Wednesday, July 1, 2009

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"

8 comments:

Gerry said...

What a great looking team.

Kristin Stegent said...

Ha! Love this pic! :)

cissy said...

Thanks Nancy for the shout out and the encouragement! Love the Mercy team we have and very proud to work here serving these courageous young women who come into our program and supporting all of the staff. Unity and alignment precedes the wind and fire of God. I will continue to support the vision God gave you and to cultivate an atmosphere of unity! I feel a breeze blowing even now! Thank you Jesus!

Brandon and Whitney Nall said...

What a blessing it is to be a part of this great TEAM! To God be ALL the glory!

Ali Davis said...

as a mercy graduate, i am thankful that you followed the vision God gave you so many years ago! i don't know where i'd be without Mercy Ministries. i've had the privilege of meeting quite of few of the nashville end of the Mercy Dream Team, and these women ARE amazing!! they have ALL touched my life!

great picture, by the way!

LOVE YOU, NANCY!

Krista said...

I just want to thank the Mercy Team!! As a graduate I can honestly say that they are an amazing team!!

Tricia Oler said...

It is my privilege to work with our staff, as well!! I am so very thankful for the opportunity to invest my life such a holistic vision of redemption!

Yvonne Green said...

aah