Here’s the Atlanta commissioning for all you Georgia Peaches.

My Dear Sister,
The Maker of Heaven and Earth
Has His hand on you.
Don’t trade what He has for you
For the comforts of this world.
Let the love of Christ compel you
And infuse you with courage.
God, even God, who created the heavens
Is the One who comforts you.
Whatever you do,
Don’t refuse it!
His grace will guard you from bitterness
And Christ will turn your pain
Into Holy Passion.
Pour your life lavishly into others.
Humble yourself and share your hardships
That others may also share your comfort.
Live till you die!
Then live like there’s no tomorrow!
For the King enthroned in Heaven
Is worthy of your all.
Now, go, Girl!
For the Father of Mercies
And the God of all comfort
Goes with you.
Bless be God
And bless be you!

The following is an excerpt from a phone conversation between my mom and me on Friday night.

B: Hey, sweet darlin’!

AJ: Hey, Mama! How’s it going in Atlanta?

B: Well, you know Sandi Patty is here and…

AJ, interrupting/yelling: WHAT?!?! Sandi Patty is there? I’m dying! Did you talk to her?

B: Yes, I got to hug her neck and…

AJ: Did you tell her we listened to “The Friendship Company” like every day?

B: No, but…

AJ, still yelling: Were you freaking out?

B: Yes, and she and Travis sang together.

AJ, astonished that she wasn’t there: WHAT?!?! Did they sing “Another Time, Another Place”? Because if so, I’ll just die!

B: No, honey, they sang…

AJ: Mother! Love in any language, straight from the heart, pulls us all together. Never apart! And once we learn to speak it, all the world will hear…love in any language, fluently spoken here!

I didn’t die, but it has taken me a few days to recover from not being in Atlanta to hear Sandi Patty and Travis sing together! 🙂

Hey, my darling Siestas!
I got back from the Atlanta Women of Faith conference a few hours ago (I’ll tell you about that in a minute), smooched my man hello, then was inspired by the PGA tournament Keith was watching to take a little nap on the couch. After making me a wonderful cup of John Martinez Breakfast Blend, I decided to jump on line and check on you guys. I knew I’d see the pictures of Matthew because I’d asked AJ to post them but they caught me off guard anyway and I’m just about to bawl.

Girls, it was a true miracle. God has allowed me to see a number of them but none any more staggering than that one. If you’ve missed the story, my induction to ministry in Angola several years ago was a trip to a malnutrition clinic where I saw some of the most horrifying sights of my life. If it wasn’t vitally important that we open our eyes to the suffering of children, it would be too much for the soul to bear. If you can imagine this, Matthew looked worse in person than he does in the “before” pictures and his breathing was already like a death rattle. The purple treatment came out dark enough in the picture to hide what was happening to his skin. I was told that, bar a miracle, he would most likely die within forty-eight hours. He was too far gone to tolerate any food and they just don’t have the facilities for IV’s, etc. I could not fathom the hopelessness of the sight in front of me. I did what any of you would do. I prayed. And the thing is, I didn’t even pray with faith. I felt total despair. I prayed out of nothing but desperation. Then, I stood up and walked straight to the vehicle, got in it and shut the door (passionately), feeling mad at someone but not knowing who.

We had no more than gotten home to Houston when we received a picture of him standing straight up (utterly unfathomable) and on the mend. It was impossible. There was no doubt it was the same child because he still had the exact same markings of skin disintegration on his body. Jesus performed an outright miracle. I know that He did it for a host of reasons, the chiefest of which was most certainly His great compassion and love for Matthew. I am convinced that, way down on His list of reasons, however, was God’s desire to affirm to Keith and I that we were doing something He very much wanted us to do. I think it was an authentication of sorts that He was in it. Two years later the little guy looks as robust and healthy as any child you’ve ever seen, running and chasing a soccer ball he’d just been given. Flooring. Just flooring. His mom and I had the sweetest encounter. She knows perhaps even better than I do that God raised that child from the grave that day. Matthew’s grandmother had even come with her to express to us the miracle they knew they’d experienced. I wanted to try to convey to them that Jesus had shocked me as much as He shocked them. May His Name be highly exalted. He is a wonder.

Thank you for caring so much about Matthew’s story and all the children he represents. On another note, God gave us such a fabulous group in Atlanta on Friday at the WOF preconference. We studied “the God of all comfort” from 2 Corinthians 1:3-11, something new the Lord had engaged me in. At first count, well over 500 women received Christ that day and many of the rest of us made a commitment to be compelled by the love of Christ rather than the comforts of this world then count on God to comfort us when we’re called to do something very uncomfortable. I know that I have made a fresh commitment. I just loved the group. I love ministering to women so much. I love ministering to YOU so much.

My staff and I stayed over Friday night to participate in the real, live WOF experience because my buddy and worship team leader, Travis Cottrell, was slated to sing at the big event. I was so proud of him that I had to stay and watch. He sang one of my very favorites among his songs (“His Word is Life,” which conveys everything the Moore/Cottrell ministry partnership is about and became the theme song for the Daniel study). It was breathtaking. He then sang “It is Well” with none other than Sandy Patty. What an evening! I took Melissa with me because I knew she had never in her life experienced anything quite like a Women of Faith event. It is such a blast. I got so tickled at Melissa getting tickled (the speakers are so great and so funny) that my side split. (Anita Renfroe did a thing on “Purse-anality Types” that was stinking hilarious) I also got to hear my good friend, Patsy Clairmont, speak and she was, as always, absolutely tremendous. That tiny thing is a lover of God and His Word if you’ll ever find one.

One of the all time highlights was a mini-concert by Nicole C. Mullen. SIESTAS, you cannot BELIEVE how fabulous it was. She is one of the most gifted people I’ve ever seen. She not only expresses the deep things of God (proclaims Scripture from memory and sings songs she’s written like “I Know My Redeemer Lives,” “When I Call On Jesus, All Things Are Possible…”), she is also one of the greatest Christian entertainers I’ve ever seen. (And I’m a big proponent of good, wholesome, stomp your feet, shake-a-leg, Christian entertainment. A huge believer that it has its place.) Nicole has a fabulous group of talented kids (some hers) that join her on stage, singing and dancing like nobody’s business. I was mesmerized (and also once again convinced that somewhere deep inside of me, there is a black woman screaming to sing and dance her way out). I have new inspiration for Jackson’s and my “Praise Dancing With Granny” sessions. Yes, they used some banners. I have been a fan of Nicole’s music for years, belting out praise with her from the front seat of my car, but I’d never seen her in person. Incredible. If you get a chance some time to praise God with her, don’t miss it. Even my staff-buddy’s that don’t play CeCe Winans and Kirk Franklin constantly like I do had a fit over the concert.

Well, my man has a divine smelling concoction ready in the kitchen and I want to keep him encouraged (heehee) so I’d better go. I’ve had fun visiting with you today! Have a wonderful Lord’s Day tomorrow. Take a moment to look around you at church and think how blessed you are to know and love so many of those people. Then go and tell a few of them so. I love you, Siestas.

*UPDATED*
Thank you to the sweet sisters who let me know that the purple coloration was from an anti-fungal skin treatment called “Gentian Violet.”

My mom is on her way to Atlanta for the Women of Faith pre-conference. She asked me to post some before and after pictures of Matthew while she was gone so that you can see God’s miracle with your own eyes.

The before pictures are very upsetting, as you can imagine. Actually, I couldn’t have imagined how awful they would be. You will see that his skin was purple. I believe it was a result of his malnourishment, but I don’t have any explanation beyond that. I cried when I saw these images even though I had already seen the after pictures. Because they are so graphic, I want to be sensitive to you and those around you. Instead of posting them here, I am giving you a link to see them on another page. Here it is:

http://www.lproof.org/LOI-BeforeandAfter.html

And here are the after pictures. Glory and honor and praise be to our God!

Many thanks to Janice Meyer at LOI for her ministry through photography.

Isaiah 58
True Fasting

1 “Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
and to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 For day after day they seek me out;
they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
and seem eager for God to come near them.

3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,
‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
and you have not noticed?’
“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
and exploit all your workers.

4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard on high.

5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for a man to humble himself?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
and for lying on sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD ?

6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?

7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.

11 The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.

12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the LORD’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,

14 then you will find your joy in the LORD,
and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land
and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”
The mouth of the LORD has spoken.

My Dearest Siestas! I am so glad to be back with you once again and so thankful for prayers only God can count that rose to His Throne through many of you on our behalf. Over and over God did things that I knew deep in my spirit were in answer to prayer. Many of them had to do with my dear man. Keith never intended to sign up for ANY of this ministry stuff and certainly had no intention of taking arduous and sometimes just purely dangerous trips to third world countries. That’s my deal and my passion in Jesus. Not Keith’s. But I am his and the man is determined that – at least for the time being – I am not doing this kind of thing without him.

Back to answered prayer, a dozen different things happened that could have nearly put Keith over the edge (like flying with his claustrophobic self all over South-Eastern Africa in a five-seat prop-plane – one seat of which is a potty in such plain view that no one would dare use it – and sitting so close together that our knees all touched). And yet the Spirit of God was on him so strongly that he hardly flinched. He could probably tell you just as many ways God’s answers to prayer were obvious with me because our primary concerns at times like those are each other instead of ourselves. Thirty years gets a person under your skin. I am amazed at Keith and so impressed with his God for all the things He’s made him willing to do in order to minister with me. I am believing God to heap up Keith’s rewards because the guy has done so many things that he wouldn’t have simply chosen to do or even felt called to do. He is truly a case of, “Man oh man, what I’d do for love.”

I have so many stories to tell and plan to tell them over the weeks to come in this fashion or that, whether blogging, speaking or writing, but I primarily wanted to pour out my gratitude to you for interceding and tell you just a little bit of what you’ve been interceding for. When I make a trip to a nation like Angola, the team and I are also actively and equally raising awareness and funds for the titanic needs of several other nations where we (in partnership with LOI and South Africa’s Joint Aid Management) have school-feeling programs like Sudan and Mozambique. Mission Feeding (the name of the program) takes place through village schools (that sometimes gather under shade trees) so that the communities can understand the crucial tie between education and provision. They are making as serious an attempt to break the cycle of poverty and not just form dependency as any organization I’ve ever seen. I’ve primarily gone to Angola because the nation is still suffering the terrible ramifications of a civil war that only ended five years ago and many of the rural villages are still in stunning need of food and water. I’ve seen these realities, not just on paper and through statistics, but with my own eyes.

It’s tempting to become desensitized toward the suffering in Africa because we’ve heard the cries and seen the images so many times through media. Tragically, however, the suffering persists in such mammoth numbers that God’s people, called by the mandate of Matthew 25:45, cannot with clear conscience look the other way. We also can’t wait on political chaos to clear up while children starve themselves to either mental incapacity or death. On the airplane home yesterday I read an article out of Christianity Today that affirmed figures I’d already learned. The average life expectancy throughout the continent is about 41 years of age (you can’t believe how few gray-headed people you see in Angola) and a flabbergasting one in three Africans suffer malnutrition. That’s what we’re trying to help affect – even if in comparatively small steps – when we make these trips. Right now the program I have the privileging of working with is able to feed one nutritious meal a day (very often all they get that day) to 470,000 children. (There is not enough to go around to the adults. Only nursing mothers are able to get in the line. I cannot even describe how the sight of all those adults standing by, watching the children eat, effects me.) The percentage we’re able to feed through the program may seem low in the face of hundreds of millions malnourished on the continent but when you see individual children’s faces and learn their names, you begin to grasp the importance of reaching even those few.

That’s where the good news comes in. Small changes really are happening in handfuls of areas in Africa where people who care and can help have mobilized. My last stop was a huge cemetery for children where, even six years ago, mothers lined up to bury children who died of starvation. With the war ended and food making it slowly but surely to some of the poorest villages, the statistics have dropped, praise Jesus. There is much hope that the nation will increasingly get on its feet over the coming decade and, until then, they need extra help. I really do believe the second reason we sometimes draw back from doing what we can to help in situations of such proportions is because we don’t think we can do any real good. Thankfully, that’s not true. One child at a time.

No doubt like many of you, I have had a heart for relief work since I was a child. I’ve joined in relief efforts here and there along the way but nothing on a consistent basis. Then, about five years ago God called me with unmistakable volume to start ministering to the poor both publicly and privately. That’s why we began partnering with Samaritan’s Purse at our Living Proof Live events then LOI and JAM through Life Today. When I was a teenager, I thought about one day serving an organization like the Peace Corps because, like so many of you, I wanted to help people in crisis. Instead of serving through a secular organization, I get to serve blatantly in the Name of the Risen Lord Jesus Christ. And your prayers are an enormous part of that process. I was overcome by the whole thing yesterday: how the Body of Christ works and how many forms mission work takes whether it’s praying, going (short-term or long), giving, or testifying. I have asked God to pour life and joy and JESUS into one African child for every single one of you who prayed. I so hope He Himself placed that prayer upon my heart so that it will be answered as one offered according to His gracious will.

My primary calling is to share the Word of God with anyone who will listen but, somewhere in the midst of it, I also get to occasionally crawl down on my knees and hand a little wide-eyed girl a bowl of thick soup. Some people can’t hear the Word for their stomachs. May my heart be torn beyond recovery by all I have seen. I don’t ever want to get over it.

Well, shoot-fire, my staff just told me that lunch is here and I already have to sign off. I’m having Mexican food for the second time in 24 hours. Of course I am. That’s how we do things here in South Texas. Oh, to one day share a big plate of enchiladas and re-frieds with all of you and all those precious African children on the green grass of Heaven!

I love you, Siestas. I’ll be back in touch soon!

I rocked with my daddy on the porch at the Cracker Barrel in Arkadelphia, Arkansas.

I found out that I love cornbread.

I saw the church where Granny grew up. The Lord gave us a rainbow that evening and you might be able to see it in on the left hand side.

I saw one of the houses where Granny used to live. Granny says that their house before this one was the size of a Cracker Jack box. Eight people lived in 1200 square feet. There was much more room in this house and Nanny made it very lovely, but they were house poor.

I saw her old high school.

I saw a sunset she would have loved.

I saw the old movie theater that my great-grandpa ran. It’s no longer a movie theater, but you can tell what it once was.

I played in the rocks and dirt at camp.

Even after I got a bath, the dirt came out of my nose.

I played with basketballs, soccer balls, volleyballs, and baseballs to my heart’s content.

I made a new friend. And he liked putting pebbles on my head.

I picked out the pebbles stuck between my toes.

I rode in the car for many, many hours but I was very good.

I saw Mommy smile when she got her first cup of tea in a week. It wasn’t that good (the sugar settled at the bottom), but it was better than nothing.