God has been doing an amazing work in the 4 churches that we have been at so far. We just finished up an 8 day (which turned into an 11 day because of what God was doing in the lives of people) conference here in Wyoming, Ontario, Canada last night. Every night truth's from God's Word was being proclaimed. A lot of times people are expecting our revival team to come into their church and pump them and get them going. There is a passage in Hosea 6 that kind of approaches revival in a much different manner. It says in verse 1 "Come, and let us return to the Lord; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up...He will revive us...He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight." We don't tend to want to go through the muddy things in our lives in order to have that close intimacy with God...we just want it all to be better right away :) This past Sunday we had people from the congregation share what God had been revealing in their lives and how they have responded to it. Let's just say it was the best church service I think I have ever attended! Not because of anything that man did, but what God did. There were over 40 people and 4 hrs of testimonies! Coming into this church we heard that it was a very good church. But what we have realized that in every church there is garbage in peoples lives that is being kept secret. The church in Acts was a church that got open in with each other and the Word of God prevailed because of what people shared. I just want to share a couple of the testimonies with you:

"I had been hiding a secret sin in my life for the past 2-3 years (adultery). I thought I could bury it and take it to my grave, wow, was I wrong. On the night when Ryan preached about clearing your conscience God convicted me to the point that I couldn't fight it any longer. I had already confessed this secret sin to God, but I was hiding it from my wife, I finally gave it up. I confessed this secret sin to my wife. In that instant, a huge burden was lifted from me. Said thing is that it all went onto my wife. I was certain my marriage was over. This summit was the start of my total surrender to Christ and it started the healing process in my marriage. My wife extended forgiveness that night. We hae a long road to go for me to regain her trust and rebuild our marriage. But since that night, God has been doing an amazing work in me, my wife, my marriage, my family. It is only by God's grace that this was possible. This situation has changed my life. God is good, God is great." - Steve

Here is his wife's:

"God found me full of bitterness, jealousy, disrespect toward my husband and very controlling in our home. Praying and reading my bible was a chore and I was very unwilling to spend time with God. Our home life was chaotic with our children very disobedient and with very poor attitudes. God convicted me of these sins and I sought forgiveness from Him and from the ones I was holding bitterness toward as well as the jealousy. My husband forgave me for my controlling spirit. I now have a desire to read God's word and spend time in His word and prayer. Our home feels more under God's power. I have a love for my husband that I have never experienced before. Praise God!!!" - Jacqueline

It was so great to see God restore this marriage! One of the nights after their confessing, I saw them in worship and they were holding hands and raising them up praising the Lord! It brought tears to my eyes because I knew what God had done in that marriage! This couple could have just kept coming to church, putting on the mask and "pretending" everything was okay. But they chose the way that is going to bring most glory to God and humbling to themselves. It is hard to have a real relationship with someone while keeping them at arms length and never letting them get into your life and know the ins and outs of you.

There was another lady that got up and shared that she and her husband had been married for 34 years, but have been separated for the past 5 years. She said that she had neglected praying for him and confessed that she wanted him back (and he was sitting in the congregation!). He got up and went down to her and they went and prayed. She later testified how she has now put her wedding rings back on (which she had not worn the 5 years they have been separated). The last night we saw her and her husband kneeling and praying together as a couple and embrased and kissed afterwards! (now only God can work like that:)

There are so many more that I could share with you. Tomorrow we head to another church here in Canada. We will do an 11 day summit there. What is cool is that some of the people from the church we just finished at are going to come to the next church on Sunday and testify to what God has just done in their church! We as a team are excited to see what God as in store for this next church. It is hard to leave a church that you just got attached to but realizing that God has much in store in the next church as well.

Continue to pray for our team. Pray that we will be fully surrendered to God (despite long nights, continually new host homes and churches, long bus rides, etc.) God has challenged me lately that what I get to do is such a privilege and sometimes I tend to look at it like a duty. Pray that I will be continually refreshed in God's word and time spent with Him.

Starting the 2010-2011 Travel Year

"Sarah's Salon" :)

running up the dunes

"Charqleigh and Gerty"

I wanted to update this to let you know I haven't fallen off the face of the earth :)

Training camp here in Buchanan, MI is going very well. Our team is comprised of 9 guys and 9 girls this year (much different from our 10 girls and 5 guys from last year :) Thank you for praying for the unity of our team. Even though we have only been together for 5 weeks, the Lord has really started "gluing" us together. We have had great times playing together (as you can see by the pictures) and also times of sharing our testimonies and our hearts with eachother. I am excited to see how God is going to use our team as we are continually surrendered to what God has for us.

This staff training is a little different for me than the past two. The past two years I was used to spending 6-7.5 hours in worship rehearsal each day. I am now transitioning into a role of mentoring the girls and there are no set "training sessions" for that during the day. So my days have been a little more wide open but somehow at the end of the day they were really full :) I have been doing a lot of reading, hanging out with the girls, helping in whatever way is needed. I have gotten to be a family assistant for a couple families in the last couple of weeks, which have been a blessing. I pray that I would be open and flexible each day for whatever He has for me.

There is some new news that some of you have yet to hear of.....drum roll.....Sarah Tranel is in a relationship! There is a young man (Luke Johnson) that traveled on our team last year and we casually got to know eachother and then at the end of our travel year he approached me to pray about a relationship. We started intentionally hanging out and getting to know eachother. We continued to develop our "friendship" over the course of the summer and the Lord was confirming it over and over again. He is the youth speaker, semi-truck driver and team manager on our team. Realizing that the both of us came on the team to minister, we are seeking the Lord to know how best to have a relationship without being distracted and pulled away from our ministries. I would greatly appreciate your prayers :) So, this year is full of newness for me, and I want to have a good balance with everything.

I will keep you updated on life...hopefully on a monthly basis :)

Continuing On...

Since coming back on the road after Christmas we have done 8 four day conferences and are in the midst of our 2nd eight day conference. We have been in Florida, Georgia, Louisianna, Mississippi and are in Texas for two weeks. I am loving the warmer weather down here :) This past conference in Sylvester, GA we got to see and hear how God transformed peoples lives. Here are a few of the testimonies:

God found me...

"Struggling with pride in every aspect of my life; my marriage, my job, my family. I've learned about grace and understanding and realizing I don't know anything and God is my Master and Lord. He is my Savior and I am humbled y the words of the Lord. I ill be a more submissive wife and I will use my gifts and talents for the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you God for making me and putting every struggle into my life"

"Lost and insecure. Months before I was mere inches from losing my faith. This week God has taught me to let go of all my bitterness to those who did me wrong. He allowed me to let go of a lot of pain. He told me I needed to stop being lukewarm about Him and how I should live for him. I was finally able to let go of a burden I've carried for 9 years: self harm. It was the past and He helped me to let that go"

"Angry, hurt and bitter. The week of the Life Action Summit marked the 9th anniversary of the death of our first son, 2 days old. The weeks prior to the summit it was discovered that my wife had been unfaithful to me. Through the messages and daily 6 am prayer meetings, God revealed to me how I failed. I as able to express my anger to God and give it to Him. I was able to claim 1 Thess 5 and give thanks! I discovered how my anger and bitterness tore down my wife which led her to seek compassion elsewhere. I now have a new love for my wife and my marriage is better than ever! Praise God!"

These are only a few of the many testimonies from that church. On the second Sunday we were there, we opened up the microphone for anyone that wanted to come up front and share what God was doing in their lives. It was amazing! There were over 2 hours of people sharing about how God did a work in their lives. It is amazing when you see pastors and deacons humbly getting up in front of their church and being honest, open and transparent. I pray that what God has started in these churches would be ongoing. When revival comes, it is not just a one time experience.

This past month all of us team members have had to make our decision if we are going to return for another year. After praying about it and talking with my parents and team leadership I have decided to stay for another year! I am very excited :) I am going to be doing something a little different, but I will share that at another time :)

Hello 2010!

Man, I can't believe that we are almost through with the first month of the new year! I just want to give a little update from the last couple months.
We made it back safely from El Salvador. We had a great time there. We did a lot of physical work...painting, removing broken fences, sawing logs and clearing out property...all the damage from Hurricane Ida. We also ministered in a children's home that has 74 beautiful children. I think it is so cool that even though I know very little Spanish, it is like we all just clicked with them. The smile and laughter are universal! It was very hard to leave all of them after being there for a week. God did a work in the lives of the believers in the church where we ministered.







After El Salvador all of the team members were free to go home for a few weeks for Christmas. I had a great time at home getting caught up with family and friends and enjoying the snow!!

We hit the road again at the beginning of January starting our conferences in Florida! We have been to Miami, New Port Richey and are now in Interlachen, FL this week.

Here are a few testimonies from some individuals in the churches we have been:

"I was committed but not fully surrendered in several areas of my life. The conference has motivated me to remember the days with my "first love" and to return to those joyful days. It's a choice to admit and confess sin and a choice to ask for grace moment by moment in those areas to overcome. I have hope and assurance that I will become the woman God has created me to be!"

"God found me saddened, not at peace. Confused of what direction to take in my life. Sinful, a liar, a deceiver, immoral but I am learning to trust God more and give Him all my worries and fear. To seek God in my time of doubts and confusion, rather than sinful sinful outlets. I really want to be a "HOT" (Honest, Open and Transparent) christian. Passionate for God and for others. To see a transformation in my life and through me and the Spirit of God working through me..."

"God found me tired physically because I was trying to keep pace to pay the bills in the very dark economy. But these past four days I've been able to enjoy and plunge into God's grace. I've been able to pour out my heart to my God and Savior. I have been able to do what I should do everyday which is to put God first in my life and day. When he is on top, everything else falls in place."

We serve a great God and he desires to do an amazing work in the hearts and lives of His children...if we just allow Him to. Pray that our team will continue to be effective (by the grace of God) in the lives of each of our host homes, in the people at the churches and amongst ourselves. Thanks for being my prayer warriors!

We're Off!

I wanted to give you all a quick update. We ended our last conference of this calendar year on Sunday. On Monday morning, we started our 1150 mile trek back up to the cold tundra of Michigan :) We got here really late on Tuesday and then had a chill day on Wednesday. We hit up a couple stores to get last minute stuff for our el salvador trip. Yesterday we went to a team members home and had thanksgiving with them. It was such a blessing since we were not able to go home and be with our immediate families. God is so good to provide for us!

Tonight is the big night...El Salvador! We will be driving to Chicago at 4:00 this afternoon hanging out there for a bit and then heading to the airport. Our flight leaves at 2:00 a.m....woohoo :) We will be serving and ministering there for a week. Our two main spots of ministry are taking place at the Shaloam Home (orphanage) and a local church (i forgot the name of it). We were originally going to do some light maitenance work at the orphanage such as painting, and tidying it up. But with the recent Hurricane Ida (i think that was her name :) sweeping through, it has left el salvador in poor shape. At the orphanage, there have been a lot of mudslides and a lot of damage to the childrens housing and buildings. The Lord knew ahead of time the timing of all of this and us going there to serve...and what a perfect time to help those who are in need. We will be doing a lot of mud shoveling (which with our team most likely will turn into some occasional mud fights), and whatever else needs to be done. Pray that the Lord would give us endurance and physical strength to get done what we need to get done. Pray that my attitude there would be the continual mindset of serving. In the evenings at the childrens homes we will be doing their chapels. We will be leading them in worship and leading in their devotions.
We are also serving at a local church. I think we are going to do a mini thirst conference like we do in churches here in the states. It will be a little more condensed because of translation and what not. Pray for Ryan (our leader) as he seeks the Lord as to what to share and challenge that body with.
I will be taking a lot of pictures, so I will post some when I get back. We get back Dec. 5th and then we are released to go home for the holidays. I am really looking forward to getting together with some of you back home! yay!

Here are some pictures from our missions trip last year. We are going back to the exact same place.

God is so good!

I would love to share how God has been working the last couple weeks in the last couple of churches we have been at. We recently ministered in Grapevine, Texas for an 8 day conference (which turned into an 11 day) because of what God was doing in their lives! People in that church started getting real with God and with others. When you have 3 hours of testimonies in one day you know God is doing something in their lives. They were so H.O.T. (Honest, Open and Transparent) with where they were in life and how they have drifted from the Lord and ran to things of the world instead of to God.
On one of our free days while we were there, my roomate and I headed off to the nearby mall. Well, it should have been nearby :) We took some massive wrong ways and pretty much took three times longer than it should have :) To be honest, we were both a little frustrated because we were supposed to meet some team members there and by the time we got there, they had to leave. So we decided to go strolling by ourselves and we went into this one army store and were trying on some of their paraphanalia and one of the workers said she would take our pictures. We ended up getting into a conversation with her and she was free for lunch so I took her to the food court and she just poured out her life to me and wow, what a story! (Talk about somebody being H.O.T.!) God has pulled her out of the depths of despair and saved her and she is on fire for the Lord. It was such a God thing how he knit our hearts together so fast. We took her back to our host home and she went with my host parents and myself that night to minister at a homeless shelter and then she was able to come to some of the services that we were doing at the church. She pretty much wanted to jump on the bus with us and join our team when we left :) Hopefully that will work one of these years for her.
I am just so amazed how God worked that whole situation out. How we had got to the mall late and were kind of frustrated to how God orchestrated (not coincidence) my visit with Ashley. Please pray for her and that she will stay strong hearted for the things of the Lord. I know that is her desire.


Here is Ashley!

Week #6

This is currently week #6 on the road. In a sense it feels like we have been on the road for quite some time but then it seems as if the days just fly by! We have been to TN, KY, GA, MS and now TX! I do have to say that I don't mind the great weather we are having here :) I talked to my dad the other day and he said they had snow flurries back home already!

Our team usually does what is called a "Thirst Conference". Our schedule usually look like this: Arrive to the church on Friday afternoon; unload all of our equipment (i.e. children's club props, worship team instruments, etc.) out of the semi-truck; start setting up at the church; go to dinner as a team; meet host families and go home with them. Saturday we come in at 10:00 a.m. and finish setting everything up and do sound check and have a little rehearsal. Sundays are typically the long days :) We do two services Sunday morning and then another one at night. Then during the week (Mon-wed), we are at the church at 9:30 until after the services in the evening. We have our days filled with team chapels, work time, rehearsals, free time and team meetings. The days actually go by really fast!

I am so privileged to be a daughter of the Lord and have the opportunity to serve him with Life Action this year. I thank those of you who have been my prayer warriors. It is definitely the sustaining power to keep me going. I am constantly crying out for His grace that I so desperately need everyday. Thanks too for those of you who are providing financially for me to be out here on the road. God is so faithful in providing my every need. Thanks for letting Him use you to be a blessing :)

His Servant,
Sarah

This is my team that I have the privilege of traveling with for this season. There are 32 of us all together (including staff children). We all met up together in Michigan at the end of July to start 6 weeks of intense training prior to heading off on the road for 9 months of ministering to people in churches all over the country. We are currently at our second stop of the year in Hopkinsville, KY. This year we will be ministering in 28 churches and one foreign country. Pray that as we all continue to pour out we would also have our fill of taking in the Word of God and be refreshed on a daily basis.

Random Road Pictures

One of my "duties" I get to do on the team. I decided to have a little fun with this haircut :) (don't worry, i shaved it all off in the end) :)


The worship team I am on


My little "host nephew". He was so much fun!


My host mom in Maryland. She was so sweet :)