These inner city children don’t get  their hands in soil…EVER!  This type of activity is revolutionary in their world!



Life is like a bowl of…….



Liberti Church http://libertichurcheast.org/ in Fishtown hosted about 21 college students from Temple,Penn State (Main Campus), and Philadelphia University to come  serve in the city. Students  got to partake in service activities such as feeding the homeless, helping out with after school programs, and  cleaning city blocks… all to the glory of God.

Student Testimony from the week: CHRIS JEWELL

Meet Chris.  Temple student, film major .

This was his first time on any sort of mission trip. Chris was put on assignment to  help  at an after school program all week in North Philly called The ARK . The Ark is a Christian non-profit organization that caters to the needs of the section 8 housing residents and their school aged children. ( Check out the website: http://thearkofphilly.blogspot.com/)

 After the first day of hanging out with the kids, Chris openly admitted that he was very nervous around kids and did not  have much experience with them.  In his own very memorable words, Chris claimed  “I just don’t know what to do with them!” Chris felt that God gave him an opportunity to step out of his comfort zone and  to figure out this mysterious world of children.  By golly…Chris did just that! By the end of the week Chris was painting butterflies on the cheeks of  dozens of kids at the fun fair!

 the kids showed their appreciation to Chris  by returning the favor….

Needless to say Chris  found out what to do with Children: Just love them like crazy, just like Jesus does!

 P.S.  Chris balanced his butterfly painting with rounds of  using a sledgehammer for demolition…..

and moving heavy things like refrigerators. RaAAWRrrr….

 The CCO hosts more than 2,500 College students at the annual Jubilee Conference in downtown Pittsburgh.http://www.jubileeconference.com/#/home/.

 As some of you might know, I have been doing swing dance for the past nine years as a hobby. I have always had a dream in my heart to be a part of some type of swing dance ministry; because I long to glorify God in everything.  This past weekend at Jubilee…that dream came true!

One of my CCO Co-Workers and good friend, Mitch Marcello, had a similar dream as well. Mitch has been pro swing dancing for the past several years and has taught lessons in downtown Pittsburgh. He also had a desire to use swing dancing as a ministry. Mitch knew that I was a swing dancer, so he came to me and asked if I would like to teach with him at Jubilee. Of course, I jumped at that opportunity right away!

 We taught two swing dance sessions. This was the first time ever that this had happened at the Jubilee conference, and neither of us had any idea what type of turnout we would have for the class.  We were blown away to find at least 125 students show up at the afternoon session, and 200 students came to the night session.   Incredible!  We actually ran out of room and people had to dance in the hallway!

Mitch and I in the middle teaching some east-coast swing!

 CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO! I was able to capture a few glorious moments of the swing dance lesson……http://www.youtube.com/user/snazzynazi#p/a/u/0/2sVZRPoQmpA

 Before we taught the actual dance, Mitch and I spoke to the students about 1 Corinthians 10:31; we are commanded to do all things, whether eating or drinking or whatever we do, to the glory of God.

I took some time and spoke about the “Lead and Follow” of swing dance and how it parallels the relationship between God and us in the dance of life.

 In swing dance there is always a Lead (male) and a Follow (female). For the dance to have any type of success, the Follow (Female) needs to submit to the Lead (male).  Her mind and body must be fully attentive to the Lead. There is a structure, and there are rules to swing dance.  If both the Lead and the Follow try to lead the dance…there will be quite the disaster!  You can’t just do whatever you want and expect to achieve beauty!   In the dance of life, God is the Lead, and the Church is the Follow.   We are to submit heart, mind, and soul to Him.   God wants good things for us, and He wants to lead us to those good things for His glory!

I also talked about all the various health benefits there are to swing dancing. In fact, in my research I found that “in the New England Journal of Medicine they found dancing can reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia in the elderly!”

The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) say that dancing can:

• Lower your risk of coronary heart disease
• Decrease blood pressure
• Help you manage your weight
• Strengthen the bones of your legs and hips

 I ended my talk by using Proverbs 3:5-8, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.”

Some students (Adam, Mollie and Michelle) that came for the night swing dance session. They are well on their way to being hooked

All the Passion filled students from Montgomery County!

As Campus Minister of CCO, I had the great honor of attending PASSION 2010 (January 2-5) with 83 college-age students from Montgomery County.

We joined 21 thousand other college-age students from all over the US down in Atlanta, Georgia to be part of what I call “a massive movement among God’s people.”  The students are STILL processing all the riches that they have learned in those 4 days at Passion.  

The Worship Leaders:

David Crowder   Charlie Hall   Matt Redman   Chris Tomlin   Hillsong United

 The Speakers: 

Louie Giglio   Beth Moore   John Piper   Francis Chan   Andy Stanley

 As you can see, we were quite spoiled with incredible worship leaders and speakers!  I am so thankful for these great men and women that are diligent to seek out the Lord and so let the glory of God to shine right through them to the rest of us. May we all desire to have this kind of impact on each other daily….making much of Christ and less of ourselves.

 In the past couple of weeks college students who have attended Montco THRIVE have been discussing the following topics:

* The Persecuted Church
* Homelessness
* Capital Punishment

Topics to be covered in the next few weeks are the following:

* Clean Water
* Orphans and Widows
* Racial Reconciliation
* Sex Slavery

Each week we aim to participate in a service project related to the topic at hand.

Pray for us as we search the scriptures on these current issues, that the students will know God more fully and will desire to please Him in all things.

 Montco students at THRIVE discussing social justice issues…..

Shayna and I hanging out at THRIVE

So while I thought I was confusing this poor girl even more, she ended up telling me that in the past when she would have conversations such as these, she would have panic attacks and get all flustered because it was so hard to understand.  Shayna said our conversation was the first time that she had peace while talking about this kind of stuff.   My heart skipped a million beats per second when she told me this, and all I could say in my soul was, “THANK YOU GOD FOR YOUR WORDS THAT ARE ALREADY WRITTEN!”  I am so thankful for scripture and how it moves in hearts, and that it is not my work but the Holy spirit working though me.

Well, it has been a couple of months now, and Shayna continues to go every Sunday to my…or should I say “our” church and is absolutely loving it!  Please pray for Shayna as she continues to deepen in relationships at Storehouse church http://www.storehousechurch.com/and that she would feel a sense of family amongst the congregation.

Lately, I have been bombarded in my ministry with tons of students ALL dealing with one thing: the dreadful life of SINGLENESS. At first, I was really irritated and frustrated that God would probe me in such an area that has been so painful in my past.  “All I want to do is ministry! Don’t poke me in my weak areas! Just leave me alone and let me love my students”!!!!   I could hardly put up with the young 2o year olds coming to me with their sob stories on how they think that God has given up on bringing the love of their life to them. I, being 28 years old…and still single, have had to control myself to not roll my eyes at them, and belittle their pain just because they are so much younger then I am.

Thankfully, God was not about to let me stay in a place of condemnation and bitterness towards the people that He loves.  Through His refining fire, He has quickly changed my heart to see what He really wants me to with this time and situation he has placed me in.    It is through my weakness and pain that He is calling me to minister to others that are in pain and through this willingness to lay my pain aside and minister to others … He is healing me.

I have been placed on Montgomery County Community College Campus to….  Isaiah 61:1 (ha, yes sometimes I like to use verses as verbs.)

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, ² to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn.”

I believe that this state of despairing in singleness is holding some college students captive, and they must be reminded that if they are in Christ…they are free!

I came up with a list of things that I had to learn the hard way in my years of being a single woman.  I want this list to serve as a warning, or a list of proverbs, so people can avoid these pitfalls!  I praise God with everything in me that he has not kept me in a place of spiritual immaturity. I pray that he keeps advancing me so I can bring Him the most glory possible.  I have had (and continue to have) so many conversations with my college students about this topic.  These points have been REVOLUTIONARY to my soul, and I trust that they be the same for others.

1. Don’t waste any more time or energy worrying and exasperating yourself AND OTHERS about your singleness! This worry and anxiety is doubt in God’s goodness… which is a sin. You WILL damage yourself and others, if you stay in the place of despair and doubt.  Confess this sin RIGHT AWAY, and ask Him to heal you.  Don’t be your own savior. Christ died on the cross for a reason, and that reason is to cover sins like doubt in God the almighty.  Ask Him to make you a Godly woman (or man), and then be expecting him to refine you by fire.  Be willing to gain wisdom and understanding through all the different ways He may bring it.

2. Know that it is settled. Nothing you can do (no matter how much you worry) can change the sovereignty of God’s plan for your life. Whether he has you single or married, it is good.  He is good, and He is not holding anything good from your life.

3. Ask God to get you to a healthy place in your heart where you know that marriage is a good thing and an unbelievable blessing, even though you may be single for the rest of your life! Thank Him for the institution of marriage in the church body, and pray for those who are married! Pray that their covenant would be protected, and that God’s glory will be seen through those who are married!

4. We have all heard the phrase “just wait on God”.  To wait on God should be nothing like waiting in a doctor’s office, reading a magazine, or twirling your thumbs and just waiting for your time to come.  Waiting on God is like waiting on him as a waiter/waitress in a 5 star restaurant!  You need to be at God’s EVERY beckon    call. You need to be always asking Him where He wants you next.   How can you best serve Him…and how hot He wants His buffalo wings!!

5. God will give you the desire of your heart. Yes, this is true, but the desire of our hearts should be completely and utterly for God’s Glory to be shown to the world, no matter what that looks like in your life!

6. Stop trying to figure God’s timing and reasoning out!  God will surprise you and dumbfound you with the ways he chooses to bring people in and out of your life. Be sure not to hold onto anyone too tightly, or too far away. Always be sure to look for the ways He is trying to communicate/ and teach you about Himself through every relationship He brings your way.

There is more where that all came from, but I think that’s a good list to chew on for now.

Please View this John Piper YouTube. He always seems to rock my world.   It has been nothing but sheer joy for me to know these truths and to put them into practice…….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwsqF4fzXR4&feature=related

Painting by Daphne Stammer-"Rejoice"

I have named my blog “Rejoice Evermore”, not because I  rejoice all the time, nor  do I look down on those who don’t rejoice  every second of their day either.  I know very well that life is filled with great heartaches, turmoil, and sometimes …down right torture.   I have named my blog  merely  to help me  remember that I so desperately want to  practice the discipline of  rejoicing in God’s ways.  I want to reach the place where I have put my trust so deep in my creator, that  I automatically praise him for whatever comes my way. I know that this “rejoicing evermore” can be achieved as I mature in my faith.   I  know that I have been made to bring glory to my creator, and the number one way that He is glorified… is when I rejoice in Him.

I have found an excellent excerpt from a  sermon that Johnathan Edwards preached when he was still in his early twenties with this main point: “The godly are designed for unknown and inconceivable happiness.” His text was 1 John 3:2, “And it doth not yet appear what we shall be” (KJV).

Please enjoy…

” The  glory  of God does not consist merely in the creature’s  perceiving his perfections: for the creature may perceive the power and wisdom of God, and yet take no delight in it, but abhor it. Those creatures that so do, don’t glorify God. Nor doth the glory of God consist especially in speaking of his perfections: for words avail not any otherwise than as they express the sentiment of the mind. This glory of God, therefore, consists in the creature’s admiring and rejoicing and exulting  in the manifestation of his beauty and excellency….The essence of glorifying…God consists, therefore, in the creature’s rejoicing in God’s manifestations of his beauty,which is the joy and happiness we speak of.  So we see it comes to this at last: that the end of the creation is that God may communicate happiness to the creature; for if God created the world that he may be glorified in the creature, he created it that they might rejoice in his glory: for we have shown that  they are the same”.

-Johnathan Edwards

Students going to and fro to class will  see us playing in the quad  and jump into the game.  This is a fantastic time to meet students we would not normally meet at our fellowship time on Monday afternoons. These pick-up sports give us a chance to meet new students, hear what’s going on in their lives, and show them the love of Christ.

Last weeks rousing game of football. We had about 20 people come out!

Some of the brave women who battled through the game… and made it home alive that day.

A couple years ago I was a Young Life Leader (http://www.younglife.org/) at Abington High School. Turns out that one of my girls that I mentored way back when she went to Abington,  is now starting her first semester at Montgomery County Community College! We reconnected at the club fair on campus two weeks ago.  She  is now getting involved with THRIVE -Montco’s Christian club that I help run. We have just begun talking about meeting up a couple times a week … picking up from where we left off.

A couple years ago  at Young Life camp…

Then

Last week in the library at Montco!

Now