SABBATH
= CEASE
"It
is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; for in six days
the LORD made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from
labor, and was refreshed." - Exodus 31:17
I
love that the Lord had to command His people to rest. It doesn't come
naturally to most of us to just “be” as most of us are humans,
doing, instead of humans, being! Rest and worship are pretty
synonymous in my mind with the word, “sabbath” and that is just
what we had in mind as we set out on August 3rd for a two month
sabbatical just days before our 42nd anniversary. Our 22 ft. travel
trailer became our home on wheels and with very little distractions
and an oversimplified agenda, we embarked on a journey of a lifetime.
Our experience is rather difficult to put into words. How can you
possibly describe 2 months of actually waking each morning (after a
full night of sleep) with nothing else on the agenda but enjoying
time with the Lord, each other, and the the amazing adventures that
transpired daily? Carving out this time was the first miracle. My
husband had this plan on his heart two years before we seriously
considered moving towards making this a reality. With a very capable
team in place to keep ministry activities going in our absence, we
rolled all of our cares on the Lord for this season and gratefully
and humbly accepted the gift of grace that He was holding out to us.
Thank you to all that contributed in great and small ways to make
this time refreshing and life giving. For those of you who know how
hard it was for us to leave 12 amazing grandchildren, along with our
beautiful daughters and their hubbies, you will be moved to laugh, as
we were, to see this sign waiting for us on our arrival home:
 “ Welcome
home, love you, we missed you guys!” P.S.
Don't ever do this again!
HELPING
OTHERS HELP OTHERS
“The
things which you have heard from me in the presence of many
witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach
others also.” - II Timothy 2:2
There
was much time for prayer and seeking the Lord on this sabbatical. It
was also a great time to evaluate our ministry activities and the
opportunities we have to invest in others through one on one
discipleship, counseling, and various conferences and events. The
greatest confirmation we received during the sabbatical time was to
keep building up the body and investing in those that are willing to
invest in others. Shortly before we left, the Lord connected us with
a young woman wanting to minister in ways that are very similar to
the heartbeat of our ministry. We had also been networking with a man
starting a homeless outreach in Tempe for women and children. Again,
the vision was similar to the mission of JCM and we were eager to
encourage these individuals to yoke with the Lord in the fields that
He was pointing them towards. It turns out that these were divine
appointments and we would like to share these missions with you. It
is a large part of what we are doing now... helping others, help
others; entrusting to faithful men and women that will teach others.
I
pray your hearts are ignited as you read about these two courageous
followers who are seeking an enduring kingdom that is not of this
world.
Hope
In Christ
“I
have been doing homeless outreach for some time now, and it had
become painfully apparent that there were not enough beds to house
women and their children. It has been a struggle trying to get women
off the streets and into a safe facility. Most places have a four to
six month waiting list. God put it on my heart that I could do
something about it. So I assessed what I needed to do, and although
financially it would take every penny I made and all of my time, I
was faithful to do what God was requiring of me. I recently opened a
shelter called Hope in Christ. We have been open about 3 months now
and we house women and children that are homeless or in crisis (such
as domestic violence). It is a Christ-based program with Bible study,
church attendance, and job training along with opportunities for
physical, emotional and spiritual healing. We are building
relationships with these women and children just as we build our
relationship with Jesus. We have had 18 women and children stay here
and God has already worked miracles in some of their lives!
I
would just like to say if God puts something on your heart to do,
even if it's far beyond what you think you are able to do, He will be
faithful and walk beside you every step of the way. If you had told
me one year ago that I would have opened this shelter I would have
said, "You're crazy! I don't have the resources for this kind of
undertaking." With God all things are possible. If he brings
you to it, he will bring you through it!” -
One
of the beautifully decorated bedrooms at Hope In Christ. Contact
information: Lagan Tracey, (logansrun77777@gmail.com) 602-341-9649 Elpis
– Bringing Hope and Healing to Heart “My
Story + Dream: Romania currently has some of the highest statistics
of minors being exploited through forced prostitution and
sex-trafficking in the world. The average ages of these girls are
12-16, each year getting younger and increasing in numbers. My heart
goes out to bring hope and healing to those who have been abused,
neglected, and stripped of dignity. 9 out of 10 who have been rescued
are returning to trafficking due to lack of help for them. My dream
is to launch recourses, programs, and eventually a safe home where
girls can find hope and healing and begin a new life of beauty and
dignity. Over the years I have been preparing myself to more
effectively reach and help those who cannot help themselves. Recently
I graduated from college with a degree in teen counseling, along with
getting certified as an advocate of sexually assaulted and human
trafficking survivors. Currently I am furthering my studies in
becoming a holistic nutritionist and wellness consultant, while also
furthering my growth and experience living in the Netherlands.
Returning recently from a trip to Romania has left me with many
confirmations that this is where I am called while also leaving me
with a deeper awareness of how I cannot do this alone. Teen girls are
dying, in desperate need of a home where they can find hope and
healing, along with someone to be there for them through the process.
I have given my life to reach these girls with the hope of Jesus, in
one of the most prevalent places in the world today; Eastern Europe,
Romania.”
Isabella
will be moving to Reghin Romania Feb. 6, 2018 to begin partnering
with an organization (phoneo.org) to work with teen girls in the Roma
areas. Hereafter getting some training she is pursuing launching
extensive ways to reach the teen girls, because each ONE matters and
deserves to be given the opportunity to live a beautiful life.
Contact
information: Isabella Swenson,
It
is so exciting to see the Lord moving on the hearts of His faithful
servants who dare to dedicate their lives to His service. They are
risking everything to gain the eternal. As I have said many times to
those who struggle with the fear of stepping out, the safest place is
in the center of His will. No matter if that place is the streets of
Phoenix, reaching out to prostitutes and the vulnerable as Logan
finds himself doing time and time again, or in Romania, rescuing
those who are sex trafficked as precious Isabella has chosen for her
future, we are safe in His capable Hands!
MINISTRY
OPPORTUNITIES Grief
and Loss.. an opportunity to invest in the broken! As
many of you know we had the marvelous opportunity to partner with
Fortified Marriages Ministries during our sabbatical. At the end of
September we were invited to attend the American Association of
Christian Counselors world conference, Break Every Chain.
We are grateful that Chris and Carmen Garner provided the tickets
into the conference and the opportunity for us to connect with what
seemed like a plethora of unlimited resources. We attended plenary
sessions and workshops that were led by beautiful Christian
professionals and pastors with insights and wisdom for reaching out
to the broken. We would like to make an opportunity for those of you
who are interested to certify in one of the AACC's latest
series: Grief and Loss. We will provide the curriculum
but if interested in certifying you must contact Doreen for pricing
and details. It is not mandatory to certify. You are welcome to
attend the class regardless. There will be limited spaces. Contact
Doreen @ 480 831 1737 for more information.
Wellspring
Therapy Center Can
you help us help others? Winning
Hearts at Wellspring Therapy Center
Anyone
interested in providing ministry to those unable to attend church
services? Tom is chaplain at a beautiful rehabilitation facility in
Gilbert. Many of the residents are recovering from surgeries and
strokes and are in need of some TLC. We would love to have more
individuals and families serving in this outreach. We recently came
across another open door for ministry at a retirement community in
Mesa. If interested in conducting services or doing room to room
visitations please contact: Doreen @ 480 831 1737.
Free
Store I
love to say that... FREE STORE. Doesn't it just remind you of what
our precious Lord has provided for us? An endless supply of resources
and an inheritance that is unfading, all at His expense. The
ministry delights in offering freely to others what has been freely
given. We will be opening our annual FREE STORE on December 4th.
There will be an opportunity for those in need to obtain clothing,
toiletries and housewares (mostly women's items but we will have a
small supply of men and childrens). Do you have someone you would
like to bring to the FREE STORE? Appointments are needed so contact
Doreen @ 480 831 1737 to set up a time to visit the JCM FREE STORE.
More
resources available on the website: Jesuscaresministries.org! Thanks
to a student needing volunteer service hours, we now have the
Foundation For Kids Series available for download on
our website. It is chock full of Scriptures set to songs and
Scripture themed songs that are great for nursery school. Thank you,
Maggie, for making this happen.
In
Closing... The
people served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the
elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of the
Lord which He had done for Israel. Then Joshua the son of Nun, the
servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten... so, all
[the people of] that generation were gathered to their fathers [in
death]; and another generation arose after them who did not know
(recognize, understand) the Lord, nor even the work which He had done
for Israel.” - Judges 2:7-10
As
we close this newsletter with thanksgiving to all the wonderful
servants who make this outreach possible, I would like to share a
burden that has been continually upon my heart. When was the last
time you shared with your friends, children, grandchildren, and
neighbors the wonderful works that the Lord has accomplished in your
life? As in the book of Judges, we seem to be losing a generation.
The current generation is getting lost in technology, attaching
constantly with humanity and detaching from the God of the Universe.
This God is constantly sending out invitations to join Him in
intimate fellowship! Yes, we can tell about Him on facebook. What a
wonderful opportunity we have to share with massive amounts of people
at one time, but this God chose to come to us and walk with us and
die for us and send His Spirit to commune with us and He did this in
person! The rabbinical way was to eat, sleep and drink discipleship.
The disciples could actually follow someone who was, in reality,
touching lives, doing miracles one at at time, feeding multitudes and
taking time to hold the children on his lap. I don't know about you,
but I am not easily impressed with anyone unless I can actually
walk with them and see the real deal. Fancy sermons and elaborate
power points don't move me. I want my grandchildren to know about the
things that my Rabbi, Yeshua did for me. I want them to know how He
sent a case of artichokes to a pregnant teen who was having a
craving, or a jar of honey to a girl that had been abandoned by her
“honey” or how He supplied our daily bread with a food truck that
drove right up to our door and sustained anywhere from 10-14 hungry
souls at our table every evening for many years. I want them to know
how their Papa found a set of Grammy's lost keys in the dark on a
mountain in South Phoenix, like a needle in a haystack, when we were
going through a very challenging time in our personal lives and
needed to know He was there. We must tell of His wonderful works to
this generation! We need to make ourselves available so people can
follow more than a tweet or a twitter or whatever else you call it.
For the sake of our next generation, see where the Lord would have
you to invest and take the time to make a disciple for His Kingdom.
Tell someone close to you about something wonderful He did for you
and watch as these stories grow like a seed that produces mountain
moving faith that lives on until Jesus comes.
Jesus
Cares, Happy
Thanksgiving
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