Praise & Thank You

We haven't even yet mailed out the print version of our newsletter below, and already someone has VERY generously given us much of their air miles in order to bring Lauren home from school for Christmas.  This is a tremendous blessing and we are so grateful to the Lord and to this precious family.

Allen Family October 2010 Update

Tremendous Work of God in Canada

Our Summit Ministry (local churches) is ministering in several churches in Canada this year.  Already in Ontario, the White Team has seen what the Revivalist says is the most significant move of God he has seen in his 15+ years of ministry with Life Action.  The people are hungry and desperate for God to change their lives and their church.  The depth of God’s work in this first church is incredible.  The next church they are headed to in Canada is filled with anticipation and the same kind of desperate hunger.  It would be incredible to see the Lord start a revival in our neighbor to the North!!

True Woman ‘10

Well, we have completed the True Woman Conference in Indianapolis and the one in Fort Worth, Texas is underway.  God is really doing something in the lives of women in the US, Central America & Eastern Europe with the True Woman movement.  The impact has far exceeded our expectations.  Please continue to pray!

The Girls

Well, we now officially have two college students.  Lauren is settled in at Seattle Pacific University—2,145 miles away!  She is only a few credit hours from being a Junior (she will be at the end of this quarter) majoring in history.  It is a beautiful campus located in the Queen Anne District of Seattle.

Keely is in her first semester at Southwestern Michigan College—a local community college.  After completing her first two years there, she hopes to go on to the Chicago Institute of Art.  Originally, she was thinking in the area of design, but it seems that she is gifted as a writer and her English professor is encouraging her in that direction.

Angela is very busy getting Keely where she needs to go and taking care of BG.  She also  cooks breakfast most Wednesday mornings for a weekly leadership training time at Life Action’s headquarters for about 25—30 of our home-based leaders.  Leadership development is one of BG’s key responsibilities & this is one way Angela partners with BG in ministry.

Tom Risher

We will sorely miss Tom Risher.  He was one of our greatest encouragers and faithful supporters.  He called us often & it was always a blessing.  I loved his zeal for Christ.  I know he is celebrating now, but we miss him.

Financial Partnership Opportunities

As you know, living on support often provides fresh opportunities for walking in faith!  Especially in this economy.  Following are some projects that you might consider that would be a great way to partner with us & allow us to continue to serve out on the mission field of North America:

1. Bringing Lauren home for Christmas—currently we need about $400—500 to be able to fly Lauren home for her Christmas break.  The sooner the better as it will go up the closer we get to December.

2. Tires for our van—tires with good tread are important when the snow starts to fly & the van’s tires are needing to be replaced (soon!) probably in the $300—400 range.

3. Tuition for the girls—both the girls have worked to save money for college & Lauren was blessed with grants & scholarships. We thought she was completely covered (she was at 2009 rates), but she is short $1,100 a quarter now due to the 2010 tuition rate hikes.

4. Maintenance on our van—we are having problems with a sensor on the van—about $180 and the transmission is acting up some & needs to be serviced—probably $140.  Hopefully that will help with the transmission.  It may need a part changed out in it that runs in the $250 range (due to a man that gives discounts to Life Action staff).

Thank you so much for those of you that support us in prayer,

encouragement, & with your resources!

We are deeply grateful!!

 

Contact us / Join our Ministry Support Team!

Home: 1633 Niles-Buchanan Road, Niles, MI 49120— 269.262.0404
Cells: BG— 574.360.9294, Angela—269.370.8185, BG’s office number —269.697.2016
E-mail: ballen@LifeAction.org , angelashaddix@comcast.net
Life Action—PO Box 31, Buchanan, MI 49107—www.LifeAction.org
Blog: http://bgallen.com/ Facebook —all four of us are on Facebook & we have a Facebook Group for folks interested in following our ministry. Twitter—bgallen

 

Our May 2010 Newsletter

We are very grateful for your support, encouragement & interest in our family’s ministry with Life Action. The Lord has used so many of you in our lives in many special ways. Many of you do not realize the impact you have had on us over the years.

We are profoundly grateful!

From our vantage point in Life Action, we are seeing the Lord move in a mighty way throughout this country & are encouraged—especially about what is happening in North Mississippi!

Please join us in praying for revival in our county!

Lauren and Keely

2010 is a year of transition for both of our girls.

Lauren has been working at The Lodge, cleaning house for a lady, babysitting, completed her last course for her Associates degree and so on as she prepares to move to Seattle in September of this year. She was accepted into Seattle Pacific University and, so far, the Lord has provided 2/3 of her tuition and room and board through scholarships and grants! That is a huge praise. She was also offered student loans for the balance, but she is working on other scholarships so that hopefully she can go to school debt-free. She has also been offered a work-study position at the school that will help with her finances.

Keely is staying busy babysitting and doing quite well at it as she is saving her money to start college at the local community college here in Niles this fall. She is in quite a demand and has even started her own blog called the “Last Minute Babysitter”. Both girls are doing well and growing in their walk with the Lord in a beautiful way. Both of them are playing church softball this summer with Keely playing catcher and Lauren playing second base. It is always a blast watching that team play as they have great attitudes and have fun playing.

We do appreciate your prayers for our girls!

In February, BG had the privilege of speaking on strategic planning to the Mississippi Community College Leadership Academy that was held at Eagle Ridge on the campus of Hinds Community College. It was a great time of sharing with a very sharp group of people. It is exciting to meet with the future leaders of our community colleges and to see their passion for the state, our citizens, and education.

Prayer and Praise

• Due to the economy and other circumstances, we have seen a drop in support so we covet your prayers in this regard and your financial support if the Lord leads you to do so.

• After being urged to do so by someone he was “coaching” and confirming it with some wise friends—BG is launching a “tent-making” venture to raise additional funds, help with college expenses and planning for our “latter years”. For a while now he has been coaching several pastors and non-profit leaders outside of Life Action on leadership and organizational issues as well as doing so internally at Life Action. So with the blessing of Life Action, he is beginning a ministry coaching and consulting practice aimed at small and mid-sized churches as well as Christian non-profits. Check out the website at bgallen.com

• Please do pray for Angela as she contends with foot pain due to plantar fasciitis. Angela is busy keeping the girls on track as well as preparing breakfast for the weekly leadership development training we do for 25—30 of our home-based leaders and serving others in many ways.

• BG will be teaching two courses in the MBA program at Bethel College this summer and fall. Additionally, he has been asked by the college to develop a non-profit management track for the MBA program. A great opportunity, but also a lot of work.

“Igniting Movements of Authentic Christianity”

Moody Church in Chicago & True Woman Chattanooga

THIRST Conference @ MOODY CHURCH:

We were blessed to be in the service last night with Byron & Sue at the Thirst Revival Conference at Moody Church in Chicago. We also had dinner with Byron & Sue and Pastor Lutzer. The leaders at Moody are amazed at the responsiveness of their people to the Thirst Conference. 270 ladies came to the ladies luncheon yesterday (the number shocked them) with some rather amazing stories of how God spoke through Andrea. Almost 600 other adults fought the traffic to be there last night. Thumbs up for Base Camp . . . because one couple with young children is visiting from overseas and is staying in Sawyer MI which is just west of Buchanan, MI. They went to Chicago this past Saturday to visit friends and attended the service with them in the morning and decide to stay for the night. They returned to Sawyer but could not resist returning to the conference. So they are now commuting 2 hours each way for the services because their boy in Base Camp keeps bringing them back. On Monday night he begged his parents to come back on Tuesday because our workers were speaking on obedience and he did not want to miss it. How can a parent say no to that? We heard stories of reconciliation, clearing conscience, and restitution that are beginning to take place, including someone who confessed using church money he received to use for rent to purchase drugs . . .over ten years ago. Mrs. Lutzer told Sue Paulus, “we’ve known you folks all these years, have carried a burden for revival, and why has it taken us so long to have you here at Moody? I wished we would have done this years ago.”

True Woman ’10:
The Revive Our Hearts team arrived safely in Chattanooga for True Woman Chattanooga Tuesday. Please pray as they set up today and prepare for the opening tomorrow night! Especially pray for Nancy as she gives direction and leadership to the more than 2,400 women who are now registered. We need God’s presence!

Finally Chuck Colson sent an email to one of our leaders this week saying:

“I really believe in this moment in history, that the one great hope is that the sleeping giant in our midst—the believers—will be awakened. It has happened before; it can happen again if God chooses. It’s the first item I pray for every morning.” – Chuck Colson

Testimony from a Church in North Mississippi

Following is a testimony we received via e-mail from someone who had participated in a Summit in North Mississippi this year:

I have been in churches of various types my whole life, and I have seen and been to every type of event there is. I can say without hesitation that I have never encountered an organization that is as effective as Life Action in making the Message so clear, relevant, and personal. Many of our friends had a similar experience and would echo the same sentiment.

Our gift to Life Action really had precious little to do with us; it was borne out of a new clarity of obedience that God provided to us through Steve and the rest of the team. I am convinced that if the church body across our nation embraces obedience, then and only then will we see the change in our own hearts that must occur before our nation can begin to heal.

What a blessing!
BG & Angela

A Lot of Ministry Going On!

Following is a "short" list of the Life Action ministry events over the next six months:

Revival Summits

o 15 local church 8—15-day summits
1. April 11-18 Gentry, AR
2. April 11-25 Carlock, IL
3. April 25-May 5 Jacksonville, AR
4. May 2-16 Normal, IL
5. May 9-16 Tupelo, MS
6. May 23-30 Maurice, IA
7. May 23-30 Glasgow, KY
8. June 6-13 Wisconsin Rapids, WI
9. Sept. 5-15 Sulphur, LA
10. Sept. 12-19 Winston Salem, NC
11. Sept. 26-Oct.10 Inwood, WV
12. Oct. 3-13 Dothan, AL
13. Oct. 17-31 Monroe, NC
14. Oct. 17-27 Dothan, AL
15. Oct. 31-Nov. 10 Ozark, AL

• THIRST Conferences
o 10 local church 4-day conferences
1. April 11-14 Enid, OK
2. April 18-21 Jefferson City, MO
3. April 25-28 Muncie, IN
4. May 2-9 Mansfield, OH (8 day)
5. May 16-19 Roanoke, VA
6. May 23-26 Salem, VA
7. Sept. 12-15 Wilson, NC
8. Sept. 19-22 Raleigh, NC
9. Sept. 26-29 Loudonville, NY
10. Oct. 3-10 Wyoming, Ontario
11. Oct. 17-27 Cobourg, Ontario (11 day)
12. Oct. 31-Nov. 3 Barrie, Ontario

Revive Our Hearts
o 2 national conferences
1. Sept. 23-25 Indianapolis, IN
2. Oct. 14-16 Fort Worth, TX
o 2 radio programs heard nearly 1700 times a day on almost 1000 stations
•
Collegiate Impact
o 2 events
1. May Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
2. ? Yale University, New Haven, CT
•
Other Events and Conferences
• The Lodge (Buchanan, MI)
o 7 pastors’ retreats
o 2 marriage retreats
o 2 women’s leaders’ retreats
• Life Action Camp (Buchanan, MI)
o 7 retreats & events
o 11 family camps

Thank you for helping make this possible through your support of our ministry here at Life Action!

BG & Angela

Spring is coming!

The sun is out and the snow is melting!!! sure is nice as well. Still is cold, but so nice to see the sunshine.

A Blessing for Today

"The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace." Numbers 6:24-26

Powerful video about our brothers & sisters in Christ in India

Watch this powerful video by Francis Chan about persecution of Christians in India - click here to watch.

A Poem on Living Life Coram Deo - “The Elixir”

This is a beautiful poem from Justin Taylor's blog.

George Herbert’s poem “The Elixir” is worth reading several times slowly:

Teach me, my God and King,
In all things Thee to see,
And what I do in anything,
To do it as for Thee.

Not rudely, as a beast,
To run into action;
But still to make Thee prepossest,
And give it his perfection.

A man that looks on glass,
On it may stay his eye,
Or, if he pleaseth, through it pass,
And then the heav’n espy.

All may of Thee partake;
Nothing can be so mean
Which with his tincture (for Thy sake)
Will not grow bright and clean.

A servant with this clause
Makes drudgery divine:
Who sweeps a room as for Thy laws,
Makes that and th’ action fine.

This is the famous stone
That turneth all to gold;
For that which God doth touch and own
Cannot for less be told.

Beautiful testimony from a man in Mississippi

Thought you might be blessed by a man from north Mississippi who God touched in a recent Life Action Summit.

“How can we make it 11 days?” That was the question I secretly asked myself 12 days ago. But out of commitment to my church, we went. Now, at the end of the summit, it would probably be easier to mention the areas the Lord did NOT meet me in, because of how He moved in me and my family’s life. He touched my heart as a husband . . . as a father . . . as a Christian . . . as a sinner. I have never been so tired yet so charged, so exhausted but so excited, or so spent but so ready to grow. I hope and I pray to look back at the time Life Action was here and be able to glorify and thank God for 3 main things: 1) That it was a crucial turning point in my personal walk with Christ, 2) That is was a crucial turning point in my marriage/family and 3) That was a crucial turning point for our church. Looking back, or asked to tell someone in a church that has a summit coming who’s asking “How can I make it 11 days?” I would say this . . . “I asked Him for eternity, how can I not give Him this time?” Thank you for all you gave and taught,

It's snowing again!

Looks like we are going to get a bunch of snow again! It has been snowing all day & is supposed to continue until tomorrow night.

Angela was supposed to fly to New Orleans today so that she could go to Baton Rouge & help my mother this week, but Southwest called yesterday afternoon and they had canceled all of their flight out of Chicago.

Check out BG's Facebook site for a short video of our house & the snow.

Going to Mississippi - FEB 16 - 22

We are headed to Brandon, Mississippi from February 16 - 22. Hoping to see lots of friends & attend church at First Brandon.

BG is speaking at a conference at Eagle Ridge COnference Center at Hinds CC on Saturday, February 20.

Hope to see you!

Impacting Those in Prison

We just received the following letter from a man in prison in Massachusetts:

"12-29-09

Dear Life Action Ministries,

First and foremost, thank you for caring enough about me to send me Revive magazine. As I sit here in prison, trying my best to find my way back to the Lord, it is things like Revive that are keeping my focus on the Lord and not the temptation that surrounds me.

Being a new Christian and being in jail is difficult. Unfortunately there is little to no spiritual support at this prison. The chaplain is more concerned with being a corrections officer than a spiritual leader. I depend on the Bible and magazines like yours to see me through this very difficult journey I am on.

I enjoyed very much the article on the Real Jesus being my Savior. I was so lost for so long. Pornography, drinking, lying, stealing, adultery—my life was a mess. My job, money and material things became my gods. I forgot who I was, I forgot who God was. Then I was arrested. I honestly believe it was God’s way of getting my attention. Believe me, he got my undivided attention. I had forgotten so much about God and Christ, and frankly I never in my wildest dreams thought that God would ever take me back.

While here in prison I borrowed a Bible and began to read. One character struck me hard, and that was Paul. After all the bad he had done he still went on to be one of the greatest disciples. At that point I realized I still had a chance. I finally realized that God actually loved me, and wanted to forgive me. It was then that I surrendered my life to Jesus.

Even though I have lost everything, money, car, friends, family, job, everything ... I realize now that none of it mattered. Not one thing I ever bought or wanted would help me honor God. When I walk out the doors of this prison in June 2011 I am going to be homeless, broke, no clothes, no car, no nothing. But I know God will provide for me!

In Revive magazine this month there was an ad for a workbook that caught my attention. It is called Seeking Him workbook. The questions that were asked in the ad for this book hit me right between the eyes. I answered yes to all of them. I am wondering if there is any way I could get a copy of this workbook. I have no money to send, I have nothing. All I can do is promise that when I get out, get a job and get stable that I could send money then. I am embarrassed to have to ask this, I feel like a heel and a beggar, but I have no other choice. If not, I understand.

Thank you again, you are making a huge difference in my life!

May God bless you all!"

You are having an impact across this nation.

Blessings on your day.
BG