BUSY! BUSY! BUSY!

Nancy’s assistants, Katelyn and Reid here. We can’t believe that it is almost May – this year has been flying by! That’s because even when Nancy is traveling, we are still busy here at our corporate headquarters in Nashville. As most of you know, Nancy recently went to El Salvador on a missions trip with Pastor Debbie Lindell of James River Assembly and a team of 45 others. They hosted three, one-day women’s conferences and one of the coolest things to us was that two Mercy graduates were also on the trip and were able to share their stories of hope and transformation with those in attendance. Women walked for miles to attend these conferences and there was standing room only! So cool to hear stories of women giving their lives to Christ and receiving His healing and freedom! Wanted to show you some pictures from Nancy’s time in El Salvador…

Nancy on stage with graduates Amanda and Elyse

Nancy with Elsie Moody (Pastor of The Open Door in El Salvador) and Debbie Lindell

The whole team!

While Nancy was busy in El Salvador we had the awesome privilege of hosting Pastors Matt and Martha Fry of C3 Church in Raleigh, NC. Nancy and I (Katelyn) had the privilege of going to C3 Church a couple of years ago and absolutely loved it! We were so excited when Pastors Matt and Martha let us know they were going to be in Nashville and wanted to come see Mercy. So of course we asked them to share with our girls…and we are so glad we did! Martha shared her amazing testimony and really connected with our residents and staff. Pastors Matt and Martha even did some Q&A with the girls, and there were lots of questions!

Martha Fry speaking to our residents and staff

Pastors Matt and Martha Fry of C3 Church

 Nancy flew back from El Salvador just in time to host Pastor L.H. Hardwick, founding pastor of Christ Church in Nashville, and his wife Carol. Nancy credits Pastor Hardwick for much of the development of the Nashville home. In the early 1990’s he cleared off three weeks of his calendar to personally introduce Nancy to pastors all over the Middle Tennessee area to share the vision for Mercy in Nashville. The Nashville residents recently attended Pastor Hardwick’s 80th birthday celebration, so needless to say, they were very excited to see him at Mercy just a few weeks later.

Pastor Hardwick

Pastor Hardwick, his wife Carol, and Nancy

The very next day we had three couples and Mercy supporters from Florida in town to visit. One of the couples, Pastor Michael and Kathy Young from the Chapel at Rosemary Beach, spoke to our residents about how God sees us, hears us, and knows us! Later that afternoon our guests got to experience a Mercy graduation ceremony in the Nashville home. We had such a fun day hanging out with Pastor Michael and Kathy, Ted and Karen, and Lee and Carol!

Ted and Karen, Nancy, Kathy and Michael, Carol and Lee

Katelyn, Ted, Reid, and Mercy Staff Jen

 While Nancy is back out traveling, we are staying busy and getting geared up for May. There are a lot of exciting things happening, and there’s never a dull moment!!!

 Katelyn & Reid

El Salvador Here I Come!!!

Next week, I have the awesome privilege of traveling to El Salvador with my dear friend Debbie Lindell of James River Assembly and Designed for Life Women’s Conference to be a part of speaking and reaching out to the women of San Salvador.

We will be helping missionaries Ken and Elsie Moody who began pastoring The Open Door Assembly of God in San Salvador in January 2012. It is located in a needy area three blocks away from 1500 new low income apartments and two blocks from the bar and prostitution area. They are the only church around. Ken and Elsie also minister through the Los Heroes School. The Los Heroes School is a dream fulfilled that Ken and Elsie had to provide children with a Christian education. Since opening, 55 students in grades K through 2 have received a Christian education.

There is a team of 45 of us who will be traveling to San Salvador to host three, one-day women’s conferences, do street ministry, and visit the children at the Los Heroes school. Please pray that God would use us to strengthen the church there; bringing hope, deliverance and salvation to hundreds of women. If you want to keep up with the latest happenings of the trip and see pictures, check out www.facebook.com/jamesrivermissions.

Hot Off the Press!!!

We just received our brand new magazine, which is basically an overview for the year 2011 along with plans for the future, including an artist rendering of our proposed new facilities in Florida. Wanted to share the joy with you. Check it out – it’s really cool to see all the things God is doing! Thanks again for your support!!!

(Click on magazine cover to view)

First Lady of Tennessee Crissy Haslam Visits Mercy…

We spent the entire morning receiving a very special visitor, and I thought you would be interested in knowing about this wonderful time together. Our Governor’s wife, First Lady Crissy Haslam, came to Mercy at 9:00 AM this morning for an official visit and tour, followed by a very special time with our staff and residents in our main classroom. I thought you would enjoying hearing about this from my perspective as well as see some of the pictures from this morning’s interaction.

First Lady of Tennessee Crissy Haslam
addressing the staff and residents

First of all, it is an honor when someone from such a position takes the time out of their busy schedule to come and see the work that we do at Mercy Ministries. One thing about being in existence for almost 30 years is that we now have a track record of longevity and success that speaks to the credibility of the program. Two of our Mercy graduates who are now working as a part of our team had the opportunity to meet with Mrs. Haslam one-on-one and share their story. She was especially interested in hearing about the fact that they came to Mercy Ministries and then were able to complete their college education after graduating from the program.

First Lady of Tennessee Crissy Haslam,
Graduates Jen Grinder and Kim Brownie, and Me

For me personally, I was blown away by the fact that Mrs. Haslam took extra time with our residents and staff to actually allow them to ask her questions, while at the same time interacting with them and asking them questions about the program and their personal experience thus far. I thought it was extra special that Mrs. Haslam encouraged the girls about their faith in God by relating to them with her own journey. Today I found myself feeling very proud of being a Tennessean in light of who our current leaders are in the Governor’s office. Hope you love seeing these pictures. Would love to hear your comments!

P.S. For those of you who are wondering, I did ask our First Lady why she and Governor Haslam were unable to help land Peyton Manning back in the state where he belongs. :)

From Israel... to Hitting the Ground Running!

I returned home from my amazing trip to Israel this past weekend to a very full and busy week. I spent time on Monday in our Corporate office having meetings and doing the necessary things that were calling for my immediate attention after being gone for two weeks. We also had the privilege of entertaining our very special friends, Pastors Jerome and Lisa Lewis from Seeds of Greatness Bible Church in Delaware on Monday and Tuesday. They spoke on Tuesday morning to our staff and girls in Nashville, while I flew to our St. Louis home for a special time of ministry with Jane Hamon and her daughter Crystal. I had two full days in St. Louis with Jane and Crystal. The staff and girls were very blessed by our time on Tuesday and Wednesday. I returned home to Nashville for very full days yesterday and today.

Pastors Jerome and Lisa Lewis

Thursday I spent time with our very special guests from Australia who are the owners of Mollydooker Winery in Adelaide (McLaren Vale). Sparky and Sarah Marquis, owners of Mollydooker, and Janet Marquis, General Manager of Mollydooker, are very near and dear to our hearts and are also supporters of Mercy Ministries. They frequently donate auction items and also provide financial support to our various locations in the US. It was my joy to have them attend a graduation where we celebrated the lives of four beautiful, transformed women. After graduation, we went immediately to our in-house broadcasting studio where they were guests on our live, drive-time, radio broadcasts. It was such a joy to have them as our special guests! They also made an appearance at our Mercy Ministries of America and Mercy Ministries International Board Meetings today. Our Board was able to meet them and thank them for their wonderful support. If you want to check out what they do and the other ministries they support, you can check out their website at mollydookerwines.com. We love our special guests from Australia, and it is our joy to continue to host them, as they are still in town.

Sarah, Janet, and I in Mercy's in-house radio studio

Janet, me, and Sarah at the Mercy Corporate office

This week has definitely been synonymous with the term “March Madness.” Speaking of which, if you have some time this weekend, check out some of the games, both men’s and women’s, and while you’re at it, say a prayer that the Titans win the bidding war and the heart of NFL great, Peyton Manning… we need him! :)

Greetings from Israel!!!

You may or may not know, but I am in Israel at the moment and so in awe of walking where Jesus walked and seeing the places where His ministry took place. It is literally like walking through the pages of the Bible. I cannot wait to get home and read the Word all over again with a totally different perspective!

The Sea of Galilee

I took this picture of the sunrise Tuesday morning over the Sea of Galilee looking out of my hotel room. This is the same sea where Jesus said “let us go to the other side,” during the storm and also where Peter walked on water. It is also the same sea where the Gadarene demoniac was delivered and the swine ran into the water. On Wednesday morning our group got on a boat and went out onto the Sea of Galilee to experience it for ourselves. Last week we saw the city of Jerusalem, the Dead Sea, the Jordan River, and so many other places in the Bible. Amazing, amazing, amazing!!! Hope you enjoy these photos – it’s really surreal being here!

Amazing view from Mount of Beatitudes

The very place where Paul shared his faith with
King Agrippa... I am in awe! Acts 26

Mercy Graduate Now Licensed Clinical Social Worker!!!

I was thrilled to hear the great news that Nashville graduate, Kelly, just passed the Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) exam! Before Mercy, Kelly struggled with an eating disorder and self-harm, and didn’t think she’d live long enough to see her dreams come true. With Kelly’s permission, I wanted to share her email with you. I hope it encourages you to never give up and reminds you that with God, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26)!


Hi Nancy!


I hope you are doing well. I have some great news and I wanted to share it with you because it wouldn't be possible if it weren't for the healing that I received while I was at Mercy. I took my LCSW exam today and PASSED! I had set a goal to get my LCSW by the time I turned 30, but had given up on that goal when my life got so out of control because I didn't think I would live long enough to see it fulfilled. But here I am at 28 with my LCSW and a great future ahead of me! Thank you so much for the love and support that you and all of the Mercy staff have given me to help me get to this point. I love you and miss you!

Kelly

I am so proud of you, Kelly! You definitely have a great future ahead of you!