May’s event could be summed up in one word:  Quick.  The word on the street about this ministry has gotten out so much that people are coming up with creative ways to ensure that they are served by LLP during our event.  The Amigo Laundromat opens at 8am and we don’t begin the event until 9am, and usually people will be waiting in a line for us.  Now people are now coming in early and loading their washers and then waiting until 9am to be served.  Almost all washers were loaded up, and when 9am came around we were just inserted cards to every washer.  In a way that was great since all washers were running at the same time and allowed us to build relationships with people, but on the flip side there were people coming in after 9am and were forced to wait.  We’ve actually been told by some people that they refuse to show up during our events because they come in and have to wait for a washer.

We are trying to be good stewards with our ministry budget so it can be a sustainable one – so we try to allot a specific amount for each LLP event.  Needless to say, with the amount of patrons at the laundromat that morning, we ran through our allotment within an hour and a half.  We also ran out of breakfast food for the community within 10 minutes.  This month’s event was fast and furious!

Here are some action pics:

Here is an overall shot of the event:

Here is our faithful face painting volunteer “L”:

 Here is our volunteer “A” and her son “R” serving a patron:

Here is our volunteer “C” chatting with a LLP regular “N”:

Here is a first time volunteer “HJ” and her daughter.  They were much needed help for our event:

Here are volunteers “S” and her daughter “K” serving another regular LLP patron “V”.

We also had an opportunity to spread the word about our weekly bible study at the laundramat, and were blessed with opportunities to do life together the two weeks after this event – which we will share in another post.

Thanks to God for allowing Irving Bible Church and Laundry Love Project to serve together and spread the Good News.

With last month marking the one year Anniversary of LLPIrving, we look forward to what God has in store for Year 2.  With the kickoff of our new bible study Life After Laundry, we are in the midst of praying for God’s direction on the day and time best suited for our study.  We are also praying for a group of people who attend the LLP events to help establish a core group for this new study.

Another new thing we’re going to also start is LLPirving’s “VERSE OF THE MONTH”.   ”S”, the owner of the Amigo Laundramat installed eight large bulletin boards on each side of the facility.  He thought it would be a good idea if we post some information about our ministry or church.  We thought that was great and are hoping to take it one step further with a poster quoting a Bible verse.  We pray that these verses are planted into the patron’s hearts, give hope and inspiration.  Check out our inaugural verse:

Here is the info for this month’s event: 

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!

LLP Irving is following Jesus!

Check out this video from our Sunday service to kick off Irving Bible Church’s study of the Gospel of Mark:

God had a reason for us to be there tonight. We thought we were there for a bible study. We brought bibles to give away to those who didn’t have one, snacks, and water bottles. We had study guides to pass out in case they didn’t have one. Only problem was no one showed up. We didn’t have high expectations given this was the first week and given we only had one Laundry Love event to advertise it. We weren’t even discouraged because we were being obedient to what God wanted us to do.

So we spent about 30 minutes just catching up with each other and coming up with ideas to help get the word out to the community. As we started putting things away and packing up ready to leave, we started talking about a man, “T” that we had served at LLP, then started volunteering with us and attended church services as well. About a month ago we were having a hard time getting in touch with him. The cell phone number he had went straight to voice mail. No one was home when we came by to say hi. The day of the LLP we stopped by and his mom answered and said that he had not been home for almost a week and had not called her.

We were really worried about him and his well-being, so tonight since we were in the neighbrhood we decided to swing by his place again. His mom,”V” answered the door and we started talking. She said that “T” had finally come by to see her about an hour after we had visited her during the LLP event. She had said that “T” had either lost his phone or it got stolen and he did not have our phone numbers to call us. We were glad that he was okay and we then focused on “V”. She started opening up to us about her struggles that she is going through with work, or lack of it and struggles to find a better opportunity and pay the rent. She has reached a point to where it affects her physically and she is also contemplating moving out of state. We asked her if we could pray for her, she gladly accepted and so we joined hands and prayed for her, for God to reveal His plan for her and to continue recognizing that He is the Great Provider. “V” said that her job schedule doesn’t allow her to go to church on Sunday, so we mentioned to her that we are now holding a bible study on Wednesday nights so she can get her fill of God’s word within walking distance!

As we said goodnight to “V”, we had told her that we hope “T” was doing well and she said that he was outside somewhere and look for a guy in a yellow shirt. So once we left her apartment building and turned the corner, lo and behold, “T” was standing there hanging out with a friend. We hugged him and caught up on things. He said that he is going through a lot right now, that he is now unemployed, and that he needs prayer and God back in his life. We could tell he is in pain both physically and emotionally. So in the middle of an apartment parking lot, with a bunch of people outside – they saw three men holding hands, eyes closed and praying to our Lord for “T”. “T” had forgotten about our bible study but seemed to have rekindled that fire he had before when he first met us. He wants us to pick him up for church service this Sunday (neither “V” nor “T” have a car) and is wanting to attend the next Wednesday bible study.

So even though no one showed up at our inagural Life after Laundry bible study, God already had our first session planned out and lead us to “T” and “V”. If this is the kind of night we had on a night where we had no one show up, then I can’t wait to see what He has in store for us on a night when people start showing up!

Next Life after Laundry study is next Wednesday, April 18th – hope to see you there. Blessings to you all.