Never Once!!!

We are on a journey, but this time, it's not out on the road. The story begins when we came home from Canada the first week of June. We began moving back into our house and tearing out a 30 foot deck outside our dining room, because we had decided to add on a room to our existing living space to accomodate our growing children and 18 team members when they are over. A work crew of 7 guys from People's Church in Canada were coming to use their time (they would be here for 5 days), talents (they are all in the construction industry), and treasures (they had all taken a week off work), to come frame out our room. We determined that we would build as we had the funds and we had the funds now to frame it in. We figured we'd drywall and finish the inside later. We are teaching our children about not going into debt, so we were committed to move forward only as God provided. Sunday, June 26th, we were eagerly anticipating the arrival of the work crew. The trailer was in the driveway, refrigerator and cupboards were stocked, and the beds ready. We received a phone call from Walt, the gentleman who put the trip together, and he regretted to inform us that they were TURNED AWAY AT THE BORDER!! They had been detained for 3 hours, and the border patrol would not let them into the States saying, "You'll be taking American jobs from people who need them." Ryan had even sent a letter stating that they would not be compensated, but that this was a missions trip for them to help missionaries in America. We were dumbfounded!! Not allowed into the country? You're not serious!! But it was true. So we are sitting with lumber in our driveway, and a hole in the sideyard, and we're trying to find someone who can do the work for us. Ryan is currently working with a man (Eric) who believes he can get the framing done this weekend, and we're praying his price will be what we can afford to pay!! Praise the Lord!! We do know this for sure. NEVER ONCE... has God ever not been faithful!! NEVER ONCE... has God ever not provided for our needs. NEVER ONCE... has the Lord not made a way!! NEVER ONCE... has he failed us!! SO... we rest in Him. And we're taking it one day at a time.

Please pray for (1) That God would be glorified in our attitudes and actions (2) Good weather / (3) Financial provisions / (4) Enough manpower to get the job done expediently.

Lessons from a Teenager in Apex, NC

Friends,

Take the time to read this testimony from a teenager that met with the Lord in our 4-day THIRST conference. We would all do well to follow her example.

"I am a senior this year, but when I was a freshman, my mom left my father and our family. It was during really hard financial times. I didn't talk to her for almost 6 months. We lost our house. My sister went to college. My father and brother lived in a storage unit. I lives with my best friend for the 1st 6 months of my sophmore year until my dad found a house. The summer before my junior year, my parents officially divorced. I was very angry and hurt by my mother. She abandoned us. Then when my mother was given custody of me, I still held it against her. This week as I've attended the THIRST conference, God showed me that I need to forgive her. She loves me. And God wants me to forgive her. It might take awhile, but Jesus died to forgive me of my sins, why can't I feel a little uncomfortable forgiving my own mom? God is good all the time!!!"
Emily Freeman

Thank you Emily, for your example of surrender!! As followers of Christ, we should all desire to walk as He walked.

Chattanooga, TN

I have no doubt in my spirit that you all were sent by God, because this revival has changed my life forever. Me and my wife were talking about and in the process of divorcing after outside counseling and church counseling, but all that changed during the revival. We are now showing love for one another and praying together and coming to church more. We are both saved and have been together for 25 years. Our lives have been changed forever and we are so grateful to God. Thanks to your ministry!!
Perry and Cindy Bates

It is hard to find the words to begin praising God for all He has done in my life this week!! I was the skeptic before your team arrived. I was thinking, "I don't need this type of meeting in my life!" Wow - was I so wrong, but God in His awesome grace continued to "prod" me along in His patient way. Monday evening, I was confronted with my sin of running to food as my comfort instead of to my Jesus. I relinquished this over to Him. Tuesday at the luncheon, I was confronted with my lack of respect for my husband. I continually kept him under a "carpet of criticism." This had been a habitual problem for most of our 24 years of marriage. My eyes were opened to this sin and I couldn't stand to look at myself as I knew God saw me. I confessed areas of disrespect to my husband and asked his forgiveness as well as the forgiveness of my children for bringing this sin into our home. Gaod has freed me of this!! Praise God I immediately felt the freedom that comes with the release of control and pride to God. Thank you so much for allowing God to use you in this incredible way and in touching others lives in such deep, thought provoking truths.
Lynn Smith

After our session Thursday night about having a clear conscience, my wife and I came home and I proceeded to confess sin from 17 years before in our marriage. God's grace was upon that moment and the healing will take time. Five hours later, at 3 AM Good Friday, I woke to an inch of water covering our downstairs living space. The washing machine hose for the cold water split open and was filling the rooms. After I turned it off, I realized we might get electrocuted because of the extension cords we were using that were in the water. Again, God's grace had protected us. I thought of your teaching and put on some praise music and began to praise God and pray for Janey as this followed our time of confession and repentance five hours before. God used this as a team-building, mate-building excercise. It was also much easier to let go of whatever may have been damaged with a focus on the eternal and not the temporal. Thank you. Words cannot express the impact you have made in our lives in Christ!!
Bruce



Thank you for giving of your hearts, time and talents to bring the life and truth of God's Word to Oakwood. Through this week, God has been cleansing me of things hindering me from a more intimate relationship with Him. I have forgiven those who hurt me, and have asked for forgiveness for those I've hurt and for holding onto bitterness and ill feelings towards some. God has also been testing my faith with respect to my obedience, asking me, "Will you obey me? Will you give me control of everything?" See, He hasn't been first in my life. He's been second to other things and I have not given him the time or dedication that I should. He has broken down my pride and built me back up as a more Christ-like individual. He has renewed my spirit. I praise Him for molding me into His likeness.
Emily Smith



God convicted me of a lack of personal time with Him; and not being the example for my children and my wife. This means prayer and Bible study. Not just alone, but visible to my children. I have not been the spiritual leader of my home.

Extraordinary movements in Lexington, SC

Just outside the capital of South Carolina sits a beautiful community called Lexington. We have spent the last 4 days seeking the Lord with the people of First Baptist Church, and God met with us yesterday in an extraordinary way!!

In our morning team meeting, the Lord began to soften the hearts of our team members, and Tyler, Sasha, and Sarah came to genuine, sincere surrender to Christ!! And in the evening service, Ryan had the privilege of baptizing all three of them.

Following their baptism, our service continued on for three hours with people coming to the front and publicly sharing all that the Lord accomplished in these 4 days. It was nothing short of a divine work of the Holy Spirit.

Adultery was confessed.

Forgiveness was sought.

Bitterness was released.

Chains of anger were broken.

Salvation came.

Obedience was modeled.

Rest was found.

Joy was evident.

A teenager left the youth building, came into the sanctuary and stood before the congregation to share that he had just asked Jesus to be Lord of his life. His father put his arm around him and together, they headed up to the baptistry and the father had the privilege right then to baptize his son!!

Six individuals came to the altar to be baptized, stating that they wanted to be baptized on this side of salvation!!

We ended the evening with corporate "popcorn praise" for the Lord and who He is. What a night of rejoicing!!

Thank you, Lord!!!

Spring schedule

March 19 - Mal speaks at Pure in Heart conference in Lake Charles, LA

March 20-27 - Troy, TN

March 31-April 3 - Ryan speaks at Life Action's Vision Gathering in Asheville, NC

April 4-7 - Heartcry for Revival Conference in Asheville, NC

April 10-13 - Lexington, SC

April 17-24 - Chattanooga, TN

May 1-4 - Apex, NC

May 22-29 - Sarnia, Ontario, Canada

May 29-June 1 - Wyoming, Ontario, Canada

Visit with Margo

A daughter is a dream come true

Pink lace, ribbons, fluff and froufrou

Giggles, kisses, bubbles, and bows,

She's such a sweet dear from her head

to her toes!!

What a joy to spend this week with our sweet Margo!!

New Life Church - Conover, NC

These are tesimonies of God's amazing work that He has done in Conover!! We thank Him with grateful hearts as we move on to Rocky Mount, NC for our next THIRST conference. The family and team are weary, but are doing well, and we appreciate your prayers as you lift us up to the Lord. Please be praying for us this next week, as we are in a large church of 2,000 people. Base Camp (2nd - 6th graders) is expected to have 200 children, and Happy Heart City, (4 yr. old - 1st graders) 100 children. So our team needs to be rested and ready to serve!! Austin and Holly, and the Slenk's son, Christian, will be assisting in clubs each night. Thank you for visiting our blog. We pray you are blessed and encouraged as you read about our great and awesome God!! Enjoy His presence in your life today!

"God found me dry and distant from Him. Doubts of His provision, His will for my life, and even His existence at times. He found me busy, disobedient, and distracted. As a mother of four, I have not been consistent in leading my children in teaching or by example. I have relied on my husband and the Christian school to "train up my children." Through these days, I have felt God's touch and I have a new refreshed heart. I've learned practical ways to work with our kids before time slips away. I plan to reprioritize my time."

"The Lord has convicted me that I should have made sure my children had learned godly lessons. They are now 31 and 26. My husband and I were so busy being busy in the ministry (a preacher and preacher's wife) that we neglected their daily walk with Christ. I've apologized to both (our son won't come to church and our daughter is presently teaching her 2 children). May God bless and heal the hurts."

"God has reminded me of my responsibility to teach His Word to my children. My children and I talked last night. My 12 year old son printed out a 3 year plan for reading through the Bible. We will start next week!! Our 14 year old daughter is excited also!! My children and I have not been so quick to turn on the TV. We have sat in quietness and talked about what we have learned - what God is teaching us. The Lord has also affirmed and encouraged me in reference to decisions He has led me to make which honor Him and are opposite of worldly views. It's sweet for the Lord to remind me that my sufferings have not been in vain. I am thankful for His provisions, the lessons He has taught me, and the closer walk and reliance we have in Him as a family."

"I have been distant from my wife and boys, even as much as having an adulterous relationship with my eyes and words with a woman in my neighborhood. After Thursday's clear conscience message, I lost it. I confessed to my wife all that I had been hiding - lies, fears, my past sins against God and her. The remainder of the services changed my life without question. The family revivalist and his wife took time to counsel my wife and I praise God for this Life Action summit. I give the Lord all the credit that through your team, He is changing my life, saving my marriage, and giving me joy that I had lost long ago. Thank you so much!!"

"Depression and bitterness filled my life as Life Action came to our church. After twenty-five years of pastoring, I was done, finished. But I knew I couldn't quit the call. I was in the depth of brokenness with no way out, trapped. But God met me where I was. He told me I was responsible for how I was responding to my circumstances. He said with the power of His Spirit in me, I could choose joy over depression. It was up to me. The next to last night, I chose joy. Today, my life is so different."

THE GREAT MOUSE CAPER!!

Ever since Christmas break when our trailer was parked at the Life Action Retreat and Conference Center (LARCC) for three weeks, we have had a mouse in the house!! We're not sure if it's Mickey or Minnie, but if it's Minnie, she has quite a large brood to feed!!

Our first clue that there was a rodent in the house was the fact that Manly's dog food was found in different places throughout the trailer other than in his food bowl. We found dog food packed in a neat little pile in a corner of the girls room. So we set out a glue trap in the middle of the pile, and the next morning, the dog food was gone, and the glue trap was moved about 6 inches,

but NO MOUSE!!

Crista found dog food in her shirt drawer. Shawna found dog food in her shirt drawer. Austin found dog food in his drawer under his bed. We set the glue trap out again with cheese in the middle of it, and the only one that got into it was Manly!! He had glue on his muzzle, in his beard and on his feet!! What a mess!! So we've yet to find our culprit!!

I (Mal) am bound and determined to free us of this menace and the sooner the better!!

We've just spent a week in Okeechobee, Florida doing a 4-day THIRST conference wih our team, then spent a few days with family in Sarasota before heading to Pensacola today to take Margo back to school. We'll drop her off tomorrow (Friday), then head to Dalton, Georgia, to connect back with our team and conduct our next conference.
The day after we left Okeechobee, the church staff called our headquarters, and has scheduled a longer summit for November, so we'll be coming back!! We never complain about being sent to Florida!!
We stand in awe of our God and give Him all the glory for what He alone has done. He has blessed us with a great team, and He is working in His people. In those who desire to live authentically in our culture!! Praise His name!!

Heading to Georgia

I (Mal) was sharing with a friend about how different our lives are. I said to her, "You're an empty-nester, and I have five children still at home. You're in one city all the time and I move every week. You have a new husband (2nd marriage) and I'm married 22 years." She looked at me and said, "Mal, your life is different than most people's."
"True."