Nacogdoches/Livingston - February 2017

Women’s Dorm Construction is Underway!
      We are very pleased to announce the completion of the sale of the old Redland Hotel which has housed GODTEL’s Nacogdoches shelter for the past 40 years. This has enabled us to move forward with the plans to construct the women’s dormitory. In fact, the forms for the concrete are in place, the permit to build has been approved, and crews will soon be arriving to lay the foundation. I just realized it was exactly one year ago that I wrote about the start of building the men’s dormitory in Nacogdoches. That building was completed and passed inspection in October and on November 1, 2016 we moved from our downtown property to 1902 Douglass Road where our Zip code is 75964. At our new location, we are already operating at near capacity and have just added four more beds in the men’s dorm. Until the women’s dorm is completed, we have only 14 beds for the women and there have been nights when all beds were full. At least we have not had to turn anyone away due to a lack of space. When we received a donation of pillows, sheets, and towels from The Holiday Inn Express recently, the manager informed us she had been told that GODTEL had closed. Not so! We did not close even for one day. Rather, we spent the night of October 31st at the downtown location and moved all the people to the new location and spent the night of November 1st there and have been “up and running” there ever since. We are very gratified for all the assistance we have received from so many sources and we know all this is ultimately coming from the loving hand of our faithful Creator and Savior, Jesus Christ. Error in this Month’s Insert On the inside page of the insert titled “Creation and the Dating Game —or— How Old is a rock?” we made reference to a passage of Scripture saying it was in 2 Thessalonians. It is actually in 1 Thessalonians 5:21 where we are taught to prove or test all things and to hold on to the truth. Sadly, we had already run off 1,500 of the two-sided pages before we discovered the error. The “frugality” of my Scottish nature would not allow me to re-run them. After all, the truth is still the truth, no matter where it is found, right? Bro. June on YouTube Just a reminder that Bro. June’s weekly sermons are available on YouTube. Back in October of 2015 when our youngest son, Joshua, began filming the sermons, he had only one camera and no special lighting. Now he has three cameras and three spotlights and the improvement is remarkable. Just go to the YouTube site and search for June Gentry or GODTEL. The Lufkin TV station KLMN (Channel 42.1) has also run Bro. June’s sermons with a possibility of more to come there. If you want to add to your Gospel music collection, we have CDs by the June Gentry Family and some “in the works” by Bro. June “going solo” which can be ordered directly from GODTEL. We also offer studies about the scientific evidences supporting Creation, teachings on Faith by Bro. Manley Beasley, and other literature which can help with spiritual growth. No Government Funding Here Although GODTEL does receive funding from the Nacogdoches Area United Way, we do not seek nor accept funding from government sources. There have been times that one of our “disgruntled” residents threatened to “have our government funds cut off” because they failed to get their way about something or other. Bro. June generally encourages them “go ahead” and then smiles knowing the futility of that task should they really try it. Food Harvest GODTEL has qualified to receive food donations through the national Food Harvest program. In Nacogdoches we receive almost daily donations of pastries from Starbucks and at the end of each semester, we receive large donations of food from the SFASU cafeterias as they shut down until classes are ready to resume. In Livingston, we receive donations from Pizza Hut three times a week and our residents are very glad to eat pizza. Our cook, Benita, is very glad to have such an easy meal to serve. Farewell, Jennifer Early in December, my secretary for the past year, Jennifer Champagne, turned in her resignation. Though I am not planning to replace her, her absence is deeply felt. If it weren’t for Benita and one of our residents, Catherine, who are helping me wade through January’s tasks of gathering statistics, generating W-2s. 1099 forms (for the 30 sub-contractors who helped construct the men’s dorm), finalize last year’s accounting and set up the notebooks for 2017, prepare this newsletter for mailing, complete the year-end report for the United Way, calculate and pay the quarterly sales tax, etc., I would not be done with January’s tasks until March! Thank you, ladies. Thank You We thank God for His faithfulness to supply all our needs and we are thankful to each of you who prays for and helps support this ministry to the poor. We pray that God will bless you abundantly as the return of Jesus draws ever closer. You are welcome to drop by any of our mission locations for a tour of the facilities and to meet our staff.
​Nancy Gentry