"I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:3-6
I am overcome with joy and thanksgiving tonight for all that I have witnessed and experienced this week. We have surely participated in the gospel. Like Paul, I am confident that God has begun this good work and will now perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Our responsibility is to follow God and cooperate with Him to perfect what has been begun. We must be changed by this week and look forward to what He will accomplish in the future. Here are a few things that have been begun:
*9 children have received Christ through our Day Camp.
*Many families were touched by our Block Party today and thanked us for the event. (Everything went smoothly and the kids and their families had a great time!)
*Many new relationships were formed in our own fellowship.
*Around 30 unchurched C3 families were visited.
*Relationships were begun with the families of our Day Camp children.
*Our community has been touched by all of our various "Taking it to the Streets" ministries - goodies to community servants, local businesses and restaurants; free car washes, laundry-mat services, nursing home visits, and more.
*People were comforted by our prayer shawl ministry.
*Many were encouraged by our senior adult/cleaning ministry.
*We shared our love in action with the 30 homes that received construction work.
My prayer is that some of these ministries will become ongoing plans for our church fellowship. I pray that people in our area will see us as the loving, giving, and caring people that we have been this week. We must be careful to love as Jesus loved and give Him all of the glory. He has prepared good works for us, we just need to be on the lookout for them and have the courage to begin! He will supply all that is needed to bring them to completion.
Our biggest prayer concern for tomorrow is for our Fourth of July celebration. Please pray that John and Sandra Smith will have God's wisdom and guidance as they set up and prepare for this event. We could use more people to help. Please contact John and Sandra Smith if you are available (770-439-5761). Everyone is invited to come and enjoy the evening in Powder Springs. It is always a lot of fun. It almost has a "Norman Rockwell" feel; the whole town is gathered to eat and watch fireworks! We will have a band of "local renown" and our church choir will sing at 7:00. Our folks will be giving out water and goodies. Please join us!
Thank you to everyone who has prayed for the Father's hand to be on this entire week. We have been blessed beyond measure. I am so thankful for what we have begun and what we have accomplished. Please check back here over the next week for a more complete "wrap-up" of the details of the week. Once again, to God be the glory, great things HE hath done!!
Friday, July 3, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Hope Delivered
"Let your light shine before men in such a way that they many see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." Matthew 5:16
I have just returned from Branson Homes where the choir sang and our people visited with the residents. We enjoyed the sweetest fellowship. The people there were overwhelmed with our ministry for them. They all want to know when we are coming back! I believe that the work we have done there this week cleaning homes, making crafts, studying the Bible and just loving the people, has truly brought glory to our Father who is in heaven. The lady who is the director for Branson and Johnny Walker homes was amazed by the number of people who attended tonight. My prayer is that they have seen Jesus in us and that they will continue to build a sense of community in their neighborhood. Honestly, they have blessed me this week more than they know. Many of them have had very difficult lives and circumstances but they live with dignity. They just need a little time and love. It was a blessing to share with them this week.
Here are some updates from today:
*Four children were saved in Day Camp this morning!!!
*More cars were washed
*Prayer shawls, music, and even a canine friend were shared with residents of Bethel Gardens in Powder Springs
*Visits were made to over 30 unchurched families form C3 camp
*Breakfast and lunch were served to Day Camp children
*More construction sites were completed
*Our childcare kids visited Branson Homes residents today
*We had a great time of fellowship with the Branson Homes folks, complete with watermelon!
A few prayer needs for tomorrow:
*Pray that all preparations go smoothly for the Block Party tomorrow afternoon (12-3 in the Powder Springs Park) (Stephanie Still and Kelly Davis are planning this event)
*Please pray that our people will have the strength and endurance to complete what we have begun
*Pray for wisdom and direction for all of us to know how best to spend the last days of Mission Trip 2009
*Pray for our people who are planning the Fourth of July celebration (John and Sandra Smith) and join us if you can!
*Pray that the families that we meet tomorrow during the Block Party will see the love of Jesus in us and be drawn to Him
*Continue to pray that our hearts will be changed to see the needs around us in a different way and look for ways for God to use us to demonstrate His love
We continue to be abundantly blessed this week. I am still sometimes overcome by the size and scope of this endeavor and I am so thankful for the leadership of our pastor, staff, and mission team that makes this all possible. To God be the glory!
I have just returned from Branson Homes where the choir sang and our people visited with the residents. We enjoyed the sweetest fellowship. The people there were overwhelmed with our ministry for them. They all want to know when we are coming back! I believe that the work we have done there this week cleaning homes, making crafts, studying the Bible and just loving the people, has truly brought glory to our Father who is in heaven. The lady who is the director for Branson and Johnny Walker homes was amazed by the number of people who attended tonight. My prayer is that they have seen Jesus in us and that they will continue to build a sense of community in their neighborhood. Honestly, they have blessed me this week more than they know. Many of them have had very difficult lives and circumstances but they live with dignity. They just need a little time and love. It was a blessing to share with them this week.
Here are some updates from today:
*Four children were saved in Day Camp this morning!!!
*More cars were washed
*Prayer shawls, music, and even a canine friend were shared with residents of Bethel Gardens in Powder Springs
*Visits were made to over 30 unchurched families form C3 camp
*Breakfast and lunch were served to Day Camp children
*More construction sites were completed
*Our childcare kids visited Branson Homes residents today
*We had a great time of fellowship with the Branson Homes folks, complete with watermelon!
A few prayer needs for tomorrow:
*Pray that all preparations go smoothly for the Block Party tomorrow afternoon (12-3 in the Powder Springs Park) (Stephanie Still and Kelly Davis are planning this event)
*Please pray that our people will have the strength and endurance to complete what we have begun
*Pray for wisdom and direction for all of us to know how best to spend the last days of Mission Trip 2009
*Pray for our people who are planning the Fourth of July celebration (John and Sandra Smith) and join us if you can!
*Pray that the families that we meet tomorrow during the Block Party will see the love of Jesus in us and be drawn to Him
*Continue to pray that our hearts will be changed to see the needs around us in a different way and look for ways for God to use us to demonstrate His love
We continue to be abundantly blessed this week. I am still sometimes overcome by the size and scope of this endeavor and I am so thankful for the leadership of our pastor, staff, and mission team that makes this all possible. To God be the glory!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Day Three!
Can you believe that we are half way through with Mission Trip 2009? We had another great day of ministry today. Here are some highlights:
*Popsicles were delivered to area swimming pools
*30-35 cars were washed
*Goodies were taken to workers at five area restaurants
*6 prayer shawls were given at Powder Springs nursing home
*Goodies were taken to local businesses
*Several new construction sites were begun
*Our childcare visited the Yellow River Game Ranch
*We had 75 children at Day Camp today
*The clown ministry visited Branson Homes, the nursing home, and our childcare
*We made tremendous progress at some construction and cleaning sites
*The number of construction projects has increased from 23 to 30 sites
*All 350 of us posed for a picture in front of the church this afternoon
We continue to enjoy a sweet fellowship and a great spirit of cooperation. Bonnie Moreland remarked tonight that she sent out a call for help and had a great response of people offering to help. An entire week set aside for ministry seems to intensify our willingness and ability to minister to people. I pray that our hearts will be permanently changed to look for opportunities to show the love of Christ to the people we meet.
Please continue to pray that we will bear fruit for the glory of God this week. The last few days of the week could be the most difficult. There is nothing quite like what I call "mission trip" tired! It is a tremendous blessing, but it is also a physically demanding week. Please pray that we will all "run with endurance the race that is set before us". (Hebrews 12:1)
The temperature was rather warm today! Please pray that our people would continue to be safe as they work and travel.
The mission trip choir sang at Doss Memorial Baptist Church tonight and will sing at Branson Homes tomorrow night at 7:00. Please pray that the residents will join us and enjoy our fellowship together.
The gospel will be presented to the older children at Day Camp tomorrow. Please pray that God would speak through our people and draw the hearts of these children to Him.
We have realized that many of the children coming for Day Camp are hungry when they arrive. Tommy Farr is responding by bringing both breakfast and lunch to the children tomorrow. What a blessing! Please pray for the food ministry as they increase their workload!
Thank you for your participation through prayer. Please pray fervently that God would go before us in all that we do. We will be careful to give Him the glory!
*Popsicles were delivered to area swimming pools
*30-35 cars were washed
*Goodies were taken to workers at five area restaurants
*6 prayer shawls were given at Powder Springs nursing home
*Goodies were taken to local businesses
*Several new construction sites were begun
*Our childcare visited the Yellow River Game Ranch
*We had 75 children at Day Camp today
*The clown ministry visited Branson Homes, the nursing home, and our childcare
*We made tremendous progress at some construction and cleaning sites
*The number of construction projects has increased from 23 to 30 sites
*All 350 of us posed for a picture in front of the church this afternoon
We continue to enjoy a sweet fellowship and a great spirit of cooperation. Bonnie Moreland remarked tonight that she sent out a call for help and had a great response of people offering to help. An entire week set aside for ministry seems to intensify our willingness and ability to minister to people. I pray that our hearts will be permanently changed to look for opportunities to show the love of Christ to the people we meet.
Please continue to pray that we will bear fruit for the glory of God this week. The last few days of the week could be the most difficult. There is nothing quite like what I call "mission trip" tired! It is a tremendous blessing, but it is also a physically demanding week. Please pray that we will all "run with endurance the race that is set before us". (Hebrews 12:1)
The temperature was rather warm today! Please pray that our people would continue to be safe as they work and travel.
The mission trip choir sang at Doss Memorial Baptist Church tonight and will sing at Branson Homes tomorrow night at 7:00. Please pray that the residents will join us and enjoy our fellowship together.
The gospel will be presented to the older children at Day Camp tomorrow. Please pray that God would speak through our people and draw the hearts of these children to Him.
We have realized that many of the children coming for Day Camp are hungry when they arrive. Tommy Farr is responding by bringing both breakfast and lunch to the children tomorrow. What a blessing! Please pray for the food ministry as they increase their workload!
Thank you for your participation through prayer. Please pray fervently that God would go before us in all that we do. We will be careful to give Him the glory!
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