Summer Revolution

This summer we hosted teams from Niceville, FL (Rennae's hometown!); Dallas, Texas; Mufreesboro, TN; Cedar Hill, TX; Sarasota, Tampa, Atlantic Beach, Maclenny, Port Orange and St Petersburg (Nelson's hometown!)

We were especially blessed to host lead Pastor Joshua Potts from Maclenny, Pastor Tom Finken from Port Orange, Pastor Jamie Morgan from New Jersey, and Pastor Donnie Huttio from Atlantic Beach. I must say that it is a special gift for us have these pastors travel our bumpy roads and pray over children with us in our outreaches. For them to know and EXPERIENCE the fruit of their faithful partnership is an enormous joy that I cherish with all my heart!

Be a Missionary - ON YOUR KNEES!

Prayer Alert!

Attention Prayer Warriors!

"The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results." Ephesians 5:16

Please pray for Summer Outreaches that are beginning TODAY. We have already been dealing with some spiritual warfare. We believe that your prayers make a BIG DIFFERENCE. So join our missionary efforts--ON YOUR KNEES!

1. Pray for our families and families of our staff. Familiy concerns are priority and this is where we are feeling the battle.
Pray for Troy, our oldest son who is in the United States working this summer. He suffered heat exhaustion on the job and was sent to the emergency room. He is doing well now, but please keep him in your prayers as his job is out in the heat, every day.
Pray for Delores, the mother of Sugeily, our ministry administrator, who is on dialysis and has had some complications.

2. Pray for the towns of Seibo, San Francisco, San Pedro and Azua. In these towns we will be doing evangelistic activities.

3. Pray for Kids Camp. One for the Bethesda Kids where we will be talking about the Holy Spirit. Pray that the girls will be filled with the Spirit
Pray for Moncion Kids Camp. Pray for many kids to recieve the free gift of salvation!

4. Pray for protection in travels, health, strength, and favor.

5. Pray that God will call laboreres into His harvest, as we believe that many young people's lives are impacted during short- term missions trips.

Beauty Marks - Happy USA Mother's Day!

Today is not mother's day here but I am thinking about my mama back in the USA...

I cannot remember my age at the time, but I know that I had heard one-too-many kids comment about the moles on my neck and my face. It was bad enough that I never felt like my clothes were in style and my hair was never that pretty. Clothes and hair can easily be changed and improved, but not the moles on my neck. So my mama took me to the doctor to see if something could be done. However, for some reason it was not advisable to have them removed. Whatever the case was, I can still remember the horrible feeling of disappointment. Beauty was unattainable for me. I would be forever condemned to thick glasses, unruly hair, and moles on my face. In that tear-drenched moment, my wise and loving mother spoke words to me that literally erased the ugliness and despair that had taken up residence in my heart.

She looked me in the eye and said, “Rennae, I want you to listen to me. God created you beautiful and unique. Now you can despair about what you call "ugly moles" or you can see yourself the way the Lord created you.” My mother always considered the moles on my face as "beauty marks", unique features that made me special. What I had labeled as ugly moles, were really beautiful and distinct qualities that no one else had.

Now I had never thought of it that way, and I know it shouldn't really be that simple. But I believe that God gave her those words that day because it was a heart transforming moment for me. From that time on, I never felt ashamed or worried about those moles in the same way.

I still heard the comments; frequently the girls at school would ask, with a tone that communicated their repulsion, "Ooo what's that on your face?" My answer to them was completely confident; there was no doubt in my mind. For goodness sake, my MOTHER had told me so. "Oh this?” Pointing to the object of their disgust, I would respond. “THIS is my beauty mark.”

Happy Mother's Day to my mama, Donna Sjostrom!

The Door

Her house didn’t even have a door. There was this curtain that hung there but the curtain was insignificant to the evil that wandered at night in her barrio. Everyday was a fight to find something to eat for her and her brothers. Her daddy was her best friend, and her worst enemy. When the drugs were in control, he was the monster that shared this house without a door.

She never went to school. She was eleven years old, and she had yet to learn to read or even to count to 10. However, the neighbor near her doorless house made sure that she did attend one school; Dona Elena took her to Sunday school. On Sunday mornings, Elena would often see her playing in the streets, and would take her by the hand, leading her to the church in the barrio.

Her mother left about three years ago, and her father’s addiction and poverty intensified the impossibility of the situation. In the midst of his desperation, he went to that little barrio church looking for help, begging the pastors to take the children. He told them that if they were unable to help him with the child, his only other option was to kill himself and his daughter with a package a rat poison that he purchased at the local market.
Pastor Lucia, moved with compassion, knew of Hogar Bethesda, a home for girls who have been taken out of the high-risk situations. It is the ministry of a local Assemblies of God church with the goal of providing a safe home and an education for these at-risk children, while fostering a relationship and love for God. In a beautiful act of rescue from the horrors of the doorless shack, Pastor Lucia brought her out of the darkness behind that curtain and into the safety of a real home.

This past week I had the joy organizing four days of camp at CIMA del Rey for our Hogar Bethesda girls during their spring break. Our new little girl from the barrio and the others enjoyed these days filled with fun, laughter, and a beautiful visitation of the Holy Spirit. The girls were able to leave the loud noises of the city and spend quiet times with the God’s Word in the beauty and silence of the countryside. They painted while listening to worship music, caught tadpoles in the river, played with real bunnies, had fun on the swing set, decorated easter eggs, worshipped around a campfire and roasted marshmallows too! We set up a store with clothes, shoes, jewelry, candy, barbie dolls, and toys that they could buy with play money that they earned during the camp. This was very special for these children who have very few choices; nearly all of their clothing, as well as their toys, are donations received from groups that support the home. In our days together, the girls learned to forgive, confess their sins, pray for one another and they learned that the promise of heaven is a real, free gift that you could never, ever earn.

Among the many special moments of our days together, was watching this young child of the barrio encounter her true Savior. Because while there were never any doors on that shack in the slum, there is a door to her broken and wounded heart. And there on that mountain top, we witnessed the beauty of grace and healing as this little girl, whose soul had formerly been treated like a doorless shack, opened the portal of her heart to the Savior. That Tuesday night with tears running down her beautiful brown face she experienced the presence of our amazing Redeemer who rescues us out of the shack of bondage and promises us a real and eternal home.

“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends." Rev. 3:20

IDA_English_Testimonies

Here is a video about our Valentines weekend outreach. This video was put together by Dawn Amsler. She is a new missionary here in Dominican REpublic, who serves on our ministry team.

Check it out!!