Friday, October 26, 2012

Special Guests in Nashville!

On Thursday morning the Nashville staff and residents had a very special treat… a visit from our dear friends Steve and Charlotte Gambill! Steve and Charlotte are the pastors of Abundant Life Church in Bradford and were instrumental in bringing Mercy Ministries to the UK. They have been close, personal friends of mine for years, and I love that they always make a point to stop by Mercy when they are in the Nashville area. Steve and Charlotte spent the entire morning teaching in our Nashville home and I heard it was awesome!!! Unfortunately I wasn’t able to be there, as I was actually visiting our Mercy home in Vancouver, Canada, but I received text messages from both Steve and Charlotte, as well as some of our Mercy staff members, letting me know how much fun everyone had and how great the teaching was. Our residents loved it too and got so much out of it!

I thought you might like to hear what some of the residents had to say and see some pictures from their visit:

 “Wow, I learned so much from Charlotte’s message alone. The thing that really caught me is that you are only supposed to change one thing at a time. I feel like as though God is clearly telling me to give up my eating disorder. I keep on telling myself that I will work on it later. But I need to do it now. I know sometimes my counselor or the nutrition manager will want me to do this or that and I ignore it. But I am over with that. I am ready to work on and change this area of my life. I want to work on it even if it is hard and I don’t think it will work. I also got a lot out of Steve’s message. But it was the praise and worship at the end that affected me the most. I just started crying. It was awesome!” – Tiffany, Current Mercy Resident

 “I greatly benefited from what I heard this morning. Having the major components of change laid out in a simplified way will assist me in knowing how to approach God and myself in this process. It came as a relief to me to know I don’t need to change everything all at once. With the concept of one thing at a time in mind, I asked God what He wanted me to focus on right now. He brought up several areas that have been a long-time struggle for me. Fear was a common root in these struggles. I realized this fear was inhibiting me from being able to reach out completely and to utilize the help that is offered to me here at Mercy Ministries. I know that with the life of God in me, I have what I need to overcome this.” – Taylor, Current Mercy Resident

“Well now… where do I even start? This was absolutely amazing! God really blessed me by speaking through Steve and Charlotte. Charlotte’s analogy of changing was absolutely amazing. It made so much sense. They really did a great job and Steve confirmed a lot of things God has been telling me! The idea of grace is something I’ve struggled with and God reminds me of daily. The fact that God’s grace is not only for me, but for every person He has created is just crazy! I am so blessed to have been transformed and am still growing every day. I loved today’s guests so, so, so much!” – Courtney, Current Mercy Residen

Steve Gambill and Jude

Charlotte and Steve Gambill with the Mercy Residents

Charlotte Teaching the Residents

Friday, October 12, 2012

Special Invitation…

Well things around here do not cease to slow down, and the same is true for this weekend. I have a very full day on Sunday speaking and wanted to invite anyone who lives in the Nashville or Memphis area to come out! On Sunday morning, I will be speaking at Christ Church in Nashville during the 8:30 AM and 11:00 AM CST services. I will then be traveling to Memphis to speak at Life Church’s “Chick Nite” that evening at 6:30 PM CST. Although it’s going to be a busy day, I’m very much looking forward to seeing all that God is going to do in the hearts and lives of those in attendance. Would so love to see you there if possible! :)