Nashville Residents Attend A Night of Hope With Pastors Joel and Victoria Osteen!!!

This past Friday, our Nashville residents were invited by Pastors Joel and Victoria Osteen (pictured right) to be their special guests at “A Night of Hope” in Nashville. Our girls were so encouraged by Pastor Joel’s message of believing that 2011 can be a year of new beginnings, staying focused on your relationship with God, and not being distracted by what others may do or say. It was such an awesome evening, as several people from the Lakewood team shared their testimonies of God’s faithfulness.

One of the most powerful moments for me was when Cindy Ratcliff, Lakewood Church’s Director of Music and Worship, shared her personal story of adopting twins from Mercy’s licensed adoption agency in 2008. The twins were born to a young woman who came to Mercy Ministries for help and made the courageous decision to place her babies for adoption. Cindy and her husband, Marcus, had a son, but were not able to have any more children. After Cindy shared her story of adopting twins from Mercy’s licensed adoption agency, she sang “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” as a video of their family played in the background. It was such an amazing picture of God’s goodness!

Cindy and Marcus with the birthmother and the kids!

The entire night was filled with encouragement, testimonies, and great teaching! I thought I would share with you what some of our residents had to say about the event…

“Pastor Joel was speaking to my heart! The Lord showed me so many things through his teaching. It was awesome!” – Ashley

“Every single word that was spoken was so relevant, I felt like God was speaking directly to me. The Biblical examples and analogies about persevering were incredible. I definitely left feeling so encouraged.” - Amanda

Special thanks to Pastors Joel and Victoria, and the entire Lakewood team for “A Night of Hope!” Pastors Joel and Victoria have been long time supporters of Mercy and I would encourage you to check out Lakewood Church if you are ever in the Houston area. For more information on Joel Osteen Ministries and Lakewood Church go to www.joelosteen.com or www.lakewood.cc.