Are you a woman who prefers audio books AND wants more truth in your life? This app is for you! AND IT’S FREE!!!
Hear God’s Word read like never before with the Courage For Life Audio Bible App. This revolutionary project is the first female voice Audio Bible App of its kind. Let God’s Word speak to you: https://courageforlife.org/app/
This includes the New Testament, and the Old Testament will be ready soon!
Courage For Life’s mission is to reach abused, at-risk, and women in prison with the story of Jesus. Most of these women come from backgrounds of abuse, largely from males, and they often have low educational background and may struggle to read. Many women’s prisons in the U.S. have already downloaded it onto video tablets.
Directed by Amick Byram, leading female voices and actresses in Hollywood spent months recording to bring this to us. Courage For Life along with Cooke Media Group just launched it June 3!
It has been two months since our last update in “Wellspring: A Church is Birthed”, and we have been meeting as a church for 4 months now. We want to thank all of our partners and tell you that we are already seeing fruit. We have seen a number of people profess faith in Christ, and we have had two baptism services, baptizing six.
Wellspring Church’s first baptism service, mid-March in the courtyard of Mabel Padgett Elementary School.
Chris is delivering great sermons, and many have asked about making podcasts of his messages available. We are praying we can get that feature on our website soon.
Our handy team members are always figuring out clever ways to get what we need in the thriftiest way possible. Mike Hartwick went to the home improvement store and built the needed drum enclosure with his own two hands! Doesn’t it look professional?
Derek Stull has continued to lead well in worship, and pull in other talented young musicians as well.
We were blessed to have FBC Mustang, OK, come out during Spring Break and help with all sorts of things. They painted two houses, worked at the teenage pregnancy center, served two days at the Agua Fria Food Bank, passed out invitations to Wellspring, did concerts, and they sang the National Anthem at a major league Spring Training game.
Brenna Stull had a chance to share the Wellspring story with Tom Brown on FaithTalk Radio in April.
Leader meetings at the Stulls’ house have grown to be 60 strong, and have included potluck dinner, sharing stories, prayer, and planning.
No shortage of food at the leader meetings (this is after most had been through the line!)
Leaders fellowship around the tables before the planning meeting begins.
Attendance on Sundays has grown steadily from 115 two months ago to 186 in attendance by the end of May. We also reconfigured our Sunday worship set-up to center the big screen, and were able to purchase a new and improved sound system.
Wellspring worship leaders Derek Stull and Manny Orozco along with Taylor Napodano had the chance to lead worship at the Phoenix Country Club for the Good Friday service, which included pastors and leaders from congregations all over the Valley.
At the Good Friday breakfast Chris and Brenna were able to share a word, and were encouraged and thrilled to meet a number of people who share a similar vision for God’s heart for Phoenix’s revival.
A group from Cross-Eyed Skates, a skate ministry out of FBC McKinney, came out the weekend before Easter to lead a Wellspring outreach at the Goodyear Skate Park. They also served at Wellspring’s Easter Eggstravaganza community outreach the day before Easter, where children hunted for over 4,000 eggs the youth group had prepared.
Derek did a great job leading the Easter Choir, which included a variety of ages: 11 years to age 85. The Easter Choir had a blast practicing and can’t wait until the next time they can sing. We had 206 in attendance on Easter.
Powerful teaching from Jill Rhodes continued at the Heart & Home Bible Study through April, reaching about 20 women each Wednesday night, and 15 each Thursday mornings.
Brenna with LIFT (Leaders In Fellowship Together) Leaders Pam Lyons and Sandy Betgur. Brenna had the chance to speak to the women’s ministers of Greater Phoenix at an all-day conference end of April. She shared how God has led them in their giving, adopting, and planting a church as they sought and surrendered to the Lord’s will. And she dared them to ask the Lord for direction and be open to new things God might do.
Derek and Taylor had the opportunity to lead worship at the State Capitol lawn on the National Day of Prayer.
Shawn and Lisa Copeland continue to give strong leadership to our middle school and high school students each Wednesday night. The youth will be joining North Phoenix Baptist Church’s camp in Big Bear, California, the third week of June.
The Sunday following Easter we met at a nearby park for “Party in the Park”, an after-Easter celebration.
Chris shared a brief message and Nicki Pacheco shared her testimony.
God blessed us with 72 degrees and sun! It was a day full of JOY and fellowship.
Three believers were baptized in the portable baptistry.
Party in the Park included a tasty lunch by the generous Doug Johnston of Choo Choo Bar-b-q, and fun on the ball fields.
Women’s Bible Studies wrapped up with a dinner in May. Forty women came and shared fellowship, food, testimonies about the past year, and looked ahead at the upcoming summer activities. One testimony: Dorothy shared that she had actually moved to Phoenix to be a part of Wellspring Church, because she had heard about what was going on and didn’t want to miss it. Natalie shared that she and her family had planned to move away from Phoenix this summer, but are considering staying because of Wellspring Church.
Women stayed and visited into the night.
The Wellspring Men also meet each Friday morning at 6 a.m. for powerful Bible Study, share and prayer time (but it’s too early to remember a camera, thus no photo! :))
On the home front news: the Stulls received on May 15 the document they desperately needed by May 19 in order to proceed with their visa applications to bring home their two adopted children from Sierra Leone. This allows their file to move on to the U.S. Embassy in Sierra Leone. They are praying the visas will be issued by July (instead of the normal 4-5 months) so that the kids can come home and get to know the family as a unit before the oldest two sons leave for college in August.
A note from the Stulls:
We thank God for the privilege of serving Him, and for having us here for such a time as this. The biggest news is that we feel we are seeing, since Passover/Good Friday/April 18, the first Phoenix’s breakthrough for revival. Since that date, God has shown us daily new hearts He is stirring to trust Him in new ways, let go of baggage, fully surrender, and see new visions for what God wants to do. We thank Him and we praise Him.
We continue to seek to stay as close as possible to Him, being right in step to cooperate with His plans…not running ahead and not lagging behind. It is a heated battle, but God is greater. We know it is not by our might or power, but by His Spirit that we do everything.
“Hope deferred makes the heart grow sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” Proverbs 13:12 We thank God for the start of fulfilled longings!
Thank you to everyone who, through their financial gifts and prayer, is enabling this ministry to do all that it is.
Bless you!
Chris & Brenna Stull
…and one last photo! Wellspring Church just had our first young marrieds dinner at the Hartwick’s house. These are a few of the couples who came. We enjoyed an evening of hearing each other’s love stories, and look forward to the small group Bible Study in the Fall.
I thank God for the opportunity to partner last month with Lifesong for Orphans in India. I went with a promise: “The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary.” (Isaiah 50:4) I am thankful for the chance to encourage those ministering to orphans–the caregivers at Jyothi Nivas Children’s Home–and to teach the Bible to and spend time with the children. Bob and Siromani Stoll, who led our group and have done ministry through orphanages and churches in India for 35 years, were an inspiration to me and an example of the amazing things God can do with people who cooperate with Him to get His work done in the world. I am also impressed with the diligence of Lifesong for Orphans in spending each ministry dollar with intention and purpose.
I am thankful to Elizabeth Shaw, Lifesong for Orphans Board Member, who made the way for me to go on the trip. The time with her and her daughter Neha was a delight. Here they are giving me the lowdown on sarees and how they are made.
A common sight along the roads.
Arriving at Jyothi Nivas Children’s Home – Siromani Stoll (left) and her husband Bob founded it.
This loving home has a special place in my heart.
Hospitality in India is amazing – they give gifts of garland as guests arrive, and also display large welcome banners.
Sweet girls
I got hundreds of kisses on my cheek and gave hundreds of kisses over the week. My friend Leslie commented on what a privilege it is to not only be the hands of feet of Jesus to the hurting, but the lips, too.
Special times with the children at Jyothi Nivas Children’s Home. We met at 6:00 a.m. each morning and then again at 6:30 p.m. Though they were busy with school and homework and studying for exams, they were eager and engaged. They even asked if we could start earlier for the last night’s session, then stayed late, singing into the night.
Closing a session in prayer.
A typical sight as we drove outside of Narsapur.
The people of India once again showed their hospitality with these beautiful garlands for our team.
Attendees of the regional convention: women’s section. They would line up after services each day to be prayed for.
The men’s section at convention. Many are pastors in their local areas, and Bob Stoll has helped a number of them with church plants.
Temples are set up along roadsides in honor of thousands of Hindu gods.
Caterers prepared lunch for convention attendees.
No paper or plastics needed: just a banana leaf loaded with rice and veggies.
Bob Stoll, 88 years old and going strong in the power of the Lord (How many people at age 88 volunteer to ride in the jump seats for a “suspense-filled” one hour drive?) His love for the Indian people was such an inspiration! In the past 35 years he has founded 3 orphanages and helped plant 7 churches there. Lifesong for Orphans is partnering with Bob and allowing for even greater ministry and impact. Pictured is Andy Lehman, Vice President with Lifesong for Orphans (lifesongfororphans.org).
A marathon session: Strategic planning to help the orphans of India.
A Christian church service. I was blessed by their passion and dedication.
The girls of Jyothi Nivas Children’s Home helping with dinner.
The kitchen at Jyothi Nivas Children’s Home
The boys at Jyothi Nivas pull out mats and sleep on the floor in this room.
I was amazed at the loads they were able to transport by bike.
Bike repair shops get good business in India — they seem to keep those bikes running for at least a century.
Streets are full of these, oxcarts, bikes, fast cars, and roaming cows. No traffic lights or signs anywhere, so it’s quite an experience.
The girls at Jyothi Nivas during an evening session. I loved to hear them sing.
A local school assembly.
The classroom at a local school.
Chicken stand…get ’em while they’re fresh!
We toured Narsapur one morning in an auto rickshaw.
Cows roam the cities freely and are considered sacred.
This guy at the fish market was serious about getting fish cleaned quickly for customers (no time to wipe excess from his legs and feet!)
This fruit stand got my award for the best display and product positioning.
Seamsters line the streets.
The bananas are so sweet and tasty!
Government workers on strike! They created human roadblocks to prevent any transportation. Thankfully the strike was over after one day and we were able to get to the airport.
Garlands for sale
On our 45-min. drives to the pastor’s convention each day, we saw workers in rice fields lined by coconut trees on each side of the road.
The dear woman washing dishes at the pastor’s convention.
One day Kumari set us up for a lunch she had packed for us to have at convention. The tables were set up in a small bedroom. Just a few minutes after I snapped this photo, a leg on the left table gave way and everything went into the floor!
On a mission trip, ALWAYS be ready to give a message or sing a song at a moment’s notice. They even pulled Neha up to the front for a few words at the pastor’s convention.
This is the hall that the girls do their homework in each night at Jyothi Nivas.
Normal traffic in India.
It’s amazing what a small tractor and trailer can move!
The road is shared by oxcarts and cars. I’m pretty sure the strategy for drivers is dart quickly left or right, whichever direction you think someone else is not darting.
The kids were excited to receive Bibles, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and bars of soap from donors through Lifesong for Orphans.
Getting through the long line at immigration in the Bombay airport was an experience.
Having consumed while in India more curry than I’ve ever eaten, I just had to snap this pic of this fast food restaurant at the airport.
The slums of Bombay – just over the fence from the airport.
Lots of love. I pray for God’s continued protection, guidance and blessing on the the sweet orphans of India and those caring for them. Amen.
When we decorated for Christmas a couple weeks ago, I realized that when the decorations were packed away only eleven months ago, I had no idea they would be moved to a new house in a different state for Christmas 2013. A lot can change in a short time. Moving brings stress in a myriad of ways, but I believe one of the hardest for a mom is the concern for her children and their adjustments. In February, as it became clear the Lord was calling us to Phoenix, my heart broke for our son who would be starting his senior year of high school in the fall. But on Thanksgiving Day as we gathered around the feast, we joined hands as family and friends, and each of us expressed a word of gratefulness. Derek, my high school senior, was one of the first to speak. “I’m thankful we moved to Arizona,” he said with heartfelt sincerity. That was one of the sweetest Thanksgiving blessings this momma has ever heard!
New Church: Wellspring – Our Facility Needs are Met
When you start a church from scratch, there are numerous considerations that aren’t factors in established churches. One of the most important considerations is where to meet. Our first couple of months in Arizona we spent hours researching options in the area. In the end, we landed at a local elementary school. It is a beautiful facility with a gorgeous courtyard, good parking, easy access to the gym for services, two playgrounds and basketball courts, easily accessible bathrooms and nice classrooms. Chris got approval from the district to rent the gym, cafeteria and six classrooms, but soon after, he found out we actually would not be able to use any of the classrooms because none of the teachers had agreed to it. We understood why they would hesitate since it was risking the cleanliness and orderliness of their rooms, but we also knew it would be almost impossible to run a good program for preschoolers and children without access to individual rooms. The Wellspring launch team prayed for two months that a few teacher’s hearts would be open to giving us a chance. Just before Thanksgiving we received an email from the principal telling us that three rooms had opened up for our use, including the preschool room located just across from the gym where we hold services! This was just in time for our first morning preview service on Sunday, Dec. 15th. We have two more “trial run” Sundays (Jan. 12th and 26th) before our big church launch on February 9th.
New Family Members – Last Step!
When we started the adoption process, a friend told us that international adoption is not for the faint of heart. We definitely “amen” that statement. After two years of paperwork, seeking signatures for affidavits, court orders and more, the adoptions were approved in an African court. We have two new family members as of Oct. 21st. and Oct. 23rd. Now to get them here! Having received the last needed document, we were able to get the visa application and all the necessary papers in the mail on the eve of Thanksgiving, and we are so thankful for that. We hope to have our visa appointments by February and bring them home before Spring Break. I can hardly wait to share pictures and details about our additions!
Thank you for praying for us as we continue to settle in, wait for God to provide for Wellspring Church, and soon help transition into our home two new children from a foreign land. God is good and we give him all the thanks and the praise!
Chris and I just returned from Europe last week, where he was speaking for a missions conference near Budapest, Hungary. I had a few surprises along the way.
The French computer keyboard. I used a friend’s Apple computer, and had a hilarious time trying to type!
A young Hungarian couple exclusively played traditional polka music at their wedding reception.
The flight to Europe seemed short compared to my recent trips to Africa.
At the conference we had the joy of getting acquainted with church leaders from all over Western Europe. My friend Vicki from Switzerland shared with me this story:
A couple dreamed of beautiful roadsides in their community. Pulling a large portion of the money from their savings account, they invested in a great amount of poppy seeds and joyfully scattered them on each side of the road for miles. Eager to see the flowers crowding each side of the highway, they watched and waited, watched and waited. Years passed and not one poppy grew in the area they had planted. Assuming they had wasted their money and time, the couple was greatly disappointed.
Then one spring years later, they were driving along and could not believe their eyes. Beautiful red poppies graced each side of the road. When the conditions (temperature, moisture, and sunlight) were right, the seeds bloomed. The flowers were beautiful in their time. The couple saw the realization of their dream, and experienced the fullness of Proverbs 13:12, “Hope deferred makes the heart grow sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” And others also were blessed because of their work.
That story encourages me as I reflect on what I believe God laid on our hearts in 1998 to pray for Phoenix: revival. Though we did not see evidence of revival before we moved from Phoenix in 2003, I believe the answer to our prayers is now coming into full bloom. It is heart wrenching on so many levels to leave McKinney, but I have an overwhelming sense that God has given us this invitation to go back and see the fruit of what we helped sow in prayer fifteen years ago. I eagerly anticipate seeing the “poppies” in Arizona.
I wonder how many people have a God-given dream in their heart that they have become hopeless and heart-sick over. Or how many have allowed the busyness of life to put a dream on the back burner to the point that it is almost forgotten. I wonder how many would be bold enough to take that dream to God in prayer and ask Him what to do with it. “We are not called to be spectators watching from the stands as the prince of darkness goes about to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). Jesus said there is a shortage of workers, but the actual work will be done by God’s Spirit through you and me doing great things beyond our wildest imagination. It all begins when you offer yourself to serve.” (Spirit Rising, 188, Jim Cymbala).
I’m praying for fellow poppy planters. People that will invest their efforts in work that will reap an eternal harvest. May we pray the prophet Isaiah’s prayer: “Here am I Lord, send me!” (Isaiah 6:8).
It was a normal Phoenix afternoon on August 28, 1998. I was preparing dinner in the kitchen with Dillon, age 5, and Derek, age 3, running circles around me and sliding on the Saltillo tile and my 4-month-old Caleb sitting in his bouncy seat on the counter. Glancing up at my scripture-a-day calendar, the words of Isaiah 43:18-19 seemed to come off the page at me: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” My heart leapt within me — I knew that God was telling me that He wanted to bring revival to our city. I opened my Bible to the passage and read on to verses 21-22: “Yet, you have not called upon me, O Jacob, you have not wearied yourselves for me, O Israel.”
The need was clear. It was time to pray. My friend Debbi and I had vowed a year earlier to pray every day for the women of our church, but this was a bigger vision – revival for the city of Phoenix. I prayed God would send us more intercessors. In the weeks that followed, friends from my church as well as new acquaintances God brought my way (in places as unlikely as the produce section at the grocery store) began gathering to pray and fast for God’s will to be done in our city. Our group of 40 women felt God led us to call ourselves “Frontline” because God was telling us we would win this spiritual battle by worship and the Word, just as God directed Jehoshaphat to put the worship team on the front lines of battle so that all would know it was God who was doing the fighting.
Though God worked richly in our lives during that season, by the time I stopped leading the group in June of 2000 because of having my fourth baby, we had not seen the major breakthroughs we were expecting. It was one of the biggest disappointments of my life. I couldn’t figure out what had blocked God’s plans for the city. By 2003 and 2004, sadly, Proverbs 13:12a described my condition: “Hope deferred makes the heart grow sick….”
In 2004 God called us to serve at a church in McKinney, Texas. Though it was hard to leave friends in Phoenix, it was a joy to move close to family and to put the disappointments of unfulfilled spiritual expectations behind me. I put my journals of words from God regarding Phoenix in a file, and moved on.
Fast forward nine years. In the process of praying through a call that my husband has felt on his life to lead pastor a church, Chris started feeling the Lord leading him toward church planting. In January I all but told him, “Anywhere but Phoenix!” (Really, I know better than to make statements like that!) Though we have so many dear friends there, I guess the deep-rooted disappointment of past hopes still lived on.
Through a series of unexpected events that started mid February of this year, we could feel God’s undeniable leading toward exactly the place I said I didn’t want to go: Phoenix. But there is a new twist to it. God has given me the full of Proverbs 13:12, bringing to my attention the last part of the verse. “Hope deferred makes the heart grow sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” Really, Lord?! We feel this is God’s invitation for us to come back and harvest what we helped sow in prayer 15 years ago. Am I excited? You bet I am! I am poring back through the many pages I have of promises that God gave me in 1998-1999, and claiming every one of them. I’ve felt the Lord whisper to my heart, I never make a promise I don’t keep.
Another exciting part of this is that our precious church in McKinney is sending us to do the church plant! Though we will be a thousand miles away, we are still connected to a people we love and we will have their support as we go on this new adventure. Many dear friends in Phoenix are also praying for us and some are even planning to come help get the church off the ground. Our hearts overflow with thankfulness.
Father, I thank you for this opportunity to share of your faithfulness and your calling. We are privileged to be at your service. Thank you for the promises that you have given every believer in your Word. Help us to know those promises and may they carry us through difficult times. Thank you that we can trust you always. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
As we move forward to do what we feel called to do in adding some precious new ones to our family, I reflect of the messages I saw on the poda podas (the bush minivans) on my recent visit to Sierra Leone. These primary sources of transport, along with droves of walkers (that seem to be moving faster than the vehicles most of the time), are seen all over the streets in a city that has no public transit, no street lights, and few well-paved roads. I will let the poda podas speak for themselves…
Okay, blame this post on mother way past due to see son on other side of world for summer with very little opportunities for contact.
My oldest son, Dillon, spent this summer in Mozambique, Africa at the Iris Ministries Harvest School of Missions. He studied hard (including going to extra classes to learn a new language, Makua). He ate rice and beans…then more rice and beans. He hung onto the sides as he sat in the flat bed of a truck for ten hours each way on bumpy and dusty roads to go into the bush on a medical mission to share the Good News of Christ.
I thank God that this Saturday we had the opportunity to Skype with him for a half hour (well, besides the four times we lost connection). We saw his scruffy beard and his smile and his laugh lifted my soul.
Today I was thinking about his Harvest School of Missions Graduation coming on Thursday. I can’t be there, obviously. But I was able to find online a grand moment we shared in June at his high school graduation. I’m not sure I have ever been more proud of my son, as he boldly and courageously encouraged his audience of over 6,000 persons to “make Jesus [their] only goal and love [their] only motivation.” As I sat in the audience my mind reeled back to prayers we started praying for Dillon before he was even born. God is answering those prayers — working in and through Dillon.
I’m attaching the link (look on the right side of this page, and click on it) if you would like to hear Dillon’s seven-minute speech, which begins ten minutes into the video. He receives his diploma at the twenty-four minute mark. Even if no one views this, I will have this to refer to on my blog! (I almost couldn’t locate this today!)
To watch, you can also paste this into your browser: http://www.mckinneyisd.net/graduation/MBHS_Replay.asp Lord willing, we will welcome him home this Saturday. We will relish the time with him, then send him off a few days later for college. After the African bush summer, this has got to be easy, right? (Ummm…I might need a gentle reminder of that next week on move-in day.)
Thank you so much for your prayers for our recent trip to Africa. I felt God’s Presence and saw His hand at work every step along the way.
The God surprises came from all sides — everything from helping a single mom with her colicky newborn on the long plane ride to marveling at God working through our friends Shane and Mitzie McBride in their ministry to 253 orphans, and encouraging a single woman in South Africa who is desperate for God’s will to watching God “bring out” the animals to greet us when we had a short time at a game reserve one afternoon (I feel like I should post “As in the days of Noah, the animals came out….! Saw 8 giraffes, 2 rhinos, 50 zebras, hippos peeking up from the lake, and more.) I stand amazed at His works.
I’m thankful to Kim Heaton for putting together this video sharing special moments of our trip:
…and one last photo! Wellspring Church just had our first young marrieds dinner at the Hartwick’s house. These are a few of the couples who came. We enjoyed an evening of hearing each other’s love stories, and look forward to the small group Bible Study in the Fall.
