been awhile....

Its been awhile since I have really blogged...and I wonder if I have any readers left??  If I do...sorry friends for the neglect I have given my blog.  Life is busy....and great.  What have I been doing you ask?  well...

organizing events like this...

and getting ready for events like these....

spending the holidays with my fam...

and spending time with this guy....

alas...my blog is neglected...sorry friends.  i want to come back...i will try harder in 2011...promise :)

Thankfulness in Pictures

As Americans, we have so much to be thankful for.  We sometimes feel like we have it hard, but compared to people in other countries, we have it made.  I have had a great 2010 and have so much to be thankful for...so on the eve of Thanksgiving, here are some things (people) I am thankful for (and in no particular order).

my sweet mom who is always there for me and will do anything in her power to make my life better

My cousins - Lori and Jennifer (Nin), who are not only family, but great friends!

Jason and Jamie Durant - Jason has been my guy friend I go to for advice and who calls me out when I need it and I gained another great friend when he married Jamie!  So excited that they will be parents in 2011.

My best girlfriends of the past 10-13 years!  Mandy, April, Stephanie, and Brownie.
We laugh together, we cry together and we do life together.  They are not only my friends, but my sisters.

Ms. Gail and Tami - I am so thankful that I get to work with these two.
So much wisdom comes from them and I am a better person because of them in my life.

Aunt Judy and Uncle Murl - they have watched me grow up and have always been there for me

The Handley siblings!  Love my aunt and uncles and their families. 

My siblings!  Gosh I cannot imagine life without them.
So lucky to have my sisters and my brother (in law).
We laugh, fight and cry together!
Love love love them!

My dad and Kay - always there, always providing, and always loving!
So thankful for another year with them!

Michael Mayfield
Excited about how the Lord has brought us together the past year and thankful that he is in my life

My best friends - Karen and Cindy
Love love these girls and the fun we have.
Great listeners, great advice givers and great accountability partners!

My precious girls - Caitlyn, Kelsey, Haley and Hannah.
I have watched them grow up into beautiful, Godly young women.
So thankful for our monthly Bible study.

My trip to South Africa
Life Changing!

My SA team - Joey, Scott L, Mike and Scott D
Loved experiencing SA with them !

My favorite SA moment - seeing this young man's life changed when he accepted Christ in his life.
A moment I will never forget.

My sweet Ella - oh how I love this one.  She is so full of life and bring smiles to my face.

My little bud Brandon, gosh I cannot believe how big is he.
So proud of him and the little guy he is growing up to be,  Can't imagine life without him.

Kim and Kasey (pictured with Tami)
Two more women I have the privilege to work with.
Love how we get to do life together on a daily basis.

These only touch the surface...there are so many moments, people and things I am thankful for.  I could go on and on...but will leave it at this.  This Thanksgiving, take time to reflect on what the Lord has done in your life - the good times and the hard times - as we are commanded to be thankful for ALL things!  Happy Thanksgiving!

30 days and counting...

I realized last night that I am a month away from leaving for Africa. CRAZY!!  I have so much to do before I go (get shots, go buy adapters for my lap top, hair dryer, shop for clothes, buy books for the long flight, etc).  But the most important thing I have to do is get myself spiritually prepared for my journey.  I have a ton going on in the next month and I do not want to be so super busy with stuff that I forget the main reason why I am going - to see the lost come to know HIM.

I am going to post the names of the people I will be working with.  Join me in praying for them will you?

Together let our goal be to reflect the challenge Paul sent the followers of Christ in Ephesus that "under His direction, the whole body is fitted together perfectly.  As each part does it's own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.  You can see our specific prayers for Him to perfectly fit us together below in red...

• Wernich Swart - Chair - That the Lord will use your leadership to guide this team the way He wants us to go.  
• Lunga Dlungwana - AE Setup - As you travel back and forth from Pietermaritzburg guide the AE preparation...and upcoming college ministry
• Roy Moonsamy - AE Setup - As you work with the AE Set up
• Cathi Crooks - Admin/Clerical - As you glue the administrative work together for the entire team
• Fiki Ntshangase Barberton - Fraternal - as you motivate the Fraternal to work on this Kingdom project together as one
• Hans Roos - Evangelism - As you prepare for the evangelism to take place....this is the Good News!!!
• Jackson Mokoena - Prayer - As you prepare the spiritual foundation of this outreach
• Koos Kriel - Training - As you help this outreach have spiritual depth
• Ronas Marule - Schools - As you help us reach the next generation
• Simon Hlebelo - Publicity/Visitation - As you help us get the word out about the Mission and have people want to attend the event with their friends
• Sonia Oosthuger - Schools - As you also help reach the next generation
• Thinus Taute-  Finance - As you help raise the necessary funds for the Mission during times that seem economically challenging....Where the Lord provides "vision" He provides "provision".
• Xolani Luthuli - AE Setup - As you also help the AE Team accomplish all that needs to be done.

• Scott Dawson - Evangelist and Lead speaker along side Stephen Lungu
• Scott Lenning - Evangelism Director & Co-Director of Mission Africa with Songe Chibambo
• Joey Hill - Evangelist and Youth Speaker
• Mike Greer - Production Coordinator
• Gina Handley - Administrator

Proverbs 16:3 "Commit your work to the Lord then your plans will succeed.    

I'm going to Africa!!

I've never really publicized my blog till now - so if you came over from Facebook or Twitter, Hi, welcome to my blog!  I really just post random things on here and am sporadic, so become a follower and you will see when I update.  The reason I publicized my blog today is because...  

I am going to Africa!!!  South Africa to be exact!

I have the opportunity to go to Nelspruit, South Africa in August.  I am very excited that God has opened this door for me to go.  My boss, Scott Lenning, is the Co-Director of the outreach, Mission Africa, for over 2 years now and our ministry will be taking part.  We will be gone for 2 weeks in August.  I will be helping organize the 25 meetings that will be going on while we are there.  

Here is a little background...

Mission Africa will be conducted in fellowship with Cape Town 2010: the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization.  The Mission Committee, giving leadership to Mission Africa, will strive to serve the church in Africa in its work of evangelism, by helping to partner international evangelists and African evangelists, theologians and others, and to facilitate the conducting of ministry opportunities in centers that extend an invitation.

They will be conducting different evangelistic meetings in these provinces of Africa.  These meetings began last week and will continue through October.  Different international evangelists will be speaking.  From SDEA, Scott Dawson, Joey Hill and Scott Lenning will be speaking and Mike Greer and myself will be going to be the organizational team.  We will be in Nelspruit, South Africa.

 

You can see lots more info on the website

If all goes well a.k.a I have internet service, I will be posting updates and photos while I am there.  Be praying now for the leadership of Mission Africa, the evangelists and most of all the people who will hear the Word of our Lord!

53 days!!

It's Been Awhile...

Its been awhile since I have posted anything...life has been so busy the past few months not only with holidays but also with our student conferences.  We had a great conference season, our largest ever!  We had over 600 decisions for the January Conference!!!  Below are some photos...

For the January Conference we had over 7100 students and adults there...

Steve Fee led worship and did a phenomenal job...

Rush of Fools also led worship at the Miracle Theater...

Charlie Hall led worship at Country Tonite Theater

The Generation Band had the opportunity to play - they won our band competition

Scott Dawson spoke....of course :)

So did David Nasser...

Jared Herd and Jay Strack spoke too...no photos of them yet

and the ultimate concert - tobyMAC

(these unbelievable photos are from Cory Johnson)

we capped off the weekend with one of my favorite closers ever - the Jesus Painter

our theme was "Stir" - Stir the Gift, Stir the World, and we used a lot of paint elements - it worked great!

everyone was mesmerized!

we could not have pulled off a weekend like that by ourselves...

we had great summer interns who built the bridge for the conference

and a great volunteer team!