ESL Workshop - Register by November 2nd!

The next English as a Second Language Workshop is scheduled for Saturdays November 14th and 21st in Fort Atkinson, WI! If you're planning on attending, please register by Monday, November 2nd to allow sufficient time to order materials! For more information on the workshop, visit my website!

Is there really a need for ESL? Absolutely! I spent some time at the mall in East Madison last Saturday. I was amazed. It seems that the culture has morphed right before my eyes over these past eight years and I hadn't really noticed, until now. Funny how when God calls you and gives you a passion for something, he also gives you a new perspective. My challenge to you as you read this, wherever you are, is to ask God to open your eyes to the mission field around you. Let Him show you the needs of the people He's placed you in the midst of...and ask Him to give you compassion. But be warned, compassion always leads to action...so be ready to go and do what He calls you to do!

International Missions - Right HERE!

I've spent this past week at a Global Missions Conference in Spartanburg, SC, and have loved meeting missionaries from all over the world. I am so thankful for the work they are doing, and also thankful for the work God has called me to right here in the United States.

I love ministering to a variety of people groups as God brings them to our towns and neighborhoods. I'm really excited about a new ministry opportunity and want to share this with you...please be praying about it with me!

This next year, 100 Bhutanese refugee families will be placed in the Madison, WI area. I found that out several weeks ago and it has been heavy on my heart that we, God's people, need to respond to this need. So I was all the more excited to meet someone here in Spartanburg who has been working with the Bhutanese in Atlanta, GA. He was able to tell me more about their customs and culture, and share with me a CD with Bible Stories in their native language, Nepali Bhutan. What are the odds of that??

I had at the top of my to-do list to call the organization that is placing these families, and as I opened my email this morning I found several emails from a pastor in the Chicago area who is ministering to Bhutanese in that area and was interested in finding out how he can be involved in Madison.

So too many coincidences to be coincidental:-)

Pray with me that God's people will respond and that we will minister to these families: physically, emotionally, and spiritually!

Great Tutoring Workshop!

On September 25-26, 2009, Midvale Baptist Church hosted the first-ever Tutoring Children & Youth workshop in the Central Baptist Association! Six people attended the workshop from a variety of locations and denominations. I can’t wait to see the ministries that will develop as a result. So often, we look at the problems in our communities and wonder how we can make a difference. How can we help with the obvious needs, but also with the underlying spiritual need that so many are not even aware of? I look at graduation rates and on the surface, Wisconsin is doing pretty well. But as we dig a little deeper we see that graduation rates vary drastically from location to location and across different ethnic groups. This workshop equipped me to help a child who is struggling with schoolwork and consistently demonstrate the love of Jesus Christ, not only to the child but to his whole family!

A special thank-you to Renea Adkins, our NAMB-certified workshop leader from Indiana, and to First Lutheran Lodi and Pastor Mike Lee, who funded the workshop. Please pray that those who were equipped will use what they’ve learned to further the Kingdom, for His glory!