Choosing Victory in Uncertain Circumstances

It's been a few weeks now since we were alerted to the news of Dad's prostate cancer. Needless to say, but yet 100% it needs to be said: THANK YOU for your prayers!! Your encouragement and prayers have made a tough situation breathable.

To start the update we have spent most of our time trying to stay busy, which happens to come naturally it appears.  We are simply following the road marked by God's handiwork  to the promise of a deeper, more sincere love relationship with our Father. That's what we are fighting for after-all, it's not about beating a disease or elevating our nerves back to normal status: it's about allowing the Lord to shift events around in our lives and prioritize our days to where the only thing left standing is our pursuit of knowing Him. 

Mom and Dad's spirits are high, and their resolve secure, as it is in the hands of the greatest Physician the world has no equal even close to. Collectively, we felt the options for surgery and the procedure that needs to be done could not be accomplished in Las Vegas. With the agreed upon decision we started to look elsewhere, and through a series of divine connections we were led to the University of Southern California (USC) Hospital and one of the highest rated surgeons in the country for prostate cancer.

With the paperwork completed, and a few more pre-tests to undergo, the consultation and surgery will take place June 4th & 5th. I will now wrap up this letter the same way I started: Thank you for your prayers thus far!! And now we're calling all prayer warriors for the next round. In this round we will call out favor for the surgeon to be on his A-game and the surgery to be preformed without any problems, complications or setbacks. Pray the cancer is contained and they will find no evidence, not even a trace of anything spreading! Pray Mom and Dad will stay encouraged and face the upcoming appointments with confidence in the Father's ability to see them through everything.

We are going to see victory in this, and through the process a greater understanding and love for our God will emerge. Again, we were created to pursue Him, charged with the one goal of knowing Him and we can rest assured His promises will carry us through.

 Let's get our praying on as June 5th quickly approaches! We'll keep you up to date.

Love u guys,

The Nidiffers

Construction, Baptisms, and Feeding the Needy

 By Brent Jones:

In April  2012, 26 strong backed men landed in Nicaragua ready to build a new kitchen and rancho at the Orphanage. Our church has taken 5 men only construction trips to Nicaragua, but this was the first time we were headed to the orphanage. As the trip leader, I was excited about returning to the place that stole my heart for Nicaragua in 2005.  We were prepared for the hard work of laying blocks and pouring concrete but what God allowed us to experience went far beyond building a building.  As the week progressed, I saw the big strong men on my team just completely fall in love with the kids and I knew that their heart would be touched just like mine was in 2005.

Highlights of our week included one of my team members getting baptized with five Nicaraguan new believers at the church in the area.  We had an incredible time of praise and celebration giving all the glory to our Father.  We took donated seeds to a Pastor at the Parcels barrio and can not wait to see how God uses those seeds to grow food for the people there.  On Friday, we went to the dump and served a meal and shared God's word.  We were worried that we would not have enough food but God provided and took care of it.  We served food until everyone had seconds and thirds and we still had a little left over.

I am amazed at what God is doing through this ministry in Nicaragua.  Our God is a God of movement and He is definitely moving there.  Thanks to Chosen Children Ministries and their staff for making this another wonderful experience.  It was pure joy serving the people of Nicaragua.  To God be the glory!

The King's Grace

By Miranda Robinson

I always leave for a mission trip with an  idea of why I am going or what purpose or task I am going to accomplish. It might be just a small and vague idea, but I am the type of person that has to have a plan. God has a habit of working completely out of the realm of what I can comprehend, and He never fails to blow my mind when I discover all of the many facets of the plan He has for me during a trip.

On my recent trip to East Asia I had some ideas about what I was going to do there. My primary reason for being there was to love on some really awesome missionary kids whose parents were at a conference. I met these kids last year when I was on the same trip and I could not wait to see them again. We had a great VBS style weekend together and my heart grew even fonder of those sweet children who are far more mature than their years.

Just as the weekend was about to draw to a close, and I thought the first half of my mission was complete, I saw a face that was vaguely familiar looking through the window. I went outside to see if she needed something.  She introduced herself and told me that she remembered me from last year. Our conversation from the previous year flashed across my mind and I'm pretty sure my mouth dropped open. She was a teacher at the school we were at and she had come up to me that year and asked me why I was there. I was very nervous to give any details of why I was there and so I gave her a general answer and tried to change the subject. Then she asked me again in a little different way. She wanted to know why I would come all the way from America just to take care of some kids. I told her I was there because I loved these kids and because God loved me first and I want to share His love when I can. She seemed pleased with the answer, but I could tell it didn't really satisfy her. I felt a little guilty about that conversation when I left because I knew God was giving me a chance to share more with her and I dropped the ball.

When she appeared and I realized who she was, I was humbled to know that God understood and was willing to give me another chance. I handed off my responsibility with the kids so I could talk with her for a while. When I asked her how she was doing, and she said not so good, I knew that I was definitely not letting this opportunity go this time. I took her to a quiet room where we could talk.  She opened up her heart and shared her struggles with me. She was very lonely and she was struggling in her walk with the Lord. She wanted to know what she was supposed to be doing. She told me that she was trying hard to do what God wanted her to do, but she just didn't know what the rules were. She felt like everything she did was wrong because the people around her made her feel like she was wrong. She didn't have a fellowship of believers that she could meet with and grow with.

I was able to reassure her that God's gift of salvation is absolutely free and there is nothing we can do to deserve it because of God's grace.  I emphasized that once we have it, there is nothing we can do to to lose it. I talked to her about the importance of Bible study, personal prayer time and I promised to connect her with a fellowship of believers in her area. I was able to use some of my life experiences to encourage her and teach her. I was able to hold her hands and pray with her as tears rolled down both of our faces. I knew that this was probably one of the few times that anybody had ever prayed with her and for her, and she knew that someone cared.

I mentioned later how pretty it was outside that day. She looked at me and said, “I've never noticed how pretty it is here. Thank you for showing me that.” This sweet lady now sees joy and grace when she looks at her world, instead of confusion. By the way, it just so happens that in her language, her name means “the King's Grace.” Seeing her again was a reminder for me about what is important in our lives.  We must remember to never get so lost in our plans and projects that we fail to see the opportunities that God will place before us. May we continually look for more opportunities like this in our daily life to tell about our King's grace. 

Generation Church Update

TSC is excited about a new partnership with the Church Planters, Jeremiah and Cindy Brown, in Indianapolis.  Here is an update on their church:

			By Jeremiah Brown: Highlights: Before sharing our prayers and praises I would like to ask you a question.  What does fun look like to you?  Interesting question isn't it?  Another question:  If church could be fun, what would it look like?  These questions often rise in my head as we prepare and plan for our weekend experiences at Generation Church. You see, part of the reason we are beginning Generation Church is to reach many of the people who have told us that church is not relevant and its boring.  I don't know about you but my God is NOT boring.  After all, He is extremely creative, unique, and I am in full belief that He surely is not boring!  For us, Generation Church is going to be a place that is fun.  This can be done through creative elements, upbeat music and community groups that do life together.  For us, every weekend is like a super bowl party, we want it to be the highlight of our peoples week!  We believe by having fun as a church this will help us introduce people to Jesus who will change their lives! Praises: We had our first church partner, Thompson Station Church, come spend some time with us this weekend!  They are a great source of encouragement and support, as well as a great example of what God can do through churches. Picked up our donated sound system last week! We have someone committed to leading worship for our first preview service Requests: For the people we are going to impact by the launching of Generation Church over the next several weeks.  Pray for more church partnerships to be established.  We would love 2-3 churches to commit to partnering with each of our "Sneak Peak" services (June - August) and become long-term supporters. Continue to pray for our family and our leadership team and their families.  We are still waiting for a few key members to make the move to Indianapolis but they are working hard making connections, searching for jobs, and allowing God to move in their own lives.