Friday, June 24, 2011

Its been too long....

SERIOUSLY! Its been too long!

I'm so sorry that I have not kept you updated on life here in Texas.  I feel like life has picked up so much since the last I wrote a post and I will explain and little later.

So, since its been so long and i've got so much to catch you up i will just give you the short version of everything.

Well as many of you know Jordan and I were a part of SEND ministries for a time but upon moving here we felt the Spirit leading us step away from this ministry given the circumstances of us moving to texas. However, God had a bigger plan! THe desire again for the nations slowly birthed again a few months later.  In short, the ministry has moved here to Decatur, Texas and Jordan is now the co-director of the ministry....along with Beto and Ashely....yes they have moved here too! They are serving as the co-directors and also staff here at Central Fellowship.  We are so blessed to have them here, and it truly is amazing to serve alongside an amazing couple! Not only have they come, but Alaina Henderson will also be coming to serve with both SEND and Central Fellowship! She will be our in house missionary! Please pray for their transition here in Texas!  There are some exciting things on the horizon for S.E.N.D i hope that you join in prayer about the next step God is leading us to make.


P.S we even have an office!!


About two weeks ago Danny and Michelle (the founders of the ministry) came to visit for the weekend.  There are some photos on Facebook of our weekend together! It was a lot of fun and so refreshing to see familiar faces!


THe following week we took our youth group to turner falls! It truly was a sweet time getting to know some of the kids and it was def. a sweet time in the wilderness with Jesus.  We went through different situations where people in the bible encountered God in the wilderness..  We even put them on a two hour solo in the wilderness! Most of them encountered some kind of creature (i.e.snakes) but it was really cool to see the change in their hearts after all was said and done.  We are already looking forward to our trip next year!





Speaking of the youth group, God has been really growing the kids in our youth! Its been sweet to see the process taking place since we first arrived here in Decatur.  There are 5 graduated seniors that are going out on the field this year! 4 to Indonesia for a 3 week trip, and 1 to Nigeria for a 5-month trip.  Please keep them in your prayers! We are so looking forward to seeing God radically transform their lives!

The weekend after my parents came to visit.  We went to a wedding for my cousin, it was so much fun to see all my family that I haven't seen in so long.  I almost didn't recognize some of my cousins because of how much they've grown up!

This next week we will be california! We are taking a little vacation to relax and refresh! So, all you HD people I would love to meet up with you one day (you know who you are!)

We have broke ground (or really walls) for the Attic! We are so excited that this process has finally begun! We are so excited and eager for this project to be up and running! (We had some of the kids from the college small group help us out...they're really great workers!)














Well that's all for now! I will be more diligent to keep you posted! including pictures too!
Here are some prayer requests for both SEND and Central Fellowship
-The transition for Ministry from California to Texas (including all the finical and legal stuff as well)
-The transition for Ashely and Beto and Alaina Henderson into SEND and Central fellowship (opportunities for them to share their gift of worship with the church here)
-The teams going to Indonesia and Nigeria this year (Funds esp!)

-Please pray that God provides for a small group coordinator for our church.  Small groups are really struggling right now but we believe God wants to use them to reach out and grow believers!
-The youth group-Consistancy for the youth, as well as continued vision and guidance for this ministry (and for my husband as he heading this up)
-We are praying about starting a young adults service on saturday or sunday night! Please pray for guidance about this, and really pray for God's will concerning this vision!

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Sneak Peek into the life of the Henderson Family

Hey guys!
Its been a very interesting and fruitful month here in Decatur Texas.  As the winter setting has melted away, the spring time air is starting to blow! The trees are being clothed with their annual colors of green, and little buds are sprouting on their limbs.  Here are some pictures of our neighborhood, its looking more green everyday!





This past week has been awesome! Last week all the schools had spring break, so we had some events planned out for the week.  We had the chance to hang out with the kids from the youth group, and served at someones house racking leaves.  We went to Six Flags on Wednesday with about 30 kids.  They all had so much fun, and I know that we did too.  Here's a picture of us all.


Not only did we go to Six Flags, but Jordan had a guys night, and I got two girl nights this past week.  One of the nights we went to a birthday party for a girl who is moving away (boo!).  It was her sweet 16, and all of us girls had so much fun hanging out, eating hot dogs, and yummy cupcakes!


So, I wanted to do something a little different this time.  I thought it would be cool to give everyone a sneek peek into our lives now here in Texas.


This is Jordan (Handsome!) Some of his favorite things to do are surf (mah San Diego!), and watch movies.  He's recently been interested in Hunting boar (though he has yet to actually go), and has switched from drinking regular pepsi to pepsi max...way to go honey!


This is our newest addition to our family! His name is Ace, the great dane! He is only 9 weeks old, and already so big.  His favorite things to do are chew on shoes.  He loves to play with Jordan and go on family walks at black creek lake.


This is his 'buddy'...it kind of looks like him hehe.


This is me.  I've recently been really interested in blogging, and websites (I'm looking to start a website so keep your eye open for it!).  I love to paint and am currently working on a few pieces right now.


This one is called "For you shall enlarge my heart"



Here's a picture of our youth group (we currently are in a different room than normal, due to the contruction that will be starting on "The Attic")

 Which is something that I wanted to bring up....this week was the second time that we had to push back phase II of "the attic".  The reason being, we cannot start until the fire marshall comes, and well he just hasn't showed up on the saturdays that we thought he would.  Please support us through pray in this! We are very eager to start contruction, and would like the project to be done sometime after summer.  Please also pray for grace with the fire marshall, he can be a little tough on us!

We are planning a fundraiser for 'the attic' in April.  The city of decatur has a city wide garage sale and we are on the map! We will be doing some 'spring cleaning' of our own here at central fellowship.  We are wanting to get rid of the old and sale it, in hopes of raising funds for the attic.  We've also recieved $1600 in funds to go toward 'the attic', we are excited to see this progressing.  Thank you so much for your prayers, and we ask for your continued prayers in this as well.

There are some exciting things on the Horizon, and Central is praying about some exciting opportunites that have come up.  One of which is regarding the Children's Ministry.  We had 30 kids last sunday for kids church, and we are really feeling a need in this area.  Please pray for the exciting opportunities before us, (some of which are top secret right now! ;) ) and that Faith would arise within the Elders and the members here at Central.  As an encouragement to everyone who has been praying for us (we greatly appreciate it...we are immensly grateful!) these opportunities we feel are signs of life here.  YOUR PRAYERS MATTER AND ARE EFFECTIVE! The soil here is being turned, and there are little sprouts of life happening with the seeds that have been planted.  We ask (we beg, we covet) your prayers for this process with 'the attic' and as well as for these new opportunities to arise.  God is moving, pray that he showers down his water and light on the members and elders of Central!

We are running, and God is enlarging our hearts!
Prayer requests in short:
 "The Attic"- Continued funds, fundraiser April 16th, Constrcution of the Attic (GRACE with the fire Marshall) [Praise report: Funds of $3600 total so far for the attic]
The youth group "RESPONSE"- Continued connection/relationship with the kids, also a deepening of our relationships with them. A deepening of their walks with the Lord, [Praise Report: PS 119 is going awesome!].
      -HART: a Girls bible study we desire to start, and continue on through the summer, utilizing the avenue of worship in the form of Art to connect with God in a different way.
     -Jordan: Continued cultivation of his gift of teaching, and a deepening of it as well.
Small groups for Central
Easter Sunday-We have some skits and live artists planned for Easter Sunday, pray that Gospel is heard, that flyers be sent out and people respond!
The new opportunities!

We love you all!
Jordan and Sara (and Ace!)

Saturday, March 5, 2011

INCREDIBLE

Hey there!
Well, as most of you know this past Sunday Jordan had shared the vision of the cafe with the entire Central Fellowship family.  We wanted to thank everyone for praying for us, and supporting us while we presented everyone with the heart the Lord has given us for Wise County. Here's a video below!




Up until this point we had felt we had been experiencing opposition about the cafe, and of course the opposition won't cease past this point either, but after we had presented it to Central Fellowship, we have received a lot of positive feed back.  So much so, that immediately after service someone donated a practically brand new cappacino machine! As the day went on, another person donated 2 used pool tables...we also have received $2,000 of our $17,000 goal! All in one day!!! This obviously has the Lord's fingerprints all over it! With all that said, we are starting PHASE I today!!! We are soo excited to get started on this project and we are really looking forward to seeing what God is going to do!

Its been so awesome to see the Lord's faithfulness! We desire to use this cafe to reach out the youth of wise county, and even beyond.  We pray to use this to fund missionaries, to reach people in the foreign field as well as local.  Thank you for all of your prayers!

Praise report/Prayer requests:
-Praise the Lord for such a great response to the vision on Sunday, as well as what he has provided already.
-Continue to pray for resources and finances for "The Attic"
-Pray for the mission of "The Attic", to reach kids in wise county for Jesus, and also to reach those around the world.

We love you guys! Thanks again, we'll keep you updated!

Jordan and Sara

Monday, February 21, 2011

Recent news....

Dear Friends and Family,

As many of you probably have seen on the news, the North Texas area was hit with some major weather 3 weeks ago.  Jordan and I spent most of the first month of Feburary inside our house...we were snowed in for 4 days! Not that there was a lot of snow (only 2-4inches or so) but the roads were super icy, we attempted to go out on the roads a few times, and well got stuck...thanks to papa he pulled us out with his 4-wheel drive truck.  Here are some photos below of our Artic adventures!





Sara's folks came and visit for 4 days the second week of Feburary.  It was very fun, and refreshing to have them come stay with us.  Amazingly the weather turned from 10 degrees to 75 degrees! all within a week, so when they came, we spent a lot of time at the lake, and showing them around Decatur. 

This past Wednesday, Jordan shared out of Acts chapter 2, he shared about the Holy Spirit and how important it is to us as Christians.  The Lord had put it on our hearts to challenge the kids to write letters to the Lord in response to the message.  A lot of them took the challenge and wrote a letter to the Lord.  It was really sweet to see this response.  Please continue to pray for the youth here, that God's Spirit would be poured out in their hearts and life, also that they would live a life demonstrating God's grace. 

Also, we started PS 119 this past Tuesday! The vision of PS 119 is to disciple the youth in the word.  We will taking them through the whole bible challenging them and teaching them the basics about devotion and going deeper in the Lord.  Please pray for those attending this as it is at 630 a.m. but also that they grow in their love and knowledge of the Lord, and that relationship with God becomes  reality to them and that it can be deep.
 
This Sunday Jordan is sharing the vision of the cafe-the cafe to reach out not only to the youth of Central, but also the community and surrounding churches-to the entire church. Not only the cafe, but also for the vision for the youth.  Please be praying for us this week, and Jordan especially as he prepares to share this long awaited desire of his to the congregation.  We Need prayer warriors for this! For the cafe, and for the people/youth of wise county.  Monty will also be sharing the vision of small groups for the church, please keep this in prayer as well. 

I wanted to leave you with this verse that the Lord had put on my heart:
Psalm 119:38 "Establish your word to Your servant As that which produces reverence for you"

prayer requests:
-The cafe!! Finances, favor with the congregation, direction and steps involving this major construction project
-The youth...that God would continue to move and challenge the hearts of the youth here in Wise county, including young adults (18-29yrs.)  and for PS 119
-Small group ministry kicking off this Sunday....


We love you all very much!

Jordan and Sara

Friday, January 28, 2011

The Journey In Route....

Dear Family,
It has been almost 3 months (can you believe, we can’t!) since we have embarked on this Journey to the uncharted waters of Decatur, Texas (well not really uncharted, but for us ;) ). It has been awesome getting to know the kids of central fellowship youth, as well as other church members.  We have been so blessed by them, and have been showered with love and favor from the Lord through them. Over these past two and half months, the Lord has been putting some serious vision on our hearts for central fellowship youth, and there is also some great news we wanted to share with everybody:
First, the great news is WE GOT A HOUSE!! The Lord has totally hooked us up with an awesome house that we will be renting the next year or so.  I've Posted some pictures of our house on Facebook.
Second, as mentioned above the Lord has been putting some serious vision on our hearts regarding central fellowship youth and we would like to share it all with you.  About a year or so ago, the Lord had given us a name for an outreach-Response-that we were doing with the college group with the focus of responding to God when he speaks (Joshua 5:15).  As we have prayed about the youth group and what to name it we still could not seem to think of a better name for the youth group than Response.  The Focus would be to learn Gods word and live Gods word! It would also include local outreaches in the north texas area, along with international mission trips, and highschool events each month.  This past month we had a movie night and we had a great turn out! Our desires’ is to disciple these kids and see them grow in their love and knowledge of the Lord.  P.s. 119 is one avenue that God has given us vision to do so.  It will be one morning every other week, with breakfast at our house and time in the word along with learning about basic devotions, and meditation on God’s word.
Third, the Lord has been opening the doors for a café/hang out to happen, we call it-The Attic.  It has been a long time desire of Jordan’s (since he has been in HSE) to start a café that is geared toward the younger generation, and bring unity among denomanations.  The vision: an environment to bring unity, inspire faith, respond to Gods word, and reach the lost both local and foreign.  The plan is to have a place where kids and families can come hang out enjoy coffee and pastries, there will also even be tutors there to help kids out with their homework involving various subjects.  It would include, a library where books can be rented and sold along with CD’s and bibles, an area with pool tables and foosball to encourage interaction with one another, along with a small stage and seating area for events at the café (Response).  The goal is to bring unity among the churches, to bring kids in to hang out at church, to be a light to wise county, and reach out to the lost.  Eventually, launching out people from the café to do the same.  The Lord has been morphing this into His own, and we are so excited about it!
Prayer Requests:
1.                    Please pray that as we have launched out into these uncharted waters that God would be the wind guiding and directing us, peace and confidence during the storms, and rest during calm times.    
2.                    Please pray for Response, and P.S. 119, that God would use it to draw high schoolers and jr. highers into himself and raise them up as disciples
3.                    The youth of Central Fellowship! Pray that God would give the youth soft hearts to receive his word, pray that they would grow in maturity and in the knowledge of Him!
4.                    The Attic! We have already encountered obstacles involving the attic, as well as spiritual warfare. Pray for faith to arise among the members of Central Fellowship! That the hearts and minds would be guarded against doubt, and against the enemy.  Pray for fellow builders to come along and catch the vision! Serious Fininacial backing is needed involving this project, pray for God’s provision!
5.                    Monty & Tamara- Strength and refreshment as leaders of Central Fellowship!
6.                    Jordan-God would continue to cultivate the gift of teaching in Him! Confidence in the direction the Lord is leading Central Fellowship Youth. Guarded mind and heart against the enemy and doubt.
7.                    Sara-Pray that she would sleep at night!
8.                    Unity Project- Central Fellowship has started praying for churches in the wise county area, each week we call up one church and receive prayer requests and pray blessings over that church for seven days.  Pray for unity in wise county!
Praise report:
Praise the Lord for a house!
Praise the Lord for continued favor among the members/youth of central fellowship!

Family, I know that this is long! Thank you for bearing with us as we share what has been happening here in Decatur! It has taken this long for the vision to arise, and now the vision is written down.  Join us on this journey as prayer warriors!



Second picture: Before-----Third picture:After

Sunday, November 21, 2010

"..pick of your cross and follow me"-Jesus

WE have finished the drive to decatur!! Thank the Lord for his protection on the way and the provision he has given us for the trip.

Last week was a busy week of packing and cleaning, and also an emotional week of good-byes.  Not only did we say good-bye to a wonderful family that Sara has worked for as a nanny for the last year and half or so, but we said good-bye to many friends and family.  It was an unreal feeling as we drove away from Oceanside to Sara's parents house, and then still even more unreal as we said good-bye to them and started our drive to Texas.

As we drove along,  the thought  of 'oh we will go there on the way back,' kept going through our mind, but we had to remind ourselves that we weren't going back.  There is NO going back!  We have committed our lives to following the Lord and obeying Him...even to a new land....a new people....a new type of scenery.  As Disciples of Christ, we choose to follow the Lord, something that is required of each of us...to follow Him.  To follow down the straight and narrow road, to the cross of calvary.  Crucifying our flesh inexchange for Jesus being on the Throne.  Making Jesus our King....Jesus is our King.  

After three days of driving, and several stops we reached our destination.  As we drove in, not only did we see the official city sign that said 'Welcome to Decatur,' but Tamara Tuttle, and a few others from Central Fellowship set up signs in the neighborhood that Granny and Papa live in welcoming us in.  As we pulled up to  Granny and Papas house their gate entrance was roped off with streamers and a big sign that said 'Welcome Home'.....a finish line really.  It was an exciting yet nerve recking feeling actually arriving to decatur.  The thought now that lingers in our mind is...'Welcome to Decatur....Ya'll!'




Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Our First update!!!

Following our Rabbi!
"Your ears will hear a word behind you, "This is the way walk in it..." Is.30:21


We wanted to update everyone with what is going on in the life of the Henderson's!
After being married for a whole year and taking our first year of marriage off from ministry, we have been seeking God for the past few months, asking for His guidance and direction for this next year and God has been faithful to hear our prayers.  At the end of August/early September my husband received a phone call from his grandparents about an opportunity that had opened up to serve as a youth pastor at their church Central Fellowship.  Now for those of you who don't know, Granny and Papa live in Decatur,Texas which is a fairly small town about 30 minutes outside of Dallas.  We felt prompted to submit resumes, testimonies, and even one small picture of us.  We heard back from the pastor within a week, but his response was wanting to wait and not be hasty with the decision at hand.  So, we thought okay...we will wait too.  After 3 weeks of waiting, we then received another phone call from the pastor offering to fly us out to Texas to meet them and the congregation, and also the kids.  During the first and second week of October we were in Decatur, experiencing the people, and really seeking what God would desire.  Our first night there, we were experiencing similar feelings that we have had being out on the mission field, the feeling of being overwhelmed!  We did not actually arrive in Decatur until 8:20 p.m. which technically was 6:20 pm california time.  We received our iterinary for the week, and the first thing on our list was to go to a prayer breakfast the next day at 6:30 a.m....which is 4:30 a.m California time and also a grand tour of wise county! Unfortunately, we could not sleep that night....but by God's grace we were up bright and early on Thursday morning for the prayer breakfast.  It was really was a sweet time, to sit and meet some of the highschoolers for the very first time! We met at the local Mcdonalds, had some coffee and one of the parents who attended shared the word, and Jordan prayed! What a sweet start to our week....
  
We then, went to the church with CF's pastor Monty Tuttle, and he gave us a tour of the church.  And literally we were in awe of how amazing the building was.  Each room has a theme of its own, decorated by some very creative volunteers in the church.  They even have what they call a snack shack where the kids can get candy, and pizza before church starts...very cool.  After we had a tour of the church, it was time for tour of Wise County.....and it's fairly big-as in spread out.  We visited some high schools, got a personal tour of Decatur high school, and then we went to one of the only mexican food restaurants in town...and it was pretty good for tex-mex.  


Friday, we went to the big game... a rival football game between Decatur and bridgeport.  The rival has been going on for many years and has taken place in the same stadium for many years.  It was a pretty big deal, we didn't know it at the time until a helicopter flew in onto the field just to bring the football in....seriously! Saturday we visited with family all day pretty much, it was good to see Jordan's cousins and talk with them, we missed them a lot.  


Sunday!!! Sunday Jordan taught the high schoolers for the first time! He gave his testimony and shared out of Psalm 139.  It was really good time.  Later that day they had a youth event set up at a ranch where the youth were invited along with their parents and grandparents for food and fellowship.  The ranch has a cabin, and a lake with canoes, and even a deck to jump off on.  And you better believe that it didn't take long for most of the high schoolers to get into the water....and somehow even Sara jumped into the water as well.  It was a really great bonding time with the youth, and their parents, and most of the elders too.  It was a lot of fun! We were exhausted afterwards. 


Monday came around...and Jordan and I had dinner at one of the elders house.  They have a house that is so cute! It has a porch that goes all the way around and they have swings and rocking chairs on the porch.  We asked them what they did to fill their time around there and they said "Just sit out on the porch."  Amazing really! We then attended the elders meeting late that night, and that is where they extended the offer to Jordan to be youth pastor. We had been praying all week and we really felt the Lord leading us to say YES.  


We arrived back in San Diego that Thursday, and now we are in a transition process to move to Decatur Texas.  We will be leaving around November 15!  It is a bitter sweet process, excited for what the Lord has ahead but sad to leave so many family and friends...and a beautiful ocean! 
S.E.N.D. MINISTRIES...We are currently on staff, and do not plan on stepping away from the ministry but there are some major open doors to span the reach of S.E.N.D. ministries to Texas...a new base! So please keep that in prayer as it is all in the works!We really would appreciate your prayers during this time, so here is some major prayer request for the journey of the Henderson's...


1. Vision (fresh from the Lord)
2. Transition. (Packing/cleaning, getting a renter into our place, the drive!, culture shock)
3. A place to rent


We really appreciate you, thanks for reading and we will keep you updated as much as possible!
For His Glory,
Jordan and Sara Henderson
If your interested here some links:
www.sendministries.com 
www.centralfellowship.com