The Power of Team – the Power of Unity!

I continue to be so amazed and so thankful that God has allowed me to be the Founder and the leader of Mercy Ministries. I will never forget when He first put the vision in my heart years ago. What a privilege and what an honor! HOWEVER, that is not the thing that is the most amazing to me at this point in the journey, some 26 years later. The thing that I am the most in awe of at this point is the quality of people on the Mercy team that God has given to carry out the work and mission of the ministry.

For anyone who knows me very well, I am an avid lover of sports. In fact, when I first decided to go on to get my college degree, I fully intended to end up being a basketball coach – either on the high school or college level. But God had a completely different plan in mind for me. You might say that I am now the Head Coach at Mercy Ministries, and the staff the serve alongside me is the dream team! No joke, they are truly the DREAM TEAM! I wish there was some way that I could have each and every one of you who are reading this blog entry actually meet the awesome women (and yes we do have a few men here as well – LOL!) that serve every day so that the lives of young women can be healed and transformed.

This week is a perfect example of what I am talking about. I cannot even begin to tell you all the things that have been going on this week– there has been so much happening, so many activities and so much as far as the needs of the girls –multiple things going on this week that have required massive amounts of time and attention. Everyone has pitched in and gone above and beyond without murmuring or complaining. In fact, they were eager to do so with a great anticipation and excitement of seeing what was in front of us taken care of so that all things could be fulfilled.

It reminds me so much of the scripture in Psalm 133 that says, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” We have seen the power of unity this week in amazing ways!!! In fact, the last verse of Psalm 133 says that it is in the power of unity that God commands the blessing! I can tell you for a fact that we have seen the fulfillment of this verse this week because we were facing very very urgent needs, and unexpected financial blessings started coming in as soon as we opened our doors on Monday.

I do not believe blessing comes where there is division or strife. I am so thankful for people who have clean hands and a pure heart. This team, OUR DREAM TEAM, amazes me every day. Please know that I am not just talking about the people at our headquarters in Nashville, but I am talking about our entire staff in America. At this stage, we have a total of 93 full-time staff in the U.S. Not only do these amazing women and men of God serve every single day so faithfully and give so much of their hearts, but 85% of our U.S. staff are also monthly financial partners with Mercy. This means that even though they are on staff and receive a salary, they also made the decision to be a monthly partner and invest in the work that they are so committed to every day.

After witnessing the “I will do whatever it takes to make this happen” attitude this week, I just had to use my blog time to give this great group of people a BIG SHOUT OUT!!!!!

Part of our "Mercy Dream Team"

Graduate Gives back in Honduras!!

One of my greatest joys is hearing from former Mercy residents who have gone on with their lives and are now giving back to others. Almost every day, I receive an email or Facebook message from a former Mercy girl who is updating me on what is going on in her life. I just received an email with pictures from Chelsea, who graduated from the Nashville home last October. Chelsea is 15 years old and just returned from a mission trip to Honduras with her church and family. They spent a week building a feeding kitchen in the village of Caire, as well as putting on a Vacation Bible School for the children there. I wanted to share the joy with you! Here is her email along with the pictures she sent to me from her trip.

Dear Nancy,

I just wanted to thank you again for the support you gave for my trip to Honduras. It was such an amazing time in my life. I got to do songs in the VBS and also share God’s Word with the children. While we were there, we had about 30 children receive Christ. I also got to meet the little boy that my family has been sponsoring for five years. He is almost 13 and is the sweetest boy ever. I cannot wait to go back. Even though I cannot speak Spanish, I still love being with the people. God has healed me and has given me a heart to be with the people there and love on them. The feeding kitchen we built is so amazing and beautiful! God has blessed my family’s life!

God Bless,
Chelsea

Check out these pictures from Chelsea’s trip –





To read more about how Chelsea and her church got connected with the village of Caire, go to www.fbcl2honduras.com.

Exciting Update from one of our Adoptive Couples

Today, I was right in the middle of a leadership meeting when a FedEx package arrived. As I opened the package, I was so excited to see that one of our adoptive couples had sent me pictures and an updated report on the three children that they adopted from our adoption agency. I always love getting these pictures and updates – it is so exciting to see how much the children have grown and how happy they are!

I couldn’t think of a better way than to wrap up a week than to share some of the joy with you. I could go on and on about this family and how awesome they are, but I think these pictures say it all. I wanted to share them with you, so here we go…

The first picture is a set of twins named Caroline and Catherine that are now 11 years old. They don’t actually look like twins, but they are! They are very beautiful, but they both look quite different. They are shown in this picture hugging their new dog named Oreo.


When these twins were four years old, another one of our birthmother’s selected this same couple to adopt her son. Christopher is now seven years old, and he is shown here this past Christmas with his twin sisters and their new dog, Oreo.


I also wanted to share with you a picture of Christopher on his mountain bike. He is very handsome – it’s probably not too early to be praying over him because as the gecko says on his famous insurance commercials, Christopher is "easy on the eyes!”

I hope you guys have a great weekend. For those of you who are financial partners with Mercy, I want you to see three of the beautiful lives that have been saved from abortion because your giving gave a young girl a practical way to choose life. The Bible teaches us that every life is from God, and life is so precious. Thank you for your love and support!

Mercy Graduate Celebrates 5 Years of Freedom!

A couple of weeks ago, I got the coolest email from one of our former Mercy graduates who wanted me to know that she was celebrating her five year anniversary from graduating from the Mercy program. I cannot even begin to tell you how encouraged I am when I get these emails. Because we have been going strong for 26 years now, it seems that I get at least one of these messages everyday. It’s so encouraging for me and the staff, but I also want to encourage those of you who are partners with us so that you too can see the fruit of your giving. I’m going to share with you in Melanie’s own words so that you can hear straight from her heart.

“Dear Nancy & Mercy Staff,

I just wanted to e-mail an update of how appreciative I am of Mercy Ministries! I am a former TN Mercy girl who had many things to celebrate this past June 9th. June 9th to me is a day of new beginnings – it was 5 year anniversary from graduating from Mercy. I not only celebrated my graduation 5 years ago, I also celebrated the birth of my baby sister Madison. She was born the same day I graduated! I adore her, and can only hope to pass onto her everything the Lord taught me during my 7 ½ month stay at Mercy. But that’s not all, on June 9th; I also celebrated my 2 year wedding anniversary! God has done so much in my life since graduating from Mercy. The biggest lesson He has taught me is that when you live your life in Christ, your past does not determine your future, and God can make ALL things NEW! ☺

Thank you SO MUCH for your continued dedication to the lost. I would not be where I am today had God not placed Mercy Ministries in my life. Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

My husband and I were given the opportunity to come to Mercy Nashville last summer, and I was approved to speak to the girls the Saturday we were there. It was incredible! The girls were even asking my husband questions, and the staff said that the girls don’t normally stick around on a Saturday and ask as many questions as they did. God was moving in their hearts and it was an honor to be able to minister to them.

Kevin and I really want to come back to Mercy. We both have a passion for telling God’s story. We have actually been dreaming up some stuff that we would like to do for the girls if those doors were to open again. My husband came up with the idea that we should give them each a rose, and then I thought of a song that I wanted to attach to the rose...”

I was so blessed by what Melanie had to say that I emailed her back and thanked her for sharing her heart with me. I reminded her that I never get tired of these stories, and that I’m so thankful that God put her and Kevin together and that we’d love to have them come back at anytime they can. I just wanted to share with you that Melanie’s story represents so many of the young women who desire to help others with the same help and comfort that they themselves have received (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

I hope that wherever you are in your life today that Melanie’s words will help you understand that regardless of what your past may have been like, your past does not determine your future! We can’t change our past, but we can change our future with the choices we are making today.

Jeff Fisher Charity Softball Game was a Hit!

I just wanted to share with you some highlights from the Jeff Fisher Celebrity Softball Game. We had a blast! It was so fun watching the girls at the game participate in all of the activities and interact with the players, fans, and Mercy supporters. The old saying “a picture paints a thousand words” definitely works for me in this situation. I thought you might like to see some of the highlights. Of course, Coach Fisher’s team was down in the last inning so they totally cheated so they could win – as always! LOL!

This Weekend – Jeff Fisher & Friends Annual Charity Softball Game

Last night I had an awesome time at the Silent Auction VIP Reception for the Jeff Fisher Celebrity Softball game that benefits Mercy Ministries and other local charities. Many of the Titan’s players and coaches were available, as well as friends and supporters who greatly enjoyed bidding against each other for coveted items in the silent auction. There were a few people that were as competitive as the NFL is on any given Sunday – it was so much fun to watch! Obviously, we are so thankful for everyone who chose to come and give to help enable us to serve the young women who come to us free of charge. The actual softball game itself takes place tomorrow night, June 20th at 7:00 PM at Greer Stadium, home field of the Nashville Sounds. Our staff and girls will be out in full force, and I learned last night that this event is a sellout! Obviously we will be taking a lot of pictures tomorrow night, but I thought you might enjoy some scenes from last year’s event.

Have a great weekend!

What a Week!!

We have had an amazing week with the girls in the Nashville home – it has been a time of special guests bringing special ministry this entire week. We have had our dear friends, Pastors Tom and Jane Hamon, with us from Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. It has been a great time of teaching and personal ministry to both the girls and staff. We are very closely connected to this couple, and they have spoken into the lives of our girls and staff for many years.

In addition, we have also had two of our Australian leaders here with us this week, Adrian and Jayne Feben.

Not only have they been able to bless us, but our staff have been able to bless them through an intentional time of training and connection with each and every department that operates throughout our international headquarters here in Nashville. What a joy it is to have such quality people on our new team in Australia.

As if that’s not enough, today we were blessed to have Kathi Pitts with us from Toledo, Ohio who pastors Cornerstone Church with her husband, Michael. They are a powerful couple in the Kingdom, and I had the pleasure of speaking at her women’s conference this past February. It is so cool to have her spend a couple of days with us. Kathi will also be with us tomorrow as Lisa Bevere makes her way to Nashville for two very special sessions with our girls and staff.

I want to share one more thing with you before I close this blog today. I knew about the previous guests that I had mentioned because we had planned for them to come, but today we had a surprise visit from a couple that we are in personal relationship with – Jeremy and Sarah Pearsons. Jeremy is the grandson of Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, and he and his wife, Sarah, came by to share with us about a new project that they want to do to support Mercy Ministries. While they were here, they also gave a special seed offering toward this new project. We are believing with them for an incredibly blessed partnership. More details will be forthcoming about this. Here we are with a special picture that we had made in the lobby just this afternoon.

Hope you are having a blessed day. I will look forward to talking to you again on Friday.