22 Young Women Graduate Mercy!!!

I am so excited for and so proud of the 22 young women who have graduated from Mercy Ministries in the United States in the last three weeks. Wow!!! Not only does that mean 22 young women are out there living for Christ and telling their stories of overcoming huge life-controlling issues, but it also means that 22 more young women who have been waiting their turn will now walk through our doors. Yes, 22 young women desperate for help and hanging on, literally fighting for their lives are now on their way to Mercy!

I ask that you not only join me in rejoicing over these beautiful 22 women, but I also ask that you join me in praying for the 22 young women who are now walking in the doors of Mercy to begin their journey of healing and restoration. Those girls will remain nameless and faceless to you for now, but I look forward to the day when I will be able to post their pictures and smiling faces from their graduation for all of the world to see.

Love you all. Have a great weekend!!!

The Many Faces of Jude...

It’s been over 12 years since I picked up my eight-week-old puppy named Jude. Little did I know way back then that he would play such a major role in my life as well as the culture and lives of the girls who come through our Nashville Mercy program. We’re coming up on Halloween, and for the very first time, Jude’s face has landed on a carved pumpkin!!! One of our staff members, who is obviously loaded with talent, took it upon herself to have a little fun with the girls and carve Jude’s face on a pumpkin. I thought you guys might want to see it…

Some of the girls wanted to get in on the action so they posed with the “Jude-faced” pumpkin…

To give you an idea of the many faces Jude has, let me just say that he finds a way to get in on everything at Mercy. He’s with us when we’re pulling for the Titans to win on Sundays…

He’s with us when we’re just sitting around reading the Word and drinking coffee…

He even helps out when we’re short staffed on driving girls to the doctor and dropping me off at the airport…

And last but not least, he is now co-hosting my new one hour long radio show…

Hope you have thoroughly enjoyed getting an inside look at the life of Jude, and the many roles that he plays in this ministry!!!

Have a great weekend,

Nancy

5K Double Blessing This Saturday!!!

For all of our Mercy Supporters in Nashville, TN and Monroe, LA, this Saturday we will have two 5Ks going on simultaneously!!! We are definitely at a time when we are receiving more and more calls for help, and it is important that as these cries for help multiply across the nation, so do our efforts to bring in the needed funds to reach the girls who are reaching out to us in desperation.

So many people call us on a daily basis saying, “What can I do to help Mercy?” This is an opportunity for you to provide help in a very practical way, by participating in one of our two 5Ks going on this weekend in Monroe, LA and Nashville, TN. Online registration has already closed, but it is not too late to show up at the event site and register the day of the actual 5K. The information you need to do so is as follows:

Nashville, TN
Location – Tractor Supply Company, Maryland Farms, Brentwood, TN
Registration – 7:00 AM
Race Start Time – 8:00 AM
Registration Fee – $25 (cash or check only); Kids 12 and under are FREE!

Monroe, LA
Location – Forsythe Park in Monroe, LA
Registration – 8:00 AM
Race Start Time – 9:00 AM
Registration Fee – $25 (cash or check only); Kids 12 and under are FREE!

Please keep in mind that this is our first ever 5K in Monroe! We are very excited because this is where the original Mercy home was founded in 1983. This will be our First Annual Run for Mercy 5K there and we are asking all of our longtime friends to come out and participate. We also have opportunities for families to walk together, so bring your children and baby strollers. :) Dogs are welcome too!!! :) :) This will be a fun family time for all concerned, and we are expecting good weather in both locations. For Nashville, we need a large turn-out the day of registration to beat our numbers from last year. We are asking all of our friends to come out, and we encourage you to invite your friends as well. WE NEED YOU!!! I thought you might enjoy seeing some pictures from last year’s Nashville 5K. It was truly a blast, and this year will be even better with a Kid’s Fun Zone, great door prizes including an iPad 2, live music and so much more!

Blog News – Quick Hitters!

Baby Boy Brayden

I am very excited to announce the arrival of baby boy Brayden, born to one of our Mercy residents the night before last. I thought you would enjoy seeing how handsome he is!!! Please join me in congratulating Laura on this beautiful addition to her family.

Just a brief update with more to follow… Our weekend in Louisville, KY with Larry and Pam Winters and the LTD Team, along with John Maxwell and Jennifer Beckham, was truly one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I want to give you a full report and update, and plan to do so, but we are waiting on the official pictures from the event so we can share the whole story. So many lives were transformed and divine connections made that it would be impossible for me to report it to you briefly, so I will share that story with you in a few days. Special thanks to our dear friends Larry and Pam Winters for their great leadership and friendship to Mercy!

It’s been a very busy week of travel for me, but God is doing great things. I am excited for all that he has in store for us. Please be praying for our current residents and staff that we will follow God, know Him, and experience Him in His fullness. HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!!

Old Friends, New Friends…Celebrating Divine Connections!!

I’m literally sitting at the gate in Atlanta, GA on my way to Monroe, LA. I can’t help but drift back to January 15, 1983 -- the day I left Nashville to move to Monroe to begin what is now known as Mercy Ministries. Little did I know that what I thought was going to be me leaving to establish one home would end up to be an international organization with multiple locations. I’m so grateful for the thousands of young women who have walked through the doors of Mercy and have been set free over the years. If you want to see an example of what I’m talking about check out this recent testimony from the Designed for Life Conference in Springfield, MO. This is just one example of multitudes of lives that are being transformed.

I give all the honor and glory to God. I want to thank all of our monthly partners as I go to Monroe for the purpose of thanking the people for believing in a vision with no other home to point to. They joined forces with me to establish one. We will celebrate that tonight and share what God is currently doing and where we are headed vision-wise in our ministry.

Me and Pam Winters at the St. Louis home

After my special time tonight I will catch a 6:00 AM flight out of Monroe, LA tomorrow morning to Louisville, KY to be with my very dear and special friends, Larry and Pam Winters, who are the leaders of Leadership Team Development (LTD) and Double Diamond members with Amway. Not only do they give massive amounts of Amway products to us, but they also give massive amounts of financial support. They’ve been a key part of every girl whose life has been transformed. Even in the midst of their busy schedule, Pam still finds time to connect with me in the different homes and on a personal level. Two weeks ago she came in a day early to join me at the St. Louis home before the Joyce Meyer Conference and now I get to go be with her again. I’m so excited!! I’ll speak Friday night to 10,000 of their leadership team and then again on Sunday morning to between 8,000-10,000 people for their Sunday Morning service. I’m excited to be there and excited to see what God’s going to do. I feel so blessed to be able to call them my friends. They’re people of excellence and character, and represent the Lord to others so well. They are such examples to me of what it means to be givers. They care so much for people and they spend their lives not only blessing people, but developing people by pouring into their lives and teaching them how to be blessed.

September In Review… Best Month Ever!!!

Hey guys,

I started the month of September with a blog about how excited I was about September, and isn’t it just like God to do exceedingly, abundantly, above and beyond anything I could ask or think, according to Ephesians 3:20?!?! So pumped about it and am still in awe of all that God did and is still doing as a result of the special times we had this month with so many wonderful people.

It started with a very dear and special friend from Australia visiting our Nashville location on September 8th. This proved to be such a divine appointment for many different reasons which is too close and personal to my heart to share. However, let me just say that is was a special time that was divinely orchestrated by God on so many levels!

After that, I had the awesome privilege of being with Pastors Kirk and Suzette Bowman in Asheville, NC at the Rock of Asheville Church, and what a great time we had! God poured out His spirit on the Women’s Conference and also on the Sunday services. I was also joined by a very close friend of mine who pastors with her husband in Kansas City at the Rock Church there, Susan O’Reilly. Both of these women are so very special, and it was so awesome to have quality time with them and see how God is moving in their lives.

After that, it was on to St. Louis for the Joyce Meyer Love Life Women’s Conference, and it was awesome! I was so moved by all God did for so many people at that conference and all the lives that were impacted as a result. It was such a joy to be able to share Mercy at Joyce’s Conference and to have quality time with so many dear friends and supporters of Mercy that are close to my heart. The highlight for me was when graduate, Kim Brownie, spoke in such a powerful way with the fire of God on her life. How does someone go from being sold for sex when they are 12 years old to being such a powerful woman of God? Only through the transforming power of Christ can someone be changed into another person! If you happened to miss Kim’s time on stage with me at Joyce’s conference, please take the time to watch the clip below.

After Joyce’s Conference, we had the privilege of returning to Nashville to be with Natalie Grant and Abolition International to host leaders from around the country for a special seminar about helping victims of human trafficking. We were overjoyed at the turn out, and especially excited about the powerful moments we shared when the group came out to Mercy for the afternoon.

Me with Charlotte Scanlon-Gambill and
Host Debbie Lindell

Immediately after that day it was on to Springfield, MO to be a part of the Designed for Life Women’s Conference with host Debbie Lindell. WHAT A GREAT TIME WE HAD TOGETHER!!! Honestly, this was the absolute best conference I have ever been a part of. God moved so powerfully through all the speakers, which included host Debbie Lindell, Charlotte Gambill, John and Helen Burns, and myself. If you missed this conference, I strongly urge you to order the DVDs and watch them as soon as possible. They are life-changing!!! You can get them by contacting James River Assembly at (417) 581-5433. It was such a special time for me personally because our St. Louis residents and staff were in attendance, as well as approximately 40 Mercy graduates and several key staff from Nashville. The women at the conference were so encouraged and in awe as they heard such awesome testimonies of God’s amazing transforming power. It was three amazing days, followed by me having the privilege of speaking at three Sunday morning services. I want to say a special thank you to Pastors John and Debbie Lindell for their amazing hospitality and their very generous offerings given to Mercy as a result of this conference.

Mercy Graduate, Rachael, praying for current
Mercy residents and other graduates

Mercy graduates share their stories of transformation!

Crystal, Jane, Me, and Nicola

I flew out of Springfield around 6:00 PM on Sunday evening, September 25th to head to Vancouver, Canada to spend a few days with our girls and staff there before heading on to the Sacramento, CA home. I have to tell you that in all my 28+ years of ministry, this time in Vancouver and Sacramento was the most awesome, fun, and rewarding time I have ever experienced inside the walls of Mercy! We were joined by Jane Hamon and her daughter, Crystal, as they so powerfully taught and ministered prophetically to every staff and every girl. I do not even have enough space on this blog to recount all the amazing things that God did during this special week. I want to give a special shout out to John and Helen Burns and Nicola Bartel in Canada and the entire team there – what a great group and team of people that God has given to our first Canadian home! Amazing leadership, amazing hearts, and amazing lives being transformed. The same is true of our Sacramento home. I am in awe of our Program Director, Cheryl Bangs, and her wonderful team in that particular home. So many great things happening there – it was just so very special I can’t even begin to tell you!

Crystal encouraging the residents

Jane ministering to one of the residents

Crystal, Cheryl, Nancy, Mercy Supporter, Dru, and Jane

So, I made my way home to Nashville last night. I got delayed in Dallas until after midnight, but finally made it home and got in bed a little after 3:00 AM. I’m tired today, but very fulfilled and very excited for all God has in store for the month of October. If it is anything like September, I better get a special seat belt. Things are moving at a pace that has accelerated in a supernatural way, and I could not be more excited! So thankful for our wonderful supporters who make all of this possible!

Love to all,

Nancy

Power Packed Weekend Starts Tonight!!!

I don’t think I could be any more excited than I am about this particular conference… As I am talking to you on this blog, I am actually in the airport waiting on my flight that will get me to Springfield, MO for the Designed For Life Women’s Conference with host Debbie Lindell with James River. This is honestly one of the best women’s conferences I have ever been a part of, and I am excited about this weekend’s speakers because they are all very near and dear to my heart – Charlotte Scanlon-Gambill from the United Kingdom, John and Helen Burns from Vancouver, BC Canada, and James River’s very own pastors, John and Debbie Lindell. If that’s not enough, awesome music artist, Group 1 Crew, is also joining us! It doesn’t get any better than this!!! We are expecting God to do awesome things, and for many lives to be impacted for all eternity.

I am especially excited about the fact that our St. Louis staff and current residents will join us, thanks to the generosity of Debbie Lindell, who is sponsoring the registrations for all of our Mercy girls. In addition, approximately 50 former Mercy residents will join us. I think I kind of feel like a mom must feel at Christmas when her babies come home. :)  If you want to get a glimpse of what this weekend is going to be like, check out the website at www.designedforlifeconference.org. If you live in the area, it is not too late to join me and over 3,000 others who have already made plans to be there. Trust me, this is one conference you do not want to miss!!!

In closing, in case you missed out on last weekend’s Joyce Meyer Women’s Conference, I had the privilege of speaking alongside one of our Mercy graduates, Kim. I wanted to give you an opportunity to check out these videos from our time there. It was very special. Thanks to everyone who prayed for us!




Freedom Through Mercy from Joyce Meyer Ministries on Vimeo.