Ministry Meeting Update!

Oh Lord, I had a dentist appointment this morning. After all that x-ray, the dentist told me that I was fine. It seemed like a miracle! I mean, I seriously can't remember the last time I got that remark from my dentist! But after a second check, he found a huge cavity hidden away at the very back. The dentist said that if we had been any more late, I would have had to have a root canal. "Man, why is this happening?! I thought everything was fine!" I thought as the dentist prepared to drill my poor tooth. Amazingly, Sarah didn't have any cavity after her check, while poor Amy got three cavities; she couldn't eat for a while afterwards. Lord, I promise that from now on, I'm gonna brush my teeth at least three times a day! This is going to be part of my new years' resolution: to be cavity-free at every dentist check-up.

An awesome thing happened today. There was a thick layer of fog this morning, so Mom turned on the headlights on our drive to see the dentist. When we arrived, we forgot to turn off the lights. So for the entire two hours or so, the lights were on. Miraculously, our car didn't run out of electricity until we got home. THANK YOU JESUS! It could've been so dangerous, I mean, we didn't even realize it while we drove home! Good thing our car didn't break down right in the middle of the road! GOD YOU ARE OUR PROTECTOR, THANK YOU!

At 7:30 that night, Tiffa and I went to join the ministry meeting at Jack's house (we needed information on the winter camp). It was so encouraging to listen to the cell group leaders talk about their victories and struggles in their ministry. Momo actually made an entire binder for WAVE, including their pictures, mission statement, self-evaluation, and record of what they did for each meeting. It was fantastic! Jack told them to challenge each other to take their cell groups to the next level.

Then it was Annie's turn to report what 7-11 has been up to and what areas we need to improve. 7-11's purpose is to inspire other girls to embrace their womanhood and find their positions in the kingdom of God. Annie had three words for 7-11: "Be sincere, savvy, and sophisticated." Since the members are all Christians, Annie's current goal is to mobilize us to start our own ministry and to reach out to new friends. Annie said that we need more one-on-one and strengthen our caring network. She also said that we need to start taking charge during these three months. I took so much notes and felt horrible for not knowing the purpose of my cell group and my leader's vision. 7-11 members! Let us rise up!

I learned so much from the meeting. For example, Jack told us that discipleship is the key to success in all areas of life, that it is something we do for our own benefit. There is going to be a new discipleship program available to all Impact members: people who sign -up will have to do weekly evaluations (i.e, how many people did they save this week) and Jack and Annie will be kicking their butts to discipline their walk with Jesus. Jack also told us that we'll become really encouraged when we give ourselves a number (i.e, save 5 souls a week).

When it was time to discuss the winter camp, Tiffa and I became really nervous. At the end of discussion, we felt like puppies that were expecting approval but got kicked instead. I mean, Tiffa and I had been dreaming for the camp, and we came up with all kinds of ideas--we had envisioned an intensive leader training camp. But Jack woke us up and made us realize how broad our vision was: the camp should focus only on one theme, we need to serve the campers' needs instead of "training" them, there will be only one major speaker (we had wanted some campers to come up and be supportive speakers), and we need to help the campers build good friendship with each other (rather than just focusing on individual campers' relationship with God). Though a little shaken, Tiffa and I realized the weaknesses in our original plan and were glad that we sort of have a guideline now.

Lord help us to be organized and take responsibility of this life You've given us, provide those who need jobs or clients, take the Thanksgiving Party and winter camps into Your hands, and give us the love and patience to do one-on-one with our friends for the sake of winning souls for You. Amen!