LLP this month was a very interesting event.  We implemented a major change in how we provided free laundry to the community.

Due to high demand for free laundry from the community the last three months (we were averaging $1000 per event during those months), we wanted to try out a ticket system this month.  Each ticket was valued at $2 each and each family was issued 7 tickets.  This would essentially provide up to 5 smaller washing machines or 3 medium/large machines.

The reason why we went with the ticket system was twofold:  1) we were pretty relaxed on the three load limit during our LLP events (also it is very hard to deny people laundry when they have the need and we have the supply).  But at the same time we noticed that the loads we were washing were not completely full loads.  So with the ticket system, it would allow the community to be more efficient on what machines to use and to make more full loads of laundry.  2) with the hard dollar cap on the amount of laundry we provide for each family, we now can serve more families.

We still ended up spending over $1000 this month, but we sensed that we were able to serve more families due to this new system.  For the most part, the community seemed to accept this new system as well once we explained it to them.

A praise this month was that one person that we helped out at LLP the previous month, “T”, has been attending Irving Bible Church and actually volunteered his time to serve at LLP this month!  Another person we helped out this month has also signed up to volunteer this month.

We met a woman, “M” who is also a single mother of two boys.  She doesn’t receive child support and is on a very tight budget.  She was so grateful that we were there when she arrived, not knowing we were there.  She also stated a need for interaction/support group with other single parents and her boys.  We were able to provide information to her about our Single Parents Ministry at Irving Bible Church and other ministries we have that would benefit her and her family.  We pray that she took action and contacted IBC so we can reach out to her even more.

We love serving the community and we are so awed that Jesus has provided the supplies and the people to allow this ministry to continue.  We look forward to seeing you all again next month!

“We love because He first loved us.” – 1 John 4:19

When you think of February, typically the first thing you think of is Valentine’s Day.  Chocolates and flowers.  Love.

As we celebrate our first February at LLPirving, we’re reminded of a special love – Agape Love.  Agape love is selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love, the highest of the four types of love in the Bible.

Agape Love is what our Savior Jesus did for us:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
- John 3:16

At LLPirving, it’s not just about giving free laundry to the community, it’s about Loving the community.  As God loved us, we are called to go out and love one another – Agape love.

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.
-Mark 12:31

We love because he first loved us. Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also. 
-1 John 4:19-21

Time:  9am – noon (last load at 11:15am)

Where: Amigo Laundry
3349 Country Club Drive W, Irving, TX

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If you plan on doing laundry that day, please swing by for up to 3 loads of laundry free – no strings attached (we are there to serve).  We also provide free laundry supplies, refreshments, and children activities.

If you would like to make a donation or sign up to volunteer, please click on links above.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

Our first LLP of 2012 was a great success.  We were able to provide over 150 loads of laundry this month!

We tried something different this month by tweaking our volunteer set up.  We had specific people “manning” a row of laundry machines and seemed to help tremendously.  Although it was busy that day, it was steady and nothing too overwhelming.  This new set up also enabled volunteers to get to talk and bond with the people in their section.  Having a large number of volunteers to do this set up also helps! (We are always looking for volunteers, so if you’re interested please click on VOLUNTEER SIGNUP TAB above.)

Here are some snapshots from this month’s event:

Another thing we have started with this ministry is that we placed a prayer journal on the food table for folks to come in and write down any prayer requests they have:

-A family needs prayer for union in their family.

-”S” and “B” wrote “please pray over our finances and health”

-”P” is looking for a job

We also had a chance to interview several people this Saturday about their thoughts on Laundry Love Project Irving.  The first one was “V”, a regular who attends our event for assistance:

The second person was “T” who also joined us for church worship serivce on Sunday:

And our final video is of our wonderful volunteer “S” and her thoughts on LLPirving:

What a way to start out 2012 and look forward to next month’s LLP!  Blessings to you all!

We are excited to kick off the first Laundry Love Project of 2012 this Saturday!  We pray that everyone had a wonderful and safe holiday season and we hope that yall can join us this weekend.  We also look forward to see where the Lord is going to guide us with this ministry this year.  Continual prayer for this ministry is greatly appreciated.

Time:  9am – noon (last load at 11:15am)

Where: Amigo Laundry
3349 Country Club Drive W, Irving, TX

View Larger Map

If you plan on doing laundry that day, please swing by for up to 3 loads of laundry free – no strings attached (we are there to serve).  We also provide free laundry supplies, refreshments, and children activities.

If you would like to make a donation or sign up to volunteer, please click on links above.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

We received an email from one of the writers for Outreach Magazine earlier this month and she told us that she was working on an ebook called: “12 Fresh Outreach Ideas for 2012.

She then mentioned that she would like one of those ideas to be Laundry Love Projects. She wanted to give churches steps on how to get involved and get an LLP started and also share about how it’s working at a particular church.

She did some research and discovered that Irving Bible Church does an LLP each month. She visited our Facebook page, contacted us and emailed us a small list of interview questions.  Please click on link below to see the finished product (LLP Irving is mentioned on pages 16 &17):

12 Ideas for 2012

We pray that these stories encourage others to go out and be the light and salt of the world!

Just wanted to send big shout out to “J” and her worldwide ministry, Catch The Wave Ministries.  We were blessed to have J come and volunteer at our December LLP event and she was so touched by what we were doing that her faith in the local church was restored.  We are truly blessed for her to join us and hope to see her again in the upcoming months.  She is such an inspiration to us as well as to all Christians in all walks of faith.  Please click on the image below for the sweet article she wrote about us and visit the rest of her website for inspiration and motivation to go into your community and “shake & move”!

Just when we thought that last month’s event couldn’t be topped, this month’s event was 3 times bigger! We had been preparing for this day for several months and to see it come to fruition was exciting and made it such a heartwarming experience.

We set up a Christmas tree at the rear of the laundromat and placed our gift bags for the women, men and children of the community.  The women’s and men’s gift bag had shampoo/conditioner, body wash, toothbrush, toothpaste, and deodorant.  The children’s gift bag had a hat, pair of gloves, crayons, a book, toothbrush, toothpaste, and chapstick:

We also had a caterer that brought in about 300 breakfast tacos along with homemade salsa.  This along with the usual food and beverages at our LLP event made for a very filling and festive breakfast:

After group huddle and prayer the volunteers went to work:

Our ministry historian took an opportunity to get in front of the camera lens instead of behind it:

The kids got into the action in serving:

The kid’s activity table was a hit as always with our face painter.  We also had a special treat for them as one of our volunteers read The Christmas Story to the lil ones:

The first hour was chaotic.  There are over 100 washing machines in this facility and every single one was running and we had people waiting in line to find an open washer.  At the end of the event, we had done almost 300 loads of laundry!

We had people of all walks of life coming up to us in amazement on how a church does stuff like this.  They are so thankful and actually a Christian couple that we served said that they would pray for God’ hand to continue to bless this ministry and multiply our supply to further serve the community.

A young woman that we served had just moved to the area and was looking for a church.  She was so impressed that a church did something like this that she was willing to visit our church during worship service.

A volunteer, J, had just started visiting our Church and came to volunteer at her first LLP event.  She was so blown away by this event, that she came to us in tears saying that she this ministry had restored her faith in the American church.

This is why we do what we do: to serve the Lord and to show everyone God’s love!  We pray that everyone has a Merry Christmas as we celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ and we will see all of you again in 2012!

Blessings,

LLP Irving