Welcome to another edition of our updates!
First of all, a great many thanks to those who stood with us as we prayed alongside Anne Graham Lotz and the body of Christ as a whole, for our Nation and the will of God for His people. Every morning during that time, we sat, prayed and meditated on the different topics the Lord had given Anne for the day. It was a beautiful time. We posted them on our Facebook page, and we are now seeing that those posts reached out to more people than any of our other posts. Praise God!
So in our last post, we got you all up to speed on what happened in the month of June. So this post we will focus on what happened in July. This month was the month of travel. Teresa Skinner and Ashley Flores took a trip to Minnesota for a Native American Family Camp at the Strawberry Lake Christian Retreat Center. Afterward, they flew to Texas to visit a ministry there called House of Disciples, and to visit Monolithic Domes (sounds interesting doesn’t it?). Here is the report about the trip:
Ashley and I arrived in Fargo, ND Saturday, July 12, 2014. We were picked up by Laura Upleger, Administrator of the Strawberry Lake Christian Retreat Camp in Ogema, MN. The camp is on the land of the White Earth Nation, in a beautiful remote, wooded area. Which was beautiful, but was a bit difficult to accomplish one of our goals. Goal #1: Establish Communications. This feat required walking around the campground to find cellular reception, stand still and be bitten by mosquitoes. The beauty of nature does have it price sometimes it seems! 🙂 Sunday, Gabriel and Laura Ward arrived and we met with the Native American Conference team. Bernie Solwey our friend from North Dakota drove in and joined us for the majority of the week.
The retreat comprised of morning and evening sessions with Afternoon Breakout sessions. Tuesday afternoon during the breakout session we joined a team of perhaps 50 who walked around strategic parts of the White Earth Reservation we prayed over the land and for people that would allow us. Gabriel asked us to lead worship during the Wednesday morning worship service, and the Spirit of the Lord fell. I enjoyed playing during the time Gabriel ministered to the people, God flowed and both Gabriel, Laura, Ashley and I enjoyed the deep fellowship.
Our last day was Thursday. We went on the breakout session which was walking in a community and inviting people to a picnic. Several people received Christ and were connected to a local pastor who was at the picnic. Friday morning at 5AM, 85 year old Gerald Derstine and his wife, Beulah drove the 1 hour ride to take us to the airport. Gerald ministered to us about Agape love and Christ’s character in us. He shared that we needed contrary people in our lives. That Agape love is Forgiveness, Forbearance and Grace and that when these ingredients were baked (tried through fire) they would produce God’s Agape love… Awesome.
We arrived in Dallas, TX and joined by Crystal Organ. We drove to Longview, TX to meet Tim Wiseman founder of Wiseman Ministries, Isaiah 58 Institute, Gifts of Grace, House of Disciples and House of Disciples Band.
Tim explained the House of Disciples began when he brought a homeless man to his home. Later he found himself with 12 homeless men living in his home. Now, 10 years later, they have several Houses with residents that are a part of a 12 month program that restores them spiritually, emotionally, free of addictions with a focus on character building, integrity and leadership. Gifts of Grace is a resale store run by the graduates and current program students, as part of the “Work Therapy” House of Disciples program. We also went a Minimum Security Prison and watched the House of Disciples Band give an outdoor concert. We were able to sing a couple of songs. It was a wonderful experience. One of the inmates suggested we send a couple of Texas farm boys to teach agriculture overseas.
Monday we visited David South, founder of Monolithic Domes in Italy, TX. Mr. South cleared his entire schedule and gave us a 4 hour tour. We saw varying sizes of domes and also where the domes were built in different countries. David South is passionate for making low cost housing in developing countries. We saw a “Grow Dome” that has Grow Lights and a Grow Tower. A head of lettuce grows from seed to full head in only 18 days. The greens and lettuce tasted amazing. David South also built a small dome neighborhood, where he rents the domes.
Returning to Dallas we met with longtime friends Dennis and Elaine Head. We shared dinner with them. We also met the next day for prayer and Bible study. They are doing wonderful things for God’s people. Returning from a wonderful, safe trip. Thank you!
Teresa Skinner and Ashley Flores
Isn’t that wonderful? God really is doing some amazing things and bringing His people to work together in wonderful ways.
Be sure to read this week’s message entitled “The Scope of Sommer Haven”. For those who are new and want to learn a little more about our history and what we do, this message is a necessary read!
We pray each of you have a great week. Remember, we love you!
Love,
Your Family at All Nations International
