Tampa, FL (Feb 3-8)

Before going across the state from Ft. Pierce to Tampa, we stopped at the Atlantic Ocean.

The teens at Tampa were so much fun to be with! By Wednesday all the teens from the Christian school had bought their team t-shirt and they were really into the competition! We had a great turn out of 90 teens the first night with more than half being from the community! And we had a huge blessing of seeing 25 people get saved all in Wednesday night! It was an amazing first night of rallies!

By the end of the week there were 49 salvations consisting of teens and even a few adults! Praise the Lord for the work He has done!!

Taylors, SC (Feb 9-16)

Well, this was a bit of a different week for us. First of all, this week we did not have a Christian school scheduled so it was a week “off” for us. However :) a week “off” does not mean that we do nothing. We still had plenty of things to do.

Glenn had hurt one of his fingers back in November and it actually got worse as the weeks went on. So, he took this week to go back home and see the doctor about doing corrective surgery. And yes, he needs surgery. He is scheduled to have surgery Monday, February 18. This means he will need to stay home for a few weeks of recovery and a post-op doctor visit in March. We are all looking forward to being back together for the conference in Menomonee Falls, WI February 25-28, though! It will be nice to see Philip and Josh again as well!

Annaleese holding William and Janna holding Kate

So back to this past week...on Monday Paul brought into our classroom a little lost puppy!! We loved her right away and were thrilled with our distraction from school work! :) And then, Paul brought in a second puppy!! We were elated!! School almost went completely out the window!! We named the girl Kate and the boy William. We LOVED them!! The Van Gelderen girls took them everywhere throughout the day (and tried to do school work at the same time!) and Paul and Nathan even took them outside to “help” them wash the trailer!! Let’s face it :) we all loved these little puppies!! They were such good puppies, too! William could already sit on command (he did it several times) and Kate was “paper trained” in a day! We tried not to get our hopes up and figured that they had owners...somewhere. We called the humane society, the pound, and the police office to see if anyone was missing 2 puppies, but nobody seemed to be missing them. That night at Fellowship Baptist (the church we were staying at) there was a Bible Club. We tried to find a new owner for the puppies, but nobody could take them. So, we gave the puppies a bath and put them back in a rubbermaid for the night. They were so good all night long!!

William...isn't he adorable?!?

On Tuesday we called to have the humane society/pound come pick them up around 1:30. We played with lil Kate and William throughout the morning and took about a hundred pictures!! We found out by Friday that both puppies had been adopted, but the puppies were separated. We had hoped that they could have stayed together...well...we were hoping that we could have kept them...but that didn't happen, either.

Finally! An update!

I am so sorry for the long reprieve! Things have been so busy that I have not had time to update the last few weeks! The Lord has done so much for...ALL of us! I will quickly touch a little bit on each week that I have missed, but will try not to make this too long.

First of all, I need to say that we have said good-bye to some team members from last semester. Philip and Josh have gone back to college. This semester Leanna, the music teacher, has stayed to continue working with the Van Gelderen girls on their violin and piano. Glenn has also stayed for this new semester. And now we have Paul (Philip’s twin) and Nathan (Josh’s brother) on our team. So, it is a very unique situation where all of the last names are the same for 2 semesters! Usually, all 3 guys and the music teacher change...but not completely so this time!

We made a Pecan Pie and even put pecans in the crust for Glenn's b-day!

Jacksonville, FL (Jan. 16-19)
This was the week that I flew in from Kenya to meet back up with the Minutemen Team. I arrived on Wednesday. I was thankful that I did not suffer too much from jet-lag and was able to be a part of the ministry for the short time I was there.

Yes, we drink a lot of water. :)

Land O’ Lakes, FL (Jan. 20-26)
This was a bit of a difficult week for me. Over the weekend I came down with that horrible “bug” that was going around. On Sunday it peeked with a fever that gave me severe hot and cold flashes and my muscles were aching so much that it hurt to walk. The Lord really did answer prayer, though, and gave me great grace to be able to still go to both Sunday morning services (with my fever :/) to sing in the Minutemen quartet! For the last half of the second service I just went back to the place where we were staying on the property and crashed for the rest of the afternoon. Slowly throughout the week I was recovering and was still able to go recruiting.

Leanna's b-day!!! :)

Enjoying a smoothie near palm trees...in January!!

Ft. Pierce, FL (Jan. 27-Feb. 2)
This is a bit longer because I wanted to share this testimony with you! It is amazing!

WAR room in Ft. Pierce, FL

Hi, my name's Jordan. So lately I’ve been going through a really hard time. I’ve been kicked out of my house because my attitude been towards my parents, towards God. And I’m like, “Ok, I’m getting kicked out of the house. I’m going to go do my own thing, live my own life.” That’s exactly what I wanted. I wanted to be kicked out of my house. I wanted to do my own thing. Well, it turns out, when you’re on your own and you got to buy your own food, gotta pay your own gas, gotta do your own thing, it ain’t easy. It’s hard. It’s real hard. And I came to the Minutemen thing the 1st night. I came really just for a place to hang out. I didn’t really come because I wanted to hear anything. But I walked outside and Glenn stopped me. He started talking to me and he got me thinking about, “If you died right now, where would you go?” I was like, “I really don’t know. I don’t know.” But I didn’t really want to talk. I thought about it. It got me thinking so I came back the next night. I come back the next night and Nathan started talking to me about it and I really started thinking about it because if I die, where would I go, Heaven or Hell, you know what I mean? But I was at a point where I didn’t care. He was talking to me about my salvation, things like that and I did realize, I mean I have been saved, it’s just I got far away from God. I actually had hatred toward God and religion, and that’s why I’m goin’ through a hard time because all my anger and everything else towards...I hold onto a lot of things from the past. I have a real hard time forgiving people. And there’s stuff that happened to me in the past with certain pastors and things like that that got me kind of messed up and hated toward religion. It’s like, “I can’t trust you.” Well ok, you can’t trust them, but you can trust God. And I just have somethin’ real quick to say, Nathan told me to come in today this morning for the chapel service and he’s like, “Oh, watch out. You might get a flat tire or something like that. Satan’s gonna try to stop you.” I laughed. Well, my alarm didn’t go off, but finally I got up and I went to look for my keys. I couldn’t find my keys. I was like, “OK.” Whatever. I found my keys. I went to go start my car. My car wouldn’t start. I was like, “OK!” So I jumped my car, got it started. I came down here. I ran out of gas on the side of the road down here. I’m like, “Ok, something’s trying to stop me from being here. I know there’s a reason I’m supposed to be here.” I got out of my car, walked down here, and I sat through the chapel service. We talked for a good, I don’t know, 2 hours...way more than that probably. Tonight the reason I’m up here talking right now is because tonight I was supposed to be goin’ out with my friends to a club. I was supposed to be riding with them, but I just got a call from them that they got into a car accident on the way there. And I called them earlier. I’m like, “OK, I’m going to go to Minutemen. This happens only every 2 years. I can go to the club whenever.” But they just called my phone and said that they got in a car accident and 1 of my friends is in the hospital right now. But I was supposed to be in that car. If I made the wrong decision and I actually got into the car with them, I don’t know where I would be right now. Well, I know I would be in Heaven, but I mean, but I could be dead all because of a stupid decision. So basically what I’m sayin’ is just make sure like, I have a real hard time trusting people like I said, but you just got to go out there and trust God. That’s more than you can do. Just make sure you’ve got trust in Him. If you can’t trust, pray for trust. Pray that you can get some faith because I mean, that was my problem. I’m still battling, but it’s going to get better.

Happy New Year!

I hope you have had a blessed 2012 and are looking forward to 2013! I am so thankful for all that the Lord has taught me and done for me this last year! Right now I am in Kenya on a family mission trip. We are visiting Michael and Tina Rains, Brent and Karolyn Halstead, even Stephen and Christina Rains are here! At the same time it's hard to believe that I am over in Kenya, Africa, it is also hard to believe that I will be back on the Minutemen Team in just 2 weeks! Thank you for all your prayers and support for me this year! The Lord is mightily working in many lives, including mine! Please continue to pray for me while I am here in Kenya and then back on the road for another semester. If you would like to receive updates from Kenya, please email me and let me know that you would like to be added to my Kenya Update List.

Clinton, NC

Sorry for the delay. The last few weeks have been very busy! Here is a testimony from the week of October 28-November 3.

     The following is a testimony that Glenn shared with us.

     John 8:32 “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” God set many young people free last week. We were out recruiting late Monday night at Wal-Mart. Across the street was Bojangles. In the darkness of the night Glenn saw a shadow sitting at one of the benches. Not knowing if that person was even a teen made it tempting to just get back in the van, but God tugged on his heart and told him that he needed to go talk to that person. So, Glenn crossed four lanes of traffic and got over there and it was a teenager! Glenn began to talk to him and told him all about the WAR and he was all excited about it. Glenn was about to leave when the teenager said, “I’ve got four or five guys inside that would like that, too!” So, Glenn went into the Bojangles, right up to the front counter and said, “Hey, I’m looking for teenagers.” All of a sudden, seven or eight young people come to the front from around the counter as well as from the restaurant-side, and they all gather round. Glenn tells them all about the WAR. They all sounded excited about it, gave their names and numbers, and said they would come. Wednesday night one young man comes, Michael. He loves it! He listens to the Word of God and you can tell God’s working in his heart, but nothing happens. He said, “Hey, I’ll be back Thursday.”
Thursday morning Glenn texted Michael and asked if he was coming back to the WAR. Michael replied, “You better believe I’m coming! I came into school this morning telling everybody about it; they gotta come, too!”
Thursday night shows up and Michael’s there and he has a friend with him, Greg. Found out they had just met each other that afternoon. Michael was walking down the street, sees Greg on the street, and says, “Hey, ya doin’ anything tonight?” Greg says, “No.” Michael says, “I’ve never met you before, but you wanna go to church with me?” He said, “Sure!” So these two guys who had never met before show up the same time on Thursday night. God does a work in the preaching time, and Michael walks down the aisle.
In the counseling room Michael told the counselor, “Hey listen, just a few weeks ago my friend and I were getting high on drugs. As we were getting high I remember thinking about the word ‘revelation.’ I don’t know why I was thinking about the word ‘revelation’. I picked up my phone and looked up ‘revelation’, and it came up with the last verse in Revelation. It said, ‘shall have their part in the Lake of Fire.’ I couldn’t get that out of my mind.” You know what the preacher preached on that night? The Lake of Fire! Coincidence? No way! It was God! God worked in Michael’s life. Michael got saved.
In the meantime Glenn was walking outside after the service, and Greg walked up to him and said, “I’ve been blessed tonight! This has just been wonderful! I think God wanted me to be here tonight.” Glenn asked Greg if he knew for sure if he was on his way to Heaven. Greg just bowed his head and said, “No, I don’t.” Glenn said, “Greg, would you like to know?” Greg said, “I would.” So, Glenn walked into the counseling room and went all the way from sin through judgement and what Jesus Christ had done for him. Greg had the most somber look on his face, you would have thought he was going to cry. Through all of sin he said, “Oh, I’m a sinner.” Glenn kept going through the whole salvation plan and Greg wanted to pray. So, he prayed and then he looked up at Glenn. Glenn said, “Greg, what did you just do?” Greg said, “I just trusted Jesus.” “Greg, did Jesus just take away all your sin?” “Yes.” “Greg, if you were to die right now, where would you go?” And for the first time that evening, the biggest smile came on that boy’s face and he said, “I’d go to Heaven!” Well, he got it.
Greg walked outside and asked Glenn, “Now, I have a question: am I a Christian now?” Glenn asked, “Well, Greg, did you trust Jesus?” “Yes.” “Greg, the Bible says that if you trust Jesus, you are a Christian.” “Well, why is it that so many people claim to be Christians and they’re not going to Heaven?” Wow, profound!
Well, about this time Michael comes out of the counseling room. Greg looks up at him and asks, “Hey, what happened to you?” Michael throws his hands up and says, “I’m free!” They embrace and say, “Hey, I’m going to be here tomorrow night.”
Greg couldn’t come the last night, but Michael and another Michael came that had gotten saved. Boy, they were on fire! They said they went into their public schools on Friday morning telling everybody they’d HAVE to come and hear what Jesus Christ could do for them! Just astounding! God did another work in their lives. That’s the life we’re talking about - what Jesus Christ can do! The Truth shall set you free!
Then, we also saw God do a work in the school. There was one young man, Josh - he got rid of his hidden sin. He confessed it, got it right with his parents, got it right with his pastor, God began using his life. God put a burden in his heart for these young men that had just gotten saved. As we were leaving, we heard them talking saying, “Hey, you going to be here at church?” “Hey, you going to be here Sunday?” “I’m texting you this Saturday to make sure you’re coming to be at church.” “Yeah, I’m going to be here Sunday.” “Great! We’re going to be here Sunday!” “Okay, good!” “Alright! Hey listen, Tuesday night after school, you want to get together to play basketball and then we’ll look at the Bible and sit and talk about the Bible a little bit?” There’s no youth pastor standing around! These are teenage guys! Praise God for what He has done! He gives life; He gives revived life! God always promises to bless His Word.

Fire for the testimony service on Friday.

What the Lord has done so far in our team

 This last week we stayed at a camp since we did not have any meetings scheduled. We as a team were able to spend some extra time reflecting on what the Lord has done so far. Here is a conglomeration of ideas that we all shared.

I need to have God-dependence, not self-dependence.

It is so easy to say after so many weeks that, “I have been through this before” or “I know what to do about this.” However, that is depending on me, not God. It is a constant struggle, but I know that...

Sunrise on Lake Waccamaw

God’s got to do it.

If I try to do the work, it doesn’t work or it is not as good as it could have been. I can go out in my own strength and not accomplish anything. This also can bring discouragement. I need to constantly be reminded that...

I can’t; God can.

There is no reason for anyone to listen to me or for them to be drawn into the WAR. It is humanly not reasonable. God is the One Who draws them in and works in their hearts. We want God to do the work because He is the only One who can change a life.

God reaches the most unlikely teens.

It is so encouraging and amazing when the ones that would seem to be the hardest to spiritual things come and want to get things right. It is just a reminder that God can break through.

Devotions on the pier

It’s been exciting to see God break through tough situations.

When talking to the tough teens, God gives the words and you’re not even really sure where that all came from.

It’s so amazing to be a spectator to God’s work; it’s not human.

It’s like you have an out-of-body experience and you are just watching God do the work.

They both made it to the top!

It’s neat to know that God can use us...and that He does use us.

We are human beings and sinners just like them, but God allows us to be a vessel, a channel, to see teens’ lives changed. What a privilege!

God brings trials to be a help in the future.

The hard things I have gone through or am going through can be used to better understand and relate to others who are going through similar issues. It helps me to be more compassionate and to have a feeling of where they have been and where God can take them. I praise the Lord for the experience.

The Lord has increased my faith.

When the recruits don’t all come or decisions are few, it brings me to my knees and challenges my faith. I know that God wants to work mightily.

Catching lizards :P

Prayer is the real work. My prayer life has been so enhanced. 

When we don’t pray, there is no power. It is so important to pray!

God convicted me not to pass any recruits. 

Every teen is a possibility for God to do a work. It is my small faith that tells me that they are too young or too old or that they won’t want to listen. You never know what God is going to do and where that young person is in their life. They probably have great spiritual needs. Don’t pass up a single person that God has brought across your path.

The unique opportunities to talk about the Gospel throughout the tour have been exciting.

When we are out and about, like the time at our Mexican Restaurant, we draw some attention with our team shirts or simply because we are a big group. People ask what we are doing or where we are from. There have been so many opportunities to pass out tracts and explain what we are doing.

Dr. Jim and Mrs. Van ;)

Berryville, VA

Thursday, October 18 Takara raised her hand that she was not sure of her salvation. She did not come back to talk with a counsellor. I tried to talk with her after the service to see if she would want to get some counsel, but the conversation did not seem to go anywhere. We continued to pray for the Lord to continue to work in her heart.
Friday at lunch Glenn told me that a couple of girls had been seen telling Takara that she should get saved. He asked me to try to find the girls and see if I could talk to Takara. I did find the girls. Takara was crying because she was under such conviction about needing to get saved, but yet she didn’t think she could. I was able to talk with her for a while and make sure she understood salvation. She understood, but wanted to wait to get saved until later. I encouraged her to get it settled as soon as possible before Satan would deceive her that she did not need to be saved or that she could not get saved. I asked her to make the decision at some point that day and that I would ask her at the evening games. She agreed.
At the games she told me with a smile on her face that she had made the decision! She even gave a testimony at the fireside service! Praise the Lord!!

Takara: God saved me this week and I thought I was saved before, but something just didn’t feel right in my heart and his messages kind of woke me up and God stepped on my doorstep and He said, “Hey, he’s talking about you.” And it just really woke me up and I knew that God wanted me to be saved and so I got saved and I’m glad.

Text from Takara: Thank u all so much for your ministries! Your messages woke me up to realize I really wasn’t saved and I was going to hell. The Lord has worked in the hearts of many in keystone and i promise to help the ones that are lost in our school. Tell Jessica I said thank you because if she hadn’t talked with me I probably still wouldn’t be saved. Tears if joy are running down my face now because I know The Lord is with me and working in my heart. Tell all of the minute men I said thank you and I will be praying for you all to continue the success!

6 other teens were saved during this week!

Morgantown, VA

Well, to be very honest, Friday was the highlight of my week! Friday was my birthday!! Everyone did a wonderful job making me feel special!! My parents had already sent my gift and a card the week before. On Friday morning, I walked into our classroom to be surprised by the girls throwing confetti at me and yelling “Happy Birthday!!!” followed by them singing their special birthday song (followed by yet more confetti throwing!)! They had decorated the room earlier that morning with streamers and balloons! They even had specially decorated where my desk was with more streamers, balloons, cards, and presents! It was so sweet of them! They really did a GREAT job!!!

Throughout the morning I received many birthday texts from friends all across the USA! THANK YOU!!!!!

At lunchtime, the team pulled out a carrot raisin cake and sang to me again! Janna had put it in the oven early in the morning so that it could be all frosted and decorated!

For supper we went to the assistant pastor’s house like we had enjoyed every evening of the week. At the end of the delicious meal, Missy pulled out a brownie-cookie-pie with candles on it and they all sang to me and gave me a card and a present!!!

Before going to the WAR, I was able to Skype my mom and my little nephew. It still makes me laugh when I think of him singing Happy Birthday to me!!

I really cannot get over how thoughtful everyone was!!! Many thanks to all of you who helped to make my birthday special!