Thursday we had a small Thanksgiving Celebration at our home. Erica, Beth, Susan, & our family had a beautiful evening together. When I was little we used to have Turkey Candles that we would light after we said what we were thankful for. I keep forgetting to get them so we improvised with tea-candles. After each of us said what we were thankful for – we feasted!
We had turkey, ham, stuffing, corn pudding, mashed potatoes, bread, baked mac & cheese, green beans, baked beans & bacon, apple pie, peanut butter pie, & white chocolate cake. 🙂
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Our Annual 3-Day Women’s Conference started this past Friday! While everyone was out enjoying the Black Friday Sales – we were up at 8am ready to share the Word of God with some pretty spectacular ladies! Everyone knows I’m not much of a morning person but I do get excited sharing with these women. They’re worth the extra effort it takes for me to get moving in the morning! 🙂
So the daytime sessions were for the ladies but the revival was for everyone!
Our theme this year is from Hosea 14:2. We’ve been studying the book of Hosea for 7 weeks now and still have a few more weeks to go.
Hosea 14: 2 Take words with you and return to the LORD. Say to him: “Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips.
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Day 1…
Friday I led the women in the morning. My topic was about how to be empathetic towards our fellow neighbors. How we have to slow down and take time to show each other we care. How being empathetic towards someone else is much bigger than words. There is action required. Just as God tells us in that verse to “Take words with you & return to the Lord”. It’s words and action.
The revival this night had a slow start. The announcement was made that it would begin at 6:30pm but it actually started an hour earlier. This confusion caused attendance to trickle in mainly towards the end. But it was still a great night of worship!
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Day 2….
Miss Beth did an EXCELLENT job leading ladies in the morning! She taught them what it means to return to God. She explained why it’s important to ask & offer forgiveness. She explained how there’s no time to delay in accepting Christ because He can come any day. She asked them if they were ready?
Beth is so gifted in sharing the Good News & leading people into a relationship with Christ. I always enjoy watching how the Holy Spirit moves in her as she teaches. She’s been the core teacher in all of our Discipleship Groups and is also leading an English class with nearly 50 students – with the majority being adult men. Through this English class she’s been able to witness to the students and dive into incredibly deep conversations. They use the Bible as their core curriculum but this is not a bible study group. It’s an English class that God is using to make Himself known. Please be praying for her as she continues to thrive in this ministry.
The revival this night was standing room only! Normally people trickle in through the night. We say the revival starts at 4:30pm in hopes we will have enough people to begin by 5:30pm. Well by 5pm we were already packed.
We had visitors from 5 different churches! One lady actually brought 48 friends with her! Another lady had 32 friends! The place was packed. We had a pastor from another church lead our worship! It was absolutely fabulous! Everyone was dancing & singing with all their heart!
Here’s some pics from our night!
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Day 3…
The third day of this conference was Sunday. We didn’t host children’s church. Instead everyone worshipped together in the morning.
Then the revival finished up that night. We had 2 young men accept Christ & want to be baptized. As for attendance – we were so full people had to sit on the ground! We encouraged everyone to bring friends. Umm….. this is totally crazy!
One lady brought 89 people, then another lady brought 73, and another one 43, and another one 33!! Imagine if all of us brought in those kind of numbers!!!
I started feeling bad Saturday morning but God allowed me to attend both the morning & evening services. Praise the Lord! But by Sunday I had a fever & was achy all over. I didn’t get to attend the conference this day. 🙁
These pictures are from Malaya.
Here’s a video with a few clips from the worship we had during the revival! I also included a few clips of our Women’s Group singing too.
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Tonight we had our Post-Conference Women’s Group Party! We each had drawn names last month – sort of like a secret Santa – and we finally got to reveal our gifts to the person we drew today. I love the way the Haitians give gifts because they dance all around while they do it.
For example if Momma Gigi had Beth’s name. She might go up to 4 other ladies pretending it was their gifts – and then finally give it to Beth. It takes forever to pass out the gifts – but it brings lots of laughter. 🙂
While the dancing is a lot of fun – it makes it hard to take good pictures unless you ask everyone to stand still!
Unfortunately – my fever spiked back up again to 103.2 and I’m fighting some sort of flu-like illness. So I was unable to attend. Boo! 🙁
So these pictures are from Malaya & Beth.
