Let me tell you what I did last night. I visited Malta Farms. The church I attend, Ransom Canyon Fellowship Church helps sponsor Malta. Every few weeks members of our church go out to Malta to play games, visit, and eat pizza. Last night was the first time I’d gone.
My reasons not to go. I was not sure where it was located. (It is on the north edge of Slaton just west of 13908 Highway 400.) I didn’t know how to play Spoons. (The rules of the game are simple.) I didn’t want to go by myself. (Some people gave me a ride.) I was afraid of socializing with recovering drug addicts. (All the men were sober, polite, and welcoming.)
Why should I be afraid? Back in the 1970s when I taught at Greenville High School in Mississippi, many of my students took LSD trips and smoked pot. The younger siblings of returning soldiers from Viet Nam experimented with drugs. I was fearless back then.
In the 1980s while I attended nursing school at Louisiana Tech, I spent time at Louisiana State Mental Hospital with recovering drug addicts and alcoholics. Last night at Malta, as soon as I saw these men—mostly young—struggling to regain their lives, compassion overcame the fear. Love drives out fear.
Malta Farms is a faith-based, sober living facility that aids men with their transition back into the community. These men come from addictive lifestyles, brokenness, and neglect. Malta Farms offers men a safe place to experience the transforming power of the Lord. Our ministry is partially funded by a resident work-program, within the ministry (we are a 501(c)(3) program). With your prayers, partnership(s) and generous donations (God's provisions); our hope to see our men fully restored to their Maker and families will be realized. This process begins when a man encounters the Living God.
Why was Malta established, and what do the residents do to overcome their problems? How do they start their lives over? To read the answers to these questions, go to Half Way House | Malta Farms
What is going on with Malta now? The men spend their mornings in class, where they study a Bible-based program of regaining their lives. In the afternoon, they work. They seem to spend their time farming produce, which they eat and sell to stores and to individuals. An interesting person I conversed with was the cook. This weekend one of the men will graduate.
How can we help? The men have an annual stock-the-pantry drive. Here’s a page on Amazon, where concerned friends can go and with a few clicks send them some items they need. Amazon.com
We had a wonderful time. When have I laughed so much? Playing Spoons was a blast. My friends from church didn’t want to leave, and the men who are living at Malta kept talking to us. At the back door, an engaging polite exchange of conversation went on and on.
Thank you. Tyler, our pastor, said, “You have no idea what it means to these guys to get to feel normal and sit around a table with family.”
All Her Dreams of Love is now available.
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