Our Heart

The last song on our second CD, United in Spirit, is “Our Heart.”  Here is how the song starts:

Our heart, our desire, is to see the nations worship.

Our cry, our prayer, is to sing Your praise to the ends of the earth;

That with one mighty voice ev’ry tribe and tongue rejoices.

Our heart, our desire is to see the nations worship You.

(Words by John Dhisum and George Searcy; Copyright 1993 Integrity’s Hosanna! Music/Integrity’s Praise! Music)

All three of us have hearts that are sold out to missions and to seeing God’s word reach the nations.  So, when we recorded our second CD, it was our desire that it would have a mission emphasis.  This was in part because of our love for missions and because of the experience we had on our first overseas mission trip together in 2000 to Brazil.  We had learned four English songs that we had translated into Portuguese.  We learned them phonetically and they were a great resource as we sang in the schools, churches, and on the street corners of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  Over the next couple of years as we started praying about recording another CD, we knew we wanted to put a song on it that was in Portugese.  That is how “You Are My Hiding Place” came to be on this CD.  Then as we talked more about it, we felt like the entire CD could be a great tool for God to use to help us share His message to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthews 28:19). 

One Purpose is under the umbrella of Crossover Communications International.  Crossover is a globally integrated church planting movement, which intensely desires to see God glorified among all the peoples of the world.  We have the opportunity every time we are ministering somewhere to share about Crossover and how God is using this movement to train church planters and plant churches all over the world.  We consider it a huge blessing to be part of this movement and love telling groups about the amazing ways God is working “in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

In October we will have the opportunity once again to return to Chisinau, Moldova, for the Moldova Ladies Conference.  This conference started five years ago as a joint effort of Joy of Abiding Ministries, Crossover Moldova and Crossover USA.  This will be the third year we have gone as a group.  Two other women will go with us:  Cori and Elena.  Beth will be the main speaker at the conference.  Laura, Cori and I will also teach in the villages and lead workshops at the conference.  Elena will keep us all running smoothly.  One Purpose will also sing at various times throughout the days we are there and for the conference.  This conference and the mini conferences in the villages are a great way to encourage, through God’s word, the wives of our church planters.  These couples are on the front lines of the work to reach the nations for Christ. 

Would you please pray with us as we meet and prepare over these next few months.  Pray that God will guide us as we study His word and prepare the messages He lays on our hearts.  Pray also for the funds to be raised for our airfare and traveling costs.  We each have to raise a little over $1700.  We are trusting God for this provision as we truly believe He has called us to go and share our heart with these women who love and desire to serve Him, too.  To learn more about Crossover, please visit www.crossoverusa.org.