We would like to acknowledge a very special person within the Christian Care Center! The Samaritan Inn has been so fortunate to have Miss Jeanine Denzler (JJ) and her husband Paul volunteering faithfully with our families for the past 8 years. She is very connected with the Leesburg Center for the Arts, and since 2010, she has come every Tuesday to do a craft project with our children, while we host a Tuesday night house meeting with our parents.
This has allowed us to address any concerns within the ministry for our families and teach them various classes that have helped them grow towards independent living. Though their primary focus was the children, they have created so many different avenues to connect with the parents week in and week out!!
This sweet couple has served faithfully at Saint Paul’s Catholic Church, which is located here in Leesburg, for the past 15 years. Miss JJ has also been serving lunches for the past 15 years to the children at St Paul’s! We have been so fortunate and blessed to know them over these years, and while Miss JJ is now stepping down due to health concerns, her husband, Paul, will continue to do crafts with the kids!
Often, individuals come in and don’t really understand the impact they are going to make on so many of these children’s lives. I think it’s important to note that Miss JJ has stated on several occasions that she has been touched so deeply by the children that she has interacted with over the years at Samaritan Inn. She was essentially a Grandmother to them and gave them all the love she had. Recently, when she was going through a very deep trial with her health, she told me that all she could think about was a song that she remembered one of our children singing about “Jesus loves me this is so, because the Bible tells me so”. This rang true to Miss JJ in her time recovering in the hospital, and it reminded her of the hope that she would have found only in Jesus as she reflected on the experiences she shared with these children!
Miss JJ, we would like to tell you that we love you, and I can never thank you enough for the commitment that you’ve made to serve the Lord. May He continue to bless you and give you many days ahead where you can continue changing lives as you’ve changed lives here.
I want to add that we are currently looking for two individuals to volunteer on Tuesday nights to fill her place with our children. If you have any interest, please feel free to contact me at 352-396-8439.
1Corinthians 15:58 says, “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”
-written by John Draxinger, Director of the Samaritan Inn
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