Thursday, April 15, 2010

New Life Church sews for Haiti

A few weeks ago, one of the ladies of our church, Loretta Cooper, approached us and asked if she could help us with the backpack ministry at Agape. Since the earthquake, Agape has been filling backpacks with critical supplies and sending them to the missionaries to distribute to the homeless people of Haiti. Loretta asked if it would be helpful if she headed up a campaign to make and fill bags with the New Life family. We thought it was a wonderful idea so we agreed to help her in what ever way we could.
Loretta's campaign was called Sew On Fire and they made 96 bags for Haiti. Today, I had the pleasure helping this project first hand as the girls and I went to Loretta's house to help fill the bags. Donated supplies (tarps, blankets, towels, silverware, food, soap, shampoo, toothbrushes, etc.) were used to fill the bags. and then the bags were delivered to Agape. The bags will be loaded on next week's sea container and will arrive in Haiti by the following week. Praise God for these hard working people who sewed all the bags, packed them with love and worked as His hands and feet to send God's love over the ocean.
We are so blessed to be part of a family of believers who link arms with us and join us in our efforts to help Haiti. Thank you, New Life family. We love you and appreciate you.
To Haiti with love....
Filling the bagsFilling the van

Safely delivered to Agape, ready to be tagged and processed

Living victoriously in Christ, Lynn for the Anderson ministry team


PS. Big praises to God for all the sea containers. Every one of them has been released and the 50,000 pounds of supplies in each container are now flowing through the hands of the missionaries into the hands of the Haitian people. God is amazing!!!

Friday, April 9, 2010

Grace turns 5!!!!

It's a big day in our family tomorrow. Five years ago, Lance and I went from husband and wife to Mom and Dad. What a transition it has been??!! God has blessed us to richly with our girls and we are so humbled to be their parents. We didn't know the joys and heartaches we would have in front of us but we would not turn back a single day.

Grace is our amazing first child. We are so proud of her. She is the sweetest, most loving child I know. She puts her heart first in everything she does. She loves the Lord and sings praise songs to Him all day long. She loves her little sister, adores her dad and opens up to her mom. She is very compassionate and caring. She will go out of her way to give a hug and a smile to everyone she knows.

Grace enjoys life to the fullest. She loves sports. She will be starting soccer in a few weeks and she would like to try T-ball in the fall. She loves riding...whether it is a horse, bike, scooter, Harley, roller coaster, sled or a ATV... she loves to ride....the faster the better. (one guess where that comes from??) She could sit and make craft projects for hours. I can not keep up on all the things she wants to make. She loves animals of all kinds. She is a whiz at her school work and just started reading to us. That is a joy to watch. Grace just plain loves life. She is a very happy, healthy and energetic girl.

We are very proud of Grace and very blessed to be her parents.


Here are a few picts of Grace from this year....

With her best friend


Loading the plane with her favorite pilot, Uncle Paul



With her favorite house guest, Dr. Chuck Stecker


Sledding in Green Bay



Slip n slide time



Loving the animals on the farm



Swingin' with sister in their cool hats and glasses


Heading to the Wild West party with her favorite Dude



Happy Birthday, Grace! We love you and we thank God for you.



For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
Ephesians 2:8


Living victoriously in Christ, Lynn and the crew


Monday, April 5, 2010

The Prayer Notes: AGAPE FLIGHTS...from a Volunteer...Thanks

Here is a note from an Agape volunteer. I share it because she says so beautifully what it feels like to work with the wonderful people God has called to Agape. Barb, thanks for your kind words and we feel equally blessed to have volunteers like you who show God's love to us in so many ways.
The Prayer Notes: AGAPE FLIGHTS...from a Volunteer...Thanks

We are blessed with so many great people of faith standing beside us and working with us. We love to see the many facets of God's provisions and volunteers are the heros He sends to help us complete our jobs.

Living victoriously in Christ, Lynn

Thursday, April 1, 2010

April Update and Prayer requests/praises

Here we are again at the beginning of a new month. It seems like time if just flying by these days and there is so much to do and say. This month has been very busy at Agape. Since January 12, 2010, when the earthquake hit, Agape Flights has:
· Made over 150 flights into Haiti
· Delivered almost 500,000 pounds of donated emergency supplies
· Transported medical personnel to Haiti
· Evacuated 37 adopted children
This month was again very busy and eventful at Agape. We are continuing in the relief efforts of Haiti as well as delivering regular supplies to the missionaries. Our current statistics show the vast amount of supplies that have been shipped via Agape. We are continuing to fly the Embraer aircraft, which we have leased for the next few months, along with donated airplanes. The majority of supplies are donated either to Agape or directly to a missionary. The outpouring of love and generosity is amazing.

One shipment of love hit very close to home for me as DePere High School, the school where my nieces attend, sent over 1400 pairs of shoes. During my trip to Green Bay I met with one teacher, Isaac Oslund, who inspired his students to get involved. The result was four pallets of shoes and a large bag of toothbrushes. Not only did the students get involved but a local trucking company joined in as well. WEL Companies of DePere drove the shoes to FL and directly to our front door at Agape. What a blessing! The shoes were loaded into a sea container on the day they arrived and they are on their way to the people of Haiti. Many thanks to the students of DePere High School.

Lance has been working on more sea containers this month. A total of 6 have been sent. They each contain close to 50,000 pounds of supplies. The logistics of obtaining a container, ground transportation, and shipping arrangements keep Lance busy. Among other duties, this is one thing that takes up a majority of his time. Several men from our church has taken on these containers as a volunteering opportunity. They come each time we load one and they are a huge blessing to us. We love to work with our church family.

The Volunteer appreciation lunch was also this month. That was a great chance for us to show our volunteers how much we appreciate all they do. Agape would not be able to exist without our faithful volunteers. We sent out 250 invitations but we know we missed a majority of folks who have "flown" back north for the summer. The event was very successful and we really loved watching God work as an event planner. I have no experience in event planning so I know it was only through His help and guidance that this event was pulled off. He is the best event planner of all. (Picts of the event can be found on the Agape website under Shutterfly. Take a look, the hangar was turned into a banquet hall.)

Psalm 62:11-12
One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong,
and that you, O Lord, are loving. Surely you will reward each person according to what he has done.

Praises and prayer requests


Praise the Lord for a successful Volunteer Appreciation Lunch this month. Under short time constraints for planning the event honored our most valuable players and thanked God for them.


Praise God for a very generous deal with AirNow which will allow us to purchase our new airplane,”Paid in full”. He provides for every dollar and every need. See the Agape web for details.


Praise the King for His Son who died for us and triumphed over the grave to give us the gift of eternal life. The Resurrection is such a great time of rejoicing and we praise Him for His promises and His plans.


Praise the Father for His hand working for our finances. We are scheduled to begin raising support for year two, but God is already at work for us. He has brought new supporters on board and gifts we were not expecting. We love to watch Him multiply the seeds that are sown.

Prayers


Please pray for our Iowa house. It was scheduled to close at the end of March. The couple staying in the house is still working on selling another home. Our prayers is that they will find the resources to close on our house by the end of April. Please stand in agreement with us that the house is sold and closed in Jesus’ name.


Please pray for the release of the sea containers in Haiti. As with all things in Haiti, it is a slow process. Pray for God to open those doors and the containers to be released quickly.


Please continue to pray for our staff and volunteers. Just when we think things are slowing down, a new challenge, new shipment, or new need arises. We are committed to the cause of Christ and need His strength and energy to continue on. Pray for strength and endurance.

Please intercede with us to the Father for the people of Haiti. As the months of the rainy season are upon them, they need prayers for protection from the storms and shelter for their families. The levels of violence are also on the rise. Please pray for peace in the nation during this time of desperate need.

Thank you for all your faithful prayers. We are so blessed to have a supportive team of friends/family who lift us up to the King. We could not do it without you.

We pray you have a rejoicing Easter and celebrate the Resurrection with those you love. We are so grateful for the cross and we are so thankful for the blood shed for us. Without the cross, there would be no HOPE. You are in our prayers.

Be blessed!

Living victoriously in Christ, Lynn for the Anderson team