PIN Blog

The 2011 National Championship for Ping Pong is moving from Las Vegas to Virginia Beach in 2011. see link http://www.usatt.org/ceo/ceoblog.shtml This is really exciting news for PIN. Pong Pong for Poverty has became a huge fundraisers for PIN and with the Nationals moving to Virginia Beach it could open lots of opportunities for Ping Pong for Poverty to grow... Dean Johnson who is on the Ping Pong Hall of Fame Board of Directors and was part of the decision to bring the tournament to Virginia Beach is also on the Ping Pong for Poverty Leadership Team.

I believe Ping Pong is going to be huge in helping the homeless in Virginia Beach... Who would have thought that 5 years ago. Definately not me

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If you support PIN you can answer that question YES!!!! check out the video to see the impact YOU are having in Hampton Roads. Just click Watch Video below

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Have you been looking for a reason to buy a 3D TV. Maybe you have a 42 inch TV and you want a bigger one but your not sure how to sell it to your spouse. PIN is in need of either a gentle used or new LCD TV that can be hung on the wall at the church we serve at. Every Sunday at 4PM we have a Church service for the homeless at Beach Pentecostal and we have seen allot of growth in the last 4 months. We have grown from about 60 people to 110 which is really cool. We have however run into a problem, we have several mothers that come to the service with their babies and since we don't have a nursery the babies cry during the message. We talked to the church and they have given us permission to put an LCD TV in the foyer, we already have a camera so we can feed the message into the foyer. We can put a couple rocking chairs in the foyer and they can rock their babies and not disrupt the service and can still be part of the service.

I don't have money in the budget for a LCD TV, but I could buy a nice 42 Inch TV and mounting bracket for $600. So if you have a gently used 42 inch TV you can donate or would like to donate $600 so we can purchase a TV it would be AWESOME and completely tax deductable.

If you want to help please call Dallas Stamper the executive Director at PIN at (757) 813-4777

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Have you ever had a bad night sleep then had to go to work the next day? Have you ever had to sleep outside without a sleeping bag? Have you ever had to sleep outside without a sleeping bag and only gotten 2 hours sleep then had to go to work. 100's of people in our city will have to do just that tonight. After several weeks/ months/ and years of this even the strongest person would want to give up...... When are we going to do something about this situation? Just a thought

On Thursday Night PIN has a Bible study that consist of homeless people, people who have gotten shelter through our ministry, and volunteers. It is really cool and we have anywhere between 20 to 30 people who attend. Every week we pray for each other and I noticed allot of people were praying that they would lose weight. So I thought praying is great, but we also need to be proactive. So me and some of the guys decided to have a weight loss contest, like The Biggest Loser. 10 weeks and the winner gets a $50 gift certificate. When I introduced it last night and we had men and women sign up 16 people total.

My wife and I were suppose to have lunch together today, but she said she didn't want to because she was going to win this "Biggest Loser" contest. I was like GAME ON. As a man if I can turn anything into a contest I could ackomplish so much stuff. All I hope is that my wife doesn't hate the playa, just the game.

How about you do you want to be a loser.

One of the things that I have been praying for a long time is that I would be replaceable. Not at my house, but at PIN. When you start a non-profit it is really good to have a strong leader to get things started. Early in the formation of the organization too many leaders can hurt the organization. So in the beginning the founder/first leader of a non-profit usually is not easily replaced and I don't think that is unhealthy initially. As time goes by if there is not a shift of leadership to more than one person and the founder/first leader maintains that some position as early on it will become unhealthy for the leader and the organization. In the past if I was out of town it was very difficult to make everything run smoothly and I kept praying that God would provide the right people.

So this weekend I'm going out of town and PIN will be running completely with people who are core to PIN. Not only that PIN has a great board of directors who leads the organization now and into the future. This is an Awesome day for PIN that I had been praying for this day for a long time. If I were to get hit by a bus (I don't know why I use that example all the time) and were unable to run PIN, I believe it would continue on without me. Sure there might be some bumps but I think there is now a structure in place that PIN would continue without me, and that is SO AWESOME. What God is doing and will continue to do through PIN is way too important for one person to be able to stop, and it would really make me sad if I were the person that stopped PIN.

Someday I'm going to be in heaven, and I can't wait to look down and see all the lives that are still being changed by PIN.

Running a non-profit organization that helps homeless people is very rewarding, and sometimes frustrating. I think the most frustrating part is fundraising. Working with the homeless you see all the needs; however without enough money there is not much you can do. So, sometimes you can become frustrated because the money doesn't line up with the needs.

Another thing I've learned running a non-profit is most people want to make a difference. They want to be part of something that changes the world. So if people want to make a difference why is there often a disconnect between needs and money. I think the answer to that is communication. The way to communicate with people is through marketing.

Most people do help with Fundraisers, but I think they sometimes worry about is my money really making a difference. Will this organization use my money in an economical way. I like the term my wife uses "Will they be smart with my money" That's why I love marketing because you use past performance to prove future success. Then you can give someone a good ROI (return on investment). If you do a good job of marketing then people will give to your organization without you even having to ask too hard.

So over the next two months I will be Marketing.

Yesterday at PIN 5 people accepted Jesus and were baptized. The streets that the homeless have to live has always been full of alcohol, drugs, violence, and prostitution. In the last 48 months we have seen 47 homeless people accept Jesus and the community that is being built is simply amazing. We are seeing homeless people who have been kicked out of their house because of various issues going back home to be the fathers and husbands their wife and kids deserve. We have seen alcoholics and drug addicts turn toward God and away from their addictions. We have seen people turn from violence to love.

This Sunday we had people from the following Churches volunteer at PIN: Grace Bible Church, Trinity Church, Forefront Church, Reality Church, Vineyard Community Church, Middle Cross Baptist, Virginia Beach Community Chapel, Galilee Church. It is amazing to see all of these Churches come together and serve the homeless. When the Church comes together to love (not screaming at people about how they are sinners) it is a beautiful thing to witness. I think Satan would rather see these people stay at their Church on Sunday and not venture to the streets.

This Sunday I was looking at a Sanctuary full of people of different races and different economic situations worship God together. It was incredible and I was thinking HOW COOL IS THIS.......then I though SATAN MUST HATE THIS.....