On Monday, March 11th Rob was attending his men’s Life group at church.  They had already had the Bible study and were playing a game of basketball.  Several of the players heard a loud thump and turned around to see Rob lying on the floor of the gym.  They immediately knew something was wrong when they saw him having a seizure!  At this point he still had a pulse, but then another seizure came and at that point they lost his pulse.  Someone had called 911, and when the fire department arrived they took over giving him CPR and after hooking him up to the machine shocked him several times.  He was taken to Iredell Memorial Hospital, and he was later transferred to Wake Forest University Baptist Hospital.

This was the beginning of the longest 2 weeks of my life.  I came in as the EMT were working on him and saw him lying there pale and lifeless.  I immediately started praying for God to spare my husband!

That night as I was sitting beside his bed, watching the machines breathe for him, I prayed to God to spare his life.  I felt a sense of relief and peace wash over me like I had never felt before.  It was as if God were saying “I’ve got this Kim, I’ve got this.”

Over the course of the next few days it was touch and go…Rob lost his short-term memory for about 4 or 5 days.  They ran every test under the sun on him and finally ruled out any neurological problems.  The last test was the heart cauterization, and once they did that they discovered that Rob had 100% blockage in one artery and 95% blockage in another!  On Monday, March 18th they did a double bypass to clear the blockage.

Rob came home from the hospital on Saturday, March 23rd-just shy of 14 days in the hospital!  He is in pain, but he is pushing through.  He is determined to beat the odds and be back up and moving in 3 months!

As many of you know, we have spent most of the past 13 years helping others all around the world. Our family surrendered to full-time ministry in 1999, while we were attending Faith Baptist Church in Knightdale, NC.   We have lived and worked in Mexico sharing the love of Christ.  Our family has traveled to various other locations all in the name of Jesus!  For the past several years we have poured ourselves into others as we have led and facilitated short term mission trips to South Texas, Haiti, the Lumbee Indians, and various other locations.  Our life mission is to serve Christ and serve others!  To share the love of Christ by being the Hands and Feet of Christ.

It is at this moment that we need your help and your prayers!

PRAYER REQUESTS:

1. Continue to pray for complete healing for Rob.  He has a long road ahead of him, but please pray that he will continue to heal.

2. Pray that God will be glorified in this situation-let others see Jesus in and through us!

3. Pray for provision-Rob will be out of work through the end of June minimum!  My job ends in May.  My family is planning a fundraiser dinner and yard sale to help raise the funds to pay basic living expenses until Rob goes back to work.

If you would like to make a tax deductible, financial contribution you can do so at www.urmissions.com.

Today was amazing! A few kids during the day told me that they werhappy a and it was the best day ever! It made me soo happy! Today LiL RayRay preached and she was nervous at first but taught a great message. I really believe that these kids argrasping what we are telling them, and it’s only been the first full day!:)

The first night we stopped in Dallas, Nate spoke to our team about unity through the Holy Spirit.  Our team has been living that out since that moment.  Each student and leader is included, valued, and built up.  It’s unlike any team I’ve ever been part of!

This morning, the girls and I prayed together after our quiet time.  Madison R. prayed, “LORD, Your Bible says that you prepare good works in advance for us to do, and I believe that long before we arrived here in the Valley, You were here preparing everything for the good works we are doing now. And You have everything all prepared for this Kids’ Camp we’re going to do today, too.  So help us just rely on You & look to You.”  I was in tears listening to the heart of this 8th grader as she loved on her Father.  There have been countless moments like that with each student this week as they share from their heart about what God is doing in them.

Another time, Ethan S. was sharing during debrief time and said, “I’ve never had to work with so many kids before, but God showed me He just wants me to rely on Him and through Him, I can do it.”  Again, I was in tears…it happens all the stinkin’ time!

This team totally has each others’ backs.  Riley T., Lydia R., and Kennedy D. have all come up to me at different times and said, “Hey, I really feel like we need to pray for so-and-so,” and the way the Lord moves in those times of prayer takes my breath away!  He loves us so much!

Spending time just with us and Jesus, and learning to live in obedience…whatever that means…is truly the best life.  He alone satisfies!

I know this was kind of all over the place, but Jesus is doing so much and I’m still processing it all  God’s blessings!

-Mary Allison Toppins

I can not say enough about how God has shown His love this week!  This is only our 2nd two week trip since Rob and I starteddoping missions in 1999-and we couldn’t have made it through this first week without God’s unending LOVE and mercy!

The team that God has put here in S Texas is going above and beyond in every way!!  God is showing Himself to be real and alive to them in every way!!

Our focus for this team was “Quiet Time.”. Oftentimes back home we get so busy we forget that all God wants is to spend time with each of us!!i am so blessed to hear them share in debrief how they each want to do that when they get home!

Thank you parents for entrusting your teen with us!  We have loved on them and are so blessed to be a part of their journey!

Last week was AMAZING!  But today the real ministry starts!  At 1pm we are expecting around 30-40 kids for kids camp.  We started our morning out with quiet time, debrief on the week, and a charge from Austin!  We know the kids will be stretched- but we also know that God is going to use them in a mighty way!

To the folks on First Weslyen staff-you should be very proud of your youth pastor and his wife! Nate and Mary Allison have done an amazing job!  The adult leaders are amazing as well!

Momma Kim

Great week of ministry for our team this past week, We are very proud of our kids and leaders, Christ was definitely shared though faith, hope and love in the valley area of Texas. All we did was see where God was already working and just joined in with HIM. It is truly the only way to go.

Now off to our second week. This week our team is putting on a kids camp here at Cone Oasis in La Feria Texas. They have worked so hard planning this but have released it to God this morning and commit to following HIM in all we do in kid’s camp. Please pray for us! We don’t want one kid leaving this camp without knowing who Christ is and that HE loves us. The rest is up to HIM.

In His Grip!

Rob

This week in Texas God has shown me how much he wants to spend time with me.  He show me by just spending a simple thirty minute quite time with him in the morning can change my whole entire day for the better. He also showed me that you’re never alone even if you feel that way.  And how good a lot of us have it, because a lot of people don’t have very much. While we have been down here in Texas we have made many relationships with the kids at the church we went to and it is amazing how just a simple hug can make there entire day. The church here is called Olmito Community Church and it is an honor to work with them.  Robert, the pastor there, says the church is a tool not a shrine which means even if something in the church gets messed up that it is okay because it is for God and he will replace it with something even better.  And the church welcomes people in at any time of day, they even serve the kids breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Everything i just said about the church i think is just amazing! The fact that they open their doors like that to the community whenever they can is great, they are truly showing Gods love which i think is amazing.  So overall my trip to Texas with URMissions was great in every way that it could be!

Lydia R.

This past week in Texas has been absolutely amazing for me. The kids at vacation bible school were so genuinely nice. You would never expect that they had a bad home life or a lot of things wrong. Not only did we show them an amazing amount of love but they showed us  love. There was one boy who I really connected with. He was like a little brother to me, always around and always hugging on me. The first day he told me about some problems he had been having with some of the other kids. I was able to give him some tips on how to deal with a few of the situations and pray with him. Not to much longer one of the children he was having problems with had come up and apologized without anyone asking him to or talking to him about it. It was an amazing Godly moment. Another one of the days Leah and I prayed with one of the boys. At the end of prayer this boy also prayed for us. He prayed that we would have a safe trip home then he hugged us and said he was really going to miss us. To see a boy at only 13 years old who had a terrible home life pray for us was a true blessing. So many of those kids really showed me that with Gods love, all is possible. This trip is intended to be for us to spread Gods word and his love but these kids have showed ME Gods love. He works in wonderful ways and I have had many of opportunities to wittness it. Among the youth group a lot of amazing things have happened. We have all become so close. I hadn’t been with this youth group very long, there were some kids I hadn’t even spoke to before this trip. The entire group has come together and been there for each other in so many ways. God has done wondrous works for us. I am very excited for this upcoming week and to see all the things that God has in store for us.

Madi Goshorn

the past week God has showed and proved his love to me  through the youth group kids and the kids from church camp!!! I am learning how much spending time with God in the morning helps my day go smoother!!! I am really excited to see what he is going to do this week through us! I am really glad i decided to come on this trip!!!     – Jonathan E

We’ve only been here in La Feria for a couple of days, but God has already been moving in great ways among this group and the people we have been serving. We are building long-lasting, trusting relationships with the students and leaders. I love seeing how close we have all gotten already! God’s been speaking to us during our morning quiet times, throughout the day, and again at night when we gather for debrief. As for the community we have been serving, all I can say is WOW. The kids at the VBS are so eager to learn and participate. They never fail to be polite and sincere in all of their words and actions. They come to us with hungry hearts and open ears. We are showing them so much love, and it is so rewarding to see the results. They are full of energy 24/7 and sometimes we wonder if we will be able to keep up, but God never fails us and renews our minds and spirits. So as you can see, God is so good and very present on this trip!

Ray Ray

I already can tell only 2 days into the trip that this trip has and will be amazing. We are suppose to be here, God put us here for a reason. The kids here are amazing, and I love every single one of them. They are so nice and grateful for everything. The Kids Camp (VBS) has went so good, so much better than planned! One of the little girls here named Sian has become one of my really good friends! I love her, she is so sweet and always gives me hugs bye. I love showing these kids love, and the light of God. Not only have we been able to show these little kids the love of God and what he can do, I myself have grown in my faith with God, and the walk I am taking with him has become so much stronger than it was before I came here. This trip also has brought our youth group closer than ever before! Which is one of the best parts. Also my relationship with Rob and Kim has become closer, and I love having fun with them. They are great Mission Trip leaders. So far this trip has been so fun.
Love, Kennedy DeBord