Three Ways You’re Making a Difference
Thank you for all you’ve done to make a difference in people’s lives throughout the year…and this week! Let me explain…
Did you know that when you support Shades of Grace through your faithful prayers and gifts, you’re not only supporting this ministry and our outreach to hurting people around the world, you’re supporting other ministries too?
I’d like to take a moment to share how you are changing college students lives in Atlanta, Georgia this week, but first I’d like to thank you for how you’ve helped others throughout the past year.
What You’ve Done for Hurting Men and Women
Your partnership with Shades of Grace has meant that hurting men and women have been encouraged with God’s Word and His promise to carry them through any affliction. Through your prayers and support, you have taken God’s comfort to people who have felt they have absolutely no hope for a better tomorrow.
“This is my comfort and consolation in my affliction:
that Your word has revived me and given me life.”
Psalm 119:50
Men and women all around us are brokenhearted and feeling like life will never get better. They see their trials as pure pain – when instead, trials can serve as an invitation to know God more fully. Suffering can help lead us to abundant life and joy! Jesus Christ can transform our afflictions by filling our hearts with His love and hope – with His grace and strength! This is the message that Shades of Grace is sharing around the world….
Thanks to you, the lives of men and women’s have been transformed!
- They have seen, often for the first time, the Biblical perspective of life’s trials.
- They have been refreshed by God’s promise to carry them through any affliction.
- They have felt the healing balm of God’s presence.
- They have been revived as He spoke a fresh word into their circumstance.
- They have discovered the peace and joy – and promise – of existing by the life of Jesus and the power of God’s Word!
How You’re Sharing the Gospel and Giving Life-Saving Assistance
Your partnership has also enabled us to give life-saving assistance to lost and hurting people at a time when they needed it most. Shades of Grace teams up with ministries around the world — ministries such as Joni and Friends, Samaritan’s Purse, Every Child Ministries, and World Challenge. This means you have:
- shared the Gospel and provided disaster relief in Haiti…
- supported a missionary in Africa (a soul-winner named Hannah Howard) who leads men and women to the Lord, and who cares for orphans and teaches them about Jesus…
- wheelchairs for the disabled in El Salvador…
- food for orphans in Cambodia – just to name a few of our missions.
Thank you! Thank you for making such a huge difference in the lives of men, women and children all year long!!
“May the LORD repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD.”
Ruth 2:12
Although I sat down to write you about the college students in Georgia this week, I didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to thank you for all you have done for countless others all year long. Now about the extraordinary college students…
How You’re Helping Students in Atlanta, Georgia This Week!
Shades of Grace (and you!) helped sponsor the Panola College BSM students’ trip to Passion 2013. This was our first year to participate in this manner…and I’m very excited about it! (Panola College is located in Carthage, Texas).
In fact, I didn’t realize just how excited I was until I received a text message tonight saying they’d arrived. Holy anticipation filled my heart…and goose bumps covered my arms.
Although I’ve never had the privilege of attending Passion (my closest encounter is listening daily to the live worship recordings from their conferences), I sat under the teaching of Louie Giglio as a student at Baylor University where Louie led a weekly Bible study called Choice. Over ten percent of the Baylor student body attended the weekly gathering for the amazing worship and teaching.
(If you’ve never heard of Louie Giglio, you might like to watch Youtube clips from his messages. I highly recommend How Great is Our God, the video about God’s astounding creation in the stars, planets, laminin, and us. It has been watched millions of times on YouTube alone.)
Passion 2012 was attended by over 44,000 university students from around the United States and over 30 other countries around the world. The conference is a time of powerful ministry to students. Speakers this year include John Piper, Beth Moore and Francis Chan. Worship leaders include Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Kristian Stanfill, Christy Nockels, and Jesus Culture.
Passion’s summarizes their story as The Jesus Generation United for His Fame.
At the heart of it all, Passion exists to see a generation stake their lives on what matters most. For us, that’s the fame of the One who rescues and restores, and the privilege we have to fully leverage our lives by amplifying His name in everything we do.
Last year, our US gathering drew more than 40,000 students and leaders from around the world to the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. We were blown away by God’s presence. Shattered and rebuilt by His Word. Challenged to the core. Repaired. Wrapped in love. Awakened to raise our voices for those who have no voice.
In January 2013, we are returning to The Dome. Honestly, we want to see the place filled. Not for the sake of numbers, but as a symbol of a new generation…a new wave of Jesus followers who are trading in small dreams for a place in the story God is writing around the globe.
Passion is more than a conference. More than an event. More than a feeling. Passion is you and me saying goodbye to lesser things and saying yes to the One whose name is above every name.
Pretty incredible, isn’t it!? And because of you, five young men and women are there saying goodbye to lesser things and saying yes to the One whose name is above every name! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!!
Thank you for sending them to Passion 2013! You’ve affected not just this week of their lives but the rest of their lives!
Join me in prayer for the conference and for these students that God might speak into their lives and seize their hearts this week.
Thanking God for You,
________________________________________
Links to a Few of Louie Giglio’s Messages:
How Great is Our God (Passion Talk Series)
The Essential Collection 
Symphony (I Lift My Hands) 
The Heart of Passion (2009) 
Hope: When Life Hurts Most 
Indescribable 
The Air I Breathe: Worship as a Way of Life
I Am Not But I Know I Am Live Worship Recordings from Past Passion Conferences
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, Shades of Grace will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
“Natalie Grace Nichols is experiencing God’s grace and freely expressing it. My wife, Betty, and I thank God for the ministry of Jesus through Natalie.”
“I’m so thankful that God is raising up women like Natalie for a new generation, providing biblically balanced teaching, encouragement, and comfort for people who are enduring life’s trials.”
