January in Review - An Update

January came in like a gust of spearmint wind, with newness and action!

I have been so privelaged to be a part of YWAM Starkville’s future. These are days which lay the foundation for the rest of the base’s ministry! A few weeks ago we prayed together to seek God’s heart for the core values of our base. What does He want us to be known for? How should we focus on sharing His character? Among other subjects, the Lord shared with us “newness, sending, celebration, honor, and thanksgiving.” How incredibly blessed I am to interact with God Himself! The Creator of your soul! Emmanuel means “God with us;” He wants His children to know that He desires to live everyday life with them. These are thrilling times, hiking this path through the unknown, the four us: Chelsea, Kelly, yours truly, and our Friend.

In December I was challenged to invite people to invest in ministry through me. I now have a wonderful and growing team of supporters! I am so glad to partner with them. Honestly, I couldn’t ask for a more strategic and Christ-seeking group of people to work with. God continuously proves to be a wise provider, in this way and many others.

As far as stories, I may not yet have wild ones from the bush yet, but I can tell a pretty crazy one from just this last week or so…

There was an outreach team from Tennessee that came to Starkville for some recharging time before heading to West Africa. One day at lunch, one of them shared the tale of his experience leading an outreach team in Thailand trying to get back to the United States through China. The Chinese authorities wouldn’t let them back through, and their plane tickets were canceled. More and more concerned, this young man reached out to the man who was teaching my class the last week in March. Our teacher paused to talk to this young man and the Chinese, and briefly let us know to pray for a team stuck in China. We did right then while our teacher stepped out for a few minutes, and I remember praying here and there for the team later in the day. And here is this team leader telling the story across the table from me ten months later! I was on one side of that phone call, and this person sitting across from me was on the other side in an airport in Bangkok! What!! I greatly anticipate more stories like this as I continue in ministry. What a world we live in! This is the family we have, that when we communicate our needs to each other, we are being lifted up in prayer by brothers and sisters, no matter how far away.

Grace & Peace,

Ruthie Jo Carpenter