BRANSON – Garments of Praise is a ministry serving the needy and lost, but at the same time, is giving to the church as well.
“We are celebrating our 11th year in this ministry,” Mark Scribner of Garments of Praise, a member of the Fellowship of Missouri Baptist Evangelists, said. “When we first started, I would say it is an evangelistic clothes ministry, but now, I know that it is a church empowering, gospel inspiring ministry that encourages the church to be the church.”
Garments of Praise partners with churches to offer free, new clothes to the lost and needy in their community. “We have a packet to help them plan, and the church needs to plan on at least 50 volunteers to serve,” Scribner said. “Then, we come in the day before the event to set up and train the volunteers.”
In the training, Scribner outlines topics to help the volunteers know what to expect.
“If you invite the lost into your church, it is going to be different,” he said. “It will smell different; these are people in need. They will be here for the clothes, but we want to minister to their spiritual need.”
During the training, the volunteers learn to weave the gospel in their lives, and they learn how to talk with those coming for the clothes.
“Many of the volunteers have never shared the gospel, and we want them to share with words,” Scribner said. “In our current era, people are not looking to the church for hope. We need to point them to hope and share our relationship with Christ.”
“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care,” he said. “We encourage our volunteers to talk with the lost and invite them to church. Just saying come back to church at 10:15 is much different than saying come and meet me at 10 for coffee and then we’ll sit together in church.”
“I live in Branson,” Scribner explained, “and there is nothing worse than shopping at an outlet mall on a holiday. We want to create an experience that is not frustrating for the people attending our event. We divide all the clothes by type, size and gender and then give the shoppers numbers. After they shop, we ask if we can pray for them. Only about 10 percent turn us down. We also have counselors available to witness and have deeper conversations.”
Since beginning the ministry, when Scribner pulled his truck up to meet the man offering free clothes and discovered pallets instead of boxes, he has used it to point to Jesus.
“When I discovered my truck wasn’t large enough and I would need to fill two semi-trailers, I just said, ‘Lord what are you doing?’”
In thirty plus events, more than 9,000 people have been ministered to, and the gospel has been shared more than 3,000 times with 260 plus decisions for Christ. Scribner has seen the seeds planted, watered, and harvested.
“We want to see lives changed,” he said. “Those coming for the free clothes and the volunteers serving with us. We offer churches a one-day mission trip in their own town.”
More information about Garments of Praise is available by contacting Mark Scribner at 913-579-3709; email: mark@d-n-a.org.