Mardi Gras Mission Trip - Part One

So I decided that the best way to get this Mardi Gras post accomplished would be to break it into smaller sections.  It seems like an overwhelming task trying to condense this all into one blog post.  I realize people are more likely to read multiple, smaller posts instead of one, long post.

I think the easiest thing to start out with is the schedule and logistics of the trip.  We left Durham on February 25th at 5pm.  We parked our cars at our church, Bethel Christian Center, and loaded up on the Bull City Outreach Ministries JESUS van.

From left to right:  Jamie Locklear, Dean Padgett, Felisha Sandifer, Melissa Padgett, Courtney Glenn, Chris Ferrer, Kristen Ferrer, Terry Shuff and Angie Shuff.

Ralph Thompson (Emergency Chaplains) came to pray for the group and see us off.

We began the trek to Atlanta, where we were able to stop and sleep in wonderful hotel rooms provided by Kelly Gordon!  It was well after midnight when we arrived, and we were exhausted.  The girls shared a room and the guys shared a room.  Angie even got to share a bed with Courtney, which I'm sure she heavily appreciated since Courtney sprawled out and took up 89.9% of the bed.  We got up and had a seriously wonderful continental breakfast and hit the road at 7:45 to drive the rest of the way to New Orleans.

The ride was great:  Courtney took up 89.9% of the bench seat that her and I shared (I see a pattern here).  Chris Ferrer was awesome enough to play most of the New Testament outloud from his ipad.  We I looked like headbangers as Terry blasted us with Jesus Freak by DC Talk to get us pumped. We got to stop and try Krystal burgers and chicken sandwiches at 10:30 am (time zone change that none of our stomachs knew about).  We also got to talk and bond and mentally prepare ourselves for the upcoming week.

We arrived in New Orleans and immediately stopped at the RAVEN camp to see Pastor Troy Bohn and his fellow week-long missionary group.  We also picked up two more team members, Christian and Claudia Stancil, who had flown in earlier that day.

Our next stop was our home for the week....the YWAM (Youth With A Mission) compound.  We shared a huge house - girls bunked in two rooms, guys bunked in three.  The house had everything we could possibly need.  We even had access to the community house which had a larger kitchen and an open room area that we used as a fellowship meal/meeting area.  We unloaded our luggage and prepped ourself for dinner and our first night out on the streets.  No time wasting for us!  We were ready to get out there and start sharing the Gospel.

The second day in New Orleans we had three other team members join us.....Jennifer Robinson (from Texas), Jeff Sobieralski and Lance Prathaftakis (both from Indiana).

The ladies also ventured to Sams Club this day to buy our food for the week.  I volunteered to head up the "meal planning department", but it proved to be a more difficult task than I expected.  Estimating food for that many people for a week, and trying to figure out things that everyone could/would eat, was a little stressful.  But you live and learn and you gain wisdom for the next time.

The rest of the week included spending time at the YWAM house when we needed a rest, and spending time out on the streets of New Orleans sharing the Word.

I've included a few pictures from the house showing our fellowship/bonding time and also some times around our dinner/meeting table.

More on our Mardi Gras mission trip on the next post.............................

Blog Post Coming Soon on the Mardi Gras Mission Trip

I will be posting soon on our Mardi Gras mission trip.

I must admit, I have a little anxiety about it.

I'm scared I'll forget something.  I'm scared I'll try and take an enormous experience and turn it into a few words and I won't do it justice.

Until then, I'll be praying over it.

Loving Radically Through Christ,

Melissa

Gearing Up for the Mardi Gras Mission Trip

Well folks, it's about that time.  We are leaving out for New Orleans in only 5 days.

We are so thankful to everyone who made this trip possible!  And we are so thankful to the Lord for opening all the doors and giving all of the necessary provisions.

I ran across this scripture this past week, and it made me think of our upcoming trip:

Romans 10:13-17 ^{- 13} For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”¹⁴ How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? ¹⁵ And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” ¹⁶ But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” ¹⁷ So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

 The point of our trip is to go and share the One on whom these folks can believe!  We go to share the Truth of the Word with these people.  

What kind of folks will we meet down there?

All types.

Atheists, Muslims, Wiccans, Satanists, Catholics, Agnostics, and many, many people that profess to be Christians.

That last group is the one we really go to reach the most.  Not that we don't share Jesus with the others, but the folks that claim to bear the name of Christ and are deceived by the flesh, the world and the devil, are the ones we really prep ourselves for.

We know the type because we used to be the type.  We know the train of thought their minds take, the justifications, the hurts, the strongholds, the controlling power of sin, the deceit.  The deceitfulness is the worst and is the hardest to overcome.  But....
 
Revelation 12:11 - And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.


We will go and share our stories of transformation....how we met personally with the Lord, realized His perfect sacrifice, how we gave our lives in return, how we have been freed from bondage and strongholds, and how we have been changed by His Spirit.  We will go and share how these people too can be changed by this same Lord, and how He desires to be their One and Only God in a world full of self-fulfilling idols.  We will bring light into this very dark place - the light is the Truth of God's Word.  We will come well equipped....overly equipped actually....with the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the Scriptures we've been studying and memorizing for months and weeks.

Just to give you an idea of some of the Scriptures we've been studying, memorizing and flagging in our pocket-sized Bibles:

Romans 12:2 - And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Matthew 15:8 - These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

Luke 6:46 - "So why do you keep calling me Lord, Lord when you don't do what I say?"

Matthew 12:34 - Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

Titus 1:16 - Such people claim they know God, but they deny Him by the way they live.

1 John 3:10 - So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil.  Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.

James 4:4 - Don't you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God?  I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.

1 Peter 1:14-16 - So you must live as God's obedient children.  Don't slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires.  You didn't know any better then.  But now you must be Holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is Holy.  For the Scriptures say, "You must be Holy because I am Holy."

Hebrews 12:14 - Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a Holy life, for those who are not Holy will not see the Lord.

1 John 3:6-10 - Anyone who continues to live in Him will not sin.  But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know Him or understand who He is.  Dear children, don't let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. Those who have been born into God's family do not make a practice of sinning, because God's life is in them. So they can't keep on sinning, because they are children of God.

WOW!!  And those are just a few of the life-changing, stronghold-destroying, deceit-killing Scriptures we'll have ready.  This is powerful Truth from the Word of God.....powerful Truth that can change lives and bring light to their dark hearts.

Now you may be wondering if we go down and scream and yell at folks that we hate them because they're sinners and they're all damned to hell?  No.  We share Jesus, and how His love saves us, restores us, gives us a new hope and a new life.  We plead with folks, hug them, pray with them, even cry with them, and we give them the truth of that 'double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.'

We go to share freedom through Christ.  And when we share our honest experiences, people see that we really care.

Please keep us in your prayers!  We can't wait to update everyone on how the trip went and how the Lord moved powerfully!

His Spirit is still alive and active today, and if we will get ourselves out of the way and yield to Him, we can be an extension of His power that radically changes people.

Loving Radically Through Christ,

Melissa

Final Tally for Mardi Gras

Well folks.....we DID it!  Actually God did.  He came through and we are fully funded for the Mardi Gras mission trip!

We are so blessed by this entire thing that we don't even have words to explain it.

We wish we could give shout outs to every single person that donated, but some people will just not let us even mention their names.

We had $200 on Wednesday night.  The pledge drive started on Thursday and ended on Friday night.  We were able to get $400 in pledges - and that got doubled to $800!  So our total of $1000 was reached in a span of 3 days.

Unfortunately, this wonderful miracle has not put a stop on Satan's attacks.  They have already started and may continue up until we leave for the trip.  Please, please, please pray for our team. 

Please pray for our matching pledge donor.  Immediately after this person pledged the funds, a big unexpected financial blow hit.  I immediately let them know that we wouldn't take their money, but would continue to raise funds, but they know that God told them to give it to us, and they are trusting Him to provide what is needed.  We came in agreement to not let Satan put a stop to the Lord's work.

Our other team members have funds to raise so we will be working on fundraisers very soon.  I have an awesomely amazing pumpkin bread recipe and will be selling loaves.  We can do mini loaves or large loaves.  So go ahead and place your order NOW!  We will take orders for 1 week and will then schedule a time to bake and deliver.

We will also be doing a spaghetti dinner fundraiser very soon....probably February 1st if we can find a host space (with a kitchen) in Durham.

We are also considering a Valentine's Night babysitting service for all you love birds who'd like to take your sweetie out.

Keep on the lookout for new updates!  And again, thank you so very much for praying and donating!

Loving Radically Through Christ,

Melissa

Mardi Gras 2014 - UPDATED INFO

**SEE BOTTOM FOR UPDATED INFORMATION**

The annual Mardi Gras outreach is fast approaching!  We will going to New Orleans again this year, for the week leading up to Mardi Gras.  We are planning to go with the team from Bull City Outreach Ministries, leaving out on Wednesday February 26th and returning on Tuesday, March 4th.

We had an awesome time last year and had some wonderful times of ministry.  Moreover, we had some great bonding and fellowship time with our brothers and sisters in Christ, and grew immensely in our faith.

Just like last year, Courtney is going with us, and I do believe that she is more excited that anyone else.  The trip last year was really a life changing experience for her.  It allowed her to put her faith into action.  She was able to see depths of both worldly and spiritual kingdoms, and she discovered a passion for ministering the Gospel to a bound and searching world.

Praise to God that her funds have already been provided through some great friends!

Dean and I will need to raise our portion of the funds, especially since I am homeschooling Courtney and not working any longer.  We have estimated the costs to go with the group: to cover lodging, the van and gas, the parking, and food costs.  We should be able to cover everything for $1000.  That's $500 per person.

I plan on doing fundraisers very soon to help with this....selling some wonderful pumpkin bread loaves and possibly a spaghetti dinner.  I'm still brainstorming for this, but hope to have some definite plans very soon.

In addition to the funds, we ask that you please pray for us and this trip.  Please come into agreement with us for souls and lives to be touched....to be reached for Jesus....to be changed and set free.  Pray that the Spirit rises up in us, and prepares us daily....that we are able to walk with Him, and hear His voice clearly....that His wisdom grows in our hearts and minds.

Because we can't do this without Him.  It's His work anyway....not ours.  We're just the ones that have said "Here I am Lord - send me!"

Specifically please pray that our health would be good.  Usually during mission trip preparations like this, Satan attacks, and team members begin to get sick.  Or lose jobs.  Or come up against other attacks.

Also please pray that Dean will be able to take the time off work with ease.  At this point we are not sure that he will be able to go, but if you join us in praying for this, we know that God can work it out if it's His will.

Thanks so much for reading, praying, joining with us, sponsoring us, etc.  I will post updates to our trip and fundraisers as they come in.

Loving Radically Through Christ,

Melissa

**UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE**

What a wonderful adventure this has already shaped up to be!  We have received a $100 donation in the mail, a $75 paypal donation and pledges for $100, $50, $25 and $50.  And to top it off we got a facebook message from a sister in Christ who felt like God was really leading her to match any pledges we could receive for the next two days - up to $500!  WOW!  If I'm doing my math right (on the matching pledges that have come in today) - we are at $600!

I mean.....who just does that randomly???

God does.  Because when it's His work, He provides.

Jehovah-Jireh.  The Lord Will Provide.

This sister will not allow me to reveal her name, as most of our donors request.  She has been asking the Lord to show her 'what and where' for the past 6 months.  Things have popped up that were great causes, but the Lord did not lead her to those.  When she saw our request, the Lord spoke clearly to her that this was the ministry she needed to bless (with mission trip funds and brand new Bibles). 

And blessed we have been!!

We only have $400 more to raise.

But there are other team members that needs funds.  So if God continues to open up the storehouse and we receive more than what we need, we will give the excess funds to other team members who are also fundraising.

Thank you again to everyone.  Every little bit helps and is much appreciated.

***

There is just nothing like love....love of true family - love of brothers and sisters in Christ with one common heart to serve the King, uniting and serving together.

We had a blessed time at Morning Glory Apartments yesterday.  We sang CHRISTmas carols and gave food boxes and homemade gift baskets. (Special thanks to Bull City Outreach Ministries for providing the boxes below for our ministry.)

We hugged the necks of residents, praised the name of Jesus, laid hands on and prayed for a resident recovering from surgery, and even had a Word from the Lord spoken over a few of us.

We gave out our ministry cards with our contact numbers and extended ourselves to be of service to these wonderful folks.  We were even able to make a near-future appointment to help one of the residents clean her house.  Ms. Dorothy is in her 80s, has to use a walker to get around, and just needs a helping hand with a simple task.....a task that I take for granted on a daily basis.

After our outreach, we came home and had a ministry, Christmas, fellowshiping night - with pizza, preaching and prayer.  Wow.....does it even get any better??

Dean and I had a conversation recently with someone about joy.....and how sometimes life gets us so entangled, bogged down, exhausted, anxious.....and we literally seem to lose our joy.  And that even in prayer and Bible reading regularly we can still feel like we are void of joy.

I've been there.

Recently.

I know you may have been there too.

But Dean spoke a true word into our conversation that day that.....and that is, we can have our true joy, the Joy of the Lord, when we are walking in the Spirit in service and love - when we are sharing with others what He has done for us.  We are made complete and full when we are doing what He made us for....and that's sharing Him.

This may be a little cliche, but this deep yearning is real in my heart right now:

I just want to live and breathe and walk and talk the Lord God Almighty....

to breathe in His Spirit

to speak His Words

to be His Hands and Feet

to get lost in the Presence of His Glory each day.

Prices must be paid to have this sort of intimacy.  More of the flesh and the self has to die.  Things must be given up.  This world must be just a fleeting thought.  Popularity and materialism must go out the window.

And that's scary to me.....it's scary to all of us.  Some days I feel like a failure and I don't think I'll ever get there.  I worry that people will always only see the "old Melissa" - the Melissa of 10 years ago, the Melissa of 5 years ago, the Melissa of 1 year ago, the Melissa of last week.....

But the more of the Word that I read and study, the more I can't deny that THIS is what Jesus is really calling us to....so I put my hope in this:

"being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ"  Philippians 1:6

And I know that this is a good work He has begun....because there is no way I could have done it myself.

Until next time - which is hopefully soon.

Loving Radically Through Christ,

Melissa

Closing Out for 2013 and Looking Forward to 2014!!

Wow - 2013 has flown by!  We have been a busy family and ministry!  Life has surely changed for us over the last few months.....the biggest being my decision to follow the Lord's leading to leave my full-time job and stay home to homeschool Courtney, currently in the 9th grade.  I could probably write 10 or more pages just about that adventure, but I won't bore you with the details.  It was definitely a calling from the Lord and is something I will always cherish and never regret - even on the tough days.  (Please feel free to email me if you have any specific questions on the homeschooling.  I'd love to chat with anyone who is further interested.)

Since the last blog posting of Dean's article with The Independent Weekly, we have ministered at the NC Pride Parade in Durham, continued with jail ministry with Bull City Outreach Ministries, continued weekend food distributions to needy families in the area, participated in the Stem Christmas parade (where "Jesus" was escorted up to the front of the parade line up to remind everyone of the real reason for the season), continued weekly Bible study/fellowship in our home, and joined a new, local, in-home, women's Bible study where we learned to "say YES to God" (Lysa Terkeurst video study).

This afternoon/evening is our next outreach.  We will be taking gift baskets and individual food boxes to each resident of Morning Glory Apartments in Butner (the elderly apartment complex).  We will also sing some Christ-focused Christmas carols to them.  All of these residents are older people who live alone, and we always want them to know that we are available to serve them with anything they need.

James 1:27

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

I would like to thank three special donors that have made these gift baskets possible.  One will not allow me to mention his name, the other has never told me not to, so thank you Minette, and the last, but definitely not least, is Dean's mom, Marcia.  She is a vital part of our ministry in many aspects and is a faithful monthly donor.  Without her, we wouldn't be able to do half of the outreach activities that we do.

The cooler weather always leaves less time for outdoor ministry, and more time for introspection and growing closer to the Lord as we brainstorm for next year.  The last few months have seen some major spiritual battles with all members of our ministry group.  But we have held onto our hope, encouraged one another, and grown stronger through it all.  We "consider it all joy" and look forward to 2014 and what the Lord has in store for each of us as we continue to serve Him and follow the Spirit's leading.

Please continue to pray for us.  I hope to be able to update the blog soon with upcoming 2014 events.

Loving Radically Through Christ,

Melissa