This past weekend at 19:30 hours Baby bird was kicked out of the nest. That’s code for Girls Ministries Stars Retreat began 7:30 pm when I showed up for the evening’s service. Along with the other baby birds we landed in Grumpy Cat’s territory. That’s code for 130 girls (Stars) were in the proximity of the enemy. As I received orders from Headquarters, we started our mission to deliver the necessary supplies to a nearby MASH unit. The choices we made along the way were critical to the success of the mission.

Fortunately, the troops had been trained well and the choices led us to the exact location. We knew that we needed to “Hold on Tight” to our instruction manual, the Bible, if we ever hoped to help ourselves and those in need. You see, we were “In Hot Pursuit of God”. Our commanding officer made sure that we memorized the following from the instruction manual to keep us focused on the mission. “I’m single-minded in pursuit of you; don’t let me miss the road signs you’ve posted.” Psalm 119:10. For the first day of our mission, things went well. We found the MASH unit and held on tight to our instruction manual to keep us on track.
The following day as the sun peeked out between the clouds it became obvious that if we were ever going to see the signs that were posted for us we would need to “Open our Eyes”. And open our eyes we did. Grumpy Cat had been seen during headquarters surveillance of the area and we heard bombs in the distance. We took cover and prepared for the worst. Fortunately, it was only thunder and Grumpy Cat was no where to be seen. It was time to review with the troops the importance of responding to the warning sirens. Sometimes the siren is obvious, other times the siren sounds in our heads as we are making a choice. The siren in our heads is actually our conscience and we can’t ignore the warnings it gives. “Open our eyes” is exactly what we did that day as we looked for the signs posted for us and listened to our conscience.

Saturday evening we were joined by another platoon who helped with our mission. The other platoon were actually the parents of those girls being crowned an Honor Star. It was fun to include them in the evenings debriefing and have them as part of our mission. One very brave parent, was volunteered to play God as we re-enacted the story of Joshua assuming command of the Israelites. Joshua, one of our girl volunteers, listened intently to God’s instructions. She didn’t miss a detail. In the end, because of God’s encouragement to be “Strong and Courageous”, Joshua accepted the task of leading the Israelites into the promised land.

How often do we need encouragement as we pursue after God? Good thing God never gives up on us and gives us continual encouragment. It was an evening to honor all that God had done in the girls lives and for their accomplishment of becoming an Honor Star. Just like Joshua spent years learning from Moses, these girls have spent years learning in Stars. Both would one day use what they’ve learned to lead people to their promised land, heaven.

As the next day dawned it was time to tell the troops, mission accomplished. and that it was time to leave. Packing up to leave proved to be more difficult than expected. All of the excess equipment and baggage began to bog me down so I couldn’t imagine how the troops were feeling. Upon examination of the items I was trying to carry, I realized many of them could be left behind. Things like lying, cheating, R-rated movies, drugs & alcohol, disobedience and making fun of others were just a few. We realized that we needed to “Toss the Trash” and get rid of all the things in our life that would hinders us from pursuing after God. We needed to follow our instruction manual when it said in Heb. 12:1, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” When faced with a boobie trap that took 12 girls to untangle, we realized that it requires a team effort to help one another throw off the things that hinder us and the sin that entangles us. Once we tossed the trash it was easy to move forward and run the remainder of the race.

Saying good-bye to the troops was an emotional time but I know that they are more prepared than they were when they arrived. Now if they encounter Grumpy Cat they have tools and practical experience to one day say “mission accomplished”.

Missions Sunday at Calvary Assembly brought with it a heightened awareness of BGMC (Boys and Girls Missionary Challenge) With balloons flying, Buddy Barrels and BGMC boxes on center stage, I was introduced by Pastor John and given opportunity to bring about and awareness of the importance of financially supporting BGMC.

BGMC stands for Boys and Girls Missionary Challenge and is the missions emphasis for children through the Assemblies of God

BGMC allows our missionaries to receive the supplies they need to in order to spread the gospel at home and overseas.

Missionaries can use BGMC funds for any ministry supplies that relate to evangelism or discipleship.

The majority of BGMC funds are undesignated funds so that it can get to the missionaries when they need it. There are missionaries on the field that are unable to ask for support because of the sensitive nature of their appointment. BGMC is able to help meet the needs of the missionary without revealing sensitive locations.

BGMC money has helped purchase:
• Puppets, music, and video tapes
• Tracts, Bibles, and literature
• Sound systems, computers, and copy machines
Some of the more unusual purchases have been
• kitchen appliances for a ministry that feeds hungry children
• Water wells and generators
• Bars on a church to prevent burglars from stealing materials
• And even a Yak

Since the beginning of BGMC, in 1949, kids have raised over $84,000,000 for missionaries.

Last year alone the giving total was over $6,000,000 and Potomac District gave over $220,000 toward that total

This money was raised primarily by kids, faithfully collecting coins all year long for in their buddy barrels and boxes.

Calvary Assembly has set a church goal of $5,000 and has asked the entire congregation to work together to meet this goal.

A project that we will be helping to fund are outdoor shelters in Togo Africa. Because of cost restraints, churches are often built without classroom space for kids therefore Sunday school is held outdoors under a tree. If the weather is bad they’re unable to conduct classes. Missionary Phil Malcolm set out to resolve this problem by building shelters for Sunday School. Each shelter costs $500 and holds 100 children. Once the church building can expand to include classroom space, these shelters can be recycled to another church in need. The cost of the shelter also comes with leader training and a years worth of curriculum for the church

Calvary’s church goal could help build 10 shelters, protecting 1000 children from the elements.

I challenged Calvary to show the kids the reality of what God can do when a church works together for a common need.

This past Friday was an exciting day for Rusty and I. We received confirmation that we had been selected and invited to attend Missionary Orientation and Training in March at Springfield Missouri, the National Office for the Assembly of God. As part of the application process we had to supply 10 references, submit to a criminal background check and a financial history credit check. We also had to complete a psychological evaluation of over 600 questions. Needless to say, after we were done that evaluation we wondered how God could use us. (Just kidding) I found out things about myself that even I didn’t know. We were anxiously awaiting the selection committees decision but we knew that God would take care of the logistics if we remained faithful to His call and the process. God is good and has been giving us peace through it all. Now we move forward to the beginning of the rest of the journey. We would appreciate your prayers as we go into a week of interviews, orientation and training. As Christians we are ever learning and becoming the person that God has created us to be. This is our next step to becoming and being part of what God has for our lives.

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to be part of Warwick Assembly of God’s Missions convention. I was privileged to be invited to help instill in the children a heart and passion for missions. The weekend began on Saturday evening with simulated flights to different areas of the world or rooms within the church. There were five different flights heading to Eurasia, Latin America, Europe, America and Africa. Everyone in attendance had an opportunity to take each of these flights and visit each room. Upon arrival to their location each person got to experience the culture, food and stories about that country before moving to the next destination. Great care and effort had been taken to create an atmosphere in each of the rooms to represent the destination country. Pastor TJ and the children’s ministry department were responsible for Latin America. The kids and ministry leaders from Missionettes, Royal Rangers and Children’s Church all contributed to the setup and decoration of the rooms. People flowed through the rooms and enjoyed the food and information shared at each location.

To finish up the evening the kids made their way to the children’s church room as the adults went to the sanctuary to hear an age specific message from an actual missionary. The kids happened to be hearing from me and my missionary experiences. I was able to share with them about my short-term missions trip to the Philippines with Character Connex and Buddy. As I shared how Buddy went to tell the children about Jesus, I pray that they would come to realize that they too can become missionaries and they don’t even have to leave their neighborhood. They could be a missionary to their family, school, communities and even sports team mates. We are all called to be missionaries. Matthew 28:19-20 says, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Let’s be an example to our kids as we ourselves demonstrate being a missionary in our daily lives. Encourage and help our kids as they step out in obedience to share their faith with the people that they personally touch. Pray for them continually that the Holy Spirit will work in their lives and give them a boldness to reach the world for Jesus Christ.

To view additional pictures from the weekend, click here. You will be taken to my personal Facebook photo album