Thunder School Visits Mercy Ministries!!!

This morning, we had Pastor Scott MacLeod and the Thunder School here at Mercy in Nashville to share with our staff and girls. Thunder School is a creative compassion inner-city ministry where teams use different forms of media – praise and worship, dance, drama, and rap – to share about Christ. There were about 40 students from Thunder School here to perform and minister to the girls. It was a powerful time of testimonies, praise and worship, drama, and even a really cool rap!

One thing that was especially cool is that one of the members of the Thunder School is a Mercy graduate from 1993! Rashelle came to Mercy Ministries in Monroe with an unplanned pregnancy 16 years ago and chose to parent her son, Chance, who was born in July of 1993. She introduced Chance to the staff and girls, as well as her other son, Christian (pictured below).

1993 Mercy graduate, Rashelle,
pictured with her sons, Chance and Christian

Rashelle now lives in Nashville with her husband and two sons, and works full-time with the Thunder School. Rashelle shared her testimony with the girls and encouraged them to really stand up and fight for their freedom. It was such a powerful time of ministry and an awesome end to a great week! I thought you might like to see some of the pictures from the Thunder School today…

To learn more about Pastor Scott MacLeod and the Thunder School, check out their website at www.thunderschool.com.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

She was 14 when she came to Mercy over 6 years ago…

I just received the most awesome email from a young lady who came to Mercy when she was 14 with a severe eating disorder, and she was told by the “experts” that she went to for treatment that death was eminent. BUT GOT HAD A MUCH BIGGER PLAN!!! I love to tell her story, but it is so much better if you can hear it in her own words, and see her beautiful face, so here it is.

Nancy,

Where to begin? I don't even know, so first off let me just say thank you for listening to the Holy Spirit and letting Him use you as a vessel. I know you already know this, but let me just reiterate that Mercy has affected my life in so many aspects...I'm still reaping many blessings because of my experience at Mercy. I also wanted to tell you that I feel like the Lord is really stirring in my soul a way to help. I would absolutely love to come and intern this summer and just help out in any way! ...A little update on my life: I'm a sophomore at Abilene Christian and majoring in elementary education. I am now 20, which sounds so old haha, I can't believe it’s been almost 6 years since I've been to Mercy. Crazy!! Life is flying by which makes me extremely anxious to be a life changer and shake up this world for the glory of the Lord while I’m here on earth. It's time!! Well I just wanted to give you a little heads up to be looking for my internship.
I love you

--Mary Ellen Alexander

Yes, you guessed it – she will definitely be doing an internship with us next summer!! Thanks again to everyone who supports this ministry. Mary Ellen’s life was saved because of it!!! Hope all is well with you.

Nancy

Report from the New York City Marathon!!

I just received one of the coolest reports from one of our supporters who recently raised money for Mercy and ran for Mercy in the recent ING New York City Marathon on November 7. I thought you might like to hear about her experience in her own words:

“It was truly one of the best experiences I have ever had. One of my favorite memories is walking through all the different neighborhoods in New York and the people on the sidelines cheering from all different countries and every walk of life. When I got a little weary, I thought about all of those supporting me for Mercy Ministries, and that’s what got me through. I finished strong and all glory goes to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for giving me His strength. – Pam”

We are so grateful for the amazing supporters God sends us!! If you would like to know more about running for Mercy, check out the website at www.runformercy.org.

Atlanta Christian City Church Visits International Headquarters!

I first met pastors Phil and Chris Pringle from Christian City Church (C3) in Australia over 10 years ago during one of my first trips to Australia. I had the pleasure of speaking in a Sunday morning service at their beautiful campus in Sydney. Pastors Phil and Chris have planted close to 300 churches around the world, and one of those churches is in the Atlanta, Georgia area. The pastors of the Atlanta church are Dean and Jill Sweetman. Pastors Dean and Jill also oversee all of the C3 churches in the U.S. under the leadership of Phil and Chris Pringle.

In March of this year, I had the privilege of speaking at Jill’s annual women’s conference called Imagine. Our hearts connected, and the rest is history! The ladies of this church have now made two trips to Nashville, spending two days with us each time. In the first group there were approximately 30 women, and just this week, we hosted another 12. Our staff and girls had the privilege of hearing Pastor Jill as she brought a special word to our staff and girls. Our time together was so encouraging!!

Me with Pastor Jill Sweetman

I want to give a big shout out to Pastors Dean and Jill and also legends Phil and Chris Pringle for the amazing network of churches they oversee around the world. Both our girls and staff loved having them here!! I thought you might enjoy seeing some of the pictures. I hope everyone has a great weekend!!

More on our California Home Grand Opening!!

I planned to share more today about the California opening, but when I read Holly Wagner’s blog and what she said about it, I felt like I should share what she wrote. So here it is straight from Holly along with some awesome pictures that we just got in from our official photographer that are much better than the pictures we originally posted…

Mercy Opening in Sacramento!

This weekend I was honored to be a part of the Grand Opening of the Sacramento Mercy home!! Mercy is an incredible organization that provides hope and healing to generations of desperate young women who are seeking freedom from life-controlling problems. This free-of-charge biblically-based program has been changing lives since 1983. Mercy is founded by my dear friend, Nancy Alcorn, who is giving her life so these girls can be free and healed. She is a legend! (that's her cutting the ribbon!)

I am SO happy that our Mercy family has expanded to the West Coast – we’ve been praying for this for a long time!! A quick flight up to Sacramento and I was on the grounds of the beautiful new home and had the pleasure of speaking at the Grand Opening Ceremony. It was awesome to see the new facility; walking through the halls, all I could think of were our fellow GodChicks that would enter those doors and have their lives changed forever...

I loved being there with Nancy and welcoming the girls who are brave enough to begin the journey toward freedom. I can’t wait to hear about all the stories of transformation that will come from this home – this weekend marked the beginning of generations of lives that will be changed!

Join me in praying for these brave GodChicks,
xoxo,
holly

Click Here for Holly's blog.

Me with Buzz Oats and Holly Wagner


Me pictured with our U.S. Program Directors


Me pictured with the Mercy Ministries
Board Members who were able to attend the Grand Opening


Generations of Mercy Supporters –
2007 Graduate Rachel with her mom and grandparents


2006 Mercy Graduate Ashleigh Stevenson

Sacramento Home Grand Opening – A Picture Paints a Thousand Words!!

People say that a picture paints a thousand words…is that really true? I hope it is in this case because I am actually boarding a flight home from Sacramento after an amazing weekend at our dedication and ribbon cutting for our new home there! I have more than a thousand words to say about how awesome it was, but I don’t have that much time, so I think I’ll have to let the pictures speak for themselves.

Pastors Greg and Kathy Fairrington of Sunset Christian Center welcoming guests

Recording Artists Austins Bridge performing at Grand Opening


Holly Wagner, Co-Pastor of Oasis Christian Center in L.A. and
Founder of God Chicks speaking at Grand Opening


Ken Mansfield, former President of Apple Records

I will tell you that we had close to 1,000 people walk through the home this weekend, including those who attended the dedication ceremony on Saturday and those who attended the open house on Sunday. I also had an excellent time speaking at Sunset Christian Center for the two Sunday morning services along with special music by Austins Bridge. I hope you enjoy these pictures – will share more later about the events of this amazing weekend.

Mercy Graduate Ashleigh sharing her testimony

Official Ribbon Cutting with Buzz Oates and Family


Mercy California girls at the Grand Opening Ceremony


Jerry Manuel, Manager of the New York Mets, and his wife

Renette sharing at the Grand Opening


Buzz Oats and I entering the home!


Guests entering the home after the ceremony for tours

Guests enjoying a reception after the ceremony


Mercy graduates Lauren, Britney, and Rachel

Hello from Sacramento!!!

I just wanted to let you know that I had the privilege of speaking to the staff and girls at our new home in Lincoln, California this morning. It was so fun to be there and experience my first time of teaching in this particular home!

Me teaching in the new California home!

We are so excited about our big weekend of events, including a special dedication and ribbon cutting ceremony on Saturday, and an open house on Sunday afternoon. I thought you might enjoy seeing a picture of our guest worship leader, Cindi Benzel, from Harvest Time Church in Lincoln, California, and her friend, Shelby. A special thanks to them for leading worship!

Cindi and Shelby leading worship

We are so excited to connect with the pastoral leaders in this area! I hope all of you have a great weekend. Please remember to pray for the 40 new residents in this new home and that their lives will be forever changed and that their futures will be bright.