April | 2020 | Sislers in Iowa

As I sit in my house today I am reminded that despite what seems like chaos around us, God is in control the same as He was a month ago, a year ago, and 1000 years ago.

In John 16:33 we read “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Jesus is still sitting on His throne! A great reminder that He is in control and always will be. We have been praying that you would draw close to Jesus during this time. Let’s all press in and seek to listen to what Jesus is calling us to during this time of change. We are thankful for new life springing up around us and hopeful for all that God is doing!

In January we had the privilege of attending the Young Life all staff conference that is held every 4 years. Over 5,500 staff and spouses gathered together for, worship, encouragement and to be challenged to run after students with the gospel. It was great spending time with our Heartland Region staff and learning more about how we can be more effective in what we are doing here in Iowa and Illinois.

During one of the sessions they brought in 104 people, each carrying a flag representing the 104 countries that Young Life is currently in. As the Kenya flag entered, we both felt a wave of emotion as we remembered the time that God allowed us to serve in Kenya. We are grateful to be able to be part of a global ministry that is focused on reaching students for Christ worldwide.

While I was at the conference I had the opportunity to spend some time with Don Stuber. Don has opened almost a 100 new areas in Young Life around the country. He is a bit of legend! Since last fall, Don has been teaching me about how to start new Young Life areas so in our region. Even though he retired in January of this year, he is still helping open new areas so that the Gospel can be shared with students that don’t know Jesus. It has been a blessing to spend time with Don and learn from his wisdom.

Over the last few months we have been working hard at meeting new people and being connected with others that have a desire to see students reached in their community with the Gospel. We have seen good traction with some new areas (Urbandale, and Ft. Dodge) and continue to pray that God would help us to reach more students with the Gospel. In March we had our regional interviews and are looking to bringing some new staff into region starting in the near future. I am looking forward to working with each of them and will share more about them in the months to come.

We continue to press on during this pandemic by connecting with people over the phone and through Zoom (video conferencing) as we seek to make the most of our time during the Corona virus.

I (Liz) has been meeting with women one on one and sharing the vision for YoungLives for the past few months. I’ve been working on forming a team to establish a solid root system and branches for the YoungLives ministry here in the Des Moines area.

In the beginning of March, I got to share about YoungLives to the MOPS group at our church and lead a time of prayer there. Prayer is so essential as this is God’s ministry to teen moms that He’s just allowing me to be a part of.

Jaden and Josiah are doing well and they are trying to make the best of online school and more time at home. We are thankful for technology during this season of social distancing.

Items for prayer:
New areas: Please pray that God would continue to raise up new adults that want to be a part of helping to reach students with the gospel all over our region.

Pandemic: Please pray with us as we seek an end to the virus and that we would look use this time to share the gospel with those around us boldly!

YoungLives: Please pray for the Holy Spirits leading as Liz seeks to develop a team to run after teen moms.

Over the last 5 months that we have lived in Iowa, we have seen a lot of things, none bigger than the Iowa State Fair pig champion named Captain. Captain, tipped the scales at 1254 pounds! He was huge. Pigs are a big thing in Iowa, they raise more pigs (22.7 million) than any other state (2^ndplace is NC with 8.6 million). In Iowa that means pigs outnumber people 7-1. On my (Mark) many drives around Iowa I have seen many pig farms and also many of the 3 million plus people that call this great state home.

This picture is taken right outside our window and each day it reminds us of Gods beauty and his calling on our life. Our family is here to bring the gospel to as many of those 3 million people that don’t know Jesus as we can. As we approach the celebration of Jesus coming to earth as a human, I wanted to remember our purpose as believers is to join God on this mission of reconciling all people to the Father through the Son.

2 Cor 5-18-20
All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

I am excited to introduce you to Alex and Marcus. **New Church Partner:**
Alex Vasquez is our Area Director in Sioux Center (NW Iowa). Marcus DeWeerd is our new church partner that we just hired to start a WyldLife club (Jr. High ministry). I meet with both of these guys regularly as we seek to strategize how best to reach students that don’t know Jesus. Marcus is currently raising support and hopes to be done in a couple of months. Please pray that God would help Alex and Marcus reach students for Jesus in Northwest Iowa. In the coming newsletters I will introduce you to more of the people that I work with to reach students in the Heartland Region.

Potential new places for ministry with Young Life:
We have been praying that God would connect us with people that love Him and love students so that we can begin to establish new Young Life areas in Iowa and Illinois. Some of the cities we are currently praying for are Ft. Dodge, Cedar Falls, Decatur, Springfield, Pella, Moline, and Bettendorf. Please join us in prayer for these cities!

YoungLives Update:
I (Liz) have been meeting with people over the past few months and sharing the vision for YoungLives. I’ve been taking a Field Leadership Training course for YoungLives along with other YoungLives Coordinators and learning a lot in preparation for this role. I will be starting a prayer team in January with a group of women as we seek God’s guidance in reaching out to teen moms in Des Moines.

We are thankful that Jaden and Josiah are continuing to adjust well to our new home. This month has been fun re-introducing them to some American Christmas traditions again. We are truly grateful for each of you in our lives and the friendships that you represent. Merry Christmas!

Items for prayer:
Family: Praising God for how well all 4 of us have transitioned so far. Please continue too pray as we seek to build friendships and relationships with those around us.

Potential new places for ministry with Young Life:
Please join us as we pray for God to move in these cities to establish Young Life: Ft. Dodge, Cedar Falls, Decatur, Springfield, Pella, Moline, and Bettendorf. Please join us in prayer for these cities!

YoungLives: Pray for God to stir women’s hearts towards mentoring teen moms. Provide avenues for us to meet with teen moms. That God would already begin softening hearts of teen moms towards Himself.

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." – Martin Luther King, Jr

	Rachel Putnam on Spring 2020 Update
	Carol Lenz on Move to Iowa–Fall 2019
	sislersinkenya on Final year in Kenya
	Becka Asper on Final year in Kenya
	Ken Mulhall on Final year in Kenya

Sislers in Iowa

Monthly Archives: April 2020

Spring 2020 Update

Christmas 2019

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." – Martin Luther King, Jr