Monday, November 29, 2010

THANKFUL

When I began working for NightLight, I had to say goodbye to my independent spirit. You know, the thing inside that says, “I’m an adult, and I don’t need anybody else to help me succeed in life. I’ve got this all by myself.”

There’s actually not a whole lot of room for that kind of attitude when raising your monthly salary. And that mindset won’t fly in a job that depends on help from volunteers.

Someone once told me that to trust means to put your full weight into something, as if you are leaning totally on that thing. Without it you would fall flat on your face. The ironic thing, though, is that it kinda feels like you’re going to fall flat on your face when you decide to give up trusting yourself and put all of your weight into another.

The Lord is that thing that I must put all of my weight into in order not to fall. Finding myself in the arms of Papa is the safest and most wonderful place in the world. Because of the Lord’s goodness and faithfulness, He has never let me fall.

And I am thankful.

I am thankful to be working for NightLight. This is a dream job for me. I get to practice living in the calling the Lord has for me as a mother to many. To say the least, the kids we work with get a lot of lovin and nurturing from me. And I get to use my mad teaching skills to teach them about our precious Lord and King, Jesus. I really love those kids, and I really love my job!!

I am thankful for the team of people who make NightLight what it is. We are an army with triumphant warrior, Jesus, leading us to bring freedom to Atlanta. I love being surrounded by saints who just love the Lord and want others to know the Good News that’s burning in their hearts. What a privilege to be a part of this community! I’ve prayed and prayed to be around people like you for so long, and I praise the Lord for each of you who make up the NightLight family. You are a joy to me.

I am thankful that so many people are a part of this with me. I wouldn’t want to do this job all by myself. It is more fun to include others in the ways that the Kingdom of Heaven is coming to Earth. Thank you, supporters, for trusting the Lord and using what He has given you to bless me and make my job possible.

I am thankful for the seemingly random (nothing is random when you’re walking with the Lord) people I’ve run into who want to support me and hear about what’s going on with NightLight. I am blown away by your generosity.

I am thankful for future supporters. I am not so great at asking for money, but here it goes: I am in need of more monthly supporters. I have not been raising enough money each month, and it seems as if the one-time donors are slowly dwindling. My current monthly supporters are blessing me with about a third of my salary. I am trying to raise $2,000 per month, and would love any help that people can offer. If you're interested, visit www.nightlightinternational.com, click on the "Give" tab, and select "Atlanta" in the drop box after you've entered an amount. All donations are tax deductible.

Praise the Lord for His faithfulness to me! And praise Him for all of His faithful ones!

“Who is like You, LORD God Almighty? You, LORD, are mighty, and Your faithfulness surrounds You.” (Psalm 89:8)

“For great is Your love, higher than the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.” (Psalm 108:4)

“For great is His love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD.” (Psalm 117:2)

“Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The LORD is trustworthy in all He promises and faithful in all He does.” (Psalm 145:13)

“To the faithful You show yourself faithful …” (Psalm 18:25)

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

ISAIAH 54:17

Let me tell you a story about some precious little girls that have come to our Kids Club a couple of times.

Three sweet sisters, ranging in ages between three and eleven, just moved out of the run down extended stay hotel room where they’ve been, and in with their single mom’s brand new boyfriend.

I felt nauseous when I found out.

I don’t know anything about the man that these girls moved in with, but I do know that this puts them at extreme risk for being sexually abused. A lot of sexual abuse happens in the homes of single moms who have boyfriends and uncles over.

See, the girls’ mom is just trying to survive. She wanted to get her babies out of a one-room extended stay hotel, and she saw this as her way out.

One of the biggest risk factor of entering into the sex industry is a history of childhood sexual abuse. 89% of women in the sex industry say they have been sexually abused. We think it’s more like 100%, based on the women that we know.

People who have been treated like objects (usually by people that they know … like mom’s boyfriend, dad, or uncle, or even their own boyfriend) really believe that they’re not much more than just that – an object.

Pray that they will receive the truth about who they really are – their identity as royal children of the Most High King. They are more than objects. They are more than fearful slaves. They are heirs with Jesus. They are royalty in the Kingdom of Heaven. They were made for greatness. God's plans for them are good. God doesn't ever turn His eyes away from them.

Here’s the truth: NO WEAPON THAT IS FORMED AGAINST THEM WILL PROSPER. (Isaiah 54:17)

I declare that those girls will be FREE to live in the truth of their identity in the name of Jesus.

Fall Season Wrap-Up

It’s been a few weeks, so I’ll give you guys a recap of what Kids Club has been like recently.

We talked about how we are like sheep (I just wanna be a sheep Baa Baa Baa Baa...), and that Jesus is our Good Shepherd (John 10). We spent some time listening to our Shepherd’s voice, and the kids heard some of the sweetest truths from the voice of their Shepherd while we listened. They would call out, “HE SAID THAT HE LOVES ME!!”

My favorite week of Kids Club this season was the week that we talked about how we’re invited to a party in Heaven to celebrate our relationship with Jesus, and until we get to the ultimate party in Heaven, we get to celebrate Jesus here on Earth.

So we did.

We brought some Christian rap music, and we had a dance party!!! And let me tell you something, those kids can DANCE!

At one point, I had my shoulders moving to the music, and one of the eight year old little girls said, “No, Maribeth. That’s not how you do it. THIS is how you do it.” And she went on to show me how dancing is done. So, needless to say, I learned a thing or two that day.

Last week, I spent some time reviewing with the kids about what life looks like in the Kingdom of God. I would ask questions like, “How is the Kingdom like a mustard seed?” and “How is the Kingdom like pearls?” and “What does the Kingdom of Heaven look like on Earth?”

A few kids responded to every question I asked with, “JESUS LOVES ME!” They knew I loved that answer.

And the Good News about the Kingdom really is that simple. THE KING LOVES ME and THE KING LOVES YOU.

We ended our fall season of Kids Club by seeking the Kingdom above all else (Matt. 6:33). I asked the kids what it meant to ‘seek’ the Kingdom. They said that we should look for it. I asked where to look for it, and one kid said, “Just look around you. It’s in the air!”

I got my flashlight out and searched for the Kingdom in the children. They came up and shared stories about what the Kingdom looked like in them. Many of them said things like, “God takes care of me,” and “The Kingdom is beautiful in me,” and “I see a castle, and I’m in the castle with God.”

May Your Kingdom come, May Your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven in the lives of these children. Amen.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Culture of Honor

There are a couple of twelve year olds that come to our Kids Club on Wednesdays that have quickly become two of my favorites. Let’s call them Tim and Tom. I think I like them so much because it can be a little bit of a challenge to love them.

These guys are at the age where they’re waaaay “too cool” for the things we do at Kids Club, and they get in trouble quite frequently. I’ve had several talks with these boys about honoring others and treating me with respect.

So today, they decided to get clever with the whole “being respectful” thing. They called me away from playing a game with the rest of the kids to have a little meeting with me.

Giggling, they handed me a paper and said that I needed to sign it. The paper read something like this: “I will be respectful of Tim and Tom at all times.” And then it had a place for me to sign my name.

I told them that they were very smart for coming up with something like this, but I wanted to change a couple of things.

So I got a new piece of paper, and with Tim and Tom watching, I wrote: “We will honor and respect each other at all times because God loves us and because we are His awesome kids.” And then I put three blanks at the bottom for us to sign.

I explained to the boys about our covenant. That we were agreeing with each other and making a promise to each other that would last forever.

After the boys signed their names, I signed mine, and then taped the paper on the wall (way up high so that they couldn’t reach it). I told them that the paper will be a reminder of the covenant that we made with each other so that we won’t forget how important it is to honor one another.

Here's the thing - I really want to see A CULTURE OF HONOR spread among our kids.

And because these two boys have so much influence in this community, I know that the covenant that we made today is more than just words on a piece of paper.

I'm declaring that there will be transformation in these two. That they will soak up the extravagant love of our Father, and respond by loving others.

There's not a doubt in my mind that this whole community will be changed when Tim and Tom choose to honor others. So pray!!! Pray that they will simply receive the Father's love. Everything else will happen out of that love.

Prayer Time with the Kiddos

For the past couple of weeks, we have gathered the kids together before we left the ministry site to pray with them. After getting into a circle (well, I guess it depends on your definition of a circle), the kids just randomly call out their prayers to the Lord.

Their prayers are simple and beautiful. And really funny.

“Thank you, God, for (starts going around the circle and naming volunteers, but stops after about 4 people) and … all these people, I can’t name everybody.”

“Thank You for shelter.”

“Thank You for Jesus!”

“And thank You for my happy face!” – coming from the kid who I mentioned in a previous blog with a few anger issues.

“And thank You for my butt … LORD, have mercy!!” – Yes, she really did thank the Lord for her butt. And yes, we did laugh.

“Thank You for giving us food.”

One of the girls turns to me and asked, “Do you think there’s gonna be food in Heaven? I want some ham!”

I responded by saying, “Well, why don’t you ask the Lord about that.”

So she did and then said, “He said yes. There’s gonna be ham!”

One of the little 3 year old girls would pop up every now and then throughout the prayer time and simply say, “And God loves me!”

She said the same thing several times, but it never got old. For some reason, I never get tired of that truth. GOD LOVES ME!!! It’s so simple and soooo freakin awesome.

So here’s my prayer: “Thank You Lord, for these babies that You love so much. Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You for loving them! Open their arms wide to your extravagant love for them, and let them simply receive it, and walk with it, and clothe themselves with it, and give it out freely. Pour out Your love on them, Lord. Pour it out. You are such a good Papa!”

Thursday, October 7, 2010

"I want to be respected!"

Last week, one of our awesome team members knelt down and talked with one of the 10-year-old boys who had been in a few fights that day.

Our team member simply told him that he had a choice to make between being respected and being feared by others. They talked about the difference between the two, and our team member told him to think about what he wanted to choose throughout the next week.

As soon as we pulled up to the ministry location this week, and got out of our cars, the 10-year-old boy ran up to the same team member and said, “I want to be respected! I want to be respected!”

He had made his decision.

He went on to tell our team member that he had had the opportunity to be in 6 fights this past week, and he chose not to be in any of them because he wanted to be respected.

They talked and talked about being a leader, and something in the little boy clicked. He started talking about light and darkness, and how we have a choice to make between the two, and how our choices affect others.

This kid is going to change his community. I’m declaring it right now. The Spirit of the Lord is moving in Him, and he is responding with a “YES!”

Here’s the thing: I could have told this child the same thing. But he was so much more receptive to hearing what a really cool, strong man of God had to say about fighting.

We have been praying so much for men of God who have the heart of the Father to come and be a part of our team. People with Papa’s heart, that’s who we want.

Because when men with Papa’s heart come and pour out the love (which sometimes looks like discipline) of Papa’s heart into these boys, they will soon become men of God, too.

Praise the Lord for how He is using our team members, and for the ways He is pouring His goodness out so freely into the lives of these little ones.

My Treasure

A couple of weeks ago, we talked about how the Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure (Matt. 13). So when craft time came, the kids got to color a treasure box and then glued sequins of all different colors and shapes to represent the beautiful and extravagant treasures that God has in His Kingdom to give away.

Our wonderful NightLight intern was sitting with one of the 8-year-old boys as he was making his craft. She listened to him as he told her all about his treasure box.

He said, “This is my treasure that Jesus gave me,” and then he picked up one of the sequins that looked somewhat like a key and added, “And this is the key that opens the treasure box.”

Pretending to open the treasure box with his “key,” he said, “Jesus gave me this key so that I can open the treasure box He gave me and give the treasure to the homeless people.”

He then started naming all the treasures that he was going to give to the homeless people, including clothes, razors to shave their faces, showers, etc.

Isn’t that awesome? A kid that is almost homeless himself wants to give Heavenly treasures to people that don’t have a home.

You see, when we receive the goodness of the Lord, it makes us want to share it with others. When we receive Kingdom treasures, we want others to have them, too.

I like to call it “living out of the overflow.” When God fills us with His perfect love, we can’t help but overflow with it.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Why is he so Angry?

Tonight’s Kids Club was a little rougher than usual … particularly for one little guy.

Let’s called him Bobby. Bobby came in yelling, “That woman cussed me out! That woman cussed me out so I cussed her out!” And again and again, “That woman cussed me out so I’m gonna punch her in the face! That woman cussed me out! I don’t even know that woman!”

As he was yelling, another one of the little girls tried to explain to me, “He’s a bad kid.”

So I went over, knelt down, and held him. “God loves you, Bobby. I’m sorry that the woman wasn’t very nice to you.” I spoke gently to him, and he slowly calmed down. “God loves you so much, Bobby! So much!” As I prayed for him, I felt the peace of the Lord come over him and around us.

His dad walked by as we were talking, and simply told me, “He’s a bad kid.”

I could see the anger well up in Bobby as his own dad spoke the identity over him (for the second time in just a few minutes) that he is a bad kid. Maybe Bobby believes that he’s a bad kid because he’s heard it so many times.

I quickly responded to Bobby’s father, “Oh, no. You’ve got yourself a great son here! He’s a great kid.”

Not much longer, Bobby decided to drop a glass off of the second floor onto the area in front of the gate right where the kids walk into the playground. It shattered, and he ran. After chasing him down, I made him clean it up. (I’m sure I looked really cool, running after a seven year old … don’t you wish you could watch a video of that?)

After getting in trouble for a few other things, I decided to send Bobby back home and told him to come back next week.

So Bobby decided to beat the fence with a stick. I was afraid to walk near him because he was waving the stick around with such anger. He ran away before I could talk with him. It seemed like Bobby was used to getting into trouble.

The problem is not that Bobby is a bad kid. The problem is not his anger. That’s just the fruit of the root issue. Why is Bobby so angry? Why does he act out? He is so wounded, so broken.

Jesus, please heal his wounds!! You’re the only one who can make him whole.

Monday, September 20, 2010

worship :: defined

After experiencing a month and a half of transitions, I am proud to announce that I am back in the swing of things! I actually feel like a new person.

Here is what has been going on with me since August 4th. I went to Thailand for three weeks, came back and moved out of my house 3 days later, then into my new apartment 2 weeks after that (I was kinda homeless for a couple of weeks), all the while planning for the first week of our Fall season of Kids Club which all went down last week.

Whew.

Did I mention that I don’t really love transitions?

But I survived. And now I’m in a great new apartment with 2 really sweet roommates, and we’re right by the Chatahoochie River. It is such a gift from the Lord to be able to come home from a busy day into a peaceful environment. Thank You, Lord!

So now that I can breathe again, I’m taking some time to reflect on the victories that I’ve experienced in ministry over the past few days.

The first week of Kids Club was a blast! There were about 80 kids total, several of which were new to us.

The whole theme of the week was “On Earth as it is in Heaven.” We shared with the kids about the way Jesus taught His disciples to pray.

But we didn’t just teach the kids to pray a nice little prayer. We taught them that Jesus’ life on earth was a beautiful picture of Heaven on Earth, and so we can expect Heaven to invade Earth because we are also God’s children living here on Earth.

The kids made crowns to represent how they are God’s royal family here on Earth, and that they are a part of the Kingdom of Heaven here.

They absolutely loved decorating their crowns! I’ve never seen so much glitter glue globbed on such a small space. I found glitter glue and sequins in my car, on my bed, on my clothes, and in my hair after Kids Club was long over. Talk about taking your work home with you!

It’s almost like the kids stay with me even when I’m away from them. I really love that.

One of the coolest things that happened at Kids Club last week was when I was trying to get the kids excited about worship before our worship leaders came out. It went something like this:

Me: “Are y’all ready to worship?!?”
Most kids: “YEAH!!!”
One of the New Kids: “What’s worship?”
Me: “Great question! What is worship, guys?”
One of the Teen Guys: “LOVE!”
Me: “Yeah! And who do we love when we worship?”
Another Child: “GOD!”

Did you notice how the kids defined worship?

WORSHIP IS LOVING GOD.

That definition came from a bunch of street kids. And that definition was followed by such a pure and passionate time of worship with the kids.

They are responding to the Lord’s love for them with love for Him.

“We love because He first loved us.” - 1 John 4:19

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Thailand ...

Like any other country that I have visited, the thing that I loved most about Thailand was not the cool touristy places that I visited, or the city itself, or even the awesome Thai street food. For me, it’s always about the people.

The NightLight staff and volunteers that I met are a beautiful representation of God’s unconditional love. They don’t put a limit on the way they love people. No one has to become a Christian first, or act respectfully to earn love from these people.

I saw this in the way they loved a 12 year old boy who showed up to NightLight wearing a dress. This young child has been in pornographic videos, and is confused about his gender identity.

What would you do if a child like that showed up at your door?

I got the privilege of getting to see the NightLight staff and volunteers love this child so well. They took him in, gave him boy clothes to wear, and they are letting him live with some of the staff, taking care of him constantly. And they simply speak truth over him, saying:

“God loves you so much!”

“You are a son of God.”

“You are going to be a strong man of God.”

He would go from person to person wanting to be held and loved on. He would hold my hand and want to play with my hair. He fell asleep as I scratched his back. And if you know the Ward family at all, you know that we believe firmly that back scratches are some of the best things in life.

This child just needs the love of the Father. I’m not saying that it will be easy to love him, but I am saying that it’s that simple.

Many girls who start working at NightLight’s jewelry business do not know the Lord when they start, but it doesn’t take long for them to know His love.

One of the things that blessed my heart the most in being here was worshipping with the girls. Each morning before they start their work day, the 80 jewelry makers and the NightLight staff gather for worship. I cried every morning.

Women who had previously been for sale were now lifting their hands up to the Lord. Hearts that were previously abused by countless men were now surrendered to the Lord. The women who led worship had never stepped foot in a church, but you would think that they had been worship leaders their whole lives. My heart responded each morning with thankfulness. What a beautiful thing to get to experience!

I hear a lot of horrible statistics about women and children in the sex industry. But here’s the thing. We should never be overwhelmed with the magnitude of the enemy’s ways. The Lord’s light is brighter than the enemy’s darkness. Darkness is nothing to be afraid of when you are overflowing with the presence of the Lord. Instead, darkness should be afraid of YOU because you are a representative of the King of Glory.

It was such an honor to get to spend time with Annie, the CEO and founder of NightLight. She is such a beautiful, strong woman of faith. She simply listens to the Lord, trusts Him, and follows Him. She doesn’t just talk a big game.

The Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk, but of power. And the Kingdom of God is advancing the Kingdom of darkness in Bangkok because there are people who simply believe that God is powerful.

I loved getting to be a part of the NightLight culture in Bangkok over the past three weeks. It strengthens and encourages me to get to be a part of an organization that fearlessly lives out scripture and walks in obedience to the Lord.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Celebrating Summer

It’s hard to believe that the Kid’s Club for the summer has already come to an end. It’s time to rejoice in all that the Lord has done over the past 8 weeks, and start looking toward all that the Lord has in store for the fall.

This summer, we have had a total of 170 kids come to our Kid’s Clubs.

That’s 170 children who are understanding that they fit in God’s heart, and that God loves them deeply, and how He wants their hearts to be clean and full of all the wonderful things He has to say to them.

That would be 170 little ears that have heard about who they are - sons and daughters of God, the KING. They’re royalty, and they love it. They might actually be catching onto how to treat each other like royalty, about how to honor each other.

There are 170 kids who now know a secret to living in freedom from the chains of injustice – FORGIVENESS. We helped the kids make paper chains one week that symbolized the mean things that people had done or said to them. And then we literally wrapped the chains around all of the kids, and they broke out of them as they shouted, “I forgive you!” It was a beautiful picture of what we've been praying for these kids for a while now.

We shared with these 170 that they are the light in the world around them.

And we finished up our last week by celebrating the Lord with them. They are developing hearts full of praise for the Lord. I wish you could have seen them. They were shaking the shakers that they made, dancing, and singing as we worshiped God together.

Have I ever mentioned that I love my job?

And now we get to plan for even greater things for the fall. We’re hoping to be able to have something a little more age-appropriate designed for the junior high and high schoolers.

We’re hoping to get the families more involved by sending home scripture and such with the kids so they can have tools to share what they’re learning with their families.

We’re hoping to design a curriculum with the things that we have already done, and will be doing with the kids.

We have high hopes because the Lord has already done great things. We have high hopes because the Lord is going before us. We have high hopes because it’s the Lord who is at the heart of this. He’s the one downloading strategy and ideas. He’s the one with all the love and patience and authority.

It’s so cool that we get to be a part of what God is doing. SO COOL.

I love my job.

Monday, July 12, 2010

FRUIT

The Lord is so faithful. He doesn’t have to show us the fruit from the seeds we’re planting, but He has chosen to bless us by letting us see that what He’s doing through us is actually producing fruit.

Here are a few little pieces of fruit that we’ve seen:

There’s this one little girl – maybe about 7 or 8 years old – that has been coming regularly to our Kid’s Club. When asked about what she had learned after the second week in Kid’s Club, she responded by saying she learned that Jesus can make our hearts clean, and that “it felt so good” to give the yucky things in her heart to Jesus.

THAT’S FRUIT. She’s learning more about who Jesus is – the one who washes us clean.

On week five, we used a balloon to demonstrate that our words have a lot of power to either make people’s hearts get bigger, or deflate them. So after the lesson, the team members helped the kids pray for one other and write down encouraging words for others.

One particular team member led a couple of kids in praying for and encouraging each other, and then asked, “How do you think the Lord wants to encourage me?” So one of the little boys prayed for her and told her that he thought God wanted her to know that she is a princess, because she is a daughter of the King, and He loves her. WOW!! And that came from the mouth of a child (about 9 years old).

THAT’S FRUIT. Not only is this child beginning to see that HE a son of God the King, but he is also teaching other people about their identity in Father God.

As we arrived at one of our ministry sites one afternoon, one of our team members was carrying on a casual conversation with one of the little girls. The team member was asking how her parents were doing, and the girl responded by saying, “They’re trusting in God.”

THAT’S FRUIT! We’ve been praying and praying that these kids would be the agents of change in their families and communities, and now we’re seeing that they really are taking what they have learned during their time with us back home to their families.

“Oh how my soul praises the Lord!” (Luke 1:46)

It is surely a joy to be a part of the planting, and also getting to see the seeds of truth GROW in these kids’ hearts.

“It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow.” 1 Corinthians 3:7

Thank you, Lord, for hearing our prayers and being such a faithful Father.

“The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning.” Lamentations 3:22,23

Sunday, June 13, 2010

New Thing

So I guess this is what a leap of faith feels like. To leap from financial security into a position that may or may not pay the bills from month to month, and to leap from knowing what to expect each day at work to not knowing where the Spirit will lead next …. This is so great! I’d rather be moving with the Lord than sitting around with financial security any day. I’ve been praying pretty regularly that the Lord would increase my faith, and well, here I am.

So here’s what my leap looks like: I have decided to leave my wonderful job as a Preschool teacher at Urban Explorers Preschool to work full time for NightLight Atlanta as the Director of Prevention Programming.

NightLight is a faith-based international organization that addresses the issues surrounding human trafficking through prevention, intervention, prayer and discipleship, restoration and educating others about the issue.

NightLight operates in Bangkok, Thailand as a jewelry business (NightLight Design, Co. Ltd) and a non-profit (NightLight Foundation). In the United States, NightLight functions as a 501c3 with branches in Atlanta and Los Angeles.

I’ve been volunteering with NightLight for about six months now and I absolutely love it. I love it because it’s so real. Scripture comes to life as we face this spiritual warfare on such a regular basis.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” (Isaiah 61:1,2 and Luke 4:18,19)
And now the answers to so many prayers I’ve prayed for those in bondage and for my role in their freedom are now coming together. Here’s what I see happening: I see the children that we work with coming into the Kingdom of God and bringing their whole neighborhoods and families along with them into the Kingdom. It’s a beautiful thing to picture!

Here’s the thing: These kids’ world is full of darkness now. Things might seem a little impossible to change to some people. But here’s the cool thing: God can create something out of nothing. He can create hope where there was despair. He can heal brokenness. He truly is a Redeemer. No one is past the point of redemption. I believe that. And I know that He is going to be a Mighty Savior to these children. And I believe the children born into darkness are going to be the agents of change and hope not only for their families and communities, but for this city. Salvation is on its way … Get ready, Atlanta!!! The Kingdom is here!

My new job is to pour into these children. I think that is the best thing ever.

In addition to learning how to effectively bring the Good News to these precious kids (who are going to become the next leaders in the Kingdom!!!), I also have to learn a lot about raising financial support to make it all possible. Anyone interested in becoming a part of this ministry by supporting me? I would LOVE to know if you are.

There are two ways to support me financially: online or by writing a check. To give online, visit www.nightlightinternational.com and click on the bottom right-hand tab labeled "GIVE." Once you've entered in a US dollar amount, be sure to click on the drop box and select "NightLight Atlanta." Checks can also be mailed to NightLight International, PO Box 74850, Los Angeles, CA 90004. Be sure to earmark checks “Atlanta.” All donations are tax deductible.

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite verses these days:

“The One who is in you is GREATER than the one who is in the world.” - 1 John 4:4

LOVE and BLESSINGS