Engage the lost.

How many people do you know right now who are hurting? How many struggles have you heard just today? Or this week? People in north central Alabama are crying for Jesus. Do we even realize it? We get more caught up in the gossip or the story of the minute instead of seeing these people for who they truly are: loved children of God.

Sure, they may be crazy or attention-seekers, or druggies, or whatever else, but they still are sons and daughters of the mighty King.

Why do we pick and choose who Jesus loves? Why do we think we can decide who deserves Jesus?

Betty Sue that teaches Sunday school, sings in the choir, and holds bake sales every month for homeless children is in the same boat as the prisoner convicted of first-degree murder. God loves them equally, and He can save them both.

So what do we do. We should reflect our own lives.

What do you think you are doing in your own community that shows the love of Christ? How are you impacting the Kingdom. Because I hear a lot of complaining about how this country is falling away from Jesus but I don’t see a lot of action from the people who say it. They are sitting on their couches in their homes talking about it with other Christians instead of getting up, going outside, and building relationships in order to alter lives in the name of Jesus.

If that is you, look around. What can you do? Because you are right, people are falling away from Jesus. I’m glad you recognize it. So what are you going to do about it? Post a rant on Facebook? Cry about it to your coworker? Or are you going to actually engage with the lost?

Think about it.

I want to know what people are doing in their communities.  Email me, if you would like, amynicolesingleton@gmail.com

In my next blog post, I’ll let you know what I want to do in my own community and how this trip to England is preparing me for just that. Praise God.

Pray.

I’m not going to lie to you; I need prayer. I’m embarking on something I’ve never experienced before. One: I’ve never been overseas. Two: I’ve never been away from home for such an extended period of time. Three: I’ve never had to prepare my mind and my heart to be fully immersed in another culture.

So, yes, prayer for me please.

However, what’s more important is that I need you to pray for those who I will encounter. That’s what’s most important. If you think people in our little county are far from Jesus, it is nowhere near as dark and desolate as the place I will be going. These people didn’t grow up hearing the stories we know nor do they have the correct view of Jesus. They believe they have to be a “good person” in order for Jesus to love them and have a relationship with them.  As believers know, that’s not how it works. I’m a sinner, and I sin badly. The only reason I’m worth anything is Jesus’s love for me.

Let me express that to those I will meet. I’ve especially been praying that I find one person to really pour in to, and that by doing so, I will impact their life. I feel that if I’m able to make a difference in the life of one person for the Kingdom, I’ll be happy. That doesn’t mean that person will accept Jesus, but only that they will see Jesus represented in me and the two other young women missionaries who are going to the same place I am.

Alright, time to fly to Miami, and then from Miami…to England.

I love you all.

Expanding the Kingdom.

I’ve been awake since 3:30 a.m., flying is weird, and somehow I’m in Denver.  Also, what’s most important, on Thursday I’ll be leaving for England. I still haven’t totally accepted that fact. I basically feel like I’m sleep walking, and I’ll wake up soon in Susan Moore, Ala.

Alas, I’m in Denver training with GEM (Greater Europe Mission) in preparation for a two-month mission trip to England.

I don’t know what I’m feeling right now. It’s definitely a mixture of emotions. I can’t decide if I should jump for joy or cry from homesickness. This is, after all, the farthest away from my home I have ever been. Heck, I’ve never been on plane prior to today.

But, this is it. The opportunity of a lifetime. The adventure I’ve been waiting for. And I’m doing it all in the name of Jesus.

It’s time for me to try and be a tool for God to expand his kingdom.

Stick around for some pictures and documentation.

Also, if you donated money, prayed, gave me words of encouragement, or just thought about this mission trip, I’m eternally grateful.

“As for me, I will always have hope;

I will praise you more and more.

My mouth will tell of your righteous deeds,

of your saving acts all day long –

though I know not how to relate them all.

I will come and proclaim your mighty

acts, Sovereign Lord;

I will proclaim your righteous deeds,

yours alone.”

Psalm 71:14-16