Investment Pays Huge Dividend – A Changed Life!

Months ago I did a blog about freedom from issues such as eating disorders, sexual abuse, cutting, and addictions. At that time, I offered to send free of charge the books we have written about these issues which contain principles of freedom. I offered to send any one or more of these books to anyone who might be struggling with one or more of these issues. It was at that time that a young lady named Liz requested the book “Violated” to help her overcome issues related to past sexual abuse. Last night, I received this amazing email from this young woman about the freedom she is now walking in, and I share the following with her permission. She even sent me a picture so that you could put a face with the name.

Dear Nancy,

I write this letter with joy. I wanted to thank you for your willingness to help usher freedom in my life. Late last year, you sent me Violated free of charge. I also started the Mercy application process. However, in the last 6 months, God has miraculously set me free of bondages I have struggled with my entire life. I lived under a tyrant's rule. I kept my shackles close because it was all I knew. I was comfortable being numb, broken, and bruised.

But, God clearly spoke to me and said, "The time for bruises has ended" and "What are your chains BUT metal?" As I sought the Lord and spent more time with Him, my urges for self harm or purging or seeing myself as worthless lessened. His grace overwhelmed my past. I had no idea His comfort and peace were SO real and transforming. Everyday, I walk further in freedom. REAL freedom. I'm currently spending the summer with at-risk youth living in a shelter and telling them each day that God truly can transform the garbage of the world (and those of us who feel like we are just that)! The first time I shared my testimony, 23 youth admitted that they too had been raped and never told anyone. God truly took those tears and turned them into jewels. Thank you for your willingness and obedience to God's vision and voice.

I am FREE...and that is more than I ever hoped or imagined for my life. My worth comes from On High. I look at my scars now as completely redeemed and hidden in Christ. My past is on the Cross and I've emerged from the grave. Now, I am excited to share the vision of Mercy to the hurting girls I meet...knowing freedom is real, possible, and ever available.

I love you,

Liz

What a beautiful girl, what a beautiful story, what a beautiful God! I can’t help, but think that there may be people out there reading this that may be struggling with one or more of the issues I named. If that is you, hearing from Liz made me realize that I need to offer these books free of charge once again for anyone who contacts me via email at nancy.alcorn@mercyministries.com. Let me know if you need help with one of these issues, and I will be glad to send you whatever book relates to whatever issue or issues you may be facing. There is freedom and it can be yours! I hope you will contact me if you have a need.

Have a great weekend!

Love to all,
Nancy

Life in the Fast Lane

This last week has been really busy!! I just got back from attending the Hillsong Conference in Australia where I got a chance to catch up with our new Mercy family and have dinner in their home. Below is a picture of me with them. I also took a little bit of Nashville with me and gave the boys a Tennessee Titans football jersey!

Me pictured with the Feben boys in their Tennessee Titans jerseys

Picture of me with the Stunt and Feben family

I got off the plane from Australia Saturday night and spoke at a conference in Nashville on Sunday morning.

Picture of me speaking at the LTD conference in Nashville.

Pictured signing my book "Echoes of Mercy" at the LTD conference

Then, I had an opportunity to do TV taping for TBN last night with Matt and Laurie Crouch. Check out some of the pictures below!

Pictured with Matt and Laurie Crouch

I hope you are having a great week!!

Dollar Dance for Mercy Ministries!

I just recently received a letter and a check from one of our Mercy graduates for a very interesting reason. She felt such gratitude for the life change she experienced at Mercy, and for the wonderful young man God brought into her life, that she chose to use her wedding reception as an opportunity to raise money for Mercy. As an expression of her heartfelt thanks, she chose to do a 'dollar dance' and sent the proceeds into Mercy with wedding pictures so that we could share in the joy! Today they are celebrating one month of marriage. Check out her awesome letter and wedding pics.

Dear Mercy Ministries,

Thank you for changing my life. Because of going to Mercy, I have found a wonderful man who respects me and loves me with a Godly kind of love. We recently just got married on June 13th, 2009, and at our reception, we felt we should do the 'dollar dance' to raise money for Mercy. I, and my husband, are more than grateful than ever for what Mercy has done for girls. I love telling people about Mercy! I graduated from the St. Louis home on March 27th, 2007 and met my husband 10 days later. ☺

Sincerely,
Michelle

Hope this blesses you as much as it blessed me! Have a great day!

Mercy Ministries Graduates Serve Christ by Serving Others

This week at Hillsong has been such a great week, not only the ministry part, but also connecting with so many people and catching up with old friends. Joel Osteen and the Lakewood team hit it out of the park last night! Cindy Cruse Ratcliff and Israel Houghton, and the brother and sister team of Anointed joined together with the Lakewood team for an amazing time of worship before Joel spoke. Tonight we get Louie Giglio and he is one of my all time favorites!!! I cannot wait! It will be bitter sweet because it is the closing night, but I know it will be awesome!!! I have also run into a lot of Mercy graduates from Australia here, which is always so encouraging to me to see the girls living life to the fullest and excited about their future.

Speaking of graduates, I just got an email from a graduate back in America telling me that three Mercy graduates are going on a mission’s trip. Let me share her own words with you.

Hey Nancy,

I just wanted to tell you something awesome! Three St. Louis Mercy Graduates - Lauren, Kim, and I are all going to Guatemala to minister together in a little less than a week. It is awesome to be able to take the freedom that we learned and, as a team, minister that same hope and freedom to the nations! We will send you some pictures and an update when we get back at the very end of July.

Love you. God bless.
Britney

Lauren (pictured left) and Britney (pictured right)

Kim

Pray for these girls as they go to Guatemala to serve the people there. So cool to see these girls serving Christ by serving others – that’s what it’s all about! Make sure you reach out to someone today in your world.

Love to all,
Nancy

Hello from Hillsong Conference!

I just wanted to say hello to everyone from Sydney, Australia. I’m having a great time here at the Hillsong Conference! Yesterday we had a lot of fun catching up with old friends and just catching up with one another – it was so cool! If you’re interested in knowing more about the conference and see who all is speaking, you can check it out online at www.hillsongconference.com. I have even been able to see some of my American friends since I’ve been here! I spent some quality time with Joel and Victoria Osteen yesterday and it was so neat to see them.

Me pictured with Pastors Joel and Victoria Osteen at our
International Headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee

This is their first time to Australia, and they, along with the whole Lakewood team including Cindy Ratcliff and Israel Houghton, will be doing the whole service on Thursday night. There’s a real sense of excitement! The Superdome is packed out and it’s really awesome to see so many people from so many different nations of the world come together just to worship God! NO AGENDAS, JUST PURE WORSHIP!! I am so thankful for all of the people that I get to do life with.

On Monday, I was also able to go by the Mercy house and see all of the renovations in process. It’s really starting to come together and it’s very exciting! I also got to have dinner last night after the Hillsong meeting with Philip and Holly Wagner from Oasis in Hollywood, California.

Me pictured with Holly Wagner of Oasis in Hollywood, California

They are such dear and precious friends. It was so fun to catch up! Hope all is well on your end of the world, wherever you may be at the time that you are reading this and I will chat with you again soon.

Love to all,
Nancy

Happy 4th of July!!

Hey Everyone,

I’m actually on my way out of town to catch a flight to Australia, so I will be spending my July 4th on a flight. I guess I just can’t help but think about how thankful I am for all of the men and women in our Armed Services that we celebrate and thank God for on this celebration day of our freedom and independence. Not to sound too serious, but really think about the fact that we live in America and I can actually get on a flight and fly all the way to Australia and not have to think about my safety because of all the people that have served to protect our God-given freedom.

I hope that wherever you are today, you will take the time to say a prayer of thanks to God for all those who have laid their lives down for us and the families that are really missing them. In addition, I hope you will also take time to thank God that He gave His only son so that we could have eternal freedom.

Love to all,
Nancy

The Power of Team – the Power of Unity!

I continue to be so amazed and so thankful that God has allowed me to be the Founder and the leader of Mercy Ministries. I will never forget when He first put the vision in my heart years ago. What a privilege and what an honor! HOWEVER, that is not the thing that is the most amazing to me at this point in the journey, some 26 years later. The thing that I am the most in awe of at this point is the quality of people on the Mercy team that God has given to carry out the work and mission of the ministry.

For anyone who knows me very well, I am an avid lover of sports. In fact, when I first decided to go on to get my college degree, I fully intended to end up being a basketball coach – either on the high school or college level. But God had a completely different plan in mind for me. You might say that I am now the Head Coach at Mercy Ministries, and the staff the serve alongside me is the dream team! No joke, they are truly the DREAM TEAM! I wish there was some way that I could have each and every one of you who are reading this blog entry actually meet the awesome women (and yes we do have a few men here as well – LOL!) that serve every day so that the lives of young women can be healed and transformed.

This week is a perfect example of what I am talking about. I cannot even begin to tell you all the things that have been going on this week– there has been so much happening, so many activities and so much as far as the needs of the girls –multiple things going on this week that have required massive amounts of time and attention. Everyone has pitched in and gone above and beyond without murmuring or complaining. In fact, they were eager to do so with a great anticipation and excitement of seeing what was in front of us taken care of so that all things could be fulfilled.

It reminds me so much of the scripture in Psalm 133 that says, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” We have seen the power of unity this week in amazing ways!!! In fact, the last verse of Psalm 133 says that it is in the power of unity that God commands the blessing! I can tell you for a fact that we have seen the fulfillment of this verse this week because we were facing very very urgent needs, and unexpected financial blessings started coming in as soon as we opened our doors on Monday.

I do not believe blessing comes where there is division or strife. I am so thankful for people who have clean hands and a pure heart. This team, OUR DREAM TEAM, amazes me every day. Please know that I am not just talking about the people at our headquarters in Nashville, but I am talking about our entire staff in America. At this stage, we have a total of 93 full-time staff in the U.S. Not only do these amazing women and men of God serve every single day so faithfully and give so much of their hearts, but 85% of our U.S. staff are also monthly financial partners with Mercy. This means that even though they are on staff and receive a salary, they also made the decision to be a monthly partner and invest in the work that they are so committed to every day.

After witnessing the “I will do whatever it takes to make this happen” attitude this week, I just had to use my blog time to give this great group of people a BIG SHOUT OUT!!!!!

Part of our "Mercy Dream Team"