"Missions is not what we do, but who we are." - Pastor John Michaels

Hello Everyone!

God bless you all! We really hope that you've enjoyed these past couple of months! We can't believe that two months have already passed since we first came up to Montana! Before we know it, it will be December and we'll have graduated from the Impact Program. There's not enough space in all the blogs in the world to write down all of the things we've learned and experienced even just so far! 

I know it's hard to believe it, but it is possible to take 12 interns and 2 staff members, corral them into a 15-passenger van, and drive from Whitefish, Montana to Las Vegas, Nevada. I would say that there are only a handful of reasons why you would even attempt something like that, and the best one is the annual Send the Message Conference. 

The conference was an enormous blessing! One by one men of God from all over the world took the pulpit to challenge our perspective on God's Great Commission,  we were so blessed to have the opportunity to serve and take notes! My personal favorites were Pastor Don McClure's study of Abraham as a missionary and David Guzik's teaching on the main job of the missionary to "draw out the faith" in people. Potter's Field Ranch blessed us beyond what we could ever ask by even considering to transport us all half-way across the country at no additional cost to us, in faith that the Lord would speak to each and every one of us about His plan for His world. 

For our outreach this week we got the honor and the pleasure of serving at the Whitefish Christian Academy auction. The auction was in support of  the students and families of Flathead valley to make tuition for the school more affordable for all. Since the school's curriculum is Bible-based, they receive no funding from the government, so they annually hold a banquet and auction to lower the cost to attend. This formal event was a major outreach for donations and resources for the wonderful work of the school, and the dinner was run completely by volunteers which meant a huge weight lifted off of the shoulders of the school's administration.

The event was very professionally done and very beautifully decorated. For us, the event meant white shirts, black pants, smiles, filled water glasses, and learning how to properly fold a napkin. God blessed it so much even though the majority of us had never waitered or served food in our lives! One of the volunteers accidentally dropped a small "fingerling" potato onto the floor which then proceeded to bounce into a lady's purse! He quickly informed the lady of the incident and she laughed and laughed.

In reality, after everything that we learned about food service and professional dining, what a blessing it is just to serve the Lord! My prayer is that He would accept everything we did as a pleasing sacrifice to Him, as we strive to do every task set before us for Him. 

New "Meet the People" Section:

For your entertainment and to honor some of our fellow workers we've decided to include a biography section entitled "meet the people". Because we don't want to bore you with our lives, we would like to introduce you to some of our friends.

Name: Halley Marie Trestain aka "Hales"
From: Cheboygan, Michigan
Position: Head of the Potter's Field Ranch kitchen
Began: As a Potter's Field Ranch student in 2006; taught 1st and 2nd Grade at Christian School for two years then returned.
Favorite Thing about Working Here: The students.
Goals in Life: To know the Scripture more/ exhibit the Fruit of the Spirit more
Vision: To one day have her own ranch where girls who had never had a real home could come to be restored.
 Her Message:  Finish the race, persevere, count it all joy when you fall into various trials.
Prayer Requests: Stress relief; a change of heart. Her deep desire is to love other people the way that God loves them. She wants to see other people through His eyes.

 God bless you all! Please know that you're all in our prayers! 

We love you!

Brennan and Angelina

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should 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

Hi everybody, hope that you're having such a blessed week!  It seems like it was just yesterday that Brennan and I wrote last, time here seems to pass so quickly. Especially this week I think because we had a different schedule than usual. Since our focus this module is on Cross-Cultural Missions, it seems that we were extra- blessed because in the mornings we got to go through the book of Nehemiah with Pastor Don McClure, and in the afternoons we got to really get in depth with Pastor John Michaels about making sense of different cultural worldviews in a practical way and applying it to missions work.

It always blows my mind how incredible and alive God's word is and it was amazing to see how He spoke to all of our hearts so clearly through the book of Nehemiah.  Brennan and I have been praying about what the Lord would have us do next after completing this internship; and we can really relate to Nehemiah as he was fasting and praying for the walls of Jerusalem to be built. We feel that the Lord has called us to Mexico, and we are praying and fasting for His vision and provision. While we pray that He would make His plan clear to us, we also are praying for obedience and that we would trust Him completely. It's so encouraging that we never have to ask, "Are we able to do this?" because, when it's the Lord's investment, the answer is always yes. Our prayer is that we will truly internalize and trust that He can and will qualify and shape us for His work to bring Him glory.

Outside of the classroom this week, we were really blessed to be able to serve at the Harvest Festival for the Lighthouse Christian Home.

Lighthouse Christian Home is a non profit organization here in Montana that provides life long care for adults with developmental disabilities. Since they are a Christian organization, they do not receive any governmental funding, and have a couple of fundraisers annually to support their home.  We were truly blessed to get to work with them, running their games for the festival, and helping to raise support for the awesome work they do as they extend their arms out to people on Christ's behalf.

Recently one of our pastors asked us a basic question, but it was so moving to us, "Do you really believe that what you believe is really real?" Because we do, we understand how urgent it is to share His love to the ends of the Earth. I pray that our hearts would all be so broken for the lost, and that God would strike an incredible urgency in us to tell others about Him. We are so excited that next week at this time we'll be in Las Vegas for the Send the Message conference. Please pray with us that hearts will be stirred to attend and opened to the Lord's call and plan for each and every life.

God bless you all, See you soon,

Love,

Angelina