Last week I was having some breathing difficulty as well as some pain in my should blade area. This continued for 3 days and finally I decided to see if I could get some relief. I went to the Cape Fear Clinic and checked in with the receptionist.  As I waited to be seen by the medical doctor, Terry Johnson calls me just to say hi and chat about ministry in general. I told him of my situation and without hesitaion Terry prayed for my healing. As he finished praying, they called me into the exam room.

They took my vital signs and then stuck me in the "lonely cold" room for what seemed like hours. Finally the doctor shows up and asks me about my problem. She asks where it hurts...and I told her where it was hurting. She asked me to gauge the pain 1-5 with 5 being the worst. Well.....right now I would have to say its a .....zero?  She asks, "when does it hurt the most?" and I tell her when I am getting in and out of bed as well as getting into cars. She then asks me to lay down and then get up so I can show her where the pain is coming from. 

So....here I was trying to duplicate a pain that was no longer there....twisting and turning and lying down and getting up....but no pain : ) The doctor probably thinks I'm crazy but thats ok....I know the deal. God healed me!

I made the best of the situation and had her renew my BP medications....

When I shared the story with Terry his reply was "now we need to do something about that blood pressure!!!" Amen.....I'm believing for it!!

Short Update:

I'm heading to the Philippines for a couple of weeks. Please pray for my safe travel, good health and a fruitful mission. I will be taking the Fairview Church based in Quezon City, Philippines on their first missions trip to Pampanga. We are bringing the praise team and plan on doing a feeding program as well as some children's ministry.

On the 26th of January,  I plan on going to Cagayan de Oro and have a leadership meeting with OAIM pastors as well as start-up the micro-enterprise ministry. (I hope to post some video of this so stay tuned!!)

February: I will be filling in for Pastor Sam at the Church of Anderson Creek. I'm looking forward to spending time with the Anderson Creek family and help them jumpstart their outreach lifestyle : )

Thanks for your prayers!!!

Jeff

Here a little something I heard from Steve Sojgren:
Stop paying attention to matters of criticism — 
                                    start paying attention to matters of encouragement.

It is a universal truth that what we become what we pay attention to. What
we talk about with our mouths is the manifestation of our inner conversation.
If we are critical of others we are making it clear that we have first been critical
with ourselves. There is no momentum to be gained with self-criticism. We do this
naturally enough to at least a small degree. What’s the point of becoming even better
at this toxic task?

If I had all to do it all over again I think I would start today to give everybody I know
 a much wider break in life.  Pretty much everyone I know is trying about as much as
they can in an effort to do as well as they can in life. Today especially it is true that most
 can’t do a whole lot more or a whole lot better than the job they are presently pulling off.
Let’s join forces in giving one another a break in the journey and see what comes of it.
I think together we can begin to make a difference.

Here is a group "Servants of Asia" that is truly making a difference. The scenes are very familiar. Those who have been on a missions trip with us to the Philippines will recognize the squatter areas in this video. My prayer is for OAIM to connect with like-minded organizations in 2009.

 “If you aren't experiencing conflict, you're not a leader—you're a follower.” - Bishop TD Jakes

 “If you want to empower people, you have to have a big Kingdom mindset.”  - Brian Houston

“The more you have to quit, the more you want to quit.“ - Tommy Barnett

“You may say that we are not deep. What you really mean to say is 'You don't confuse me enough.'” As I always say, it's easy to make the complex, complex. Isn't it? But it's hard to make the complex, simple. - Perry Noble

Pastor Matt and I  had the opportunity to visit Pastor Stuart and and 180 church family this past Sunday in Myrtle Beach. We had a great time and even did some praise and worship. Here's a video that Andrey shot while we were there : )


                         

Open Arms Christian Fellowship in Bonbon, Cagayan de Oro Philippines just celebrated Christmas with their community. They had food and fun...a great combination : ) Pastor Jonathan expresses his deep appreciation to the OAIM family who helped make this gathering possible.


            

Open Arms Christian Fellowship just celebrated 5 years of making a difference! They continue to prove that a small church can make a big impact on their community and even the world.

I'm so proud of the OACF family. It seems like it was yesterday when we were knocking down walls, scraping floors and inventing new ways to use duck tape - ie., the "kelli patch".

Here are some pics from the anniversary dinner.

                                                                                

I had the honor of visiting Grace Worship Center in Philadelphia PA this past weekend along with my family and Jimmy Simpson, an OAIM missionary. The worship service was great as usual and we installed a new pastor, Hnede Kobbah. Bishop Sarpee will be focusing on the orphanage/ school in Liberia as well as providing oversight for the church in Liberia.

Afterwards the church family treated us to some Liberian cuisine. Mmmmm...they even made my favorite cassava leaf with rice.

           

Prior to our journey to Philly, we stayed with Jimmy in Delaware. Jimmy was a great host....taking us to a fancy eating place called Wawa. In this fancy place, you can eat and pump gas at the same time : ) I had to give Jimmy a hard time for that!

We also had a chance to meet up with Kristen, another short term missionary. She is doing great, working with youth as well getting more involved in a Vineyard church plant.

So....all in all it was great trip! The 81/2 hours home was a bit tough though : )

Here's a pic of me and some of the Grace family. Yes, thats me in a suit : )

I admire John the Baptist. This guy was doing what God had told him to
do and didnt care what others thought about his appearance or even....
his eating habits. He was a true revolutionary! Definitely a "what you see is
what you get" type of guy.

Isnt it time that we believers stopped trying to conform to a bunch of man made
traditions and just....be? Let's stop trying to "act" like a Christian...and just start
being one.

James 5

(Amplified)

 1COME NOW, you rich [people], weep aloud and lament over the miseries (the woes)
that are surely coming upon you.

(Message)

 1-3 And a final word to you arrogant rich: Take some lessons in lament. You'll need
buckets for the tears when the crash comes upon you. Your money is corrupt and your
fine clothes stink. Your greedy luxuries are a cancer in your gut, destroying your life from
within. You thought you were piling up wealth. What you've piled up is judgment

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So....who are the rich? Those of us in the western world probably would not consider
ourselves rich. Afterall, we work our jobs, pay the bills and hope to have some extra
at the end of each month. The rich people are folks like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet....right?

Check this link out and find out how you stack up? It will make you think!!

http://www.globalrichlist.com/