Lighthouse of Hope Ministries
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1 John 1:7 "... if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." Who are our Volunteers?
| A Bit of History | WHO TO CONTACT/ABOUT
OUR VOLUNTEERS Lynn Ann's involvement in this ministry has been greatly appreciated and enjoyed. She does a fantastic job leading our Prayer Ministry, and adds the perfect amount of energy to the team. Scripture that reflects Lynn Ann's calling is 2 Corinthians 12:9 "…my strength is made perfect in weakness" and 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." Tamara, at grace121@netzero.net, is involved with LoH Ministries in two ways. First, she volunteers her time heading up our Woman-to-Woman ministry, corresponding and fellowshipping online with any woman who choose to write to her. She is especially gifted in communicating with women in crisis. This grace-filled ministry has grown out of a life which is sincerely devoted and obedient to Christ. (You can read more about her in the July 2000 issue of The LIGHTHOUSE, located in our ARCHIVED ISSUES section.) She shares with all a special godly wisdom - the kind that can only come from living daily by God's Word in the Light of Jesus Christ. Tamara lives in Texas. She is raising three beautiful children as a single mom, serves her church through a singles fellowship and an outreach ministry, works full time, and also attends school in her "spare" time working towards a Master's Degree in Christian Counseling. Additionally, Tamara proofs each draft issue of the newsletter before it is delivered to our readers. She first volunteered her services in this arena at a time when the publisher needed it most. It is no easy task, but she joyfully handles the responsibility every month with an extra dose of grace. Tamara's involvement in our ministry is truly a gift from God. And as you may have guessed... she's the one who usually ends up encouraging the encouragers. Scripture which reflects Tamara's calling is Isaiah 50:4 "The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught." And Romans 14:19 "Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification." Nathan, at nhray@lighthouseofhope.org, is a Christian businessman who lives in Dallas, Texas. He founded LoH Ministries in the fall of 1998. (You can read more about how the ministry and newsletter were started in the "A Bit of History" comments below.) Nathan is himself a prodigal son who truly saw the Light in his mid-thirties. He reports he has never regretted making the decision to surrender his heart and life to Jesus Christ. Having lived for many years in spiritual darkness, Nathan now embraces life in Jesus Christ one day and one Thy-will-be-done prayer at a time. He gave God a heart of stone in 1990, and God has given him back a living heart full of the desire to share the Good News with others. Apart from working in a business office during the week "to pay the bills," Nathan invests his time in this ministry. He handles a variety of tasks, including pouring over hundreds of emails and numerous printed resources every month in order to find just the right combination of encouraging material to share with the readers of each newsletter issue. He also enjoys corresponding with a wide variety of people who write to us. Feel free to share with Nathan your feedback - about this site, the newsletter, links you'd like to see included here, or anything else. You can even write just to say hello. He also enjoys receiving encouraging/uplifting material, all of which is considered for possible inclusion in the newsletter. Nathan considers himself fortunate and very blessed to be fulfilling God's purpose in his life. With a smile, he says he has found his true calling here, and is committed to being involved with this ministry as long as God wills. Scripture reflective of Nathan's calling is 2 Corinthians 4:1 "Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart". And Isaiah 40:1 "Comfort, comfort my people, says your God". Any reference to our volunteers is not complete without a note about our Prayer Ministry team members. Several newsletter readers have volunteered their time to serve on the prayer team. They are the individuals who receive and pray about the prayer requests you send to Lynn Ann. Currently, team members are spread in several states across the U.S. Also, they occasionally receive ministry updates from Nathan. You can join this vital part of our ministry by letting Lynn Ann know. Refer to our PRAYER REQUEST page for more information. Last, but certainly not least, is a note about who we consider perhaps our most important volunteer.... YOU! Whenever you say a quick prayer for this ministry, every time you tell someone about us or refer them to our site, you are considered among our most treasured volunteers. Lighthouse of Hope Ministries is a non-profit ministry dedicated to offering the ministry of hope and encouragement through God's word and through an abiding relationship with Jesus Christ. This ministry has grown and been blessed overall, remaining strong and focused, primarily because of your prayers and encouragement. If you haven't already started doing so, you can become a ministry partner by praying often for this ministry and letting your friends and family know about us. You are the reason we are here, and we appreciate you more than you'll ever know. A BIT OF HISTORY "Have you ever experienced a moment during which you felt God was speaking directly to your heart? Many of us have. It can happen while reading God's Word or when listening to a pastor or close friend (when you hear someone say something that seems to pierce straight through to your heart). And it sometimes can happen when an unexpected thought pops into your mind. On Monday, September 1, 1998, I experienced such a moment, one which I will never forget. "On that day I was minding my own business at work, not thinking of anything unusual or in particular. Apart from work-related thoughts, the only other ones rambling through my mind were those surrounding a series of personal and job-related events which had left me fighting the uncomfortable feelings of pain, sorrow and sadness. "As if it happened only yesterday, I distinctly remember where I was standing and what I was doing when it happened. Unexpected and exciting thoughts began to fill my mind. They surprised me because they seemingly came out of nowhere and all of a sudden. Yet they came so clearly and quickly, I knew they were not of my own creation. "The thoughts centered around publishing an inspirational based email newsletter which would provide hope and encouragement to those who read it. The way they filled my mind were foreign to the way I normally think. First of all, my mind doesn't work on its own that fast or that clearly. Also, I had no point of reference from which to be thinking of anything of this specific nature. I didn't have any experience with email, and only minor experience with church ministry newsletters. And I certainly felt I had more 'important' things going on in my life at that time with which to occupy my thoughts. "Because of all this, I sensed these surprising thoughts were coming from God. So I stepped out of the way and listened. "In a matter of only a few precious minutes, God not only filled my mind with the thought of publishing an email newsletter, He spelled out His whole game plan - at least the parts He wanted me to know then. He told me what to specifically name the newsletter, how often to send it, what general format it would take, and even what to write in the first issue. As I listened to Him speak to my heart, my eyes began to fill with tears and my body trembled. It was a very special moment. "One would think that after having such a 'burning bush' experience, any believer would immediately and confidently go forth, accomplishing right away what God was telling them to do. I must admit this was not the case with me, at least not right away. "I don't know how I made it through the rest of the work day, because all I could think about was what had happened in those few moments. And the more time I spent thinking about it all, in my own strength and by my own willpower, the more I began to doubt its reality. I wanted to believe, but I was unsure. 'Could this have really been God or was it just your active imagination, Nathan?' I thought to myself. Well... it was too strong an experience not to be from God. So I asked Him, 'God, if it really was You [it still seemed too good to be true], why have You chosen me? Surely You have other servants who are far more qualified for this job than me.' The mental and spiritual battle which I found myself in the midst of raged on throughout the day. "Over the next two days, I prayed and talked about it with two close friends. Even though I couldn't forget what had happened, it certainly would have been easy and understandable under the circumstances to ignore it. A lot of other things were going on in my life which needed and deserved attention. Besides, I didn't have a clue about writing or publishing an email newsletter. It was something I had never ever thought of doing, not even in the furthest regions of my imagination. "Bottom line, it all came down to needing to make a decision. God had given me a deadline of the end of the week, so I felt that was the least I could do for Him. Would I throw all caution to the wind and blindly follow His calling, or would I walk (run) away in fear and doubt, making excuses along the way? The next day I did make a decision. It was one of the most, if not THE most, important decision I have ever made since becoming a Christian. "I made the quiet decision to obey. In spite of how crazy others might think I was for doing any of this, in spite of possibly being rejected by some Christians who would say I was not 'qualified' to do it or that God didn't speak to us 'that way' any more, in spite of all my doubts and fears.... I simply decided to be obedient to God and to be faithful to His calling. "In His infinite wisdom, mercy and grace, God has always honored those who choose to obey. I went home that evening and began typing. The thoughts came quickly and clearly (once again, that is not how my mind works on its own). Two days later, on Friday, September 5th, the first issue of 'The LIGHTHOUSE' was sent out to 65 people. The list of recipients included everyone I had an email address for, some of whom I didn't know. "God began blessing this ministry right away. The distribution list tripled in the first six weeks, a fact which honestly surprised me and at the same time caused me to jump up and down with joy. I saw His hand in all that was gong on, which filled me with more confidence and determination. I knew early on that I would continue being obedient to His calling until He directed me otherwise, no matter how many or how few might ever read the newsletter. "The things which have since happened in and with this ministry sort of naturally grew and blossomed from there. Some readers began writing to tell me how much the newsletter ministered to their hearts or how they had shared it with family members and/or friends. And I also began to clearly see how God had been preparing me for involvement in this ministry all along. It seemed everything He had lead me through up to that point in my life was in preparation for this ministry. "Our reading family has continued to grow into what is today a sizable fellowship in any setting. In early 1999, a reader named Kathy from Pennsylvania donated part of her web space so that we could have an internet home until a full site could be developed. Since then, others have stepped forward to volunteer their time (you've hopefully read about them above). In the Spring of 1999, God began giving me specific visions of our general long-term mission, which included the creation of this web site. And in February 2000, as we began actually searching for a full-time web home of our own, the official name of our ministry came into being rather naturally and also very peacefully. "This is only just the beginning. God is truly faithful. An exciting and promising future lies ahead. And we've discovered, once again, that we really can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. Lighthouse of Hope Ministries is clear evidence of that truth." WHY IS IT CALLED "The LIGHTHOUSE"?
A lighthouse stands alone. The Lord is the LIGHTHOUSE in the lives of each Christian. The life of a Christian travels like the ship
through The beacon of light is the Word of God, directing Current from raging waters tempt each ship
to turn away This temptation can only be overcome by putting
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