband, Lamar, worked together in the center until he passed away last December. She misses his help and never turns away pop-up volunteers. Her work there has kept Hooper going, following her husband\u2019s death. \u201cIt\u2019s really brought me through a lot of this,\u201d she said. GN<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
AS CHARLOTTE HOOPER attended regular services at The Father\u2019s Refuge Church, she saw more than hymnals and church bulletins; she saw children and families in need. Wanting to help, she and her husband agreed to pray for doors to open to make it possible. The collection of monetary donations to fund the program was the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":11491,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature"],"yoast_head":"\n