Hey - it's been a long time...
I wanted to post a blog asking for my followers and supporters to PRAY for me to yield to GOD's will for me. A couple of weeks ago I felt God tell me to apply for the Global Expeditions Panama holiday trip! I thought it was a CRAZY idea being that I asked last summer and He told me to wait. Then, I realized God wants me to rely solely on HIM! I have to believe He can do miraculous things!
So for this reason I am placed on the Panama 2010 Holiday trip and I am freaking out for many reasons... raising money, getting on more planes, trusting God, the intensity of this trip (no running water, sleeping in hammocks) AHHHHH!! is what i feel like right now, but I am turning over my will and becoming powerless in God's hands. I no longer want to stand in God's way!
Please pray for me and my trip. I need peace and hope that God can do the impossible - and that i raise $2024 for this trip!
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
God has done it AGAIN....
GOD provides!!!
After not even 2 full weeks of fundraising - I have received more than enough for my $249 deposit for a trip next summer!
Please be in prayer with me about where I will be going (I'm praying about Nepal and India each for a month) and I believe God is going to do amazing things like He did in South Africa!!!
Thanks all for the support and for your prayers! James 5:16b "the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."
I believe this next mission trip needs to be saturated in prayer!!!
Hearts and souls touched and won for the kingdom...
My scripture --> JAMES 1:27 "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself upspotted from the world."
If you are reading this - please pray this prayer with me and that my heart is changed for missions and that my desire is in alignment with God!
It's all about the kingdom!!!
After not even 2 full weeks of fundraising - I have received more than enough for my $249 deposit for a trip next summer!
Please be in prayer with me about where I will be going (I'm praying about Nepal and India each for a month) and I believe God is going to do amazing things like He did in South Africa!!!
Thanks all for the support and for your prayers! James 5:16b "the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."
I believe this next mission trip needs to be saturated in prayer!!!
Hearts and souls touched and won for the kingdom...
My scripture --> JAMES 1:27 "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself upspotted from the world."
If you are reading this - please pray this prayer with me and that my heart is changed for missions and that my desire is in alignment with God!
It's all about the kingdom!!!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Back from South Africa.....
Hey friends and fellow bloggers! 
Well, it's been 3 weeks since I've been back from my mission trip in South Africa.
It's hard to know where to begin when hundreds of memories constantly flood your memory.. Even as I'm typing now I'm wanting to share all the great stories from our group and ministry in the refugee camps. Instead I will share the overall fabric of our group that made this experience awesome for me!
The entire group on the trip was 65 people with our youngest missionary being Abi who was 5 months - she was our Project Directors, Jacob and Betsy's child! Also our oldest missionary was Grandpa Joe came along to witness as well as share in nanny duties with his wife, Sandy to watch Abi. We had 6 Team Leaders and 54 missionaries! My team had 19 people including myself and my co-leader Mike -
I know I am biased but I have to say that my team was so fun and we had alot of fun serving and witnessing together in South Africa. There were definitely our bright shining moments, but we also cried together as well as we saw some very tough situations occuring within the communities in Diepsloot and Kya Sands (http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/06/29/world/20090629SAFRICA_index.html)This is an article I found online describing the crime in the very area we were in written a year ago.
But among the seeing the poverty and condition of living there we did see many healings, salvations, even saw some of our own group members receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost and get water baptized, but out of all these awesome and wonderful things, I believe it is the things we did not see, that left me so encouraged at the end of this trip. WHAT? Yes, the things we did not see... Before you begin to rebuke me, I will explain.
Our group went out to ministry 6 days of the week (saturday was 1/2 day of ministry) with the goal to constantly penetrate and spread the gospel to young and old within the squatter camps. I would say we were very successful with our mission teams goal with reaching over 600 salvations this summer! But it was how I saw our team handle the tough situations that will forever change my life.
One day, towards the end of ministry, I went to check on one of my MIGS (small groups of 4-5 missionaries) and saw two of the girls in that MIG crying and asking me to come and pray over this baby. I followed them into the shack they were in to see a mother crying and holding her baby in a blanket. As I got closer, I saw the baby's eyes were almost welded shut with some ooze coming out of it, and saw a purple or bluish liquid coming out of his mouth. The mother reported not knowing what was wrong with the baby and that the clinic could not tell her either. He had been like this for a few weeks. We prayed over the child and prayed.....AND prayed...but we only had a small span of time before we had to be back at our bus to leave for the day. Should we keep praying or leave? We started to leave and my co-leader Mike asked if the woman was saved.. I didn't know so I asked the girls who had been at the house and they said they didn't ask her. We went back into the shack and decided it was worth being late to present the gospel to her and share with her how Jesus died for her. Even in the emotional state we were all in.. She accepted Christ... and I remember getting convicted that in that moment, I had let myself and my team be more interested in seeing that baby healed then this woman spending eternity with Christ. I repented and as we walked back to the bus me and the two girls decided to prayer walk still believing that that child would be healed!
We prayed to the bus, and when we got on the bus we shared the story and prayed as a team for this child. In that prayer one of our guys in their MIG said that God shared with him that the next time that mother washes her child's face, that disease and sickness will leave him. I remember a spiritual release happening like never before. My tears stopped and I realized that our GOD is sooo much bigger than us! He is bigger even when our focus is more on seeing miracles than believing in them! He is bigger than us choosing miracles over salvation and HE is bigger than even our motives. In that moment I had peace in knowing that this was from the Lord and that he was going to heal that child and I had to accept that I may not get to see it. I knew in my heart that God was so much bigger than I made HIM out to be and I repented of not believing that He would heal that child. A couple days later that MIG had a chance to go back to that hut and the mother reported that the child had been healed from whatever it was - it was GONE!!! PRAISE GOD!!!
This is one of the moments where the teens on my team encouraged me to believe in our God no matter what we see! This also showed us that we may not always get to see the end result of our prayers but we have to believe that our prayers are being heard. This encouraged me for the rest of the trip that even those people who did not choose to receive Jesus Christ, that someone else would share with them and continue to water the seed we planted.
I was very blessed to have such an amazing group of people to work with this summer. We truly served one another in this way. We grew in love with the word and continued to share God's love even as we left South Africa and our team led people to Christ in the airport on the way back.
Our mission is not over simply because we have left the "mission field" - this trip has propelled us into knowing that the mission field is right where we are! It is in our city, our neighbors, our classmates, colleagues - the list goes on! We have so much influence and I know that this trip has taught me how to be approachable and how to approach people and have conversations that lead to a decision-making point in christ.
I remember as the trip was ending, not wanting to come home. I even grew bitter and upset at how "good" we have it compared to them, but God had to remind me that He loves America too! He wants all people to be saved and although we may have greater wealth than some countries - there are people in America that are spiritually poor that need to experience His love. God has opened my eyes to the greatest miracle ever which is salvation - and that we cannot take for granted the light we have inside of us and go out and share it with all - rich or poor, it doesn't matter!
Below are some pics from Ministry with brief descriptions! Also a copy to my facebook or photobucket albums which have many more pics. I'm working on a powerpoint which will hopefully paint even better of a picture of my time in South Africa!
Cool South African Teens
These are some awesome South African teens we met in Diepsloot squatter camp. They looked bored when we approached them so we stopped to chat with them. After realizing that they spoke really good English we just went for it. They were asking us about all the celebrities we had met in America so I took a big leap and decided to bring up another celebrity they might've heard of - JESUS CHRIST! They laughed and the most vocal girl - seen in the grey shirt with the hat, said that she had heard the gospel. So I asked her, what choice did you make when you heard it, did you receive Christ or reject the message? She said she rejected the message. Her friends seemed to be in agreement. Her and her friends went on to say their reasoning behind not believing in Christ. It ranged from the gospel being a "rich people religion" and questions about theology popped up, but God gave me such boldness with these teens like never before. I began to shift the focus from those things to God the creator and the reason for Jesus Christ dying. I spoke about the suffering found in the book of Acts for Christ's name sake and all of a sudden I was on my knees in the dirt looking up to these teens (they were sitting on buckets) and I was pouring out my heart and sharing some of my testimony. I was filled with such passion that I even shared why we travelled so far in order to share this message - because it is real and it changed our lives. I told them we aren't getting paid for this, in fact I specifically had to raise every penny to get here. After sharing I laid the same choices on the table - to accept or reject the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ. I was able to lead all four to Jesus Christ that day because they accepted the message. My MIG and I were able to go inside one of the young ladies homes and begin to give them the next steps in how to walk out this decision! Such a cool moment!
Diepsloot Squatter Camp
Picture of one of the Squatter camps we were in for ministry on this trip. This is a typical scenery for the areas we witnessed in.
Kids in South Africa
This is a picture of some kids we were playing games with in the street. They had some fun circle type games that i picked up on with the words in zulu and when I spoke to another missionary - one of the boys (towards bottom of pic) heard I spoke English and he pointed and said "american, american" So I teased him the rest of the type because he obviously thought I was from there..hahaha
book of Esther
This is one of my missionaries, Lindsay, on ministry. She met this woman whose name was Esther and she asked her if she knew the story of Esther in the bible and she said she didn't and it was found out that this woman was not saved. Lindsay whipped out her bible and read the entire book of Esther to this woman and this woman was so touched that she wanted to receive Jesus as her Lord and Saviour!
Sharing the gospel to all!
This was a cool moment because as Lindsay was in this picture sharing the gospel to some kids in the alley, I was on the other side of our translator JJ, sharing the gospel with one of these kids' mothers and some other women. I thought this was a cool moment because as Lindsay began to share with the kids, these women gathered around to listen. But since Lindsay was gearing her message towards children I jumped in and went for it with the women. I shared my testimony and the power that this gospel message had on my life and I got to lead all four of those women to Christ. All the kids received the message and accepted Christ as well as the women (unfortunately, me and women are not pictured but I definitely remember this moment)!
Photobucket Album
http://s941.photobucket.com/albums/ad258/MissRhemma22/SOUTH%20AFRICA%20-%20MINISTRY/
theses pictures are not organized in this album but I'm working on it =)
Please comment with questions or anything and I would love to talk more about this trip!
Well, it's been 3 weeks since I've been back from my mission trip in South Africa.
It's hard to know where to begin when hundreds of memories constantly flood your memory.. Even as I'm typing now I'm wanting to share all the great stories from our group and ministry in the refugee camps. Instead I will share the overall fabric of our group that made this experience awesome for me!
The entire group on the trip was 65 people with our youngest missionary being Abi who was 5 months - she was our Project Directors, Jacob and Betsy's child! Also our oldest missionary was Grandpa Joe came along to witness as well as share in nanny duties with his wife, Sandy to watch Abi. We had 6 Team Leaders and 54 missionaries! My team had 19 people including myself and my co-leader Mike -
I know I am biased but I have to say that my team was so fun and we had alot of fun serving and witnessing together in South Africa. There were definitely our bright shining moments, but we also cried together as well as we saw some very tough situations occuring within the communities in Diepsloot and Kya Sands (http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/06/29/world/20090629SAFRICA_index.html)This is an article I found online describing the crime in the very area we were in written a year ago.
But among the seeing the poverty and condition of living there we did see many healings, salvations, even saw some of our own group members receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost and get water baptized, but out of all these awesome and wonderful things, I believe it is the things we did not see, that left me so encouraged at the end of this trip. WHAT? Yes, the things we did not see... Before you begin to rebuke me, I will explain.
Our group went out to ministry 6 days of the week (saturday was 1/2 day of ministry) with the goal to constantly penetrate and spread the gospel to young and old within the squatter camps. I would say we were very successful with our mission teams goal with reaching over 600 salvations this summer! But it was how I saw our team handle the tough situations that will forever change my life.
One day, towards the end of ministry, I went to check on one of my MIGS (small groups of 4-5 missionaries) and saw two of the girls in that MIG crying and asking me to come and pray over this baby. I followed them into the shack they were in to see a mother crying and holding her baby in a blanket. As I got closer, I saw the baby's eyes were almost welded shut with some ooze coming out of it, and saw a purple or bluish liquid coming out of his mouth. The mother reported not knowing what was wrong with the baby and that the clinic could not tell her either. He had been like this for a few weeks. We prayed over the child and prayed.....AND prayed...but we only had a small span of time before we had to be back at our bus to leave for the day. Should we keep praying or leave? We started to leave and my co-leader Mike asked if the woman was saved.. I didn't know so I asked the girls who had been at the house and they said they didn't ask her. We went back into the shack and decided it was worth being late to present the gospel to her and share with her how Jesus died for her. Even in the emotional state we were all in.. She accepted Christ... and I remember getting convicted that in that moment, I had let myself and my team be more interested in seeing that baby healed then this woman spending eternity with Christ. I repented and as we walked back to the bus me and the two girls decided to prayer walk still believing that that child would be healed!
We prayed to the bus, and when we got on the bus we shared the story and prayed as a team for this child. In that prayer one of our guys in their MIG said that God shared with him that the next time that mother washes her child's face, that disease and sickness will leave him. I remember a spiritual release happening like never before. My tears stopped and I realized that our GOD is sooo much bigger than us! He is bigger even when our focus is more on seeing miracles than believing in them! He is bigger than us choosing miracles over salvation and HE is bigger than even our motives. In that moment I had peace in knowing that this was from the Lord and that he was going to heal that child and I had to accept that I may not get to see it. I knew in my heart that God was so much bigger than I made HIM out to be and I repented of not believing that He would heal that child. A couple days later that MIG had a chance to go back to that hut and the mother reported that the child had been healed from whatever it was - it was GONE!!! PRAISE GOD!!!
This is one of the moments where the teens on my team encouraged me to believe in our God no matter what we see! This also showed us that we may not always get to see the end result of our prayers but we have to believe that our prayers are being heard. This encouraged me for the rest of the trip that even those people who did not choose to receive Jesus Christ, that someone else would share with them and continue to water the seed we planted.
I was very blessed to have such an amazing group of people to work with this summer. We truly served one another in this way. We grew in love with the word and continued to share God's love even as we left South Africa and our team led people to Christ in the airport on the way back.
Our mission is not over simply because we have left the "mission field" - this trip has propelled us into knowing that the mission field is right where we are! It is in our city, our neighbors, our classmates, colleagues - the list goes on! We have so much influence and I know that this trip has taught me how to be approachable and how to approach people and have conversations that lead to a decision-making point in christ.
I remember as the trip was ending, not wanting to come home. I even grew bitter and upset at how "good" we have it compared to them, but God had to remind me that He loves America too! He wants all people to be saved and although we may have greater wealth than some countries - there are people in America that are spiritually poor that need to experience His love. God has opened my eyes to the greatest miracle ever which is salvation - and that we cannot take for granted the light we have inside of us and go out and share it with all - rich or poor, it doesn't matter!
Below are some pics from Ministry with brief descriptions! Also a copy to my facebook or photobucket albums which have many more pics. I'm working on a powerpoint which will hopefully paint even better of a picture of my time in South Africa!
Cool South African Teens
These are some awesome South African teens we met in Diepsloot squatter camp. They looked bored when we approached them so we stopped to chat with them. After realizing that they spoke really good English we just went for it. They were asking us about all the celebrities we had met in America so I took a big leap and decided to bring up another celebrity they might've heard of - JESUS CHRIST! They laughed and the most vocal girl - seen in the grey shirt with the hat, said that she had heard the gospel. So I asked her, what choice did you make when you heard it, did you receive Christ or reject the message? She said she rejected the message. Her friends seemed to be in agreement. Her and her friends went on to say their reasoning behind not believing in Christ. It ranged from the gospel being a "rich people religion" and questions about theology popped up, but God gave me such boldness with these teens like never before. I began to shift the focus from those things to God the creator and the reason for Jesus Christ dying. I spoke about the suffering found in the book of Acts for Christ's name sake and all of a sudden I was on my knees in the dirt looking up to these teens (they were sitting on buckets) and I was pouring out my heart and sharing some of my testimony. I was filled with such passion that I even shared why we travelled so far in order to share this message - because it is real and it changed our lives. I told them we aren't getting paid for this, in fact I specifically had to raise every penny to get here. After sharing I laid the same choices on the table - to accept or reject the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ. I was able to lead all four to Jesus Christ that day because they accepted the message. My MIG and I were able to go inside one of the young ladies homes and begin to give them the next steps in how to walk out this decision! Such a cool moment!
Diepsloot Squatter Camp
Picture of one of the Squatter camps we were in for ministry on this trip. This is a typical scenery for the areas we witnessed in.
Kids in South Africa
This is a picture of some kids we were playing games with in the street. They had some fun circle type games that i picked up on with the words in zulu and when I spoke to another missionary - one of the boys (towards bottom of pic) heard I spoke English and he pointed and said "american, american" So I teased him the rest of the type because he obviously thought I was from there..hahaha
book of Esther
This is one of my missionaries, Lindsay, on ministry. She met this woman whose name was Esther and she asked her if she knew the story of Esther in the bible and she said she didn't and it was found out that this woman was not saved. Lindsay whipped out her bible and read the entire book of Esther to this woman and this woman was so touched that she wanted to receive Jesus as her Lord and Saviour!
Sharing the gospel to all!
This was a cool moment because as Lindsay was in this picture sharing the gospel to some kids in the alley, I was on the other side of our translator JJ, sharing the gospel with one of these kids' mothers and some other women. I thought this was a cool moment because as Lindsay began to share with the kids, these women gathered around to listen. But since Lindsay was gearing her message towards children I jumped in and went for it with the women. I shared my testimony and the power that this gospel message had on my life and I got to lead all four of those women to Christ. All the kids received the message and accepted Christ as well as the women (unfortunately, me and women are not pictured but I definitely remember this moment)!
Photobucket Album
http://s941.photobucket.com/albums/ad258/MissRhemma22/SOUTH%20AFRICA%20-%20MINISTRY/
theses pictures are not organized in this album but I'm working on it =)
Please comment with questions or anything and I would love to talk more about this trip!
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Healings, Salvations, and Prayer...OH MY
So much has been happening on this trip so far!
We've had a lame woman walk, a sick baby healed of an unknown disease and more!!! I have had the opportunity to share the gospel with many and lead 8 people to salvation within the first couple days of ministry! Our whole team has been giving all they have to serving the people in Diepsloot and seeing the results is amazing!
We have really grown to love the people here and it is becoming easier and easier to share the life giving gospel message with them! As a team our prayers are becoming more unified and we are finding it easier to pray with people.
Today my team reported to me that they began cutting and tearing off the bracelets and ropes that the local witch doctors tie to the children! I think that's awesome!! They are starting to see the severity with the spiritual battle that we are in!
Continue to pray for our whole group as we begin to encounter more and more of these local witch doctors and other people under false religions. Pray for protection for our group because we know Jesus' power is BIGGER!!
LOVE YOU ALL!!
1 COR 2:4-5
We've had a lame woman walk, a sick baby healed of an unknown disease and more!!! I have had the opportunity to share the gospel with many and lead 8 people to salvation within the first couple days of ministry! Our whole team has been giving all they have to serving the people in Diepsloot and seeing the results is amazing!
We have really grown to love the people here and it is becoming easier and easier to share the life giving gospel message with them! As a team our prayers are becoming more unified and we are finding it easier to pray with people.
Today my team reported to me that they began cutting and tearing off the bracelets and ropes that the local witch doctors tie to the children! I think that's awesome!! They are starting to see the severity with the spiritual battle that we are in!
Continue to pray for our whole group as we begin to encounter more and more of these local witch doctors and other people under false religions. Pray for protection for our group because we know Jesus' power is BIGGER!!
LOVE YOU ALL!!
1 COR 2:4-5
Saturday, June 19, 2010
You Just Got Served.....
TEAM NAME...
ok so this sounds so random but... OK IT IS...
OUR TEAM NAME FOR THIS SUMMER IS...
WAIT FOR IT...
THE "BALLAS"
YES THAT'S RIGHT..I'M ACTUALLY BEING COMPLETELY HONEST AND REAL!
This name came up kinda randomly during one of our training sessions. We wanted to do something fun but that would also help us incorporate our team mission of serving each other and those we meet in South Africa. So we have a few fun things that we do but one of them comes when we help each other out or serve someone by doing something nice and expected - we say "you just got served" - or the person who realized they were a recipient of the "servi-tude" (?) will say, "I just got SERVED" and we do a little motion of a b-ball player shooting a score in the hoop or a v-ball player serving up a shot! So in a weird kinda awkward way it works and I hear all my team members using it (and some of the other teams are catching on and using it as well)
(weird alert) I absolutely love my kids faces...(what? - too soon to drop the L-bomb?) Regardless they are awesome and we have fun together.. we literally have made each other laugh to the point of crying and that's awesome.. and they are completely running with our team name and it's vision of serving people selflessly!
My prayer:
Continue to have team unity and fun this summer!!!
ok so this sounds so random but... OK IT IS...
OUR TEAM NAME FOR THIS SUMMER IS...
WAIT FOR IT...
THE "BALLAS"
YES THAT'S RIGHT..I'M ACTUALLY BEING COMPLETELY HONEST AND REAL!
This name came up kinda randomly during one of our training sessions. We wanted to do something fun but that would also help us incorporate our team mission of serving each other and those we meet in South Africa. So we have a few fun things that we do but one of them comes when we help each other out or serve someone by doing something nice and expected - we say "you just got served" - or the person who realized they were a recipient of the "servi-tude" (?) will say, "I just got SERVED" and we do a little motion of a b-ball player shooting a score in the hoop or a v-ball player serving up a shot! So in a weird kinda awkward way it works and I hear all my team members using it (and some of the other teams are catching on and using it as well)
(weird alert) I absolutely love my kids faces...(what? - too soon to drop the L-bomb?) Regardless they are awesome and we have fun together.. we literally have made each other laugh to the point of crying and that's awesome.. and they are completely running with our team name and it's vision of serving people selflessly!
My prayer:
Continue to have team unity and fun this summer!!!
The Great Commission....
Hey,
I made it safely to South Africa! A couple of my flights were very hard to get through because of turbulence but that makes it even more exciting that I am here! God is sooo faithful!
Well my internet time is limited so I'm going to jump right into it!
Last night our whole project (about 62 people) met to have a commissioning service. Based out of the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:16-20 - our project directors gave us a message and allowed all the Team Leaders to pray and commission each member on our team. God gave me so much insight and Words of knowledge for some of my team members so I pray that they consider God's voice and take those words and RUN with them! There is so much power in God's WORD and when HE speaks to us specifically - I believe that this is what determines the course of life for these teens. My team is a little older than some of the other teams with our youngest being 14 but average around 18/19!
Today was our first day of ministry and part of my team was responsible for doing the Vacation Bible School lesson today! Although we only had 1-2 days of training we just kinda went for it! I commend my team for just stepping up and getting it done.
We set up in the middle of an alley and began to gather some kids. My team just went for it - playing "football" with the kids and talking to the parents. We are so excited to be here and ministering to God's children! The kids were so responsive and towards the end we just started dancing and singing with them while one of my team members shared the gospel with the mothers that were gathered around watching. She got to pray for a couple of women for the first time in this type of setting and she was excited about it for the whole rest of the day! That was an awesome feeling for me to find joy in my team's success! Often I wanted to jump in but my co-leader and I just stood back today and let them go at it and they rocked it!!! I can't wait for MORE!
My prayer:
God - I ask for a boldness for my team members! From one day of ministry they already reported 6 salvations! I also ask for those who are still battling the decision to truly live for God; that YOU would set their feet in a stance and position of victory to continue to stand firm for YOU and all that YOU represent!
I made it safely to South Africa! A couple of my flights were very hard to get through because of turbulence but that makes it even more exciting that I am here! God is sooo faithful!
Well my internet time is limited so I'm going to jump right into it!
Last night our whole project (about 62 people) met to have a commissioning service. Based out of the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:16-20 - our project directors gave us a message and allowed all the Team Leaders to pray and commission each member on our team. God gave me so much insight and Words of knowledge for some of my team members so I pray that they consider God's voice and take those words and RUN with them! There is so much power in God's WORD and when HE speaks to us specifically - I believe that this is what determines the course of life for these teens. My team is a little older than some of the other teams with our youngest being 14 but average around 18/19!
Today was our first day of ministry and part of my team was responsible for doing the Vacation Bible School lesson today! Although we only had 1-2 days of training we just kinda went for it! I commend my team for just stepping up and getting it done.
We set up in the middle of an alley and began to gather some kids. My team just went for it - playing "football" with the kids and talking to the parents. We are so excited to be here and ministering to God's children! The kids were so responsive and towards the end we just started dancing and singing with them while one of my team members shared the gospel with the mothers that were gathered around watching. She got to pray for a couple of women for the first time in this type of setting and she was excited about it for the whole rest of the day! That was an awesome feeling for me to find joy in my team's success! Often I wanted to jump in but my co-leader and I just stood back today and let them go at it and they rocked it!!! I can't wait for MORE!
My prayer:
God - I ask for a boldness for my team members! From one day of ministry they already reported 6 salvations! I also ask for those who are still battling the decision to truly live for God; that YOU would set their feet in a stance and position of victory to continue to stand firm for YOU and all that YOU represent!
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Rookies....
A full day of sessions today has left me exhausted, and very aware of the intensity if this trip.
From how to build a team to safety protocol - I'm left very aware that I am a ROOKIE!
My co-leader happens to be a rookie as well so this will be interesting.
--First things first...getting a team vision---
Our team's vision is to be "deeply committed to loving selflessly"
Even though my Co (co-leader) haven't met our team - our vision is to make sure our team leaves knowing how to serve God and others selflessly!
"Quiet Time Take-Away"
Acts 8:26-35
Philip was a rookie!!
God led him all of way and when he got to the Ethopian - there was a perfect window for Philip to present the gospel and he went for it!
God has provided this opportunity to us and He is faithful to see it through and give us the boldness we need to present the gospel!!
I'm so excited!!!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
From how to build a team to safety protocol - I'm left very aware that I am a ROOKIE!
My co-leader happens to be a rookie as well so this will be interesting.
--First things first...getting a team vision---
Our team's vision is to be "deeply committed to loving selflessly"
Even though my Co (co-leader) haven't met our team - our vision is to make sure our team leaves knowing how to serve God and others selflessly!
"Quiet Time Take-Away"
Acts 8:26-35
Philip was a rookie!!
God led him all of way and when he got to the Ethopian - there was a perfect window for Philip to present the gospel and he went for it!
God has provided this opportunity to us and He is faithful to see it through and give us the boldness we need to present the gospel!!
I'm so excited!!!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Random opportunities
At the swimming pool with my lil sis'. Which is beyond random since I can't swim. But it's FREE so we r here..
Sorry - that was random BUT- speaking of random.... today I'm asking God to provide opportunities to share the gospel in random places in South Africa - like the airport - lodging site - marketplace - WHEREVER -
Please join with me and pray for these opportunities and that me and my team will be ready to share the gospel whenever possible!!
1COR2:4-5
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Sorry - that was random BUT- speaking of random.... today I'm asking God to provide opportunities to share the gospel in random places in South Africa - like the airport - lodging site - marketplace - WHEREVER -
Please join with me and pray for these opportunities and that me and my team will be ready to share the gospel whenever possible!!
1COR2:4-5
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
2 days...
Almost 2 days until I head on a plane to Texas! I bought a cowboy hat and everything! haha.. Anyways, please pray for me as I finish up packing and cramming stuff into my bag. I am praying for favor and that my bags are under the limit! =)
Also, pray for my fellow team leaders, as we are all beginning to become overwhelmed with the amount of duties and tasks we will be assigned on this trip.
Keep us all in your prayers as we prepare to head out this Friday to train for a day and then train our Missionary Advisors that SAT! Then, pray for ideas of how we build a team atmosphere before Mon (when the other missionaries arrive) so that we can start off with unity!!!
Love you all!
Please feel free to comment and share anything you receive for my team and I as you pray for us! God is always speaking and we are willing to listen!!
1COR2:4-5
Also, pray for my fellow team leaders, as we are all beginning to become overwhelmed with the amount of duties and tasks we will be assigned on this trip.
Keep us all in your prayers as we prepare to head out this Friday to train for a day and then train our Missionary Advisors that SAT! Then, pray for ideas of how we build a team atmosphere before Mon (when the other missionaries arrive) so that we can start off with unity!!!
Love you all!
Please feel free to comment and share anything you receive for my team and I as you pray for us! God is always speaking and we are willing to listen!!
1COR2:4-5
Tester - sent from iPhone
Hey all!!
Just a tester blog - sent from my iPhone!
Love ya!
1COR2:4-5
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Just a tester blog - sent from my iPhone!
Love ya!
1COR2:4-5
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Making the RIGHT REQUEST
HEY!!
Today I was reading in 1 Kings 3:8-14 about King Solomon. Right after he became king, his heart was already set towards God's Kingdom and seeing God's people treated fairly. He chose to ask for the right things, his requests were in line with God's vision. In Verse 8-9, Solomon says,
"8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?"
God used this passage of scripture to encourage me today. I had several requests that I have seen come to pass for this trip to South Africa. One of the biggest being to provide the finances for me to go! God has not only done that but provided provision for extra trip expenses. But more importantly than that request, this week I've been thinking about how I would be effective in South Africa. What am I going to talk about? How am I going to share with people? How do I relate? and all these questions that were discouraging me and making feel as though I was not equipped to be going. Finally, I decided to take some time out to pray about specific things and that me and my team would be effective this summer. When reading this today, I realized that I just needed to make the "right request" -
I want to see people's lives changed, I want to see someone healed, I would like all the words my team and I speak to speak profoundly to those we reach.....Then, God reminded me of this passage of scripture and how my request to see Him move in South Africa is in line with HIS heart. The purpose of me going is to share my story, so why wouldn't God give me the words to say? Why would He bring me this far to leave me? Much like Solomon didn't ask for wealth or to have a long life span, God noted that Solomon's focus was in the right place and his request was for God's people and serving them justly. This encouraged me that my request is a right one! I mean, who else would raise over $4000 in order to fly across the ocean (not a fan of flying) to deliver a message to people I don't know about my testimony and about the God I serve? My request is in line with what God wants to do for those people in South Africa and so I know that God is going to far exceed my expectations and show me great things in South Africa! Further down in the passage of scripture it says that God gave Solomon great wisdom (what he asked for) PLUS those things he didn't ask for like wealth, long life, etc!
God is so great! I love HIM and I can't wait to share the GOOD NEWS with South Africa!!!!
-RHEMMA-
Today I was reading in 1 Kings 3:8-14 about King Solomon. Right after he became king, his heart was already set towards God's Kingdom and seeing God's people treated fairly. He chose to ask for the right things, his requests were in line with God's vision. In Verse 8-9, Solomon says,
"8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?"
God used this passage of scripture to encourage me today. I had several requests that I have seen come to pass for this trip to South Africa. One of the biggest being to provide the finances for me to go! God has not only done that but provided provision for extra trip expenses. But more importantly than that request, this week I've been thinking about how I would be effective in South Africa. What am I going to talk about? How am I going to share with people? How do I relate? and all these questions that were discouraging me and making feel as though I was not equipped to be going. Finally, I decided to take some time out to pray about specific things and that me and my team would be effective this summer. When reading this today, I realized that I just needed to make the "right request" -
I want to see people's lives changed, I want to see someone healed, I would like all the words my team and I speak to speak profoundly to those we reach.....Then, God reminded me of this passage of scripture and how my request to see Him move in South Africa is in line with HIS heart. The purpose of me going is to share my story, so why wouldn't God give me the words to say? Why would He bring me this far to leave me? Much like Solomon didn't ask for wealth or to have a long life span, God noted that Solomon's focus was in the right place and his request was for God's people and serving them justly. This encouraged me that my request is a right one! I mean, who else would raise over $4000 in order to fly across the ocean (not a fan of flying) to deliver a message to people I don't know about my testimony and about the God I serve? My request is in line with what God wants to do for those people in South Africa and so I know that God is going to far exceed my expectations and show me great things in South Africa! Further down in the passage of scripture it says that God gave Solomon great wisdom (what he asked for) PLUS those things he didn't ask for like wealth, long life, etc!
God is so great! I love HIM and I can't wait to share the GOOD NEWS with South Africa!!!!
-RHEMMA-
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
PRAYER SCHEDULE
JAMES 5:16(b)SAYS, "... The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."
I love prayer, because it changes things! No matter how simple or how profound, prayer changes the current situation and yields great rewards. For this reason, I am setting time apart these next two weeks to devote towards this trip. I am focusing my time to specific things I want to see happen while in South Africa. I would LOVE your support in focused prayer this next week over these topics:
Monday -God's passion for this trip to be evident in me
Tuesday- vision for my team to burn in my heart
Wednesday-diligence w/ learning the ministry tools to share w/ team
Thursday- Opportunities opened for sharing the gospel in random places!
Friday- Safety in travel for all us missionaries/safety in country
Saturday-Effective ministry for my team and I to those we meet in SA as well as within our team
Sunday-a supernatural experience filled w/ powerful testimonies to share back in the US =)
1 COR 2:4-5 IS OUR KEY VERSE FOR OUR SOUTH AFRICA TRIP.. PRAY THAT GOD'S POWER IS ALL OVER THIS TRIP IN EVERY WAY, SHAPE, AND FORM!
I love prayer, because it changes things! No matter how simple or how profound, prayer changes the current situation and yields great rewards. For this reason, I am setting time apart these next two weeks to devote towards this trip. I am focusing my time to specific things I want to see happen while in South Africa. I would LOVE your support in focused prayer this next week over these topics:
Monday -God's passion for this trip to be evident in me
Tuesday- vision for my team to burn in my heart
Wednesday-diligence w/ learning the ministry tools to share w/ team
Thursday- Opportunities opened for sharing the gospel in random places!
Friday- Safety in travel for all us missionaries/safety in country
Saturday-Effective ministry for my team and I to those we meet in SA as well as within our team
Sunday-a supernatural experience filled w/ powerful testimonies to share back in the US =)
1 COR 2:4-5 IS OUR KEY VERSE FOR OUR SOUTH AFRICA TRIP.. PRAY THAT GOD'S POWER IS ALL OVER THIS TRIP IN EVERY WAY, SHAPE, AND FORM!
Saturday, May 29, 2010
fundraising tips and tricks...
Not too many hints as this was my first time fundraising, however I want to be open about what worked and what didn't!
Support Letters:
Support letters are usually the easiest way to get the word out about where you are going, what you will be doing, and the cost of the trip. I mailed my support letters with the brochure from Global Expeditions, as well as a bookmark as a gift. Also, I included a pre-addressed envelope and a donations instruction sheet to make all the ways to give, clear and understandable.
Also, in addition to mailing, I also emailed an abbreviated version of my support letter to people I knew locally, but did not have an address for.
From the support letters, I generated around: $1360.90
Pringles Cans
This was probably my most successful fundraiser that I participated in raising $438.24 plus more uncounted change (I know I need to count it!!) For this fundraiser you collect change in an empty can. GE (global Expeditions) suggested Pringles cans because of their capacity to hold close to $50 in them. Then from here, select some great supporters who are willing to go out into the community, at home, or at work, to collect change for you. A friend of mine made a nifty little cover to put over the pringles logo that said "Help Support Rhemma go to South Africa this summer" Get creative and step out!
I have to say that I had the most fun with this one but it was also the most challenging at times. I would often stand up on the bus and make announcements and get no response, but other times I would get change and up to $20 bills in my can! This one definitely requires alot of energy and you have to be willing to feel a little awkward at times, but I found that the more excited you are about it, the more people respond to wanting to support you!
Bake Sales:
Always a hit, but location is KEY. I did three bake sales, combined with a friend of mine and location seemed to be the best at our church! We made close to $200 whereas the other two locations we were averaging around $30 each. Church worked because those people knew us and knew our hearts for going overseas as well as the rush of hungry churchgoers coming out of service as an added bonus!
Car Wash:
Time of day and location are both important here! BUT WEATHER... is key! =) I did a car wash combined with a friend and it was drizzling outside and very cold! Needless to say, we only washed 2 cars, BUT GOD put HIS super- on our natural and we raised $49 from those couple of hours because people felt bad for us!
Babysitting, Word of Mouth, Misc..
Babysitting was a quick and easy way to make some extra $ and when I told the parents that the money would all go to my trip, I think that influenced them to be more generous (just speculation, though). Also, I made a Facebook Event, and literally invited all of my 1000+ friends and that DEFINITELY got the word out that i was going... (whether or not they donated or supported, is another story...haha...) I generated over $200 from FB and money is still coming in because people are still wanting to help out with expenses.
from this category I made around $794!!!
Also I received well over $1700 from the church in Indy who I am going on this trip with. That was definitely an extra blessing as they included me in miscellaneous fundraisers the group did as a team that i was unable to participate in (THANKS GUYS!)
In addition, many of my expenses and packing items that I needed were provided for by posting on Facebook what I needed (like wipes, travel size toiletries, etc)! This was a definite blessing!!
Dine to Donate at Applebees
This event, which most Applebees do --> (See link to brochure here ) is where Applebees donates 15% of their profits from an agreed upon date towards your non-profit organization!
This event was not as successful as I would have wanted it to be, but it still generated $77.40 from me doing nothing but telling people a date to dine at Applebees. I definitely put up the flyer last minute and I myself did not hand out many so this could have been much more successful so don't gauge whether or not to do it based on my results! This requires alot of publicity and making sure that large groups go out to eat!
All in all, my first time fundraising, I tried a large variety of different ideas and they all had great results! Even those which did not generate the most funds still superceded my expectations as I did not put nearly enough effort into it!
So get out there, fundraise, reach out to people and give them an opportunity to help support your passion!
thanks for reading...
-Rhemma-
Support Letters:
Support letters are usually the easiest way to get the word out about where you are going, what you will be doing, and the cost of the trip. I mailed my support letters with the brochure from Global Expeditions, as well as a bookmark as a gift. Also, I included a pre-addressed envelope and a donations instruction sheet to make all the ways to give, clear and understandable.
Also, in addition to mailing, I also emailed an abbreviated version of my support letter to people I knew locally, but did not have an address for.
From the support letters, I generated around: $1360.90
Pringles Cans
This was probably my most successful fundraiser that I participated in raising $438.24 plus more uncounted change (I know I need to count it!!) For this fundraiser you collect change in an empty can. GE (global Expeditions) suggested Pringles cans because of their capacity to hold close to $50 in them. Then from here, select some great supporters who are willing to go out into the community, at home, or at work, to collect change for you. A friend of mine made a nifty little cover to put over the pringles logo that said "Help Support Rhemma go to South Africa this summer" Get creative and step out!
I have to say that I had the most fun with this one but it was also the most challenging at times. I would often stand up on the bus and make announcements and get no response, but other times I would get change and up to $20 bills in my can! This one definitely requires alot of energy and you have to be willing to feel a little awkward at times, but I found that the more excited you are about it, the more people respond to wanting to support you!
Bake Sales:
Always a hit, but location is KEY. I did three bake sales, combined with a friend of mine and location seemed to be the best at our church! We made close to $200 whereas the other two locations we were averaging around $30 each. Church worked because those people knew us and knew our hearts for going overseas as well as the rush of hungry churchgoers coming out of service as an added bonus!
Car Wash:
Time of day and location are both important here! BUT WEATHER... is key! =) I did a car wash combined with a friend and it was drizzling outside and very cold! Needless to say, we only washed 2 cars, BUT GOD put HIS super- on our natural and we raised $49 from those couple of hours because people felt bad for us!
Babysitting, Word of Mouth, Misc..
Babysitting was a quick and easy way to make some extra $ and when I told the parents that the money would all go to my trip, I think that influenced them to be more generous (just speculation, though). Also, I made a Facebook Event, and literally invited all of my 1000+ friends and that DEFINITELY got the word out that i was going... (whether or not they donated or supported, is another story...haha...) I generated over $200 from FB and money is still coming in because people are still wanting to help out with expenses.
from this category I made around $794!!!
Also I received well over $1700 from the church in Indy who I am going on this trip with. That was definitely an extra blessing as they included me in miscellaneous fundraisers the group did as a team that i was unable to participate in (THANKS GUYS!)
In addition, many of my expenses and packing items that I needed were provided for by posting on Facebook what I needed (like wipes, travel size toiletries, etc)! This was a definite blessing!!
Dine to Donate at Applebees
This event, which most Applebees do --> (See link to brochure here ) is where Applebees donates 15% of their profits from an agreed upon date towards your non-profit organization!
This event was not as successful as I would have wanted it to be, but it still generated $77.40 from me doing nothing but telling people a date to dine at Applebees. I definitely put up the flyer last minute and I myself did not hand out many so this could have been much more successful so don't gauge whether or not to do it based on my results! This requires alot of publicity and making sure that large groups go out to eat!
All in all, my first time fundraising, I tried a large variety of different ideas and they all had great results! Even those which did not generate the most funds still superceded my expectations as I did not put nearly enough effort into it!
So get out there, fundraise, reach out to people and give them an opportunity to help support your passion!
thanks for reading...
-Rhemma-
SOUTH AFRICA IN LESS THAN 2 WEEKS!!!!
I'm going to SOUTH AFRICA!!!
It was nearly 6 months ago when I prayed about an overseas opportunity for a mission trip. I had no clue where I wanted to go, but I knew that I wanted it to be this year!
My pastor was aware of his overseas schedule so my hopes would be that I would pray about one of those trips. I had also visited a church in Carmel (hometown) over the holidays where their youth group was going to South Africa. Even though I brought home the flyer- I was by no means actually planning on going with them. The trip cost alone was $3981! Yea right! BUT God....
Even with these options, I had made up my mind to attend one of my Pastors mission trips which were not as nearly expensive. Nevertheless, i decided to pray and fast for which trip God wanted me to attend.
I wrote down these trips in my journal:
Nigeria, Cuba, Phillipines
I prayed and I heard: South Africa
Ok? - in shock I continued to pray over the other countries on my list.
Again: SOUTH AFRICA
I relented and sealed the prayer with God if you make a way, I will go. I felt immediate peace about the trip and later that day when cleaning my room, I found the brochure for the trip to SA. I felt like this was God confirming to me that He would make it happen. Again, I couldn't help but look at the price- $3981.
I decided to trust God; I applied -got accepted; fundraising was a success (see next post)
and now here I am---LESS than two weeks away from my very first mission experience!
Now the real work begins...feeding my passion and hunger to see God's power work in South Africa (1 Cor 2:4-5)
It was nearly 6 months ago when I prayed about an overseas opportunity for a mission trip. I had no clue where I wanted to go, but I knew that I wanted it to be this year!
My pastor was aware of his overseas schedule so my hopes would be that I would pray about one of those trips. I had also visited a church in Carmel (hometown) over the holidays where their youth group was going to South Africa. Even though I brought home the flyer- I was by no means actually planning on going with them. The trip cost alone was $3981! Yea right! BUT God....
Even with these options, I had made up my mind to attend one of my Pastors mission trips which were not as nearly expensive. Nevertheless, i decided to pray and fast for which trip God wanted me to attend.
I wrote down these trips in my journal:
Nigeria, Cuba, Phillipines
I prayed and I heard: South Africa
Ok? - in shock I continued to pray over the other countries on my list.
Again: SOUTH AFRICA
I relented and sealed the prayer with God if you make a way, I will go. I felt immediate peace about the trip and later that day when cleaning my room, I found the brochure for the trip to SA. I felt like this was God confirming to me that He would make it happen. Again, I couldn't help but look at the price- $3981.
I decided to trust God; I applied -got accepted; fundraising was a success (see next post)
and now here I am---LESS than two weeks away from my very first mission experience!
Now the real work begins...feeding my passion and hunger to see God's power work in South Africa (1 Cor 2:4-5)
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