A day at World Relief, Ft. Worth

World Relief assists several hundred refugees a year as they embark on new lives in the Forth Worth area.

Today our Church 121 Community Church did a "Saturday Serve" where anybody that wanted to could come and donate their time for the day.  We spent 1/2 the day at the  WORLD RELIEF offices in Fort Worth painting and making their offices look like home.
From the day refugees arrive at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport they receive care and assistance from World Relief to establish themselves around the Fort Worth metroplex. Housing, medical needs, education, and employment requirements are addressed.
Hurting refugees from war-torn and oppressive communities are finding peace and security in the heart of Texas. They are discovering that the Church cares about them.

My job today,  was to oversee the volunteers from our church and help turn one of their offices into a "prayer room."  The room was 8' X 10' so you can imagine how small that is.  I love that we had this opportunity to transform this "nothing" room into a place where people can come and pray for direction for their lives.
We started about a week ago by rummaging through the church storage unit to see if there were items we could use to  make the room look finished.  "Using what we have" is my specialty so I was in heaven.
Score!
Yeah, a nice BIG cross!  We are all set.
Ready, set, go!!!
We spent an hour taping this room up in preparation for this transformation. 
I chose a color from Valspar called "graphite" and as you will see from the after pictures, it's a really nice soothing color.
BEFORE
These chairs were in the storage unit and we snagged 2 of them.
AFTER


They were kind of plain so I had an "light bulb moment" and decided to take the curtain tie backs from the drapes and we attached them to the back of the chairs.  Now they look so much smarter don't they?
AFTER
I took apart an old arrangement, cleaned the glass vase so it was sparkling and new and added some pebbles and moss.  Now we have a refreshed arrangement!!
We hung two mirrors to make the space look a little bigger.  It worked!
AFTER
Added a rug that was in storage and some kneeling pillows.
Hard to take a picture of the entire room because it's so small.
The cross looks amazing hung on the wall.
(sorry for the blurry picture but my
 camera died and I had to use my iphone.)
I was happy they now have a place for people to come and pray.
Several of the volunteers organized their food pantry in time for Thanksgiving giveaways.
Others organized all their winter coats in time for the cold weather.
I rearranged their lobby area to make it more cozy and finished!
Created an inviting entry space too.
Some of the volunteers painted individual offices.  An accent color was chosen for each room because of time but it made an incredible impact to each room.   The colors chosen were very calming and some very happy!!
We got a LOT done in 5 hours and it was really rewarding!  So much fun to see families working together, kids bagging leaves and rolling walls.  I also got to know some new faces. 

If you want to know more about this ministry, check out the World Relief website to read about their programs and how you can serve or donate to their organization.

Feeling Thankful that I'm able to serve along side such great people that serve those in need daily!
Ruthie
Visit DecRenew Interiors to see more of my before and after pictures.