August prayer requests and praises

Is August really here already?? It is hard to believe. This summer has been flying by and it seems everytime we sit down to rest, we realize another month has past. And since it is the first of the month, it is time to update all of you on our progress and our path.


This has been the busyiest time of our lives, hands down. Our family has not slowed down since we accepted this challenge back in Jan. We are still in the process of meeting with people and sharing our story, selling off our possesions here in Iowa, showing the house, visiting with family, and packing to move. And in the midst of all the busyness of these days, we are more and more convinced that our path is clear and we are doing exactly what we are being called to do. God makes His presence in our lives evident every day in very tangible and practical ways. He meets our every need and we are very humbled and grateful.


One of the most evident ways we have seen God's hand in our lives is through support raising. We reached our initial goal of support earlier this month. That means that we are 100% funded for the first year to work at Agape. Through the gifts we have received and/or have been pledged, we will be begin working at Agape as soon as possible. Praise God! But, that does not mean we are done, we will still be working on securing funds to help with moving expenses, training/conferences for Lance, and funding to secure the future years. We have reached our initial goal but we are not stopping there. We know that God has provided every penny and He will continue to fill every need. We are trusting Him for all things.



Our next step is for Lance to take a short trip to FL within the next few weeks. While he is there he will visit at Agape to check out the needs of the computer systems so he can begin plannning his work. He will also check on some houses for us and get to know the area. We would like to have a good idea of the market and a few possible houses lined up for when this one sells. That help greatly in the transition process.



We have seen God work in big ways in the past 6 months and we are so grateful for all your faithful prayers. Here is the list of prayer requests for this month:

Praises

• God completed the first year of funding for us to work at Agape. What an amazing story in the economy of the world today!?! He is sooo much bigger than the world.


• Doors have continued to open for us to share our story.


• More "stuff" has sold from the house and I believe we are almost out of things to sell.


• The house showings have picked up again and it is prime time for us to sell, now that funding is complete.


• We have had time to have some great family time with Daddy. This time of waiting, since Lance has been layed off to now, has allowed us to spend time together every day and really enjoy having Daddy time. The girls are really going to miss him when he goes back to work. This time has been a real blessing.

Prayer requests

• Please pray for our house to sell. We have given this to God. He is in charge and He can move mountians. We are confident He has a buyer already selected for this home. Pray for the buyer to come see it and fall in love with this house.


• Please pray for our travels. We will be spending time alot on the road in the next month. We are traveling to Green Bay this weekend for a family reunion and then Lance will be traveling to FL.


• Please pray for our housing in FL. We are having some issues with where we will stay once we arrive in FL. The timing of the sale of this house and the availablity of a new house will have to come together for the move to be smooth. We are confident God can make this happen.


• Please continue to pray for a hedge of protection around our family. We have experienced alot of satan's tactics to discourage us but we are holding on to faith in our powerful God. Just like Nehemiah, we are not stepping off the wall.

We are grateful for all of you and for your time in prayer for us. We are humbled by all that God is doing and we are thankful to be allowed to be a part of this amazing adventure. Many thanks for all you who are encouraging us and standing with us. We could not do this without you.

Have a great month and stay tuned for updates on the house.

Never give in!
In His service, Lance, Lynn, Grace and Hope.

Happy Birthday, Hope!!

It's another special day in the Anderson family. Today, we celebrate Hope's 3rd birthday. Hope is our 2nd child and we are so blessed to be her parents.

Hope is a wonderful little girl. She is very active and very imaginative. She and her sister make up games and stories all the time. I don't know what "land" they are in half the time, because I am not always allowed to play. Hope loves to ride her bike, swing on the swing set, swim, ride horses, ride the ATV, play with her doll house, dress up, ride horses and tickle her dad. Hope is a singer and she is constantly making up new songs or adding words to songs she already knows.

Hope is our reminder that we are to never give up. As the second child, she is constantly trying to catch up with her sister. If there is something Grace can do, Hope will be next in line to give it a try. She has a very persistant attitude and she will not stop until she conquers whatever she is working on.

Here are some picts of Hope from today and from 3 years ago.

Hope's hospital photo (sort of looks like a mug shot)

Grace and Hope on the day we got home from the hospital

Hope finally let me do her hair after almost 2 years.

Hope in swimming lessons
Hope's favorite part...jumping in.


We are so blessed to have Hope in our lives. I can not imagine our family without her. We named her Hope because we wanted to be constantly reminded of the greatest gifts God has given us. Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." We have hope in the Lord and we are grateful to also have Hope in our family.



Happy Birthday, Hope! We love you!

Never give in!

In His service, Lynn

July Praises and Prayer requests

Welcome to our monthly report of all God is doing in our lives (praises) and all that we need you to pray to the Almighty for us(prayer requests). June has been a BIG month for us. Here is why....


If you ask Grace and her preschool class, "How much does God love us?", you would hear this response, "This much!" and they all outstretch their arms as wide as they can and then they wrap themselves in a big "Jesus hug." Well, this month has been one big "Jesus hug". This month has been amazing and everyday we are reminded of how much He loves us and how much He can do when we trust Him with all our hearts, minds, soul and strength. God has worked so hard this month on our behalf. We are so humbled and grateful.


At the beginning of this month, we checked our database and found that we were at approxiamately 50% of the support needed to begin at Agape. We had exhausted all of our resources of friends, family and referrals. We had completed all of what we thought we could do, so we completely turned over to God the other 50% of the funding needs. We knew that if He wanted us to go, this would be quite clear as the funds would be finished by Him. (BTW-We know He raised the first half, we think He just let us do some foot work to let us feel like we did something :) Well, He secured 40% more of the funding within the next ten days. Over those ten days, we received some incredible seeds into the ministry. Seeds planted by people who heard God's calling in our lives and believed in what God was going to do with this ministry. We are speechless and are in awe of how He can move mountains. We are also extremely grateful for those who have placed their trust in us to fulfill what He is calling us to do. Thank you for coming along side us and for allowing us the privilege of serving Him with our careers and lives.


This month has been full of surprises. We received support from people we don't even know, yet they have heard what God is doing in our lives and want to be involved. We have received support from two churches that got our information before we had the chance to start the process ourselves with their missions boards. And we have received support from friends who are also in ministry but want to continue to be "givers" and support other missionaries. God has been extremely busy working in the hearts of our supporters and we are incredibly grateful for each and every one of you and your willingness to listen to His voice.


So, here we are...... we are in the last mile of the marathon. We are close to finishing the first challenge placed before us. We are in the process of rounding up our unfulfilled pledges. If you have made a pledge and have not started giving yet, please sign up on line or let us know if you need a new pledge card so you can get started this month. We would like to have all pledges processed before we leave. We are also working on finding the last few supporter needed to reach the 100% mark. Next, we will be concentrating on our next challenge of selling our home here and finding a home in FL so we can start moving.


With all that said, it is time to get to those praises and prayer request....

Praises

• Praise God for that the support raising is going very well and God has moved mountains for us in this department.


• Praise Him for the addition of the Clear Lake E Free church and Clear Lake Christian Church who have joined us as financial supporters. The E Free church is where Lance attended church for 18 years before moving to Iowa City/CR. The Christian Church is where Lance's parents are members.


• Praise God for the great responses from the Clear Lake Christian Church, Clear Lake E Free church and the Valley Church when we presented at these churches. It was an honor to have these opportunity to speak to these congregations. Thank you Lord for making these opportunties happen.


• Praise the Most High for the large seeds that have been planted in this ministry on our behalf. Thank you God for the contacts you have.


• The Iron Sharpens Iron conference was very successful and lives where transformed that day. 400 men met with God and grew stronger in their walks through that ministry. Personally, Lance met some incredible mentors and we were able to get plugged into some Venice, FL churches through our house guests for the conference.


• Praise God that the girls have had great patience and behavior when we met with supporters and spoke at churches. Everyone we meet with has been sensitive of our children and making them feel at home. Thank you for all of you who have gone out of your way to make our girls feel loved.

Prayer request

• Please pray that God will bring the new owner of our home to the house soon. We have said from the beginning that the support piece and the home sale piece would happen simultaneouly. As we are approaching the finish of the support raising piece, we are ready for the house to sell so we can dive into our new lives as missionaries.


• Please pray that supporters will continue to join us. We are less than 10% short on our annual gifts, so we need to have that void filled in so we can get started. We will constantly be in need of new supporters, since one time gifts will need to be replaced in the following years. Support raising and relationship building is a key part of our ministry. Please pray that we will continue to find joy in telling His story and sharing the amazing things He has done for us.


• Please pray for good weather for the weekend of July 3-4. We will be having a Bake sale/rummage sale for our move to Agape at the Shueyville Methodist Church.


• Please pray for a hedge of protection over our family. The enemy loves to find ways to attack and he is constantly looking for a foothold. Please pray that we will remain strong in Him and listen to His voice.


• Please pray for our girls. Our greatest hope is that they will come to know Him as their Provider, Protection, Shelter and one true Love. Please continue to pray for them to have gentle spirits and open hearts.

This month we have been really clinging to Scripture that points us to the end of this race. We know the end of this race is just the beginning yet this Scripture helps us stay focused on completing what He has called us to do. In Acts 20:22-24, Paul says good bye to the elders of Ephesus with these words, 22"And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. 24However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace. " These words remind us that it is not about us or our lives, but it is all about Him. We are trying to stay focused on what God is doing in our lives and share that story with others while giving Him the glory. We are concentrating on remembering this is about the Great Commission and doing our part to share God's good news.

Thank you for all you are doing at the throne of the King on our behalf. We appreciate all of you that lift us up to Him. Your prayers are very important to us so please let us know how we can be praying for you also.

Have a great 4th of July!

Never give in!

In His service, Lynn for the Anderson family

June Surprises and updates

Oh, what a great God we serve! Our God is so big and so faithful. He has been once again taking us to heights we have never known and we have seen the amazing things He can do. The last 2 weeks have been crazy, but He is our rock. Our schedule is insane but He is the constant. Let me fill you in on the things He is doing for and with us....

1. The month started with the Iron Sharpens Irons conference and some very cool house guests. We had two of the speakers from the conference staying with us for the night. Chuck Stecker and Ray Morgan from A Chosen Generation stayed Friday night before the conference. And even though our visit with them was very short, we loved having them here. Their ministry is about raising Men of Honor and Women of Virtue and it is really awesome. I have listened to Chuck's presentation from the conference and let me tell you that man has a message every parent needs to hear. I highly recommend that you check out their website and blog at www.achosengeneration.org. I wish we would have had more time to pick their brains but none the less, we were honored to have them with us for the short time they could be here. Did I mention that they are experts on Venice, FL? They totally plugged us into the Venice, FL area with churches and men's ministry leaders. Go God, he did it again! Now, we have 10 new websites to check out from our favorites and we can start church shopping before we even get there.
2. The Solon garage sale was a bust because of rain but we all survived and Goodwill will have full shelves for a few days.
3. Last week, we made a surprise visit to the Wisconsin High School State soccer tournament. Since it was only 120 miles off the beaten path to some business in Indiana we decided to surprise my family with an appearance at the game. If I would have been on the ball, I would be inserting some great picts here but since I was so busy keeping the girls from blowing the surprise, I failed to capture the look on my sister, Dad's and Mom's faces. Just imagine, what their expressions were when Grace "sneak attack hugged" them from behind in the crowd of hundreds. It was priceless. It was so worth the extra miles and hours in the car to see the family and to see Katie play an awesome game. The girls dragged Colleen away from the game every minute they could to roll down the hill and play in the grass. Thanks Colleen for being so patient with the girls.
4. The day after the game we spent 14 hours in the truck, driving to Indiana and then home. It was actually only 9 hours of driving time but with traffic delays and brief stops, it took us 14 hours. The trip was a real test of how long we can go on our drive to Florida when we move. The girls were perfect and they were a blessing as they only had one incident of whining. God really took care of us and we know He was our protector and our peace. We had a great trip and although we were tired the next day, it was nice to have that business out of the way.
5. This weekend was very eventful on the support raising front also. We recieved notice from the Clear Lake E. Free church that they will be supporting us at Agape. Praise God!
6. As we sat down and analyzed our database, we realized that God is closing the gap on the support front. We are over the 80% benchmark and are close to finishing up the race. We have plenty of work to do to finish this task but God is constantly reaffirming the direction He has for our lives and He is always showing us He is in control. Praise Him that He knows what He is doing with us even when we can't always wrap our heads around it.

So, there you have it.... that is what we have been up to lately. Praise God because He has done most of this and we have just been along for the ride.

Now, here's a little thought to close with....last night, the girls and I were playing with the bumblebees in our front bush. (Don't ask why..my girls just love bugs?!) After we caught the bee and looked at him for a while in our bug catcher, we decided to let him go so we opened the end of the bug catcher. The bee struggled and struggled trying to find a way out. He rammed his head into the plastic over and over. He did not realize that we had opened the other end and all he had to do was fly away. He struggled for almost a full minute before he finally saw that he was already set free, he just didn't know it. How many times have we tried to find our own way out of a situation? How many people do you know that are ramming their heads into the plastic of this world? Many times we try to force our way out rather than seeing that God has already shown us the way out. We often fail to see He has opened the door. As it says in Galatians 5:1 "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Yes, Christ is the way to freedom and He is the only way to be set free. No matter how big or small your problems, He will deliver you if you place your life in His hands and trust Him with all your heart.

We hope you are having an eventful month too. Please pray for the new owners of our home. We are ready to have them discover this house and come to make an offer.
Never give in!
In His service, Lynn for the Anderson crew

June Prayer requests and Praises

Well, here we are again at the beginning of a new month and we have once again been so busy that the time just flew by. It is just amazing to me the things that God is accomplishing on our behalf and the way He is bringing things together. We are constantly reminded of His power and His ability to move mountains.

Before I get to the prayer requests/praise, I would like to fill you in on a few of the exciting things that we have done this month. We had a very successful garage sale on the first weekend of the month and followed that up with a Ministry Moment at the Shueyville United Methodist Church the second weekend of the month. The next week included a trip to Clear Lake for a missions team meeting with the church Lance attended before moving to Solon 6 years ago. We were happily pleased to find out that someone had submitted our information to the missions board on our behalf before we had a chance to do so ourselves. The meeting went very well and we are awaiting to hear whether they will be able to support us at Agape.

Grace had a very busy month at preschool. She went on a great field trip to the Uthoff farm. She chose Daddy to be her driver and they had a very eventful trip as a calf was born while they were at the farm. I thought that was pretty cool but Daddy said some of the preschoolers were not impressed, just confused. She also had a bike day and park day. Thankfully, the teachers included Hope on those days so she got to have some fun also.

On Memorial day weekend, we went to the Shivers farm for a bonfire and some farm fun. The girls adored the puppy, dogs, cows, horses and of course the calves. They had a chance to bottle feed a calf that was abandoned by its mother. I'm sure if we were not on our way to FL, Grace and Hope would have convinced Daddy to allow them to bring him home. They also loved the trampoline and Mom's ATV driving through the fields and creeks. It was a great day of fellowship and fun. Thanks Larry and Chris for the hospitality.

Yesterday, we were given the opportunity to present at Valley Church in Swisher. The presentation went well and we spoke with several folks after about Agape. Pastor's message on spiritual gifts was incredible. It spoke directly to our hearts about what we are working on and how to use the gifts God has given us. It's all about being available to God and letting Him use us to accomplish what He desires. He reminded us that is it is all about Him and not about us. What a timely message and great reminder.

Now, here are those prayer requests and praises...
Praises

• Many divine appointments have taken place because of God's timing and provision.
• Clear Lake E. Free church is considering us for support due to the leading of our prayer captain who gave our information to the missions team.
• The number of sponsors is growing. We are very close to 50% and should be there by the end of this week. We are almost over the hump.
• We received some great responses from our presentations at Shueyville United Methodist Church. And the girls did great through 4 services.
• The camper sold this month and the rummage sale went well. God continues to help us move out the "stuff" we don't need.
• The girls have been given some extra special treatment from our family and friends. They have been really well behaved during our meetings and they are being rewarded for their patience. They have been given toys, horseback riding, balloons, and lots of love. Thank you to all who have taken the time to love them so much.

Prayer requests

• Pray for strength to continue running this marathon. It is exhilerating to work for Him and He is so faithful to take care of us. We need prayer to remain at His side and rely fully on Him. Satan loves to try to derail us so pray for protection from the enemy over our hearts and minds.
• Pray for the Solon rummage sale day on June 6. Lance will be working at the Iron Sharpens Iron conference so it is up to my friends, the girls and me to handle the sale. Please pray for strength to get everything done and sold. Also pray for good weather.
• Pray for more sponsors to join us. We have many outstanding pledge cards and we are praying they will come back soon. Please pray for God to complete those connections.
• Pray for the sale of our home. We are trusting God for His timing. We know He has the perfect buyer and the perfect time. We just need to be patient and wait on Him.
• Pray for doors to continue to open for relationships to grow. We are now fully involved in God's network. We are taking every opportunity He places before us and seeing His hands in everything. He is bringing people to us that we would not have ever contacted on our own, so we know He is working on our behalf. Please pray that we will continue to have our eyes open to see His hands at work and respond when He calls us.
• We will be speaking at the Clear Lake Christian church on June 21. This is Lance's parents church. Pray for the ears of the congregation to be open to hear how God is calling us and how He will use us at Agape to accomplish His will.
• Please pray for the Iron Sharpens Iron men's conference on June 6 in Cedar Rapids. Pray that God will meet with the men that attend and He will draw them closer to Him.
• Please pray for the Clear Lake E.Free church as they make their decision about support and a Ministry moment at that church. This is Lance's home church for 18 years prior to his move to Iowa City/CR.
• Continue to pray for our girls. They are really starting to grasp all that is happening and to hear them talk about missions, Agape and moving is very fun. Please pray for them to have gentle spirits, lots of patience, and that they will be drawn closer to God through all of this change.

As I close I would like to leave you with some Scripture that we are clinging to on this journey. Proverbs 16:3 says "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed." When we are committed to follow God in all we do, He will take care of the rest. It is not up to us to finish this race He has set before us. He will accomplish all He desires. What we are asked to do is be available to God for His purpose and allow ourselves to be used by Him. He will accomplish His will in His time. As we continue on the journey of support raising and relationship building, we know God is in control of every appointment and every meeting. He leads the way and we follow. We are constantly amazed at what He is asking us to do but we are trusting Him and watching Him work. When we align ourselves with the Creator of the universe, all things are possible. (Even raising $50,000 for support in hard economic times.) Praise God! He can do whatever He desires!

Thank you all for lifting us up to the King. We are praying for you as well. Please let us know if you have specific requests.

Have a great month and stay strong in Him.

Never give in!

In His service, Lynn, Lance, Grace and Hope

more on Stepping out of the Boat

Here is an awesome message from Kenneth Copeland's daily devotional. This says it all. No matter what your boat is...step out for HIM.

Devotional Daily Devotions … Faith to Faith
Step Out of the Boat
Kenneth Copeland

And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water.
– Matthew 14:28-29

It's easy to be so afraid of making a mistake that you never get around to stepping out on faith. You can spend all your time wondering, "Is this faith? Or is it presumption? What if I exercise my faith for something and find out later I've missed God's will?"

Don't worry. God can handle any mistake you can make. I know because I've made plenty of them. When I did, I'd just go to the Lord and He'd tell me, "Stay on the Word, son. Together we'll overcome this thing." And we always did.

If you act on the Word out of the sincerity of your heart and you steadfastly stay with the Word, Jesus will never let you down...no matter how many dumb mistakes you make. He proved that the night Peter jumped out of the boat in the middle of the lake.

Have you ever stopped to think about that incident? Peter hadn't been praying or seeking God's will before he did that. On impulse he just blurted out, "Lord, if it's You bid me come."

What was Jesus supposed to say? He couldn't very well say, "It's not Me." I suppose He could have said, "Wait a minute now. You don't have the faith to get out here. You'd better stay in that boat or you're going to drown for sure."

But He didn't say that to Peter--and He won't say it to you. If you want to get out and walk by faith, He'll get out there with you and pick you up when you start sinking. He'll walk you back to the boat if He has to.

It's better to risk being presumptuous than to waste your life in the boat of unbelief! If you have to, just dive into the water and say, "God, help me!"

Don't let fear keep you from taking that step of faith. Come on, get out of the boat today!
Scripture Reading: Matthew 14:22-33

Garage sale and other priceless moments

The last two weekends have been a busy ones around our household. It was a goregous sunny day last Sat. for the garage sale in Swisher. When we arrived at 6:45 AM, the town was already buzzing with customers and we had not even began to set up. The chaos started immediately as customers were searching through our stuff before we even got it out of boxes. The flow of customers was constant. It never settled down and it was well after 12 noon before we sat down and took a rest. God blessed us immensely that day as we unloaded 5 loads of "stuff" and we only packed up 1 1/2 loads to bring back. We made enough money to make the day worth the work and energy. We struggled to find any items we sold that was over $20. Most of our items were $1.00 or less. If someone made an offer, we took it. Yet, it was very productive day for us and well worth the work to prepare. We were very blessed to have friends who helped us. Lianne and Jennifer were there to help sell and help entertain the kids. Thanks Ladies. We really appreciate you and your help. Stephanie and Bob also set up shop and sold along with us. It was fun to have more kids and Molly the dog there to entertain my dog lovers. We also greatly appreciate Laura for letting us use her parking lot. That alley was the hottest spot in town. Here are a few picts from the sale.

Just an example of the amount of STUFF we sold

Happy and busy salespeople

Happy shoppers

Happy Kids

That same day, we sold the camper and Lance had to deliver it up north. The gentleman who bought it found it on Craigslist and he drove from west of Sioux Falls, SD to meet Lance in Albert Lea. It was a sad moment for us as a family. We loved the new hobby of camping with the ATVs as a family and we will miss the time we spent in Black River Falls, WI but we know that God will provide for new hobbies and family fun in FL. The camper market seemed all but dried up until one day when the action heated up and we had three families interested. God really pulled that deal together as we had other business to take care of in Clear Lake so the trip with the camper was the perfect plan to kill two birds with one stone. (sorry birds) We knew the sale of the camper would be tough in this economy but God can make things happen if we turn it over to Him.

Here is a pict of camper.

The next few days were full of horse fun as the girls got "horse" spoiled with a trip to Doctor Darryl's farm and to the Traeger ranch. We are very grateful for the time and kindness of Darryl and Lori(and Becky) to give the girls some fun at the farm. We don't want them to get lost in all the busyness of this time of our lives. So we are extremely grateful for the special treatment they have given the horse crazy kids of ours. We got a few picts of the happy riders on Tarzan's Dude.

That little girl on top is Hope

Happy riders and the beautiful horse

That happy girl on top is Grace

This weekend was equally busy with 4 presentations at Shueyville United Methodist church. It was a productive day and it was great to share with our friends there what God is leading us to do. Following the last service we headed to Clear Lake for Mother's day and some more meetings.

The time with family and friends in Clear Lake was fun as Grace and Hope both ventured out on the bike trail and cycled with the big people. Grace was a very fast rider and Hope was determined to catch up to her, even with the training wheels holding her back a little. That tenacious 2nd child showed me the way we are to be for Christ. We are to keep pressing on and pushing harder and harder until we accomplish what He has put us here to do. Even though her big sister passed her and got back first, Hope kept a "can do" attitude and she never gave in. As the Bible says in Philippians 3:12-14,

12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Once again, Lance and I continue to learn from our girls and the Bible, we continue to press on and keep running this marathon before us. Satan would like to derail us from every angle but we keep staying the race. God is still providing for our every need and He promises that no weapon formed against us will prosper. (Isaiah 54:17 "no weapon forged against you will prevail")Please continue to pray for a hedge of protection around us and for strength to keep running.

We hope you are all having an exciting month as well. Enjoy the spring weather and keep pressing on for Him.

Never give in!

In His service, Lynn for the Anderson crew