CHAMPIONS FOR LIFE - 2015

JULY
Two weeks of camp touched 120 little lives of the children that deserve it most.  So many wonderful volunteers made this incredible camp happen.  But all the glory and honor goes to our Lord Jesus Christ for the heart transformations.  Here is a video of those incredible 2 weeks.

HAITI 2015

June

The June mission trip to Haiti this year was incredible. We are so proud of the sacrifice and commitment this team of youth showed to the impoverished country of Haiti.  We ministered in 6 churches to the children through the vacation bible school.  We also ministered at a church wide convention. But all the glory and honor for the heart commitments and changed lives goes to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Here is a video of some of the things we did there.

2015 CATCH UP

I was asked to update my blog by relatives, friends and people that like to keep up with where in the world we are and what we are doing.   So here is my attempt to catch up this year.  I will try and stay more current in the future.

COLOMBIA
January
In Colombia we ministered at a camp retreat for youth with Open Arms Church.  They are committed to feeding, clothing, sheltering and restoring the street children.  We took these youth to camp and saw the transforming power of Jesus Christ at work up in the mountains.  We specifically saw God minister deep emotional healing during this time.   This was precious as most of the youth attending the retreat came from a history of all kinds of abuse.  We also had the privilege of visiting the poor children's homes to minister to them and their families.

PERU
January
In Peru we hooked up with Remy's childhood teacher who was now a pastor in a great church in Lima.  We partnered with their church and ministered at several hospitals.  The time spent in the hospitals was powerful and many people received Jesus Christ at their Lord and Savior in their hospital beds.  We also ministered at a child's church service in an extremely poor area, where kids walked from all over to enjoy the service and the meal that the church provides for them weekly.  another special time of ministry fro us was at the woman's prison in Lima.  The women were hungry for God and received the word and ministry.  They were inspired through the message and touched by the time of prayer afterwards.

IRELAND
February
Once again we ministered a family church camp this year.  Terry to the adults and Pat to the children.  As we compared notes, we discovered that we were both teaching on the baptism of the Holy Spirit at exactly the same time.  Many families were bless by this .  One lady said that her husband, mother and children all received the baptism of the Holy Spirit that weekend.  She had prayed for a long time for this to happen.  After camp we were invited to minister to the leadership and families of this church. We are so proud of Pastor James and Rachel and all they have accomplished in 13 short years.  They have done a great job of raising and disciplining leaders in their church.   It is always a pleasure to work alongside these wonderful friends.

INDIA
March
Despite bathing in a bucket, sleeping in difficult situations and eating food foreign to our American systems, the Christians in India make our ministry there one of our favorites. Terry was asked to minister to hundreds of leaders and pastors this year and I had the awesome opportunity to minister to the children, a desire of mine for a long time.  I also was invited to minister at a camp for 300 Hindu children where each child was fed a nourishing meal.  Unique to this trip was traveling up to Punjab, on the border of Pakistan to minister at their first Pastor and Leaders Conference. The extra special blessing was to spend time with Pastor and Grace Mathews, spiritual leaders and founders of Alpha Ministries.  I always come home with great encouragement and truths after spending time with my spiritual adopted parents.

2014 Catch up

2104 was a busy year and I would like to update you on all that Mantle Ministries was involved in last year.


IRELAND - March
Returning to Ireland is always a treat.  After 11 years, we have made many friends,  On this trip we were scheduled to minister a church family camp.  Terry ministered to the adults while I in my costumes and puppets ministered to the children. The children loved performing their new songs for their parents. Besides the week end for the church, we were able to spend extra time encouraging and loving on the leaders of this ministry.

POLAND- March
Our trip to Poland started with ministry to the homeless. We received an email from the lady that heads up the homeless ministry
"Hello:-) I hear that you had a good time in Szczecin, and people were very encouraged by all that you shared. The man you prayed with at the coffee house, said he hadn't been drinking in a week and he is reading his bible all the time.  God bless you."
Later in the week we ministered to the church, families and children's workers.
Upon returning home we received an email from the pastor of the church.
"We feel your visit with us was incredibly significant in the life of our church.  We are indebted to you and so appreciated you both coming and giving so much of yourselves for us. "

ROMANIA- April
In April we took a trip to Romania.  Besides spending time at a wedding of a dear friend there we had  plenty of fellowship and encouragement.  It is always a pleasure to return to Romania.

HAITI- June
With a small team of three of us, we returned to 5 churches and 6 vacation bible services.  The children were so excited for our return.  The pastor told us that many ministries come to Haiti but he doesn't know of any that come just for the children.  The children come running when we arrive and it is humbling to see the children get so excited over the small things we give them.  They love the ministry and the altar calls are the highlight.  Haiti has a special place in my heart.  These fellow believers have so little, yet the joy of the Lord radiates through so many of them.  The little children are precious and not soon forgotten.  We also minister on Sunday services one of which was a church conference of 5 or more churches which included feeding all of them.  The people look forward to the conference each year.  We love feeding them and it is always a humbling experience to watch the women prepare the food. This has once again become a yearly trip.

CHAMPIONS FOR LIFE KIDS CAMP- July
This was our 12th year of camp for foster children and at risk children, and we were not disappointed.  It was exceptionally special as it appeared that over 100 children allowed God to go into the depths of their hearts. Some comments were : "Thank you for teaching me that God can take my pain and let me forgive" "I never felt this safe anywhere else in the whole world" and "I want to learn more about God and teach others about him."

  




TANZANIA AND KENYA- July
While I was ministering two weeks at CFL kids camp, Terry flew over to Tanzania and then on to Kenya with his dear friend Benny.  They were invited to preach in a variety of situations and people groups. They started with a 3 day National Baptist convention, then Sunday service at a church, and a conference for the African Tribal Masai Pastors.   We also had a service in a house church with some Christians from India.  There were many tribal wars in Kenya which brought some concern of getting into the country.  In Kenya they ministered a Conference, Sunday service, a house meeting and precious times with personal meetings with Pastors discussing and answering questions about life and ministry.  

ROMANIA- August
This trip to Romania was a youth mission trip.  We were so blessed that God gave our oldest daughter Pastor Lori the ability to join us this year.  There were 8 of us.  The first part of the trip we reached out to the community with the Speranta Vietii, a wonderful church in Targoviste.  This church has such a heart for their city and it was so inspiring to work along side them.  We were also a part of a camp they hosted for teens and young adults. There were numerous opportunities to share our stories , our lives and our heart with these people both one on one and special services.   The second part of the trip was spent in the heart of Bucharest.  We brought food and fun to the gypsy villages and impoverished parts of the city. God used this trip to show himself faithful once again.

SOUTH AFRICA- October
This was our 3rd year providing a spring camp for the Key of Hope children Every year gets more exciting. Here is what Dan Smithers, the founder of Key of Hope had to say about camp this year:
"Last month we were able to take over 70 children away for a week to our third Spring Camp in the beautiful Drakensberg Mountains.  Each year it is amazing to see such deep healing and radical transformation happen in such a short time."  One 12 year old girl was one of our campers this year.  She was added to the list at the last minute when it was discovered she had some horrific things happen to her. She along with the other children had a wonderful experience and times of deep healing and the love of God.   I am sure the 20 members of this team will agree that this mission trip will not be soon forgotten. We will continue to pray for these beautiful children until we return next fall.

THAILAND- October
We headed straight to Thailand upon completing our ministry in South Africa. Thailand is a source, transit and destination country for the worst of human trafficking that we have ever seen.  We went to visit Home of Blessing in Chiang Mai.  Over 100 girls are housed and discipled in this ministry.  All of these girls are at risk and Home of blessing has been working for 30 years, discipling over 800 girls.  They do an incredible job with these girls.  The pastor's wife asked me about our camp program.  As I explained what we do, she asked me to pray about coming back and develop the camp at Home of blessing. 

PRISON MINISTRY- Monthly
One of our home missions ministry is ministering at the State Prison here in Michigan.  Ministering once a month has allowed Terry to develop relationships with some of the inmates which allows more impact in their lives.  It is a pleasure to minister and encourage these Christians.

2013 CATCH UP

Realizing it's been 2 years since I've blogged, I decided to do a catch-up blog starting with July 2013.

JULY
CFL Kids Camp
Our 11th year of our CFL camp brought peaceful weeks with a deep work in the hearts of these children. As one camper said "Thank you God for giving me strength so I can give you my heart to take all the horrible things away and giving me bravery for my life. And for the things I have never done before. Thank you very much God."


AUGUST
Romania
This year we helped them establish a youth camp for their teenagers. There was one girl that loved the food because she only eats bread at home. Another girl got to sleep in her own bed by herself for the first time in her life. Many of them through tears dedicated their lives to the Lord. We had meetings with leaders, families, and pastors with questions regarding every day life and needing biblical answers. We are returning next year with a youth group to help with their second youth camp.

OCTOBER
South Africa
This was our second year to take 66 kids, 5 staff, and 20 team members to camp. We discipled these children to realize they are special, created by God with purpose, and that God is guiding their lives daily. Dan said again that this camp fast forwards their discipleship at a much faster rate than his small staff can individually manage. We will return in October 2014.

NOVEMBER
INDIA
Terry ministered in Northern India from Nov. 2-13 at a conference to the persecuted church and with our friends of many years.  Increased persecution has strengthened the church and they ask for prayer to remain faithful through the persecution. There was a medical team and a preaching team to hundreds of faithful leaders and pastors.  There was a well dug for this community. It was a trip not soon forgotten.

DECEMBER
Key Of Hope Kids Choir
Many of the children we took to camp were in the choir that came to sing at various churches Michigan in November and December. It was incredible to reconnect with them while they were given this opportunity. We will be seeing them again in South Africa this year.