Live Oak — Angie Lott and Vickie Bass, leaders of Tangles – A Community Outreach for Women, announced that they are closing the doors of the ministry effective January 1. In a statement submitted to the Suwannee Democrat, the two announced as follows:

“Following three years of seeking God’s direction in serving women in this community, we have prayerfully come to the decision to close the doors of Tangles. This decision came after tremendous amounts of soul-searching, prayer and discussion with our Board of Directors. Since we first heeded God’s call to open this ministry, we have bathed every event, every decision, every action, in prayer; and this decision is no exception.

We have been blessed with community support, including an amazing amount of support for our last event, Tangles’ 3^rd Annual Fall Bazaar and Pink Ribbon Project, presented by Shands Live Oak Regional Medical Center. Through this event, we were able to raise funds that benefitted Bosom Buddies, and local Tropical Storm Debby Flood victims, through LOVE INC. The community support for this event was overwhelming, and we believe that this was a fitting way to bring this ministry to a close.

Over the past three years, we have hosted a variety of events that ministered to women of our community in many different ways. It has been our blessing and honor to reach women of all ages, races, ethnicities and backgrounds from our community. There was never greater joy in the house than to look up and see a new face at one of our events, joining other women eager to share the love of God. 

We have also been blessed to lead women from our community in projects that reinvested in our community, sharing God’s blessings with others. Participating in the 2012 Suwannee Relay for Life was a big investment of time that resulted in raising significant funds for cancer survivors. On a global level, Tangles participated for two years in Operation Christmas Child, gathering gift-filled shoeboxes for children around the world.

Our Board of Directors have been wonderful mentors in supporting the goals of Tangles and all that we undertook. They have also been supportive as we have made the decision to personally focus on other ministry opportunities and areas of growing in our walks with God. We cannot thank them enough and praise God that they have walked alongside us in this wonderful ministry of Tangles.

We will not attempt to thank individuals and businesses in this public forum, we would surely inadvertently leave out someone. However, we would be remiss to not thank the Suwannee Democrat, who have sponsored and supported us from day one. We would not have been able to accomplish what we did without them, and we praise God for their sponsoring us in so many ways.

Again, our great thanks to this community for supporting Tangles in its efforts to reach women for Jesus, our single greatest mission. We have been blessed to walk this exciting journey that God laid out for us. While we cannot name all who have walked alongside us, God knows their names! Our heartfelt thanks to this community and we pray God’s richest blessings on each of you.”

Angie Lott and Vickie Bass