Stepping out

A friend sent  me the card above this week.

 Curious photo maybe -

 until you read the devotion she enclosed with it. 

She must save things like I do. 

It was dated Feb. 27, 1987. 

Thinking of many friends looking at 

"tent stretching."

Here is the devotion-

Changes   

"Enlarge the place of your tent,

 stretch your tent curtains wide, 

do not hold back; lengthen your cords, 

strengthen your stakes." Isaiah 54:2

"I had come to the last week of college, 

after four years of study. 

Now I had to move from the top of one pile 

to the bottom of the next one. 

It was a time of apprehension. 

What would the next stage be like?

For the last time, I went to the church

I had become familiar with. 

Other students were there,

 many of them my friends. I felt a tug at the heart.

 This would be the last time

 I would see some of them.

The minister announces his text:

 Isaiah 54:2. 

It was for me! 

The time had come to expand. 

Peace filled my heart when I realized

 that God was encouraging me.

 Then came a second thought. 

A bigger tent needs stronger stakes,

 and that would mean digging deeper

 into God's Word and spending more time in prayer.

 I walked out of that church 

with a warm glow in my heart. 

Amid all the changes that were in front of me,

 one thing remained the same: 

the Lord would always be with me, 

in every circumstance."

Prayer-

 Living God, 

we thank You that at every stage 

of our lives You are with us, 

encouraging us and strengthening us.

 What privileged people we are! Amen."

 Thought for the Day-

 I many not know what the future holds, 

but I can trust God to be there.

  Robert Caswell   - Coleraine, Northern Ireland

Prayer Focus:

 Those about to enter

 a new stage of life's journey.

Gentle heart encouragement for your every day

I have been through so much in the last two years. 

Many times I found myself wondering

 if God was listening. 

I thought He should be answering my prayers,

and life would be put back the way

 I had it all planned out. 

Did you catch that?

 I wanted God to keep my life

 the way I envisioned it. 

The way I wanted it to be. 

It has been a struggle for me 

to give up my need for control. 

Having dreams and goals is not wrong. 

Not being willing to let go

 is where I have been wrong.

Forgetting that God has even bigger dreams

 and plans for me,

 is where I have been wrong. 

When I have trouble giving up control,

 I try to remember Jesus words

 when he went to His father in prayer.

 He said, 

“My father if it be possible, 

let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, 

not as I will, but as thy will.”

 I remember that Jesus said that prayer 

even when he knew he would have to die for me. 

What I didn’t realize is how much

 of God’s peace and joy I had been missing out on,

 when I don’t let God’s will prevail. 

I am trying to stop focusing on

 what is not going the way I had planned. 

 Instead, I try to see what better plan

 God has for me.

 I am seeing how very blessed I am.

 I have seen God send a friend

 to give me a hug and encouraging words.

 I have noticed a rainbow He has placed

 in the sky to remind me-

 He always keeps His promises.

 I have been touched by a

 caring husband and children. 

 If I am worried about making 

my day go "my way,"

  life is filled with stress,

 and I miss out on the peace and joy

 my Savior has for me. 

You will have many trials, 

struggles and joys in your life.

 As you make plans for your day, 

the month, and years of your life- 

let God’s will prevail. 

May you see everyone and everything

 He gives you.

   He is with you.

  His will for your life is better

 than any of your dreams.

submitted with a heart for encouraging

 by Denise Johnson- 

 Contributing writer for Journeys of Faith

Denise Johnson- Southern Region

It doesn't take long in a conversation 

with Denise Johnson 

to hear her love for family

and those she serves in ministry. 

From her growing up years north

 of Fort Wayne, Indiana

to the last nineteen years
 as a pastor's wife at St. John's Lutheran

 in Conover, North Carolina,

her life has been people focused.

Denise and her husband, Scott, 

have four children of their own 

and adopted brothers 
from the foster care system. 

Life lessons come along with
 mothering six children

 and questions always arise that 

speak to the heart of all mothers. 

"Am I doing it right?" 

"Am I meeting the needs of all my children?"

Her passion for connections and her experiences 

with the adoption process allows

 her to be an encourager to others

 in the foster care and adoption process.

 A sympathetic ear and understanding

 of the advocacy process

 certainly allows her to be a support to others

 who are "learning along the way."

 Her greatest blessing is raising children

 that work as a unit

 and seeing that it isn't all about ME.

She is savvy enough

 to see the opportunities that Satan 

 uses to grab JOY in the moment-

 when he places the guilt

 in the lives of women of "not enough."

 Part of being an advocate for children in the 

flawed system of adoption

 is learning to be a vocal advocate.

But, that also includes the shaping of heart

 of someone who is learning to "give up control".

It is about a woman that looks at every situation

 and purposely looks for the JOY.

Denise loves her work
 as a Pampered Chef consultant-

and is the 
Director of St. John's Preschool,

Conover, North Carolina.

She is currently organizing the Mission Trip
 this summer that brings members
 of their congregation to serve in Fairbanks, Alaska. 
They will put together a Teen Week for nearby teens.
 This year they will be gathering 13 teens 
from 4 different villages.
The teens come as guests to the camp.
It costs $800 for each teen to attend.
If you are moved to help sponsor a teen
 or make a donation- please contact Denise at: 
sddsjohnson@gmail.com.

Denise will be sharing with us part
 of the story of The Alaskan Teen Camp experience.
She will also be a contributing encourager
 for the Journeys of Faith blog. 
Welcome Denise.

On the road to Haiti

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,

 yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

Habakkuk 3:17-18

On the road in Haiti

February 2015

Thirteen of us stuffed ourselves and more than two dozen suitcases into one truck for the ride between Port-au-Prince and Croix-des-Bouquets, 8 miles northeast of the capital city. We were ready to install cabinets in the kitchen at Hope House and paint the depot. 

Although there was a break in the taxi strike, there was a possibility of demonstrations and burning tires along the way. So a police escort rode with us. Sheer bumper-to-bumper traffic was more the obstacle than disgruntled tap-tap drivers, angry at the government for raising gas prices.

That wasn’t the only problem; the World Food Program that had distributed rice in Haiti for so many years is now overwhelmed by the volume of Syrian refugees running from ISIS. Since the 2010 earthquake, Muslims have been active in relief work, building schools on this island nation; it is estimated 3,000 to 5,000 Muslims are in the country where voodism is still practiced by 90 percent of the population. Glad I brought along a few French tracts of Adha in the Injeel and the Connecting with Muslims book from Crescent Project.  Resident VOH director Bert Anderson told us 80 percent of the rice in Haiti is imported. There is concern that importing cheaper rice could negatively impact native rice farmers just like the U.S. supplying subsidized chickens in 2012. 

The Village of Hope School has reduced the serving size of their rice and beans meals to deal with this new challenge. Still in the days following our arrival, there were signs of hope – more cows, goats and chickens; growing number of wells; widening roads and concrete sidewalks and a garbage truck! On an island that still burns trash, the garbage truck was a welcome sight. Plus Roberta Anderson took us to a new supermarket but we still purchased avocadoes and plantains from vendors on the street.

About 640 children attend VOH with full-time elementary school teachers and part-time high school teachers. Donated school supplies included: 1,480 pens; 1,849 pieces of chalk; 491 toothbrushes and 115 tubes of toothpaste; 1,576 colored pencils and 1,277 crayons. Many thanks! The children also enjoyed the Valentine’s cards.

There also are plans for establishing a library and computer lab. Borrowing books is a new concept for Haitians, who are used to owning books. Computers need cool, dust-free and secure room. So both of these projects may take awhile, but just a few more signs of positive things to come.

The health clinic next door serves many patients suffering from high blood pressure, parasites, malnutrition, scabies and malaria. A mobile medical team arrives quarterly to serve about 600 people within a 5-mile radius. At present, there is no stroke rehab facility. However, infant mortality has dropped from 20 percent to 17 percent, a very encouraging medical indicator.

Traveling along National 9, we visited the mass grave where 50,000 were buried after the devastating temblor with an epicenter near the town of Leogane. The memorial remains unfinished but at least we were able to pray for those who had lost their lives. We had worshiped just that morning at a new mission church with a sermon based on Ephesians 4:11 “And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers.”

Moving on to Little Children of Jesus orphanage, we met Missionaries of the Poor, a new order of monks established in Jamaica in 1981. The brothers normally have 3-year assignments and these14 monks took over from staff of Food for the Poor in July 2014. On the morning of our visit, many of us fed the children breakfast, while others cleaned beds.

VOH field director Debbie Berquist joined us after attending funeral for her husband Wilner in Deschapelle. We met her two brothers before they flew back to Canada. She made a special rice and mushroom dish for our dinner. We also had Haitian pumpkin soup to celebrate the people’s independence and freedom.

We did not go near the Carnival celebration. A singer seated atop one of the floats hit an overhead electric cable causing a sudden large flash that triggered panic among a crowd of spectators. Seventeen were trampled to death. Haitian President Michel Martelly declared three days of mourning. He has yet to call for elections after parliament dissolved in January.

Our departing flight was cancelled due to snowstorm in Northeast. On that extra day in Haiti, some of us napped, others read, journaled or played dominoes. The team from St. John’s included: Linda Anderson, Liz and Tom DeMik, Richard and Sarah Finger, Jim Lofgren, Ken Lorang, Yvette Moy, Christine Payne, Greer and Scott Putnam, Deborah Wegman, Saron Yohannes. These represented eight churches from four states. Our servant trip began during Epiphany and ended at midnight on Ash Wednesday – some very blessed days and evenings together.

Yvette Moy

March 7, 2015

The daily blog written by Sarah Finger and Jim Lofgren may be accessed with this link: http://stjohnshaititrip.blogspot.com/

 Thanks to contributing writer- Yvette Moy for this post.