Before I leave for Brazil, I want to let all of you know how thankful and appreciative I am for all your support, prayers, donations, and kindness during the preparations for both the retreat and the Brazil mission trip. I also want to PRAISE THE LORD for all the answered prayers! You all have been so diligent to pray and petition the Lord on behalf of the women who attended the Retreat, for the women I will have the opportunity to minister to in Brazil and for myself. Let me just say I FELT YOUR PRAYERS -- POWERFULLY!
God is so good. He heard your prayers and answered in an awesome way. Let me just list a few victories that we all prayed for:
1. Two of our women at the Retreat received Christ as Savior. PTL!!!
2. Approximately 40 other decisions were made as well. Some were re-dedications, some were for private decisions, and some were commitments for service in the Kingdom. WOOHOO! These first two answered prayers are what it's all about, ladies! I hope to be hearing in the near future how these decisions have been proven out in churches and ministries, and in the sphere of influence of the women making these decisions. We are going to be keeping up with each other through email on an ongoing basis. Pray these decisions will bring in more fruit for the kingdom as each woman grows in her commitment.
3. The women there really bonded well and made new friends. The time spent in fellowship in the Susan Todd lounge really paid off in bringing our women closer together and in one accord with a new desire to reach out to women outside the church walls! Women from every church there made decisions that I pray will help her own local Body prosper and grow. Praise the Lord for that as it was one of our major prayer requests. I long to see women's ministries catch the burden and get on fire for Christ in each church.4. The filming went well. Micah Ray worked with the Lake Junaluska team, and they did their best to keep me on time, in 
sync and focused. (What a big job that was!) Micah will soon begin the process of editing the segments in preparation for the DVD set to be released. I will let you know what that date is when I find out. Please continue to pray for the women and churches who will view them in the future - for FRUIT, MORE FRUIT AND MUCH FRUIT!
sync and focused. (What a big job that was!) Micah will soon begin the process of editing the segments in preparation for the DVD set to be released. I will let you know what that date is when I find out. Please continue to pray for the women and churches who will view them in the future - for FRUIT, MORE FRUIT AND MUCH FRUIT!5. The Lord showed up in untold numbers of details and really made His presence known! One particular victory for me (except for the 1st session) was that I was able to get out of His way, and let Him speak through me. At times, I heard statements coming from my lips that I had not planned on, and it was sure better that what I had written down!
6. The freedom of worship was wonderful. (Thanks to Joanne and the entire praise band!) There was a true atmosphere of worship there in every session. Our Sunday morning sessions were especially sweet and powerful. The unity was incredible and what a blessing it was to see pockets of women all over the room praying together, some weeping, some singing, but all praising the Lord for what He had done in their lives and expressing a new commitment for service.
7. And another incredible prayer was answered in a huge way: Sponsorships came in for all 400 books for Brazil PLUS 100 MORE! Women from every church represented there raised $2585 at the retreat to add to the $2500 already donated before the retreat. One woman donated $1500 from her own ministry and another donated $100, and another $500 in addition to all the other women who sacrificed to see these books go across the sea. PRAISE THE LORD!! I can tell you I was blown away by the excitement the women expressed in getting the Word out. I can't thank you all enough for the generosity and support shown.
I don't know how to thank you all enough. Blessings to all of you who participated in any way to help with this retreat and my mission trip to Brazil. I want to send out personal notes after my return, but I am so sorry to say there just isn't time to do so before I depart, but I couldn't leave without getting this out to as many as I could.
I will keep you updated while I am there. Please keep praying that our Lord will
- Win many
- Touch all and
- Bring Hearts and Homes to Himself.
Thank you for supporting ZooKeepers Ministries.
Catch the fire! Take Christ to Women and bring the Women into your church! To God be the Glory and All praise to Him!
Blessings to each of you,
Brenda Lancaster
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