Counting…..

We are less than 3 weeks out from leaving the country. We have 16 missionary women still to be sponsored. I put 15 down in my Sunday school class then found out I was short one! Don’t want to miss anyone! Please share with your friends this opportunity to give and help sponsor these ladies. Remember to go to www.purejoyinternational and click on Donations to give on-line or mail in your check. Thank you in advance for supporting these ladies to have an opportunity to recharge for the kingdom’s sake!

All the gifts are starting to come in for the missionary women; prayer times are getting sweeter and sweeter. I love listening to our team members share with me about the team prayer times. Our worship leader is absolutely excited about what God is up to with our worship, speakers/teachers are getting direction for messages to be solidified, and those doing team devotionals are sitting before the LORD as well for direction. Hospitality details are all coming together. It is sooooooo fun to watch this be birthed each time for a trip and to watch all the areas come together for His glory as we prepare to leave the country. The Pure Joy Staff is at work making sure we haven’t forgotten anything. This week we received a box of gifts for the missionary women from our ladies up in the Chicago area. Saturday I drove to Clarksville, AR to pick up a trunk of gifts prepared by the women at a church there. We are so blessed to have two churches in that area that give, gift, and go, as well as ladies in Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas, and Oklahoma. It is awesome to watch so many hands working towards the ministry of our missionary women around the world.

One of my favorite parts of Pure Joy International is that we are an ‘inside-out ministry’. We are just as interested in touching the hearts of the women in churches that partner with us as we are touching the missionary women. Listen to these comments made by women in two of our partnering churches regarding gifting for the missionary women in Italy.

………It isn't often enough that our ladies can meet with the intention of doing something for others. To our great delight (we ALL agreed) we had the opportunity to fellowship and love on each other while we used our creativity to bless other women across the world from us. It was totally FUN!!! I thought often of the one I prayed over during the last retreat as my hands were busy preparing for another. These precious women are sacrificing so much that others may hear the GOOD NEWS. I am so thankful and honored that I have just a small part!!!                                                                                     

                                                                    Marilyn, East Mt. Zion Trinity Baptist Church

……. As we set an evening to meet, and then decided on the project, it was covered in prayer. We quickly formed an assembly line and as we chatted, the project items were completed, counted, and boxed ready to be sent. It was a great time and even though our number of ladies was small, we completed them in short order. We do pray that when they are distributed, each lady will feel the Love of Christ that came through our hands.                                 

                                                                 The Ladies at Water's Edge Bible Church

We so appreciate our partners whether your gift is giving, gifting, or going.

Ok, so for the next 2 1/2 weeks I want to keep you in our innermost prayer circle as we finish up the details. So here are some prayer requests…

• 16 more missionary women still needing to be sponsored 
• A couple of missionary women have had to drop out due to circumstances that have come up last minute …Pray for them.
• Pray for the ladies that have the opportunity to move up the waiting list.
• Pray for the team as we make all the necessary adjustments to ensure those moving up from the waiting list are not lacking anything  in relationship to the area of personalize gifts.
• Pray for our team members as they are preparing their families for their time away and for our missionary women as they do the same with families and ministries.
• Pray for all the team members to get all their financial support in as well.
• Pray for all of us that we are seeking God daily, in the Word, yielded to His counsel and direction.

Love you all,

His,

Vickie

“God brings men into deep waters, not to drown them, but to cleanse them” – John Aughey