I am Free...

"I have been in bondage for over 20 years... and now I am free."
"I am leaving here a changed woman... I am choosing to forgive."
"All of the bitterness and anger and hurt stays here, I am not taking it with me. I am Free!"
Over and over testimonies like this were shared at the closing session of the women's retreat held last weekend in Atlacamulco, Mexico. I sat in awe at how big and great God is.. how He works and changes lives in powerful ways...I praise you Lord Jesus!
It had been my awesome privilege to speak and minister at this conference alongside fellow OMS missionary Shirley Carlson. The theme, selected by the women's leadership committee, was Choosing Forgiveness and we watched God work in miraculous ways as woman after woman had encounters with God... and as they chose to forgive those who had hurt them...and to move forward in their walk with Jesus.
Our message to the women was simple:
God's word is clear.... we are commanded to forgive. Luke 6:37 tells us "Forgive others and you will be forgiven." Did you read that clearly? Jesus is telling us that we are expected to forgive others and if we do so that we too will be forgiven. Clearly choosing to not forgive means that a barrier is put between us and God - that we loose complete, unhindered access to Him and His all encompassing forgiveness.
How about in the powerful Lords prayer... you know it... "Father forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors..."
What if God only forgave you to the same degree that you have forgiven others.... For me, the thought of this is terrifying... yet God's word is clear. There is no room in the Christian walk for unresolved anger, bitterness or hurt.
Perhaps you are thinking, "But surely you can not mean that I should forgive so and so for the horrible, terrible things they have done?" Yes, even them says God.
Consider one woman I counseled at the retreat. She came near me and asked for some advice. She wanted to forgive her husband but needed help. She went on to explain that for the past 15 years her husband has had two families, two wives in a sense, 3 children with each of them (she was the first wife - having been married to her husband for over 20 years) and he spent alternating days with each family. Her pain was so great... She wanted him to just leave her and the kids- but he wouldn't and she needed his paycheck (the portion she received) to survive and feed her children. Over the next hour she shared how he forced her to have sex with him to have money for groceries, how he manipulated her and abused her. The story was so terrible I had a hard time really grasping all she shared...
At the end she said - help me to forgive him..... and all I wanted to say was, "NO, God doesn't mean this terrible man - he does not deserve forgiveness...." and yet God even asks us to forgive him. I shared with this dear, sweet, broken and battered woman that the only way she could forgive was in Jesus' power... and that as a child of God she has access to the same power of God that raised Jesus from the grave! Imagine - you and I have access to this power and clearly there are many, many cases in this life that we must access this power to fully forgive someone. There are offenses so great and hurts so deep that only the supernatural grace and power of Jesus make it possible for us to experience the peace that comes from a life free of anger and bitterness - a life characterized by forgiveness.
How I praise God for the way He worked in the women's lives that weekend! It was an awesome time....

The women gathered together at the retreat! We were in the beautiful mountains.. it was cold! (and there was no heat!)

A big focus of our time at the retreat was seeking God in prayer....

Sharing with the women...

In addition to the weekend retreat I had the privilege to share with the pastors wives at a breakfast, at a gathering of women in the Campanario church and with the leadership teams of MOPS and womens ministry. In every encounter I was blown away by the way Jesus is working.... and more importantly by the way women are responding. There is an intense hunger to love God more, to know Him more, to grow close to Him.... How I pray that I too can cultivate a heart that craves more of Jesus!

Wednesday night, speaking at the Campanario church.

After the speech Wednesday night the women were invited to break in to small groups and share how God was speaking to their hearts.

Meeting with the women in leadership.... (there is always food!) YUM!

Campanario Womens Retreat...

I am so beyond excited and honored that in October I will have a chance to return to Mexico to minister to the women of the Campanario church at their women's retreat. Will you pray for the Lord to move in mighty ways during the 16- 18 of October as we meet together. I have invited our dear friend Tania, an amazing women, but resistant to the message of the cross. Please join me in praying for her salvation.

Alan & the start of a new ministry

It has been an awesome joy to have our dear friend Alan here from Mexico. Alan is family to us and while he is in an intensive training seminar we are soaking him up every chance we get - we have enjoyed spending the past two weekends with him. Last week we took Alan to a very authentic Mexican area of Indy and enjoyed a Mexican meal. The Lord led Christian and Alan and some others from the training back to that same location today to share Jesus with the workers and to sow some seeds for future ministry. We praise God that three Mexican's accepted Jesus today through the groups efforts. We covet your prayers as we seek the guidance of the Lord for future ministry.

Christian and Alan

Christian and a church planting worker from Spain pray with this man as
he gives his life to Jesus.

Mexico....

While we have physically left the beautiful country of Mexico, we have stayed incredible busy working with OMS over the past few months. We were excited to have four couples attend the three week cross training session that will be serving as missionaries in Mexico. We loved getting together with them, answering questions and praying over them. Steve and Helen and their baby girl Nisha came and spent a Sunday afternoon with us...it was lovely to get to know how we can be praying for them.

Nisha and Helen with Maddie in our front yard.

This past week we had the opportunity to speak at OMS chapel (Christian pictured below) and to share our hearts with the missionaries working at headquarters here in Indiana. It was a beautiful chance to re-connect and share how God is working in our lives. Robin stayed for a two day coaching seminar...watch for future updates about how the Lord is guiding her to use all she has learned.

We wrapped up our week with a supporter dessert on Saturday at OMS. Thank you to all who attended. We are humbled by your friendship and love. It was a wonderful time to re-cap our four years in Mexico.

Friends gathered and enjoyed delicious desserts. Below, Rita worked our registration table...thanks Rita!

You are Invited....

Who: All of our friends, family and supporters
What: are invited to a dessert reception where we will share with you news of our term in Mexico and future plans we have in ministry.
When: Saturday, August 1st, 4:00 - 5:00 (we will speak at 4:30pm)
Where: OMS Headquarters in Greenwood, IN (941 Fry Road)
Why: We want a chance to share the way Jesus has worked in Mexico, to update you on our ministry plans, to thank you for partnering with us and to introduce you to some options for continued support.

We hope you can make it!

OMS conference

Today was the final day for the OMS International Conference here in Indianapolis. It was great for us to get to see everyone and to hear all of the reports from around the world in OMS. We praise God for how He is working through this organization. It was also a special time for us to be present for the commissioning of Jonny and Julie Pollock. It gave me chills to hear the President of OMS, David Long, give a charge to the missionaries being commissioned..... That they serve a Holy and just God that loves them dearly and that will provide all that they need.

Jonny and Julie speaking at the OMS conference.

It was wonderful to visit with missionaries from all over the world and working in all areas of OMS....

Missions in the Midwest Conference and the Pollocks are here!

This weekend is the OMS Missions in the Midwest conference here in Indianapolis. Christian attended last night and was blessed by the opportunity to see so many dear friends and colleagues. We are still in the process of defining what our role will be with OMS and how we will serve the organization - one thing we know for sure, we are thankful to be a part of the OMS organization and we praise God for so many willing servants who serve Jesus through OMS.
Some of those whom we praise God for are the Pollock family... We have blogged about them often in the past. They served with us in Mexico and we have grown to love them dearly. What a treat to have them staying with us this week while they attend the conference and prepare for three weeks of training at the OMS headquarters. Please pray for them and for baby Ben as they live out of suitcases for the month of July and as they endure the Indiana heat!