RHM January 2016 Newsletter
Posted by Dion Todd January 7th, 2016 - 6,259 views
He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give freely to him who is thirsty from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes, I will give him these things. I will be his God, and he will be my son.” Revelation 21:6–7 WEB
RHM January Newsletter - 2016
Hello there,
Welcome to 2016! It is a new year and we are excited to live it and see all that God will do in our midst. Thank you for reading our devotional and being a part of Refreshing Hope Ministries. This is our monthly update on what has been happening here during the last month and I hope that you will take the time to read it.
We were blessed to travel to California over the holidays and see Sylvia’s family. It had been three years since our last visit. God took care of us, gave us a safe trip there and back, and we got to spend time with them. We drove 5,818 miles in about 92 hours and got to see a lot of the country, from the east coast to the west coast. We drove an average of 10 to 13 hours a day. The trip home was our sixth time driving across the United States.
We traveled through South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and California. We saw interesting places and community names like “Toad Suck Arkansas” and “Buck Snort Tennessee.” Sylvia’s mom loves table tennis and actively competes in tournaments, so we went with them to see the U.S National Table Tennis Tournament in Las Vegas. We stayed with Sylvia’s mom and it was an extremely busy time for us, with each day filled with activities because she had not seen us in so long.
The week of Christmas, everyone in the house became sick. It began with a scratchy throat and then progressed into a fever and coughing. I was one of the first to get it and was soon wrapped up in a blanket in bed. Being that we had to face the long drive back the following Monday, it was a good thing that I got it over with early. Sylvia caught it about three or four days before we had to leave California and a blizzard (Goliath) hit the middle of the country right before our trip home began.
To say the least, driving back was rough. It was really cold for us who are used to living near the southern coast. In Arizona it was 13 degrees F, and snowing so hard that we could barely see. The Interstate was a sheet of ice and just when we thought that we were going to have to pull over and get a hotel, the road cleared and the snow stopped. After four days of driving, we made it home safe, but Sylvia is still very sick at the moment. She has coughed until she has pulled the muscles in her stomach and we have a doctor’s appointment for her in the morning. Please pray for her.
We made it home for New Year’s Day and are just catching up. We found that a backup server had crashed that I now have to rebuild as well as various unexpected things like broken plumbing. Though we are both still sick, there is no place like home. It was a beautiful thing to see our home come into sight again.
I want to thank you for keeping up with this ministry, for supporting and praying for us. I am sorry if you have tried to contact us and there has been a delay, it was tough to find a quiet moment to catch up. So that is a summary of what has been happening in our lives over the last month. Here are some things that are coming.
Online Church News: We have grown to 2,963 members. Many people have found new friends and encouragement during a time of need. People openly pray for each other all over the site. It encourages me to see God’s people walking with others instead of alone. We have new people join everyday.
Sylvia is now leading a new group called “Healthy Living” and it is a support group for building good habits and a healthy lifestyle, not just physically, but also mentally and spiritually. The group is a safe place to talk about issues that challenge us, to share what we have learned, to encourage each other when we fall and to celebrate our victories!
The Love Dare Relationship Challenge: The Love Dare was written by Alex and Stephen Kendrick and featured in the movie “Fireproof” by Sherwood Pictures. It is a 40-day relationship challenge that features a short teaching, and then an action for you to take that will improve your relationship. It is not always easy, but if you make it through it, it will be life changing. It is the best marriage checkup that I have ever seen and really puts things into perspective. It will bring hope to those unequally yoked and improve even the best of marriages.
We have obtained permission to post “The Love Dare” on our blog and share it with our readers, so we plan to have a group event beginning February 1st. Sylvia will be leading this event and here is how it works: Beginning February 1st we will post a short teaching on relationships and then a challenge to do that day to improve it taken from the Love Dare. We will also send out an email as reminder with a link to the day’s teaching for the 40 days.
We can have fun, enjoy this together, discuss ideas and support each other in the comments on the website. We welcome you to join us and look forward to “Fireproofing” relationships. Also, if you have not yet seen the movie “Fireproof” then you should see it so you can get an idea of what is involved. It is a challenge, but if you take it seriously it will forever change the way that you look at your spouse, and them at you.
You can sign up for The Love Dare here:
https://refreshinghope.leadpages.co/the-love-dare/
As soon as we get caught back up, there will be some new things coming. We are working on a Question and Answer area for the website as well as a new theme. Video sermons are getting closer.
If you are in need of prayer, be sure to send in your needs to our prayer network. We and our prayer team will be honored to lift you up! As we start a new year, please remember that it is a great time to do a fresh start, to live better, to walk closer, to make new friends, to leave bad habits behind.
Thank you so much for sticking with us, and for all who have supported us throughout the month with prayer, encouragement and financial resources. Thank you also for all of the wonderful Christmas cards, emails, and notes that that we received! It was so encouraging to hear from you and we were blessed by every one of them. We have added them all to our prayer wall here. I pray that the Lord richly blesses you and that you are covered with His presence as you read these words. May He guide your every step and fan the flames within you. May this year be your best ever! May the Lord lead us all into everything that He has for us as we follow Him one step at a time, in the name of Jesus Christ I pray.
Pastor Dion
Our mailing address is:
Refreshing Hope Ministries
P.O. Box 67
Conway, SC, 29528