A Behind the Scenes Look at 2011…

Nancy’s Assistants, Katelyn and Reid, here. We know you hear all the highlights and stories from Nancy, but thought you might like to hear some stories and special moments from behind the scenes. For example, what happens when flights get cancelled? What if you forget to pack something because you’re in a hurry? What is the best part about working for Nancy Alcorn? That’s where we come in…

Katelyn

2011 has by far been the busiest, but greatest year in working for Nancy at Mercy Ministries. With 29 speaking engagements, other ministry trips, and many guest speakers in and out of all of our homes, we have had many highlights this year with a few bumps along the way. :) One such bump was in August when Nancy was traveling to share about Mercy to a group of influential business leaders in Charlotte, NC. Nancy was traveling in casual clothes (who doesn’t like to be comfortable when they travel?!) and had plenty of time to change at the hotel in Charlotte before the event. However, when Nancy went to open her suitcase, the suit she had packed was not in the suitcase! You see, I (Katelyn) had been helping Nancy throw everything in the suitcase before making our mad dash to the airport and forgot to put her suit in the suitcase – TOTALLY my fault! Nancy didn’t have enough time to go buy a new outfit, so what does any confident leader do? …wear her comfortable traveling clothes to the business meeting and be okay with it. The best part is that a woman came up to Nancy after the meeting and said, “Don’t worry about not wearing a suit…you’re dressed how the rest of us wish we were dressed!”

With as much travel that has been booked this year, there have also been several flight cancellations, which mean more last minute car rentals and coordination on our end. It also means Nancy has taken the more scenic route on a few occasions including driving through the Tahoe National Forest to be on time for a meeting in California. We’ve spent countless hours in airports and on the phone with airline agents, yet have seen more heart and life transformations this year than ever before! No matter what situations have come up this year, we’ve all learned the importance of being flexible and keeping our focus on the Kingdom.

Reid

I (Reid) have only been working in the Executive Office for about three months and the highlight of this year for me was being able to attend the Designed for Life Women’s Conference in Springfield, MO hosted by Debbie Lindell and James River Assembly. Not only was this my first time to hear Nancy speak live, but it was also my first women’s conference. James River Assembly had also sponsored our St. Louis Mercy residents to attend, and about 100 graduates came to the conference from all over the US. It was really impacting to see all the love being poured out on our Mercy family by others and I loved seeing all the hard work that goes into planning a conference like this pay off – it was AMAZING! It was also so powerful to hear Nancy speak and see so many lives changed through her message of freedom. I am so thankful to work for a visionary leader with so much passion to see others set free!

As we go into 2012, we look forward to seeing the vision of Mercy spread to even more men and women across the world. That means there will be more flights and hotels to book, more time to spend in airports, more airline agents to talk to, and of course, a few more bumps along the way. However, we wouldn’t change any of the planning and hard work that goes in to making it possible for the message of freedom to be shared with others!