“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” -Ephesians 2:8-10
True enjoyment of God must lead naturally to mission—to helping others see the beauty you see. God never draws us in except to send us out—to serve and reach others. -Tim Keller via Twitter
“All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before You.” -Psalm 22:27
“Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. Missions is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.” -John Piper via DesiringGod’s Twitter
“Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ…” -Ephesians 4:15
“When love and truth are churning together in your stomach, you have to be in mission.” -Tim Keller via Twitter
“Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” -Hebrews 12:2
“The lack of joy in your life is due to your lack of mission.” -Tim Keller via Twitter
“For it was fitting that He, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. -Hebrews 2:10
“The story of the Bible is that God the Father sent His only true and eternal Son on a mission, and that mission was to bring many wayward and rebellious sons home to glory (Hebrews 2:10). That is the Story behind the story of the Prodigal Sons. That is the only story that gives our stories any meaning or significance.” -Dan Cruver in Reclaiming Adoption (via Of First Importance)
Dear friends,
Hope all is well with you. We are doing well. Things around here are calm. I have not written lately because there has not been any changes in the situation here. The judge still has not started hearing any one yet. So as we wait to see the out come of all this we stay busy with other things.
Here at the home there are 34 people. There are some adults and the kids that have turned 18 that are here with us. There are 5 that I have become their legal guardian. Some of the older ones that are still here are the ones that are in college. They help here and we pay for the college. There are 6 in college right now. Since the place is so big it takes several people to keep it up.
The church is using the part of the building where the school was. We have done several events in the church and have many plans for different ways to evangelize the kids in the neighborhood. There are new house going up all around us. It has been interesting to see how the area around us is really growing.
The leaders that work with our young teens have been making new plans to reach out to their school friends. This last Saturday they a special supper. It was really cute. Pray for the group because it is a much needy age to work with.
We want to thank those of you who have been faithful in your prayers and support. Knowing that we have friends praying for us is a great inspiration. So many of you have written or called us and given encouragement. What a blessing. May God richly bless each of you.
As we wait to see what God has in store for us we will keep on serving Him in as many ways as we can. The command is to preach the Gospel to all, and that is what we are going to do. Some times we don’t understand God’s plans but that is not up to us any way. We must learn to trust in HIM fully and know that His plans will not be changed. We can be used by HIM or GOD will use some one else.
We are excited that our daughter KathyLee and her Husband Dan will be coming to work with us here. They are already working on their support. The Lord willing they should be here before the end of the year.
Here is our email. Write us any time. odali_kathy [at] hotmail.com
Odali and Kathy
New Life Baptist Church 