Mercy Sisters Have Strong Bond…

Me and recent graduates Kellie, Kelsey, and Bekah

I tweeted yesterday that 115 young women have graduated Mercy Ministries in the United States alone since late January. Three of those young women graduated the day before yesterday, and it was so cool to see how five of our previous graduates showed up to surprise and celebrate with the three girls who were graduating that day. It was such a great time of joy and celebration, and I wanted to give you a glimpse into what a great time we had by showing you the pictures we took with both our graduates and residents. These three graduates represent the 115 that we are thanking God for in the last few months.

Me with former graduates Chelsey,
Danielle, Nikki, Jen and Kristin

Please pray for the young women that are on our waiting list fighting for their lives and desperate to come to Mercy. For those of you who partner with us to provide financial help, please know that you are greatly appreciated as you literally help us pull these young women out of a place of death into a life that Jesus Christ died for them to have.

 Hope you have an amazing holiday weekend. Thank God for our troops who lay down their lives every day to keep us safe. Let’s take a moment to thank God for them and their families, and for all the sacrifices they have made.

Fishers of Men and Fishers of Fish!!!

Yesterday I had the awesome priviledge of speaking in Destin to approximately 500 marketplace and communitity leaders including business leaders, political leaders, law enforcement and government officials, and pastors from 15 different churches in the area. Not only was it a great time to connect with the locals here and share the vision of the next Mercy Ministries home, which will be located between Destin and Panama City, but it was also a great excuse to find my way into the water. I love fishing for men, but I have actually discovered a love of fishing for FISH! Thought you might enjoy seeing the 20 pound amberjack I caught this morning, along with numerous other types and sizes of fish. It was so fun! Special thanks and shout out to my wonderful host Captain Mike Parker and his beautiful wife Marguerite. This is truly a day that I will never forget!!!

Beatles Mania Hits Mercy... God Style!!!

It’s extremely rare to find the Beatles at the forefront of what goes on at Mercy Ministries, but this week that was actually the case. In two of our locations, St. Louis and Nashville, my dear friend, Ken Mansfield, came and spoke to our residents and staff. Ken is the only person I know on the planet that has the ability to share intimate details about the Beatles and the Gospel at the same time! He was the US manager at Apple Records and directed the Beatles’ US career on many levels. He was not only involved in business, but was a close personal friend. Since that time with the Beatles, Ken has committed his life to Christ and has written two books. His wife Connie has been a personal friend of mine for over 30 years, and she was instrumental in leading him to the Lord prior to their marriage. Today Ken and Connie travel across the United States speaking about his journey, both with the Beatles and with Christ. Ken will be the first to tell you that there’s no comparison between the two, as he was fully given his life to Christ and found a unique niche in his ability to engage others in connecting with their Savior and Creator.

This was Ken and Connie’s first visit to our St. Louis home. Both staff and girls were blown away by their message and their love and support of Mercy Ministries. Though not a stranger to our Nashville home, this was Ken’s first time to visit in quite some time so he was speaking to an entirely new group of residents and even some new staff members. It was a tremendous week where God used Ken and Connie in a powerful way to touch the lives of so many, and last night Ken was a guest on our Mercy Multiplied radio show and will be so again this evening at 5:15 PM CST! Not only Ken, but we had a surprise guest as Ken’s close pal Phil Keaggy dropped by to join him on the program. These two were quite the team and Phil is also a Mercy supporter!

I thought you might enjoy seeing some of the pictures from our special time this week. If you’re a Beatles fan, you definitely need to check out Ken’s website and order his books today. There is no one out there that can give the kind of detail that Ken provides with amazing pictures and a true inside look at this legendary group! We love you, Ken and Connie… you are very special and we consider you a part of our Mercy family!!!

Ken had the Nashville residents on the edge of their seats!

Ken and Connie at our Nashville home

Ken and Connie hanging out with the St. Louis residents

Ken Mansfield and Phil Keaggy struck a pose for us in the Mercy Multiplied studio!

Special Guest from UK in Nashville

Hey everyone! Katelyn here. Nancy’s currently out of town, but I wanted to share with you all about a very special guest I had the privilege of hosting this past Tuesday. Abs Niblock from Abundant Life Church (Pastored by Steve and Charlotte Gambill) in Bradford, England came to Mercy to share with our staff and girls. Abs and her husband are the youth pastors at Abundant Life Church, as well as oversee one of the church campuses.

I first met Abs last September in Springfield, MO when we were both there for the Designed for Life Women’s Conference hosted by Debbie Lindell and James River Assembly. Abs and I had a great time getting to know each other and I was so excited when I found out she was going to be in Nashville, so of course we invited her to come share at Mercy!

Abs spoke a powerful message about the power of vision and the importance of having a vision for your life. Abs shared about not getting distracted by the obstacles and hurdles that may try to get in the way of your vision, but to rather stay focused on Jesus. Many of the residents shared how timely this message was and others said this was the best message they had ever heard! Here’s what a few of the girls had to say…

“I freaking loved this message and her accent (LOL), but for real this was such a great message and definitely what I needed to hear especially since I have spent the past couple of days legit freaking out about graduating – standing in front of everyone and giving my testimony. Well in the middle of this message, I finally came to terms with it and became at peace that I was going to get up there and talk because it is not about me – it is about God and His glory, and awesomeness. ‘If God says I can, then I can, but if I say I can’t then that is my own limitation.’ I really liked that statement she made because it is so true in my life. I have set so many limitations on myself and would look at different visions/dreams that I would have and then back down because of all the obstacles or giants that stood in the way. Not realizing/grasping that God is so much bigger than anything I will ever face and with Him all things are possible! I need to keep my focus on Jesus and not on what I can or can’t do. I need to stop being led around, whether by my past friends or circumstances. I am done settling for less and backing down – God is on my side and He is bigger than anything that I face. My life has a purpose and I will see my vision become reality – I just need to keep my focus on Jesus and remain steadfast in Him.” – Nikki, current Nashville resident

“Wow, Abs was so good. For so long I have let the devil discourage me by making my obstacles bigger than my vision. I cannot let my vision be drowned out by obstacles. Everything in Abs’ message totally resonated in my spirit. I have a vision, and I am going to see it come to pass!!” – Madeline, current Nashville resident

“This message was amazing. She was probably my favorite guest speaker we have had. I loved her!! I loved how she talked about my need to have a vision and not let the obstacles distract you from your vision!! I am being called to be an evangelist, I know I am, and I have been scared because I keep thinking about the obstacles that could keep me from being that. However, this message completely cleared things up for me!! I needed that.” – Niki, current Nashville resident

Special thanks to Abs for coming and sharing with our girls! I hope this encourages you to seek God for your vision and/or to stay focused on the vision God has already given you for your life!

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)