Happy Weekend Everybody!! I hope your football team won today and that you've had a chance to get out and enjoy this gorgeous weather! I think I say this every time I write but I absolutely LOVE this time of year!!
"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper and not harm you - plans to give you a hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
I had such a great time today with the Ladies of Stockdale Baptist Church at their mini-retreat! What an awesome fellowship of women who have a heart for ministry and missions!! They thought I was there to minister unto them - but I promise, I'm the one whose cup overflows. WOW!! I felt like a part of their family and as if I had known them much longer than half a day! Thank you for such a wonderful time of worship and for your support of my trip to Israel....I pray the Lord will return your sacrifice 100 fold!
Speaking of Israel, I'm not sure if I have told you all about that yet! I'm so excited to tell you that God has opened up the windows of Heaven and poured out a blessing that I honestly did not have the room to receive! I'm completely blown away and cannot begin to even tell you how grateful I am for this wonderful opportunity!
To those of you who have already heard the story, I hope you'll enjoy reading it again and to those who are hearing for the first time, you just won't believe it! It all started with a conversation after choir practice in the parking lot with our church's Minister of Music...
We had just finished up choir practice and I had stopped to thank Dale for letting me share in leading worship for the Contemporary service the previous Sunday in the absence of our worship leader and pastor's wife, Kim, who was in Peru on a mission trip. We were talking about missions and he shared that he was getting ready to travel to Cape Town South Africa on a mission trip and said that I'd be shocked to know what he was going to do -- he would be playing his saxophone with a big band! I squealed with delight at this opportunity and he said I needed to check out the web site of the organization who is putting the trip together and pray about being a part of a trip myself. (side note: I NEVER began to imagine that God would call me outside the walls of this country to go on a mission trip - never hoped for it, never dreamed about it but always thought it was wonderful that OTHERS would go...)...but that night it was as if God struck a match in the pavement and lit a fire in me that went from my toes all the way up through my head! It was as if He was bringing to light the very thing He had shown me I was going to do about 10 years ago...and I'd just kind of let it go as maybe the future or maybe it was done at Carnegie Hall....but oh no!! Carnegie was an amazing trip, an awesome privilege and an honor beyond imagination -- and it was most definitely a gift from God -- and we DID share the gospel in a secular environment...and it was a mission trip...and I was blown away at that opportunity...but WOW!! What has transpired since then gives me chills even to this day.
I went home and got online and checked out the web site that Dale suggested and read about all that was being offered and decided to send an email to request some more information. I found myself intrigued by the different countries and asked about the trip to Scotland/Wales. That same evening I received a reply that the Scotland/Wales trip already had a vocalist but that they would love it if I'd pray over and consider another trip either in 2012 or 2013. So we began a conversation back and forth and I was left with the impression that all the big band trips had signed up their vocalists and that I'd be waiting until the trips for 2013 were listed. But then I decided to ask what I thought was kind of a naive/stupid question. I asked about the trips that carried an orchestra -- if they ever considered taking an vocalist for those. Again, I got an immediate reply and there was instant interest in looking into this possibility. Keep in mind, that at this point these guys hadn't heard me sing - all they had was a web site where they could hear my music and a link to my Sunflower Ministries web page. I knew at this point that God was at work but I didn't really have a clue yet as to what He was up to....
So I go back to their site and begin to look at the offerings for orchestral trips and I kept going to the Israel link. Over and over I'd visit that one and every time I'd read about it, my heart would immediately beat faster and I found myself strongly wanting to go on that one. So I sent the email. A couple of days later I received a reply and the guys asked me to forward some of my music to them and they would pray over it and asked me to pray over it and we'd put our heads together as to how this might work. I mentioned Israel at this point but they really didn't talk about that so much - they were more interested in my interest in traveling with their orchestra. Ok - so I get the music to them and get the reply that they have received it and really like what they hear and want to continue talking about which trip I'd like to be a part of.
A week passes and I didn't really hear anymore. Another week passes and I'm busy so I didn't think much more about it -- and then one evening I decided just to send a quick follow up to see where we were. Still didn't hear anything... I absolutely refused to get discouraged and told the Lord that I was going to trust Him with this because He was the one who opened the door...I was willing if that's what He wanted...
Ok, so about another week later, I finally get a reply...the timing on this was amazing. I had had such a bad week. I wrote about being in that meeting where I felt the presence of some strong spiritual warfare - materialism against trusting God for provision -- and that day we emptied out the last of our personal resources to pay bills for the month. I had had several encounters with situations that just brought me down, but I also was excited because my high school had put together an alumni reunion for all classes that coming Friday evening and had asked me to sing the National Anthem to start the game. What an Honor!! And I thought that maybe that was the reason for the spiritual warfare. I battled such perfectionism while I was in high school that I was honestly nervous about performing for my peers...funny how that stuff creeps up on ya!
Anyway, the game was great and it was so fun to see so many faces from the past. Mom went and had a great time too! When I left the game, my phone beeped and I noticed that an email had come through! It was the first reply that I'd been waiting on! The guys loved my voice and wanted me to seriously be a part of their team and told me they only carry one vocalist per trip and mentioned Guatemala to me. I looked back at the web site and realized that the date was just a little sooner than I felt like I could do, and I knew that trip wasn't the one I'd been called to do. I wrote back and shared my reasons for selecting Israel (I'd just been to a Rosh Hoshanah (Jewish New Year) service at Temple Beth Hall-el (Messianic Jewish Temple) the week before and have been doing MANY Bible studies that have centered around Israel, their ceremonies, traditions, etc...and I just believed that it was the one that kept jumping out at me -- and it truly was. I was driving home at this point so I didn't really check my phone anymore for about 20 minutes. When I was pulling into the subdivision where we live, my phone beeped again, and it was the reply that made my heart leap into my throat!! It was from Camp Kirkland telling me that I was going to Israel!!! I sat in my car and cried...I couldn't even move -- I was praying, crying and laughing all at the same time!!
When I finally gained my composure, I came inside and floated up the stairs to tell James (my husband). He was watching a movie when I walked in and I said, "I'm going to Israel!!!! YAY!" He looked at me and I could tell he was thinking, "Amy, I don't have a job!" -- and I said "YAY!! again" -- I could also tell he was just a little bit sad and I said, "James, you can go too if you want to -- and he at that point said, Amy, I think that'd be great, but we need to see about getting you there first. Y'all -- that's so amazing to me! I never dreamed that I'd be going much less that James would even be interested in going -- God is amazing and so wonderful!! Jeremiah 29:11 is absolutely true and bigger than we can begin to dream! I know the timing of this news comes at a very serious time for us financially but what it has done for me has completely changed my relationship with the Lord forever! What He did was give me a glimpse of the future. In doing that, He assured me that my present was safe with Him. No, our circumstances haven't changed yet, but with God all things are possible and if He needs me (or us) to go to Israel in 2012, then He is going to take care of us now. Our circumstances do not measure God's goodness or faithfulness -- He is both good and faithful regardless! So let the naysayers remain silent -- This is an awesome thing and we are praising God for it!
Ok, that was a week ago...Today, I spent the morning with these precious ladies at Stockdale Baptist Church. I shared this with them, and had been praying this week about financing this trip to Israel. I have a year before I'll be going but I'm responsible for 100% of my support and it's due in bi-monthly increments. I've begun sharing this with different folks including my pastor and staff and have asked them to pray that God will show me ways to raise this support and that He will send others to become a part of this effort. The ladies of Stockdale blew me away -- 2 of them stuck money in my hand -- and hugged my neck and said this is for your trip...many purchased CD's which will go toward financing the trip as well. Others have offered prayer support and encouragement and I am completely humbled by it all....
Let me tell you about this trip! It's amazing. We will be all over Israel - from Jerusalem to Galilee, Bethlehem to Capernaum -- we'll take communion at the Garden Tomb -- we'll visit the scale model of the temple and pray at the Jerusalem Center. We'll be doing concerts to share the gospel to support and under gird the Baptist missionaries with financial support and anything else they might need while we are there. We will build relationships with musicians, churches locally and will share our own stories of how Jesus has changed our lives. We will be there 10 days and I know that when we return, we'll never be the same. We will step on soil that Jesus' beautiful feet walked and his DNA exists there. We will visit places where he and the disciples and apostles taught and where He defeated satan by rising again! I'm so excited I can hardly breath -- we'll be able to share the gospel with people who God loves dearly - the Jewish people - and His children there too. We will be there as ambassadors to support and encourage his servant missionaries there.
You can be a part of this trip too! If you have an interest in going -- there is a need for both musicians and non-musicians -- If you have an interest in supporting my trip financially - you can do so online - every penny is tax deductible. If you can't go or give, but you'd like to be a part of the prayer team -- get busy!! We NEED YOU!! I'd love to have you as a part however you are able -- here's the web site -- take a look and see where God leads. The main site is: www.globalmissionsproject.com if you want to just take a look around but if you'd like to give toward my trip, click the link below.
Amy's Trip to Israel.
This link will take you where you can give to my trip. Just enter the information requested and be sure to select ISRAEL for the trip. I'd like to thank you in advance for any amount you can give. You can also give through First Baptist Church, Pell City, Alabama if you'd like to -- just be sure to designate it on your check by putting "Amy Drinkwater's Trip to Israel". I'll need to raise approximately $4500 total for this life-changing trip. Remember this is 100% tax deductible.
I appreciate your love and encouragement and prayers more than you could ever know. This season of my life has been an adventure that's for sure - and I appreciate your faithfulness in praying and reading this blog. I will post exciting updates as they become available.
You guys are great and I love you so much!! Thanks for letting me write about my crazy life and God's love!! Have a wonderful day of worship! Blessings! Amy
"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper and not harm you - plans to give you a hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
I had such a great time today with the Ladies of Stockdale Baptist Church at their mini-retreat! What an awesome fellowship of women who have a heart for ministry and missions!! They thought I was there to minister unto them - but I promise, I'm the one whose cup overflows. WOW!! I felt like a part of their family and as if I had known them much longer than half a day! Thank you for such a wonderful time of worship and for your support of my trip to Israel....I pray the Lord will return your sacrifice 100 fold!
Speaking of Israel, I'm not sure if I have told you all about that yet! I'm so excited to tell you that God has opened up the windows of Heaven and poured out a blessing that I honestly did not have the room to receive! I'm completely blown away and cannot begin to even tell you how grateful I am for this wonderful opportunity!
To those of you who have already heard the story, I hope you'll enjoy reading it again and to those who are hearing for the first time, you just won't believe it! It all started with a conversation after choir practice in the parking lot with our church's Minister of Music...
We had just finished up choir practice and I had stopped to thank Dale for letting me share in leading worship for the Contemporary service the previous Sunday in the absence of our worship leader and pastor's wife, Kim, who was in Peru on a mission trip. We were talking about missions and he shared that he was getting ready to travel to Cape Town South Africa on a mission trip and said that I'd be shocked to know what he was going to do -- he would be playing his saxophone with a big band! I squealed with delight at this opportunity and he said I needed to check out the web site of the organization who is putting the trip together and pray about being a part of a trip myself. (side note: I NEVER began to imagine that God would call me outside the walls of this country to go on a mission trip - never hoped for it, never dreamed about it but always thought it was wonderful that OTHERS would go...)...but that night it was as if God struck a match in the pavement and lit a fire in me that went from my toes all the way up through my head! It was as if He was bringing to light the very thing He had shown me I was going to do about 10 years ago...and I'd just kind of let it go as maybe the future or maybe it was done at Carnegie Hall....but oh no!! Carnegie was an amazing trip, an awesome privilege and an honor beyond imagination -- and it was most definitely a gift from God -- and we DID share the gospel in a secular environment...and it was a mission trip...and I was blown away at that opportunity...but WOW!! What has transpired since then gives me chills even to this day.
I went home and got online and checked out the web site that Dale suggested and read about all that was being offered and decided to send an email to request some more information. I found myself intrigued by the different countries and asked about the trip to Scotland/Wales. That same evening I received a reply that the Scotland/Wales trip already had a vocalist but that they would love it if I'd pray over and consider another trip either in 2012 or 2013. So we began a conversation back and forth and I was left with the impression that all the big band trips had signed up their vocalists and that I'd be waiting until the trips for 2013 were listed. But then I decided to ask what I thought was kind of a naive/stupid question. I asked about the trips that carried an orchestra -- if they ever considered taking an vocalist for those. Again, I got an immediate reply and there was instant interest in looking into this possibility. Keep in mind, that at this point these guys hadn't heard me sing - all they had was a web site where they could hear my music and a link to my Sunflower Ministries web page. I knew at this point that God was at work but I didn't really have a clue yet as to what He was up to....
So I go back to their site and begin to look at the offerings for orchestral trips and I kept going to the Israel link. Over and over I'd visit that one and every time I'd read about it, my heart would immediately beat faster and I found myself strongly wanting to go on that one. So I sent the email. A couple of days later I received a reply and the guys asked me to forward some of my music to them and they would pray over it and asked me to pray over it and we'd put our heads together as to how this might work. I mentioned Israel at this point but they really didn't talk about that so much - they were more interested in my interest in traveling with their orchestra. Ok - so I get the music to them and get the reply that they have received it and really like what they hear and want to continue talking about which trip I'd like to be a part of.
A week passes and I didn't really hear anymore. Another week passes and I'm busy so I didn't think much more about it -- and then one evening I decided just to send a quick follow up to see where we were. Still didn't hear anything... I absolutely refused to get discouraged and told the Lord that I was going to trust Him with this because He was the one who opened the door...I was willing if that's what He wanted...
Ok, so about another week later, I finally get a reply...the timing on this was amazing. I had had such a bad week. I wrote about being in that meeting where I felt the presence of some strong spiritual warfare - materialism against trusting God for provision -- and that day we emptied out the last of our personal resources to pay bills for the month. I had had several encounters with situations that just brought me down, but I also was excited because my high school had put together an alumni reunion for all classes that coming Friday evening and had asked me to sing the National Anthem to start the game. What an Honor!! And I thought that maybe that was the reason for the spiritual warfare. I battled such perfectionism while I was in high school that I was honestly nervous about performing for my peers...funny how that stuff creeps up on ya!
Anyway, the game was great and it was so fun to see so many faces from the past. Mom went and had a great time too! When I left the game, my phone beeped and I noticed that an email had come through! It was the first reply that I'd been waiting on! The guys loved my voice and wanted me to seriously be a part of their team and told me they only carry one vocalist per trip and mentioned Guatemala to me. I looked back at the web site and realized that the date was just a little sooner than I felt like I could do, and I knew that trip wasn't the one I'd been called to do. I wrote back and shared my reasons for selecting Israel (I'd just been to a Rosh Hoshanah (Jewish New Year) service at Temple Beth Hall-el (Messianic Jewish Temple) the week before and have been doing MANY Bible studies that have centered around Israel, their ceremonies, traditions, etc...and I just believed that it was the one that kept jumping out at me -- and it truly was. I was driving home at this point so I didn't really check my phone anymore for about 20 minutes. When I was pulling into the subdivision where we live, my phone beeped again, and it was the reply that made my heart leap into my throat!! It was from Camp Kirkland telling me that I was going to Israel!!! I sat in my car and cried...I couldn't even move -- I was praying, crying and laughing all at the same time!!
When I finally gained my composure, I came inside and floated up the stairs to tell James (my husband). He was watching a movie when I walked in and I said, "I'm going to Israel!!!! YAY!" He looked at me and I could tell he was thinking, "Amy, I don't have a job!" -- and I said "YAY!! again" -- I could also tell he was just a little bit sad and I said, "James, you can go too if you want to -- and he at that point said, Amy, I think that'd be great, but we need to see about getting you there first. Y'all -- that's so amazing to me! I never dreamed that I'd be going much less that James would even be interested in going -- God is amazing and so wonderful!! Jeremiah 29:11 is absolutely true and bigger than we can begin to dream! I know the timing of this news comes at a very serious time for us financially but what it has done for me has completely changed my relationship with the Lord forever! What He did was give me a glimpse of the future. In doing that, He assured me that my present was safe with Him. No, our circumstances haven't changed yet, but with God all things are possible and if He needs me (or us) to go to Israel in 2012, then He is going to take care of us now. Our circumstances do not measure God's goodness or faithfulness -- He is both good and faithful regardless! So let the naysayers remain silent -- This is an awesome thing and we are praising God for it!
Ok, that was a week ago...Today, I spent the morning with these precious ladies at Stockdale Baptist Church. I shared this with them, and had been praying this week about financing this trip to Israel. I have a year before I'll be going but I'm responsible for 100% of my support and it's due in bi-monthly increments. I've begun sharing this with different folks including my pastor and staff and have asked them to pray that God will show me ways to raise this support and that He will send others to become a part of this effort. The ladies of Stockdale blew me away -- 2 of them stuck money in my hand -- and hugged my neck and said this is for your trip...many purchased CD's which will go toward financing the trip as well. Others have offered prayer support and encouragement and I am completely humbled by it all....
Let me tell you about this trip! It's amazing. We will be all over Israel - from Jerusalem to Galilee, Bethlehem to Capernaum -- we'll take communion at the Garden Tomb -- we'll visit the scale model of the temple and pray at the Jerusalem Center. We'll be doing concerts to share the gospel to support and under gird the Baptist missionaries with financial support and anything else they might need while we are there. We will build relationships with musicians, churches locally and will share our own stories of how Jesus has changed our lives. We will be there 10 days and I know that when we return, we'll never be the same. We will step on soil that Jesus' beautiful feet walked and his DNA exists there. We will visit places where he and the disciples and apostles taught and where He defeated satan by rising again! I'm so excited I can hardly breath -- we'll be able to share the gospel with people who God loves dearly - the Jewish people - and His children there too. We will be there as ambassadors to support and encourage his servant missionaries there.
You can be a part of this trip too! If you have an interest in going -- there is a need for both musicians and non-musicians -- If you have an interest in supporting my trip financially - you can do so online - every penny is tax deductible. If you can't go or give, but you'd like to be a part of the prayer team -- get busy!! We NEED YOU!! I'd love to have you as a part however you are able -- here's the web site -- take a look and see where God leads. The main site is: www.globalmissionsproject.com if you want to just take a look around but if you'd like to give toward my trip, click the link below.
Amy's Trip to Israel.
This link will take you where you can give to my trip. Just enter the information requested and be sure to select ISRAEL for the trip. I'd like to thank you in advance for any amount you can give. You can also give through First Baptist Church, Pell City, Alabama if you'd like to -- just be sure to designate it on your check by putting "Amy Drinkwater's Trip to Israel". I'll need to raise approximately $4500 total for this life-changing trip. Remember this is 100% tax deductible.
I appreciate your love and encouragement and prayers more than you could ever know. This season of my life has been an adventure that's for sure - and I appreciate your faithfulness in praying and reading this blog. I will post exciting updates as they become available.
You guys are great and I love you so much!! Thanks for letting me write about my crazy life and God's love!! Have a wonderful day of worship! Blessings! Amy
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