April Newsletter...in May

Dear Friends of Mission Surge,

I want to thank each one of you for praying for the work of Mission Surge and for the requests that are sent out in each newsletter.  I want to thank those of you who have given so faithfully to the work.  And I want to say thank you to those of you who share         with others about the ministry.  I cannot express my gratitude to you enough.  You are a vital part of the work!  Thank you.

I want to give you a report on what has transpired over the last month or so.  First, I was scheduled to preach a Harvest Day at Unity Baptist Church in Atmore, AL on Easter Sunday, then speak to the men on Monday night, and share about Mission Surge with the congregation on Wednesday night.  Unfortunately, I came down with the flu the week before Easter and was still running fever on Saturday night so the meeting was rescheduled for the week of October 6.  I traveled to McDavid Florida April 6 and 7 to Rays Chapel Baptist Church for a Family Discipleship Conference.  I think I enjoyed myself more than the people did.  It was a great time and I had many people share with me how much they were challenged and encouraged and strengthened from our time together.  Then, on April 29, I kicked off a month of Mission Mondays at Macedonia Baptist Church in Petal, MS.  We spent the hour looking carefully at Acts 1:8 and applying it to our lives.  It was a challenging reminder for me, and I hope that it was a challenge to those who attended.  I appreciate so much your prayers for me and for these congregations. 

I ask you to please pray for me as I preach at the following:

• Sunday, June 23 at Audubon Drive Bible Church in Laurel, MS 
• September 5-7 in Kerrville, TX:  https://ncfic.org/events/view/kerrville-masters-plan
• October 6-9 at Unity Baptist Church in Atmore, AL
• November 22-23 in Birmingham, AL:  https://ncfic.org/events/view/birmingham-masters-plan

I am praying for more opportunities to preach Harvest Days, Revivals, Family Discipleship Conferences, and Missions Conferences.  Please pray with me that doors will open and invitations will be extended.  Also, if any of you have openings in your church on Sunday nights or Wednesday nights, I would love to come share about the vision and work of Mission Surge with your congregation.  Please share the word.

I want to ask you to pray for our work in the DR.  We are about to attempt something new in our work in the Dominican.  We are planning a mission trip to 2 virtually unreached communities in the Dominican Republic.  One community is La Mocha.  The other is called Salcedo.  These trips will be organized by two of our partner pastors in the DR.  The unique part of this mission trip is that they will not be planning and organizing the mission trip for Americans, but for their own congregations!  They will each lead a team of volunteers from their congregations to spend a week in Salcedo and La Mocha.  The Dominican team will do exactly what American teams do when they go.  This trip will not require translators and will only cost a fraction of what it would take to send a team from the U.S. The only problem is, the Dominicans will not be able to fund their transportation, lodging, and meals.  I am asking God to raise up 10 individuals, Sunday school classes, or churches who would be willing to support one Dominican team member for this effort.  One Dominican team member can be fully supported for the entire week long mission trip for only $100!  Would you pray with me for God to raise up individuals, families, Sunday school classes, or churches to fully support 10 Dominicans for this effort?  It is our hope and prayer that it will not only impact Salcedo and La Mocha, but also the two teams who go and the churches that send them out.  If God burdens your heart to give to this effort, email me at kevin@missionsurge.com or message me from https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mission-Surge/145423062144598?ref=hl and I will let you know how you can do so.

There are several other exciting things that are going on with Mission Surge.  They are in the beginning stages, but I hope to be able to share them with you in the next month or so.  It is hard for me to keep my mouth shut!

Finally, we are expecting our 5^th child Tuesday, May 14.  Please pray for Mandy and the rest of the family as we welcome baby Silas into our family.  I feel sure there will be a blog post or two at kevinivy.com about him next week so check it out! 

Until next time….  

The Teenage Trap

The following essay was written by one of the teens (young ladies) in our church family.  I would encourage you to share it with the young people you know.  There are some good warnings and wise counsels in it.  

     The Teenage Trap

     Sometimes we teenagers can fall into the “trap.” That is, the trap of neglecting wise counsel from our parents. The desires for worldly pleasures and material possessions are constantly facing us each day wherever we go. This makes life and making decisions very hard. An incredible amount of opportunities await us; opportunities that could lead to our downfall. That is why parental guidance is exceedingly important.

       People may say about teenagers, “They should have the right to make their own choices” or “Their parents are holding them back from being who they really are. They are being too ‘sheltered.’” This mindset can unintentionally be used to cause us to fall into “the trap.” For instance, our parents have lived longer than we have and therefore have encountered more than us. They have probably either seen or experienced heartaches and failures in their teen years that we haven’t been confronted with yet. Their eyes have been opened to better ways! Our best interest is (likely) their number one priority. If our parents are following Christ, then they are striving to make us better than they were at our age and to help us learn from their mistakes. No, our parents are not perfect, but no one is! Their mission is to point us to the only One who ever is truly perfect— Jesus Christ.

       We cannot be left to make all of our decisions on our own. Even adults are wise to heed godly instruction. “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.” (Proverbs 12:15) Although there is a time when parents should permit their children to decide for themselves what they should do to encourage responsibility, often we children are careless in making our decisions. Our emotions and desires run away with us and we start heading in a direction we think is right “but in the end leads to death.” (Proverbs 14:12). We need direction!

          Whether it is how we dress, what friends we have, the places we go, activities we do, or even whom we court or date; our parents have the right to object or permit. We might not always think so, but our parents usually know what is best. Our job is to submit and honor them whatever the circumstance. God will do the rest!

            

        Furthermore, listening and submitting to the discipline of our parents is Biblical and wise. “Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you…” (Deuteronomy 5:16).  “Hear, O sons, a father’s instruction, and be attentive, that you may gain insight, for I give you good precepts; do not forsake my teaching. When I was a son with my father, tender, the only one in the sight of my mother, he taught me and said to me, ‘Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments and live. Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.’” (Proverbs 4:1-5). Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is better than jewels, and all you desire cannot compare with her.” (Proverbs 8:10-11)

          It is imperative for this generation of teenagers to grasp the necessity of listening to and obeying our parents. Without their instruction, we will be swept away by the deceitfulness of pleasures and the desires of this life. Instead of finding righteousness and peace, we will find ourselves sinking in the calamity that will befall us. “Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded, because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you…” (Proverbs 1:24-26). So what will you do? Will you start trusting God to lead your parents so that they, in turn, can lead you; or will you still choose your own way? Maybe you can’t obey you parents because you have never trusted the only One who can enable you to obey them. If that is the case, I say, along with the apostle Paul “We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him (Jesus) to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2Corinthians 5:20-21). Run to Christ! Turn away from your sin and cling to Him, and He will save you!

         Hebrews 12:11— “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

March Newsletter

Dear Friends of Mission Surge,

In this month’s update I want to share with you the following things for you to be aware of and pray about. 

1.  I ask you to pray for me over the next couple of months as I travel and preach.  I will be preaching a Harvest Day at Unity Baptist Church in Atmore, AL on Easter Sunday morning.  Please pray that many will be touched by the Gospel and born again.  Then on Monday night, I will be meeting with some of the men of the church to discuss moving from a deacon led church government to an elder led church government.  On Wednesday I will be sharing with the congregation about the work of Mission Surge.  Then on Saturday night, April 6, I will be preaching in McDavid, FL at a youth event.  I will be delivering the gospel to these young people and challenging them to a life of true holiness.  Then on Sunday, April 7, I will be preaching 4 times at Rays Chapel Baptist Church in McDavid, FL as I lead a Family Discipleship Conference.  Then I will be traveling back to Jones County on Monday to lead a Bible study.  April will conclude on Monday, April 29 with a Missions Conference at Macedonia Baptist Church in Petal, MS.  I plead with you to lift me up and these churches up.  I am hungry to see God do a work and I covet your prayers.

2.  I also ask you to please pray for my preaching schedule to continue to fill up.  Please share with anyone and everyone that I am available to preach Harvest Days, revivals, missions conferences, and family discipleship conferences.  I am also available on Sunday nights and Wednesday nights to simply come and share about the work of Mission Surge with churches.  I know as a pastor I was often looking for someone to come and fill a Sunday night or Wednesday night spot.  I will come!   I would appreciate it if you would share the word about Mission Surge with your pastors and churches.  

3.  I also ask you to pray for a special event in Birmingham, AL.  You can go to the following website and check it out.  I have the privilege of speaking at this event and would encourage you to bring all the father’s that you know!  Please pray for all of the speakers and those who attend the Master’s Plan for Fatherhood.  Here is the link:  https://ncfic.org/events/view/birmingham-masters-plan 

4.  The Bible study in Jones County continues on Monday nights.  Please pray for that as well.

5.  I also want to ask you to pray about the following things that I cannot expound upon at this point in detail.  More info will come in April’s newsletter.

• Gene Pickern has just recently returned from the Dominican Republic.  I will be meeting with him the week after Easter to be brought up to speed with what is happening there and with what is planned for the future.  There are many promising things going on in the DR. Please pray for us as we meet and look to the future work in the DR. 

• I also want to ask you to pray about 2 major developments in the international work of Mission Surge.  I can’t go into great detail at the moment, but know that I covet your prayers as we are going to be considering some major expansion to the international work.

• Also, please pray about a major endeavor locally that is in the process of being fleshed out.  This will be an opportunity for individuals, missions committees and local churches to join hands with Mission Surge and impact individuals and families in their communities! 

• Please pray for us as we replace a number of our board members next month.  Pray that God will lead, guide, and direct in this process.

6.  If you are not following me on twitter please follow the link below and do so:  https://twitter.com/missionsurge

7.  If you are not following my blog please follow the link below and do so:  http://kevinivy.blogspot.com/  I have been posting fairly regularly thoughts on contentment.  I would encourage you to follow me and read them as God would lead. 

8.  If you have not like Mission Surge on Facebook, please go the following link and do so:  

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mission-Surge/145423062144598?ref=hl

9.  Finally, I appreciate your continued prayers concerning our home saga.  We made another offer on a home this week, but were outbid so we are back to square one.  Baby Silas is due in May and I was hoping that we would have a contract before the end of March so that we could close in April and move in before May.  That apparently is not going to happen at this point.  We definitely do not want a house that God does not want us to have.  We want to be exactly where God wants us and that is why we are very methodically trying to follow His leadership, guidance, and direction in relation to this.  In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths.  That is what we are hanging on to.  We covet your prayers.

Please pray for us!  We desperately need your prayers.