I want to start by saying THANK YOU to you all for your continued support and investment into God's kingdom through my ministry work with Consumed.
This month has been 10 years since I joined the Consumed Ministries staff team. I've been spending some time reflecting on all the opportunities God has opened doors to these last 10 years and the work He has done. It has included being a part of the Urbana worship team, helping the Celebrate Recovery ministry to grow inside the Waseca Federal Women's Prison, gathering to worship and share the love of Jesus inside an eclectic coffee shop where many New Agers would meet, teaching Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace class out of our home with Jake, leading worship at retreats and conferences for college students, coming alongside families to lead them in prayer and singing worship songs as they've grieved an unexpected loss of a family member, leading worship at various churches, bringing groups with me into the Women's Shakopee Prison to worship with the women inside and pray for them, worshiping together via Zoom during the heart of the pandemic, mentoring young worship leaders, leading worship for MN Adult & Teen Challenge, and most recently getting to connect with women who were formerly incarcerated inside the Women's Shakopee Prison on both a weekly basis (our weekly check-in support group) and monthly (Prison Fellowship alumni breakfasts). It is truly humbling to remember all the ways that God has moved and has touched my heart and others' through these experiences in the last 10 years. I'm just so grateful. Thank you dear family and friends for your continued love, support, and investment into God's kingdom. Your prayers, giving, and support are intertwined in these experiences and stories shared. Much love, Jackie
1 Comment
So excited to share about what God has been doing these last few months! Thank you for helping to make this all possible through your prayers, encouragement, and generous giving. Your partnership in my ministry role with Consumed Ministries is truly a blessing to me! Here are a few snapshots of what I've been up to. Living Waters Cafe' Despite the Biblical name, this cafe is actually a New Age type place where all kind of spiritual practices are performed. A variety of groups meet here like meditative groups, exploring past lives, and even wizardry. Every person who attends these groups is searching for a power greater than themselves, but have not yet put their faith in the one true God, Jesus Christ. This is where Jane comes in. I met Jane (a Christian woman), who began to develop a friendship with the owner of this cafe, and this summer the owner said to her, "Ya know, we have almost every religion represented here except Christianity. Would you like to host a weekly gathering that's Christian based?" And God opened the door :) I, along with some friends, got the opportunity to lead another prayer/worship night here on one of their Monday night Christian gatherings and whew! is God moving in that place!! Can you imagine the sound of praises being lifted up to our Almighty God and shining Christ's light into a place that is spiritually dark?! It was glorious!! In Luke 5:31 Jesus says, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick". I think this is exactly the kind of place Jesus would be! Jane said this is the best turnout they've ever had! One woman who is not a Christian came for the first time the week before. She has some very broken situations going on in her life right now, but came back all on her own to this worship night. Praise God!! She stuck around until the very end, mingling and chatting with us until they closed up shop and also got a chance to talk with Lisa Barry (radio host with KTIS Christian radio) who was there. God's name was proclaimed and lifted high that night! What an awesome opportunity to proclaim God's HOPE, LOVE, and TRUTH in a place that is spiritually dark and with people who are actively searching for Truth. Waseca Prison The girls inside this prison have become like sisters to me! I look forward to every time I get to visit. I was able to visit again last month and learned that 8 women committed to start following Jesus in the Spanish chapel service the day before! It was such an amazing privilege to worship with these women who had just put their faith in Christ! InterVarsity Cross Training Conference 800+ InterVarsity students gathered for this InterVarsity Conference from all over the state of Wisconsin. I had so much fun getting to lead worship in the main sessions, especially getting to lead songs in different languages that spoke to the hearts of the Spanish and Mandarin speaking International students who were there. What an awesome sound to lead worship for this many students in the same room, singing praises to God! Check out this video clip to see what I mean! Many students made decisions to follow Christ for the first time and many more made commitments to be intentional on their campuses about sharing their faith with their friends and classmates. This conference was also special to Jake and I, as it was the first time we had the opportunity to serve and minister to students together. Ask him about his experiences in getting to pray with students!
Envision a group of Christian believers of all ages (65 years old down to 11,10 & 2 year olds) mixed in with a few New Age believers in a room. Then envision us all singing and worshiping together!!!! Then envision various people sharing out in prayer and from Scripture and from their own lives at different times in the mix of this. You just envisioned our worship and prayer time on Monday night at Living Waters!!!
I want to show you a glimpse of the night through someone else's eyes who was there on Monday. Here is an email Jake typed up and wrote to my dad, so you can get an inside look-- So Monday night was awesome. First and foremost, Gods presence was in the room as Jackie did a phenomenal job of leading worship and just letting the Spirit move the group as needed. The selection of songs and just allowing people to share Scripture verses or things on their hearts really made it a very comfortable place to draw God near. Couple of the highlights for me was when a young girl, maybe 10 or 11, spoke up to the whole group of about 25 people and talked about a cartoon that at the end of it, always talks about how each of us are special cause God made us that way. I was so impressed by this girl to be able to speak up and share her thoughts in front of mostly strangers. Talk about the Spirit producing courage. Awesome. Another highlight that I didn't really find out about until afterward was that the owner of this place (Tom) and his brother (Michael) were in the room for most of the night, listening to Jackie and all of the people that decided to share. Now this place and they themselves are very new agey. This cafe has everything from oxygen bars, nights where they have wizardy, shamans, and exploring past lives. They are definitely searching for the one true God so for these guys, and even the Tom's wife for a few songs, to come in to a Christian worship setting was so encouraging. I even saw Tom singing to a few of the songs!!! Just shows you that when we say "yes" to God and follow his will, He moves people toward Him through us. I wish you could feel the encouragement in that room Ed. You leave feeling a little drained because you pour out so much to God, but so excited and passionate for what the Lord can do when people who love the Lord get together. Jackie's gifts are given by God, but the fact remains that Jackie chooses to use them to glorify the One who gave them to her and I absolutely love getting to see that and be a part of that. When we pray, God moves!! Thank you for praying along with us for this night!! We got invited to come back and lead some more worship nights like this, so more stories to come! Hi friends! Tonight I have the opportunity to lead a prayer/worship night, but this isn't just any worship night. There is a cafe' in Minnetonka called "Living Waters Market" that Jake and I went to a couple weeks ago to hear a friend sing. Despite the Biblical name, we found out this building is actually a New Age type place where all kind of spiritual practices are performed. A variety of groups meet here like yoga, meditative groups, exploring past lives, and even wizardry.
I met a Christian woman (Jane) who began to develop a friendship with the owners and this summer the owner said to her, "Ya know, we have almost every religion represented here except Christianity. Would you like to host a weekly gathering that's Christian based?" And God opened the door :) So Jake and I went to this gathering she started that meets on Monday nights. A typical night consists of worship and someone sharing their faith story. After meeting Jane and her finding out that I'm a worship leader, she told me she's been wanting to have a night dedicated entirely to prayer and worship and asked if I would lead the group in worship, which is taking place tonight. THIS IS AN AMAZING OPPORTUNITY! There are always people in the cafe', some of who wander into the room where these groups meet. I am so excited to be part of proclaiming God's HOPE, LOVE, and TRUTH in a place that is spiritually dark and with people who are searching. If you are unable to attend, please join me in prayer as this is a place where spiritual battles are very evident. We need prayer warriors for tonight! |
Jackie Dixon
I love Jesus. I love my husband & family. I like dark chocolate. And hats. Traveling. Slippers. Hand written notes. And thrifting. These are a few of my favorite things! Categories
All
Archives
April 2023
|