Praying them Home

Our E-Women team is making their way home after spending time in Nicaragua with the Compassion International team.

I was blessed to talk via live chat with Beth each evening. She shared the heartache of the poverty and the joy of those living for the Lord. I can't wait until they return and we hear more stories. I know there are many to share.

They met so many children -- just like those to the right in the Compassion box. These children need you to make a commitment to them -- a commitment of the heart and the wallet. A commitment of only a $38 a month. A commitment you can make today -- just click on the box and learn more about these children in need.

We appreciate your prayers for our E-Women team. I appreciate you checking in here to find out more about them. I ask that you continue to lift them up in prayer. They may be heading back to American soil, but they return changed people. God changes heart when they are obedient to Him.

I want to echo Beth's prayers for the Lord to captivate my heart and to captivate your heart.
Lord, hear our prayers and know that we love You. Captivate my heart and give me a fiery passion that burns deep within my soul. Let me burn brightly for You.

A Little Girl in a Lap.

The E-Women team in Nicaragua is keeping in touch and is still in much need of our prayers. Continue to pray for the team.

Beth brings us another update.


Have you ever had one of those mornings where you woke to a song on your heart? It´s just one of the special ways that I know that the Lord is speaking to me and I am so thankful.

This morning, I woke up with 'Be Thou Near to Me' on my heart.

And the holy voices sing “Hallelu!”
Ever will Thy reign be.
As I wander through this life,
Oh Lord, be Thou near to me

I pulled out my iPod and begin my morning listening to Selah sing the song the Lord laid on my heart as my morning prayer. Then it was off to breakfast with the team. in the lobby for breakfast.

I´m thankful that I serve a Savior who pursues me and allows me to draw close to Him.

After breakfast, we headed out to a Mission church that began with Compassion International seven years ago. The current pastor and his family have been here for 9 months. The facility is clean and well organized. The classrooms are used for basic instruction skills such as sewing, baking, and they even had a small computer lab. The Compassion team shared this was the first computer lab they’d ever seen in all of their travels. We learned the computer lab is funded by private donations. Private donations do much around here. For example, one of the child sponsors actually brought a team just last week to put a new roof on the facility and assisted with finishing off the classrooms on the second floor. You could tell they were proud to their facility.

After our visit at the Mission church, Scarlett, our hostess, along with the Pastor, and interpreters took us to the homes of two of the children. Our first stop was the home of a 9 year old little girl whose sponsor had visited her about 5 times over the course of a few years. The sponsors picture proudly was hung in the family home which consisted of one large room. The grandmother raises her eight grandchildren of which four of them are a part of the Compassion program. I had the incredible privilege of praying over the grandmother and an infant who has been sick the past few weeks. Needless to say it was a very emotional moment for me and even now reflecting on it I am struggling. The grandmother´s hug after the prayer will forever be etched in my mind.

The home of Stephen, was our next stop. He’s just a little boy who wants to be an astronaut when he grows up. He dreams of visiting Jupiter one day but said “I’ll never visit the sun because it will burn me.”. So precious. Stephen lives with his mother, aunts, and grandmother. He told us that he loves Jesus and sang for us. I think we could have all brought him home with us. His sponsor lives in the U.S. as well but he has never had the chance to meet them.

We finished up our visit back at the church with lunch and a program by the children.
We spent some time visiting and brought along school supplies which we gave to the children.


As I close, let me tell you a little about a girl who stole my heart-- Andrienna. During the program, she just came over and curled up in my lap without hesitation. Touch is definitely a universal language as she enjoyed me lightly scratching her arms as I do with my friends’ children and my niece when she was little. With the interpreter’s help, I found out Andrienna is 6 years old. She loves Math and hopes to work with computers someday. She enjoys playing with baby dolls and has two older sisters. Andrienna is one of the precious memories I’ll carry with me long after this trip is over.

Another special friend was Ericka, who teaches the baking classes. We enjoyed talking about baking and exchanged recipes. I got one for Cheese Churos and I´ll be sending over my Monster cookie recipe once I get back in the States.

Have a great day in the Lord...


Continue to pray for God's guidance over this group. Pray that the Lord captivate their hearts and lead them in His ways. And I pray that the Lord captivates your heart. Do you want to sponsor a child? How is the Lord moving you?


Lord, I just come before You humbled to stand and lift up my brothers and sisters in the faith. Lord, be with Beth, Julie, Megan and Michael as they visit the children and the families. Lord give them the eyes to see what You would have them see. Lord, give them the message to deliver back to us. So many things are coming at them, help them sort through each one and focus on Your will for this trip. Lord, we know that it is only through You can we achieve anything. And it's only through You that Ewome exists. Lord, we commit this trip to You. Lord, captivate their hearts! Give them a passion for You! A fiery passion! Lord, captivate my heart and set it on fire with a passion to serve You and only You. Lord, captivate all those who read this blog -- pour out a passion for You on their heads. Bind us to You!

Amen!

In Nicaragua - Captivate our Hearts

As I shared yesterday, a group from E-Women has teamed up with Compassion International and is in Nicaragua this week. I'm thrilled to bring you a message from Beth Cleveland.



It’s a hot and sticky winter night here in Managua, Nicaragua.

The EW Team (Julie, Megan, Michael, and I) arrived safely along with our Compassion International Leaders, Michael Collins and Mark Nelessen. Our local hostess, Scarlett, greeted us at the airport. She will be escorting us to the local mission churches over the next two days. We are excited to have the opportunity to meet the children and the local pastors. We’ve been in our hotel rooms inflating soccer balls, footballs, basketballs, sorting arts/crafts materials, and lots of other resource materials.

We hear that the President of Nicaragua loves Christmas! It’s evident as large Christmas trees, and decorations are lit up throughout the city. I even caught a glimpse of Santa Clause on the rooftop of one of the local businesses. Nothing was more awesome to see in the middle of the square but a 15 foot Jesus with arms open wide, just waiting for His children to come to him.

Michael and I are snacking on fries and burgers as I’m writing this, and he asks me ‘Where is that we see that in US other than in our churches?”

As I close, I want to share with you the song that has been my prayer for the team the past few weeks as we prepared for this trip. I don’t know about you but I not only want to be captivated by Him here but also everyday ….until tomorrow…

Captivate us, Lord Jesus
Set our eyes on You
Devastate us with Your presence
Falling down
And rushing river, draw us nearer
Holy fountain consume us with You
Captivate us Lord Jesus, with You



Please continue to pray for Beth, Michael, Megan, and Julie has they are visiting the children today. Pray for their strength and for the Lord to bring them back to us changed forever by this experience.

Lord, protect them, captivate them, and forever change their hearts. Give them a message to share with all of us. Amen

Compassion & E-Women Team Up

Compassion is an incredible organization that ministers to children around the world through sponsorships and a variety of other ways. Currently, Compassion helps over one million children in 25 countries!

Compassion is making a global impact for God's Kingdom one child at a time.

A team from the Extraordinary Women staff is traveling with a Compassion team to to Nicaragua where they will meet some of the children and visit with their families.

Maybe you want to sponsor a Compassion Child -- never thought of it? Well, here's your chance. It's only $38 a month. Take a look at the children in need of a sponsor.

This team will have the opportunity to experience the Compassion work first hand. They will visit a Child Development Center and visit in the homes of the children. This is a life-changing trip -- for everyone. And they need our prayers.

Please commit to pray each day for this team --
Beth, Julie, Megan, Michael
Pray for them as they travel today.
They will travel the majority of the day and arrive in Nicaragua tonight.

Each day they are in Nicaragua we will post prayer requests for them. Cover them with prayer.

Lord, I ask that you are with Beth, Julie, Megan, and Michael. Lord, give them comfortable travel and easy connections. Lord, allow them to enjoy sweet fellowship together as they travel. Use this time to prepare their hearts for what You have in store for them. Lord, only You know what the next days hold and I know they are trusting Your plan.
Lord, I ask that you keep them safe as they travel. Let the check-in procedures go smoothly and the security checks move swiftly.

Lord, this is a precious group of Your children and I ask that You hold them in the palm of Your Hand.
In Your Name, Amen.

Behind the Scenes with Lindsay

Meet Lindsay Crosby.

Lindsay is the Associate Conference Coordinator and the all around go-to girl. Lindsay works alongside Beth, the E-Women Director. She’s takes care of more conference stuff than I can even imagine and also heads up the volunteer team. She coordinates the volunteers before and during the event. Lindsay is one busy lady.

Lindsay has been with the E-Women group since 2007 and began her role as Conference Coordinator in January 2009.

I caught up with Lindsay recently and got some insider information to share with you.

Lindsay has a Tiny Teacup Yorkie named Sophie.

Favorite website or blog: Twitter

Coke or Pepsi: Diet Pepsi

Favorite Scripture: Jeremiah 29:11-13

What's your favorite part of working with E-Women?

I love being able to work with people from all different types of backgrounds—not only at the conferences, but also in the office every day. EWomen has given me the opportunity to interact with well-known speakers and artists, but I have also had the pleasure of sitting behind the registration table and listening to some amazing women of God in the form of volunteers.

Will you share a behind the scenes story?

When we first got our walkie-talkies with the special ear plug for the Tulsa conference in March there were several mishaps! We had difficulty with the volume being too low and therefore, continuously calling for someone (with that person responding several times) without being able to hear their response. Also, Michael always plays the song, "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley at every conference over the walkie-talkies at some point—it is now an official EWomen ritual. :-)

Can you share one of your favorite things that happens at an EWomen event?

Every Saturday afternoon I am moved by the altar call. No matter where I am or what I am doing I try to make it into the arena to see it. It is incredible to see what the Lord does each and every week in and through the lives of women. Truly amazing.

Thanks so much Lindsay! You are such a blessing to so many women everywhere!

Watch for more about Lindsay and volunteering!

Spotlight on Kim, Carrie & Lisa

Kim, Carrie, & Lisa

The face of a Extraordinary Women Volunteer -- well, really, three faces.

Meet three extraordinary women who shared their time, talents, and heart at the Birmingham, Alabama conference. Kim, Carrie, and Lisa are three of over 50 volunteers who worked at the Birmingham event. I recently asked Kim about her volunteering experience.



Kim:
I found out about volunteering from one of my friends, as soon as I heard was excited. I had been interested in attending the conference and been praying that God would use me more.

I felt like this was a door God opened for me to come to the conference and also work for his Kingdom.


I felt like I got to be Martha and Mary all at the same time!!


If someone was to ask me about the volunteer program, I would recommend it to them excitedly and tell them what a great experience it was for me. I would love to do it again next year.

Thanks Kim! I appreciate you taking the time to share a little bit about your volunteer experience.

Are you interested in learning more about volunteering for an Extraordinary Women Conference? Stay tuned to blog, we'll be talking about more in the upcoming weeks.

The Winner is ...

The Winner of the Prize Pack is .....(drum roll....)

HisFireFly!

She'll be wearing the scarf soon!!




True Random Number Generator

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Result:
9
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Tuesday Give-Away!

Contest Closed! Winner is Karin!
Tuesday Give Away.

To get us started, I've put together a Extraordinary Women package.

There's the yellow scarf with the words 'Totally God's' on it. Very cute.

And the E-Women butterfly key chain. Quite handy and cute.

Then, there's the E-Women 09 Live Worship CD w/ Charles Billingsley -- it's awesome!

This is our kickoff give-away that includes something for your the body (scarf), the heart (worship CD) and the mind (the key chain... okay, it's a stretch, but you can keep up with your keys and that makes your mind a little happier, right?)


Now to the important part -- how do you get this wonderful prize pack. Just comment and make sure you put your email address in the comment if you use anonymous. I'll use Random Number Selector to pick a number! See, really simple.

So let the comments roll!

Enjoying Life Together

Extraordinary Women Conferences are amazing! You'll be challenged in your walk with the Lord. You'll be encouraged as your dig deeper in God's Word. You'll be blessed by the speakers, artists, your sisters in the seats with you, but above all you'll be blessed by the Lord.


And there are really great t-shirts!


And even better friends!



I hope to see you at an Extraordinary Women Conference -- and let's get to know each other even before we meet in person.

Coming Soon....

Coming Soon is a new Extraordinary Women web site!

I got a sneak peek at it and y'all are going to LOVE it! It's snazzy! Just like all our E-Women speakers, artists and the behind-the-scenes people.

Also, watch for Give-Away Tuesday. Every Tuesday (or until we run out of great giveaway stuff) I'll post a prize to giveaway.

Come by Tuesday and find out how easy it is to win!!