tori is going to L.A.

dino rizzo sent me this pic he took of my daughter tori serving at a memorial day weekend block bbq outreach near the baton rouge dreamcenter she loves to go to. yeah, i'm proud of her.

as if that's not enough reason to be proud, she's also part of a team from here at hpc that is going to the l.a. dreamcenter this summer. then as soon as she gets back from there, she'll be going right into being a part of elevate (hpc's internship program). yeah. check out her letter explaining it all:

hey people,

it’s tori. i want to let you guys know about a few amazing things that God is letting me be a part of this year…

first, refuge (the high school ministry of healing place church), will be taking a missions trip to the dream center in los angeles. (july 16-24) on this trip we will be given many opportunities to reach out to the lost, the hurting, and the forgotten. we will be participating in a number of outreaches and serving opportunities. i know that God wants to do incredible things in us and through us on this trip… and i’m believing that through this experience, our eyes we will be opened even more to the reality of what goes on in this world and even in our own country. and i believe that what we encounter on this trip will not only affect the people there, but it will change us and push us to take more action to bring people into the love of Jesus…

next, God is allowing me to be a part of an internship at healing place called elevate.(begins in august and lasts until may) this program provides several classes and a lot of hands on experience in ministry. i know that God has called me to give my life to Him through ministry, and i believe that this is the perfect opportunity for me to learn how to do that. i want to do all that i can to reach the lost. they are the only reason that this earth is still spinning. i want to dedicate my life to leading them to Jesus…and i believe that elevate will equip me to do that.

i am truly amazed at all that God is allowing me to participate in this year. please support me through your prayers. i need them more than anything.

and i also need a lot of financial support…
the cost of the missions trip to los angeles in $1,000.
and the fees for elevate are approximately $700

so if you can help with finances that is much appreciated, but either way… please support me through your prayer.

thank you all so much.

-tori

yeah, i'm excited about what God is doing in my daughter's life (that's about gotta be the understatement of the century).

cheri leblanc in leadnet.org podcast

the mobile medical and dental units and the team (orange unit is medical, blue unit is dental)

i got this from dr. cheri leblanc a few days ago (about the medical and dental units) - thought it was pretty cool. check it out.

Hi Everybody,

You may not know that we were given the opportunity at Leadership Network to
record a podcast about the mobile clinics and Healing Place Church. Gayle Parker and I were able to talk about the importance of prayer both as a group and with our patients.

It is on the Leadership Network website at www.leadnet.org, click on Healthcare Initiative Churches, then resources, then find the podcast.

Or you can just click this link:
http://media.leadnet.org/Healthcare/Mobilizing_Medical_Ministries.mp3

Blessings,
Cheri

on my way to losing weight

check out today's lunch... officially, it is sushi. the way i'm thinking, though, it is cooked shrimp and sticky rice. not bad.

today's look

sitting here about to start a meeting with pastor dino and angie and marc. feeling about like i look in this pic. a little wild-haired, like i need a beard trim, and like i need to lose about 150 pounds. but happy nonetheless.

meeting's starting...

thank you, vets

this memorial day weekend, i just wanna say a big ol' thank you to everyone who either serves or has served in the u.s. military or has family members doing so. i have lived with a determination to remember our military for several years now (check out this post from way back when i first started blogging.)

you should know that all the stuff i write about africa and other places around the world i write because they are special to me, but none of them are special to me like the u.s.a. God has blessed our country to be a blessing - and because of the sacrifice of so many of you in our military, we have a place to live where we are free to worship God and to serve him. say what you want to about whatever adversity our nation is facing from those who hate the Gospel, we still are by far the easiest place in the world to live, and the free-est place to worship. that comes with a big "to whom much is given much will be required" message, for sure.

i just wanna say thanks. y'all are very much appreciated.

zimbabwe

there's no way i can express how this picture impacts me. these are kids in zimbabwe - kids ben and charles just visited. long story, more to come on the children's cup website about it soon. i just wanted to get this picture up because it means a ton to me. i promise - i'll tell more about it asap.

ok so... where y'all been?

i've been blog-free for over a month now. however, the addiction persists. it's really a crazy thing how it feels not to post for so long. weird. it's not a principle thing or anything that's a big deal, simply a matter of having too much to talk about but so much catching up to do with work at the same time.





africa was really great. i so wanna do a big ol' post telling everyone everything that happened. here's some highlights at least:

• average number of hours of sleep each night i got while in africa: 4.37


• number of pairs of jeans i tore a hole in on the upper inseam while attempting to play soccer with children's cup carepoint kids at nkobe: 1.00


• percentage of elevate guys that can dig a ditch faster and better than me: 100%


• number of elevate girls who barfed on this trip: 2.00


• number of fish eyes katie can eat at a time: 1.00


• percentage of departures that jarred was first in the car for: 93.47%


• number of times i heard jarred remind me what he didn't want to have happen to him: 4.6 per day


• number of paper tickets disposed of early: 2.00


• number of life-saving acrobatic water tower dives barton executed successfully: 1.00


• number of times i laughed watching the elevate team playing with the nkobe carepoint kids: 1,043


• number of times i thanked God for being able to be on this trip: 1,043


• number of times i had to say "we need more taxis" to the one taxi driver who showed up at our hotel in johannesburg to pick up all 14 of us with our 32 bags to take us to the airport at 4:30am: 53 (i think)


• number of texts i received from vicki while going down the runway taking off in washington d.c. on our way to africa - informing me about the progress of my oldest son jd's first time pitching a baseball game and winding up with a no-hitter: 4.00 (yay jd)


• number of takes it took isaac and charles to shoot their video without laughing: 5.00


• number of people attending the launch service at hpc's new campus at nkobe meeting in the terry melancon chapel: 612+


• number of those people who were children: 400+


• number of chickens katherine and blake successfully pieced in the same time span as the african ladies cut 25: 1.25


• number of cloves of garlic natalie ate while we peeled garlic the night before the launch service: 11.00 (totalling 44.31 antioxidants)





• number of kids brandon can pick up at the same time: 23 per arm


• number of bottles of water drank during the workdays at nkobe: 250+


• number of kids chasing our vehicles down the road by the carepoint as we left who were wearing oversized purple and orange hpc vbs shirts: i couldn't count - it was too much fun just hollering and waving


• number of photographs taken on jarred's digital camera: over 2,000


• percentage of our missionaries and elevate students on this trip i was totally proud of: 100%


• percentage of those of you who prayed and helped to send the team and who pray for and support these missionaries who should feel proud of what God allowed you to be a part of: 100%

ok. now can you see why i can't possibly actually try to catch up the whole story?

it's good to be back, though. back in the USA and back on the blog.

but this picture makes me really wanna do all i can to help keep the work going in africa. ben posted it on his blog after our trip.


the little boy from nkobe i'm sitting next to has the most contagious laugh when you tickle him...