Upcoming Mission Announcement

Posted on May 7, 2014 by marriageonamission

2014 MARRIAGE MISSION TRIPSIMG_3290

21-Day Marriage Mission Trip (Covering States in the Eastern U.S.)

September 4th-24th, 2014

Must Raise $2,500

Click HERE for Booking

Hope for Berlin, Germany13photo

October 15-25th 2014

Must Raise $3,800

Click HERE to Donate to Either Mission
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Together, We Rise

Posted on November 25, 2013 by marriageonamission

IMG_3115Even though my latest article, “Together, We Rise,”  is not specifically about the pain and grief of separation and/or divorce, the lesson still applies. We were made for community. We need each other.

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Day 39 – Counting Our Blessings

Posted on October 9, 2013 by marriageonamission

IMG_0460“We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks! For Your wondrous works declare that Your name is near” Psalm 75:1 (NKJV).

Slide251. Forgiving our sins and ransoming us as Your own.

2. Your holy Word – it NEVER fails. NEVER!

3. Allowing us to serve You together.

4. Our faithful prayer team. What would we do without them?

photBragg9o5. Miracles and breakthroughs, against all odds!

6. Those yet-to-be-healed circumstances and relationships that cause us to press into You even harder…asking, seeking, knocking.

7. Your healing hands–Your scars touching our scars.

Bragg2photo8. Your people and our relationships with them across the nation.

9. Your Divine appointments all along the way.

10. The intimate times of being all alone with You.

IMG_337011. Healing Clint when he was sick in Ohio and down for the count.

12. The abundance of financial provision You gave us AFTER we started day 1, knowing we hadn’t raised ANY support beforehand.

13. People who graciously opened their homes to us.

14. Our Facebook, Twitter, and Blog followers who cheered us on.

IMG_034815. Signs along the way reminding us of Your priorities.

16. The private meetings and phone calls with those in pain. So humbling. So hard.

IMG_039017. Familiar faces along the way, like our brothers up north, our AMFM family, friends, and those we’ve served on previous missions. They poured into us.

18. The pastors and churches who received our ministry with open arms.

19. E-mails, texts, posts, and cards of encouragement given/sent to us as we journeyed.

20. Knowing, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that we can do NOTHING with out You and ALL things through You.

ClintPrayer“And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen” John 21:25 (NKJV).

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Day 38 – It’s Never Too Late

Posted on October 8, 2013 by marriageonamission

When God miraculously reconciled our marriage in 2002, He put a desire in us to ask forgiveness from the people whose hearts were broken when we divorced. Over the years, God has allowed us to make contact with almost every person He placed on our hearts. We even had the chance to return to the church where we were married in 1989, share our testimony, and ask forgiveness for breaking our marriage vows.

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Mission to Haiti, 1990

But, until recently, there was one person we’d been unable to locate. We met Janet on a mission trip to Haiti in 1990 and soon became friends. However, by the time she came to visit us after the trip, our marriage was on the rocks. Janet stayed with us only a few days, but I (Penny) had one foot out the door during her entire visit. Needless to say, our time together was extremely awkward and we never had contact with one another again.

Fast forward 23 years and a God who can reach into any relationship–no matter how much time and sin has passed–and touch it with His healing hands. This Thursday morning, October 10th from 10:00-11:00AM (Eastern Time) Clint and I will interview Janet on our WAPN radio broadcast! Only God! What a way to close out this mission on Day 40!

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Tune in and listen to what God alone has done by visiting the WAPN Radio website and clicking on the “listen” button during the show. We will also feature a live call in prayer line for those who want prayer for the reconciliation of a relationship. The number to call during the broadcast is 386-673-2495. You can also submit an online prayer request through the WAPN website.

P.S. Lest we ever think it’s “just too late” to write that letter of apology, make that phone call, find that person. Perhaps God is already bringing someone to mind…

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Day 37 – Hide and Seek

Posted on October 7, 2013 by marriageonamission

“Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. Later Simon and the others went out to find him. When they found him, they said, ‘Everyone is looking for you.'” Mark 1:35-37

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The last 36 days of this mission definitely caught up with us over the weekend. So, we know that no matter what needs may press in upon us, we must follow Christ’s example. I guess you could say that in order to finish out days 38-40 we must play a bit of  “hide and seek” on day 37–hiding in God’s presence and seeking His strength.

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Day 33 – A Prayer For Those Who Wait

Posted on October 3, 2013 by marriageonamission

Holding onto HopeWhen we began serving God as marriage missionaries in 2006, we had no idea how much of our work would be devoted to those who are waiting for their spouses to return to God and to their families. NO idea whatsoever.

Throughout the last seven years, our burden for those who wait has grown to immense proportions. In a way, most of these people have been cast aside by the Church. After all, what do you do with someone who, against all odds, is still holding out for a miracle in their marriage long after the divorce papers have been signed?

On many days, we awaken with a huge burden for those who wait. Today is one of those days. And so we do all we know to do and we ask you to do the same. Let us pray…

For those whose marriages are dead, we pray for a miraculous resurrection.

Lord, hear our prayer.

For those whose hearts are shattered, we pray for Your intimate nearness.

Lord, hear our prayer.

For those whose hopes have run dry, we pray for a Your hope to invade their hearts anew. 

Lord, hear our prayer.

For those who have run out of steam, we pray for perseverance.

Lord, hear our prayer.

For those who suffer, we pray for strength.

Lord, hear our prayer.

For those who don’t believe because of what they see, we pray for unwavering faith.

Lord, hear our prayer.

For those who have been cast aside, betrayed, and abandoned, we pray for adoption as sons and daughters.

Lord, hear our prayer.

For those whose joy is barren, we pray for gratitude to arise.

Lord, hear our prayer.

For those who feel vulnerable, we pray for Your sheltering protection.

Lord, hear our prayer.

For those whose families have been torn in two, we pray for healing.

Lord, hear our prayer.

For those who are questioning God’s sovereignty, we pray for trust.

Lord, hear our prayer.

For those whose children are feeling the impact of earthly brokenness, we pray for heavenly help.

Lord, hear our prayer.

For those who are questioning their faith, we pray for Your conquering courage to continue in the fight.

Lord, hear our prayer.

For those who are conflicted in the waiting, we pray for peace that surpasses understanding.

Lord, hear our prayer.

For those whose finances have run dry, we pray for a generous increase from your divine storehouse.

Lord, hear our prayer.

For those who have heard You say, “Wait,” we pray for the grace to wait.

Lord, hear our prayer. 

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Day 31 – The Lens of Redemption; When Healing DOESN’T Happen

Posted on October 1, 2013 by marriageonamission

IMG_1419Miraculous healing happens all the time. We’re privileged to bear witness to it in our own marriage and in the marriages of many others. But, what about when healing doesn’t happen. That’s a tough pill to swallow. Yeah, no one likes to talk about that.

Well, I do.

As my brother’s mental health rapidly declined from 2008-2011, I prayed my guts out. Fasted. Prayed. Prayed. Fasted. And still, no healing. In fact, his condition worsened. All I wanted was what Mary and Martha got. I coveted their brother’s healing. Who wouldn’t? But, that’s not what I got. In fact, just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, my brother took his own life.

It is always our hope that healing will happen on thislensphoto side of Heaven. So…what do we do when it doesn’t? I’m living that out right here. Right now. And, it hurts.

Some days are better than others. It depends on the lens I wear. If I look at my pain through a temporal lens, 
I shrink amidst the suffering and loss. But, when I view my pain through the lens of redemption, I see God’s bigger picture.

Like Job who suffered far more than I can even imagine, I know that, come what may, I must view all things–things healed on this side of Heaven or on the other side–through scarlet-colored glasses.

Slide17“Oh, that my words could be recorded. Oh, that they could be inscribed on a monument, carved with an iron chisel and filled with lead, engraved forever in the rock. But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last. And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God! I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought!” (Job 19:23-27 NLT)

 
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Day 28 – Stay Desperate

Posted on September 28, 2013 by marriageonamission

IMG_0152“My mom had a stroke.” The look of shock on Clint’s face matched mine. “She’s in the hospital and they’re running tests. I want to fly home.”

That was the scene in our hotel room early Monday morning. My sister’s unexpected call had turned us upside-down and inside-out. All I could think about was getting back to California to be at my mother’s bedside.

Various scenarios ran through my mind: I could leave Clint to finish out our last engagement in New York and fly home from the nearest airport. Or, we could leave the van with one of our ministry partners and both fly back. Or, we could drive back to Florida (where we live now) in record time and then fly home to California from there.

In addition to rattling all those scenarios (and more) around in my head, I felt the pull of grief and the fear of loss rob the breath from my chest. Flashbacks from the afternoon my sister called, screaming into the phone, that my younger brother was found dead flooded over me and I froze. Clint could see my paralyzed state and did the only thing that you can do in times like these. He prayed. He put his arm around me and began to pray for my mom…for wisdom…for strength…for God’s plans to prevail…for guidance…for God’s will…and for the grace to trust in God, come what may.

While we are extremely relieved that my mother’s stroke wasn’t massive and that she seems to be recovering, we know how desperate for God we must remain at all times.  The temptation to lean on our own understanding is immense, especially when trying times unfold before us and we’re thousands of miles from home.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5 NIV).

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Day 27 – Be Still

Posted on September 27, 2013 by marriageonamission

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Day 24 – About Last Night

Posted on September 24, 2013 by marriageonamission

photoIt happened. It finally happened! There was another wife at the table besides me. Every fall for the last seven years, I’ve been the only woman at a table full of men–all of them longing for marital restoration. During each of our 40-Day Mission Trips in the east, Clint and I have had the humble privilege of meeting with these men and listening to their stories. Their faith-journeys have had a significant impact on our lives and our ministry. Last night, we were impacted once again. The reality that one of the husbands had finally reconciled with his wife after a 7-year divorce hit us so very profoundly. I couldn’t help but  grip her hand as we prayed around the table. Her presence there–the delicious fruit of prayer.

“Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders?” Exodus 15:11 NKJV

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