Oxford Newsletter

Dear friends and family,

                Greeting from the town of Oxford, otherwise known as the town next to Ole Miss University! We are about to finish our 2 week summit here in the town of Oxford, and it has been nothing but amazing. Sorry these are back to back (Wifi is kinda iffy from church to church)but this is actually our first full summit since Ellendale way back at the beginning of the year.

The Church

The church, in short, has been incredible. First Baptist of Oxford started praying for revival TWO years ago when they found out that we were coming. That right there humbled us from the start. One gentlemen was invited one night and as he walked in he asked his friend what was going on. “We are having a revival,” his friend said. “No, not that. Something is different about this place, I can feel it,” was all he replied. The first Sunday morning the sanctuary, that can seat about 500 comfortably, was filled to capacity for both services and was even more crowded for the Sunday School hour. That night, our team watched in amazement as the sanctuary continued to fill up until we were so packed into the pews that the teens had to bring metal chairs in to sit down! What a sight! The congregation continued to blow us away as they sang with the praise team. The sanctuary is more of a long, thin room, so when they all sang, the sound would get channeled right into the praise team, which was a literally heart-stopping experience.

The Ministry

 A lot of the team got to go to a nursing home in the area, and God really used them in the lives of many of the elderly people to lift up their spirits and to just listen. God also brought a great opportunity for our team to serve the church on the third Sunday. On a normal third Sunday, we normally have one combined service and up until this summit, it has never been an issue. However, First Baptist of Oxford’s sanctuary that could hold about 500 was filled to overflowing in both Sunday morning services, so the idea of having a combined service in there was simply impossible. Instead, on the Thursday before, the team got together and searched through the church to find spare chairs that we could put in the much larger fellowship hall. Although it wasn’t the easiest  thing in the world to do, we were able to squeeze 777 chairs into the fellowship hall and got to receive the blessing of seeing over 700 of those chairs filled that Sunday morning as the two services came together to worship God.  This summit, I got to stay with Justin Weeks, who I had stayed with before, but also Matthew Fredericks, who is our team leader and a teacher in base camp. It just goes to show that God listens to even little prayers because I had always wanted to stay with a Base camp AND Happy Heart City teacher, so that all three areas would be in one place, but I had never really put a lot of deep prayer and meditation into it. And yet, He still blesses us. J The three of us stayed at the Fisher’s house, with John, Elizabeth, John O, Sally Barrow, and Ferris. They were INCREDIBLE to us and blessed our lives on numerous occasions. Hopefully, we will get to see them in the future.

The Team

Right now, I am actually writing this letter to you as I ride in the truck up to Pell City, Alabama for our next summit. However, in between Oxford and Pell City, there was one little thing our team had to do, but I’ll take care of that in a minute or two. Over these last weeks, I have never had so much FUN with my team. I can’t explain it, and don’t get me wrong, we can still get on each other’s nerves J but God has been so good over the last couple of weeks by bonding us together in new and different ways. One way was an Ole Miss baseball game that we were taken to on the second Friday we were there. Although we wound up losing (by just one run though), we had such a great time laughing, making jokes, and just being silly and relaxed at a ball game.

    After Oxford, our team drove down to Naples, Florida (I know I know, suffering for Jesus) to play at the Life Action Vision Gathering conference. Simply put, people who donate to Life Action are invited to come down to see and hear about what the plans are for Life Action in the near and far future. God proved that He was bigger than all our problems, and smoothed the hills and raised the valley for us. After the conference, we still had about two days left in Florida, so what better to do than to GO TO THE BEACH! We got to go two days in a row and just had fun with swimming, volleyball, castle-making, and even burying people in the sand! God really stretched me in these last few weeks, way more than I can even go into right now, but I can honestly say that I am thankful for EVERYTHING that I learned from God and others! :D

My Life

It’s actually really weird right now, we are getting ready to go back into a “normal” summit, and yet, we’ve been out of a summit for about a week and a half and now “normal” doesn’t seem so normal anymore. We are praying that God does some amazing stuff at the church in Pell City. My life has been honestly really blessed in the past four weeks or so. Getting to spend more and more time with team members, getting past that “I kinda know you” phase” to “How can I be praying for you?” phase, and that is such an encouragement and blessing in my life.    

We are praying that God does some amazing stuff at the church in Pell City. On our way down to Florida, we actually stopped in Pell City for lunch and a lady came in to meet us, just because she saw our bus and was excited for Life Action to come! It will be really exciting to see what God does in this church.   

As I close, I would like you to watch the video that this link will take you to. It’s only about 6-7 minutes long, so it’s not a full-length movie, but it is very powerful and convicting. We show it at every summit on the first Thursday night, and as I watched it last night, I felt that I should share it with you all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGMG_PVaJoI

Love you all! J

In Christ,

Josh

Clinton Newsletter

Dear Friends and Family,

And so ends follow-up summit number 2! As I type, I am being bounced around as me and Senor Blake Mathis drive the semi-truck to our next destination: Oxford, Mississippi. He’s listening to a sermon (aka his “alone” time) so I figured I’d go ahead and get you all up to date on life!

The Church

We have been in Clinton, Mississippi at Morrison Heights Church for the past week, following up on a summit that the Blue Team did just last year. This church happens to be the home church of another LA team member (Joel Purvis) and I even got the honor of staying at his house this summit. This summit was a little different than others because instead of starting on Sunday, we started with a Home Life Café on Saturday. Since this church had a Home Life Café just last year, Steve, Jeremiah, and Mrs. Debbie re-vamped the lessons and created Home Life Café 2.0. (And they might be using some of their stuff again!) Mo Heights was more than happy for us to come back, and the final testimony night was really cool to see how God brought so many people back to principles and truths that they had learned a year ago. Dr. Greg Belser was a blessing to our team and we are going to miss being in Clinton.

The Ministry

Although short, these summits have shown our team that God does not need a certain amount of time to work. He can work in someone’s life in 2 weeks or in just one night; it depends totally on Him, not our schedule. This summit, I got to stay with Clinton native Joel and along with Nathan Cowles, we had some good times playing Mario Party, Tennis, and even making a short horror flick. We also got to hang out with Mr. and Mrs. Purvis (shout-out since they get this email!) on the tennis courts, in the Froghead Grill, and even just sitting in the kitchen talking about life. They were amazing hosts and will be missed! (Maybe we’ll see them again in Pell City?)

The Team

Ok, so by far the two coolest things that happened in our team this summit was a Baptism and Valentine’s Day! Mandy (a girl on our team) decided that she wanted to be baptized while we were in Clinton, and after seeing the baptistery, I can tell why. (This thing is a swimming pool) So we all got to get together after the service one night, and got to watch her get baptized! Valentine’s Day was cool because of something called Secret Sister. The girls on our team are right now in the middle of something called Secret Sister, where each girl on the team has the name of another, and so for this half of the year, they will do random acts of kindness/buy them things that they like and secretly give them. The boys on the team are in on it because, well frankly, it’s easy to keep it a secret if guys deliver the presents instead of the girls. So Valentine’s Day looked like a Florist shop as guys were walking all over the church with bouquets of flowers to go from girl to girl.

My Life

Not a lot has changed this summit from the last one. God is right now teaching me the importance of choosing Joy in my life, and what happens if I don’t. Happiness is great and all, as long as you can keep yourself happy. But what happens when that runs out? Joy is the only thing that can come out us when we are truly exhausted, and it’s NOT through our power, but only through God. (That was for free J ) Signing was good, I saw some people in the audience try to sign along, especially kids. I really love that. Like REALLY love that. Haha I love how God encourages us with the little things.

For those of you who don’t know, I have made the decision tooooo STAY with Life Action for one more year! I really feel that this is where God has me for the time-being, and I also feel that I have the most potential for affecting His kingdom on the road for the next year. So yep, there ya go! I look forward to this Oxford church, so I guess I will talk to you all in about 3 weeks!

Josh    

Olive Branch Newsletter

Dear Friends and Family,

                Surprise! You get another newsletter! Haha yes, it is rather soon after the last one, but this summit was only a week long, so I figured I would just do a shorter update on what’s going on in the life of Life Action/Josh Caton.

The Church

The team got a special opportunity to go to the church of one of our own team members for this week. Longview Baptist Church (Clay Debolt’s church) has actually already gone through a Life Action summit. Two years ago, the blue team came to this church and after a church had to cancel; Longview was more than thrilled when our revivalist Steve called to see if they wanted us to come back for a follow up. Steve and Jeremiah decided that instead of doing some of the regular sermons that they would for a summit, they came up with all-new sermons for each night, dealing with issues such as having a “fun-filled” marriage and guarding your heart. The last night of popcorn testimonies was really great as people got up and shared how God had moved in them and had brought them back to a fresh desire and longing for him.

The Ministry

The ministry at this church was a little smaller than most, mainly because we were only here for a week. However, once we leave this summit, we will be driving back to Bartlett to lead at Faith Baptist Church on Sunday morning, and then leading a Wednesday night worship service at Broadway Baptist. This summit, I got to stay with Blake Mathis (Acoustic Guitar player and Trucker extraordinaire) at the Krumalis household. This is not their first time being a host home, but it is the first time that they have met both me and Blake. From the barbecue outings to playing racquetball, they have been a joy to get to know and I know that Blake and I will miss them a lot. (P.S. Blake is getting married in July, hurray for Blake!)   

     

The Team

Right now, the team is doing really well, but you all can be praying for wisdom for us. A lot of the team is going through a really hard decision right now of whether to come back for another year or not. If God brings us to your mind, your prayers will always be coveted. Most of the decisions will be made by Feb 15, and a lot of the team is really seeking God’s Will on what He wants them to do.

My Life

Life has been good, if not a tad more stressful than normal. In my materials job on the team, it got a little tight on some during the week, but God was good and provided. One night, more people came than had before and I had not figured on the extra bodies and when we finally got all the papers passed out, we only had about 4 left. Wow, God is good, even in the little things. He has been teaching me a lot over the last few days about Joy, and how true joy is found nowhere else but in His presence. THAT is a humbling thought right there. J Signing is as good as ever, and every night I am just reminded how much of a blessing it is to get to do it for His glory.

Since this is a shorter newsletter, I’ll go ahead and add in some of the history of the last week that we had at the Grove, a camp owned by a church in the Bartlett area.

The Grove                 

After our little stop in Olive Branch, we cruised back up to Tennessee for a one day conference at Faith church in Bartlett. After Sunday, they allowed us to stay in their camp, the grove for the next 4-5 days. It was a tremendous blessing for a ton of reasons!

We were tired, plain and simple, and the Grove gave us just a nice time to sit back and just spend time with the team. Normally, you would stay with only one or two other guys, but last week, we got to stay with the whole team, boys and gals under one roof. We each had our own sides of the main building, but got to meet in the center area every day for board games, music, and of course some movies. A couple of the grand memories involve Chipmunks invading the girl’s room, playing Ultimate Frisbee, and a discussion after watching after the Elephant Room. Over this last week, I really got to see my team come together and bond in a new way, and I am excited to see what God

does in us this next half of the year.

In closing, I must ask that you all keep me in your prayers for the next couple of days. On February 15, we make our official decision of whether or not to return to Life Action for another year. I am pretty sure what my decision will be, but I would be so blessed if you all would pray God’s Will be done and not mine. If He does not want me to come back, then I pray that He will change my heart. Either way, His will be done. And yes, you all will find out in the next message if it is a Yes or no. J

In Christ,

Josh   

Bartlett Newsletter

Dear Friends and Family,

Hello 2012! And hello everyone, I hope your New Years was great! Well, I’m back on the road again, and this summit has been truly amazing. It’s been one of the busiest ones by far, but it has been great to get back into the swing of things! I actually left Atlanta and flew back up to Michigan to meet up with some of the team up there. Some of the team drove down in the bus and the truck while me and Senor Nathan drove another truck for some extra transportation. It has been great getting to know the people of Bartlett, Tenn. and to see God work in their lives. So let’s get started then!

The Church

Ellendale Baptist church has about 1000 members and has the unique story of being built building by building over the years to where now there are 7 independent structures for different ministries. Pastor Jerry really loves to get into the Word, and many of His people stood up throughout the summit and thanked him specifically for that. Bartlett is a really interesting town, they have almost one of everything: shops, stores, restaurants, etc. In addition, they also have a church on almost every street corner, so it’s really neat to see such a following from the community in Ellendale. And through slightly older congregation, God really broke through in the areas of church unity, pride, and just having things in our lives that take the place of God. These people were by far some of the nicest people I have met in any church. Whereas normally the team would have to walk up and start conversations, they church members were the ones who were initiating all the conversations with us! They have really blessed me, and I know they have blessed the rest of the team too!

The Ministry

This summit stretched our team in ways that no summit has before. A pastor’s conference called OneCry was taking place right down the road and they wanted us to play for it. What did that entail? Getting up earlier than our Sunday morning call time, working the conference all day, then driving back and doing a summit meeting that night. Needless to say, God was more than faithful. I wrote this little insert that night to explain a little of what happened that day.

Can I share with you what God to me today? It’s pretty amazing. Ok, so today, our team got to lead the ONECRY Pastor’s meeting in Memphis, Tenn at Faith Baptist Church. There were 150+ pastors and guests all coming to find out what Onecry was all about. So we had to get up early, like be at the church at 6:30 early. But lo and behold, Dustin (worship leader) bought us Mcd’s for breakfast, the day was off to a good start. After tons of little tiny difficulties, and God showing His power, the conference got under way, and men such a Bill Elliff and Michael Cait got up and shared their hearts, really crazy stuff. Now lunch, that was what blew my day away. I had asked if I could sit with the other pastors and after getting permission, me and another team member sat down at what appeared a regular table of guys. One of the 4 men was a gentlemen in all African attire by the name of Edmund and he had some incredible stories. He had trusted God to get him over to the US, and then after hearing about One Cry, God provided for the money to get him here. Another gentleman at the table had actually lived right around the area of Georgia that I used to live, almost within 20-30 minutes. The man to my left got into a conversation about sign language and how I learned it and got on the road. I found out that he was a worship leader and that he had a smaller congregation but he enjoyed a lot of the stuff I got to do. After lunch, I got up, truly blessed. One of my friends came up to me, and I just said “Man, lunch was great.” They answered, “Yeah, I can imagine, you had lunch with Clay Crosse.” Who? I know that was the worship leader, but who was he? Turns out, I was sitting right next to a 4 time Dove Award winner and never knew it. God truly blessed my socks off, and he saw it fit to even show me how much he blessed me.

Like I said, we were truly blessed. This summit, I got to stay with Justin Weeks, a happy heart city worker and one hilarious guy! We were able to stay with Stan and Pam Walls, two dear people that have really welcomed us into their home and, along with their dog Sam, into their hearts. We are going to miss them a lot. L

The Team

What can I say? It is so good to back with my second family. It was so cool to see our team meet back in a hotel lobby in Bartlett and just start talking and laughing just like we had never left. So far this summt, some of us have hit the mall, restaurants, we’re even going to play Tennis later today! I think that one of the two highlights for my team has been playing volleyball with the church’s college group, and also going to the Memphis zoo! The host families have been such a blessing, inviting the team over to just have fun, it’s a nice way to relax and just spend some time and laugh. After this summit, I’m really excited to see how God is going to use us this next half of the year!

My Life

Life has been going really good. Or more accurately, God has been really good to me. I have gotten to be in more and more skits for both Base Camp and Happy Heart City, and it’s an incredible blessing (even when the skits go wrong every once in a while J ) Signing is back with singing and it will never cease to amaze me just how God can use it. As I signed some of the nights, I would look out and see people of all ages from a young girl in Base Camp to an elderly gentleman trying to follow along and sign with me. It’s something that I honestly can’t explain in words, it’s one of those “You have to be there to experience it” kind of things. However, God chose to use something else to blow my mind this summit. On the second Sunday, there is a time for people to come back and talk about salvation. I got the honor of talking with a man named Chris, who was just confused about where he was. After about 10-15 minutes, I had no idea what else to say, and so I felt God just say “Don’t worry, just pray.” So we prayed and I asked him to read 1 John. Imagine my joy when he came up to me the next Sunday night to tell me that he had been saved that Wednesday! I could not believe it. God had chosen this man to come into his family, and I got to see it happen before my eyes. The acting is fun, and the signing is encouraging, but this story really does take the cake for my entire year on the road so far. J

Thanks to you all for your continued support. If you ever want to write me, please do! I love getting mail, email, and I WILL respond! (New Year’s Resolution…kind of ;) I pray that these letters really give you an idea of just how awesome our God truly is. Well, off the play some tennis! Love you all!

Josh