As God's people, we are called to defend the poor.
Consider what the Lord said about King Josiah in
Jeremiah 22:16, "He defended the cause of the poor
and needy, and so all went well". Indeed, God's
heart arches for the poor, the needy, the orphans,
the widows and everyone who suffers from the
ravages in sin and injustice in our world, James 1:
27 says "Religion that is pure and undefiled before
God, the Father, is this: to care for the orphans and
widows in their distress, and to keep oneself
unstained by the world. One does not have to look
far for God's needy people. The needy live right
here in our own town and we have responded.
Calvary youth have met God's call to feed His
sheep by serving at the Loves and Fishes
the first Sunday of every month. They have
faithfully assisted in the Enfield Foodshelf's yearly
"Mail Carriers Drive Against Hunger." Our own
Calvary Puppet Revue has filled the hearts of both
young and old alike with laughter and national pride
and the word of the Lord on the towm green.

Then, you ask "Why Hartford?" Because God has
called us as he called Jonah in bibical times, to see
and touch the needy right in our own backyard, just
beyond the boundaries of Enfield. Hartford, the fifth
poorest city in the United States is located in the
second richest state of our nation. The city of
Hartford averages more murder, robbery and other
violent crimes then other states. One third of its
residents live in poverty. What has happened to the
"City on a Hill" that is commemorat4ed in 1635 by the
Reverend Thomas Hooker as a place where God's
glory would shine brightly to the whole world. We
are called to experience hearts breaking over the
same things that break our Heavenly Father's heart
....So that our hands, feet and hearts would become
more like His through the work of the Holy Spirit.

This summer, God called 150 teens from 10
diffrerent churches of all denominations to be His
hands, His feet, and His heart to the peeople of the
north end of Hartford, "that none should perish". I
can't tell you the number of times that God told me
to stop what I was doing to see what He was doing.
Multiply those times by the 30 adullts God called to

witness His plan in action. It was Awesome! Young
(youngest 5 years old) and old (oldest, not to be
divulged) male and female of all ethnic and cultural
backkgrounds, worked together as the body of
Christ, the church united. The volunteers provided
the biggest block party ever experienced by that
neighborhood as well as free car washes (and
prayer), free meals and long overdue cleaning at
the Hartford Rescue Mission, South Park Inn
Shelter and Marshall House Shelter; led VBS to
Hartford City Mission Children's Camp; set up the
new free clinic for the Christian Medical Fellowship
at South Church; shared music, prayers and time
with the elder of the institute for Hispanic Families;
and clamed the block of Barbour St. for the Lord.

God did not call us to just give and give but He also
set a time aside when the residents of the Youth
Challenge shared their testimonies of how Jesus
has transformed their broken hearts and lives with
our teens, whom I pray will never have to
experience the path that these souls have had to
walk before they surrendered to the lover of their
soul, Abba father, Prince of Peace, Jesus. By the
end, we hugged and prayed and wept together as a
family.

My prayer is that God will multiply our small team
of five teens:
               Nathan & Aaron Valle
               martin & Milles Walsh
                 Amanda Dufault

as He did with the five loaves amd two fishes to feed
the mulitudes. We fed hungry people with the word
of God and relationships with our lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. Thank you all so very much for your
prayers, and financial support that allowed us to
fulfill the great commission and God's call on our
youth.

                 Fathfully
                 Lorri Valle