one big stretch

this week has been one of the most emotionally and spiritually challenging weeks in my life in a long time. but as one speaker i heard recently said, when God speaks and shares a new part of Himself it might feel like a long painful stretch...it hurts and is uncomfortable, but the end result is so good, often a good we can't describe. God is stretching my perception of Him, challenging my knowledge of who He is, and reminding me that He is so much more infinitely grand than I could ever imagine. i don't want a God i can aptly describe or even begin to understand. He would no longer be God to me. i know i'm failing to let you know what exactly He is doing in my heart in these days - that's probably because i don't even know. i just know, i am so desperate to know Him and experience Him in all His glorious fullness and richness. so, God, go ahead and stretch me out...show me more of Yourself and empty me out till i overflow with Your Spirit.

this weekend john and i had the privilege of leading a seminar together at the Stepping Stone retreat. Stepping Stone meets on Hopkins campus and is the sister ministry in our network of 3 churches (the Gracelife network). it is an incredible, growing ministry of some of the sweetest people you'll ever meet. the retreat was from Friday night thru Sunday morning and John and i had the opportunity to do a seminar on dating and relationships. We only had a few days to pull it together, but had a good time doing so and were even able to dig a little deeper in our own conversation as we gained a better perspective from each other on this whole theme of Christ-centered relationships. the seminar went well and we got some good feedback from the students who attended it. great growing experience for us as a couple. the retreat itself was an incredible time of worship and fellowship and God showed up in a powerful way. 6 students committed their lives to Christ in first time professions of faith and about 13 more came forward when Pastor Roger gave an invitation for those feeling called to ministry. i'm thrilled to see what God is doing and will do in and through this ministry and the lives of these students.

the photos i posted today are from a couple different events. the bottom one is from the Progressive Dinner we hosted with the Light (taken in my apt). it was a fantastic success. even with the weather being rainy and cold we had around 30 people fill my apartment and two other apartments as we had appetizers and a main course and dessert together. those who came represented all kinds of backgrounds ranging from Peabody students to Hopkins residents, to MICA students, interns, and young working professionals. and everyone had a blast hanging out, enjoying the good food, and getting to know each other. for a church that had been running less than 30 on a regular basis for the last year, this was an incredible sight. God has been so good to grow our church and bring in the most beautiful array of unique individuals. praise the LORD for new growth.

the first few photos are all from the Stepping Stone retreat. so enjoy those. :)

please keep praying for john and i as we plan for January and the life ahead of us and more specifically as we pray about and work towards raising financial support to continue in this ministry God has given us. we are confident in His faithful provision and have no doubt He will make a way, but we also know the next year is going to be an enormous period of growth as we learn to do life as husband and wife and ultimately trust God entirely for everything we need. i'm eager and nervous and so excited all at once to know how hugely my faith will be challenged and strengthened in this new season.

lastly, 6 other girlfriends and i will be heading out tonight to see the last of John's old roomies married off to my wonderful friend Sarah. it's going to be a LONG drive down to Jekyll Island, GA, but i know its going to be a wonderful time of sweet fellowship with friends, celebration of new life adventures, and a wedding ceremony that will be beautifully dedicated to our LORD. not to mention, it'll be the last of the weddings John and i attend before our own in January! have i mentioned how tremendously, wonderfully blessed i am by that precious gift of God? he is absolutely the man of dreams and a man furiously chasing after God's heart and already has been encouraging me, leading me, and challenging me to run into a deeper relationship with our LORD. i can't express well enough how blessed i feel to be preparing to share life with him. just thought you should know. ;)









thank you for your continued prayers. if you read the last post...keep them coming for issues we're working through on MICA campus and for issues of space for our churches. again, we know God is sovereign and is already working these details out, but we are seeking His face for the wisdom to know how to move forward and surrendering each step to Him. love to you! -m

prayer needs

i can't seem to focus on getting things done today because my mind is distracted by a rather heavy prayer concern on the hearts of Light church leadership lately. it seems there have been some new students groups forming on MICA's campus under the banner of "Christianity" that are presenting a skewed message of the gospel. it has begun to create some serious confusion and frustration for some of the students that are members of our church and is creating tension and mistrust between friends whose close friends are getting swept into these groups and then challenging the faith of others. it's no surprise this is happening in the same season that our church has been gearing up to establish more of a presence on MICA's campus in hopes of building the Christian community and providing a stronger sense of fellowship there. certainly spiritual warfare will amp up as believers step up their commitment to the Great Commission.

Please please be praying for MICA's campus, for our students out of the Light church - that their faith would have a firm foundation and that the Spirit would give wisdom and real insight into what is truth and what is false. Pray also for those students becoming so committed to these other groups. Their degree of devotion and passion in regards to these groups is admirable yet to be quite frank, rather new and sudden. Something about the ministries of these churches is absolutely captivating these students, but its leaving those of us who love them feeling uncomfortable and wary of what exactly they're committing themselves to.

With that, our Gracelife network is encountering a number of battles ranging from not having enough space for an influx of new church visitors, to not having space to meet at all, and a variety of other struggles between ministry burn-out and funding issues. The glorious thing is, God is absolutely in control. This network of churches is a family committed to our Savior and surrendered to His plan and I am confident that He which began a good work will be faithful to complete it.

John and I are in the midst of writing our own support letters as our NAMB funding will end abruptly at the end of this year. It is a whole new world for both of us since we have been fully funded in our ministry roles for the last two years. For sure, our first year or so of marriage is going to be an adventure and a growing experience as we trust God to make a way and provide for us to continue giving our lives away in the very specific calling He's placed on us both.

this Sunday night is our annual Baltimore Baptist Association meeting, so please also be praying for that time with our pastors. we will be announcing some big changes for the association and recognizing the evangelistic efforts of our churches over the past year. my time with Embrace is wrapping up and with the end of the year slow-down there isn't much going on around the office, but my prayer is that our churches have learned and grown and benefited from these last two years as a strategic focus city. this city is broken and there is SO much work left to do, but our churches desperately need your prayers to continue pressing on in the ministry God has given them.

please keep praying for Baltimore. for the presence of darkness to be dispelled by the Body of Christ and for God to be glorified in every corner of this city. in that prayer, please pray for the refreshing of His servants. it truly can be a battlefield and some of our church leaders have undergone intense spiritual attack in recent months, they need to know the Body is praying. thanks all.

love - m

scenes of summer...in honor of the last day of summer!

news out the wazoo.....

wow....yes, i know how terribly far behind i am in reporting updates. i wanted to post a bunch of photos for readers to enjoy but can't seem to figure our blogger in order to do that. so anyway, i'll give you a photo of my new FIANCE and i. :) john kovacs and i got engaged on august 7 of this year and are planning for a january 2, 2010 wedding. i couldn't be more delighted and thrilled at the precious plan of our LORD in our lives. we had the opportunity in mid-August to travel to my dear friend, Emily's wedding in Texas, drove home w/ mom to spend a couple days in AR, then flew to New Orleans to spend some time in Baton Rouge w/ John's family. i have since thanked the LORD so many times for blessing us both with tremendous families that love us so much. i couldn't have asked for a more wonderful family to marry into.

in other news, summer has wrapped up for Embrace Baltimore and the Baltimore Baptist Association. we had another good year with more teams than i can count coming from all across the US to serve w/ Baltimore churches including two churches very close to my heart, FBC London AR (who served with Valley Baptist Church) and FBC Rogers AR who served with Graceplace Church. God has been doing a continual work of stretching and challenging our local churches and giving them a new heart and passion for loving Jesus and loving others as He has called us to do. there is still SO much work to do and i still beg your prayers for the ministry of follow-up that so many of our churches struggle to grasp.

we also had a team of incredible summer missionaries who came with hearts so ready to love and serve the LORD in whatever thing He called them to. i was very proud of their flexibility, ability to work together, and eagerness to serve. they're all back on their respective college campuses now, and i'm excited to hear how God might use them in those mission fields. thanks for coming and giving your all guys: Anthony, Anna-Colby, Ashley, Jeanna, Sara, Melissa, Elisabeth, Andrew, Natalie, Jared, Kathrin, Damian, Hannah, Emily, Miranda, and Mark.

the changing of the summer season seems a sign of other changes in so many lives around me including my own. roomie Lily married Jeremy Cotton-Schmidt on august 29 (they are currently honeymooning in Costa Rica), roomie Brandy has transitioned into part-time service with a local church plant called Infinity and has moved into her own apartment in their target area (they launch September 13, so be in prayer for them!). Dawn will be finishing her USC2 term in late September and be headed back to GA for whatever God has for her from there. i am now enagaged, planning a wedding, have recently moved into a 4th floor apartment in the middle of Mt. Vernon (2 doors down from the Light!), and am also working part-time with the Light Church. Brandy and I are still putting in two days a week at the Embrace office and serving our BBA churches however they may need. it has been a season of BIG change in all our lives, but God continues to prove Himself so incredibly faithful to us.

thanks for your continued love and prayers. there's still a lot of unknowns, particularly after january 2 :) but again, God has been faithful all along and i know He has some beautiful plans still to unfold for our lives. i'll try to do a better job of keeping you posted.

as you pray for us thru the fall please just pray for our BBA churches to stay motivated and driven by the Spirit to love the lost and take risks in Jesus' name and pray also for the Light church as we minister to college students and young professionals in the Mt. Vernon community. we're expecting a big season of growth both numerical and spiritual and we as the leadership of the church just want to be in the center of God's will in order to be ready for that growth. pray also for john and i as we plan a wedding and our lives together beyond december. both of our USC2 terms finish in December, so we are praying hard about how God will allow us to continue in ministry without the financial support of a NAMB missions position. we're open to whatever He has for us, and excited about it all.

thanks again. love you all. :)

m

if My people...

If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. - 2 Chronicles 7:14

I can't begin to express the heaviness of my heart for the Church in Baltimore right now. I’m hesitant to write this because I know it could be read the wrong way or feelings of those working in the Church may be hurt, but I’m writing because the Church so desperately needs your prayer right now. It has been a full summer of ministry and outreach happening all over the city and county and mission teams have flooded our fields once again, but the work is far from completed, in fact, it feels the work has barely even begun. As you may know, I work mainly with our churches on outreach such as VBS and Bible Clubs - this season is always supposed to be the most exciting because of the fruit it yields with hundreds of unchurched children finding their way into our church sanctuaries and hearing the glorious Gospel of Jesus preached loud and clear, at their level of understanding. This summer we've not seen the fruit in these ministries that we’d expected or hoped for, and I know that's due in part to the fact that as a Church we expect big movements of God without a willingness to commit to the big work those results require. Perhaps it’s also due to a void of purity and holiness within the Church. Perhaps it’s due to Churches failing to produce disciples of converts. Perhaps we have truly hardened our hearts and blinded our eyes to the great need of this dark city. Perhaps it’s safer to stay inside, to build a holy community that cannot be sinfully tainted, or to shut out the needs of those around us in order to focus on meeting our own needs. Whatever the case, sin and evil are rampant as ever in this broken city (check out this link for recent news: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bal-md.ci.violence28jul28,0,6786209.story) and even the Church whose calling is to storm the gates of hell is silent in the chaos.
Please, brothers and sisters, pray with me for our Church in this city – for believers to humble themselves and pray and seek the face of our just and holy God. He desires to hear the cry of a broken heart offered in humility and repentance. Please pray with me for a passion for purity, a contrite and repentant spirit, disciples to be made intentionally, leaders to lead with wisdom and integrity, and a unified desire for our LORD to take His place as King in our hearts, our Church, and our city.

thank you for your continued faithful prayers....

love-m

SM photo shoot

photo of our Embrace office Summer Missionary team at the Inner Harbor

and another from Convoy of Hope - our Summer Missionary Crew and the lovely Mrs. Rose Dowell (wife of my wonderful boss Mitch)

two weeks in...

so our girls have been here two weeks now. it's been a fun ride thus far. our housing at Middle River Baptist Church has worked out well, but it also means our house also functions as a dining hall and hang-out. :) its been a bit of an adjustment, but the girls have brought a lot of life, fun, and fresh enthusiasm to our lives and workplace. i have one more missionary arriving this evening to join our evangelism team. please be praying for these three young women, Sara, Jeanna (pronounced Gina) and Elisabeth. i pray this summer will bring great spiritual growth for each of them as they seek to know God better and discern His will for their futures. i'm also praying they will provide a shot of encouragement and blessing as well as urgency and passion to the churches with whom they are serving over the next 6-8 weeks.

i had asked your prayers for the Convoy of Hope city outreach that happened in Baltimore a couple weeks ago. here are some stats:
* 1000 people served in Haircuts
* 375 families received portraits
* Over 200 people tested and screened for AIDS/HIV
* 80+ churches were involved
* 22 churches will be conducting follow up
* 70+ participating organizations
* 1101 volunteers
* 1100+ children heard the gospel and enjoyed the Kidz Zone
* 80,000lbs of groceries were given away
* 2600+ guests received personal prayer
* 110+ decisions for Christ
* 3052 Guests attended and witnessed first hand the love of Christ.

thanks for your prayers, and praise the LORD for His answers.

please continue to keep us in your prayers. summer is picking up speed and with crazy busy schedules its easy for attitudes to sour and make living and working together a trial. pray for extra grace for all of us to live with patience, a servant's spirit, humility, joy, and absolute dependence on His provision. and pray that Baltimore continues to see the love of God thru His children all summer long.

much love - m