Brownsburg IN

Well, we had to head back to the cold north! No snow, but rainy and wet! The church though was wonderful, definitely one of my favorites! The kids were so much fun and so well behaved! This week was a summit, which is an 8 day conference instead of a 4 day one, which we usually do! So we get to know the kids and congregation lot better! My host home was amazing and it was overall a huge blessing to be a part of the ministry there.

One of the girls in my club this past week was so adorable, she made me a card and had a pack of M&M's, she was so sweet, it was so nice to be appreciated!

So each week we collect prayer cards that the people in the congregation fill out and as a team we pray through them ever day. So one night I received a card from a man who was asking for prayer for his marriage. He explained that his wife had left him and he was seeking restoration! Well praise the Lord the next night I received another prayer card from the same man, praising the Lord that his wife returned and wanted to restore their marriage! This is the kind of stuff my team and I get to be a part of every week! We get to see God move and work in so many awesome ways! As we are celebrating thanksgiving this week, I love being able to reflect on the 10 churches we have had the privilege of ministering in and being thankful for a God who answers prayer! Thank you all for taking part in my journey, for lifting me and my team up in prayer! Please continue to pray as our team will be heading to El Salvador early Friday for a missions trip! We will be working in an orphanage and helping with the construction of a medical clinic!

Happy Thanksgiving to you all, and please don't take being with your families for granted . . . I am so sad that I have to be away from home for one of my most favorite holidays! Okay, I will write again when I make it home from the south : )

Rome GA and Milton FL

Well, I have to put Rome GA and Milton FL in the same post because to be honest, life has just been so busy that I have not had time to write! So Rome GA, great church, wonderful people and kids that were a lot of fun! The people were very receptive and eager for truth! On Sunday morning the people came forward with out an alter call. They were in a state of readiness to see God move among them. It was also really awesome when we were in GA, one of the guys on out team got saved! SO awesome! The one night Josh said that he wasn’t feeling very good and he didn’t come to service, well that night he didn’t feel so good because God was working on his heart. He called his dad and realized there was never a point in his life that he really truly repented and accepted what Christ did for him. So that night he was saved and later in the week we had a baptismal service for him, where his parents were able to be “skyped in” I am so very proud of him for his obedience to his conviction and God’s working in his life. Please continue to pray for josh that he will continue to grow in God’s grace and truth! It was a wonderful week!

Milton Florida, this was one of the best churches for me so far, first because it was right near Pensacola, which means the beach! Second because the people were beyond thrilled with us being there! They were so encouraging and welcoming, they displayed a genuine excitement for what God was going to do! And third because it was spiritually refreshing for me personally! Ah the beach, me and a few of the other girls were able to go to the beach on Saturday, and it was gorgeous I had forgotten how much I love the beach haha! It was just nice to go relax on the beach! And when I say this church was ready for us, ready for God, the pastor had prepared his people, he had been preaching on revival, they had been in a state of prayer in anticipation of God’s moving! It was truly a people seeking God, each service we encourage the congregation to fill out what we call prayer cards, then as a team we pray through the requests of the people, we intercede on their behalf. In the last several churches the amount of prayer cards discussing struggling marriages is concerning. Satan has a hold on the marriages of this nation. He is destroying the home, he is tearing down the foundation of the church through reaching its families. Please be in prayer for the marriages of this nation. We also had the privilege to have communion together as a team and men from the church served us, what a blessing and encouragement! I am so thankful for a team to love and serve the Lord with, to learn from and grow with!

Now onto a lighter much funnier topic, so most of you probably know my strong dislike for dogs/pets haha! Well this past host home had a dog, Whitaker, he was a cocker spaniel and a little spastic lol! Well I was staying in our host mom’s bedroom with another girl on my team. There were these pillows on the end of the bed when we got there so we figured they were for us. So we each used one, I used one under my own pillow and Anna snuggled with hers. Well the next morning as I am making the bed our host mom comes in and informs us that “the pillows on the end of the bed were Whitakers, and she hopes we didn’t get them confused” Hahahahaha, as soon as she left the room, Anna and I chucked those things on the floor as fast as we could lol! Oh the joys of staying others homes, we also had the curtain come crashing down but that’s a story for another time haha!

I appreciate you all taking time to read and pray, it means so much, we are headed to Brownsburg IN for an 8 day conference and then its back to MI before heading south to El Salvador, so please be in prayer that we finish strong and prepare well for our missions trip! Praise the Lord for He is good!

Slidell, LA

Well we have arrived and began our time of ministry in Slidell, Louisiana. And wow ya’ll we are in the south : ) It has been warm and sunny, summer just keeps being extended for us! We are in gator country, I found out the other night that the show “Swamp People” is filmed right near where we are, we pass it on our way to the church. Yeah I thought that was pretty cool and figured all of you might get a good laugh out of it! It has been a wonderful week of ministry thus far, the kids are active and well we’ve got some pistols this week : ) But it’s been a joy to spend time with them and invest in their lives.

Last week we were able to stay in Olive Branch Mississippi for a few days on our way south. We did a Wednesday morning chapel and Wednesday evening service at Broadway Baptist Church. It was such a refreshing time for us as a team to have a few days off. Wednesday evening the church had a time of prayer for us as a team, it was one of the most humbling experiences I have ever had. They had all of us team members stand, we were seated all over the sanctuary. Then everyone in the service each picked a team member, then surrounded us and prayed for us individually. It was a tremendous encouragement and blessing to know that I was being prayed for, that our team was being lifted up in prayer. It was a beautiful picture of what God’s church and God’s people should be doing for one another. For me, it brought back all the baggage from the summer, it reminded me that when I left with Life Action there was no support from my “church body” BUT it was that experience with Broadway Baptist Church that reminded me all over again that the CHURCH BODY is all believers in Christ, whether I attend their church of not, they took the time to lift me up in prayer recognizing their responsibility as the body of Christ.

I am hoping that by now all, or most of you have received my update in the mail! For those of you that do not know, our team is headed to El Salvador at the end of November so please be in prayer for us as we are preparing, spiritually, emotionally, and physically. We will be doing some work at an orphanage and working on the construction of a medical clinic. Please be praying as we are all still trying to meet our financial needs. God has been faithful and I know HE will continue to be faithful, thank you all especially your prayer support, it is appreciated more than you could possibly know!

And the picture at the top is from our visit to Memphis : ) oh yeah gotta love Elvis! haha!

Why Revival Tarries

Why Revival Tarries

Together as a team we are reading the book, Why Revival Tarries by Leonard Ravenhill. It is a book full of conviction and truth. It has convicted me especially in the area of prayer and I wanted to be able to share with all of you what I have been learning. This quote should stir conviction with in you and if it does not well then . . . : )

“We have many organizers, but few agonizes; many players and payers, few prayers. Many singers, few clingers; lots of pastors, few wrestlers; many fears, few tears; much fashion, little passion; many interferers, few intercessors; many writers, but few fighters. The two prerequisites to successful Christian living are vision and passion, both of which are born in and maintained by prayer. To be much FOR God, we must be much WITH God!”

Wow, if that doesn’t make you really think about your prayer life and your passion for the Lord then I don’t know what will! It was so convicting for me, each day we spend a lot of time in prayer as a team. But how much time do I personally spend with the Lord in prayer. I have learned that I can really never get enough of talking to my Lord. So I hope that this is an encouragement to you in your walk with the Lord. Spend time with HIM talk with HIM, HE is who we live for so it makes sense that we communicate with HIM!

Poplar Bluff, MO

Well, here we are in Poplar Bluff, MO! Its been a wonderful week! The church had blessed us this week by providing hotel rooms for all of us : ) SO that has been awesome, so relaxing and well just wonderful! The pastor and his wife were so excited and happy to have us with them! The pastor had been praying for two years about us being there and God using our team to touch the hearts and lives of the people in that church! I was humbled that we were the answer to the pastors prayer and that God would choose to use us! It so awesome and humbling to think that an ALL powerful God would choose to use us, imperfect sinners to accomplish His plan for His glory. After each conference we do I am more amazed at God's power, love and grace in our lives. So praise the Lord b/c HE has done great things!
It was a great week with the kids and I was able to teach a new lesson and just love it! I really just enjoyed this past week, it was tiring and the longer we travel the more worn down I become, but the Lord is faithful! This next week is an eight day conference, so please be in prayer for the strength for the team and that the Lord would soften the hearts of the people! Pray BIG b/c we serve a BIG God!
I will try and write more throughout this next week, b/c I am anticipating BIG things!
The picture at the top is of the church we just ministered at!

Flushing Michigan

So I have decided that this week instead of trying to relay what God is doing, I'm just going to let you read what the people of these churches have written! God is living and active and below are some letters of testimonies of how God is working!

So hear some of our fellow believers testimonies of God's grace in their lives!

God has made an amazing impact in my life this week. Sunday night when I “filled” my cup with things other than God, it really made me think how these earthly things are so temporary. I nagged at my husband about things, which caused a problem in my marriage. I went to my friends to gripe about my husband, which caused a problem in my marriage as well. At the end of a stressful day, I turned to a glass of wine, then another, and yet another which turned into a bottle, which caused problems in my marriage. One week ago I can tell you that I didn’t know if my marriage would last. Today I can tell you that God had done a complete turn around and we are growing in God’s Word together. All I need is GOD!

There is more peace in my heart and our home. I truly have revived my spiritual life. I had gotten so critical and judgmental against fellow Christians at church. I really haven’t enjoyed church for a long time. I go because of the kids. Now, I have committed to authentic Christianity without hypocrisy and told the kids they had to hold me accountable to be authentic and not hypocritical. I pledge allegiance and faith to my Lord.

I have learned things about God that I have not heard elsewhere – calling sin by its name, for one. I have a lot to work on, with Jesus’ help I shall get there. I have to devote my time to God more each day.

He encouraged me, refreshed me, and nourished me. He affirmed me and what He has placed on my heart. The words that came were refreshment to a dry soul, a soul that needed to be refreshed. I needed to hear “be real.” Watch people serve, experience people love. It has been a good four days. I hope it isn’t just a four day vacation, but something that will lead to transformation.

Those testimonies are a product of your faithful prayer for this ministry! It is so humbling after a conference to sit on the bus, traveling to the next church and read those letters, knowing that God has allowed me to have a part in restoration with HIS children! God is awesome you guys, He is so good and He chooses to use us, and through that sustains us and blesses us!
Last week I had the opportunity to share my families story with a hurting couple who had been through a very similar situation and I was blown away. I was amazed that such hurt in my life could encourage others in such a real way! I just cried with them, empathized with them and will continue to pray for them! God is faithful and He has a reason and purpose for all things, the good, the bad and the ugly . . . you never know! Never discount your life story because someone might need to hear it! I am growing leaps and bounds in my transparency with fellow believers, realizing that I am not alone. God has surrounded us with a support system, the body of Christ! Praise the Lord that we are not in this journey of life on our own! HE will not take you where HE cannot sustain you!

Berrien Center, MI

Well we have completed our first THIRST conference, it began Sunday, September 11th and ended last night, September 14th. It was awesome to finally see everything put together and to get a feel for how things should be working. It was so good to meet so many people and make connections, to encourage people and be encouraged. God worked in Berrien Center Bible Church in awesome ways. We were able to see relationships restored, accountability established, and a unity among generations revived. I wish I could bring all of you along to all the churches, so that you could have the opportunity to see God work in such real and awesome ways. I am humbled by the fact that God has allowed me to be used by HIM. We serve an amazing God!

It has been quite a transition, living out of a suitcase, getting a new “family” and traveling every week, then spending my days and evenings at a church. I liked to think of myself as adaptable but this lifestyle has given the word adaptable a whole new meaning. My host family has been wonderful and I could not have asked for better people to help me adjust to my first week on the road.

I’m still working on my lessons for the kids, this week they went will but there is always room for improvement. The kids were so well behaved and very entertaining. I have to tell you all a funny story, some of you may think its gross BUT you will most likely still laugh anyway : )

So as I was teaching my lesson last night, during a very “dramatic” part this one little kid just let the loudest, smelliest fart rip. It was awful, all the kids started laughing then, I though for sure the other teachers in the room were going to pass out b/c of the smell. And the farts just kept on coming one kid after another, it was then we decided our kids club was no longer called happy heart city . . . It had become, happy fart city. It was bad, really bad!

This week we are in Flushing, Michigan and I am ready and waiting to watch God move in big ways. Pray for the church, Mayfair Bible Church, that God would use our team to accomplish his plan for the people here.

Hope this song encourages you!

If faith can move the mountains
Let the mountains move
We come with expectation
Waiting here for You, waiting here for You

You're the Lord of all creation
And still You know my heart
The Author of Salvation
You've loved us from the start

Waiting here for You
With our hands lifted high in praise
And it's You we adore
Singing Alleluia

You are everything You've promised
Your faithfulness is true
And we're desperate for Your presence
All we need is You