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Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

by Christy Beyer, Mission U-Too

You always here people say “don’t judge a book by the cover.” When I was younger I never understood the meaning of it. Actually I never understood the meaning of it until I became a Christian. Giving my life over to God and knowing that He sent his one and only son to die on the cross for me and not just me,  for all of us. I had a heart change for people, for myself, for the way I lived my life and for God. I made drastic changes in my life and am still making more changes.

God never gives up on us. He wants us to grow and trust Him more. He wants us to confess all of our sins even though they are forgiven. God knew we could never be perfect therefore He is our ultimate judge, not us. We are to not judge others by the cover. The cover of every person is not the truth of what is going on inside their heart. My God made all of us fearfully and wonderfully made despite our looks and the things we wear. He made us all different. He even created us to look different.

Mission U-Too brings many people from all walks of life with or without a relationship with Christ. All of them are different in their own unique way.  For as long as I’ve been serving with Mission U-Too (2 1/2 years), I have had the opportunity to meet different people and build relationships. Because of the turning point in my life and the desire to be a servant, two of those I serve are young men who have Downs Syndrome. These boys are brothers and 10 years apart in age. Even though their communication is not clear, and they look different, they are still children of God. They are made fearfully and wonderfully just like you and me. Psalms 139:14 says “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” I know full well that my two friends have a true heart for God, and they don’t look at any of us differently than them.

When Jaquim and Jonathon came to Mission U-T00 2 years ago, they would patiently stand in line waiting to be served. They would high five everyone, and call them all friends. Everyone is their friend, even God. I love watching their face light up when you ask “how is God treating you?” Their response is “Good all the time.” Wouldn’t you love to walk through life knowing that God is good all the time? These boys can’t read or write well, and most of the time you can’t understand them when they talk, but when they are passionate about Christ and what He’s doing in their life, Christ allows their words to be heard.

I am so thankful for them and the lessons they teach me every Sunday and Monday and now for the past three weeks they are attending our church and going to Youth. They understand that level of the bible. They understand what praise and worship is and they love singing, no matter whose looking at them. They give hugs to everyone, even if they don’t know them. They are also serving Sunday’s with us at Mission U-Too in the food line strategically making everyone’s burger with perfection, love and a smile.

1 Peter 3:3-4 says “your beauty should not come from outward adornment such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. instead it should be, that of your innerself, the unfading beauty of gentle and quiet spirit which is of great worth in God’s sight.” Jonathon and Jaquim are good examples of this verse. Like God, they look at the heart and not what your wearing. They know they are fearfully and wonderfully made and never do they worry about what others think.

My prayer, is to all the readers of this blog that they know how much Jesus loves you no matter your sins or your outer appearance, what matters is your heart and your relationship with Christ. Just like my two friends, you also are fearfully and wonderfully made, and don’t allow the world tell you different. Rest assure our God is faithful in His word! The Lord has blessed me with my Mission U-Too family and I pray that wherever you live you GO and find a place in your community that you can share the Good News just like Jonathon and Jaquim, with their smile, high fives and a loving heart.

Christy Beyer is Jonah’s wife and serves by his side every week she helps with mentoring the women and family’s that Mission U-Too touches.

Send Christy a note at christy.beyer@feedtheneed.org.

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Second location in Bastrop!

by Jonah Beyer, Mission U-Too President

I am excited to tell you about our new Bastrop location. This makes seven locations for Mission U-Too as we continue to grow and the vision continues to catch; feeding people physically and spiritually.

The idea for the second location started back last summer after we moved the Bastrop location. When we moved we lost some of the folks that use to come every week. We had an opportunity several months later to serve over by the Boys and Girls Club which is just North of downtown and we saw a lot of familiar faces. As Rebecca and I were out there serving that night, we started talking about the need for another location in that area. We began to talk and pray about it and I started telling some people within Bastrop to start praying for the second location.

It’s probably been about 6 months or so that we have been praying and talking about it. Now to see it actually starting to happen and how God is lining everything up is exciting.  What’s really cool is as we continue to mature at Mission U-Too Bastrop (the first location), and grow spiritually; we have been able to really reach out to the homeless folks in the community along with the church we partnered with.  It’s really awesome to see how God has brought us together to continue to reach out to the Bastrop community.

While there’s still a need on the North side of town we will continue to serve Monday at our South location and now Sunday at our North location. I’m excited to get over to the North side to start serving every week just to see how God is going to move in these people’s lives. There are so many folks over there that are lost, hurting, kids without parents, women that have been abandoned by their husbands and are going through a rough time, drug problems, addiction, alcoholics, and the opportunity to go in and serve every week and continue to build relationships with these folks.  It was powerful when we started praying about it and I didn’t know how we were going to start the second location, until God answered our prayers.

About 6 weeks ago I sat down for a meeting with somebody at a coffee shop and a gentleman walked up to me who I have never met before and was like “hey you’re Jonah.” I said “yeah” He said “I’m Tim and I have heard a lot about you” he sat down with me and we started talking a little bit. He began to tell me how he wanted to get more involved in helping with families that are struggling and to teach them life skills. As we started talking more I just felt led to share with him about starting a second location over in the North end of Bastrop by the Boys and Girls Club and how great the need was. As I started telling him, he just melted and I asked him what was going on. I could see the excitement that was building. He began to tell me that him and his wife a few years prior had moved a couple of blocks away from the Boys and Girls Club and felt led to penetrate into that neighborhood. Right then I knew this was the person that we have been praying for. We started talking more and when he left the shop he immediately went over to his church and gained their support in helping support Mission U-Too with bringing in some volunteers and donations.

So come join us this Sunday March 17th as we start serving ever Sunday at 4:30pm at the new location.  This will open up all kinds of opportunities to engage the kids and the parents, with bible studies, Sunday evening service, and activity for the community.  We can’t wait to see what God does as we’re able to start penetrating into this neighborhood with Jesus that is so unchurched, unreached and hurting. I’m excited for this new adventure and I look forward to seeing some of you guys get involved. I love you and hope you have a blessed rest of the week.

Jonah Beyer has been serving Mission U-Too since 2010 and is the President of Mission U-Too. His family lives and serves in Bastrop, Texas.

Send Jonah a note at jonah.beyer@feedtheneed.org.

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Obedience in Small Things

By Rebecca Barker, Bastrop Site Coordinator

I haven’t been able to put into words until now how amazing Monday night was. GOD is so good!

For whatever reason(God), I forgot to pick up enough burgers for the evenings meal. So just after we started I had to run and pick more up. I was so impatient, in a hurry to get back. Probably frustrated at the people in front of me, moving slower than I would have liked. But then I saw her, on the side of the road, in tears. I won’t lie, I thought about just driving past her to get back. But something, that still small voice, insisted I stop.

Her name was Sandy and though I spoke to her for just a brief moment in time, she changed my perspective. She was sick, in pain and stranded in our little town. On her way home to Kentucky, her car had broken down and she’d been walking for a couple of days. She had been standing in front of Walmart for 4 hours and I was the first to stop. No one else would even look at her. She needed food and help, but mostly she needed to know that someone cared and that God was listening to her cries for help.

Thanks to a sister in Christ, we were able to give her the help she needed while she waited for family to come get her.

It’s left me in awe of God’s love for all of us and His amazing ability to see and speak to us in any situation. We just have to listen, to be obedient in even the smallest of things. God is glorious!

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Learning to Love

by Jonah Beyer, Mission U-Too President

The first time I meet Allen he was dirty, stinky, and had quite the foul mouth. I was afraid to touch him and honestly didn’t want anything to do with him.

We had just started Mission U-Too Bastrop and I had no idea what I was about to learn. You see when I first started volunteering I had no problem reaching out to the people who looked just a little different than me. But a man who looked and sounded like Allen, a man I couldn’t see much hope for, I wasn’t super excited to have him around. In all honesty, I was afraid he was going to scare everyone off.

Like I said…I had a lot to learn.

I was clearly not focused on the right thing, and eventually had to face the hard question of why I was really serving at Mission U-Too. Was it really for those in need, or just to make myself feel better about doing a “good” thing?

Allen kept coming around. He even started helping us cook each week. Some might say that Mission U-Too was making an impact on Allen, which it was, but in reality Allen was making a huge impact on me.

Allen cooking burgers at Mission U-Too Bastrop

As God continued to put Allen in my path, I started getting to know Allen a little better. Every week for the next year we just loved Allen for who he was. And we began to see change. And let me tell you, I know this is not anything we could have done without Jesus; it is Him who began to change Allen.

When the Bastrop fires started Allen was ready and willing to serve 24/7. Through serving with him day in and day out I got the opportunity to learn a little more about Allen. I did my best to keep encouraging him and pouring into his life, as did other Mission U-Too volunteers. But it wasn’t until almost a year after the fire before I really started to really understand how Allen ended up on the streets.

When you serve in this environment and capacity it takes time…God’s time…time to build trust, to build a relationship, to let someone know that you really do care for them. It takes a love that is beyond yourself.

One weekend about a year after we first met Allen, we took Allen on a weekend family getaway to Houston. On this trip Allen began to open up a little more. I realized that Allen had not been mentally capable to care for himself throughout his life. In fact, his mother had taken care of him until the day she died. When she died he didn’t just lose his mother, he lost his sense of normalcy and security. At this point his uncle was awarded trust and moved Allen to Bastrop so he could help take care of him. Several years later his uncle developed Alzheimer’s, and with no other place to go or anyone to care for him, Allen found himself on the streets.

So now here is a man in his 60s with mental illness and handicaps that really doesn’t know how or have the real capability to care for himself. A man that was kicked to the curb, and no one took the time to really try and understand him, or even help him.

You see as I trusted God and pushed into Him, He begin to put people in my life to teach me how to love as Christ loves us. When we do this with a desire to praise and serve the Lord without placing judgment on someone it allows God to work. And you get to be a part of something greater than yourself.

Allen now has a place he can call home and people he can call family. We call him family. By asking the hard question and asking for a change of heart in why I was serving at Mission U-Too, God opened my eyes to see past the dirty exterior and really love someone for who they were.

As you truly care for and share the love of Jesus with others, watch as He begins to use you for His glory and His kingdom. You will be blessed beyond anything of this world.

Jonah Beyer has been serving Mission U-Too since 2010 and is the President of Mission U-Too. His family lives and serves in Bastrop, Texas.

Send Jonah a note at jonah.beyer@feedtheneed.org.

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