Ministry News
Greetings once again in the name of our blessed Savior and Lord Jesus Christ! I hope you have avoided the dreaded flu this season, we have, by God’s mercy.
The Lord has blessed me with several new clients recently, and I hope He will keep them coming! It seems like I am just in my office to counsel and shoot video blogs and am doing most of my administrative work from home to be available to mom.
Pastor Ken and Linda Keeler of ELM Philly are leading a Couples Retreat called Keeping Our Marriage Vibrant! the weekend of May 4-6 at Camp Hebron in Halifax, PA. It is open to any couple, and the total cost including meals is $375.00. For more information email Pastor Ken at [email protected].
Thank you for your many kind comments on our Facebook page and blog page on our website. Both Ken and I really enjoy sharing the wonderful Exchanged Life Truths each week in our Nugget of Truth blogs. If you haven’t seen then, please take a moment a check out our latest blogs entries.
Testimony Time
Marissa was referred to me for help for herself and her kids after her husband, Tommy, left her for another woman. The kids were all manifesting problematic behaviors as a result of the stress of his leaving and being forced to spend time with him and his girlfriend.
Marissa was at a loss on how to help them as well as deal with his choices. The one thing that is helping her the most is her strong connection to Jesus. She knows that He is her true Husband and will always be there to meet her physical, emotional and spiritual needs.
Tommy was never really engaged as a dad. He still prefers video games to interacting with his kids. So, when he does have them to his apartment, he often leaves them with his girlfriend and gets lost in his gaming world. This freaks the kids out, which in turn leads them to act out their stress when they get back to Marissa.
Our time together has been mixed with teaching her the basic Exchanged Life Truths along with parenting techniques to use in response to her kids’ struggles. All of them are too young to effectively process their dad’s choice and adapt to having, in essence, a ‘step-mom.’ Needless to say, Marissa has her hands full.
I also heard some accounts that indicated some spiritual warfare attacks. So, we went over some fundamentals on warfare praying, and I designed some specific prayers for her to use over them and in her apartment. Some immediate improvement was seen, but the battles resume when the kids see him again.
Marissa knows that Jesus has given her the victory. If you think of her, please pray for strength and wisdom!
Update on Mom (Emma)
Thanks for your faithful prayers for mom. So far, we have been blessed to avoid all cold and flu illnesses this season! Also, mom was approved for another 2 months of hospice care at the end of February, which was a huge relief for me.
She still continues to lose weight… mostly muscle. Her appetite is about half of what it once was. Her cognitive abilities have been getting worse with virtually no short term memory.
It’s very hard to get her up in the morning, and sometimes she refuses to get up until 2pm. She turns 90 in June, and we’d love to have her still with us. Please keep her in your prayers! Thank you!
ELM Finances
Thank you so much to all of you who made year-end donations. Praise the Lord, we ended 2017 in the black and with a buffer to start 2018! Please continue to remember ELM in your regular financial giving.
I received the disappointing news that my home church reduced their quarterly support by $300 in 2018. Please pray that other donors will be able to make up that deficit. Donations of any amount are such an encouragement to me as I try to juggle all the needs of the ministry while caring for my mom.
Please consider making your tax deductible donation to ELM. You can do so directly on our website by clicking on the Donation tab or by sending in a check to our address. Simply, make your check payable to ELM.
Praise & Prayer
Praise:
- For a few new clients.
- For Ken’s upcoming speaking events including a marriage conference.
- For my clients’ growth in Christ and their emotional/spiritual healing.
- For a growing social media following of our blog.
- For solid year-end giving and sufficient funds to keep the ministry going.
- That Mom has been free from seasonal illnesses.
- For approval of another 2 months on Hospice and a great team of Hospice workers.
Prayer:
- For consistent monthly donations so we can keep going.
- For new client referrals.
- For Mom to be stable but still qualify for hospice.
- For wisdom in each counseling session.
- For me to stay focused on the Lord and His love for me, and for my faith to be strong in Him.
- For Pastor Ken Keeler to be invited into churches to teach the EL truths.
- For ELM’s social media following to grow exponentially.