John Lindell My blogs on life, family and ministry.

Dear Friends,

The James River Assembly Designed for Life Women’s Conference is now just a memory, but what an amazing weekend it was for those who attended and for the entire church. The services were life changing as women heard from world class speakers Charlotte Gambill, Nancy Alcorn and John & Helen Burns.

We have received so many beautiful testimonies of how God so powerfully worked in the lives of women. Here are a couple excerpts from some of the emails we have received:

• DFL was a life-changing experience. Every moment was beautiful, but when Charlotte spoke on Saturday, it was all I could do to not jump out of my seat. I realized in that moment that it’s not about me. God has miraculously healed my heart. My eyes are on Him and Him alone. That is sooooooo God and not at all anything I could have done without Him. I’m holding out for what God has for me and I’m no longer making backup plans. Thank you. Kim
• Wow Debbie….what an amazing conference!!! I honestly think it was one of the best that I have attended! There are no words to describe the love and joy I feel….Throughout the entire weekend, I felt God stirring in my heart. I could hear Him telling me that something great was going to happen as a result of the conference. Melody

It is nearly impossible to describe in one email all that happened this past weekend, but here are a few of the highlights from the DFL Conference:

• 2,992 delegates.
• 50 women made decisions to follow Christ.
• 25 non-English speaking Hispanic women attended (8 of them gave their hearts to Christ!).
• $60,000 was given to Mercy Ministries (http://www.mercyministries.org/homepage) with an additional $10,000 given to support other ministries that help hurting women and children around the world.
• 299 children were sponsored in Haiti—which means JRA now sponsors well over 1,000 children in Haiti (http://www.missionofmercy.org).
• Announced the first ever DFL Missions trip to El Salvador (http://www.MoodyMissions.org).
• The Be A Gift presentation was able to honor two women of great faith with one woman receiving a family Disney Cruise, shopping spree and a $1,500 Lowe’s gift card for home repairs, and the other woman receiving patio furniture, deck expansion and a beautiful canary yellow convertible VW Beetle.
• 
• In addition, those attending the DFL Conference enjoyed an incredible fireworks display, carnival, Group-1-Crew concert and lots of gifts and surprises.
• 500 men and women volunteered and served the women.

We thank the Lord for all He has done and everyone who worked so hard to make the DFL 2011 Conference such a success. We’re looking forward to seeing what God will do in the days ahead.

You won’t want to miss DFL 2012—it is going to be amazing! If you register now, you get a HUGE discount!

The Best is Yet to Come!
John & Debbie
Lead Pastors, JRA

Dear Friends,

The response of our James River family to the Joplin Tornado Relief effort has been amazing. In light of your response, we wanted to give you a brief update.

We have had James River personnel in the area from the beginning, doing assessment and assisting those in need. To date, 1,200 JRA volunteers have signed up to help, and already over 260 people have served on teams in Joplin. The donations continue to arrive, both in supplies and in monetary gifts, totaling more than $79,000.

The need is huge. According to the Emergency Management personnel, 6,953 homes have been destroyed, of which 43% had no insurance coverage. Another 359 homes experienced major damage (65% uninsured). Over 12,000 people have been directly affected by the storm’s damage.

To date, we have partnered with distribution sites to organize and distribute much needed items to families in need. Through the relationship of Cherish Kids with the Missouri Division of Social Services, we have been able to meet the needs of both clients and staff from the Joplin office. As well, teams have assisted homeowners in debris removal (separating it into brush, construction, metal, disposable and keepsakes) and provided 1,200 meals. As we move forward, we will continue to assist in the meeting of specific needs, cleanup efforts and construction.

Thank you for your response to Pray, Give and Volunteer. We so appreciate your generosity and willingness to serve. Through your lives, the gospel is being preached and people are receiving hope.

We love you!

John & Debbie Lindell
Lead Pastors, James River Assembly

Dear Friends,

We are excited about all that God is doing at James River Assembly. Each and every week, the lives of people are being changed by God’s amazing power!

The Preacher writes in Ecclesiastes 3:1, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” God has a time and place for every event and every ministry. One aspect of the James River ministry that has been uniquely blessed is the I Love America Celebration. Through the years, we have seen God use it in a powerful way. Because of the nature of the event, it has been imperative each year for us to seek God’s will concerning whether to host I Love America. We needed His help with everything from weather, to logistics, to safety. As a leadership team, it has been our commitment to only host I Love America if we sensed the grace of the Lord was with us in presenting the event to the community.

Perhaps you have heard the news announcing that the Show Me Music and Arts Festival will be held in mid-June at the same site where we have hosted I Love America for the last 11 years. Due to this event, we would only have one week to prepare the site for the I Love America celebration. For the last several weeks, we have prayerfully considered several options, but have concluded that the limited turnaround time between the two events and the necessary site preparation make it unfeasible for James River to host the I Love America Celebration.

We appreciate the Griesemer family’s willingness to let us use the Springfield Underground site for the last 11 years. They have been exceedingly kind and we are grateful for their generosity.

As well, we want to thank the James River Family for the countless hours you have given through the years to make I Love America such an effective Gospel outreach, and one of the largest fireworks displays in Missouri. Your willingness to serve has blessed us and touched the hearts of thousands of people in the community with the love of Christ.

You might ask, “What does the future hold?” It is our conviction that when God brings one season of life to a close, it is not the end but the beginning of a new season with new opportunities. While we are grateful for all that has happened over the years at I Love America, we believe the best is yet to come and we can’t wait to see what God is going to do next.

We love you much and pray His joy will be yours!

John and Debbie
Lead Pastors, JRA

What a great day the Lord gave us at ILA! Our goal was to share the Gospel and, to that end, we had 252 people come forward and make decisions for Christ! In addition, through One Heart, 980 people received free food during the day. Once again the Lord helped us with the weather as we enjoyed overcast skies and a nice breeze with the temperature around 82! When it was time for the fireworks, the skies were totally clear. God demonstrated His power and the fact that He answers prayer!

Our hearts are filled with thanksgiving to the Lord as we think of you and the hundreds of volunteers who gave of their time and so effectively demonstrated the kindness and love of our God and Savior to those who came out for the celebration. Words seem inadequate to describe how blessed we feel to be leading such a vibrant, talented and dedicated team of staff and volunteers.

We are so excited about all that God has in store for us in the next 30 days—the Elementary Camps, the James River Women’s Rally with Nancy Alcorn and Project Partnership are just a few of the exciting opportunities that will be taking place.

You are loved…we are praying for you…and even after all we have just experienced, we know that—“The Best is Yet to Come!”

It’s not often that a preacher is speechless, but that’s how we felt driving home from church yesterday. In many ways, we felt like the crowd that had seen Jesus do a miracle, “And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, ‘We have seen extraordinary things today’.” (Luke 5:26)

This past weekend at James River Assembly was extraordinary in several ways. The weekend started off with a powerful time in God’s presence at the Good Friday service. On Saturday, the Early Childhood Department put on an Easter Express at both James River and Wilsons Creek that included 37,000 stuffed eggs for the Easter Egg Hunt, train rides, fire engines and a petting zoo. The combined attendance at both campuses totaled more than 8,200 people with many new families registering their children for Easter Services the next day.

On Easter Sunday, the Lord gave us an amazing day with 157 decisions for Christ in the adult auditoriums, and 192 decisions for Christ in the Elementary Department. Think of it–349 people came to Christ at James River Assembly on Easter Sunday! The attendance set a new record with 15,870 people attending the Easter Sunday morning services.

If you were in the worship services, then you know what an incredible job the Worship and Creative Service Departments did in creating a presentation that shared the Good News in a powerful, contemporary and Christ-exalting manner. The music, videos, sound and lighting were spectacular!

From those working the café, to those serving in the kids area, to those driving the golf carts in the parking lot and serving in the Red Carpet ministry–so many did so much to make those coming to James River Assembly feel at home in God’s house! Your willingness to serve, your love for the Lord and the joy with which you served made us feel so blessed to be your pastors!

Our hearts are filled with gratitude to the Lord and love for you. We pray the Lord will bless you in every way for all that you did to make this past weekend possible–you made Jesus famous, darkness tremble and heaven smile.

Much love,

John & Debbie
Lead Pastors, JRA