#RichlandGives Spotlight: Love Inc.
Love INC of Greater Mansfield has been serving members of our community since its inception in June of 2011 by the late Bob Sterken and his wife Jane. As a result of their hard work and dedication, we can proudly say that we have grown to have fifteen church partners and we anticipate growing more in the weeks and months to come.
Our mission is to mobilize the Church to transform lives and communities In the Name of Christ. Our goal is to see the churches in the Greater Mansfield area grow in unity and to help our fellow neighbors with the practical needs of today. Love INC is a clearinghouse. We connect you to the best help for your situation. But more than that, when our neighbors call our office we want to get to know them. Our goal is to build a relationship with our neighbors. We will ask those who call us to provide us with a portion of their life story because each life is special and unique. After we have gotten to know our neighbor better, we find out how we can help them; then we give the churches we partner with their information to mobilize the church to serve.
The churches in our community are doing amazing things. Many of them have wonderful ministries helping our neighbors with any number of everyday problems. The issue is that many of us in the community do not know that they exist. I have learned so much about the wonderful ministries in the area as a result of working with Love INC. That is one reason why our organization is so important; we alleviate the need for everyone to know every ministry providing support in the Greater Mansfield area. By calling our office and completing the verification process, we have the ability to connect ministries with those whom they can help.
Allow me to provide you some examples of the work our ministry partners are doing. This is by no means an exhaustive list, nor is it in order of which are more important, but rather it is but a taste of some of the great work that is happening under the radar here in the Greater Mansfield Area. Some of our church partners are providing support in the form of bus passes, or gas cards. Others are supporting the community by providing home furnishings, curtains, or cleaning supplies.
If you or someone you know could use a hand up, we would love to come alongside and support you. We believe that every life is valuable and worthy of help and respect. We would love to help you as much as we are able. Please, call our office at (419)522-1432. Our office hours are Tuesdays and Wednesdays 9:30 am until 12:00 pm. If you are unable to call us during our office hours, please, leave us a detailed voicemail and we will return your call as soon as we can.
If you or someone you know would like to volunteer your time with us and support our work, you are more than welcome! We love working with other members of the Church. There are many opportunities to serve with us. You could answer phone calls from our neighbors, help with information verification, or even pick up and drop off donated items. All of our volunteers are from different denominational backgrounds, which is wonderful! But we are all unified in that we all believe the Apostle’s Creed. If you do not have the time to help us physically with our ministry, you could support us financially, all gifts are tax deductible.
For you business owners or local churches, if you would like to partner with us, there is a place for you too! For more information on how to get involved with us feel free to contact us at (419)522-1432 or email us at mansfieldlinc@gmail.com.
Like us on Facebook and make sure to tell your friends about all the great things Love INC of Greater Mansfield and the local churches are doing! And, please, do not forget to “pray for all The Lord’s people” (Ephesians 6:18).
Josiah Russell, Community Relations Specialist
Love INC of Greater Mansfield
