Archive for April, 2008

While in Minneapolis at the 2008 National Bible Quiz Tournament, I took advantage of an opportunity to share Jesus with a worker in the hotel gift shop.  I was there with my friend Irene, who is one of the girls that I minister to.  The guy working behind the counter was being friendly and asked me a question or two about the tournament and commented on our team shirts.  I explained what Bible Quizzing was and I asked him if he went to church.  He said “no”.  I asked him if he had ever considered going to church?  He said “no, that he believed religion should be kept to oneself and not shared”.  I just listened for a few moments as he explained so as not to cut him off.

Then I shared with him my testimony of how I came to know Christ and how I didn’t realize really how to get to Heaven until my brother showed me in the Word of God.  I shared with him what Jesus has done for us and that I too didn’t want much to do with religion 8 years ago.  I told him how lost in sin I was when God reached out in love to me.  I knew he couldn’t argue with my testimony, because it is what God has done in my life.  As several people began to line up in the counter at the gift shop and were ready to check out, they just listened to us talking about God.  Irene was standing by me also listening to us talk.  The man then said “I just sort of follow my own way”.

I felt the need to go as the gift shop had filled up with people and the guy seemed to be pretty set in his ways (at least for now).  So Irene and I left and told him to have a great evening!  I do pray he will think about the things we talked about and that he will learn and accept the Truth of the Bible!

All I could think is how DECEIVED this guy was that he thought religion should be kept to yourself and that he could just follow his own way.  I don’t remember his name and I didn’t see him again at the hotel working while I was there anyways.  But maybe he will begin to question his personal beliefs and consider the love of Jesus.

 

Just a few pics from the first day of National Bible Quizzing.  I am here as an encourager to the 5 Midland Teams, photographer, and chaperone to 3 of our students who qualified…Andy Charles, Irene Moore, and Craig Graves.  The competition level is very high and everyone seems to be having a great time.  Last night we had the privilege of hearing John Piper preach at the opening rally.  He did a wonderful job (as usual).  He preached a powerful message full of interesting insights, lots of Scriptures, and that genuine Piper passion for treasuring Christ as your SUPREME value in life!!!  I love that about Him.  Piper inspires me to treasure Christ and be satisfied in Him.  Actually I believe Piper is just on to something that I think God has always wanted us to realize. 

He is definitly someone I look up to in the Lord!  I am currently reading my second John Piper book, Let the Nations Be Glad, and am enjoying every minute of it.  We got to visit with him a little after the rally.  What a blessing it was to hear him preach as enthusiastically as he writes books.  May we all seek to treasure Christ as #1 and be completely satisfied in HIM!

May we all live by this verse….

“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”        Philippians 1:21

Pray for Andy, Irene, and Craig and the 32 other Midland quizzers as well as the hundreds of other National quizzers here that the Holy Words that they have memorized would burn on their hearts and come back to benefit them greatly in their walks with the Lord!  I pray we will all commit time to Bible memorization as we follow Christ.  I have about 13 verses in Ephesians and plan to do more while I am here.  Who knows when we might need these verses and not have a Bible handy. 

The SPOKEN Word is powerful!

“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”      Psalm 119:11

Today we got the Pesina family moved from one temporary home to another. It took a team of 10 of us to clean for 4 hours to get the rental home in liveable condition, because the previous renters left it a mess. The landlords however have been generous in waving the deposit on the rental home and being flexible with the lease so that when the permanent home is ready they can move freely into their new home. That is a HUGE blessing. Red Cross will be helping the Pesinas to get beds and bedding, and will also cover their first month’s rent in the “temporary” rental home. Praise the Lord! The beds will be a huge blessing for the children and the parents.

Now our primary goal is going to be raising the funds to purchase the home to rehab for the Pesinas. We need $20,000 as quickly as possible in order to purchase the home and rehab it. We have $1500 on hand with another $3300 committed toward the cost of the home. That leaves $15,200. Please pray that individuals and churches will see fit to help us meet this goal. Every little bit helps and it will all add up.

On a spiritual note….Fermand and Maria, the parents of the nine children, attended church with us this morning at Missouri Valley Baptist along with all 9 of their children. It was a blessed morning to say the least. I invited them to come to church again next week and they said they would.

In our adult Sunday school class, Fermand shared some beliefs that he had when he was younger, and how he has only just realized that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are ONE. I believe, from our conversations, God has been able to sew many seeds this week and a half. Also Fermand admits that God protected His family from harm during the tornado and the collapse of their home.

Please PRAY for FUNDS to move forward with this project to provide the Pesina Family with a permanent home!

Great progress is being made. Today we successfully moved the Pesinas into a temporary home in the south end. There is a wonderful lady who has opened up her 7 bedroom home to the family for 10 days. During this 10 days we will need to find another temporary home. There is some pretty exciting news that we have to announce at the community meeting on Thursday at 7pm at the Midland Center. This meeting is opened to anyone and everyone. The St. Joe News Press and KQ2 will be there covering. It is open to anyone who wants to be informed on the project, offer ideas, or to be involved in the project itself. Right now we know we need to raise a lot of money to see this project through. So please pray that as we all sit back in our comfortable homes that we remember this homeless family of 11 who lost everything less than a week ago. Please continue to pray, especially for this meeting and for the financial means to see this project through!

Oh my, if you could only hold their adorable 3 month old baby in your arms or see their little children as they play together! Or if you could just hear the prayers of Maricella and San Juanita as they are just now learning to pray. They are already praying and thanking God for “all the people who are helping them”!!!

PLEASE PRAY WITH ME FOR THE PESINA FAMILY!

As you probably know I am stepping out in TOTAL FAITH right now, as we are underway on this project to provide a home for the Pesinas. I believe God wants them to have a permanent home in the south end of St. Joseph, and I believe that God has a GREAT plan for their lives! I have the chills right now as I even think about what exactly that might be with the growing number of Hispanics in the “Southside”. My dear friends, I implore you and request your prayers. I believe God wants to do an amazing thing in this community regarding His Kingdom.

There is a mission field right HERE in our midst!!!!

Please join with us and pray, spread the word for this project to give the Pesinas there home back. A home for their beautiful children!!! A home that is a testimony to Jesus Christ and of those who claim His name as Christians! Lets show this community just how much we mean what we say when it comes to following Christ and the Word of God!!! A new home their in the southside for the Pesinas would not only meet their needs, it would SPEAK LOUDLY for years to come as a testimony of what God can do through people who want to do HIS WILL! I am soooooooo excited about this. I know without a shadow of a doubt this is what God wants!!!!!!!!!!

Will you help?

I say give sacrificially (till it hurts), pray till the knees are worn out on your pants, share the vision with others until you have talked so much that you lose your voice, and love other people so much that your heart is completely overwhelmed with JOY! That is what I plan on doing!

I don’t believe that God needs us to accomplish this but I believe He wants us to accomplish this task. I also believe that it is just going to be an incredible and unforgettable blessing to be a part of God’s plan for this project and how He will use it to reach people for His Kingdom! This is a BIG BIG DEAL!

Please check out the website for other updates!!!

About the Task : Help the Pesina Family

God Bless You All!

Tonight the Pesina family home collapsed after what was either high winds or a tornado swept through. The whole family was inside the home, except San Juanita and Marisela who were on the van with Shane. Most of you know their children who come to church with us on Wednesdays and Sundays. The family lived on the top floor of an old bldg in the southside of St. Joseph. There is nothing on the bottom floor. They have 9 children including the new baby that was born 4 months ago. While sitting in their home tonight the whole house collapsed and caved in sending them through the floor. The teenage boy was sent to the hospital by ambulance from an injury caused by an appliance hitting him during the collapse. The rest of the family is now being cared for by the Red Cross.

Tonight as I was holding 2 yr old, Miguel Pesina, in my arms just behind their recently demolished home. He was shivering and had no shoes on, so I wrapped him up in my jacket. I asked him if he was scared and he just shook his head yes. Then he looked at me and said “my house broke”. I said “I know buddy.” Then he said it again, “my house broke”. A few of the kids were sitting there confused in the van beside me and tears welled up in my eyes. I have grown to deeply love Ricky, San Juanita, Marisela and their siblings over this last year that they have been coming to church with us! Ricky and Aaron (my son) have gotten to be good friends and so Ricky asked me if Aaron was ok. I thought to myself how blessed I was that we still have our home. Then I thought how kind of him to be concerned about my son after his house had just been destroyed! Man I love that kid. Every Thursday I see him at Hosea (his school) and he runs into my arms for a great big hug. I can’t imagine what was going through their minds as the walls and floor of their home crashed to the ground. Please pray for them!

Tomorrow, Aaron and I’s ministry is to drive them around to by clothes, groceries, and to get their car out of impound. They have to start from scratch. Please pray for this family. God has spared their lives miraculously only 1 out of the 11 were injured and none were killed. I don’t know how long the Red Cross will be able to help them? But eventually they will need a place to live in the south end close to their job. The mom and dad both work at Triumph Foods. Please pray we can be the hands and feet of Christ during this difficult time. Maybe God can use this situation to get the parents to church as well! Until then, please pray for the new baby, Maria and Fermand (the parents), and San Juanita, Marisela, Fermand Jr.,Ricky, Juan Carlos, Jose, Sergio, and Miguel. What if it were your home and your children????

Over the weekend I took 5 girls to a Christian Women’s Conference at Ottawa University. The conference was put on by Dr. Brenda Robinson and the Southern Gospel quartet New Desire. It was an absolutely wonderful time as their teaching, preaching, and singing blessed are hearts in a very big way. These people radiate with the love of Jesus! At the women’s conference we laughed, learned, and even cried as Brenda shared her powerful testimony of what God has done in her life.

Besides the morning women’s conference, we also spent that evening with them at their concert and the next morning as they sang and preached in my parent’s church. Brother Dan, of New Desire, delivered a powerful message full of bold truth bringing several to respond at the end of the service. I was so grateful to hear him preach the Word so boldly. By the end of the weekend we had fallen in love with this group and became some of their biggest fans. They even gave two of the girls free cds and we have been worshiping the Lord to them.

We might have even picked up some of their SWEET Georgian accent! I will do whatever I can to get these people to my local church next year when they are back in the area. They are not only talented singers, but they are the REAL DEAL when it comes to ministers of the Gospel. They are not afraid to speak the TRUTH with a little “southern attitude” even! I’ll say it again, the girls and I were very blessed to spend the weekend with them! They left us inspired to follow Jesus even more!!!!

Oh how subtle are the twists and turns that divert people from the TRUTH that the Lord Jesus Christ is the “WAY”the “TRUTH and the “LIFE”!!! We must PRAY and we must continue to stand on the TRUTH of God’s Word at all times! Oprah “God Bless Her” is sadly mistaken and deceiving all to many into New Age BOLOGNA!!!