The holidays are upon us and we are winding down 2017 with our programs and here at the center. We hope that these stories and updates will keep you connected to everything going on here at Still Waters.
May all of our attitudes, actions and thoughts overflow with Christ this holiday season. Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas!
In His Love,
The Still Waters Team
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We want to give a special Thank You to Laura Taylor, our Public Relations Volunteer, for going above and beyond to serve the ministry and those that support us.
She baked home made cookies, wrapped them in beautiful festive paper and made special deliveries on behalf of the ministry.
In addition to this, Laura also represented the ministry at the Polar Express Community Expo and many other events within our community this past year.
Thank you Laura for all you do
at
Still Waters!
Another special Thank You goes to Lisa McFarlin. Lisa has a passion for prayer and has gathered a team of prayer warriors who have committed to pray daily and specifically for Still Waters and all who are part of the ministry.
We are so grateful for her desire to serve with us in this way. Prayer is the key to all that we do at Still Waters.
God bless you Lisa!
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It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...
The gifts for our families have all rolled in and our own personal Santa, Amy Armstrong (Parent Programs Coordinator) has been working hard to assure each gift makes it to its rightful place!!
We are greatly appreciative of those who helped make this year's Christmas celebration possible. Thank you to all our faithful friends and committed partnerships through local businesses and churches!
A special thanks goes to these ministry friends for going above and beyond to help us make this Christmas celebration extra special:
- Crossroads Bible Church (Talty)
- Paula Dunn, Sarah and Angel
- Emmanual Baptist Church (Terrell)
- First Community Church (Crandall)
- Cheree Harper & family
- The Ondrusek family
- Kim Yates
Our office staff, minus Brandi Westbrook, in their matching Christmas shirts created by none other than our talented Amy Armstrong!
We participated in our annual Christmas Luncheon and a great time was had by all! We want to give a special thank you to the person who graciously purchased our lunch on this date. Your gift was greatly appreciated and we tearfully thanked the Lord for you and your generosity!!!
Office Updates
We are in the process of updating several things around our office. Our Queen of the Cords, Brandi Harris, has been working hard to make sure we are in working
condition. We are so thankful for her!!!
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North Texas Giving
Day (NTGD)
is a one-day only, online giving day. We are thankful for Givers of HOPE, our ministry friends who partner with us in this fundraising event. We couldn't do what we do without your partnerships!
A special thank you also goes to our anonymous matching donor. We are extremely grateful for your generous heart and passion for life-affirming ministry. You are a gift from God. Because of your generous matching grant, the
total raised on NTGD was $16,350!!!
CU DO Good
was a contest fundraising event that we were nominated for and we found out last minute that we were going to be included in this.
Thank you to everyone who helped Still Waters win the CU DO Good campaign. We truly could not have done it without your consistency! You all faithfully voted for us every day... and look what you did!!!
There were multiple categories to this campaign and Still Waters earned one of the spots for first to 100 votes, top in the Youth Education division, and overall winner!
A check in the amount of $3,500 was issued to Still Waters as the Overall Winner. Woohoo!!!
From the bottom of our hearts... thank you for making this possible!! We continue to stand in awe and thank God for you and your support.
Thank you for your support!
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Our Monday Night Programs are in full
swing for this year. We have gotten off to a great start and want to share the progress with you:
- 10 parents enrolled
- 5 have started new jobs
- 4 have moved into an apartment
- 2 are enrolled in college
- 1 has purchased a new car
- 1 on target to graduate Chosen this year
- 1 has rededicated their life to Christ
This semester, one of our moms gave birth to a handsome little friend. David was born on December 1st coming in at 7lbs 4 oz and 21 1/4 inches long.
Congratulations Helen!
Another Chosen mom has shattered teen pregnancy statistics and the stereotype of being a teen mom! Julie believed she could... and she did!! We are so very proud of her. The hard work and dedication she applied towards her academic career paid off.
Congratulations Julie!
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Chosen Facilitators (Trisha & Kara)
with Julie
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Special words from Julie...
I'm super excited and happy about this huge accomplishment, as well as, being super thankful and grateful for the true almighty King I serve who gives me the strength I need. But to top it off, I want to give a huge thanks to Still Waters for all the encouragement, prayers and help I needed through this journey! I don't know how many times I called and reached out to them, always asking for their help me when I was at my rock bottom.
I was a single mother going through just about anything a single mother could go through. Whether it was shedding tears, being broke, needing a ride, needing prayer or just a support team behind me cheering me on as I faced the wilderness I had to walk through; they were always there. Still Waters is a huge example of what my prayers looked like being answered.
I praise the Lord for sending me wonderful women and mothers to walk this path with. We are our own little family. I'm just so thankful I'm able to share this awesome accomplishment of me graduating and placing a big check mark on my Goal Checklist with my Godly family, Still Waters!
There are so many I want to give a shout out to and thank God for blessing my life. They are Kara, Trisha, Amy A, Ketra, Melissa, Amy B, Barbara, Joyce, Lisabeth, Carl, Robyn, Rose, Stephanie and Brandi. Thank y'all! I love y'all! :)
God bless all of our future mothers to come and all of our present mommies! Shoot for your dreams and allow God to give you the strength, wisdom and faith as He walks you through it. Watch carefully and enjoy the beauty being on top of that mountain top! :)
How You Can Help!
We do have a few needs for the Monday Night Programs. We have 4 churches who are faithful to serve on Monday nights, but we are in need of more partnerships.
Churches can partner with us in one or more of the following ways:
- prepare a meal and serve it to our families
- be a mentor
- help with child care
If you and/or your group/church are able to help, please contact Amy Armstrong at 972-932-HELP (4357) or parentprograms@stillwatersps23.com.
We are so grateful for prayers and would like to ask you to pray specifically. Our clients are working very hard at learning to set goals and achieving them.
Please pray that they will learn the value of this process in their lives.
Pray also for our mentors, that they would be so full of Christ that they overflow into the lives of the clients they are working with.
The mentor/mentee relationship is one of the crucial parts of our programs, so please pray also for connectedness among these groups of people.
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We are having so much fun watching God do amazing things with i am ENOUGH, our Character Development / Sexual Integrity program for Middle School students.
We are not only spreading the i am ENOUGH message to Kaufman County students, but also to students all over the globe!
Since launching i am ENOUGH in April 2016, we have developed amazing partnerships in 11 states and 6 countries. It's been such a blessing to hear from our partners that i am ENOUGH continues to touch and change the hearts of the students who hear this message.
Kaufman County Schools
Domestic Partners
International Partners
To learn more about i am ENOUGH,
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Thanks to amazing Class Facilitators, many have received healing this year from their past of sexual abuse and/or abortion.
Abortion Recovery
Stefanie Ruiz is the Class Facilitator for Forgiven & Set Free, a Bible Study that leads others through the healing from a past abortion(s).
Sexual Abuse Recovery
Mary LeMay is the Class Facilitator for Walk On Water (WOW), a Bible Study she wrote for victims of sexual abuse.
Individuals have completed the above classes, one of which is a male inmate who has been radically changed. God moved in the hearts of these men and women in a mighty way. What Satan meant for evil, God is using for good.
Shame and guilt have been removed. Hearts have been healed and strong voices have emerged... so watch out world! God has restored His people and is leading them to do a mighty work in His Name. Praise Him!
Meet Susan, a WOW participant...
I could tell you all the horrific things I endured growing up as a child, but I want to spare you all the terrible details. I could tell you all about the dysfunction of the first half, or more, of my marriage and the dysfunction I myself brought into my children's lives, but again, I will spare you of all the ugliness. You can only imagine what we all went through. However, I will say this, the living God of this universe, the God who is the creator of all is not responsible for any of the bad that went on in my life. There is an evil in this world that wants nothing but to destroy and kill lives and families.
Humans are created in the image of God and that's why the evil one wants to destroy us. However, God wants to protect us, redeem us, heal us, and bless us. When we are ready to be made well and seek God for help, healing and restoration, He is right there with open arms waiting for us to come to the end of ourselves, reach out to Him and invite Him into our lives. This is what I have done with the help of the Holy Spirit and Walk On Water (WOW), the sexual abuse recovery class.
When I really made the commitment to work this class, do the bible study, pray earnestly to God almighty for His help of healing and forgiveness in my life, only then did I start to accept the restoration process in my life. Don't get me wrong, I had to face a lot of ugly from my past, but now it is coming out, and still continues. The evil one loses his power over me and the emotional bondage I was in.
God has taught me to renew my mind-set and to look at life from a heavenly perspective. I am moving forward in life with a stance of victory, not the mentality of a victim. My new identity is in Christ Jesus, not past victim of sexual, emotional and physical abuse. I have victory in my life today because of the "WOW" class, but mostly because of my heavenly Father who loves me unconditionally and has given me a future and a hope of a better and victorious life over the abuses I have endured. I have learned I must step out of my comfort zone and step out in faith and God will work out the rest. He is my rock, my foundation of truth and His truth has set me free. Free from the emotional bondage and lies the evil one has tried for so long to keep me in, but no longer.
God has broken down my walls and chains and has given me a renewed mind and blessed me with a new life. God has restored the relationships with my husband and children. My family has supported me and given witness to this glorious miracle in our lives. I know the life of my past has not been a waste. It has made me a stronger Christian and I can appreciate life so much more.
I want to help others, like me, to live out their purpose and realize they, too, can have a life free of shame and fear and accept the love and forgiveness of Christ Jesus.
- Susan Adams
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As we stand in awe and praise God for the many things He accomplished through Still Waters this year, we anxiously await and look forward to the plans He has for us in the coming new year.
We hope you will join us in the journey God has planned for those we will serve in 2018.
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Give a gift of HOPE today! |
Every gift will make a difference and every gift will bring us closer to accomplishing great things in 2018. Your financial support is a major factor in all that we do and we sincerely appreciate you.
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The end of the year is quickly approaching and we are still in need of a CPA beginning in 2018. Our current CPA will no longer be able to help us after this year.
Do you know a practicing CPA that handles 990's/non-profits that would be interested in helping Still Waters?
If you do, please contact us. You can reply to this email or call us directly at 972-932-4357.
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Date to be announced soon!
Werner Golf Tournament
April 21, 2018
Fashionabili-Tea
July 28, 2018
North Texas Giving Day
September 20, 2018
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MINISTRY STATS
TO-DATE
2,284
# of Clients Served
86
# of Professions of Faith (known)
33
# of Babies saved from abortion (known)
129
# healed from past sexual abuse / abortion
13,808
# of public students educated / served
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S
TAFF / CENTER VOLUNTEERS
Ketra Hancock
Co-Founder
Executive Director
Melissa Killen
Co-Founder
Client Services Director
Stephanie Orton
Administrative Assistant
Amy Armstrong
Teen/Young Parent
Programs Coordinator
Lori Hale
Client Advocate
Michelle Hall
Client Advocate
Brandi Harris
Operations Specialist
Brandi Westbrook
School Program Coordinator
Veronica Stephenson
Special Projects
Patricia Vigreux
Special Projects
Laura Taylor
Public Relations
Lisa McFarlin
Prayer Team Lead
BOARD OFFICERS / DIRECTORS
Steve Small
Board Chair
Jennifer Cate
Co-Founder
Board Vice Chair
Christy Johnson
Board Secretary
Heather Parsons
Board Treasurer
Lori Hale
Board Director
Ketra Hancock
Co-Founder Executive Director
Board Director
Melissa Killen
Co-Founder
Client Services Director
Board Director
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To learn more about
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