Welcome Back Pastor Mike

What FUN to share a little in what God is doing!!!

Pastor Mike called last week and shared how well his health is and that he is going back to Mexico, he also said that he had been in a wheelchair for part of the recovery time this last year, with not much of a good prognosis from the doctors. WELL, we all know that GOD'S ways are not ours, and Pastor Mike is well, thank the LORD, and going back to serve in Mexico this year!!!

He stayed over a few extra days in order to see the KnitWits and pick up hats, share some hugs and stories and give a special gift.

Remember that wheelchair, well we started Thursday with a special visit and Pastor Mike met our friend Joy. She is our newest KnitWit!


Here Joy gave Pastor Mike the first two hats that she had made. She shared with him the blessing of being useful and how much she loves learning to knit on the loom and he gave her his wheelchair!!! 
There was much JOY, more than a few tears and then a few laps in the hall for "driving lessons".
joy ~ Joy ~ JOY

Well, then it was time to get to Cordoba to visit with the other KnitWits and get all the hats picked up. 

We had space bags full of hats and shawls! There was also a hat to put a little $$ to help with gas money for the plane. Mike shared some stories of the GREAT things God is doing in Durango, HIS sovereign protection for all involved at the mission there. Many are coming to know the Lord....and we are grateful for His restoration of Pastor Mike's health so he can serve again! We closed in joy-ful prayer....

 
Mike left on Friday for this first trip to deliver Christmas items. He will be back soon to gather another load of things, so if you have any hats that did not make this trip, there's still time!

MANY THANKS to all who contributed their work and lovely items to be sent this year!!! Most of all thank you for your continued prayers for those God has blessed us to serve along side.

Happiest of Thanksgiving to you all!!! 

This puppy is off to China!

 ...and he is taking a few of his prayer shawl friends with him!

WOW, a great big thank you to everyone for all the beautiful prayer shawls, scarves and hats...
God provides in so many ways and we are very grateful to the people, many we do not know, who donated yarn for us to use in this ministry. Yep, some people heard about this and they just dropped off yarn at Viva Life and at Cordoba Cafe!
<--- SO, it's another Box O'Rainbows!!! 
 

We do have soooo much fun together and are grateful for that blessing.

It is truly a JOY to pack up these boxes with love and prayers for our sisters in China!

Love is more important than anything else.  It is what ties everything completely together…So let the peace that comes from Christ control your thoughts.   

And be grateful.     

Colossians 3:14 & 15b

Summer is heating up and we are so grateful for our Thursdays at Cordoba Cafe!

 Here, Lisa and Barbara are working away on hats for Christmas. We have a couple of new missionary teams we will be helping this year, so round and round we go...on our looms that is! 

AND, a few weeks ago we got a present in the mail!!!

 Sara, our KnitWit friend from New York, sent a box of beautiful blankets...

They will be going to Mexico in November to be ready for Christmas...what a blessing these will be!!! 

 THANK YOU, Sara!

It does seem like December is a long way away, especially sitting in the south Texas heat, but it will be here before we know it.  As we are working to get ready, we want you all to know that we are sooooo grateful for the yarn that so many of you have donated to the KnitWits. Some of these gifts have come from grandma's "hidden stash" in her closet, garage sales, leftovers and more. THANK YOU, it will all be used!!!
Who knows, you may see a picture of a hat with 'your' yarn on our blog sometime.

We are also working on shawls and scarves for the next Women Connect trip to China. The team will be leaving in August, so we're getting close to sending those out. 

Our prayers are with all who are going and those that God has already planned for them to see. 

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Prayers and Purls! 

March China Team

For those that missed the updates on the March trip, check out Peggy's blog here:

http://www.womenconnectinchina.blogspot.com/

Here are a few picture highlights! Let's start with a before and after! 

 Loren & Ashley, our newest KnitWits, modeled the hats before we packed them...

Remember these fun hats?

and here, one of the team models some shawls straight out of the suitcase...

     

Here's a close up of the shawl we made for Hope. Everyone did a section of their favorite yarn....crazy, just like the KnitWits!!!

 

Prayers & Purls and MANY thanks to you all!!!

Precious Gifts!

A treasure came in the mail this week for the KnitWits!

What a blessing it was to open the box and see such precious gifts from our sisters in China! There were smiles all around!

Terri & Cierra --->

Caroline & Barbara smiling sweetly, as usual! :)

Maria y Romina :)

 Who knew soooo much love could fit into such a small box!









  

 

Mary & Ciera :)

 Peggy brought these back for us and shared the joy of having been with everyone in China. We are truly grateful for their prayers, the time and love poured into these gifts and most especially thank God for His plans in bringing us all together at His throne in prayer.

² Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, ³ now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

⁴ As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— ⁵ you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

⁹ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

1 Peter 2:2-5, 9 & 10

HUGS to our sisters!

so MUCH to share!

This week the next group for Women Connect in China will be headed to Beijing!
It was like boxing up a rainbow to send with them :)

Please keep them all in your prayers, as we know that God has lots of things for them to do. 

Here are a few things Peggy has asked prayer for...

• Pray for preparation, visas, health, spiritual protection.
• Safety in flight & rest.
• Safe arrival and recovery of strength for ministry.
• Saturday training.
• Weekly teachings 
• Second Womens' Retreat!
• Weekly training.
• departure – safety.

Everyone is really excited about the Women's Retreat. This will be the second year for this! 

We were also able to send more shawls/hats this time, too! Because of the retreat, we included some fun ones for the kids (thank you, Ann!!!),
several hats of  different sizes and colors, and a few precious baby hats that were given to the KitWits to send "wherever"! :)

Our Saturday morning group is going GREAT, too!

Here, our newest KnitWits are modeling hats before we boxed them up for China! 

Here they are with their first two hats, just after they took them off them loom!  After a quick trip home to show dad what they'd made, they brought them back so they could be sent with the other hats to China. 
It is a real blessing to see God touching these little hearts for HIS purpose and instilling in them a real desire to serve and help others. 

--
... For the LORD your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete. Deuteronomy 16:15

 

New Year Coming with New Blessings!

EXTRA, EXTRA...Read all about it!!!
Plans are set for our new Saturday times!

We will be meeting on the 2nd and 4th Saturday mornings of each month, beginning @ 9:30 am till we leave.

@ Cordoba Cafe ~ Maple & 10th St.

Thursdays are still the same from 4 till 6 pm. 

PLEASE pass this on & invite friends to join in with us. AND remember to let them know all you have to do is show up the first time. We always have extra looms & yarn on hand to teach whom ever wants to learn.

Hope you can join us...we are sooooo blessed to spend this time together!

Also, bless your socks off and check out Peggy's blog @ http://www.womenconnectinchina.blogspot.com/

She posted updates everyday they were in Beijing in December.
God has been so gracious to us, in allowing us to participate in this ministry. Please keep them all in prayer as we enter a new year!

Prayers & Purls to y'all for a Happy, Joyous, Christ-filled New Year!!!

KnitWits on the MOVE

It's always wonderful to share God's provision...and here we go again!

VivaLife has been sooooo nice over the last few years to provide a place for us to meet AND we are sooooo grateful!!! In their new location, things going great for them, thank the Lord!  They are going to need their space now for ministry and growth, so KnitWits are on the move!

And guess what!?!?!?  There is a new coffee shop in McAllen, the Cordoba Cafe.  Edna and her family are new to the Valley and they have graciously opened their doors to us. You know, those people you meet and you feel like you've known them forever? That's them!  

KnitWits met there yesterday for the first time...yummy coffees, lattes and cookies were enjoyed by all!

We will be meeting @ Cordoba Cafe on Thursdays for our regular times.  They are located @ 1303 N. 10th, McAllen, that's @ the northwest corner of 10th and Maple.
And another blessing...Over the last few years there have been several people who have expressed an interest in joining, but just don't have time during their work week.
SO, beginning in January, we will be adding Saturday mornings to our regular schedule! 

Haven't decided yet, but either 1st and 3rd OR 2nd and 4th Saturdays....will get back to you on that!!!

We appreciate your prayers for Eileen, our friend and KnitWit extraordinaire, and her family!  They are moving back to Ohio to be with kids and family up there.  They will also be close to dear KatyLynn. We will all miss Eileen, but it is wonderful to know this will be a special time of blessing, service and love to be with their grandchildren and family!
(Sounds like a KnitWit road trip to me!!! )

Please be praying for Pastor Mike and the teams that are headed to Mexico!  He sends THANKS for all the hats and shawls that we delivered to them...so, the planes are taking things down to the mission in preparation for Christmas!
 

And please continue to pray for Peggy's team in China...
What blessings we are hearing from them!

You can get updates on that @ http://www.womenconnectinchina.blogspot.com/

Hope you can come join us in our new location, Cafe Cordoba...praying you have a blessed Christmas season!!!
 
Prayers & Purls~

  And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God...
Colossians 1:10

December is HERE!!!

Hey y'all!!!

Well, today is the day! We will be meeting at VivaLife, as usual and gathering up all those hats and shawls you've worked so hard on!
IF you can make it today, we'd love to have you come join us as we pray for those who are taking these shawls and hats.

☺ Peggy and her team leave today for another trip to China....and yes, she has her space bags with shawls and scarves!

☺ We will take what is brought in today over to Pastor Mike so that it will be ready to go on the planes headed for Durango, Mexico.  They are making a couple of pre-trips to drop off supplies and Christmas items before they go in mid December to the schools.

☺ We have also found a place to start a Saturday KnitWit group! We will be starting this in January, probably 2 Saturdays a month...will post details later, but please be in prayer for this as plans are coming together!

Thank you sooooooo much for all your work, not just with yarn, but especially in prayer for so many.  We are blessed to hear a few stories of how God uses these, but one day He's going to show us the whole tapestry of prayers and it's gonna be cool!!!   I look forward to that with you.

Don't usually include things like this, but thought you would enjoy a real, modern day Good Samaritan story. And remember, all you do in reaching out to those we don't know, in making yourselves available to serve God in His world,  makes a difference....
Well done and many prayers and purls to you all!!!

Living It Out...