June Fundraiser: Update!

We are excited to let you know that we are off to a great start to our mid-year fundraiser where we are seeking to raise “$30K in 30 days to serve 30% more families.” Because of your support and generous heart to give, during the first two weeks, we have raised $16,594. We cannot thank you enough!
 
The growing needs of the community will stretch us to fully furnish over 100 more families this year. Getting families off the floor and into beds is so important, but it can’t be accomplished without the help of many.  For those of you who have already given, THANK YOU for getting our campaign off to a great start.  If you are planning to give, please take a minute and do so today.

CLICK HERE TO HEAR MORE ABOUT 30 for 30 for 30!

This year, our partners are asking us to do more. In coming out of the pandemic, coupled with families arriving from Ukraine and Afghanistan, we are working to increase our reach and fully furnish 30% more families. 

We are also establishing a regular presence in Clarkston, serving refugees, and are expanding and leveraging our local partnerships by utilizing our trucks and volunteers to serve the community.

Would you consider donating to help us achieve this goal of raising $30,000 in 30 days so that we can serve 100 more families?

DONATE NOW!

God has entrusted us with these families and we want to be able to immeasurably more than we can ever think or imagine, but we need your help to do so!

June Fundraiser: Help Us Raise $30,000 in 30 Days!

Fully Furnished Ministries needs your help. Our ask in June is to raise $30,000 in 30 days so that our ministry can fully furnish 30% more families in 2022.

CLICK HERE TO HEAR MORE ABOUT 30 for 30 for 30!

This year, our partners are asking us to do more. In coming out of the pandemic, coupled with families arriving from Ukraine and Afghanistan, we are working to increase our reach and fully furnish 30% more families. 

We are also establishing a regular presence in Clarkston, serving refugees, and are expanding and leveraging our local partnerships by utilizing our trucks and volunteers to serve the community.

Would you consider donating to help us achieve this goal of raising $30,000 in 30 days so that we can serve 100 more families?

DONATE NOW!

God has entrusted us with these families and we want to be able to immeasurably more than we can ever think or imagine, but we need your help to do so!

Amazon Wishlist

People often ask, how can I help? Two words…

AMAZON WISHLIST

Most of us order from Amazon on a daily basis. Would you consider purchasing items to help support our ministry? Your support helps furnish homes for families in need and ultimately allow us to be the hands of feet of Jesus. In Acts 20:35 we are told, “It is more blessed to give than receive.” When we live generously, our cups are filled by meeting the needs of others.

Some items on our list include:

-Lamps-Nightstands-Sheets-Comforters-Pots & Pans-Mattress Pads-

*When checking out, be sure to choose Fully Furnished Ministries as your shipping address so it can be sent straight to our warehouse*

1st Annual Golf Tournament

We are so excited to announce our first annual golf tournament! Sign up to play in this epic event that will feature exciting golf play, great food, and fellowship.

Register Now

Fully Furnished Ministries in partnership with The Pritchard Family Foundation is holding its 1st annual golf tournament at the historic Legends of Chateau Elan Golf Club.  The golf tournament is being held to raise money for the sole benefit of Fully Furnished Ministries, Inc.  The mission of 'Living and Sharing the Gospel through Furniture' proceeds raised will help the organization continue to bring life to this mission.  Join us for an epic event that will feature exciting golf play, great food, and fellowship! 

Click the link below for more information.

Golf Tournament Details

Welcome Home Baskets

Making a house feel like a home can be a difficult task! When we fully furnish a home, we always leave a "Welcome Home Basket'' to bless the family we are serving. Baskets are filled with basic items needed to clean and maintain a home. 

Creating a basket is a simple and practical way to be the hands and feet of Jesus. We love to see the creative and helpful things that you put in these baskets. It helps our families feel truly loved and cared for.  Making welcome baskets is an easy way to serve with your Bible Study Groups, family, or even your friends! While a basket may seem small, it supports our ministry in a huge way!

Basket Ideas

Paper products: paper towels, toilet paper

Disinfecting supplies: clorox wipes, antibacterial spray

Kitchen and floor cleaners: swiffer, wood & tile floor cleaner

Toilet Bowl Cleaner: liquid or tablets

Dishwasher detergent: dish soap, liquid or tablets

Personal Care items: toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant

Cleaning Tools: bucket, broom, mop, toilet brush, rubber gloves

Baskets can be dropped off at our warehouse. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out by emailing info@fullyfurnishedministries.org. We can’t wait for you to join us in serving our families in this simple and practical way. 

Our Why!

As the Lord continues to bless our ministry, we have many new faces that have come alongside us to serve. We believe it’s important to share with you the mission and heartbeat of Fully Furnished Ministries.

Our mission is simple. Live and share the gospel through the gift of furniture. In 1 Timothy chapter 6, we are called “to be generous and willing to share." Fully Furnished provides others with the opportunity to put this verse into action. 

As the only furniture bank north of US 285, the need to provide dignified living space for families is at an all-time high. Many have nothing more than a floor for a bed, four walls, and a roof to call their own. Fully Furnished was established in 2003 to change that! A group of volunteers came up with the simple idea of matching those desiring to give furniture away to those in need in a God-honoring way.

God has allowed our ministry to flourish over the past 19 years. Whether it’s through a donor, volunteer, partner, or recipient family, the name of Jesus is being shared. It is our hope and prayer that we continue to see homes furnished and hearts forever changed. 

Are you in the Atlanta area and would you like to make a difference in the lives of others one family at a time? If so, come participate with us through volunteering, donating your used furniture, and partnering with us financially. Go to https://lnkd.in/gQg6Tvr2 to find out more

Serving together in love.

It’s a special thing to see a couple serve together in ministry, serving not only out of their individual love for Christ, but also together in their love for one another. So, we wanted to highlight 4 couples that have been volunteering with our ministry here at FFM on a regular basis…together!

To make a bit more fun, we gave them a short questionnaire to give us insight into their story as a couple and as FFM volunteers. Don’t miss out on these fun stories and details! Enjoy the read and consider serving together with your spouse, kids, and others in your life that you love. Click here to sign up: https://fullyfurnishedministries.org/volunteer.

Amira & Jason

1.) How long have you been married?
- We are going on 3 years of marriage.

2.) What’s your favorite date night?
- Our favorite date night is trying out a new restaurant in the Atlanta area.

3.) How long have you been serving together at Fully Furnished and in what area?
- We’ve been serving at FFM for 3 years and serve the moving department of the ministry. 

4.) How did you start serving together?
- After taking pre-married life and during pre-married counseling, we realized serving together is something we felt was important to incorporate in our future marriage. We found FFM and decided to try it out. After our first time serving at FFM we loved purpose of the ministry and the rest is history.

5.) Why do you like to serve together?
- We like to serve together because it is a way for us to be together the whole day. During the week day we are both busy working and we don’t see each other until the evening. It is also a way for the both of us to look outside of ourselves, beyond our own problems, and make a positive difference on someone else life through FFM and ultimately through Christ. 

6.) Share your favorite story/memory from serving together.
- We were at a delivery and the smiles on the family’s face was amazing! The family was recovering from a house fire and they were just so thankful to receive the furniture from FFM. 

Mary & Merrill

1) How long have we been married?
- We recently celebrated 30 years.

2) What is your favorite date night?
- We love being outside, so going biking or hiking and then out for a casual dinner is a perfect evening. 

3) How long have you been serving together at FFM and in which area do you serve?
- We’ve both been “around” the ministry for maybe 10+ years, as donors and on random volunteer projects with various groups.  However, in the fall of 2019, while doing some furniture restoration work with Glenn Mahoney (board member and friend of Merrill) it came up that they needed better connections with current and new social service agencies (where furniture requests originate). Mary has a master’s in social work, so this was right up her alley and she jumped in connecting and surveying agencies on ways we could work better together. Shortly after Merrill was recruited to focus on the technical side of things. Since then, Jeff and Mary (Myers) keep finding new assignments (website, reporting, automation, flowcharts, videos) for us to tackle, and we keep accepting. Almost always we work on these together with each of us focusing on the part of the project that matches our skill set, and/or bouncing ideas off each other.  We like it because we are always working on something new, we can do it together, and we get to see the impact of our work!

4) Why do you like to serve together and in this in ministry?
- First of all, this ministry is such a blessing to those experiencing furniture poverty. How can you make a home without furniture? The people receiving furniture feel blessed to receive and the people giving are blessed knowing their furniture is helping someone else. We have owned a few businesses so have learned to work well together. Merrill loves the technology side, which is not Mary’s strong suite. Mary prefers the people, organizing, creating, and communication side, we are Yin and Yang and almost every project needs some of both!

5) Do you have a favorite memory from serving together at FFM?
- Most of our work is “back of the house” but when we do get to go on a delivery, which is where we get recharged and get refocused on the “why” we volunteer. Most people do not realize that FFM clients are the working poor and if one thing goes wrong, they are living out of a motel, or on the street. One family we met was in a motel for over 2 years. They worked hard while caring for their child. Finally, after saving enough an agency was able to help them move back into an apartment. They were so thankful when the truck from FFM rolled up and we prayed together before leaving and you could see the joy and excitement, they felt for getting a new chance. That certainly energized us!

6) Any else to share?
- Praise God for the growth of the ministry. It has been one thing that has truly blossomed during this pandemic as FFM is serving so many more families that are moving typically from motels to apartments. 

Luke & Emily

1) How long have you been married?
- 4+ years

2) What’s your favorite date night?
- Eating subs at home, but we have more fun during the day.

3) How long have you been serving together at FFM and in which area do you serve?
- Luke: 3 years, furniture delivery/pickup
- Emily: 7 months, furniture delivery/pickup (formerly furniture restoration)

3) How did you start serving together at FFM?
- Luke found FFM through Victory Church and loved it so much that eventually Emily decided to stop working on Saturdays and go with. 

4) Why do you like to serve together in ministry?
- It’s fun and we get to meet new people together. It’s fun when different people ride in the truck with us.

5) Do you have a favorite memory from serving together at FFM?
- Just last weekend we delivered furniture to a couple with four children who expressed so much gratitude for everything we gave them – from their new sofa, to the new beds for their kids, and even to food and toilet paper. It was an extra stop after a long day, but it made us appreciate how lucky we are to be a small part of this ministry.

We also enjoyed the time James West had his FFM shirt on backwards and didn’t know it.

Sherry & Terrance

1) How long have you been married?
- 16 Years

2) What’s your favorite date night? 
- Dinner & Movie

3) How long have you been serving together at FFM and in which area do you serve? 
- 2 years – Hearts Team

4) How did you start serving together at FFM?
- Terrance started in 2017 when it was Movers & Shakers.  If I remember correctly, John reached out to me (Sherry) since I am bilingual and my first-time volunteering, I was with Rosa, 2 years ago.  

5) Why do you like to serve together in ministry?
- It’s a fun way to serve as a couple and serve our community together. There is such a wide range of emotions felt such as happiness when you see a child’s joy to have a bed, heart wrenching when a mom can’t open her door for her child’s safety, and we leave everything on the porch and pray outside her door. We experience laughter as well with FFM recipients and donors.

6) Do you have a favorite memory from serving together at FFM? 
- Our favorite memory was when we went to a FFM recipient who had basically just arrived in US.  They were so happy when the truck pulled up. They came out with smiles and helped unload.  After all was in the home, they prayed for us and wanted to know how they can pay it forward and serve.  

Serving from the heart.

Do you know this man, Nathan King? If you don’t then you should! But as he comes in and serves from the heart throughout the week, you’ll have to seek him out. He moves quickly through the warehouse, getting orders from John, then heading out with a couple of “his guys” to deliver and/or pick up furnishings. There’s a lot more to it though, so read on to hear the full story of Nathan and his time with Fully Furnished Ministries.

Nathan got started with FFM in a very usual way—he showed up one Saturday morning to serve after hearing about it through his men’s discipleship group at Victory Church. At that time, he was mentoring young men, especially young men growing up with single moms and no fathers in their lives, through the ministry he started called For God's Purpose Ministry (FGPM). So he decided to bring those guys along and have them serve alongside him.

Nathan’s ministry, FGPM, continued to grow and expand as he sought to help men and youth in a variety of ways. (We encourage you to read about all that they do on their website: https://www.forgodspurposeministry.com/. ) These men come from all walks of life and are all ages, from young 20s to 60 years old! Nathan shares, “it doesn’t matter the age, if they’re older or younger. They come with the same problem of never having a father in their life.”

As his personal ministry expanded, his involvement with FFM expanded as well. He started bringing these guys out with him regularly on Saturdays and this grew into a day or two during the week. Now, this year, he’s coming out with 2-3 other guys on 4-5 mornings during the week! This has allowed our ministry to expand greatly to be able to go outside of our service area when absolutely necessary.

Nathan is one of our “backbone” volunteers—his selfless service to us and men in our communities is incredible and we are so thankful for him and the ministry he is doing.

I asked Nathan how we can be praying for him and the ministry he’s doing and he shared with me: “We used to have a house for these men that have nowhere to go—coming out of prison or homeless from other situations. We no longer have it but we are looking and praying for God to provide one for us.” Let’s join together and pray for Nathan and this ministry. May God use him greatly as he serves others and serves through Fully Furnished Ministries!

Catch a quick video of Nathan speaking with us here on our Facebook page.

He served, then received.

A man names Jesus (pronounced “hay-sus”) showed up one Saturday morning to serve. We were thrilled to have a Spanish speaker with us and thankful for another volunteer willing to give up time to help others. As he served, we managed to communicate in broken English and broken Spanish with one another and we found out he was from Lugo Alto Church and on the list to receive furniture for his empty apartment. But before receiving his furniture, he wanted to serve other families.

So for two Saturdays in a row, he lifted, loaded, unloaded and delivered furnishings to other families in need and helped pick up furniture donations. On the third Saturday it was his turn to receive. We showed up at his empty apartment where he and a friend were waiting to help, once again. The team unloaded an apartment’s worth of furnishings including 3 bedrooms, a living room and a dining room, with lamps, linens and kitchen items. He was beyond excited and wore a smile on his face the whole time!

As we spoke together in our two languages and some translation throgh another volunteer, we found out that he was coming from Venezuela and had made his way to Atlanta through Miami. He came alone, leaving his wife, siblings and parents behind, in hopes to bring them to join him. They were in dire conditions in Venezuela, where a month of wages will get you $3 and simple medicines can cost you $100—the country is a very difficult place to live.

After he received his papers and found a job, he was able to arrange for his wife, brother and mentally-disabled sister to join him in this apartment he secured. But it had no furnishings and they have little money. So, we were able to jump in and provide for them, just days before his family arrived! He was so grateful.

We are so inspired by people who are willing to serve and volunteer, even when they have nothing. They are willing to give even before they receive! Please continue to pray for him and his family and that his parents will also be able to immigrate.

Joy & Serving [impact with every interaction]

Many of you may know this wonderful man, Victor Reed. Victor has been volunteering with Fully Furnished for years and his impact is felt across the many interactions he has with people every week.

He started with our ministry by showing up on a Saturday to move some furniture — as many of you have done over the weeks, months and years. But he found his real niche in serving when he found out about the Restoration Team. Now for months and months, every Tuesday, Victor shows up and helps lead the team in bringing new life to furniture that is broken or worn down. Without a big commotion upon entering or leaving the warehouse, Victor quietly works. And without realizing, he brings Christ’s peace, love and joy.

Anyone there on a Tuesday knows Victor and sees Victor. And although they don’t hear much from Victor, they feel Victor. His steady commitment to serving each and every week, bad knees and all, reminds us all of the importance of giving back to others.

But Victor didn’t stop there — many months ago, he realized that his own church had a moving truck that sat idle a lot of days of the week. After permission from his church, he came to us and asked if we wanted to use it. Knowing our needs were growing beyond Saturdays, he offered to bring the truck over a couple of Fridays a month and drive it to any needed deliveries. And of course we said YES! And thank you!

Now that we have 2 of our own trucks, we shifted our days and Victor now brings it out a Saturday or two per month to give us a much needed third truck. Victor’s commitment to serving and willingness to create a partnership for us with his church is impacting more people than we will ever know. Every piece he helps restore will bring more joy and love to a family in need, showing how much others care for them, because of Christ’s love. Every time he brings that truck over and drives it, more and more families are able to be served and their lives will be forever changed as they step out of poverty and into a fuller life.

Take a few minutes and hear from Victor in this video. Hear about why he serves and finds joy in his weekly volunteering with FFM, and oh so much more. You don’t want to miss these 3 minutes of Victor and his nuggets of wisdom amidst a spirit of peace. Watch here.

If you’d like to volunteer, then we know we can find the perfect spot for you to serve using your specific gifts, talents and passions. Find out more here.