Winter 2020 Newsletter
FL Update
Since our last update IAM staff and volunteers have worked hard to set ourselves apart (Joshua 3:5) and to run after God with all that we have through the beginning of this retreat season. At this point we have seen 5 months of IAM retreats, which have included over 40 fatherless youth combined with 30+ mentors experiencing God in ways that only our Lord himself could orchestrate. So many images cross my mind as I write this update, but none more impactful than when a young man from the Lake Wales High Football Team that had given his life to Christ at a summer BBQ at the IAM Ranch, looked at his friend in October and said, “Why not get saved today? Why not get saved here?” I am still in awe of the God encounter that took place in the living room of the IAM lodge at that moment as a young man walked into eternity to meet his Savior alongside his brother on the field and in Christ!
So here we have four months left in the Spring Retreat/Event season. We are not only certain that God will continue to grow and cultivate the relationships/experiences over the past months but we are overly expectant to watch Him in action over the remaining months of retreat season as we draw our confidence from the testimony that he has and continues to build at every retreat!
KY Update
What an incredible privilege it has been hosting youth to hunt and fish at the new IAM KY property and see the excitement in their eyes as we drive them past the Kentucky Lodge they will come back and stay in (on target to be finished this May)! This hunting season we were able to serve more than 40 youth at the Southland Ranch and drive them the short distance to the IAM property to hunt and harvest 18 deer in it’s first season with IAM kids hunting it! MORE importantly we watched the Creator of this incredible property reveal Himself to these youth as their Creator God who loves them so much He sent His son to die for them. For some, that reality brought heart and life surrender… for others, we pray it planted seeds that will continue to fruition.
One young man has been on multiple IAM retreats and caught the breath of the staff and volunteers when he said one night… “Mr. Mark, I know that Jesus died for me and I understand I can be saved… but I have met christians all my life that didn’t act any different after becoming a christian. I won’t do it until I’m ready to be ALL IN and let Him change me like you all say we need to be.” WOW! When we say that we often leave as impacted as the kids… this is one of those times we couldn’t help but leave challenged and sharpened!
He is good and he is faithful. Although the harvest is plentiful and the workers are few, we are so grateful for the continued growth of old and many new church/ministry partners who have taken a stance to fight for the fatherless! We ask for your continued prayers, support, and God willing, your desire to meet a fatherless youth where they are. Would you pray that God would lay the burden of fatherlessness on your heart in such a way, that anything less than ALL IN would not be possible!?
Current IAM Needs List
Florida
Staff Additions (package + hiring costs $50,000)
Youth Scholarships ($360 a year = one youth)
Kentucky
Furnishings for new IAM KY Lodge ($20,000)
Small Cabin on site finished and furnished ($35,000)
Tractor & Implements ($45,000)
Staff Additions (package + hiring costs $50,000)
Youth Scholarships ($360 a year = one youth)
