Well, the ladies have (except a few who had flights out today) made their way back to their countries and homes. We, too, are headed to the airport.
Thank you for your prayers and lifting us up to finish strong. Wow, what a time in God’s word and presence of His Spirit we enjoyed with the ladies.
Please pray with us that God will seal with His Spirit the truths they need to let take root in their hearts and apply to their lives growing forward. The same for us as a team. May His name continue to be raised high in these countries through His humble servants. And ...
Don't think about resting, Mexico is 6 weeks away! I’m not sure how many more ladies have signed up since we left but we will be in warp speed coming back. I know we had 30 something when we left for here. We had just starting getting sponsorships in. Please start praying for all the sponsorships for Mexico to come in according to His good will and purpose! And please start praying for the missionaries and the team that will join us there! Our theme is "Redeemed" and our verse is Psalms 107:2.
There are never enough words to tell you all how much we love and appreciate your prayers. We always know they only see 10-15 team members but we know an army of 6-8 hundred accompany us, and more on each trip through going, gifting, giving and prayer (most importantly)!
Love you all,
His,
Vickie
Weekly comments from Vickie Arruda, founder of Pure Joy International. Keep up to date on what is going on in Vickie's life and the life of the ministry
Saturday, September 24, 2016
Friday, September 23, 2016
Full Days...
This was our second full day with the ladies! They are a blast, eager to learn, fellowship, worship, shop (during their free time, smile). Yes, we do let them have a few hours on their own in the afternoon.
It is so awesome to hear their stories. They are a very sweet spirited group. They are so appreciative of the gifts!!
Tomorrow will be our last day with them before they all return to their countries!! We return home Sunday evening.
Keep praying for us we want to finish strong!!!
Love you all,
His,
Vickie
It is so awesome to hear their stories. They are a very sweet spirited group. They are so appreciative of the gifts!!
Tomorrow will be our last day with them before they all return to their countries!! We return home Sunday evening.
Keep praying for us we want to finish strong!!!
Love you all,
His,
Vickie
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Our Ladies Arrive....
Vickie
Tuesday, September 20, 2016
Great News!
Our team members that were stuck in Hong Kong were able to get the passport situation taken care of and arrived this afternoon after lunch. It is Tuesday night as I write this note to you. Praising God and thanking you for your prayers!
Yesterday the team did some sightseeing and had some fun moments as you can see.
This morning we went to a batik shop and did a picture. For those of you that don't know what that is here is a link.... https://simple.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batik
While most of the team did their day of sightseeing here the others did theirs in Hong Kong yesterday. (Smile)
We have had good time learning about the people groups of this area and trying out their authentic food. It has been great!!
However, fun is over and work begins this afternoon as we work on the final details of preparation before the ladies arrive.
Please pray for their safety as they travel and as they leave their husbands and children behind if married.
His,
Vickie
Yesterday the team did some sightseeing and had some fun moments as you can see.
This morning we went to a batik shop and did a picture. For those of you that don't know what that is here is a link.... https://simple.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batik
While most of the team did their day of sightseeing here the others did theirs in Hong Kong yesterday. (Smile)
We have had good time learning about the people groups of this area and trying out their authentic food. It has been great!!
However, fun is over and work begins this afternoon as we work on the final details of preparation before the ladies arrive.
Please pray for their safety as they travel and as they leave their husbands and children behind if married.
His,
Vickie
Sunday, September 18, 2016
Prayer burst
All but two of team members arrived to our destination at
2:30 a.m. and 7:30 respectively this morning - the time here.
Asking God to extend Grace as they go to the embassy in Hong Kong Monday morning to work out issue. Please pray for God to make away! We are peaceable and know He has this!!!
Need all of you praying!
His,
Vickie
We are Praising God for the safe arrival of 8 of us.
However, I am asking you to be in prayer for two of our team members still in
Hong Kong due to a passport issue. Well, actually one with a passport
issue, the other as her Barnabas. (Smile)
Asking God to extend Grace as they go to the embassy in Hong Kong Monday morning to work out issue. Please pray for God to make away! We are peaceable and know He has this!!!
Need all of you praying!
His,
Vickie
Saturday, September 17, 2016
Greetings from Hong Kong,
We just touched down. We had a great trip and I don't think most of us had any trouble sleeping no matter what links we had to go to. (Smile)
We are here for around 3 hours and then back in the air for around 4 hours before reaching our final destination.
The team is all well. No one is feeling ill. For a group of women I'd say we are doing great! We all digested about 5 movies on the plane. Ha ha ha
And slept though half of them! Ha ha
Keep praying!!
Love you all.
His,
Vickie
Wednesday, September 14, 2016
3:00 a.m. No problem......
Well, you are looking at 5 of 30 pieces of trunks and
luggage that are packed and getting ready to be loaded on flights to Southeast Asia
this Friday morning early. After months of your prayers, giving, gifting and
going, we are ready to step foot on the other side of the globe. The team is
excited and ready to go. Please pray for good flights, safe weather, all trunks
and luggage to get to Southeast Asia with us. On the same plane. Ha,ha,ha,ha
Don’t forget that I will be
posting a blog to you daily. Yes, I will add some pics too. We are 13 hours
ahead of you so as I write this blog tonight it is 9:30 p.m. here which means
it is 10:30 a.m. in the part of the world we will be ministering in the next
week. So if you have family member on this team just remember our night is your
day. Your day is our night.
Don’t forget about Mexico. We had 3 more M’s sign up today
which brings us up to 34. We have 5 sponsored so far. Please be prayerful about
God bringing in the resources for the trip. The women there are getting excited
too. Just 8 weeks away. Wow! It will be an awesome thing to watch God bring in
the resources for this trip on such a short turn around. Make sure you keep up
with the blog concerning that because it is fun to watch His Hand at Work!!! Be
obedient if He is asking you to be a part of that.
So, until Friday when I write again from across the ocean
keep us on your minds and hearts.
Love you ..
His,
VickieTuesday, September 6, 2016
You Wear Me Out ...
How many
times growing up have you heard that spoken to you by your parents? Or heard
another set of parents saying that to their children? And how many times have
you said or thought that about your spouse, or friend, or peers at work and yes
even your church family? If you haven’t ever said those words, there is still a
good possibility someone has said them about you. ha,ha,ha, ha,ha I’m confident
my mom has said that about me even as an adult. Even though she didn’t say it I
think she may have thought it once or twice in this past week.
Ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,
But, here is
where the rubber meets the road. It is when you say it to yourself! I had one
of those conversations with myself just this morning. It went something like
this... “Are you kidding me? Stop it! How hard is this? You know better! You
wear me out.” The Apostle Paul actually struggled with the same things only he said
it with a lot more style....
Romans 7:15 (NLT) “I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.”
You might ask,
“Well, what did he hate?” The same things we do as followers of Christ! He
hated sin! He hated those thoughts, feelings, emotions, and actions that did
not line up with God’s Word and who he was as a child of God! He hated when he
didn’t trust God, walk in faith, be obedient, put others first, die to self,
and all the other things we struggle with daily.
And he, like
us, had to confess his ways that didn’t line up with God’s word, forgive
himself, forgive others, and remember we are overcomers in Christ when we yield
to Him daily and allow Him to live through us. Yes, my friend we are never
going to be perfect this side of heaven but we are being perfected day by day!
Can I give
you a bit of encouragement here...? Praise God for those struggles. They remind
us that the Holy Spirit of God indwells us and that we are children of the Most
High God. Children of the King. And when we don’t act like who we really are,
our Heavenly Father graciously reminds us through the conviction of the Holy
Spirit that indwells us.
If you
haven’t been convicted over sin in your life in a while, bow the knee and ask
God to shine His light across your heart. Confess, repent, and grow forward!
Ok, so that
is my confession for today, at least so far. Ha,ha,ha,ha On to ministry news...
(smile)
We are so
close into Asia we can almost touch it. I can’t believe we leave a week from
Friday. It is all coming together. Thank you so much!! Thank you for the
sponsorships, gifts, cards, etc. that you have invested. Hope you are continuing
to pray over your M and their family and/or ministry while we are on the
field.
Also, the
Mexico Team got their first team letter last night. So they are getting ready
to step up to the process of getting ready for the conference in Mexico. I want
to ask you to start praying like a mad dog that sponsorships will begin to come
in for this conference. We have approximately 30 women signed up as of now.
Will keep you, as always, in the loop if that changes.
Saw a great
movie this weekend called “Greater.” If you are looking for something to go see,
check it out. Don’t know if it will make it to any places overseas but if it
does those of you reading this across the oceans check it out.
Love you
all...
His,
Vickie
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