Cheaper by the Dozen

Cheaper by the Dozen

Growing in prayer and unity.  Awesome!

  

We have a front row seat to witness the battles and breakthroughs that go on in each of the men of The 180 Center.  There are now 8 students and 2 interns at The 180 Center. That means there are 12 of us living here.   It takes a lot more preparation and planning to keep a house of 12 people running smoothly.  I can say from experience that although it is not cheaper to feed and house 12 people, it definitely an adventure of faith to see how God meets every need that we have!

It blesses my heart to see some of the men really rise up to new levels of freedom and maturity.  There are a few of the men that have already passed the 4-month mark.  They are learning to love and trust God as well as each other.  My heart overflows with gratitude as I see them come together in prayer.  This is a huge difference from four months ago.

David

David reading Spurgeon

"And now, God , do it again— bring rains to our drought-stricken lives So those who planted their crops in despair will shout hurrahs at the harvest, So those who went off with heavy hearts will come home laughing, with armloads of blessing."

Psalm 126:4-6 The Message Version

David came to The 180 Center a couple of weeks ago. The next few weeks will be challenging for him.  I am asking for you to pray for David.  He came in weighing just a little over 100 pounds.  He came from a hard life and still struggles with some of the results of living hard for the kingdom of darkness.  David is now saved and I am believing God to heal him even from the self-inflicted wounds of his old life.

The Audubon Zoo

Enjoying Audubon Zoo

The 10-year anniversary of Katrina was Saturday.  Audubon Zoo had free admission for Louisiana residents.  Some of the men had never been to the zoo before, so I enjoyed watching them enjoy the beauty of God's creation!

Hunter and David both ate bugs that were offered at one of the exhibits.

Don and I do our best to start our day early in private prayer and devotion time.  It is so important as leaders to get fresh downloads from Heaven so that we have something to give.  I get some real morsels of truth that strengthen me for what each day brings.  I wanted to share one of those nuggets with you.   I pray that it touches your heart as much as it did my own.

"Remember something, God never permitted a difficulty to come into our life without also giving us the ability to handle it.

God has provided us with every faculty. He has given us the power that we need for living victoriously. It is a fact that everyone of us down deep has what it takes to successfully meet whatever life brings." 

Kathryn Kuhlman

Thank you for your continued prayer for The 180 Center, Restoration Center For Men.  Don and I are missionaries under Victory Fellowship and are very grateful for one-time and monthly gifts of any amount to help us with our expenses. We are also looking for donations of soap, toothpaste, and other daily hygiene products for men.  Giving of your time to cook meals and help with office work is also very helpful!  

Click here for Victory Fellowship's online giving link. Designate the donation for Don and Mary Bryant   You can also mail checks to: Victory Fellowship 5708 Airline Dr., Metairie LA. 70003.

Click here to give a Missionary Gift through Paypal

An easy and secure way to give!

We are not able to send a tax credit through Paypal gifts, but God will surely reward you

This is the website for The 180 Center, Restoration Center for Men, has all the information and an application for entering The 180 Center on the website:

Click this link to The 180 Center website

Please feel free to write us or call us:

The 180 Center:  (504) 309-1050

Email:  mbryant@victoryfellowship.net or dbryant@victoryfellowship.net

Time to put up bug screens!

Teamwork

Teamwork is challenging to some people, especially those who have been wounded and lack in the area of trust.  The men had a great day Saturday, learning principles of teamwork from Vince Gremillion, the New Orleans 2013 Small Business Person of the Year.  Vince and I go back a very long way.  We met each other at Victory when we were barely out of High School.  We were teenagers!!!!!  The men played games that teach teamwork and trust.  They learned a lot!  Thanks Vince!

Anna Donahue Ministries

Anna Donahue Ministries came to The 180 Center for the second time to minister a teaching, "Building and Sustaining a Healthy Mind."  She started with Proverbs 25:28: "He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down without walls."  Walls were built to protect the city.  The proverb is teaching that ruling our spirit-man is a way to build a protective wall around our life, and one of the ways we rule the spirit-man is through renewing our minds.  Pastor Anna used the illustration that an uncontrolled mind is like a window without a screen.  Bugs can come in, with no resistance...

It is time to make sure we have screens on the windows of our hearts, eyes, ears, mouths and lives! Here is a quick example of how to pray scripture to put up a screen over your mouth, "Post a guard at my mouth, God, set a watch at the door of my lips.  Don’t let me so much as dream of evil or thoughtlessly fall into bad company." Psalm 141:3 (The Message Version)

Team Iowa Labor of Love

Learning to refinish and distressing  a table.

The original table and Walt teaching.

The men had a full week that included a professional carpenter who showed the men how to sand, refinish, and then paint and distress a table.  They all took turns taking a table that was hidden under a cloth and making it into a very nice piece of furniture.

The carpenter was with a team of 10 from Iowa.  They came to the center and generously donated their time to do some deep cleaning.  The carpenter also brought all the supplies for the refinishing project and even left the electric sander for the men to continue to learn a new skill.  It was fun to see their faces light up when Walt told them they were doing a good job. We are so thankful for all of the effort that made this week go over the top in every way possible!!!  It is our goal to see each man equipped to make permanent life changes!

Thank you for your continued prayer for The 180 Center, Restoration Center For Men.  Don and I are missionaries under Victory Fellowship and are very grateful for one-time and monthly gifts of any amount to help us with our expenses. We are also looking for donations of soap, toothpaste, and other daily hygiene products for men.  Giving of your time to cook meals and help with office work is also very helpful!  

Click here for Victory Fellowship's online giving link. Designate the donation for Don and Mary Bryant   You can also mail checks to: Victory Fellowship 5708 Airline Dr., Metairie LA. 70003.

Click here to give a Missionary Gift through Paypal

An easy and secure way to give!

We are not able to send a tax credit through Paypal gifts, but God will surely reward you

This is the website for The 180 Center, Restoration Center for Men, has all the information and an application for entering The 180 Center on the website:

Click this link to The 180 Center website

Please feel free to write us or call us:

The 180 Center:  (504) 309-1050

Email:  mbryant@victoryfellowship.net or dbryant@victoryfellowship.net

Saturation

Saturation

 Victory Fellowship just finished an amazing week of services called, "Summer Saturation." The definition of Saturation is "to cause (a substance) to unite with the greatest possible amount of another substance, through solution, chemical combination, or the like." Dictionary.com

We are vessels of God and need to be filled constantly. Life has a way to cause us to leak even when we go to church every week.  That is why we need to set special times aside to be saturated with His presence so that we get refreshed and are able to give out again. My prayer is that the greatest possible amount of oil of the Holy Spirit will unite in my heart causing a holy passion to rise up.

Psalm 72:6, "He will come down like rain upon the mown grass, As showers that water the earth."

Ezekiel 34:26, "And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in its season; there shall be showers of blessing."

There was a tangible blanket of God's presence that came into the church as we spent extended times of worship and gave the Holy Spirit free-reign.  What a blessing!

Here is a link from Joe and Becky Cruse

Here is a link from Kelanie Gloeckler

BBQ and Pool Time!

The 180 Center was invited to the home of Russell and Carol McCloud for some awesome BBQ and pool time.  We are so thankful for their generosity.  The men had a great time and the food was really good!

Zephyr Baseball Game

We were able to get tickets to the Zephyr game donated!  Our friends Daniel and Kristine, from Norway came too!  They bought all of us sodas as they watched American baseball for the first time.

Paulie being goofy at the game

Kristen and Daniel first baseball game ever....too bad the Zephyrs lost.

The 180 Men and children teaching Daniel about American football at City Park

Thank you for your continued prayer for The 180 Center, Restoration Center For Men.  Don and I are missionaries under Victory Fellowship and are very grateful for one-time and monthly gifts of any amount to help us with our expenses. We are also looking for donations of soap, toothpaste, and other daily hygiene products for men.   Click here for Victory Fellowship's online giving link. Designate the donation for Don and Mary Bryant   You can also mail checks to: Victory Fellowship 5708 Airline Dr., Metairie LA. 70003.

Click here to give a Missionary Gift through Paypal

An easy and secure way to give!

We are not able to send a tax credit through Paypal gifts, but God will surely reward you

This is the website for The 180 Center, Restoration Center for Men, has all the information and an application for entering The 180 Center on the website:

Click this link to The 180 Center website

Please feel free to write us or call us:

The 180 Center:  (504) 309-1050

Email:  mbryant@victoryfellowship.net or dbryant@victoryfellowship.net

Purpose For Living

Teamwork, 180 Style!

Pastor Parris thanking Anna Donahue for the amazing ministry at The 180 Center

Purpose For Living

We are so blessed to have Anna Donahue come to The 180 Center.  She has been a part of Victory Fellowship for a long time and God used her to speak into the men in a strong way.  The message was on God's ultimate purpose for our lives to know Him and make Him known.

Anna Donahue Visits 180

Don teaching

Students make phone calls to family each week.  I was in the office overseeing calls and was so blessed to hear the student side of the call that led to his mom sending a text to the lady who referred him to The 180 Center.  She is testifying of the wonderful conversation she had with her son:

"I got to talk to my son tonight.   He told me not to cry because he was the happiest he's ever been in his life.  He said with God he doesn't miss anything.   He said Jesus died for him and now he must live for God.  WHAT?????   He said he misses nothing about the life he was living and they don't talk about it.   He said (our family) has 11 months because he wants to stay (at 180) for a year, before he starts preaching to us about being saved and living for God!!!!!
Thank you through my broken heart and tears.  You lead my son where he needed to be thru Jesus.   I will be forever grateful. I know he has a road ahead of him.   But just a glimpse of my son back is overwhelming!"

"For if a man is in Christ he becomes a new person altogether—the past is finished and gone, everything has become fresh and new. All this is God’s doing, for he has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ; 2 Corinthians 5:17

God is so good!  He wipes out all the mess of our past and gives us a fresh start!  He is the God of redemption and it is such a privilege to witness first-hand this work happening in the young men who walk through the doors of 180.

Hunter is our newest addition and is really young and ready to get everything that God has for him.  There may be someone that you know that needs some courage to even make the move towards total wholeness.  You can be that voice of hope to take them by the hand to walk through the door.

"Therefore, behold, I will allure her [Israel] and bring her into the wilderness, and I will speak tenderly and to her heart. There I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor [troubling] to be for her a door of hope and expectation. And she shall sing there and respond as in the days of her youth..."  
Hosea 2:14, 15 AMP

Jacob Tabor leading 180 Worship!

Thank you for your continued prayer for The 180 Center, Restoration Center For Men.  Don and I are missionaries under Victory Fellowship and are very grateful for one-time and monthly gifts of any amount to help us with our expenses. We are also looking for donations of soap, toothpaste, and other daily hygiene products for men.   Click here for Victory Fellowship's online giving link. Designate the donation for Don and Mary Bryant   You can also mail checks to: Victory Fellowship 5708 Airline Dr., Metairie LA. 70003.

Click here to give a Missionary Gift through Paypal

An easy and secure way to give!

We are not able to send a tax credit through Paypal gifts, but God will surely reward you

This is the website for The 180 Center, Restoration Center for Men, has all the information and an application for entering The 180 Center on the website:

Click this link to The 180 Center website

Please feel free to write us or call us:

The 180 Center:  (504) 309-1050

Email:  mbryant@victoryfellowship.net or dbryant@victoryfellowship.net

Family Time

Family Time

One part of the program includes time every other week to visit with family.  Bryan has been with us for one month and was so happy to finally have time with his mom.  His mom said that she sees a big difference from when she saw him last.  The way Bryan talks, walks and even dresses is changing!  God is working from the inside-out!  Denny and Sam also had family time.  God is the God of restoration.  He wants to bring restoration to families:

" They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations."  Isaiah 61:4

God wants to break the cycles of bondage, even bondage that has held families captive for generations!

Guest Cook Paul Baxter

The 180 Center has a few cooks that come through to volunteer their time to cook for the men.  Paul is one of them.  He is busy cooking right now, and it is smelling good!!!!!

The Eleventh Hour

Bryan shared a dream that he had a couple of weeks ago.  He said that he saw a Bible that had a clock in the back that showed that it was 11:00 and asked what that meant.  It means that the return of the Lord is imminent and that we need to get ourselves ready for His return!

"7 For this reason, my brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the return of the Lord. Look! The farmer knows how to wait patiently for the land to produce vegetables and fruits. He cannot harvest a freshly planted seed. Instead, he waits for the early and the late showers to nourish the soil. 8 You need this same kind of patience, so in the meantime, strengthen your resolve because the Lord will be coming soon.

9 Brothers and sisters, don’t waste your breath complaining about one another. If you judge others, you will be judged yourself. Be very careful! You will face the one true Judge who is right outside the door."  James 5:7-9 The Voice (VOICE) translation

Thank you for praying for The 180 Center, Restoration Center For Men.  Don and I are missionaries under Victory Fellowship and are very grateful for one-time and monthly gifts of any amount to help us with our expenses. We are also looking for donations of soap, toothpaste, and other daily hygiene products for men.   Click here for Victory Fellowship's online giving link. Designate the donation for Don and Mary Bryant   You can also mail checks to: Victory Fellowship 5708 Airline Dr., Metairie LA. 70003.

Click here to give a Missionary Gift through Paypal

An easy and secure way to give!

We are not able to send a tax credit through Paypal gifts, but God will surely reward you

This is the website for The 180 Center, Restoration Center for Men, has all the information and an application for entering The 180 Center on the website:

Click this link to The 180 Center website

Please feel free to write us or call us:

The 180 Center:  (504) 309-1050

Email:  mbryant@victoryfellowship.net or dbryant@victoryfellowship.net

My Help Comes from The Lord

My Help Comes from The Lord

121 I look up to the hills,

    but where does my help come from?

2 My help comes from the Lord,

    who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not let you be defeated.

    He who guards you never sleeps.

4 He who guards Israel

    never rests or sleeps.

5 The Lord guards you.

    The Lord is the shade that protects you from the sun.

6 The sun cannot hurt you during the day,

    and the moon cannot hurt you at night.

7 The Lord will protect you from all dangers;

    he will guard your life.

8 The Lord will guard you as you come and go,

    both now and forever.

The sanest part of recovery from addiction is the revelation that The Lord is our only source of real help.  He is the only help that doesn't lead us to defeat or let us down when we are in trouble.  He is the shade when the heat of the day seems too much for us to handle.  Matthew Henry said that some people call Psalm 121, "The Soldier's Psalm".  It was believed to be written when King David had a battle that seemed insurmountable.  

The men who walk into 180 have been in a battle that seemed insurmountable.  They turned to everything and everyone but God to deal with life's battles.  They are now learning to trust God as their place of safety and help.  It is amazing to see how the process happens.  The life of hopelessness turning to hope and hope turning to trust.  Trust then begins to peel back the layers of the past and brings healing.

Bryan sharing hope to the homeless

Food donation

Bryan shares with people who knew him before he entered 180.
They were in tears as they saw that it is possible to find freedom.

Passing out goodies to the homeless.

Agents of reconciliation

"If a man is in Christ he becomes a new person altogether—the past is finished and gone, everything has become fresh and new. All this is God’s doing, for he has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ; and he has made us agents of the reconciliation. God was in Christ personally reconciling the world to himself—not counting their sins against them—and has commissioned us with the message of reconciliation."  

2 Corinthians 5:17,18 Phillips translation

Broken lives become a brook of hope for the broken.   That is exactly what happened yesterday. The 180 Center received a donation of food  early in the morning, but there were lots of food items that we couldn't eat.  Don felt that we should make a quick trip to the overpass to give the food to the homeless living there.  We passed out the food and Bibles and prayed for them.  Most of the people just looked at Don and me and must of thought, "What do you know about being homeless?", but Bryan started sharing how God has set him free from addiction and how the program helped him get off the streets.

Bryan's testimony helped open the hearts as we saw the miracle of love pouring out of a broken vessel to the broken lives.  We were only there for about 10 minutes, but I believe that the seed planted will produce fruit in the Kingdom of God forever!

Thank you for praying for The 180 Center, Restoration Center For Men.  Don and I are missionaries under Victory Fellowship and are very grateful for one-time and monthly gifts of any amount to help us with our expenses.    Click here for Victory Fellowship's online giving link. Designate the donation for Don and Mary Bryant   You can also mail checks to: Victory Fellowship 5708 Airline Dr., Metairie LA. 70003.

Click here to give a Missionary Gift through Paypal

An easy and secure way to give!

We are not able to send a tax credit through Paypal gifts, but God will surely reward you

This is the website for The 180 Center, Restoration Center for Men, has all the information and an application for entering The 180 Center on the website:

Click this link to The 180 Center website

Please feel free to write us or call us:

The 180 Center:  (504) 309-1050

Email:  mbryant@victoryfellowship.net or dbryant@victoryfellowship.net