Thanks FBC Allen for helping us make our goal of $6000 to put a roof on three churches in Malawi. God has used FBC Allen to lead thousands to Christ, start hundreds of churches, train hundreds of leaders, and now have been able to also know we roofed three church structures in Malawi. To God be the glory, great things He is doing at FBC Allen!

Some of us have grown up hearing the stories from the Bible.  Others around the globe and even right around us have never heard the remarkable events recorded in the Scriptures.  Most of the youth we minister to at FRBC have never heard the stories.

This past month, we presented the story of Joseph and his brothers to the students in a readers theater format.  Every week, each student was assigned a character from the story.  They would read the scripture that corresponded to their character and would act out their part for the group.  The results were amazing. 

The students could not wait to come back each week to hear the next part of the story.  One week a student was unable to attend, she requested a copy of that part of the story.  The next week, she came back knowing the story forward and backward.  She had studied at home on her own. At the conclusion of every week, the students would discuss what had happened, make predictions about the next part of the story, and see how it applied to their own lives. Seeing their excitement, watching them learn scripture, and seeing God use it to transform their lives reminded me of the power of the Word.  God’s Word is very much alive.  It is exciting and life transforming.  Read His Word and be amazed.

Significant Accomplishments:

• The new college Sunday school class grew from 2 to six
• Led a church coalition meeting to plan the Christmas celebration and combined church directory
• Organized the coalition prayer walk
• Held the first college fellowship event and reached nine people
• The African congregation is now hosting an outreach event every other Sunday to reach the community. 
• The apartment ministry was able to provide a full Thanksgiving meal for a single mom who is raising her daughter and granddaughter.  She works two jobs and goes to school at night.  When we entered the apartment we found that the family just had a mattress on the floor for all of their furniture.  We will be connecting with this family in the future as well.  
• We held the first prayer walk that the coalition has had.  The pastors of the churches had never held a prayer walk, and they decided that it was something they would like to continue on a regular basis.  Last year, the coalition held a prayer gathering inside one of the churches.  Now, they are walking and praying out in the community.  It is great to see the group moving to a more missional mindset. 

This Month’s Challenges:

This month was a bit challenging in regards to finding new leadership.  Both our children’s and youth director moved.  It has been a bit difficult in filling in the holes while also looking for and training new leaders.

Next Month’s Plans:

We plan on focusing and reorganizing the apartment ministry.  Our youth Sunday school director/teacher moved, so we will also focus on reorganizing the department and training a new leader for this position.

Contact Chelsie for Prayer and Suppoert at clk4077@gmail.com.

The project was a two story staff dormitory needing major demolition and renovation with ceiling and wall work in approximately 19 rooms plus major remodel of bathrooms.

We expected most of the week to be demolition; however, the group had a pleasant surprise upon arrival. The Conference Center Maintenance Staff had done a considerable amount of the demolition already. We ended the week accomplishing more than we expected, but wishing we could have done more. We left behind work for a group to follow later. 

Falls Creek is the largest church youth camp in the nation.  This past summer, over an 8 week period, they had a record 57,541 youth from across Oklahoma attend week long sessions.  They had 2,365 professions of faith, and 1,034 surrender to special service.

The VCB members from last March and from this October trip felt a great sense of contribution knowing we played a part by indirectly touching the lives of so many.

 As of today, over 1700 homes have been destroyed.  Yet with great tragedy has come a great effort from the Christian community as Austin area churches are taking the lead in providing relief.  We were advised to connect with the Austin Disaster Relief Network (www.austindisasterreliefnetwork.org )  where most of the Austin churches are connecting their volunteers and efforts through.

ADRN has taken over an abandoned grocery store in Georgetown, TX and has turned it into a collection center for new items and gift cards that are being delievered to fire victims.  Derick Zwenneman is the Outreach Director at Celebration Church in Austin, and he is one of the key leaders in this particular collection center organizing not only lots of donations but hundreds of volunteers as well.  I encourage you to pray for Derick, and if you want to pour some encouragement into a life that is pouring out so much for others right now, take time to send him an email at dzwerneman@celebrationchurchtx.com.

We spent some time helping unpack all the donated items and put them in their appropriate boxes before we had to head back to Allen.  As I would pull out items FBC Allen had donated, I thought about moms who took their kids to the store this past weekend and let them pick out cartoon covered underwear and socks for someone’s kid who had lost everything… I unpacked bags from department stores where I could tell someone wanted to purchase some nicer undergarments for a woman they didn’t know their name but wanted them to have something nice to wear… and I thought about the notes that were written to the victims that said “We love you” and “We are praying for you.”  I was proud to be from FBC Allen and proud for what God lets us do in Allen, in Texas, in the US, and all over the world.

I also thought about the people who lost everything and am praying that God will not only help them get back on their feet but even more that God will use all the underwear, socks, pillows and gift cards to connect these victims to Jesus Christ and his great love for them.  As I was unpacking the relief bags and thinking all these things, I was doing a great job fighting back tears of joy and pain until the words to this song came on the radio that was playing music for the relief workers… thats when I lost it…  the song is by Laura Story and called Blessings in Disguise and the chorus goes like this…

WHAT IF YOUR BLESSINGS COME THROUGH RAINDROPS

WHAT IF YOUR HEALING COMES THROUGH TEARS

WHAT IF A THOUSAND SLEEPLESS NIGHTS IS WHAT IT TAKES TO KNOW YOU’RE REAL

WHAT IF TRIALS OF THIS LIFE ARE YOUR MERCIES IN DISGUISE

Pray for the fire victims…

Pray for Austin Disaster Relief Network (and donate there if you can)

Pray for Derick Zwerneman and those volunteering

Pray for God to prove once again that He can exchange beauty for ashes

Derick and our team (he is the young buck)

supplies gathered so far

preparing boxes for packing

We began our day at the Russian Finance University. Interesting to know that their higher education system is changing to be more similar to ours in the states where the can earn a bachelor or masters degree. It was also great to see five students we had met the last time we were speaking there.

We had two groups we met with focusing on branding and world economy. Even with our economic downturn they still view the US as a strong economy. Many want to come and learn in the states. The crew did very well engaging the students and were not shy about sharing their faith.

In the evening we did a meet and greet with about half the students registered for tomorrow’s event. Our guys did a great job interacting. We sang a few Beatles tunes to warm them up and then our team sang solo. Not pretty but it really broke the ice. Jonna shared testimony and all were great about giving God the glory for who they are today as they interacted with with the students.

Pray for a productive Saturday.

Saturday

We hit the ground running again today. Pastor Sasha and Chet from Cheboksary joined us yesterday so they have been eager to see what we do in Moscow. The team has done a great job meeting our objectives. I enjoy watching them grow and boldly speak about their faith.

We had a lighter crowd than expected but they were very engaged and attentive to the testimonies. Bill and Marty did a great job with their testimonies and got plenty of good questions afterwards.

We had the students break into groups and do two projects, one was a case study on a real business and the other was to create a business. The projects are meant for them to practice their English and for us to continue to grow closer to them. The women seemed to dominate with input but all the students did well participating and gave great presentations.

We had dinner at the seminary and afterward a Russian student gave a great testimony of how God intervened in his business. Sad to hear one of the first questions we are asked is often about corruption because it is so prevalent in Russia.

I ask for prayer for a young lady I met last trip. She is struggling with life and who God is. I had the opportunity to pray with her. She broke down crying because her plate is so full and does not know where to turn.

Continue to pray we strengthen relationships. Sunday we will be following up with several that we invited to church. We will do a workshop prior to that with people we have not met. Pray that is a productive time. We will meet with the Integra Group this afternoon and end the day at Starbucks with students from this weekend.

Sunday

We began Sunday by attending an English class. Unfortunately the rain kept all but two students away. We brought peanut butter for toast as a snack. It was great to see the look on the instructors face as she had it for the first time. Sasha had never had it either so it was quite the hit.

A student had given me some gingerbread treats on Friday from a well known bakery. We used a large one to celebrate Bill’s birthday. We had to use a iPhone app for a candle. He also got recognized by the entire church which we attended later.

Even though we only had two students attend, God always places us in the moment for a reason. We met Sergey, an older gentleman who is an electrical engineer and an atheist. He attends English club at the seminary because he likes the attitude of the teacher and fellow students. I met him on our last visit and he remembered details such as my having two dogs. We got into a topical discussion which quickly led to a spiititual one. It ended up as an encouraging discussion and I left him a  signed Purpose Driven book which he was very appreciative. The real work now begins for his instructor.

We attended an engaging service at the seminary afterwards. Always great to hear a Russian worship service.

We had lunch at a local cafe where we met with Neil from Integra. His organization does business training   and provides loan advisement primarily for women. We will engage his organization more on our next visit. He was introduced to Sasha. We think there is a future partnership of some form.

The group debriefed on Sunday night and later met with Sasha to get his status and begin plans for next year.

We will be home late Monday. Thanks for your prayers.

After arriving at the hotel we took time to rest and freshen up. We were to meet Elvira at the metro station which provided to be a bit of an adventure. Fortunately, God saw we were having challenges and we “ran into” Jeremy from IMB. He heard someone speaking English and looked up and spotted us.

We met up with about 15 of his English students. They came up with the idea of practicing by giving presentations on certain tourist areas around Red Square. They all did very well. Three participants were from several trips ago when we spoke at the Russian Federation university. (God worked out last minute for us to speak there again on Friday morning). We mixed with the group at a coffee house afterwards and got to know stories about them. We were informed ahead of time that there would be unbelievers there so one objective was to get them to either our Saturday event or church Sunday. We made good connections and had several commitments. Pray they will follow thru.

Friday we will speak at the university and then have a meet and greet with participants for the seminar

~ Kevin Morrison

This week our group has been working on scraping and painting a house, as well as doing some of the yard work at the back of her house. Our group is all girls, but I haven’t heard a single complaint all week, and everyone has been working extremely hard. The lady that lives in this house is about 85, and her son is the pastor of another church in the area. The first day we got there she was very wary about opening the door and talking to us; she may have said one word. We haven’t seen her all week but we’ve seen her neighbor, Dolores, a few times. Dolores started asking Faith and me about why we’re here, what we’re doing, etc. She asked if we got some kind of credit for it, and when we said no, she said, “So, it’s just another way for you to get to Heaven.” We responded that it wasn’t that either, it’s just that we wanted to share God’s love with others because we’re so grateful for how much he loves us. She didn’t really say much after that, but you could tell she was thinking about it. It was a cool experience to see that even though we haven’t had much contact with the homeowner, we’re still making an impact by working on her house. God is doing amazing things here, thanks for all the prayers!!

~ Zoe Butler

Probably the very first thing I’d like to say is that our God is a God of great wonders. Currently it is the third day of Mission Trip but honestly it feels like it should be the last. I’m already on such a “high” as I guess you could say that normally only shows up after the last day. God has already done such amazing things through the lives of not only the students of FBC Allen but also the people we have been working with as well. In one way that God is working through our student ministry is very evident: Everyone here has a heart for servitude to do what our Lord has told us to do. Likewise I haven’t heard a single person complain about the task they are given or about where they are working and how hot it is. However, just like how the student ministry is being changed the people we are working with/for are also being changed and molded into the people God wants them to be. The two work projects I’ve been at so far and the VBS park I’ve been at as well have all shown me that God is God. That’s all we can really say about God because if we were to try to describe him with any other words it would take years to finish. The thing that has been the most moving to me was the prayer walk we had last night at our VBS group. As we were nearing the end of our walk we came up to the church we have been partnering with, Passage Church, here in St. Louis. I decided to just stop there and pray for some time over its members and the community around the church. God can open doors no one can shut and he can close doors no one can open as well. In this way, God has opened many new doors for me that I now see through clearly. Now all that I have to do is simply this; go through the door and carry out God’s plan for my life. 

~ Jonathan Cocking

The children either cry or laugh when they see us as they have never seen a mozoogoo (spelling?) before. The people are so kind and willing to hear about Jesus. They have made it so easy to share the word of God. Tomorrow willl be our last day out in the field and then we will go to the lake to try and begin to comprehend all that the Lord has done. God has taken care of the fuel situation and kept us safe and well fed.

We will have amazing storeies to share of the power of God when we return.  Divine appointments has been the theme of our week as we have all had several that have changed out lives and grown our faith. So thankful for our church!!!

Note: Earlier in the week, this group had almost 800 show up for a Women’s Conference and a couple hundred made professions of faith the first day. Two churches have also been planted.

Please begin to pray right away for our Women’s Conference.  We had planned for it to take place next Tuesday and Wednesday but it will now be held tomorrow!  As I type this message, hundreds of women are already sitting at the church, and will be there overnight, anticipating the two days to come.  As presenters we have much to do, but are confident that the Holy Spirit is working, and we are completely dependent on our amazing God!

Please continue to pray for the fuel situation here in Malawi and for the openness of the people here.  More updates to come!  Thank you for your prayers!

Saludos desde la ciudad de Guatemala. Mi espanol es muy malo estonces escribire estoen ingles.

Today, Wednesday June 1, the older ladies met with the women from the community. Janice, Linda, Kathy and I met with 13 ladies in the morning at the church on the top of the hill and 9 more in the afternoon under the bridge. The ladies loved the craft Janice had prepared and enjoyed being together and the friendship of other women and the Americans. Kathy and Linda were in their element because they held the precious babies while the mothers worked on painting and decorating the plastic flowers. We found out they are very talented, much more that we are, and they did not need the example we put together for them. These ladies are living in the community raising families, most of them without husbands. They are single mothers struggling to make ends meet. We cannot even imagine a life like theirs. We take so much for granted in our livesñ a trip like this will remind you of that.

Today we shared a short devotion with the ladies from Psalm 139. We learned how God has created us, all of us, with a plan and a purpose in mind. He does not place us here for no reason. We were reminded from this Psalm that even when bad things happen, God has still made us fearfully and wonderfully, and our lives are written down in His book even before we were born. The ladies shared prayer requests with us, some requesting prayer for family members who were away from church, some needing wisdom to raise their children in godly homes, some asked us to pray they would have the money to pay the next rent payment. These women work as nurses, maids, selling vegetables and making tortillas for a living. They love their families and especially their children, and they want the best for them. They were reminded today that everything we have is from God and we owe Him our thanks and our worship.

My translator today was Betsy. She shared with me that she is a Christian but had been away from the church and her faith for many years. Her parents raised her in a Christian home and her mother prayed for her for years, asking God to protect her and bring her back to him. Her mother{s prayers were answered, and Betsy has come back to the Lord and is now working with Buckner and other ministries to share her faith. There is nothing like the prayers of a mother.

The rest of our team worked with the children teaching the story of Zacchaeus and sharing the plan of salvation through beads and bracelets. The children love our team and are especially drawn to the young people. The kids learned today that Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus, but even more importantly, Jesus saw him. They learned how to make the decision to follow Christ in their own lives and how much they are loved by God. Enough for Him to send His only Son to die for them. The children enjoy the crafts very muchñ they love leaving with something to take home. It is heart warming to have them meet us at the door each day, waiting for our big bus to pull into their community. This is an amazing team, ready and willing to do whatever needs to be done to minister to the children and make them feel special.

Tomorrow is our last day with the children. Pray for us to have strength to finish strong, to leave these children and their families with the knowledge of God{s amazing love and provision for them. God is doing a great work through Buckner in Guatemala and I am so thankful to have joined Him here.

Hasta manana!

In Christ Alone,
Pam

Day 5

Today was our final day with the kids from the CTC and the church.  Today we talked about following the example of Christ as we shared the story of the feeding of the five thousand.  Kids learned the verse Philippians 2:5 and talked about how we should have the same attitude as Christ.  In both places we had are biggest number of kids.  In the CTC we actually had to turn kids away because we ran out of room.  Our team did an amazing job with the extra kids.  It was chaotic at times but it was also incredible.  God definately was with us as we continued share the love of Christ with these children.

One of the amazing things about these kids is how they take care of one another.  You can tell they are truly a community.  In both places we saw older ones helping younger ones, brothers and sisters taking care of each other.  They made sure everyone got candy, everyone got a nametag, and everyone was able to participate.  I’m blown away at how resiliant these kids are in the face of difficult circumstances.  Jeff Mize and I were allowed to tour one of the homes under the bridge.  It was made of cinder blocks and sheet metal.  There were 3 very small rooms (a kitchen, a wash area, and a bedroom).  It was one of the poorest places I’ve ever been, but it was it home for this family.  They were glad to show us around.

Today we were also able to donate all of our supplies from the week, as well as clothing and other donations that had come from home.  They staff at the CTC (which also ministers to the church) was extremely grateful.  One of the highlights were the dress and shorts that Dulcy White and her team had made for the kids in Guatemala.  The staff was so excited.  Mario, one of our translators, asked me, “your church made all this?!”  He couldn’t believe it.  Thank you to Dulcy and her team.  Their hard work will be enjoyed by several children and families in Cerritos and Santa Rita.

A highlight everyday for our team was the music time with the kids.  Jeff Mize plays the guitar and everyone sings, laughs, and enjoys the time.  Today we taught the kids “This Little Light of Mine”.  We taught it to them in english and it was amazing how fast they picked it up.  We used the song as a reminder to them to carry Christ to their families and to their community.  El Cerritos and Santa Rita are definately poor communities but you can see hope and light in the children of the community.  We are so thankful to have been a small part of what God is doing in these two communities in Guatemala City.  He IS the Light of the World!

Tomorrow will be a day of sightseeing and shopping in Antigua and then we’re headed home on Saturday.  Thank you FBC family for your prayers.  We look forward to sharing our trip with you.

Christ First,

Jimmy

To see pictures from our trip: click here

Final Update:

I wanted to share some prayer requests that the children had.  Brandon C. asked several of the kids both at the CTC and the church to write down a prayer request.  Our translators put them in english for us.  This is just a sample of some of the requests but it gives you a great insight on what these children deal with.  Please read over these and PRAY!

–Please help me out getting a good grade for my exams

–Today my teacher punished me, so I started crying but I know I did wrong so I regret about it.

–My mom and dad have problems because my brother passed away and they suffer a lot.

–I don’t want to fail one year of school because I don’t want them to laugh at me

–I have a struggle to going to church.  I don’t know why but is hard for me to get to the church

–My house is not well constructed so when its raining all the water comes in.  Please ask God to help us.

–Some people want to kill my dad it was at night.  I was already sleep, the people come to my house and it was horrible, they threatend and my dad was drunk.

–Once I fell down and I hurt my head very hard.  I was bleeding and they took me to the doctor.  Now I’m OK and thanks to God I’m here with you.

–Please help my parents because they are looking for a job.

–My father left home

–My little brother is sick

–I was sick on Sunday.  I was vomiting.  They brought me to doctor.  God heal me.

–My dad’s death

–My uncle’s death

–My dad died

–I fight with my friends and I get sad