What has been happening and What is to come....

Thank you all so much for your patience! I tend to get off track with my posts. I received a couple of phone calls and cards over the past two weeks that were really encouraging. Thanks again for making it a point to encourage, pray, and support me.

What's been happening at Mission Centers of Houston? What is to come?
Last weekend we had our annual Winter Experience Banquet fundraiser. Our goal was $50,000. Due to the increased number of people we are serving, and the declining economy we were praying that God would provide this amount. In the worst economy as we've been told by news anchors and analysts everywhere, God provided $50,000!!! Since last Friday night other checks have come in as a result of the banquet. God can clearly do more than we could ask or imagine.

We have another fundraiser coming up soon. It's an annual golf tournament. Unfortunately, we were told in our staff meeting on Friday that our two underwriters for the tournament are financially unable to underwrite the event this year. Pray that God will work in the hearts of those He seeks to use to provide for every need here at MCH.

Spring Break is only days away for many people who will be coming to serve at the three mission centers. We are so excited!! Teams coming from different parts of the U.S. will be serving with us to meet the needs of our community. Many have done inner city ministry before, but for the ones who have not it will definitely be an eye-opening experience. Pray that these students will see how God is using this ministry in Houston, and take it back to their own communities to be the hands and feet of Jesus or even decide to come back and serve during the summer. :)

SUMMER MISSIONARIES!!
Obviously I'm excited about the summer. This past week we were given contact information for 7 new missionaries that will be joining us this summer! Please pray that God will prepare these students and that he will send more workers! We need girls and GUYS! I stress this because there's almost always enough girls, but unfortunately always a shortage of guys. We want strong male role models for our boys and young men who are growing up without these godly men to look up to. We know that God is faithful and He WILL provide!


Reload Conference:
Yesterday, we attended an urban youth workers' conference called Reload. It was geared towards church youth groups and the leaders. Though we are a non-profit, we were encouraged and challenged none the less. The main speaker made a statement that is not new information and is found in the Bible. For some reason it finally clicked in my mind... This is paraphrased, Many of you are exhausted and ready to quit working with the youth in your churches and communities because you are doing all the work! He then followed by reading this verse:
"Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to EQUIP God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. Ephesians 4:11-12

We equip our students so that they can build up the church. We teach students so that they will be equipped to reach other students. We have youth ministries, not just youth groups that are based on a "teacher" popping in a video and then asking a few questions afterwards. No wonder the youth stop coming when there's no money to buy pizza each week. Jesus reached the world through a few disciples. I think we can all benefit from looking at His example. God, help us to get it right!

Events at Joy Mission Center:
Thursday we had about 20 beginning nursing students from HBU (Houston Baptist University) who came in and hosted our Health Fair for the community. We had almost 90 people from the community who attended. We had just about as many kids as we had adults! :) People were broken into small groups and each group rotated to the next booth when the time was up. The demonstrations ranged from managing blood pressure and blood sugar to more kid friendly demonstrations of how to wash your hands properly and how to brush and floss properly. As I walked around to make sure we had enough people to translate for the community, many of the kids who come to our afternoon programs would run up and tell me about how dirty their hands were after they thought they had washed them properly. (They told me as they grabbed my hand) :) There were also booths set up that addressed ways to prevent diabetes as well as information on a healthy diet for kids and adults. It was great to see so many parents with their kids!

Preteens & Teens
We had one of our preteens move up to the teen group this week. Roberto is such a bright young man and has a desire to serve. Normally, the teens don't like to pray aloud in front of the rest of the teens but I was so encouraged this week because Roberto who normally prays in preteens volunteered to open and close our Bible study in prayer. This may not seem like much but he is the youngest in the group! He knows that he could get picked on but he doesn't care. He made the statement a few weeks ago that he is not ashamed to talk to God in front of people and other people who say they are Christians shouldn't be either. I'm thankful for Roberto and his family. He is the son of one of our faithful volunteers at joy and he and his family have grown up at Joy. God is doing great things through this family and many others in our community!

Speaking of our Community!
As I have told you before, the number of people we serve each day is increasing as each new day comes. Last week, we set another record since the beginning of the year. The most we had served in one day thus far was 70; last week we served 77 in a single day. Please pray that each person who comes into the center experiences the love of God as we seek to serve God and reach our community through meeting their needs.

Why do we do it?
Many have asked me why I would come to Houston. "You could go teach somewhere else." "Why don't you go to China and teach English, or anywhere else? You can make more money!" Many of my other co-workers are asked the same questions on a normal basis. While I could teach somewhere else, and "use" my teaching degree (in a more common setting than how it is used everyday here in Houston) I choose to remain where God has placed me.
Paul said it best in 2 Corinthians 6:10

"Our hears ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing but we have EVERYTHING! :)

What we do now, will impact generations! I'll be here until God moves me! :)