Mission Fast Monday!

Hope you read my post on Saturday, but if not, Heritage International School is going through some difficult days. Several families are grieving, many teachers are stretched to the limit covering for the lack of Secondary English teacher, and the first weeks of school can simply be tough.

Would you join me in fasting and praying for Heritage? Pray that God would meet each grieving family in a real and tender way. Pray that the school family would support and encourage these mourning ones. Pray that God would supply a high school English teacher (without a job? have a teaching degree? could He be calling you?). And pray that God would draw each student to Himself. Pray that God would grant each teacher strength, patience and wisdom to train up these young ones.

Thanks for partnering with us!

Pray for Heritage International School!

This was sent from Lisa Fish, teacher at Heritage and WGM missionary.

"Although Heritage International School has begun with a pretty good start, our school and all those associated with it need your prayers. Last Friday, a mother of 3 of our elementary students died suddenly. Then on Monday, another mother of 2 of our students passed away after a long illness. Last night, the grandfather of one of our teachers passed away. Please pray for each of the families connected to these losses, and for the school as a whole. Pray that kindness and grace will cover each one helping those in mourning. And do please continue to pray for HIS."

Thanks for lifting up the school in these difficult days of grieving. We will be serving at Heritage when we get to the field next year.

breathing treatments

Thanks for praying for Seth! He is still on breathing treatments every four hours through the weekend. We'll check back in with the Dr on Monday. But as I pause every four hours God is doing something in my heart... breathing life back into my spirit...

You see, Seth's breathing treatments are helping me breathe too. I pause, and inhale God's sweet presence, and it opens up my heart to more fully receive Him, and those He sets in my path. It has been a long week. We're slowly recovering from camp and sickness. And yet, I am not depleted. He is filling me and meeting me in such precious ways. As I tell Seth, "It's time fora breathing treatment." I hear God whispering, calling, drawing me to be still and breathe. And it soothes my soul.

Are there windows of grace in your day? Spots to breathe? Perhaps you tend to get impatient at red lights, or in traffic jams... could I invite you to see those situations as God calling you to pause? Or maybe you're sick, like us, allow your weakness to be God's invitation (or command) to rest.

And would you use some of those moments of pause to be still before the God of the nations- and ask Him to lead you in prayers to bless the world?

One Thousand Gifts!

Whew! A lot has happened between camp and now! We had a great week sharing God's heart for the nations, and your neighbor with 5th-7th graders and were excited to see God changing lives and the campers having fun! Operation 1:8 was a great success! Thanks for praying! You can see pictures from the week here.

I'll update you via praise for God's many gifts:

sunrise over lake agape
(the boys didn't sleep really well, but there are perks to being up with the sun!)

time to chill and decompress from camp with our BLiK (Caleb's attempt at saying BFF) Jamie :)


a lovely surprise from Josh just when I needed it!


that Seth is getting better thanks to a visit to the ER and daily breathing treatments

sleeping in my own bed all night!

homemade iced coffee


that team Uganda got to spend so much time together last week and this weekend!

A few more financial partners! Thanks for joining our team!

How has He been blessing you? Are you looking for His gifts around every corner? Perhaps you need to start writing them down. It is transforming my outlook on life!

One Thousand Gifts!

Here at delanco camp there is so much to be thankful for:

• being here with two out of three of my siblings (we miss you, Jack!)
• watching our three boys (Caleb and Seth and cousin Tim) play together!
• Team Uganda reunited! Glad to serve side by side here- but can't wait to serve together in Africa!
• worship in the Tabernacle
• meeting Jesus at the altar where I first gave Him my heart and surrendered my future to His leading
• lots of great campers!
• the opportunity to share the Word each night
• serving Jesus with Josh- we are a great team!
• steamy coffee on chilly camp mornings, as the mist lingers over the lake

Mission Fast Monday

Today I am at Delanco Camp, for those of you who don't know the significance of Delanco in my life, it is my spiritual home, a sanctuary, the place where I met my husband, and a lot of my dearest friends, and in fact, is also the place my parents met. God has set down some serious milestones in my journey at the altar at Delanco. I was saved there. I answered God's call to missions there. And it is a place God uses 8 weeks of the summer to challenge young people to follow hard after God and grow in holiness.

Today, would you join me in praying for Delanco Camp, it's leaders, the kids who have been changed this summer, and the kids who are here this week? Josh is the dean, and I am the evangelist, and our boys are the resident cuties (along with their cousin Tim!). And even expand your praying and fasting for all Christian summer camps changing lives for Christ!

Pray that God would supply their needs as finances are tight. Pray that the lives that have been changed would be protected from the evil one, and would share Christ with their friends and families back home. Pray that those who have surrendered their lives and futures to the Lord, would keep seeking Him, and allowing Him full control. Thank you for lifting up and sacrificially interceding for these stateside missions going on around the world!

Our theme is Operation 1:8 this week, based on Acts 1:8, so would you also pray for anyone there this week (camper, staff or visitor), who might receive a call to missions? Thanks!

Uganda Famine Relief

Now you can donate online to help the Uganda Famine Relief! Check it out!

One Thousand Gifts!

I'm just a day late and dollar short in everything this week! Sorry, it's just how life rolls around here! But I am still cultivating a heart of gratitude.

We have much to be thankful for!

I am grateful for the gifts of:

• sleep. Both boys slept in their own beds last night, and Seth only woke once. This is a miracle. Thank you for praying!
• the prayers of the saints. Thank you for standing in the gap for us in these trying days!
• staying healthy (it's another miracle, that I have stayed healthy while Caleb, Seth and Josh have had colds for over a week!). God is so good!
• rain. There have been delightful storms blowing through Jersey lately, they remind me of tropical Uganda, but they also remind me to pray for dry Uganda!
• a steaming cup of chai, as I take in those said storms!
• chatting with a friend, about her upcoming trip to Jersey and laughing about carry-in :)
• Delanco Camp. We are busy preparing to serve there next week- Josh is dean and I am evangelist (if you're around, I'll be preaching every night at 7:30 except Monday, when Scott and Meg share). It is a place that is dear to our hearts and we always look forward to sharing this special place with dear friends and our boys! And it is perhaps our last summer camp before we head to Uganda (both a happy and sad prospect).
• cozy, rainy days wrapped up with my sick boys (I am terribly aware that these snuggly years are so fleeting!)
  
• sharing a pint of Starbucks Caramel Macchiato ice cream with Josh! Free with coupon from facebook!
  

Keep praying?

Seth still isn't quite well. Still coughing, not sleeping, but also not "barking" (so that's good). Josh and I are exhausted. Our camp is next week, Josh is the dean and I am the nightly evangelist. And we're not quite ready. Josh's grandmom (who lives with us) is in the hospital. Wondering what life is going to look like once she gets home in a much more frail and needy state. Still have lots of HMA stuff I should be doing, people I need to connect with, churches I need to contact...

So, would you pray much? Like, Jamie, we're feeling close to drowning... and your support means the world! Thanks for carrying us!

Mission Fast Monday! Postponed

Sorry for the delay of mission fast monday! I was awaiting some information that just arrived today. So if you are up for the challenge, let's fast tomorrow (or another day of the week, if that works better for you!).

Mission Fast focus: Matthew 25:35-40

Praying friends, there are men, women and children (and pastors and members of Africa Gospel Church, Uganda affiliated with WGM) that are hungry due to drought in many parts of Uganda. Would you join me in praying that the Lord of the Harvest, Jehovah-Jireh our Provider would sustain His people? Let's fast and pray for His provision. But if you feel led to do more than pray, you can send your donations to WGM and they will make sure it gets to those who need it!


World Gospel Mission,
P.O. Box 948
Marion, Indiana 46952-0948

Make it out to World Gospel Mission, and mark it: Uganda emergency relief fund: 150-25342.

Thank you for your efforts to bless the nations!

Sick Seth :(

Praying friends, Seth was up all night with croup, and although he is happy as a clam right now, would you join us in praying that God would touch his body and fill his lungs with good breathing?

And when baby is up all night, so are mama and daddy... and we have to preach this morning! So pray that Jesus would hide us behind His cross, and be all that we are not. We are so grateful for this reminder of our utter dependence on Him.

We are looking forward to posting a good report later- as we watch Him answer prayers and meet us in extraordinary ways- especially since Satan is fighting so hard this week!!

Thanks for lifting us up!

HMA: HOMEland Ministry Assignment

Oh, that every moment of family life was as beautiful as two brothers playing nicely with each other! But for those parents out there- or anyone with a sibling- you know that those moments are peppered with sibling dischord as well as harmony!

On the surface it may seem that I am straying slightly from our missions theme, but perhaps it isn't straying at all... since as a wife and mother, my first mission is my family!

Pictured to the right is the Morris family that has inspired this post. Josh and I just spent the weekend in the hills of PA with this precious family, and not only was I blessed by their company, I was challenged by their example of godly parenting! Although, kids will be kids, Sarah (9 y.o.) and Caleb (7 y.o.) were a delight to be around. They understood their parents authority and stayed within the boundaries laid out for them. For example: we were riding in the car quite a distance and the kids were getting rammy and while they weren't being terrible, Jean knew she needed to set some limits. She gave them a warning, and when they continued to tease and argue, she told them they were no longer allowed to speak for the duration of the drive. And they obeyed! Wow. I love when parents give a warning and then immediately follow through! It gave me a lot to think about in my own parenting of our two little guys.

You can also check out the blog that inspired me here. Michelle, at "She Looketh Well", wrote a convicting article about loving your children. She even goes so far as to say: "if I am not diligently disciplining and training them then I am not loving them! Ouch!" And God would agree: "the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in." -Proverbs 3:12

And Jay Yountz states in the Shepherd Press blog: "If God has commanded that parents train their children according to his law, then that is what the parent must do. Just as the child does not have the option to disobey God, neither does the parent." Wow, disciplining my children is an obedience issue for ME!

So today, as we continue our HMA (Homeland Ministry Assignment), I am focusing on the HOME in homeland ministry. Where is your mission field? Are you being obedient to do all that He is calling you to do? It isn't always easy to parent your children diligently, especially when they have days like this when they constantly want what the other has! Oh, my boys are up from their naps, so I must get off the computer and mother them. Obeying His commands with a happy heart today (but not always!) ~Kelly

One Thousand Gifts...

What a week! God has been so good. There is mourning and there is dancing.

Praising Him today for countless gifts of:

- prayers during the loss of my Poppop
- happy memories of that faithful man

- sweet minutes alone with Josh over the weekend


- safe travels to PA

- new friends who are passionate about missions!


- God's presence at the missions conference


- snuggling my boys

- afterbite lotion (ugh mosquitoes)

- grains of sand on chubby feet

- growing feet rising to new challenges

Mission Fast Monday!

As we deal with the death of my grandfather, whose service is this morning, the finality of death and the reality of life are on my mind today. Would you fast and pray with me for the many who are dying every day for their faith?

Mission-fast Focus: John 15:19-21

Jesus, it is true that if we belonged to the world, it would love us as its own. As it is, we do not belong to the world, but You have chosen us out of the world. That is why the world hates us. Help us to remember the words You spoke to us: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me.

There are so many around the world being persecuted for their faith. Would you open our eyes to their plight, and soften our hearts to their cries. Would we be challenged by their faith, and stirred up to stand up for our faith when it isn't popular, and keep trusting God when people think we are foolish. It is so easy in some ways, and in others so difficult to be a Christian in America. But God, there are so many who do not even have the basic freedoms we have. And so be the lifter of their heads and the strength to keep singing. Thank you for their testimony. May we be more like them. Amen."

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For more information on the persecuted church check out Voice of the Martyrs: http://www.persecution.com/