We have had registration open now for nearly 3 weeks for Southeast Asia. We have 35 women registered with only 15 more positions open before we go to our waiting list sign up. Just shows you the need that is out there to minister to our frontline workers to help keep them on the front lines. We also already have 22 women sponsored which means we only have 28 left to sponsor for this trip. If God is moving on your heart to give, please be obedient as He leads. Thank you for those of you who have already poured into this trip financially and those who will.
We have another team member that we picked up this last week as well. Please pray for the team to continue to come together. Yes, we could leave the country with the ladies we have now and minister to the women in Southeast Asia. However, I just happen to believe there are several more of you out there who are supposed to be on this team. So please be sensitive to the Father on this issue, too.
This morning in my quiet time as I sat beside the lake reading 2 Samuel 10:1-19 I couldn’t help but think, I know so many people who feel like Joab felt in the battle David had sent him into with the Ammonites and Syrians. This battle was provoked by King Hanun of the Ammonites when he listened to poor counsel. You must read 2 Samuel 10:1-19 to get the full picture.
For our purposes today I want to pick up the story in 2 Samuel 10:9-14
2 Samuel 10:9-14 (ESV)
9 When Joab saw that the battle was set against him both in front and in the rear, he chose some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Syrians. 10 The rest of his men he put in the charge of Abishai his brother, and he arrayed them against the Ammonites. 11 And he said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me, but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come and help you. 12 Be of good courage, and let us be courageous for our people, and for the cities of our God, and may the LORD do what seems good to him.” 13 So Joab and the people who were with him drew near to battle against the Syrians, and they fled before him. 14 And when the Ammonites saw that the Syrians fled, they likewise fled before Abishai and entered the city. Then Joab returned from fighting against the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.
Do you feel like the battle has been set against you in the front and in the rear? Feel like you are hemmed in and there doesn’t appear to be a way out? I love Joab’s strategy…he might as well have said, we are in this together brother! If you need help I’ll come to you. If I need help you come to me. Can I ask you something? Do you need help in your circumstances right now? Have you asked for help? Made plans for it? And are you aware if a sister or brother in Christ around you who needs help? Are you extending yourself to them?
And then the verse... Be of good courage, and let us be courageous for our people, and for the cities of our God, and may the LORD do what seems good to him. I love this too, because it simply says.... Do not be deterred no matter the circumstances; let us fight for what God has given us families, neighbors, friends, for God’s people everywhere and trust God to act on His behalf. And I also love it that Joab says and may the LORD do what seems good to him. When is the last time in the middle of your circumstance did you just say to God, LORD do what seems good to you?
His,
Vickie
Monday, April 25, 2016
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Southeast Asia and a Good Laugh.....
Well, registration opened up last week for Southeast Asia and we already have 17 ladies signed up. Please continue to let your friends who live in Southeast Asia and the surrounding areas know about the conference. If they have questions they contact me at vickie@purejoyinternational.org. Please begin to pray alongside us for support for the M’s that will be attending this conference at no cost to themselves beyond travel. As always, we thank you in advance as we watch God move on behalf of His ministry.
My 3 yr. old great nephew spent last weekend with my mom, sister, and me. He commonly spends the weekends with us because his mom has to work. He has a lot of fun covering the distance between our mom’s house and my sister’s house on his little John Deere tractor as I tag along with him on the John Deere riding mower. It is quite the sight. Usually, before the day is over he has made his rounds through the neighborhood to visit all the neighbors, received his favorite Kit Kat candy from one of the neighbors, stopped at every stream and ditch possible to throw rocks and pretend to fish, sit on one of our neighbor’s John Deere collection of old tractors, etc., etc. Translated it makes for a long day for this older woman (ha,ha,ha,ha,ha) by the time bath and bed times roll around. Of course, I am ready for bed long before his body wants to shut down. Our usual routine is that I lay down with him, tell a few stories that recall our activity of the day, with flare of course! Ha,ha,ha,ha Then a couple of rounds of Jack and the Bean Stalk, David and Goliath, and Samson for good measure. Then theatrically he goes to sleep and I get up and go to my bed.
Well, one-night last weekend after we had finished our usual series of stories I rolled over on my stomach as I noticed he was playing with his little flashlight from one of our retreats. (Thanks, Deb and Carl). Anyway, I knew his pattern was to play a few minutes with the flashlight then turn it off and go to sleep. So, I just laid there half awake and half in a coma. (smile) All of a sudden, he crawled up on my back and leaned down as close to my ear as he could and said with the exact same inflection as Elsa from the movie Frozen, “You want to build a snowman?” Even as I write these words today, I am absolutely laughing out loud!
I pray those of you out there parenting the little ones all the way through the tweens (11-13) to teens (14-18) that you are able to capture some of these same unpredictable random moments of pure laughter with and at your kids. It may be the only thing that helps us to allow them to reach adulthood.
Would love to hear from some of you and your laughable moments with your children and extended family. We can all use a bit of laughter in our lives weekly.
Love You All,
His,
Vickie
My 3 yr. old great nephew spent last weekend with my mom, sister, and me. He commonly spends the weekends with us because his mom has to work. He has a lot of fun covering the distance between our mom’s house and my sister’s house on his little John Deere tractor as I tag along with him on the John Deere riding mower. It is quite the sight. Usually, before the day is over he has made his rounds through the neighborhood to visit all the neighbors, received his favorite Kit Kat candy from one of the neighbors, stopped at every stream and ditch possible to throw rocks and pretend to fish, sit on one of our neighbor’s John Deere collection of old tractors, etc., etc. Translated it makes for a long day for this older woman (ha,ha,ha,ha,ha) by the time bath and bed times roll around. Of course, I am ready for bed long before his body wants to shut down. Our usual routine is that I lay down with him, tell a few stories that recall our activity of the day, with flare of course! Ha,ha,ha,ha Then a couple of rounds of Jack and the Bean Stalk, David and Goliath, and Samson for good measure. Then theatrically he goes to sleep and I get up and go to my bed.
Well, one-night last weekend after we had finished our usual series of stories I rolled over on my stomach as I noticed he was playing with his little flashlight from one of our retreats. (Thanks, Deb and Carl). Anyway, I knew his pattern was to play a few minutes with the flashlight then turn it off and go to sleep. So, I just laid there half awake and half in a coma. (smile) All of a sudden, he crawled up on my back and leaned down as close to my ear as he could and said with the exact same inflection as Elsa from the movie Frozen, “You want to build a snowman?” Even as I write these words today, I am absolutely laughing out loud!
I pray those of you out there parenting the little ones all the way through the tweens (11-13) to teens (14-18) that you are able to capture some of these same unpredictable random moments of pure laughter with and at your kids. It may be the only thing that helps us to allow them to reach adulthood.
Would love to hear from some of you and your laughable moments with your children and extended family. We can all use a bit of laughter in our lives weekly.
Love You All,
His,
Vickie
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Are You In A Great Storm.......
Matthew 8:24-25
And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep. And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, "Save us, Lord; we are perishing!" He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm.
Mark 4:37-38
And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?" And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
Luke 8:23-25
But as they were sailing along He fell asleep; and a fierce gale of wind descended on the lake, and they began to be swamped and to be in danger. They came to Jesus and woke Him up, saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!" And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm. And He said to them, “Where is your Faith?”
Many messages have been preached over theses verses in centuries past. So don’t venture to think I am about to have some new revelation from the Holy Spirit of God on these verses. I simply want to remind myself and any of you that need the reminder and are in the middle of a storm crying out ......
“Save us, Lord; we are (I am) perishing!” “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?”
“Teacher, do You not care that we are (I am) perishing?” “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
“Master, Master, we are (I am) perishing!” “Where is your Faith?”
....... He hears if you are calling His Name!!! And in His perfect timing He will calm the storms of our hearts whatever they are! ......Exercise that “Faith” even if you don’t feel like it!!!
Love You All,
His,
Vickie
Registration for Southeast Asia opens today.
And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep. And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, "Save us, Lord; we are perishing!" He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm.
Mark 4:37-38
And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?" And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
Luke 8:23-25
But as they were sailing along He fell asleep; and a fierce gale of wind descended on the lake, and they began to be swamped and to be in danger. They came to Jesus and woke Him up, saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!" And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm. And He said to them, “Where is your Faith?”
Many messages have been preached over theses verses in centuries past. So don’t venture to think I am about to have some new revelation from the Holy Spirit of God on these verses. I simply want to remind myself and any of you that need the reminder and are in the middle of a storm crying out ......
“Save us, Lord; we are (I am) perishing!” “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?”
“Teacher, do You not care that we are (I am) perishing?” “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
“Master, Master, we are (I am) perishing!” “Where is your Faith?”
....... He hears if you are calling His Name!!! And in His perfect timing He will calm the storms of our hearts whatever they are! ......Exercise that “Faith” even if you don’t feel like it!!!
Love You All,
His,
Vickie
Registration for Southeast Asia opens today.
Tell your friends that they can contact vickie@purejoyinternational.org for more information.
Monday, March 21, 2016
Olive Branch Mississippi and The Gospel...
Recently, I made my way to Olive Branch, Mississippi, with the opportunity to share with several women from different churches in the surrounding area regarding Pure Joy International. What a sweet time of fellowship, sharing and prayer. Several of them are prayerfully considering one of the three trips coming up. God is moving to put the teams together for each trip. So please continue to pray for the teams as they come together. He Knows.
In January each year our Pure Joy Board, Advisors, and Staff meet to review the previous year and look forward to what God has in store for the new year. Each year I give the group a new notebook. This year the ministry staff all received a notebook with a statement on the front that says:
And then it has Romans 1:16 quoted:
Romans 1:16 (ESV)
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Love you, He has Risen!
His,
Vickie
In January each year our Pure Joy Board, Advisors, and Staff meet to review the previous year and look forward to what God has in store for the new year. Each year I give the group a new notebook. This year the ministry staff all received a notebook with a statement on the front that says:
This Message Is Illegal In Many Nations
And then it has Romans 1:16 quoted:
Romans 1:16 (ESV)
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
There are many things we do daily to keep from doing something our nation (U.S. A.) has deemed illegal. It is illegal to drive up a one-way street the wrong direction. It is illegal to take things that aren’t yours, it is illegal to forge someone’s name on a document, etc., etc. But it is not illegal to go to church on Sunday, it is not illegal to share the gospel with a lost person, it is not illegal to claim your Christianity, at least not yet, in our nation.
God has called many to go into the nations that do consider the message of the gospel illegal. He has called men, women, families, the old, the young, to carry the message of hope, to be the light in the darkness. Many pay the price for doing something foreign nations consider illegal which can result in consequences such as being kicked out of a country, prison time, beatings, beheadings, etc.
I say all this to remind us of two things very specifically:
- We have missionary men, women, boys and girls, (young and old) risking their lives daily in foreign nations, living in desperate situations, just to be able to share the gospel of Christ with those that are lost and in need of a Savior. Please remember them in your prayers.
- Sharing the gospel in our nation (USA) is not illegal, let’s stop acting like it is.
Love you, He has Risen!
His,
Vickie
Friday, March 11, 2016
Longview Texas and A Special Prayer Request....
Well, I made my way down to the Lone Star state this past week. Met with an awesome group of women to discuss the up-coming trips o Southeast Asia, Mexico, and Greece. We had a sweet time and I always love seeing new faces and getting to hear their stories. It is amazing to watch how God is at work in women’s lives preparing them in advance to get on board with the ministry before I ever get to share my heart with them. I love how He works in our lives. He Knows.
We are negotiating contracts with the hotels this week. So we will most likely open registration for the conferences in Southeast Asia and Guanajuato City, Guanajuato, Mexico, the week of March 28. So get the word out to your friends that are serving in those areas of the world. Remember first come, first serve. Also, the teams are filling up that will be traveling to these countries. We have gone to a waiting list on the Mexico trip for team members, as of last week. If God is moving on your heart to be on a team, please contact me even if we are on waiting list status, because it isn’t uncommon for people to be moved up from the waiting list with team members and/or our missionary women.
I have a very special prayer request. Jon Moore a precious friend and co-founder of Christfollower.com was diagnosed with stage two Lymphoma cancer last August. He went through treatment and was given a cancer free status. However, this past week they found three nodules on his thyroid, one of them is malignant. They will have to take out his thyroid gland. The prognosis for this surgery is good. I am asking that you add him to your prayer list and that his body will continue to heal by God’s grace and the men and women He has gifted in the medical field.
I want to close by sharing with you something Jon shared in the note he sent out to his prayer warriors. I love it because it shows you his heart and the quote by Corrie Ten is such a truth for all of us regarding the darkness we come up against on our journeys. And I quote.....
We were initially taken back by the news, but on reflection and prayer realized it was no surprise to the Lord, and we have every confidence He will walk with us (and carry us) through this as He has on numerous occasions in our life. The Lord has been so good and gracious through all of this, and He led me in my reading just two days after receiving the news to a quote by Corrie Ten Boom (author of "The Hiding Place"). Her statement, "When a train goes through a tunnel, and it gets dark, you don't throw away your ticket and jump off the train. You sit still and trust the engineer!"
My dear ones, I pray if you are in a dark place, sit still and trust the engineer!
Love you all,
His,
Vickie
We are negotiating contracts with the hotels this week. So we will most likely open registration for the conferences in Southeast Asia and Guanajuato City, Guanajuato, Mexico, the week of March 28. So get the word out to your friends that are serving in those areas of the world. Remember first come, first serve. Also, the teams are filling up that will be traveling to these countries. We have gone to a waiting list on the Mexico trip for team members, as of last week. If God is moving on your heart to be on a team, please contact me even if we are on waiting list status, because it isn’t uncommon for people to be moved up from the waiting list with team members and/or our missionary women.
I have a very special prayer request. Jon Moore a precious friend and co-founder of Christfollower.com was diagnosed with stage two Lymphoma cancer last August. He went through treatment and was given a cancer free status. However, this past week they found three nodules on his thyroid, one of them is malignant. They will have to take out his thyroid gland. The prognosis for this surgery is good. I am asking that you add him to your prayer list and that his body will continue to heal by God’s grace and the men and women He has gifted in the medical field.
I want to close by sharing with you something Jon shared in the note he sent out to his prayer warriors. I love it because it shows you his heart and the quote by Corrie Ten is such a truth for all of us regarding the darkness we come up against on our journeys. And I quote.....
We were initially taken back by the news, but on reflection and prayer realized it was no surprise to the Lord, and we have every confidence He will walk with us (and carry us) through this as He has on numerous occasions in our life. The Lord has been so good and gracious through all of this, and He led me in my reading just two days after receiving the news to a quote by Corrie Ten Boom (author of "The Hiding Place"). Her statement, "When a train goes through a tunnel, and it gets dark, you don't throw away your ticket and jump off the train. You sit still and trust the engineer!"
My dear ones, I pray if you are in a dark place, sit still and trust the engineer!
Love you all,
His,
Vickie
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
What a Joy and a Good Laugh...
Monday night I had the opportunity to speak at Evergreen
Baptist Church in Tulsa, OK. It was such a sweet time of fellowship as I was
able to meet with some of the ladies that make gifts for our trips, go, pray,
and support our missionaries on the field. Also I was able to make some new
acquaintances and had several women step-up that are prayerfully considering
traveling with us this fall or in the spring of next year.
This brings me to this bit of information. The slots are
starting to fill up for the teams to Southeast Asia, Mexico, and Greece. Please
contact me at vickie@purejoyinternational.org
soon if you are interested in going and/or know someone who might be. I will be
glad to come to your church location if you would like for me to share with
your women how they can be involved in going or just being a part of a trip
without leaving the country.
The above part of the blog was the ‘what a joy’ part. But
this is the ‘good laugh’ part....
Monday as I was coming into Tulsa, Deb, our
logistics person was at the hospital with her husband and mother-in-law who was
having shoulder replacement surgery. I headed that direction because we were
going to ride together to my speaking time since I was staying the night with
them. Well, as life would have it, I was busy thinking about my thoughts as I
was driving along and I ended up in the wrong lane to go forward at a busy
intersection. So I honked at the guy to the left of me to see if he might let
me pull in front of him when the light changed which would put me in the
correct lane. He gave me a hand signal like “show me the money and I will”,
which off course ticked me off because I wasn’t in the mood for stupidness;
didn’t he know I had a church function I was going to speak at. In the meantime
while I was dealing with Mr. Show Me the Money, the car behind me was laying on
their horn because of course I was blocking the lane that would allow them to
go ahead and turn right on red. Where is the compassion; didn’t they have
enough sense to know I made a mistake and it was obvious? And yes, I was in
Oklahoma with my Arkansas license plate showing. Well, the light changed and
Mr. Show Me the Money let me go in front of him at which time the girl in the
car behind me swooshed by on the right close enough for me to be able to tell
what color eye shadow she had on as she gave me the proverbial hand sign. Now
at that second I lifted my hands up as to say, “sorry” - after all I was on my
way to a church speaking engagement, but while my hands were lifted up in the
pose of “sorry” my ‘flesh hands’ and body were secretly out the window and
fastened tightly around her little neck shouting “What is wrong with you? Do
you really think I wanted to be stuck in the wrong lane with Mr. Show Me The
Money and you leaning on your horn while I know I’m stopping up your passage
way!” And again I reminded myself “you are speaking at a church tonight; gather
your flesh and put it under the control of the Holy Spirit and for Pete’s Sake,
pay attention to what lane you are supposed to be in from now on.”
Just a little true story to remind us all that apart from
Him we are one big mess!!!
Love you All…
His,
Vickie
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Consolidate....
Yesterday I had the privilege of meeting with a young man (25-year-old)
to look at some possible updates to our website. The young man is very wise for his age and
probably doesn’t even know it. Notice I
said ‘wise’ not ‘intelligent.’ However,
it just so happens he is very intelligent, too! What a powerful combination!
I want to focus on his wisdom in the blog today. As I said I was meeting with him to look at
our website together and get a ‘younger mind’ perspective. In the character of the apostle Paul he
started out by telling me the good things about our website. He even went on to share that we had most of
the guts (my word) needed for a website to communicate. He then shared with me that while the look
of our web site isn’t bad, it is just out of date. We then proceeded to talk about how to make it
more user friendly, communicate what we wanted communicated more clearly and improve
the look. Then he made a statement that
I shall forever have packed away in my little ‘nugget bag’, “The
goal isn’t to tear away features but to consolidate.”
My mind immediately switched gears from our conversation (of
course he had no clue my mind had left the table) to how many marriages,
families, churches, ministry organizations, etc., I have watched be destroyed
over the past many years because someone didn’t like something anymore and
instead of having the wisdom to know how to consolidate, they became a wrecking
ball. (Please note: I realize that sometimes you cannot
consolidate, so there are exceptions but I am talking generically.)
Consolidate means to:
1.
Make something physically stronger or more solid
“the first phase of the project is to consolidate the outside wall.”
2.
Combine a number of things into a single, more
effective or coherent whole “all manufacturing activities have been
consolidated in new premises.”
Synonyms: combine, unite, merge,
integrate, amalgamate, fuse, synthesize, bring
together, unify
The goal with our website isn’t to go in and tear away features
but to consolidate them, to do whatever it takes to make the website stronger,
more effective, and a more coherent whole.
In marriage and/or family counseling, I’m not looking at the
gaping hole in the wall but I’m listening to see if I have any building
materials left to work with to bring the marriage and/or family back together.
To consolidate, make it stronger with what I have left to work with, not to
destroy it all because of a hole.
In churches and organizations the trend is for someone to
come in and tear away the features of that church and/or ministry organizations
instead of looking for and listening for ways to consolidate those features and
make it stronger and unified. That is a
missing piece of wisdom in our leadership today in many churches and ministry
organizations.
Can I ask you a question?
Is it time to ‘listen’ instead of focusing on the hole in the wall in
your marriage, family, church, and/or ministry organization? Is it time to apply the wisdom of learning
that you don’t have to tear away all the features but you need the wisdom to
know how to consolidate, bring together, unify, etc.?
Please be willing to step back and ask yourself these
questions. Be willing to kneel before
our Heavenly Father and ask Him to show you if Satan has deceived you into
believing a lie that God isn’t big enough to consolidate and strengthen what
the enemy has tried to take a bite out of!
Be praying for Southeast Asia. We are zeroed in on our hotel and hope to
open up registration to the m’s come the first part of March. Our theme is Fight the Good Fight from 1
Timothy 6:12.
Because we have two conferences going back to back please
make sure in your giving to designate to which trip you want sponsorship for
the m’s to go - Southeast Asia (September) and/or Mexico (November).
Love you all and can’t wait to watch all that God is up to
for the m’s that will be attending these retreats.
His,
Vickie
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