Mission Trip ~ New York City 2018 {Part 1}

In the Fall of 2017, our family began talking about this trip.

How life-changing it is.

The leadership training all the kids receive, especially the boys.

This would be the third consecutive year that Ashlyn and I would attend.

When I approached Grant about it, I was surprised

 that he agreed so quickly to plan on going.

You see, Grant still struggles with a lot of internal anxiety.

A new school schedule, new teacher, new food, new clothes,

sudden change in plans, all produce an uncertainty that unsettles

and worries him and he manifests those anxieties by refusing to participate.

With great emotion.

I couldn't believe he didn't balk.

This year, the fund's for Ashlyn, Grant, and I to attend

this two-week trip came to us with relative ease.

All glory to God!!

In previous years, our family has taken on several

fund raisers and job opportunities to earn the funds for our summer ministries.

Every year, the Lord has completely provided exactly what was

needed at the exact time we needed it.

Between working, prayer, family gifts, and church missions scholarships

we were able to pay for our expenses.

The last two summers, I just couldn't get the child care

for my being away for two full weeks on this trip.

So I always missed the first training week at summer camp,

and just joined them at the airport in Dallas to fly to New York City

for the week of street ministry.

This year, I made an effort to attend the first full week of camp

training, and what a blessing it was!!

During the training week at camp we heard teaching sessions on:

Biblical Leadership

Servant Leadership

Leadership Training
How to Trust God

Cross-Cultural Evanglism

Cultural Adaptation

Introduction to Language Acquisition

Effective Ministry Strategies

Bible Storytelling

The teenagers participated in chapel times and group games

that built a team spirit among them.

The preaching this week made their hearts tender to God's direction

and leading in their lives.

 They "grew in wisdom, stature,

and in favor with God and man."

For me personally, I was challenged to pray for God to move in my

heart and the hearts of our teenagers.

Oh boy.....did He ever answer in a big way....... {To be continued}

Vacation Bible School!!

During the last full week of May, we sent Lexi off with my Mom

back to Ohio where Lexi visited for 8 days.

I prepared for and coordinated a beautiful wedding over the weekend,

and the following Monday the rest of our family jumped in to a fun week

packed with energy, excitement, surprises, and ministry!!

We have only two children left 

who are eligible to participate in VBS as students now,

but the older three were very eager to participate as helpers.

One thing that I love about our church family is that there is no age

turned away when it comes to ministering.

It is clearly understood that we were all created to glorify God

and is it routine practice for teenagers to learn to serve in a variety of capacities!

Ashlyn was a helper in the three-year old class.

Grant was a game time assistant, and Abby was a craft time assistant.

Anytime a group of believers comes together for the purpose of reaching the lost

the devil goes into overdrive and the spiritual battles become intense.

Our great enemy tries to distract and discourage us in a fascinating

variety of ways that never cease to amaze me!

I'm not as surprised by his wily ways as I get older

 and see this pattern nearly every time now.

This year was no different.

Usually here in Texas, it stops raining for the summer around the 1st of June.

So imagine our surprise when we had several unexpected strong thunderstorms

come through our area, usually overnight, causing some kind of freak damage.

On Monday evening, that exact thing happened

 and an electric pole on our church property snapped in two

resulting in a loss of electricity to the entire facility.

It took the local utility company the entire morning to repair this damage

which meant there was no other choice but to cancel VBS on Tuesday.

A first for Worth Baptist Church.

Oh, the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth as children {and parents}

from all over the Fort Worth area learned this terrible news.

What a trick!!!

But we saw through Satan's guise and wouldn't let this get us down.

Instead, we rested and refreshed and went gung-ho in the rest of the week!!

23 children came to know Christ as their Savior because of the tireless

efforts of God's people in spite of that set back.

This year, I had the incredible privilege of leading the 5-year old class.

We had an average of 18 kids per day in this class,

and they were adorable fun and wiggly!!

Every year I participate, it seems there is that one child who comes as a visitor

that presents us with very special challenges.

In the past, it was children with language barriers from a local refugee housing

complex who had a difficult time following directions,

or the boy from a broken home who came on the bus and didn't 

really even want to be there.

This year, on the very first day, I was presented with a young boy with autism.

Thankfully, he was very verbal, but he struggled with impulse control

and transitioning from one activity to another.

He also seemed very sensitive to loud noises.

It was a challenge to learn how to best communicate with him

and to re-direct his attention when he got frustrated as an activity ended.

My greatest desire was for him to understand how much Jesus loves him,

and I began saying that to him everyday!!

Imagine the blessing it was for me when, on Thursday,

I happily received a completely unsolicited "I love you!"

from this little boy!!!

I don't know if I will ever see him again,

but what a blessing to get to work with him and experience

the love of God through him!!!!