A front-page story in the latest Christian Chronicle print edition features the River City Ministry in North Little Rock, Ark. Reader feedback: Is your church involved in ministry to the poor and homeless? Please describe your church’s efforts, goals and results.

While not nearly as far from home as my Christian Chronicle colleague Erik Tryggestad (who you may have noticed has made his way to Nepal), I am on the reporting trail this week. My son Keaton, daughter Kendall and I left Oklahoma City on Sunday afternoon and hit the road for Arkansas and Tennessee.

In three hours Saturday afternoon, Lubbock’s Link Ministries nonprofit had more than 1,200 man hours of heavy lifting, sweeping, paint removal and cleaning assistance, thanks to college students. As part of Lubbock Christian University’s annual Collide student-led community service event, more than 400 students came together to help transform several acres of cotton gins, warehouses and storage units into facilities for at-risk children and the homeless.

River City Ministry, which grew out of a local Church of Christ in 1989, provides many services found at most shelters: showers, hot meals six days a week, laundry, medical attention, and help finding housing, as well as case management, mail services, rehab referrals, and life and job skills training — “most anything a person would need to get started back in life,” says Anthony Wood, 52, who holds a Doctorate of Ministry from Harding School of Theology and co-authored Up Close and Personal: Embracing the Poor. This is all part of a holistic effort to offer immediate help as well as long-term transformation for Little Rock’s homeless population.

Judge Rusty Ladd, an advocate who worked with homeless people through Carpenter’s Church, a ministry of the Broadway Church of Christ in Lubbock, Texas, died in a motorcycle accident Friday.

Teresa Heinz, a member of the Arlington Church of Christ in Knoxville, Tenn., started a project that donates socks to the Knoxville Area Rescue Mission. The project is in memory of her son, Zack, who died in a 2007 car accident.

A report from ‘A’ News Vancouver Island in Canada highlights the work of the church-supported ministry Homelesspartners.com. In this video, church member Daniel Keeran talks about using Christmastime to honor “the most famous homeless person who ever lived.”

The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal in Texas reports:
Lubbock County Judge Rusty Ladd has dedicated a significant portion of his adult life to helping homeless people like Danny Brazeal, who was killed in a fight earlier this month.
For more than 20 years, Ladd has worked with, fed and befriended the homeless of West Texas.
“The thing a homeless person misses the most is not food or shelter,” Ladd said. “It’s a genuine relationship with somebody that’s got a stable life going on.”
So Ladd has served that role, being there for …