I want to start by saying THANK YOU to you all for your continued support and investment into God's kingdom through my ministry with Consumed. This update will feature how music ministry is playing a role inside prisons as well as provide opportunities for you to be involved as well! Waseca Federal Women's Prison At the end of July, I had the privilege of going back to Waseca to celebrate with 60 inmates who graduated from their 12-step Christ-centered recovery program called Celebrate Recovery. Our time together included getting to lead the girls in worship through music, hearing 2 of the inmates share their testimonies, a praise dance by 3 of the inmates, and get this--the WARDEN came to join the graduation ceremony and even shared a message of hope and encouragement with the women! This was the first time she (the Warden) has joined a graduation ceremony since I've been going. So awesome to see this ministry gaining the attention of the leadership staff at the prison and for them to see Christ's power to change so many lives through this ministry! Shakopee State Women's Prison When I moved to the Twin Cities last summer, I began praying for opportunities to go inside more prisons in the metro area. I was loving my continued experiences of ministering to the women in the Waseca Prison and wanted to start expanding beyond that location. I met someone who had been going there on a regular basis, also doing music ministry with his worship team. He invited me to go and play keyboard/sing and we've continued to partner together at this prison ever since, as well as the Lino Lakes Men's Prison. We went in early August and hosted a worship time here with about 200 women and I'll be returning again in November. Another group of women I'm excited to continue to build relationships with! Lino Lakes State Men's Prison On Friday night, Jake and I returned to the Lino Lakes Men's Prison. I got to be a part of leading worship and Jake shared his testimony with these 200 men. It was so awesome for us to share this experience together! The reoccurring theme that kept coming up throughout the night was the word "Freedom". Each one of us who shared from up front talked about how FREE we've observed prisoners to be (ironic, right?!), who come together in worship. And how they might be inside prison walls, but they are FREE men. "Hallelujahs!" and "Amens!" filled the room in agreement. A highlight of the night was hearing 200 men sing "was blind but now I SEE" at the top of their lungs while singing Amazing Grace a capella. Few things are sweeter to my ear than hearing a chorus of men worshiping their Creator together. And I got to experience it inside of a prison! Jesus said in Luke 4:18, "He has sent me to proclaim FREEDOM for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed FREE." Praising God that I got to see this Scripture come to life in the most surreal way!! How You Can Get Involved:
Coming with me on a prison visit: If you would like the opportunity to observe and be part of a worship experience inside, or would be willing to share your testimony with the inmates, please let me know. Upcoming dates are: Friday, Oct. 18: Lino Lakes, 5:45-8:00pm. Monday, Nov. 18: Shakopee, 5:30-9:00pm. Mentoring: Studies are showing that mentoring is greatly reducing the rate of return to prison. All 3 of these prisons are looking for people to mentor the inmates either as a pen pal or in a one-on-one setting. This is a great opportunity to be part of someone's complete rehabilitation and recovery. This would be a monthly commitment for one year, must be 21 or older, orientation training required. Giving: Consumed Ministires is a 501-c3 organization and all donations are tax-deductible. If you would like to give a financial gift to support my work with Consumed Ministries you can: 1) Give online at http://consumedministries.com/giving 2) Write a check to Consumed Ministries and mail to: Consumed Ministries PO Box 20214 Bloomington, MN 55420 Thanks for reading and for your investment in the Kingdom of God through Consumed Ministries!
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Hello! I am excited to be writing now officially as Mrs. Jackie Dixon! I love saying that! Jake and I have been married now for nearly a month and are loving our time together as husband and wife. Thank you for your prayers, encouragement, and support to us! Waseca Women's Prison Two days after returning from our honeymoon, Jake and I got to return to the Waseca Women's Prison. I hadn't been there since October and this was Jake's first time coming to meet the girls, so you can imagine our excitement!! Highlights included teaching the girls a new Spanish worship song, listening to an inmate share her testimony while her small group stood behind her on stage because she was so nervous- so cool to watch!, and celebrating at a graduation ceremony with 30+ inmates who have worked hard to complete the 12-step, Christ-centered recovery program to overcome their hurts, habits, and hangups. A picture of me leading worship for the girls at Waseca one of the times we were there. Jake described our time there in this way: "A couple things stood out to me going there. One, you could sense the love in that room for Jesus Christ as it was so obvious that these girls were passionate for the Lord. Secondly, it was very humbling for to me to see the joy in that room for who our Lord is and what He has done for us. These girls do not have the same physical freedom we have every day of our lives, but the same God that is with us, is with them and that overrules any bars or walls." Thank you all for being such a blessing! The things God is allowing me to do through this ministry would not be possible without your prayers and support! 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!
Hello friends and family!
Well, I am settling in to my new life in the Twin Cities and loving what God is doing already here. Here are some highlights: -Within the first week of moving to Bloomington, I met a man who was part of an AA group and very curious about spiritual things. I got to tell him about Celebrate Recovery and gave him a Bible as we parted ways. -PULSE is the organization that helped the college ministries at WSU sponsor our campus-wide outreach event last November. I have stayed in contact with their ministry team and found out they are in need of worship leaders to travel with them to host prayer/worship nights at the campuses they'll be reaching out to. They are in need of a band that they could call to take on the road with them and have asked me if I'd be interested in forming a team of musicians. Pray for discernment to know how God wants me to be involved in this and if so, that He would provide the right musicians and connections. -I met with a young woman last week (a strong believer) who is working her way through much anger and emotions after being raped last year. At the end of our conversation together, she asked if we could start meeting once a week to help her continue to allow God to meet her in her pain. *Clara (name changed) is a singer/songwriter with a passion for music. Please pray for her and this connection that's been made to see where God will lead. -For those of you who live in Winona, I will be coming back this Sunday to lead worship at Pleasant Valley. This is exciting for me, not only to be back, but to be able to be a resource to worship leaders who need someone to fill in or need a break. Chad is a gifted worship pastor at PV Church and I'll have the honor of leading worship as he vacations with his family. See you Sunday! Upcoming things to pray for: -There is a small group at a church I'm connected with who regularly ministers at the Shakopee women's prison. Pray I can get connected with the leader of this small group and partner with their ministry there. -I have 2 meetings with different worship leaders in the metro area, one tomorrow and one next Wednesday morning. Pray for God to open doors to more connections through these people. -I've been traveling with the Urbana worship team this year in preparation for the Urbana conference this December. We will be recording our CD next month. Prayers needed for our team members as we work hard to prepare the music (and learn songs in 7 different languages!) to have it ready for recording. You can follow our blog here. -I recently got news that the staff person at the Waseca prison who was overseeing CR retired at the end of June. Pray that the Chaplain or someone else takes CR under their wing so the program can continue running. CR will continue for the next 3 months, but if someone is not in place to take it over after that it will be discontinued. Celebrate Recovery was the ministry I partnered with that allowed me to do music ministry inside the prison. Without this minisry in place, it would be difficult for me to go inside to continue doing music ministry. I got to see many lives transformed through this ministry. Let's lift them up in prayer together! Thankful for your support and encouragements and for helping to make what I'm doing here possible. I am so excited to see what God has in store! |
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
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