Hi Folks - Here's our latest newsletter:

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                                                                March 30 , 2008

Dear Friends,

Blessings from Mexico! We have quite a lot to share with you in this newsletter, and hope that the news will be both interesting and exciting, as well as provide fodder for prayer. We appreciate your prayers for us and for the people here more than we can ever express in words. They DO make a difference!!

**IMPORTANT CHANGES TO NOTE**

Please note that we have some important changes taking place in Lifeline Ministries, which might affect you!! Bob and Kathy Shelton will be moving on to pursue other ministry, and will no longer be managing our NM office after mid-April. Again, we want to bless them as they go and wish them all the best in future endeavors. We also want to thank them for the wonderful job they have done over the past 2+ years. In their place, we will now have a number of folks helping in different ways:

1. Bryan and Alexis Stegall have graciously provided a new office address for Lifeline Ministries, Inc. in New Mexico. This new office address will be: Lifeline Ministries, c/o Stegall, 2065 Avalon Drive, Las Cruces, NM 88005.

THIS IS WHERE ALL (TAX DEDUCTIBLE) MINISTRY CONTRIBUTIONS AND MISSIONS SUPPORT CHECKS SHOULD BE SENT, EFFECTIVE APRIL 8TH.

Bryan and Alexis will be receiving all Lifeline mail, depositing any checks, sending us a report each month of the financial gifts received, and will be the registered agents for Lifeline Ministries, Inc. with the state of NM. If you have a need to contact them with questions about contributions or a problem with a check, Bryan can be reached on his cell at 575-644-5076 pretty much any time. Or email us and we will pass the email on to them, so that they can contact you!

2. Joann Freeburg of Landrum, SC will now be sending out the hard copies of our newsletters to our friends and family in the United States who don’t have email.

3. Maureen Kersley of Shildon, County Durham in England has taken the responsibility of mailing the hard copies of the newsletters to the folks in the UK who don’t have email.

4. Wendell and Dee Seitz of Turkey, Texas plan to be the new resource people, shipping out any books and teaching materials ordered through the website.

5. Elaine Alei of Albuquerque, NM will now be receiving our personal mail – things like bank and credit card statements, catalogs, correspondence from Dee’s publisher, etc.

6. Ethel Cunningham of Santa Fe, NM will continue to be our key intercessor. We haven’t made much mention of her role previously, but this wonderful woman of God prays daily for Lifeline Ministries! She is a powerful prayer warrior and we have been mightily blessed by her faithfulness to continually cover us and the work in Mexico in prayer.

7. **We still have need of someone in New Mexico to coordinate that end of our Christmas Shoebox Project for 2008. If you haven’t already, would you please pray about this need and see if the Lord might want to use you??? Thank you so much!**

We hope to have changes made to our website before the end of May, sharing the part that each has taken to help Lifeline Ministries and thereby keep us on the mission field in Mexico. We plan to include a photo of each person or couple, and share a little biographical information about them also. So WATCH the website for these exciting changes!!

From Our Hearts to Yours

With spring fully sprung now here in Sonora, (we saw 91 degrees yesterday!) and Easter just behind us, our thoughts have been on the NEW LIFE that Jesus said He came to bring to us.  One morning recently, as we were praying together, the Lord began to open up to us some new understanding of the “deep things” of God, and how content we often are with the shallow – shallow intimacy with Him, shallow brokenness, shallow humility, shallow worship, shallow honesty and transparency, shallow fill in the blank!  All too often, we are lackadaisical and complacent in our approach to Him, lacking fervency and passion, because we are content to be shallow! 

But the Lord, who still calls things “that are not” into existence (Rom 4:17b), is calling to the deep places within each of us, speaking new life into our hearts and lives by His creative Word as we give Him permission and actively respond to His working in our hearts and lives.  Spirit to spirit, deep is calling unto deep (Ps 42:7).  In Genesis 7, we see that the fountains of the deep were broken open and, subsequently, the heavens were opened.  Then came a flood of unprecedented proportions!  We believe the Lord wants to bring a flood of His living water into our locale … and most likely into yours also!  Not just a miniscule release of that river of God mentioned throughout the Scriptures, but a veritable flood - an inundation that will sweep away resistance, carry away the garbage and debris, and tear down the religious concepts built by man, leaving only the pure flow of His living water in our midst.  We anticipate that this flood will join together in the Spirit all the little streams with their own names within Christendom into one mighty, unified torrent that is no longer separated or divided, but flowing together unhindered towards a common goal.  Then we will see this earth filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea (Hab 2:14).

Did you know that during the Welsh Revival of 1904-05, there were a reported 70,000 people saved in two months?  Wales is not terribly large or densely populated, so this represented a significant portion of the population at that time. Further, it was a revival led by youth – the oldest leader was in his mid-20’s and the others were teenagers!  Can you see this kind of thing happening in your community?  Deep is calling to deep!  When the fountains of the deep within you, your church, your neighborhood, and your city are broken open, the heavens will be opened and the release of His water will come! 

Have you been content with shallowness in your walk with the Lord?  1 John 1:9 tells us that if we confess our sin to Him, He is faithful not only to forgive us, but also to cleanse us of all unrighteousness.  As we seek His forgiveness and cleansing, our Creator will form and fashion new life in the deep places.  He will bring a new level of brokenness within each of us, a breaking open of the heavens over us, and a flood of the river of God in our midst.  True personal and corporate revival will not come through the addition of more programs and activities or improved services in our churches.  It will come as we each turn away from our contentment with the shallow, permit the Lord to circumcise our hearts, and as we press with determination more deeply into Him.

January/February - Interesting Months

In January and February, we experienced a number of “firsts” here in Mexico! To start with, our Guaymas ministerial alliance held our FIRST “fun day” for the ministers and their families who are part of the alliance. We ate together and played together, building closer personal relationships with one another with the goal of moving towards a deeper level of unity and covenant relationship with one another. Shown in the photo is our winning volleyball team. Yeah!!

Then later in the month, we traveled with pastor Martín Sotelo (from the Miramar church) and a couple of the elders to our FIRST ministry conference in Sonora. It was held in Navojoa (about 3 hours south of Guaymas). We caravanned with folks from another Guaymas church, and had a great weekend down there together. The conference featured speakers from Colombia, and it left us all with much food for thought and prayer. We met some great folks there also, with whom we hope to stay in touch!

Also in January, we received special funds to do the work that was so badly needed on the roof of our home/missions base. Towards the end of the month, we experienced our FIRST EVER steady rain with no roof leaks. We praise God that the floods we’ve had inside the house in the past are now truly part of the past! A big THANK YOU to all who helped with this need!! We are deeply appreciative and thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

We were also invited to our FIRST wedding and quinciñera here in Jan/Feb, along with birthday parties for our neighbor’s children and grandchildren. We believe this relationship building is very important to the ministry the Lord has for us here in Guaymas, so we are careful to make time for these things. Think of Jesus’ approach to ministry. Primarily, He met with people in the midst of their daily lives!

Also in February, Dave ministered in a Pentecostal Holiness church one weekend (Dee was sick). This was actually our second time ministering at this church, but the FIRST time that something a little different was introduced! Dave led worship and preached from the keyboard, moving back and forth between worship, prayer, exhortation and the prophetic. It was very different than anything this church had ever seen, as they are normally very traditional in their services. But he felt that it was well-received by the congregation, and that they were able to enter in and touch the throne of God during the service.

Transformations Event

We sent our quite a lengthy report about the Transformations event in mid-February, but we'll briefly summarize what happened here for the benefit of those who don't have e-mail or who are new to the mailing list. Also, we promised in that report to include some photos in the next newsletter! This event covered four days, and included leaders' meetings to bring fresh vision, a pwerful youth conference with several hundred youth from around the area, and a march for Jesus, then culminated with a prayer rally the final night at the Guaymas baseball stadium. What happened was incredible and more than just an answer to prayer. It was a miracle that something like this took place in Guaymas at all. But the way that it happened – the amount of participation, the level of unity, the degree of anointing, and the number of people who were touched – was no less miraculous! Because we have interceded so fervently for this city and region during our time here, we were touched very deeply by all that happened. We know without a doubt that the Lord established something profound in our midst that week, which laid a foundation for a genuine move of His Spirit in the months and years to come.

Gathering the Youth to Pray

Knowing that the Transformations event only helped to put some foundation in place for a move of the Holy Spirit here, we began meeting in mid-March with Christian youth from different churches to build upon this foundation by seeking God’s heart together, standing in the gap for our city, and declaring His plan and purposes. We are meeting with this group (which is still very small) at the youth center on Saturday mornings. While the center is not open yet, one large room is usable for this purpose. We are also sharing things to bring new vision and stir hearts towards a new level of brokenness through many different avenues, both within this gathering and outside of it. For example, we lent one young man (a pastor’s son who has been in church all his life) a copy of This Present Darkness in Spanish. After reading it for a while, he encountered a difficult situation in his life. He decided to pray like the people in the book – by asking God to intervene and move in Jesus’ Name. There was an immediate breakthrough in the situation (in spades!!), and he later excitedly shared with Dave, “This is real! This is real!” So many of these kids have no idea about even the most basic of spiritual principles. So your prayers for all of us are much appreciated!

Progress of the YouthCenter

The work on the youth center continues to progress, slowly but surely!!  Dave has finished welding all the security bars now for doors, windows and air conditioners, and has installed some of them and the exterior door for the internet café so far (at left).  We also have the cement pad poured for the coffee bar and the bar area partially constructed (below right).  The cement porch for the water storage tank is finished now.  Helen and her friend, Oscar, have done some painting of the new cinderblock walls.  And Dave has put in the electrical box and run a good bit of the wiring now also. We got lights this week!  We’re still hoping to be able to open in June or July, but there remains a great deal yet to do.  Please keep praying for us!!

Progress on the Monthly Christian Youth Event

We are continuing to collect the necessary equipment, to locate a suitable venue to hold this event, to talk to possible Christian worship bands, etc. MANY THANKS to Grace Vineyard Church in Los Alamos, NM for donating speakers and monitors, and to Glory Christian Fellowship in Albuquerque, NM for donating a mixing board.  We appreciate your help so much!!  We also hope to return from our trip to NM in April with an inflatable outdoor screen, a stage snake, portable stage lighting, mic stands and a digital projector.  Just recently, we received news that tentative approval has been given for us to use the city’s outdoor gym for this event, but we will need to follow up on it when we return from the states in April.  We hope to start this summer, one Friday night a month. We will need to find Mexican speakers for this next year to challenge the young people in a way that is relevant, non-religious and saturated with the anointing of the Holy Spirit.  This is rather a tall order, and while we are assured that nothing is impossible for God, we do appreciate your prayers.  We need Him to lead us to just the right people!! 

Thanks to Tim Garrett

Many thanks to Dr. Tim Garrett of Athens, GA for taking a serious look at Dee’s teeth when she was in the states and for sending over 200 children’s toothbrushes back with her to Mexico!  We plan to distribute these toothbrushes in the valley area south of Guaymas, where there are so many children from impoverished families.  In this area, dental care is almost non-existent.  Thanks again, Tim!!

And thank you all again for your prayers, friendship and support in every way that it is shown.  We are deeply appreciative of your care and concern for us. You all remain in our prayers also, and we want to remind each of you that you are not only special to us, but special to God’s heart also!

We love you dearly,

y

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