Joe Anderson

Surrender Updates!

It has been a few weeks since we “stepped off the cliff “ to start Surrender Ministries full-time and I want to give few updates of what has been happening.

 

Sabbatical: I planned on taking the month of June as a sabbatical so I have tried to take some time to relax and catch up with my family after a busy season in life and ministry. I can actually feel my body unwind and start to relax! We were going to go to Michigan this month but decided to stay close to home to get many things in order for the start of Surrender Ministries.  I have spent a little time on the lake fishing, which is totally my “happy place.” Going to church as a family and simply attending has been so refreshing. We have visited some great churches; Cedar Valley Church in Bloomington and High Point Church in Inver Grove Hts. This coming Sunday we are going to Southland Church in Apple Valley. 

 

Bookings: We are booking dates at churches and have dates set for Idaho, Brainerd, Bloomington, MN, Teen Challenge, Austin, MN, Ellendale, MN, Sartell, MN, Kansas City, MO, Apple Valley, MN and many more in the works for future dates. I promise to have a calendar up with dates and places so you can follow us if you want.

 

Support: We are continuing to work on setting-up monthly financial support.You can financially support Surrender Ministries by committing to give any dollar amount on a monthly basis or with a one time financial gift.  If you are willing to be a “Surrender Supporter” I would love to connect with you or meet you in person so I can share our vision.

 

Family: Our family is doing fantastic! The kids are enjoying summer vacation going to VBS and playing with friends.  Jen says that I am the best “mother’s helper” since Alice from the Brady Bunch!

THE REAL "A-TEAM" 

 

Prayer: We ask for your continued prayers for our family…. These are some key months in getting bookings and the support we need to do what God has called us to do.

 

Miracles: To put it simply, God gave us a Van! One of the biggest needs we had going into this was for a vehicle. I needed to turn-in the church truck (company vehicle) on June 15^th.  We have made a commitment for Surrender Ministries to not go into debt and we had no back-up plan other than to trust that God would provide.  Out of nowhere, some great friends and huge supporters of ours called and said that they felt lead by God to give us a vehicle for Surrender.  I couldn’t believe it! If that wasn’t enough, they said the date would be June 15^th, the same day I needed to turn in the Truck! It’s an awesome vehicle (mini-vans are my favorite…seriously). I’ll be on the road a lot and we will be able to use this to reach so many people…. We are calling it “The Surrender Mobile!” This is a huge blessing for us and we are humbled by God’s goodness and the generosity of such great friends and supporters.

THANK YOU KASTENS!!!!!!! 

House: After looking at different options and a lot of prayer we decided to stay in MN and are closing on our home in a couple weeks (There is a whole miraculous story behind how this came to be that I will share at a later date). It is going to be a great home for us to live in and run Surrender Ministries out of. We have been living in a home provided by some great friends and will be sad to leave our current neighbors who feel like family. But we are excited to move to the home that is absolutely perfect for our family.

 

Everyday it seems that Jen and I are humbled in tears thanking God for his direction and faithfulness. Living surrendered to Jesus is the only way to live! 

Resignation, Surrender, and other exciting words...

This is what I read in church this morning...

 

My Letter of Resignation

RVC Faribault

02 May 2010

 

I always try to be upfront, honest and transparent. So I want to come right out and say that I am resigning my position at River Valley Churchtoday and my last Sunday will be May 30th. This is a difficult decision, but I fully believe that this is the decision God has asked my family and I to make.

 

Over the past few months, Jen and I have felt God working in our hearts, slowly nudging us toward something new. We took our time in prayer and fasting to see that this was God and not us. Earlier this year we sensed God was preparing us for a new direction with our ministry and our lives. I spoke with Pastor Rob and the Elders of RVC a couple months ago to receive prayer and help with this decision. Just recently, about 2 weeks ago, Jen and I clearly felt that we are to be sent out to share our testimony full-time.

 

This change is most difficult because of the strong relationships that we have. I have been a part of RVC since before the church even started 15 years ago. Pastor Rob Ketterling has been my Pastor, mentor, friend, and has given me a chance to grow and become the man I am today. God has blessed RVC with great leaders and I am eternally grateful to Pastor Rob and the Elders for their support and encouragement to us being sent out.

 

The last 2 years serving at RVC Faribault have been the most rewarding days of ministry in my life. God has stretched us and used us beyond our wildest expectations. I especially want to thank our great staff, Pastor Steve and Jen Nylin, Levi and Kelly Hoyt…you are like family to me and have made ministry a blast! Also, all the leaders and volunteers who make RVC who we are… you humble and impress me every week.  I never imagined that I would be in Faribault and I never imagined that I would meet a group of people as amazing as all of you. I love you all more than you could ever imagine.

 

I want to assure you that Pastor Rob and the Leadership of RVC are already making plans for this transition. Throughout this process, we will continue to be open and transparent about the future. Here are some important dates:

 

Thursday May 6, 6:30pm:Q & A with Pastor Rob Ketterling 

May 9:  Baby Dedication/ Mother’s Day

May 15/16:Jen & I will be saying goodbye at all RVC Apple Valley services

May 23:RVC Faribault picnic/ Farewell party

May 30: Preaching my final sermon in Faribault

 

Being sent out on our own is a huge step of faith and without God it would be the stupidest thing I’ve ever done…and I’ve done some stupid things in my life! But I am FULLY confident and sure that God has called us to do this and will provide for us….So I am also FULLY confident and sure that God will provide for you.

 

Transition and change can be difficult. But I encourage you to be filled with faith and unity, trusting that God is in control. Let’s focus on Jesus together and building His Kingdom. We are a church that is kingdom minded and believes in sending people out to reach this world. I want to close by reading a final greeting from the Apostle Paul.

 

(2 Corinthians 13:11-14) ¹¹ Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you. ¹² Greet each other with Christian love.¹³ All of God’s people here send you their greetings. ¹⁴ May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

 

I believe greater things are still to come for us all!

 

 

Your friend,

 

 

Pastor Joe

 

Did you guys call each other this morning?

Funny...we all showed up today at RVC color coordinated (without calling each other first). Great minds really do think alike!

Kingdom Builders article

We got some great support and coverage from the Faribault Daily News today. Front page, huge picture, and super article. Check it out:  Investing in kids' futures

Cohen Isaac Emmick!

 

Congratulations to Dusty and Nicci on the arrival of their beautiful baby boy!

Live Birth Underwater---Amazing Picture!

Scroll down to view......Don't worry, it's clean

 

 

 

Annual Review

At RVC we usually do our annual reviews around this time of year and its always fun to look back over all that has happened and plan ahead for the next year. This was a special year with starting our first multi-site campus in

Faribault

. Can you believe it was at this time last year that we were just in the very beginning stages of making this decision? Here are some of the things that have happened since our grand opening March 9^th 2008: We’ve had over 100 first-time salvations, our average Sunday attendance is over 220 this fall, and we have different ministries going on almost everyday of the week like: Go! Kids, ONE Student Ministries, Mom's Group, Small Groups, Senior's Lunch, Shut-in visitation, Alpha, Celebrate Recovery, Men's Group, Outreach, prayer teams, and many more to come. All of this is possible because of the RVC vision and desire to step out and build God’s Kingdom. That’s why we have Kingdom Builders and our miracle offering this weekend. It’s an opportunity for us as a church to give and see even greater things. I think about all the individual lives and families that have been changed and it makes me so thankful that I get to be a part of what God is doing. If God did all that last year, what does he have in store for us this next year? I can’t wait to see!  

Baby "Pumpkin" Jannike

I made a promise that this picture from “Go! Wacky Night” would make my next blog…and I finally got it. I'm proud to annouce our newest F-bo addition: Jannike Laurie Campero. Congratulations Leo and Carolyn!

Happy Anniversary Jen!!!!

I love my wife! This Sunday will be our 12 year anniversary and I love her more now than ever before!

The Flames of Heaven

I started this morning with a dilemma. We have some relatives coming over today and I plan on grilling for them. The problem is my 8yr old grill has completely fallen apart this summer…broken handle, rusted burners, no lighter, etc. This may seem like a pretty small deal with an easy solution, but I have a tendency to ‘sweat the petty things’ in life which makes it hard to decide what to do especially with meaningless (but a semi-necessary thing) like a gas grill.

 I get very philosophical and depressed from thinking about things like this. It makes me jealous of people that just go out, make a decision and not even give it a second thought. I go back and forth…wondering how this decision will matter for eternity. Seriously.

 So, I spent an hour this morning checking adds for sales at big-box stores, Craig’s list, hardware stores, etc. looking for the answer. Should I buy parts to fix the grill for about $75 or buy a new Weber grill for $750? The added problem is that I don’t have an “emergency fund” for a grill.

 I finally decided that my son Joey and I would just drive to Menards and see what we could find. On the way there, I went a little “Joel Osteen” and asked Joey to pray that God would bless us with a great deal on a grill. Joey prayed and got really excited about going to the “turn-around store” (turnstiles) and finding the grill from Jesus. I wasn’t as excited or as confident.

 As soon as we walked in the door and through the turnstiles (a couple of times) I almost tripped over a grill all by itself that was set in the entrance with a red sign saying $100. Joey started laughing and pointing because red is his favorite color and we just prayed for a grill, and there’s a grill with a red sign…so there you go! I looked at it and immediately asked the manager what the deal was. He said they only used it once for an employee lunch and wanted to get rid of it. After negotiating, he even threw in a full propane tank and grilling utensils for free. Done deal. We were out the door for $106! 

 The best part of all this is that both Joey and I learned that we can and should pray about anything. So the next time you have a problem…get up in God’s grill and ask for help…Mmmmmmmmm.