2011 Year End Update
2011 – what a year it’s been! It was filled with: settling back into life in the states, community with the people we love, leading a trip of high school students to Ireland and capped off with a call back to Ireland long-term. Here’s a peek into this past year:
ADVENTURES IN MISSIONS
2011 has been quite a year for Adventures in Missions! Our work there has allowed us the opportunity to be involved with mobilizing the next generation to go to the nations with God’s love. It’s been so encouraging to be a part of an amazing organization and to be under solid and trustworthy leadership.
Here’s some of what happened this year at Adventures (Thanks to my fellow teammate Sara Choe for these statistics):
• One day, in April, we sent out our 90,000th missionary; we’ve sent more since then, upping the total to 96,000.
• One day, this summer, in southern Africa, eight of our Racers prayed for about 200 people and over 100 were healed.
• One day, this summer, one of our Passport teams was part of the miracle of food multiplying.
I CALL IT MONSTER
On April 27, 2011 while visiting Bekah’s family in Tampa, we watched the state of Alabama get hit by the worst outbreak of tornadoes in 80 years. Category F4′s hit several small towns and an F5 ravaged the northwest portion of the state. In reference to the tornadoes, some people we quoted saying, “I call it Monster”.
We visited Pratt City and Phil Campbell so we could see the damage firsthand and hopefully capture some of the people’s stories.. We were not prepared for what we would see.
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AMBASSADOR TRIP TO IRELAND
This past summer, we took a group of high school students to Ireland. We helped a local ministry (Elemental) set up and establish a youth drop-in center. Their vision for each center is to create a safe place in a city where youth in the area can come and enjoy a positive environment. There are several drop-in centers around the country, and we were there to help establish one in the beautiful city of Dungarvan.
We needed a place to host the drop center, so we partnered with an amazing local church, Dungarvan Christian Fellowship. Initially, there was tons of work to do (create a logo, decorate, set up furniture, talk to youth in the area and hand out flyers, etc) so we jumped right in!
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PIZZA IN THE PARK
This past year we continued to help with the local Birmingham ministry, Pizza in the Park. It was great to get involved with this ministry again after returning from Nicaragua last year. While we were gone, it grew and now serves around 70 people from the Southside area each week. In addition to the normal weekly pizza, we pulled together and served a big Thanksgiving dinner as well as a Christmas dinner this year. We had so much food that everyone walked away full and we still had food left!
I can’t explain how special this ministry is to us. This year we saw several people that we hadn’t seen since we started it in 2006. They shared with us how much the ministry has meant to them and we were reminded of why we do it. What a blessing it is to see familiar faces and to know that each week God’s love is being shown to his people… one pizza at a time.
If you’d like to be involved with this ministry, email us at aheartforthenations@gmail.com for more information.
IRELAND OR BUST (WE’RE MOVING TO IRELAND!)
About 3 months after our trip to Ireland, we were presented with a long-term opportunity to go back and lead a team of youth workers. After lots of prayer and meetings with leadership from Adventures and Cornerstone (the church in New Jersey that we’re partnering with), we have officially accepted the position and are moving to Ireland!
Our goal to be fully supported by July 2012 and while all of this is very exciting for us, accepting the opportunity is only the first step. Please join us in prayer as we prepare budgets, start raising support, and making all of the thousands of little decisions that go into an international move.
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THANK YOU!
Looking back at 2011, there’s so much to be thankful for. We’ve grown so much in the past year and God continues to show us guidance and provision each step of the way.
Because of the selfless gifts many of you gave, we had the opportunity to serve God’s people for another year. We’re excited to see what God has for 2012! Until then, thank you!
SUPPORT
If you’re interested in joining our ministry, here’s some ways to get involved:
- Prayer
- Financial support
- We’re looking for people who will partner with us as we prepare to move to Ireland. You can give online by clicking here (mail-in support instructions included as well)
- Would you or your small group like to learn more about our initiative to Ireland?
- We are beginning to book dates with people who are interested in partnering with our ministry in Ireland.
- For more information or to set a date, please email us at aheartforthenations@gmail.com
- Share this post with your friends
- Post this URL to Facebook or email it to your friends to help us spread the word: http://www.aheartforthenations.com/ireland-or-bust/
