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Another summer comes to a close...


It has been nice to have some time after the busy summer to be able to get back into more intentional quiet time and prayer with my Lord.  I have to say that during the summer I got out of my morning routine of spending time with God because of various excuses I gave myself.  It got to the point that the Holy Spirit convicted me that I was not spending time with Him when I so desperately need it.  I was grumbling and mumbling because of not spending time with my Lord.  I was out of sync with Him.

Recently, I have intentionally taken time to pray, think, and brainstorm regarding the various things this fall that in God's timing will happen.  I don't know if you are like me, but I can have many ideas flowing in my mind, which I need to write them down or I will forget.  It has always been interesting how God gives me these ideas because usually it seems like I first have to wade through the "writer's block" before ideas coming pouring our.  The "writer's block" is me spending time with God.  Being in His presence.  Occasionally an idea comes during my time alone with God but usually it comes afterwards.   It can come through reading God's Word.  It can come through a song I'm listening to or a song I start humming or singing.  It can come through I book that I am reading.

I have been praying about what I should teach for our Women's Bible study this fall/winter.  I had a few ideas.  But it wasn't until this past weekend that God solidified in my spirit what I should teach the women.  God placed on my heart for us to know God.  Many of us know of God but do we truly know God?  When we know God we have a more intimate relationship with Him.  Even our prayer life is more enhanced when we really, truly know God.  We want to be in His presence and to spend time with Him.  I am really excited about knowing God and taking a deeper look into what God tells us about Himself in the Bible, which is His story.

I am also looking forward to start a study or teaching on resolving conflict in a healthy, biblical way.  As we dive into Scripture of how Jesus tells us to handle and resolve conflict and use the book, The Peacemaker by Ken Sande.  My prayer and hope is that during this intentional time together with my fellow missionaries that we will know God, his heart regarding conflicts and how to love one another in the good, the bad, the messy, and the ugly.  How do we glorify God when in the trenches of conflict and/or helping others in resolving conflicts?  It's a self-evaluation of how we deal with conflict and why we deal with it the way we do.  How do we learn and apply the gospel to dealing with conflict - God's approach?

I am excited to share that September 14th to 17th will be Kids Alive's first member care conference!  We have Renae (Guatemala), Mark (Peru), Wendy (VP of Operations in Africa), Julia (US office), Benjamin (VP of Operations in Latin America), and myself meeting together for the very first time in person.  The weekend will consist of getting to know one another but hopefully focusing on our vision and goals for member care as an organization.  We have some things that we would really like to discuss and plan.  Be praying for our time together as God gives us wisdom, discernment, guidance and direction for member care in Kids Alive International.

There are many more things that will be happening...missionary retreat, evaluations, checking in with all the missionaries, especially those who were gone for the summer, etc.  Please keep me in your prayers as well as our ministry here in the Dominican Republic.


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