February/March 2007

Several years ago, Chris and I were on a plane flying to Florida to lead worship for a choir retreat. This event was on the heels of another event that we had just finished, and this flight was extremely early in the morning. Needless to say, I was exhausted. In my weariness I started to cry, and then started to pray. I remember saying, "Lord, I don't want to do this! This is too much of a sacrifice on my body and my emotions." At that moment, the Lord revealed Himself to me in an incredible way. He took me to Romans 12:1,2 where I read:

"Therefore I urge you...in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship."

And it hit me - the Lord was allowing me to live out that verse. My worship actually began on the plane as I experienced sacrificing my own comfort and desires as a spiritual act of worship. There is sacrifice in worship.

Matt Redman ("The Heart of Worship") addresses this in his book, "Facedown." In talking about sacrifice in worship, he takes us to the story in Genesis where God instructs Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac. Redman says, "As they reach the appointed place and build an altar there, Isaac says to his father, 'the fire and the wood are here...but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?' That is always a key question when it comes to real and meaningful worship. We'd do well in our worship to ask the same question Isaac asked: where is the sacrifice? Sometimes in our worship meetings the 'fire and the wood' are there - in other words, outwardly everything seems to be in place - a skilled music team perhaps, or above-average songs... and we think we're set for 'great worship.' But something is missing - where is the sacrifice? Now, I'm not for one moment suggesting that we try to have a miserable time in our church services - quite the opposite. In one sense, worship should be the most enjoyable thing on earth...But what I am suggesting is there must be times in our worship services where we cease to say, 'Please give me more' and we start to say, 'It's time I gave You more'; Moments when we journey from 'Here I am, meet me' - as wonderful as that can be - and move on to complete the integrity of our worship by crying, 'Here I am, send me!'"

The truth of Matt Redman's words rang loud and clear in my mind as I recently prayed about an opportunity that the Lord has given us to lead worship and minister in Mongolia this coming June. This trip will most certainly be a sacrifice of time, money and comfort. After a season of fasting and praying, I knew that the Lord was encouraging me to say, "Here I am, send me!" And so, this June Chris and I will have the awesome opportunity to partner with LifeQwest ministry to sing concerts, lead worship workshops, distribute blankets and provisions, encourage children, and introduce the love of Jesus to very needy people. You may recall that Chris made this trip 6 years ago, but I was unable to go because of my health. Chris' experience in Mongolia has impacted him to this day. God moved in incredible ways, opening doors for Chris and the team to share Christ through music and benevolence to people still under communist rule! And He is continuing to open more doors because of the wonderful ministry of LifeQwest. This ministry was started by our friends, Jerry and Susan Smith who originally went to Mongolia years ago as short-term missionaries, hoping to start a church. Instead, God burdened their hearts through the desperate needs of abandoned children, living in sewers. Jerry and Susan began taking children in, and are now caring for, raising and training nearly 100 children, from infants to young adults. They have spent the last 10 years also working to help the country in water purification, irrigation, building construction and farming. As a result of their humanitarian efforts, the communist government is allowing them to share Christ through any means they want! God's hand has been on this ministry, and we are privileged and blessed to be able to be a part of this Kingdom work in Mongolia.

We wanted to present this opportunity to you, our faithful partners and supporters, so you can be lifting us up in prayer. We also wanted to share the monetary needs, if you should feel led to be a part of this worship and outreach effort. Because the plane fare is so expensive, our total cost will be around $6500.00. The dates for the trip are June 27- July 10. Thank you for praying for us - for our preparation, safety in travel, sustained good health, and for many to come to Christ.

Ministry Update

We've had a very busy and blessed month as we shared a concert in Denison, TX, led worship for the Southern Baptist Ministers' Wives Retreat, sang for a fund-raising banquet for a school for learning-challenged children, and led worship for the Illinois Evangelism Conference and a marriage retreat in Florida. The Lord just continues to place us where He wants us to minister! Of course, we continue to be blessed each week as Chris leads the worship at Prestonwood North and is involved in the daily ministry there. God is really growing the work up there in Prosper, TX and we are so honored to be a part of it. Please also pray for us in April for these upcoming ministry opportunities:

April 1 - Prestonwood North Easter Program
April 4-6: Chris performs the lead in his musical, "Bow the Knee" at FBC, New Orleans, LA
April 13-14: Ladies Retreat, Corpus Christi, TX
April 20-21: Ladies Retreat, Greenville, TX

Thank you for the support and love that you have shown this ministry. We are humbled that God has allowed us to serve His Kingdom.

God Still Moves,

Diane

Below are Jerry & Susan Smith of LifeQuest and "their children" from Mongolia