Ministry News
Greetings once again in the name of our blessed Savior and Lord Jesus Christ! I hope you all are ready for Spring. We were blessed with an unusually mild winter here in the Philly area for which we are grateful!
I will be speaking at Grace Community Church in Coatesville, PA on April 18th. It’s a one day Ladies’ Conference on Mary and Martha. I always love sharing with those wonderful ladies! Counseling continues to go well, and I’ve been doing more phone counseling lately with clients who live too far to make it in for a face to face session.
Pastor Ken continues to preach Sunday evenings at his church as well and mentor several men. He is currently designing a workbook Christ’s Plan for Victorious Living which he plans on teaching through with his men’s group.
In December, by Board Members gave me several tasks to accomplish this quarter. I have met with Glen Rosenberger and two local pastors to discuss how to grow ELM Philly. One suggestion that I am praying on is to rebrand by changing the name of the ministry. While I will forever base our counseling model on the foundation of the Exchanged Life truths, it is an often misunderstood term that may be holding us back from getting referrals. My board also wants me to expand our social media presence on to the Instagram platform as well. That is still in the works. Thank you for your prayers and support as we consider some changes to help grow the ministry this year!
Testimony Time
Ben and Martha were referred to me by a mutual friend. Their kids were grown and launched, so they thought they were going to ease into the next phase of being empty nesters. But, the Lord had other plans. He brought two young brothers, James and John, into their lives. These boys had known nothing but neglect and trauma. While they were getting some help from behavioral therapists, their friend suggested that they consult with me on potential spiritual warfare issues.
I listened to their story during our first session and since their were some critical behaviors that sounded like they contained a spiritual connection, I sent them a version of the Steps to Freedom that was more geared to kids. Through the course of the week, Ben prayed with these prayers with each boy. The change was significant!
We are continuing to address their struggles with being relational with Ben and Martha. Also, we talked through helping the boys understand how their thoughts and emotions are connected. I coached them on how to present these concepts using simple illustrations that the boys can grasp. This will enable them to learn to express where their emotions are at on a scale of 1 to 10 and how to test their thoughts against truth.
There’s much more work to do but I am excited to see how the Lord is going to work healing in their lives and equip Ben and Martha with these valuable tools so they can pass them on to others in their church.
Ken’s Corner
From Ken: I am preaching every Sunday night at my home Church and I am going through the book of Joshua. The battles that the Israelites faced in conquering the land has great application to us living victoriously in Christ.
Also, I am still preaching once a month at a church in New York that doesn’t have a pastor, and I have been emphasizing our identity in Christ through various messages from Colossians.
Our men’s group continues to meet every Wednesday night at our church, and we are almost finished with our present study. Our next study will be a workbook style study that I am presently putting together called Christ’s Plan for Victorious Living. In addition, I continue to meet with several men for mentoring and discipleship in the Word.
ELM Finances
Thank you so much to all of you who made donations this quarter. ELM counts on your generous year-end giving to get us off to a strong start in 2020. I will have to maintain a higher salary this year to sustain me as the estate resources dwindle. Donations of any amount are such an encouragement to me as I manage all the needs of the ministry while preparing to sell the farm and relocate. This is a critical year for ELM and me, and I am excited to see what Papa has in store!
Please consider making a 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 several new clients and a speaking engagement booked in April 2020.
- For Pastor Ken’s opportunities to teach the EL truths.
- For my clients’ growth in Christ and their emotional/spiritual healing.
- For a growing social media following of our blog.
- For the generous donations made to ELM this last quarter.
- For the great times of teaching Pastor Ken has had at his church and at the church in New York.
- For my chance to reconnect with pastors in the community.
Prayer:
- For increased, consistent monthly donations so we can keep going.
- For new clients and speaking referrals and for 20+ client hours per week.
- For wisdom as we consider rebranding ELM.
- For wisdom in each counseling session and for our client’s to grow.
- For Ken to effectively preach and mentor God’s Word so that growth occurs.
- For ELM’s social media following to grow exponentially.
- For Ken to finish his workbook, Christ’s Plan for Victorious Living.
- For our farm to sell at a good price and the Lord’s leading in my future housing.
“you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. ” John 8:32