St. Louis Residents Guests of Senator Kyle McCarter

I am always in awe of the wonderful and diverse people that God connects us with! Senator Kyle McCarter and his wife, Victoria, are great friends of Mercy Ministries, and also very involved in volunteer work with our girls. Not only do they attend almost every graduation, but Senator McCarter and Victoria also serve as Co-Chairmen of the Community Board for Mercy Ministries in St. Louis. Senator McCarter invited the Mercy residents and staff to be his special guests at the Illinois State Capitol and were announced on the Senate floor. Senator McCarter’s wife, Victoria, went along as well. It was so cool to have them send pictures from this event as well as to hear in their own words what this meant to them. Here’s what Victoria had to say in an email I received from her.

Nancy,

I wanted to share a few photos with you from the Mercy girl's trip to Springfield. We took the girls to the governor's mansion, then to the Capitol where the girls were announced on the Senate floor and Kyle spoke about Mercy and their success rate. Next, the girls watched the Senate while it was in session and took a guided tour of the capitol.

Afterward, Kyle spoke with the girls about not limiting what God can do in their lives. Finally, our Senate minority leader, Christine Rodogno, met the girls on the steps of the capitol and spoke to them with a similar message. We were absolutely blessed with beautiful weather and the day going off without a hitch - a rarity at the capitol! Kyle and I are so excited about having the opportunity to do this for the girls, and we will continue to promote the work of Mercy in the state of Illinois!

Much love to you, Nancy! We are truly grateful for your friendship and for the work Jesus is doing in the lives of the Mercy girls. Being with the girls is always the highlight of our week!

--Victoria

Graduate Celebrates New Beginnings

I just got a really cool thank you note in the mail from a Mercy graduate named Chelsea, along with a wedding picture of Chelsea and her husband, Matthew. We celebrate with them and we send congratulations to Chelsea and Matthew. For all of our supporters, I want you to hear in Chelsea’s own words the help that you have made possible…

Nancy,

Wow, where do I even start? I cannot put into words what a blessing Mercy was and is to me. I am such a different person and though all of the credit goes to God and His grace, I know He used Mercy to do it. I really don’t think I would be here today without Mercy. I know that God used Mercy to show me that I have a purpose and that I am so loved – thank you! You and your work in founding Mercy has given me true joy and happiness. I love the life God has blessed me with. I am now happily married and I couldn’t ask for anything more. Thank you for being such a blessing! I have no doubt God will use Mercy to bring more girls to the freedom I now have.

With love and in Him,

Chelsea

We wish both Chelsea and every former Mercy resident the very, very best!

Back in Action

I decided after a couple of weeks that it was time for me to talk to you guys again. Hope your two weeks have been as good as mine have been! I had a very relaxing beach vacation at Seaside, Florida. I got to spend some quality time with great friends, and really have time to unwind. The weather was perfect, and it was great to be able to slow down and actually be able to enjoy the beauty of God’s creation.

On Thursday, March 7^th, I flew to Vancouver, Canada to speak at the LifeWomen Conference with Helen Burns, Natalie Grant, and Charlotte Scanlon-Gambill.

We had a great time together, and we were able to share publicly pictures of the new home that is opening there.

In addition to showing pictures of the Vancouver home, I also got to introduce to everyone the person who will be our leader in Canada, Nicola Bartel. I was also joined at the conference by our International Director of Programs, Margaret Troquille. We are so grateful to have these two quality women in leadership roles.

One of the highlights of the conference in Vancouver for me was that there were seven former Mercy residents there. We weren’t able to get everyone together all at the same time, but we did manage to gather five of them for a picture after I spoke on Friday night.

On Saturday, May 9^th it was onto Virginia Beach to be with Pastors Steve and Sharon Kelly of Wave Church to speak in two services on Mother’s Day. I spoke Sunday morning at their South Beach location, and then Sunday night at their main service in the original location.

It was so great to see their new building and to witness all the growth and expansion that has taken place since my last visit there. I can’t even begin to say what a great job Pastors Steve and Sharon have done to impact their city and beyond. There is truly a great work going on that is impacting all generations. There are so many ministry outreaches and classes that I could not even begin to name them all. I have so much respect for Steve and Sharon, and it was my joy to have the opportunity to have great fellowship with them. We got to have a great meal together after last night’s service at an awesome seafood restaurant. This is a picture we took right after we enjoyed that meal together.

Special thanks to Wave Church and their staff for an awesome time! I feel so blessed to be connected to such quality people. The best is yet to come!!!

A Heart of Compassion by Charlotte Scanlon-Gambill

Today I am in Vancouver, Canada speaking at Life Women’s Conference. Last night, we heard from Natalie Grant and Helen Burns, and it was awesome! This morning we will be hearing first thing from Charlotte Scanlon-Gambill from the UK, who is a well-known author and speaker at conferences around the world. But in my world, Charlotte is a very dear friend and sister – one of my God chick friends. I asked her if she would be willing to do a guest blog because I want you to hear from some of the wonderful people in our extended Mercy family who are doing great things, and Charlotte is one of those people. Hope you enjoy!

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to get comfortable, to develop a routine in life? It happens slowly, but gradually over time I have watched many people who were once radical and passionate to make a difference grow less enthusiastic and start to be less available to the call of God.

One of the main ways we can avoid this happening, I have found, is by keeping a constant commitment to keep stepping out of ‘my’ shoes and into the shoes of 'others.' Jesus never came to preach at people, but to reach people - people from all different backgrounds and life experiences. He didn't wear the shoes of judgement, conformity or religion. He committed to step into the shoes of the broken, lonely and hurting people. He would walk with Zachaeus and cry with Mary, He would touch the leper and include the prostitute. He had compassion on them all and empathy for their situation because He approached them as one who was willing to walk in their shoes, talk their language, feel their pain, and from that position bring healing and liberty.

God is looking for us, His people, to do the same - not to get so comfy in our church shoes or busy with our own world that we never step out to embrace a different life. Years ago when I met Nancy Alcorn, I met a modern day example of this discipline. Her heart for the hurting, lost, abused and broken women she met was not one of pity or sadness, but empathy and compassion.

Mercy Ministries is an organization that steps into others’ shoes and from that place, rebuilds girls lives. So learn more about the work of Mercy, partner with their amazing women and be committed afresh to step into someone else’s shoes.

Love ya lots!
Charl


To read more from Charlotte, get a copy of her latest book In Her Shoes! To learn more about Charlotte, visit her website at http://www.alm.org.uk/leadership/charlotte_gambill/.

Moved By Mercy

Hi! I’m Linda, Executive Director of Mercy Ministries of America. I’ve been serving at Mercy for over three years and have been blessed every day to be a part of seeing God’s unconditional love, forgiveness, and life-transforming power impact young women from all over the country.

Before joining the Mercy Ministries team, I worked in the corporate world for 15 years at Wells Fargo Insurance where I built a business line in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was an amazing experience to create a new business line under the umbrella of such a strong corporation. We went from initially processing 1,500 orders per month to building an automated process for managing over 200,000 orders a month and tracking more than 2 million records. It was exciting and very fast paced. I was fortunate to have amazing men and women mentor and challenge me in all aspects of business and have been able to bring those experiences, skills, and knowledge to Mercy.

Prior to 2002, I did not know anything about Mercy Ministries. I literally found it on the Internet; the story is truly a testimony of how God works! So here’s the quick version…if you follow football, you may remember that a few years back, a particular Minnesota Vikings player found himself in hot water after pushing a traffic officer with the front of his SUV. Yes, you read that correctly - a human being was literally pushed in the street by the football player driving the SUV. It was BIG news at the time, and as my family was watching this appalling situation on the evening news, my impressionable young son thought it was funny. I literally looked over to my husband, who just happens to be a college football coach, and told him I would be shopping for a new NFL team to support. It wasn’t the type of behavior we wanted our kids to look up to.

So, the next day, I shopped NFL.com for teams that had quality coaching staffs with accountability and integrity as key components of their programs. We decided on the Titans because my husband and I both grew up in Southern California like Coach Fisher, and my father-in-law had grown up in Nashville, TN. It looked like a good fit for our family.

Of course, we couldn’t really watch many Titans games from Minnesota, so I started tracking the team online and sharing updates with the kids. In reading about the teams’ activities and what the coaches supported, I ran across an article about Mercy Ministries, which I quickly dismissed. God had a different plan because the name and article kept coming to my mind. One day, I sat down and checked out the web site and I literally logged off within seconds of reading what the ministry was about, basically because it hit too close to my own life experiences.

Eventually a few days later, I opened up the web site and read all about the amazing work of the ministry. I literally wept as I read testimonies posted online and learned more about how God was transforming lives at Mercy Ministries. I immediately shared the ministry with my husband, David. We made a contribution to the ministry, and I sent a letter to Nancy Alcorn asking if there was a way to volunteer from afar to support the ministry. Mind you, I didn’t think I’d hear back because I had quickly figured out that Nancy was very busy. To my amazement, I had a voice mail message from Nancy’s office a few weeks later asking if I would be open to meeting Nancy briefly when she was in Minnesota at, of all places, my own home church for a Girls of Grace conference! We met and connected quickly sharing how the ministry was growing and brainstormed ways I could help.

I began volunteering along with another volunteer, Christy Singleton, who is now our Executive Director of Development, and helped research grant information and other data to support Christy’s fundraising efforts for Mercy. It was great fun to help from a distance and know that I was making a small contribution toward helping transform the lives of young women. As time passed, I was able to share my business knowledge with other Mercy staff and help them as they began developing growth strategies.

In January of 2006, I was asked if I would be interested in working for Mercy Ministries in Tennessee. In the natural, I had absolutely no desire to move my kids, ages 10 and 13, from their schools and friends, but once again God had a different plan. I shared this news with my husband and he felt immediate confirmation that we were being called to leave our comfort zone and serve. I went through the interview process and began serving God’s mission at Mercy Ministries in March of 2006. As God always does, He had worked out every detail of my family’s transition, including providing a wonderful church, a coaching opportunity for my husband with Vanderbilt University, and great friends with whom we now “do life.”

Day to day at Mercy, I work closely with our staff and Board of Directors to ensure our team is focused on the initiatives and strategies that best serve our mission and the young women seeking for their lives to be transformed and hope to be restored. Practically speaking, this involves overseeing our accounting, human resources and IT team initiatives, as well as management oversight of our development and program leadership. Each day, I am focused on ensuring we are good stewards of the resources that our generous contributors send to Mercy and that our efforts are aligned with our mission and core values. In addition, I focus on the growth and development of our staff – a wonderful team who is very committed to serving God’s mission at Mercy Ministries. I also work on our growth initiatives and this year, my number one priority is coordinating the numerous aspects of opening our Lincoln, California home so we can welcome 40 additional young women to Mercy Ministries and continue to see God’s unconditional love and forgiveness transform lives.

It’s simply amazing to see how God has moved in my own life through the obedience of answering His call to serve at Mercy.

Are you Worn Out? By Holly Wagner

It is my joy to introduce to you one of my dearest friends in the whole wide world, Holly Wagner. She and her husband, Philip, are the pastors of Oasis Christian Center in Los Angeles, CA. The church is truly awesome. I’ve asked Holly to share with you today…

Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me--watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.
Matthew 11:28-30, THE MESSAGE

Sometimes I feel as if I should join the circus. No, I can’t tame elephants (although I can have a conversation with a teenage boy, so that’s pretty close!!) and no, I can’t contort my body to fit in a shoebox . . . but I am a champion plate spinner! I have so many plates spinning that I amaze myself. Can you relate? Probably. I have the woman plate going, the wife plate going, the mom plate going, the pastor plate going, the author plate going, the speaker plate going, and the friend plate going.

There are moments when I just feel a little worn out. Sometimes that realization hits me while standing in the shower (the only place I can find solitude some days!). Recently, I had to speak at a women’s retreat, which means a weekend full of messages . . . in another state. I also had a book to finish, my kid’s basketball games to attend, GodChicks® Conference planning meetings, three Sunday services to get ready for, an annoying legal battle, a household to run, and I am sure my husband would like to eat and have sex somewhere in between. And, did I mention this was all during daily radiation treatments?? That’s a lot of plates!

I have learned that the only way to negotiate all the plates that God has given me is to get great at walking with Jesus. When I spend my time with Him, everything else gets put in perspective. Instead of panicking at all that I need to accomplish today, I really am peaceful. In fact, many times I have gotten up from chatting with God and discovered the answers on how to fit all the pieces of my day together. By giving God that time, He has seemingly given me more.

Religion can be exhausting. There is no way that you and I can keep all the rules. And the enemy, like the Pharisees of the New Testament, wants us to feel guilty for not doing everything right. Jesus knew this, so He said that if we are burned out on religion, we just have to get away with Him. Only with Him can we learn the unforced rhythms of grace.

Rest in Him, my friend. Keep company with Him and you will live lighter than you ever have.

Overcoming Disappointment

I am excited to have the opportunity to share with you on Nancy Alcorn’s blog. I feel so privileged to work at this wonderful ministry! My name is Cissy and I am the Executive Director of Programs for Mercy Ministries of America. I came to work with Mercy Ministries in 2002 as a Masters level counselor. My prior experience ranged from addictions counseling, family counseling, liaison work with the TN Department of Human Services and an addictions agency, and counseling on a college campus. While I was working on my graduate degree, I was a Resident Hall Director for a 360+ occupancy dormitory at Arkansas State University.

I give oversight to the Program Directors in each of the Mercy Ministries homes in America, the Director of Intake and Adoptions, and the Director of Transitional Care. I am honored to be involved in the entire process - from a young woman applying to the program, coming into the program, all that is involved in the counseling process, and her transition out of the program. I absolutely love empowering people to maximize their potential and to fulfill the call God has placed on their lives. Cultivating an atmosphere for the young women who apply and go through the program to experience God’s unconditional love, forgiveness, and life-transforming power is what I strive to see evident in our homes and programs.

In my experience of being a counselor and working in ministry, I have seen a common theme in why people experience struggles in life. Most every person, including myself, has experienced disappointments. Disappointment can come in many forms. Some of these disappointments could be from unmet expectations, loss, heartbreak, rejection, abuse, regret, failure, delay, and the list goes on and on.

Many respond to disappointment by putting up walls and refusing to allow for intimacy to occur for fear of being hurt or disappointed again, while others fall into distrust, anger, bitterness, hopelessness, self harm, addictions, doubt, and losing faith in all that is good. These responses lead to disorders of the soul, which only can be healed through the One who made us, God. Satan wants us all to turn from God when we are disappointed because he does not want us to be restored and made whole. If anyone understands loss, it is God. God is rejected and often ignored, yet He remains hopeful!

No one is immune to disappointment. Sin is in the world and the nature of man is to go towards it. You are not alone if you have experienced disappointment and have reacted in a negative way. The positive side of disappointment is that it is a great opportunity to see where you are. Awareness can be a wonderful thing, but we must not merely sit in awareness like a comfy chair. We do not need to relax in awareness, but rather let it inspire us to action - to make change. It is crucial to shift your focus from the disappointment and the awareness to focusing on God. When the focus gets off of the situation and onto the Answer, your view and response will change.

Here are some practical steps to take when dealing with disappointment:

1) Immediately go to God to resolve the hurt. However you feel about God settle that you need to get this resolved.

2) Wrestle it out with God until a resolve is found. Pour out your hurt before God whether through journaling your feelings, praying (or simply talking to God), crying, or even yelling. God can handle your emotions, so share your hurt with Him and allow Him to help you through it.

3) Forgive the one(s) who hurt you. Say, “I choose to forgive _________. I choose to let it go.” This is not always easy, but forgiveness opens the door for God to heal you. Forgiveness does not make what the person did to you right, but it does free you up to be healed.

4) Own your part in the hurt. Take ownership for your actions and ask God to forgive you. There is always something we can learn about ourselves related to our response to hurt and disappointment.

5) Get your focus on Jesus and be grateful for what you have in your life. A lot of times we stay hurt because we choose not recognize what we have to be grateful for. Gratefulness takes you beyond being healed to being whole. Being whole encourages generosity towards others.

6) Release all of the hurt to God and then let it go. It may be easier said than done, but God desires for us to grieve loss quicker than we are prone to do. He wants us living an abundant joy-filled life and not sitting in pain. For me, the quicker I can get past a hurt, the better.

I pray for all who are reading this blog who have dealt with disappointment with others, with yourself or even with God that you would be able to release it, forgive, let it go and rise up! Choose joy, choose abundant life; get to enjoying your life!!! I challenge you if you are experiencing disappointment, get with God tonight. Don't delay! Work it out. Tear down the walls that are up, deal with the hurt and get it settled. Forgive, cry, pray and get past it today! There is no reason you have to stay in disappointment. Address it and then move past it. If your own choices were part of the disappointment, repent, get with God and work it out. He is faithful to meet you there!