The Wilkes Team

Make me a blessing,
Make me a blessing,
Out of my life
out of my life
May Jesus shine;
Make me a blessing, O savior, I pray,
I pray Thee, my Savior,
Make me a blessing to someone today.

Out in the highways and byways of life,
many are weary and sad;
are weary and sad
Carry the sunshine where darkness is rife
making the sorrowing glad.

Tell the sweet story of Christ and His love;
Tell of His pow’r to forgive;
His pow’r to forgive.
Others will trust Him if only you prove
true ev’ry moment you live.

Give as ’twas given to you in your need;
Love as the Master loved you;
Be to the helpless a helper indeed;
Unto your mission be true.

 
Earlier this month the Lord gave us an opportunity to go and serve one who has blessed our family in so many ways throughout the years.   

Uncle Bill had over 20,000 Shepherded Guides (a Christian phone/contact book) to mail and deliver. He had only two days to complete this task due to having surgery later on that week. When it was brought to our attention regarding this need, with joy, we piled in the car and headed to Maryland to help.

With many hands, a ton of enthusiasm, and joy, the job was completed in record time. The Lord truly oversaw the work of our hands. We were able to deliver and mail all the guides in two days!

Praise the Lord for opportunities to be a blessing!

_______________________________________________

May the love of Christ continue to abound richly in us all towards our fellow man. May His love empower us to go out and do His work.

A couple more pictures from our time together.

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Through a series of communication avenues, certain individuals, and the workings of Divine Providence, an opportunity arose for Sarah to play her harp at an event in Culpeper. She practiced and prepared and then the time came – Tuesday evening, 6:00pm. None of us in the family were actually sure what to expect at this event. We knew the Thanksgiving holiday was it’s impetus and we also knew they were going to have a guest speaker, U.S. Senate Chaplain, Barry Black. Nevertheless, the result of this event exceeded are expectations as we witnessed Culpeper coming together to give thanks to their Creator and Lord.

The service was initiated with the color guard and harp music playing in the background. Next, a series of introductory remarks were given, including gratefulness to our civil leaders (many of whom were present), a reading of the VA Governor’s Thanksgiving proclamation, and most importantly, praise and adulations to the Giver of all things, our God and Creator.

Then Rev. Black came forward and preached a sound, biblically based, and practical message on the importance of Thanksgiving. During his message, he alluded to experiences from his life relating to Thanksgiving. He shared how rough his beginning was of living in the hood of Washington DC and growing up in a single parent home. He also spoke of his mother instructing him in the scriptures and challenging him to memorize scripture. One day his mother brought him a recording of a Sermon preached by former Senate Chaplain Peter Marshall. Young eight year old Black listened to this message. Liking it so much, he listened to it again, again, and again. Then finally, he had memorized the sermon word for word. This young boy was inspired by this message not knowing in the least how God would place him in the exact same position as the Reverend who gave the message. These stories he shared with a true sense of gratefulness in how God had worked in his life. Another aspect of his message, which inspired the whole Wilkes team, was his Scripture memory. Verse after verse flowed from the man’s lips, verses that had been internalized and applied.

We are so thankful to have had the opportunity of attending this Thanksgiving service. It is an event we will remember for many years to come. We also are abundantly grateful for both church and civil leaders of the City of Culpeper who put this event  together, and their understanding of what Thanksgiving is truly all about.

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Two weekends ago the Stelzl family drove the long trip up from North Carolina to put on a workshop in Culpeper VA. A workshop specifically geared towards instructing families in raising entrepreneurs. The investment, the energy, the zeal, and the enthusiasm produced from the Stelzl family encouraged all who attended. Hearing from Mr. Stelzl’s wealth of experience and listening to the testimonies of his family helped put together a wonderful biblical perspective on how Christian families should view education, business and success.

In today’s American culture, entrepreneurship is slowly becoming a lost art. The modern education system doesn’t teach it. The corporate world purposes to have it extinguished. Even the federal and state governments often wield their regulatory power against it. Nevertheless, though it is attacked from many different fronts, Mr. Stelzl  passionately proclaimed that entrepreneurship is still alive and well in the United States. The potential opportunities are just waiting to be harnessed. So often, the only factor missing is the entrepreneur!

A primary focus of the conference was the Christian family.  Mr. Stelzl shared that Christ-centered families are so necessary.  They are the ones willing to bank upon the providence of God and use the gifts God has given them to meet needs through business. The family also is a prime environment for, handling failures, practicing innovation, and building businesses on the unchanging principles of God’s word.

    Exhorting – Encouraging – Brainstorming – Fellowshipping occurred all weekend!

Meal times!

  I don’t believe one attendee went away from the conference with out hope and vision for what the future could hold. Ideas were bouncing around the room, which led to thought provoking questions, and ended with good solid answers. It was a glorious time to consider how God would have us handle that wonderful and necessary activity called working for profit.

If you’re interested in gathering  further information about these Raising Entrepreneurs Workshops please visit the Stelzl family blog, Mr. David Stelzl’s blog, and also www.RaisingEntrepreneurs.net.

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The faithfulness of God isn’t dependent on man’s decisions, nor is it manipulated by temporal experience and physical events. The faithfulness of God is built on the unchanging promises of God’s word. A wonderful testimony of this truth recently came about in the form of the West Virginia Family Encouragement Weekend. Being the first of it’s kind in the wild wonderful state of West Virginia we we’re filled with excitement to see how God would work. From going through the weekend, we found God’s faithfulness glimmer through conversations, messages, and songs so frequently and so poignantly.  Now that the conference is over the memories cause us to rejoice again and again at what God accomplished. He accomplished His will, He performed His master plan, and we stand in awe. Thank you Heavenly Father for your faithfulness to us. We truly don’t deserve it but may we always be grateful.

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The rich man cried, ” Father Abraham, have mercy on me , and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.”

Abraham said, “Son,…between us and you there is a great gulf fixed; so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.” ~ (Luke 16:19-31)

In eternity there is a great gulf fixed between the children of light and the children of darkness! For those in darkness there is no getting back to the light. Decisions made on earth affect our eternal destiny!

On earth there is no gulf between us and the lost! They are all around us! As ambassadors of Jesus Christ we have been charged with the responsibility to tell them about the marvelous grace that can reconcile them to God through Jesus Christ. Yet too often we do not.

Have we created a gulf on earth between them and us?  Fear of the unknown, lack of faith, an unwillingness to be vulnerable and to risk potentially failing in our presentation, and the list could go on.

All of the above are lies from the enemy! Satan’s goal is to get us focused on ourselves. If successful we become ensnared in a pattern of thinking that breeds fear.

Following Christ calls for us to lay down our life and to deny ourselves. Faith calls for a response! If you have given your life to Christ then by faith you can step forward knowing that Christ will never give you more than you can handle.

~ Last week we as a family joined two other families down on the front steps of the Lincoln Memorial. We gathered with one purpose and desire in mind – to be used by God to touch another life for Christ!

The Beall family with ‘Great Commission Families’ spear-headed this event. They printed over 600 tracks to hand out that day! These tracks shared the story behind the Cherry blossoms of D.C.

Since the cherry trees were in full bloom it was a wonderful way to place in the hands of many the history of the 3,000 cherry trees given to the United States by Japan as a symbol of friendship and reconciliation between our two nations. The track didn’t stop there though! It then lead beautifully into explaining the great price Jesus Christ paid so we might be reconciled to God!

We didn’t know what the afternoon would hold. By faith we stepped out and followed the leading of the Lord. God took each one of us where we were at and encouraged us on to new levels of boldness and delight in seeking the lost.

After spreading the word of God to more than 600 people we gathered around the Washington monument to pray for those who were given the truth.

Thank you Beall family for creating a atmosphere of learning, discipleship, and practical experience in fulfilling the great commission!

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It is so easy to develop a self-centered mind set focusing on what we think is important. When that happens we  lose opportunities to bless and serve others.

Not long ago our church had the opportunity to bless two families from our fellowship; the Butlers and Potters with various projects around their homes. Digging a trench from the house to supply water and electricity to a barn,  building a patio and walk way, painting, planting, re-grading, etc!

The Joyful spirits everyone had were contagious! Each person desired to help and serve in any way possible. It was a joyous sight to behold.

Each person, with their own special gifting and in working together as a team, accomplished much in only a little bit of time.

It was a blessing to see the discipleship, the determination, and the joy and fellowship which surrounded those days.

But most importantly it was a time for being together, encouraging one another in the ways of the Lord, singing, and giving God glory through everything we were doing.

John 13:34″ “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”

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