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

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

"..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!'

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