CHANGE IS COMING
Brandon, Florida—Are you ready for change? The Brandon Christian Women’s Connection is. For their October meeting, they made a change in location and had 65 attendees with six decisions for Christ. Group Chair Teresa Richmond said, “I am very excited and I love to see God's hand at work.”
The group is continuing to look for new ways to invite more women to their local events. They have invited four “mom groups” and have received permission from a local Christian academy to send their invitations home to the 430 families of the school. An unexpected blessing was the opportunity they received to print their invitations in full-color for the same cost as the previous one-color invitation.
God has filled this group of women with a fresh vitality. Teresa has been overwhelmed by the outpouring of His blessings through the new volunteers serving with the group. Change is here in Brandon and they are joyfully embracing it.TREMENDOUS TRINIDAD
Trinidad—Hennie Van der Veer helped to start a Christian Women’s Club here 20 years ago. And though it’s been several years since she and her husband lived on this Atlantic Ocean island, when she returned earlier this month she was put on the agenda as the guest speaker for the Trinidad Christian Women’s Club!
The news quickly spread and the 132 spaces filled up quickly. In fact, organizers were forced to turn away dozens of women because of occupancy limits. Hennie spoke about what God has done in her life, and five of the women who attended signed up for introductory Stonecroft Bible Studies.
Hennie recently wrote that the one Bible study that started 20 years ago has sprouted into at least 30 others that are currently active. The Trinidad Christian Women’s Club rotates its outreach meetings between four areas of the island.
LEARNING THE TRUTH
Poulsbo, Washington-Being a door-to-door saleswoman presents its fair share of challenges. However, when *Julie knocked on Coordinator Eda Mae McCune’s front door, she was in store for much more than making a sale.
Eda Mae was hosting the study of Colossians at her home. After greeting Julie, Eda Mae was prompted by her Guide to invite Julie in to join the group in their Bible study. Eda Mae went through the Would You Believe It? booklet with the saleswoman, and Julie acknowledged that she was a sinner and trusted Jesus Christ wit Though Christmas was two months ago, the effects of Christmas Gatherings continue to be felt. Take the town of Poulsbo, for example. Two Christmas Gatherings were held in the area. Stonecroft Friendship Bible Coffee Coordinator Eileen Hume was privileged to help with both of these parties.
The first Christmas Gathering was with a group of women and their young daughters who did not attend church. While the mothers did a cookie exchange and learned of the true meaning of Christmas, the girls were in another room learning the same thing. Five of the children accepted Jesus Christ.
The second Christmas Gathering was “spur of the moment.” Only a few women attended, but some of them were interested in Bible study.
Eileen states, “These gatherings were exciting and encouraging to me.” Currently, she is in the process of setting up a study for those who were interested in being part of a Stonecroft Friendship Bible Coffee. h her life.
WALLA WALLA MAKEOVER
Walla Walla, Washington— This town on the border of Oregon has been a matter of prayer for a very long time.
Those prayers were answered last week when Stonecroft On the Road specialists Sandi Ausland and Pat Abernathy, both Stonecroft Development Leaders, joined forces with local women to hold a special event at the local country club. Women from the nearby Dayton Washington Christian Women’s Club traveled down to assist.
Fifty-seven women attended the event, themed “Extreme Makeover—Walla Walla style.” Pat demonstrated her faux painting techniques and a local decorator was featured. Sandi spoke about the extreme makeover Jesus Christ affected in her life. In the end, Sandi offered an opportunity for anyone to pray with her to God for the forgiveness of sins and to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. Ten women did just that!
“We have prayed for this Stonecroft On the Road for such a long time,” Sandi wrote. “God has answered our prayers. Please pray for the women who are beginning the follow up and inviting women to Bible studies.”
TRIUMPH IN THE TRI-CITIES
Richland, Washington—Located on the Columbia River in southeastern Washington, the “tri-cities” of Pasco, Richland, and Kennewick often combine their efforts. That was the case on February 16 as a Tri-Cities Stonecroft on the Road event was held.
A team of four women from the area worked together to make this outreach event happen. For two months prior, they met every Saturday to pray, asking God to work in women’s hearts at this event. And God answered their prayers in a mighty way. There were 130 women in attendance and 13 prayed to invite Jesus Christ into their lives! There was much interest in Friendship Bible Coffees and many offers to help with future events.
Thanks to these united efforts, a new permanent outreach group may soon be in the works.
LOVE IN ACTION
My dear friends, we must love each other. Love comes from God, and when we love each other, it shows that we have been given new life (1 John 4:7, CEV)
Kansas City, Missouri—On February 14, Stonecroft staff involved in the Community Outreach program demonstrated love to a group of women who normally may not have had a happy Valentine’s Day. The staff, along with a variety of volunteers, reached out to women who are homeless or are living in shelters.
The primary focus of the outreach was a Valentine’s Boutique, which the women could “shop” from. The boutique consisted of high-quality donated items—clothing, accessories, make-up, toiletries, and shoes, among other things. Besides the shopping, the women were invited to enjoy a nice lunch, listen to a testimony, and watch a movie together.
Between 30-40 women participated in the activities, and all went away with smiles on their faces, expressing their thanks for making their Valentine’s Day one full of love.
RED LODGE UPDATE
Red Lodge, Montana -Last week, we
asked readers to pray for an outreach event to be held on Saturday, February
18. More than 90 women attended and two indicated that they would like
to learn more about what it means to have a personal relationship with
Jesus Christ.
Interest is high for continued outreach in the area. When asked if they would like to see future events like the one on Saturday, 35 women said yes—and 17 indicated they were interested in Bible study.
Staff member Bette Fauquet will be traveling to Red Lodge on February 25 to help launch Bible study efforts. Please continue to pray for all the outreach opportunities God will provide for women in this area.
ROLLING IN RED LODGE
Red Lodge, Montana- God is at work
in this town of 2,200, using a core group of women—each with a heart
to reach others. On Saturday, a local church is sponsoring an outreach
event to share the Gospel with women in their community. More than 110
reservations have been received for this gathering.
The opportunity for Bible study through Stonecroft Friendship Bible Coffees will also be presented at this event. On February 25, Stonecroft staff member Bette Fauquet will be arriving in Red Lodge for two weeks to help launch the Bible study efforts. During her time there, she will acquaint the women with the studies, appoint Coordinators and Guides, and begin the first two studies.
The goal of these women is to have a permanent outreach group in the area. Stonecroft Bible Studies will lay a solid foundation for these ongoing efforts.
Please pray for the women in Red Lodge and all God will do in lives there.
SWIFT ANSWERS
Mandeville, Louisiana- Meryl Bishop knows
God hears and answers prayer—and as Stonecroft’s National Prayer
Consultant, she encourages others to pray and trust God. But, just in case
she needed a reminder, God provided a swift answer to prayer for her last
Wednesday, February 8.
Meryl is on itinerary right now, traveling throughout the southeastern United States. As she travels, she holds special prayer events called Keeping Watch. She also speaks for Stonecroft outreach groups along the way.
On Wednesday, Meryl was slated to speak for the Mandeville-Covington Louisiana Christian Women’s Club. They were expecting a good attendance at their meeting and many first-timers. But when they arrived at the meeting place, things seemed to go wrong. The group had been bumped from their usual meeting room to a smaller one and this unexpected change threw everything a little off-kilter. Meryl quickly began to pray—and she called Stonecroft Headquarters to ask the staff to pray with her. God overruled in the situation and, after Meryl had spoken, seven women asked her for a booklet which explains how to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The Chair was especially thrilled because a friend had paid for two women to attend as his guests. Both of those women indicated that they had prayed to receive Christ that day!
GETTING THE WORD OUT
LaGrange, Kentucky- The community of
LaGrange is in for an exciting spring. On February 13, Stonecroft Special
Events Representative Jenel Moline had the opportunity to present Stonecroft
Ministries to a group of 13 women interested in starting an outreach group—three
of the women had never heard of Stonecroft.
As a result of this meeting, there is an outreach meeting scheduled for April 30 in LaGrange. The women are so excited to start that they booked the event meeting place and caterer the very same day!
HEART CONTACT...ETERNAL IMPACT
Kansas City, Missouri - In preparation for IMPACT '06, the Stonecroft Headquarters Special Events department planned two pre-IMPACT gatherings, which took place on Tuesday, February 7, and Saturday, February 11. Between the two, there were about 45 people in attendance. Those who came were a mixture of Stonecroft staff and volunteers from the Kansas City area.
The gatherings were designed to educate people about the conference, motivate them to promote it, and allow them to meet others interested in evangelism. Several Stonecroft staff, including Geneva Vollrath, CEO, and Paula Hughes, Director of Ministries, briefly shared their expectations for IMPACT. Three books that will be available at the conference were suggested as pre-reading material. At the end, time was spent in focused prayer for the event and for those who will be attending.
To learn more about IMPACT ’06, click here. If you have questions about the conference or would be interested in promoting it, please send an E-mail to specialevents@stonecroft.org.
SWEET SENSATIONS
Boca Raton, Florida - Chocolate here, chocolate there, chocolate everywhere.
A week ago tonight, the Boca Raton Women’s Connection welcomed 87 women and 52 men to their yearly guest night. Forty-eight of the guests said it was their first Stonecroft event. The theme was “Sweet Sensations” and there was chocolate everywhere.
Connection Chair Thelma Giles said a local business, The Chocolate Truffle, offered samples as people entered, presented gift certificates as prizes, and later saturated the room with 20 trays of truffles offered to guests. The centerpieces, accented with chocolate, were given away as well. The buffet dinner was concluded with homemade cream puffs under chocolate sauce.
Rick Krive and Diane Tymniski provided musical entertainment before speaker Keith Brown, a former NHL hockey player with the Florida Panthers and Chicago Blackhawks, told of the difference God made in his life. As Keith concluded his presentation, he clearly explained the Gospel. He then invited guests to begin a relationship with Jesus Christ through a prayer of repentance and acceptance. Nine people indicated they took that step of faith for the first time.
Sweet.
IF I SHOULD DIE
Punta Gorda, Florida -Joan Page is the chair of the Punta Gorda—Port Charlotte Christian Women’s Club. “I get so excited when I get to go to these luncheons.”
No wonder. God’s work through this group is evident. Tuesday, the group hosted a Valentine’s-themed outreach luncheon at Benedetto’s Steak House. The special feature was a local woman, Sushila Cherian, who was born in India. She wore her wedding sari and wedding jewelry and shared the story of how her marriage was arranged when she was a child.
Then Marge Jakes spoke about her relationship with Jesus Christ. Marge’s theme was, “If I should die before I wake, where would I wake up?” Joan said each one of the 197 women at the luncheon seemed to pay very careful attention to Marge’s words. When Marge ended with an invitation for the women to ask forgiveness and trust Jesus as their Lord and Savior, at least 35 of the women did just that. Fifteen of them said they were at their first Stonecroft event.
Each of those women will receive a special phone call and an invitation to join a Friendship Bible Coffee, Joan said.
“It was phenomenal,” she said. “We’ve been meeting beforehand for some heavy-duty prayer time and it’s been exciting.”
STELLAR SERVANT
Banning, California-God is on the move in Banning.
Friendship Bible Coffee Consulting Coordinator Constance Alexander currently serves with 13 Coordinators and 15 Guides. There are 200 people studying God’s Word through Stonecroft Friendship Bible Coffee studies in the area.
Constance had a Christmas Gathering in 2005. Seventeen of her neighbors attended. While there were no indicated decisions for Christ, she began guiding the study Examine the Evidence with two neighbors and seven others not able to attend the Gathering.
She also plans to have a special event for the leadership in her area in the spring, so they can all get to know each other even better than they already do.
REACHING COUPLES
Lewisburg, Pennsylvania -When Diane Ippolito heard Frank and Jo Knipe speak at a Stonecroft conference about how to start a Couples’ Club, she wasn’t expecting to start one herself. She brought back some information, thinking she could pass it on to other couples in her area. When she told her husband about it, however, he responded, “Why don’t we do that?”
That’s how Diane and her husband Steve started their adventure as the Chaircouple of the new Central Pennsylvania Couples’ Club.
The group’s first outreach event is slated for April 29, and will be held in Lewisburg. Later, the group plans to move around to different cities in order to reach a wider audience. Diane said they are excited because a local Christian radio station is giving them publicity, including a whole hour on April 7 to talk about Stonecroft’s couples’ ministry in general, plus the local event.
The Ippolitos have hosted three informational/prayer meetings at their house in preparation for this new outreach group. From these meetings came four other couples who have committed to serve in leadership positions on the Planning Team. These five couples are just getting to know each other. However, they know that they are working together to save lives by helping men and women discover a relationship with Jesus Christ.
HE'S DONE IT AGAIN
Kingston, New York -“The Holy Spirit has done it again!“ remarked Alyce Littlefield, a Friendship Bible Coffee Coordinator. “One of the young ladies in our Who Is Jesus? study prayed to receive Jesus into her heart as she was doing Lesson 5. She was so excited as she told our Friendship Bible Coffee study group how she came to surrender to the Lord. She is bubbling over and looking forward to the What Is God Like? study which we will be starting soon.”
“At the Prayer Connection for our local group the following week, her mother, who is in another local Friendship Bible Coffee, entered beaming with the news about her daughter's salvation! She herself had come to know the Lord within the last year or so after attending our outreach dinner. She can’t keep quiet about her new life in Christ and we are praying with her for the salvation of the rest of her family.”
BEYOND DESCRIPTION
Kona, Hawaii -The ocean-front view for Wednesday’s Kona Christian Women’s Club luncheon “was beyond description,” according to speaker T.J. Roethe.
The event was held at the Outrigger Keauhou Beach Hotel and Resort. There were 65 women at the luncheon and 17 of those had never been to a Stonecroft event.
The feature presented different ways photographs could be preserved, said Marilyn Patrick, Chair of the group.
Then T.J. spoke on how to organize your life—telling some of her life story as a career military wife and giving strategies to help live a clutter-free life. She then transitioned into a clear presentation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, explaining the difference Jesus has made in her life and inviting the women there to begin a relationship with Him through a prayer of repentance. Eight women indicated they prayed that prayer for the first time.
“What a privilege to watch God at work in this beautiful place,” T.J. said.
CAPTURING WYOMING
Casper, Wyoming - Stonecroft staff members Paula Hughes, Marilyn Hughes, and Sandy Warnock took Casper by storm (a snow storm, that is) as they arrived for a Capture the Moment event on January 20-21. These 24-hour events are a blizzard of prayer, worship, training, encouragement, and vision casting for Stonecroft leaders.
More than 80 women attended with hearts eager to learn. “Their excitement and enthusiasm were contagious,” commented Sandy Warnock. “They energized us with their receptivity to everything they heard. They just soaked it in.”
The women headed for home eager to put into practice all they had learned. Karen Bahnsen, Chair of the Scottsbluff Nebraska Christian Women’s Club, had this to say about what the Capture event meant to her. “We had a wonderful experience filled with new relationships, prayer opportunities, clarification of Stonecroft’s guidelines, opportunities to focus and be creative, and reaffirmations of all that our group is doing to reach the lost. Of course, they gave us much encouragement, tons of ideas, and a brief peek into the future of some of their plans. Wow! That is a great deal for such a short amount of time.”
Details are being finalized for 16 Capture the Moment events to be held this fall. Be watching this website for further information in the months to come.
TEAMWORK IN ACTION
Wichita, Kansas-What happens when you put a Planning Team together for an extended period of time? In the case of the Wichita After 5, great things happen!
In January, the women on the After 5 Planning Team met for a retreat at a local church. They spent Friday evening and all day Saturday having fun, being trained, sharing testimonies, and planning the upcoming year’s meetings.
As part of their time together, the women completed all four lessons of the Stonecroft Bible study, Life’s New Beginning. According to Friendship Bible Coffee Coordinator Malinda Grover, after every outreach event this year, they would like to be able to immediately offer the Life’s New Beginning study to new Christians or anyone interested. With that in mind, the women were asked to sign up as Guides, and eight of them agreed!
In the end, the retreat must have been inspiring to all, as the idea of making it an annual event was heartily praised!
SERENDIPITOUS PRAYER
Indio, California-Does prayer make a difference in planning outreach meetings? Gayle Mead, Chair of the Indio Christian Women’s Club, answers with a resounding YES! She comments, “Our group has seen mighty answers to prayers with wonderful programs resulting in 13 decisions in December and 16 in January. What a joy!”
Lillie Knauls was the guest speaker at the December brunch and presented her Christmas message in a beautiful way through her story and songs. The January brunch featured a New Year’s theme with tap dancers and a local jazz singer as the special feature. Guest speaker Barbara Brown presented the gospel clearly. “Reservations kept coming in until the last minute,” Gayle reports. “The women loved the whole morning. We have so many who comment that they love the friendliness and caring spirit they see in our group.”
At the monthly Prayer Connection before each brunch, the local team prays specifically over every aspect of the meeting. “When Stonecroft’s Director of Ministries, Paula Hughes, was here last year, she told us we should even pray about who gets the door prizes,” Gayle said. “We have prayed about that and, for the last three months, one of the ladies receiving a door prize has been one who accepted Christ into her life. I call that God's sweet serendipities!”
A GLIMPSE OF HEAVEN
Grand Rapids, Michigan-A Prayer Connection in central Michigan gave women a glimpse of heaven recently.
Diana Huizinga, Area Representative for the Grand Rapids and Georgetown, Michigan, Women's Connections, writes that an international blend of 21 women gathered at the home of Louise Cerling, who has served in various positions on the local Planning Team. Louise hosted an English Tea/Cookie Exchange for the women, which included guests from Africa, the Philippines, Russia, and the United States.
Kristi VanderWoude, Prayer Coordinator, led the group in a "sweet time of prayer," then sang "O Holy Night."
"It was a joy to hear prayer lifted up in several different accents. Surely it was a glimpse of heaven," Diana wrote.
Prayer Connections are held by the local outreach groups in reliance on God for His power and blessing upon each outreach event.
