[ Priceless Bake Sale ]

"With lots of food and lots of help, its over!" says Scott Stephenson, a member of Harvest Baptist Church. While I, Melissa, have been in Pennsylvania for meetings at FIM (Fellowship International Mission), the Stephenson small group at Harvest Baptist Church took on a very large task of a fund raiser. They hosted Harvest's Priceless Bake Sale which brought in over $700. All of the money raise goes to Open Door Ministries. I want to thank all who took the time to make cookies, pies, and cakes for the bake sale. I also want to thank those who bought the yummy goodies to help support God's future ministry in east Africa. And most of all, thank you to the Scott Stephenson small group, Wendi Hampp, and my beloved mother who took on this very large task last minute.

God is doing great things through others and this ministry. Stay tuned for more miracles of God's work for EAST AFRICA!

[ POP CAN OVERFLOW ]

Well, after about a year of collecting we decided it was time to trade in all those pop cans for some money. When loading the pop cans up it seemed like the bags never ended. We finally got them all in the trailor and took them to a recycling center where they weighed in at 501 POUNDS. That is a lot of pop cans! It came out to about $300!

I want to give out an extra special thanks to Matt Miller, Levi Miller, Larry Miller, and Scott Stephenson who helped me load and transport the pop cans to Chickasaw.

[ Mercy Unlimited Helps ODM ]

Mercy Unlimited of Wapakoneta (http://www.mercyunlimited.org) is stretching their hearts to help others to Kenya! Mercy has graciously asked me to be part of their missionary corner in their new store on Auglaize street in Wapakoneta. Along with a few other missionaries around the world, I have an area that holds beautiful hand-made South African jewelry. Each piece of jewelry is made by a young man or woman. Attached to each piece is a picture and store about the person.

Some of the items they write is their age, where they are from, and what are their hopes and aspirations. Money earned from these pieces of jewelry goes to the jewelry program in South Africa as well as most of it going toward Open Door Ministries. These pieces of jewelry are hand-made and are so beautiful.


Why not help ODM, people in S. Africa, and gain a new piece of jewelry that no one else around will have!

[Latin Dancing Meets Kenya]

"The Zumba® program fuses hypnotic Latin rhythms and easy-to-follow moves to create a one-of-a-kind fitness program that will blow you away. Our goal is simple: We want you to want to work out, to love working out, to get hooked. Zumba® Fanatics achieve long-term benefits while experiencing an absolute blast in one exciting hour of calorie-burning, body-energizing, awe-inspiring movements meant to engage and captivate for life!"

Wanna exercise and help Open Door Ministries at the same time? Come to Zumba! Lynn Nagel, a local fitness instructor, will be teaching a Zumba class every Saturday at 9AM at Harvest Baptist Church. It is opened to anyone who wants to get their groove on [Note: No rhythm stills is required!] The class itself is free, but we will be accepting donations that will go directly to Open Door Ministries and its future ministry in east Africa!

Harvest Baptist Church is located at 1301 Navajo Tr. in Wapakoneta, OH 45895. Again, it is every Saturday at 9AM. Feel free to join us once or every Saturday!

[ Waiting ...some more! ]

Patience is definitely something that I have never been well at. I am glad that the Lord is helping me work on this by having me wait a little bit longer on the next step in this journey. For me, it has been over a year when I began my search for a mission organization that will allow me to teach in Nairobi, Kenya. Not many, if any, mission organizations go to Nairobi to work in the slums for EDUCATION. Without a doubt I want to teach in Nairobi and I have 110 percent faith that the Lord knows how to get me there! :) When the time is right, He will open the door for me.

Currently, I have a full doors creaking open and am led to sit and be patient. I am awaiting to hear from a few places still. With the holidays it adds more waiting time. But again, I have faith that God knows what He is doing! After all, HE IS THE ONE WHO MADE ME!

Thank you for your continuing support and prayer. I hope to have some official news very soon. I always say that, but this time I am serious! It is time!

In Christ,
melissa a. brown

EMAIL: melissa.a.brown@live.com

[ my heart ]

My heart beats to Africa.

Not a day goes by that I do not think of the children of Africa.

I pray everyday that a mission organization will accept me so that I can teacher in Nairobi, Kenya. I truly believe that God will lead me to the correct mission and to the correct school. My heart's desire is to share God's word and to teach children. And I know it is God's too!

Please be praying as I hope to find a mission so that I can began teaching in July of 2010 overseas! This is what Open Door Ministries is: my personal vision God has given me to teach in a school in Africa!

May God have all the glory!

[ Prayer ]

As the year draws closer to an end and a new year is beginning, my heart burns more and more as the day becomes closer when I can finally be back home. Home, that is, Africa. I am still awaiting to hear from a few different mission organizations on acceptance to their mission. In addition, I have also been speaking with quite a few schools directly in Nairobi, Kenya. I have been received very very well from these schools. I know that I will not have a problem finding a position in a school, it is the mission organization acceptance that I am currently waiting on.

What does a mission organization do? Well, that is a good question! Basically the mission organization holds onto your money while over seas, making sure it is in a safe place. In addition, they do the paperwork for your visa/work permit, airplane tickets, and international health insurance. The paperwork is quite tedious, so it is much easier for a mission organization to take care of that. In addition, they contact the schools and host families for you. Usually mission organizations take between 10 to 14 percent of all of your funds for the cost of paperwork and organizing. This does seem like a big percentage, but when it comes down to it, they are saving time for missionaries so that they can do more field work.
This is a big deal to make sure that I pick the correct one.
Without a doubt, I have full faith in God that He will direct me to the right place to begin this wonderful vision He has set upon my heart. I pray constantly that His Will shall be done and not my own. Please be in prayer with me for God's direction in my life and God's direction in yours as well!

Thank you for your ongoing prayers!

In Christ,
melissa a brown

It's All You Can Eat!

A small group (Sommer's Wheat Group) from Harvest Baptist Church and KAH Meats of Wapakoneta put together a fantastic fundraisor through flipping pancakes and cooking sausage! This spectacular group of people got up early to make pancakes and sausage to support Open Door Ministries (raising money so that I can teach in a school in Africa!). (right: Mike Sommers)

It was a wonderful turnout and there was at least a couple hundred people who came out to support me and God's future ministry in east Africa. It was quite overwhelming to watch crowds come walking through the door who were willing to donate time and money to further God's kingdom.

Not only were there people from this small group, but a variety of other volunteers from the church who came early to help set up tables and chairs. It was remarkable! It truly touched my heart to see others join with me as part of this team. In the end, we are all taking part of God's purpose through serving! (Below: Sommer's Wheat Group)


With help the help of all these amazing volunteers, members of Harvest Baptist Church, and the Wapak community, they raised over $1500! I sincerly felt like my knees were going to give when we added up the grand total. I want to personally thank everyone who came out to support me and God's vision! You all are truly a blessing and I assure you that you will be blessed in return for blessing others!

MAY ALL THE HONOUR AND GLORY GO TO OUR GREAT GOD!