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 :)

Coming to an end...of year #1

As I sit here and think over the whole year, so many memories come to mind...the good and the well, not so good :) (the not so good would be things like, throwing up 4 times from riding a 6 passenger plane, scraping the side of a bus against a sign...not good! Somehow whenever I am in the midst of playing with kids, somebody always seems to get hurt, having the whole team very concerned with me after i pulled off an amazing prank....you will have to ask for the story. I have seen marriages be restored, individuals finding Christ as the Savior!, having Godly leaders portray what it means to be imitators of Christ. The list could go on and on.


It has been such a blessing to be able to travel with 30+ people over the course of the last year. You really do become very close (like family) with everybody. Somebody statistically said that developing friendships in one year in Life Action is like seven out in the "real world" :) Spending day in and day out with your team gets you very well rounded in people skills :) A passage in Scripture that has been a model for me is Romans 12:15-21. And boy do I have a lot to learn still!


We are currently in Upper Marlboro, MD doing our 22nd conference of the year. It is absolutely gorgeous here! My host home is located about 25 minutes from church, but I love it because in order to get there you have to take these beautiful back winding roads that are just surrounded by amazing scenery! When I retire from serving with Life Action (which at this point in indefinite) I am going to have visited so many locations that I will know of some amazing places to live! Maryland could definitely be one of those! After this conference we have only two locations left for this travel year...Gettysburg and Bethlehem, PA. We will then head back up to the Life Action Family Camp in Michigan and possibly serve a week or two there. After that, I will have at least four weeks off in which I will be heading home and getting reconnected with family, friends and church family.

I excited to see most of you soon!

Your sister in Christ,

Sarah

Friends and Family,

It is hard to believe that I have been on the road for again for almost a month! We are currently in Duncan, OK. It is our third church out. We just got done with an 11-day conference in Denison, TX. It was so good to see and hear all the Lord accomplished there during that conference. Our dear brothers and sisters there had such a hunger for God and a desire to see God move in their lives. There were marriages that were ready to be done away with that were restored; parent/child reconciliation. I think one of the main things was that people were just open and honest about where they were at and they didn't care what people thought. Church leaders got up and shared what they they were truly struggling with and where the Lord found them going into this conference. They were simply obeying God and His leading in their lives....It was so encouraging to be there!

The Lord has been challenging me in some areas in my personal life recently. One of them is reaching out to others and meeting them exactly where they are. Not to be judgmental or have a critical attitude towards them. I want to be able to cry with those who cry, rejoice with those who rejoice. I want to be able to sympathize and empathize with those around me....both on my team and people in the churches. This past week during one of the services I was in the hallway and I walked past a lady that was bent over weeping. I had something I was supposed to do, so in my mind I was just going to pass her by because I needed to complete my duty. But the Holy Spirit just prompted me to go back to her and just love on her. I began rubbing her back and praying to myself asking God for wisdom in the situation. She didn't want to really open up but she kept making statements like, "it would just be better if I wasn't around", or "God doesn't really want me to hurt myself, does he?" She opened up a little and said that she didn't know why she even stopped right there to cry....but I knew it was all in God's timing. She said that she was on her way out the door and wanted to run her car off a cliff. I had just such an awesome opportunity to love on her and show her Jesus. How He loved her and had a purpose for her. I walked her outside (in the middle of a Texas ice storm!) and took her to one of the trailers so we could talk to one of the staff wives. So there the Lord put a tangible opportunity right in front of me and I had the choice to either ignore her or show her Christ's love for her. I Thank the Lord that the Holy Spirit directed me.

There has been another area in my life that I know the Lord has been wanting me to surrender completely to Him. You see, I surrendered my life to Him. I told Him that I will do whatever He wants me to do, go wherever He wants me to go, yet I was holding on to one of the keys. I gave him the key ring, but I selfishly wanted to keep one out for myself...but He wanted ALL of the keys. Please pray that I would be a living vessel completely sold out to Christ and completely surrendered in every aspect of my life.

Pray also that our team stays strong and that we will be the encouragers that we need to be to others. Sometimes the weeks get long and you get drained and it is only by God's grace that we keep going. I am so thankful that he chooses to use us despite ourselves. I am so thankful that he wants to use us :)

Thank you all for your continuous prayers and support. I greatly appreciate them.

Your sister in Christ,
Sarah