Happy Thanksgiving!

Pslam 100:4, "Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!"
We have many reasons for thanksgiving and praise unto the Lord!

We thank Him for:

• A new full time ministry Assistant!
• An office space!
• His provision through our supporters for all of our international trips in 2008!
• Generous donations to fund our ministry!
• A team of prayer partners to support us and our ministry!
• Our health!
• His steadfast love, mercy and grace upon us!

Our list of thanksgiving could continue infinitely. We would like to thank all of you for your financial support, prayers, and general support of Greater Reach Ministries this year! We wish you and your families a Happy Thanksgiving!

***Be sure to check out our latest podcast on the web-site entitled, "Prayer and Our Husbands". www.greaterreach.com

We're All Together!

We're having an exciting week at Greater Reach! We're all together! Caye is visiting from Florida for the week, and the wheels are turning in our minds for future ministry plans.

Our newest Greater Reach employee, Alyssa Spitale, was included in this picture taken in mid-September at a dinner gathering. At that point, all three of us working together at Greater Reach wasn't even a thought. It's amazing what God can do in a month!

For more details on what's new with Caye, check out her blog at www.CayeSiller.blogspot.com.

Visit our website for the latest podcasts too: www.greaterreach.com.

Camel Ride in Egypt?

Kristin's husband, Pastor Fred, recently took a camel ride during his latest excursion to Cairo, Egypt. He brought our new Sr. Pastor, Jamie Rasmussen, to visit some of their ministry sites.

Seminary Class Update

We're at the mid-point of the semester and it's such a blessing to see what God is doing in the lives of the ladies in the class. Due to cultural and age differences, they are at such varied levels in their understanding of their identity in Christ. It's exciting to see them taking hold of these truths and making positive changes in their walk with God and others.

Here are a couple of comments that I received recently:

Louisa (a seminary doctoral student) - when asked, How do you like the class?

“Very much- I didn’t know that the burden I have carried, women all over have carried too. My culture (Hong Kong), Chinese, has put so much on women. Really, the whole world has hurt women deeply. I thought I was the only one. I can’t believe I have never learned this before.”

Berta (Director of Community Relations at Scottsdale Bible Church)

I wanted to let you know how much I am enjoying your class! I am learning a lot that I will be able to apply in my ministry.

New Events on the Calendar

Greetings Friends!

Just checking in to let you know that we've added a number of new speaking events to the GRM calendar for the coming months and 2009!

Visit our website for more information about where we'll be speaking.

Please be praying for each event and we hope to see you at one or more of them.

Class is in Session

I can’t believe another month has gone by since my last update! I had some much needed vacation time in August, which was wonderful. The class I am teaching at Phoenix Seminary, “Equipping Women to Embrace Their True Identity”, is now underway. We had our first meeting last night, and I have to tell you, I am excited! The women are eager to learn how to equip women to embrace their God given identity!

And we at Greater Reach are exploring a new opportunity that has come our way. We would love for you to pray with us for God’s wisdom as we consider a two minute-three times a week radio program. This opportunity could really help us get the word out about our ministry.

George Barna said, “Mission gives your life purpose, vision gives your life direction, values gives your life character”. I keep that quote on my desk so I can read it regularly. It helps to keep me focused. And I think about what I am doing with Greater Reach in this context: What is our mission? What is our vision? Are we as a staff pursuing godly character? I believe so.

Greater Reach is grounded in the Word of God: our mission is to help women find value, significance, and identity in Christ, equip them to develop their gifts and empower them to engage in fruitful ministry. Our vision is clear: to reach out across the world to lift up women and touch them with a message of hope that inspires and equips them to be all that God made them to be. And we at GRM believe in Christian accountability in order to help us to stay on track, both personally and with regard to the ministry. It always has to be “being” before “doing”. We must be the people of God before we do the work of God.

Thanks for praying for us!

Equipping Women to Embrace Their True Identity

Hello! Having recovered from my latest trip, the Tanzania, Africa adventure, I am now focused again on my writing project. The book I am working on coordinates perfectly with a class I will be teaching at Phoenix Seminary this fall. The class starts Monday (6-8 PM), September 8th and runs for 14 weeks.

As someone who has worked with and ministered to women for many years (try 30!) I have personally observed a problem that is common among them: they are often confused, abused and denied the truth about who they really are. In this course (and in my book) students will explore some historical, cultural and religious reasons why, and develop a biblical worldview of individual personhood that includes identity, gifts, and a call to stewardship.

Finally students will learn significant life principles related to identity that they can apply and teach others. This class will provide strong encourgement to find and invest one's gifts, all for the cause of Christ. Consider joining me! You can register online through Phoenix Seminary: http://www.phoenixseminary.org/