December 2016 Newsletter

Time. It’s the most precious investment into anyone we encounter. Even Jesus gave folks the time He had, even when in a hurry. He met them where they had a need, whether physical, emotional, relational and especially spiritual. It’s truly the most precious resource we can give to another person. Recently, I came into my favorite place to get coffee and have meetings with folks and planned on getting our December letter finished up to go to print in time. God apparently had other plans to prepare me for this letter in where we’d tell our story to others as of late. A gentleman had overheard my comment of being a missionary to reach military teens at YFC to a friend who is a local attorney whom I knew from my position with the bank before moving away. This guy chose to come and engage me from his own perspective of faith and through the time of over an hour expired, I learned a ton about this guy – his background, his passions, his gift sets, some of his sorrows and some of his dreams. At first, I wasn’t all about this engagement, but then God poked me in the heart, specifically showing me that all we can do for another while here on Earth is give someone our time.

The amazing group of teens we took to Journey Camp in June 2016.

As Amy and I reflect upon the past year, it’s been incredibly life-changing and challenging to say the least. In January, we were still in Georgia, planning the upcoming annual calendar and then preparing the teens of 3^rd ID for our pending move. We chose to face the hard news head-on and finished our season in Georgia excellently, by taking 56 teens to summer camp in North Georgia and watching 9 of them choose to follow Jesus and dedicating that choice by baptism. We prepared our leader team in a manner to take the reins of the ministry mission and run with it when we moved and prayed big that God would show up when we left Georgia.

The giant crew of students in Georgia after an epic color war together!

A wild group together preparing to play laser tag at Fort Stewart before our departure.

Amy and I with our amazing salesperson, David, before he
prayed over our van.

Our dream home ended up selling to a couple from Ft. Bliss, who had never seen it in person before physically! It had been a refuge for so many teens to come hang out, small groups of adults who packed it out on a normal basis and anything in between ranging from a good friend who lived with us for 7 months when he had nowhere to go and a HS teen who we allowed to stay with us after graduation so they could attend summer camp.

The gang of Lansing Campus Life students ready
for a hayride together!

As we’ve reflected on some of the highlights of how we’ve spent some of our time over this past year, we hope that has sparked some reflection for you as well. How are you spending your time? Are you making every moment count toward impact for the Kingdom of God? We have recently been in the market for a new vehicle with 3^rd row seating as we look to expand our family through foster care and adoption. We’ve looked at several dealerships and have been waiting patiently for the right one to come along. While we were visiting family in Iowa for the first time in 2 years, we thought we’d use some of our free time to poke around at a dealership just to see

A huge crowd together for an all-area
dodgeball & costume tournament.

what prices looked like. Wow! We were blown away by the new vehicle we walked away with, but we invested in so much more that day! David, the salesman, greeted us with a joyful smile and we began sharing a bit of our story about what was leading us to have interest in a vehicle with seating for 8. We shared that we are full-time missionaries and work with military teens. We listened to him share a little about his story and how he was also a Christ follower. When he was younger, he also felt called to become a missionary to the Philippines, but instead, his family ended up being his mission field. He shared with us about how he enjoyed leading a men’s Bible Study group and his heart for missionaries. We really enjoyed our time spent with him. He worked diligently with us and the deal for our purchase came together. We’ve never had so much fun with a car salesman before! As we wrapped up the deal and prepared to drive off, we snapped some pictures together with our new friend David, so we could remember him and pray for him accordingly. David then did something that completely floored us; he took the time to pray for us. He offered a humble blessing over our new vehicle. He prayed for our family to continue to grow and for Jesus to impact each and every person we transport through us spending time with them.

The 56 teens and 9 adults together after an epic VIP manhunt night game at camp! 

Finally, we ask you to prayerfully take your time to ask if God is asking you to partner with us in whatever way this looks to you and Him. Please know we are working on our partner development to raise the $1900 per month deficit we lost in the contracting from the Army and are praying that God fills the gap. Because so many amazing people have chosen to partner with us, that has kept us on mission for so long and we are incredibly thankful for those who have. Should you desire to partner with us in whatever way you are led, you may go to this site to join our team: https://yfc.givingfuel.com/30631.

In this Christmas season, we pray that your time is well spent. We couldn’t do what we do, if it weren’t for Jesus coming to earth, living His story, and giving us a story to share with others.

~Phil & Amy Parsons