March Newsletter
March 2024
Best of Loudoun voting continues through March 10th!
Vote for Tree of Life, SimplyBe Coffee, and The Clothing Closet to help recognize the hard work of our amazing volunteers! Click the links below to vote.
Tree of Life
SimplyBe Coffee
The Clothing Closet: Thrift and Women’s Clothing
New Purcellville Center
It has been a crazy couple of weeks, but we are fully moved in to our new Purcellville Center at 115 East Main Street!
We are excited to get our ministry activity back in full swing – beginning with food deliveries this weekend and on March 5th we’ll be able to accept food donations again!
Our first community dinner and English classes at the new center will be Thursday, March 7th at 5:30pm – come join us for some fellowship and a delicious meal!
If you would like to help support the move, we’d love your help with covering some of the move costs. You can donate at the button below, just write “move” in the donation memo section.
Thank you to everyone who has made this amazing opportunity possible!
Valuing Relationships
One of our core values at Tree of Life is “relationship is for all.” We believe that everyone deserves to experience a relationship with their neighbors and with Christ.
As a powerful example of these relationships, we want to introduce you to Gary Murray. Gary, experiencing very difficult times, reached out to our food pantry for help. When our volunteers made the first grocery delivery to Gary, he shared a little bit about his circumstances – he’s a life-long Loudoun resident and is dealing with terminal stomach cancer. Despite his situation, the volunteers were amazed at his positivity and friendliness. They also noticed a large collection of artwork and discovered that Gary is a talented artist and previously had a studio in Leesburg. His unique and beautiful paintings include native-Loudoun vistas, portraits, and African American themes.
As we continued developing a relationship with Gary and assisted him with food and necessities such as warmer clothing, one of the volunteers started working to help Gary have his art displayed locally. To our great joy, the Town of Leesburg displayed Gary’s art at Town Hall for the month of February!
Gary’s excitement at having his work recognized again has given him a new sense of hope for the future even in the midst of his difficulties. We are so grateful for our dedicated volunteers who truly have a heart to serve those in need, develop relationships, and have been committed to helping Gary.
If you have questions about Gary’s artwork, please email info@tolministries.org.
DayBreak Chili Bowl
It was a fantastic time at our second annual Chili Bowl!
We had more than 30 attendees and were grateful to host the event at Hamilton Baptist Church, one of Tree of Life’s amazing church sponsors.
Our special guest speaker was Cliff Russell, the Area Director for Fellowship of Christian Athletes, who shared a powerful testimony of how he came to have a personal relationship with Christ.
We also were excited to have student attendees from Loudoun FCA that joined us for some sports trivia and chili tasting, as well as some beautiful hymns from Ms. Nancy.
In a surprising turn of events, the white chicken chili was unanimously chosen by our judges as the winner – it was delicious!
We hope you’ll join us next year for this fun-filled event!
Second Annual Axe Throwing Event
There are still spots available at our Axe Throwing Fundraiser!
If you’ve never been to Elysium Axe Bar in Purcellville – this is the perfect opportunity to check it out while supporting a great cause.
This fun and unique event will include time in the axe lane, one beverage ticket, and a free buffett! Bring your family and friends and enjoy a good time for a good cause.
For more information and to register, click the button below. If you have questions or are interested in sponsorship opportunities, please email Jordan Smith: jsmith@tolministries.org.
VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT!
This month, we’d like to tell you about an amazing volunteer from our Purcellville Food Pantry – Susanne Horn.
Susanne has been volunteering since 2022 and not only has she become one of our most loyal volunteers, acruing over 500 hours of volunteer time, but she is committed to building relationships with those we serve through our Food Branch.
As a Food Pantry calleer, Susanne talks directly with those receiving grocery deliveries and helps make sure the food meets their needs. Through her monthly conversations with many of our partners, she has been able to develop relationships with them and offer encouragement and support.
Susanne also helps deliver groceries, and that is how she met Gary Murray, mentioned above. Susanne is the volunteer that was able to connect with him and get his art displayed locally which has had a huge impact on his well-being!
We are so grateful for Susanne’s commitment to Tree of Life and to our core value of “Relationship is for all”. THANK YOU, SUSANNE!
DONOR SPOTLIGHT!
This month’s donor spotlight is Local SEO!
Local SEO is a Loudoun-based search engine marketing agency that has generously provided services to Tree of Life at no-cost for nearly a year. This amazing team has been committed to helping us find new customers for The Clothing Closet and SimplyBe Coffee through digital ads and search engine optimization.
Building our customer base for both our Gospel Enterprises is hugely important as we strive to support these ministries and continue their missions. The expertise and advise from the Local SEO team has been invaluable and we’ve been so moved by their commitment to our purpose of reaching out to those in need in #Loudoun.
Thank you, Local SEO!
Save the Dates!
Weekly DayBreak Bible Study
Blue Ridge Bible Church, Thursdays, 11am
Ribbon Cutting Event for Purcellville Center
Friday, March 8th, 115 East Main Street, 10am
Axe Throwing Fundraiser
Saturday, March 9th, Elysium Axe Bar
SimplyBe Unplugged
Saturday, March 23rd, 12pm, SimplyBe Coffee
Volunteer Introduction Program:
Click HERE for dates and registration.
EASTER: An invitation to walk with Christ
While we remember Jesus’ crucifixion on GOOD FRIDAY, we celebrate His RESURRECTION on EASTER SUNDAY.
On Easter Sunday, Jesus arose from the grave. The Friday before, his dying words were, “It is finished,” meaning that the price had been paid for sin. The Apostle Paul states in Romans 10:9: “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” This salvation is based on faith, not of works, that God raised Jesus from the dead. This salvation is based on the resurrection of Jesus.
When I have faith, Jesus declares, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you.” My belief in the Resurrection comes with a guarantee that the Holy Spirit will dwell inside of me forever. And with this guarantee comes the blessing of knowing that I will dwell in heaven with Jesus forever (2 Cor. 5:6). This Easter, I remember Jesus’ Resurrection, not through earthly knowledge, but because the Holy Spirit lives in me and proclaims this truth. The Holy Spirit continually points me to Jesus and reminds me to celebrate Jesus’ Resurrection not only on Easter, but every day.
During this season of Lent, please celebrate with me with our Lenten devotional series, “Preparing for Easter,” accessible by clicking this link.
May the Lord bless you and give you peace,
Chaplain Wayne Ruckman
