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For as the rain comes down and the snow from the sky, and doesn’t return there, but waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, and gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. Isaiah 55:10–11 WEB

February Newsletter - 2016

Hello there,

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.

While praying about what to write in this newsletter, these words came to me: “On a dry and thirsty land, I will send My rain.” So I prayed for a while on what that meant and this is what I believe. Many of us have been dry and thirsty for a long time, but that drought is about to be broken. There will be anointed times of His presence that will heal the brokenness, but it will also include provision for many. For some, what the enemy has stolen will be returned seven fold (Proverbs 6:31). This rain will also makes the seeds that you have planted grow. Seeds that you have planted that have lain dormant for a long time, will begin to grow when the rain touches them.

 A recent Bible study at our home with friends.

Thank God that Sylvia and I are finally over our sicknesses and are alive and well after spending most of January living off of cough drops. Thank you for all of your prayers, emails, letters and cards that came. We post them on our prayer wall here and pray for them throughout the week. We are truly blessed and thankful to know people like you.

There are many things going on at RHM this month:

- The Love Dare Relationship Challenge is underway. It is an intense 40-day marriage course and was featured in the movie “Fireproof”. We are hearing positive feedback from those participating and do it ourselves. Even the best marriages can slip if you do not intentionally maintain it. If you are single, it will make you a better person and prepare you for that day so it is still worth participating. You can sign up for it here: https://refreshinghope.leadpages.co/the-love-dare

- February Fitness Challenge is to exercise for at least 30 minutes a day during the month of February and log what you did on the website. It is fun and healthy for all of us, and we learn healthful ideas from each other. Also we can encourage each other to stay the course. You can join it here (You do need a website account at refreshinghope.org): http://www.refreshinghope.org/event/44

Online Church News: www.refreshinghope.org We have grown to 3,075 members and 11,913 friendships. We have had 186 prayer requests and sent 728 replies to them. A big thanks to our prayer team and those that take a moment to make new members feel welcome.

Recent changes: We added a new timeline to your profile where you can customize the cover image and a completely new look. We improved the sign up process and removed the captcha as it was making things difficult for new members signing up. If you failed to sign up in the past, then please try again. We also added birthday reminders and a new calendar to show your friends upcoming birthdays.

Guideposts has added a new booklet to their section of the site to coincide with the Love Dare Challenge called “Strength for Relationships.” You can read it here: http://www.refreshinghope.org/pages/guideposts-relationships
Also they told us that you can send an email to outreach@guideposts.org and request a printed copy of any of the Guideposts booklets on our website for free. (Please allow up to 4 weeks for delivery.)

New things coming: We are developing some new areas of the site that will hopefully be live sometime this month. We have temporarily hired a developer to help us reach some goals and set up a clone of the live site for them to work on, no one touches the live site but us. Here are some of the things that we are currently working on:

Bible Quizzes and Trivia: Soon you will be able to read / listen to a Bible study and then take a timed quiz on what you learned. You will accrue points for accurate answers and this will display on your profile as a ranking. Your results, your knowledge of the Bible, and the quiz can be shared on the site and onto Facebook. We love the Word of God, so let’s have some fun and sharpen our knowledge in the process. We hope to add new quizzes each week and the weekly Bible study will resume when we complete this upgrade.

Questions and Answers: Have a question about the Bible or how something works on the website? Soon you will be able ask a question and others can reply to it in an organized, searchable way. This will also become the place for our FAQ and allow all of our members to participate in asking, and in answering questions.

Videos: We are working towards providing videos on the site and experimenting with the best method and format. Pray for the Lord to give us wisdom as we move forward with that.

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!

Thank you so much for sticking with us, and for all who have supported us throughout the month with prayer, encouragement and financial resources. This has been an expensive month for us with all the new things that are coming, but I believe that the rewards will be so worth it.

Thank you also for all of the wonderful 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. You are a true blessing to us.

I pray that the Lord richly blesses you this month. May He guide your every step and fan the flames within us both. 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