Praying for your future husband!!

          Hey gals! We talked about praying the other day, but now I want to give it a little twist. When was the last time you actually stopped and earnestly prayed for your future spouse? For some girls just moments ago and for others It’s been a while. I just want to challenge you to pray for your future husband. You may ask, “Why?? I haven’t even met him yet and besides that I have no idea what to pray for him about!” The thing is though right now he is somewhere in the world. Have you ever thought about that? He is making decisions right now that will affect him for the rest of his life. So why wait to pray for him? Should you wait to love him? NO! The same goes for praying for him! Here are a few ideas as to how to pray for him….

*That he seeks God in all he does

*That he does well in School/college (You want a smart man!)

*That he makes wise decisions concerning drugs, alcohol, and sex

*That he reads his Bible today (I pray this daily!)

*That he is stepping up and becoming a leader

*That he gets plenty of rest (I figure he needs to be well rested for meeting me someday! ;))

*Finally, that he honors God in everything he does

Will you pray for your future husband today? One day you will be able to tell him that you have been praying for him all this time as you waited on God to bring him to you!! What an awesome thought! J

JEN

Prayer...Do it NOW!

Hey girls! I'm back and it was an amazing mission trip!! :) There is one thing that God really layed on my heart was prayer. Something we hear about all the time, but rarely get serious about.

Girls, how often do we hear or say, "I'll be praying for you!" We here it often don't we? The thing is though how often do we earnestly pray for someone? I have a challenge! Pray immideately. What do i mean? Lately when someone ask me to pray for them or shares something with me that is bothering them instead of saying, "Ill pray for you!" and then possibly forgetting I ask if i can stop and pray right then. Ofcourse i still continue to pray for them afterwards, but girls prayer is powerful.... We HAVE to quit treating it like it is just a good idea! Fair warning though, some people may look at you like you are crazy bc this is not normal.... although give it a shot and the blessings will be unmeasurable! God wants to talk to you.... why wait to talk to Him?

JEN

Quick quick update!

I have ten minutes to tell a whole days worth of God moments!! Lets see if i can do it... :)

Yesterday was awesome!! We had around 65 kids in our first club and almost all knew (I'm talking word perfect) their verse! God promises His word will not return void....Amen?? There were no salivations, but the group is young and so many that are main focus is to just share the Gospel and get it out there as much as possible! As we were packing up I saw many moms laying on a picnic blanket reading the Gospel comin books we gave out to their kids.... A precious sight!!! Our second club has been kinda a hard club... its in a rough area and every day so far there have been "Gangs" (They are middle school/high school age, but the sad reality is they are a gang and can do major destruction. Well Tuesday they didn't want to come to club but they wanted the snacks so the pastor told them that they could have snacks, but they would have to come to club tomorrow. Well tomorrow came and you could hear them discussing whether or not they should come... One said I cant believe we have to do this, but the other said, "Dude... you have your word to the Priest!" (I laughed at there lack of knowledge... :) So they ended up coming and cutting the story short they accepted Christ.... They were amazed that God could take away their sins and they wanted that forgiveness SOOOO bad! PRAISE GOD! They finished out the club as totally new boys and asked if they could have a Bible and have someone pick them up for church! I pray they are back today and that they do not face much rebuttal from their peers.. Please pray with me... My final story is of a precious girl who God really layed on my heart. She is 9, but you can tell she takes care of the family. She brings all 4 of her younger siblings and takes perfect care of them. During invitation you could tell she wanted it, but was nervous. I decided i would talk to her later and God opened up the perfect opportunity! As we began to talk she kept saying she wanted to accept Christ, but that she was scared. I couldn't understand why someone would be scared... I would be scared not to! Come to find out her mother is strong in some other religion (I couldn't understand what one... she was talking very low at this point). Basically she was scared of what her mom would say/do if she accepted Christ. This broke my heart... Ive seen kids deny Christ, but it is not often one wants Him, but out of fear denies Him. I beg you to pray for this precious girl. I personally believe if she was to die she would go to Heaven for the simple fact she believes in Jesus, but is just scared. As we prayed after the club I began to cry b/c my heart was broken for this precious little girl....

Thanks for all the prayers and support!!!

JEN

Middle of the week update!

GOD IS DOING AWESOME THINGS!!! :) It's so humbling and amazing to watch God use us... just dirty rotten sinners for His glory! First off praise report and then prayer request...

Praise:

The total numbers for kids enrolled in  5 day clubs from this far.... right around 2,000 kids! How awesome is that?!?!? That's what I call shaking the doors of hell! Also, we were told that all the teams combined there have been around 260 professions of faith!!!!! This is just two days! Only God can do this! We are in the middle of a Mormon ran city... you see them everywhere and everyone just expects you to be a Mormon. Things are about to change though... I just feel it. God is not only stronger than the devil, but He is stronger than any other religion that does not truthfully proclaim the name of Christ!!! Our clubs went great today.... they took tonsssss of flexibility, but it all went great!

On to prayer request though..... Please guys and gals.... pray. We are in a tough battle and even though we are in the United States we are still running into many road blocks with cities and city officials. Please pray for stamina as we are teaching literally thousands of kids and are all exhausted. Besides that though... Pray for these kids and that they will be open to the Gospel. I cant tell you the heart ache of seeing these kids. Yes, I work with youth all the time that comes from bad homes, but this is worse than normal. One precious girl came to club yesterday and i noticed her face was all bruised and cut. I didn't ask b/c honestly i wasn't sure i could handle hearing what she would probably tell me happened. She asked later in the club though if she had to sing b/c her face hurt to bad to sing.... All I know to pray is that God gives her comfort. This is just one case.... there are plenty to tell. My God is the Father to the Fatherless and the shelter for those who are hurting. Pray that God opens doors and that we will also be able to talk to the parents! One lady brought her son today and as i was talking to her I asked if she went to church somewhere and she said no that they had just moved there and that they were looking for a church. To any missionary that is an automatic "CHA-CHING!" she continued on though to tell me that she guessed she should join the LDS church bc everyone else had. i begged her to consider the church we were working with and beg God to lead her there! Please pray with me! This is a major decision this lady has.

Well its late and it wont be long until we are up and at it again! Thanks for the prayers! :)

Love,
JEN

Update from Utah! :)

Hey gals! So, I think i mentioned it earlier, but I'm in Utah on a mission trip for all of last week and this next week to come! I'm here with CEF (Child Evangelism Fellowship) and God is doing amazing things! It's kinda late here and im tired, but i just wanted to catch you all up on whats going on and how you can PLEASE pray! We will begin teaching three clubs (All in parks) next Monday. I'm super excited! We went to meet the church that's supporting us and they seem precious! So far we have just been training and getting to know each other. There are people from ALL over the US! Its totally amazing. They all seem like like my southern draw! :) Anywho... some ways to pray!

~Open hearts from the people and kids.... many have been for lack of better words harrassed by Mormons many times and so when they see anyone out like that they seem to run.

~Group unity... we all come from different places and different styles of teaching! Pray that God will bond us together!


~Just a passion to love these kids.... We are prepared for it to get hard, but pray that God's love still just overflows from us!

~ REST! We have been sleeping, but when sleeping on the semi floor no matter how long you lay there It's not the same as a real bed. So please just pray for true rest!

 My team on top of the mountain!

 Once again,. My team!

Beautiful Snow covered Mountains!

 View from the parking lot!

My  home away from home! 

Thanks for the prayers!! JEN

Tough Subject- Homosexuality

This is a very tough subject, but it is something that is very prevalent right now and we can not just overlook it like it doesn't exist. So, open up your mind and dig into God's word to see what HE has to say! We aren't going to say what your momma might say or what your grandparents might think. Now if their views line up with God we will, but we are here to see what God thinks! Lets get down to the basics....

~ Is homosexuality a sin? Yes- Leviticus 8 22 (NLT) Do not practice homosexuality; it is a detestable sin.

~ Are you born a homosexual? Yes, (Not what you thought i would say? Read below to understand my answer!) Genesis 1:25-26 (NLT) God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to produce offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”

~ Can you help being homosexual? Yes

~ Are those who are active homosexuals allowed into Heaven? No-  1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (NLT) Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.

~ Does God love those who are Homosexual? Yes- Romans 5:8 For yet while we were still sinners Christ died for us.

Are you thoroughly confused? I hope not, but just in case you are I'm going to explain! Yes we saw above how the Bible clearly says homosexuality is a sin. That is not the way God created it to be! Moving on though... Are you born Homosexual? There is much controversy over this, but here's the bottom line. We are all born sinners. We are born with a want-to sin. Did your mom ever have to sit you down and teach you how to lie or be mean? No! You were born knowing how to sin. It's the same with homosexuality, but being born knowing how is not an excuse.... We are still held accountable for our sins (Rom 5:8)! Can you help being homosexual? I firmly believe yes! Here is the thing girls.... being tempted is not sinning.... Jesus was tempted! It is the act of giving in that is sin. You may not be able to help having those "feelings" but like i said earlier you are still held accountable for sinning if you give in. Also, Jesus promises in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that He will ALWAYS give you a way out! The world feeds us all these excuses like there is just no way to fight it or its a hopeless case, but is it? NO! With God all things are possible! Next, are homosexuals allowed into Heaven? This is a tough one to grasp, but no. This is a well debated topic and many of you might disagree, but here is the thing.... Anyone who accepts Christ as their Savior is allowed into Heaven, but here is the catch... If you are TRULY a Christian you will want to obey God and by doing that  you will not actively be living a homosexual type of lifestyle. There are the verses that talk about homosexuals will not be allowed into Heaven at all, but please do not take those so literally that you believe there is no forgiveness for them. That is not true! 1 John1:9 says it as clear as day that if you confess your sins He is FAITHFUL and just to cleanse you! Remember also, it is not a sin to be tempted.... Once you become a Christian if you have lived a life of homosexuality in the past and are now trying to overcome it that is perfectly fine! It is just like an alcoholic with a terrible alcohol addiction coming to Christ. Will he all of the sudden have no want for alcohol? Sometimes yes, but the majority of the time no.... He will still struggle. The same is for those who struggle with homosexuality. It is ok to be tempted! It is just not ok to give in. Finally, Does God love those who proclaim to be homosexual? YES! He loved them enough to send His Son to die for them and He already knew what they would do and how they would live! Did that stop Him or even slow Him down? No! That just encouraged Him to go through with it. If you are struggling with homosexuality.... GOD LOVES YOU! If you have a friend or know of someone who struggles with homosexuality...... GOD LOVES THEM! You need to love them also! If they are actively practicing this type of lifestyle i encourage you to not make them a close friend, but still love them and encourage them to make wise decisions! If they have in the past and are now trying to change be there for them and get them the help they need! This will be a daily battle and they will need you!

JEN

A cool mental pic! :)

--------------GIRLS------
------------
-----------ARE LIKE APPLES------
-------ON TREES. THE BEST ONES-----
-----ARE AT THE TOP OF THE TREE.-----
---THE BOYS DON’T WANT TO REACH---
--FOR THE GOOD ONES BECAUSE THEY--
-R AFRAID OF FALLING & GETTING HURT
-INSTEAD, THEY GET THE ROTTEN APPLES-
FROM THE GROUND THAT AREN’T AS GOOD,
BUT EASY. SO THE APPLES UP TOP THINK
SOMETHING WRONG WITH THEM WHEN IN
-REALITY THEY’RE AMAZING. THEY JUST--
---HAVE TO WAIT FOR THE RIGHT BOY TO
----COME ALONG, THE ONE WHO’S-
-----------BRAVE ENOUGH TO-----
---------------CLIMB ALL---------
---------------THE WAY--------
--------------TO THE TOP--------