FROM MY CORNER......

Hello, family and friends! As I look out my window today, it's actually down pouring rain, but you can tell autumn is in the air with the change in temperature. After a summer of heat and humidity, a fall of crisper (albeit wetter) weather is welcome!

July saw the return home of the summer Real Life Mission Teams. Their last night of debrief in Atlanta was a joy as they shared how God had moved and impacted them during their time in Pakistan, the Amazon Jungle in Peru, Kenya, Swaziland, India and New Zealand. The Amazon team presented me with an oar that was carved with a machete by an Amazonian. Each team member had signed it and it now hangs in a special place on the wall of my office and reminds me of them when I see it.

August was…...busy…...busier than usual for August, to be honest! With adding another session of Real Life to the year (January through April), there was an increase in the number of people applying. Previous years, August is normally a month when things slow down and you can take a breather. Not this August! I was interviewing almost daily as well as covering in our accounting department. Two of the girls (sisters) who handle a lot of the financial data entry for AIM, took three weeks to go to Japan. They’d gone with another organization over Christmas break last year to do missions and had so been impacted by their trip, that they had planned to go back. As their time to go approached, they taught me everything I needed to know to fill in for them. I actually enjoyed doing this for them.

August was also the annual Staff Conference which was held in Clayton, GA, about an hour or so north of Gainesville. The retreat center we stayed at had very nice accommodations. That was a treat! I also turned 50 during staff retreat! Imagine that….half a century old!

September brought the Fall Real Life Mission Teams to Georgia for training camp. What a joy to get to meet them after being in communication with some of them for a year! Two teams went out—one to India, the other to Swaziland.

This picture is of Reecie Abbott in India. Reecie has a place in my heart as she is full of energy and joy. She and her leader, Angel, had to spend an extra week here in the States because her passport and visa were lost somewhere in the mail coming back from the Indian Consulate in Houston. After a quick trip to Washington DC to get a new passport and a rush on her visa, they were able to join their team in India. She wrote an update for our website this past week that I would like to share (just because she wrote it!).

A Day Like No Other….

This past Thursday, four of us including Angel and our translator and the Pastor of the slums met up with our “rent-a-driver” and headed off to the slums. We all packed into a jeep and headed down the road where we ended up getting lost a few times. But eventually we found ourselves outside of the Pastor’s home, where we were welcomed with love, apples and chai.

We all sat down in plastic chairs and visited with their family, as they took pictures of us and laughed with us, even when at moments neither of us knew what we said. The Pastor told us his life story and how he came to know Jesus. He told us about the persecution he’s been under, the endless beatings from “fully-wrapped” men in the park until they thought they had killed him and left his body. Not to forget, the persecution his family endured because of their love for God. The Pastor along with his wife and all three of his kids were beaten and abused; their bibles were ripped and torn to shreds. It just goes to show how scared Satan is and how he will go to great lengths to stop a man and his family from radically changing the lives of those who live around him and in the slums.

It just blew me away. Hearing the hardships he has had to endure because of his faith and love in God. There are so many people in America, including myself, who have never fully understood what it means to be persecuted for our faith in God.

So after chill’n’ at his house, we all loaded back in the jeeps and drove down a block or so to the slums. And immediately from the first foot that touched the ground – all eyes were on us. Children stopped playing as women looked up from sitting on the dirt; they stopped cleaning their pots and clothes as we passed by them. They didn’t smile, until we bowed and said “Namaste,” which means “hello” in Hindi – and right after that – they glowed with excitement as they replied with “Namaste.” The women there are so beautiful, their faces exemplify the very lives they led, hardworking, yet there is also a sadness they possess and that only Jesus Christ could heal. And so we walked down the brick walkway, all the way to the small roomed church, where about 23 kids awaited our arrival.

We entered the room, basically squished our way through and what a blessing it was to be there; Praising God, screaming His name from our lips, sweating in the 100 degree or so room while crowds and crowds of faces peered through the window and door of the church. After our skits and more songs, we exited the church with such a high on God. We then went directly across from the church to a home where we prayed for a family. And what a blessing it was to be welcomed in such away when the Dad, knowing that he could and probably will be persecuted for having us there, was so willing to have us in his home and to pray openly for them.

Man, God is so good.

We left pretty quickly after that, loaded back into the jeep with kids waving and smiling at us, blowing us kisses that just made our hearts cry out to God.

He revealed Himself to all of us in so many ways as we drove back from the slums, and reflected our time there, while singing, “Blessed be the Name.” That place will forever be in my prayers. The women, the men, the children, all who need to be broken, and when fallen to their knees, I will pray even harder so that they’ll in some way come to know Jesus Christ, the way, the truth, and light.

Thanks for all of your constant prayers. God is doing amazing things out here…. Simply amazing.

Me (Sue) again….

There are so many stories to tell and not enough room to do it in. There were lives touched—both the participants and the people they were ministering to. Thank you for partnering with me through AIM—together we
ARE impacting the world with His love!

It has been a good year and the Lord has been my Jehovah Jireh, the Lord my Provider. I’ve seen him bless me in amazing ways. However, looking ahead, I know that my support balance is getting close to going from being positive to negative. What that means overall, is that I am still about $470 short of full support each month. The Lord definitely blessed me earlier this year with several generous gifts which have allowed me to minister without much tension in my life about support. But I know that realistically as I look at where things are at right now, I wanted to let you know of my need before it gets out of hand. While some new supporters have joined my team, others have needed to reduce their commitments and that has had an impact on my support balance.

Would you prayerfully consider joining my support team, if you’re not already a member, either as a prayer warrior or financial partner? And if you are already partnering with me, would you prayerfully ask the Lord about how He would have you to continue your involvement? For some this may mean become prayer partners with me; for others, it may be asking the Lord about giving financially. For still others, it may be prayerfully considering an increase in your giving. Whatever you do, please allow the Lord to lead you! I need both prayer and financial team members!

If you’d like, you can give by clicking on the red “SUPPORT ME” link on this page, using a debit or credit card.

How I praise God for each of you who partner with me, whether in prayer or financially. You do not know how much your support means to me. It is what keeps me going on rainy gray days and cheers and brings joy to my spirit. And as I read stories like Reecie’s, and see pictures like the ones I’m sharing from the India team, I rejoice that we are able to touch lives around the world.

I pray that the Lord will bless each of you as we head into the Thanksgiving month of November. As I remember you today, I am praying for you and yours. May He provide for your every need and give you the desires of your heart!

You are a blessing to me!

Love and prayers,

Sue