Scott McAlister

After 24 hours of airports and flying we finally made it.  We tried to fly to Lagos this morning but after problems with the plane in flight we turned around and went back to Accra.  Oh well it could have been worse…we could have crashed!  They said that there was a crack in the windshield.  Of course there are no other fights so we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to try again.  I am worn out, but here safe!

It’s 6:30a.m. and I am getting ready to leave for Charlotte to catch a plane for Africa…of course my first destination isn’t Africa but I think you get my point.  I have so many mixed emotions.  I would rather stay home to be honest with you.  First, I am a wimp when it comes to being away from my family and it’s going to be 17 long days without them.  Second, I don’t want to be away from SpringWell.  And third, I’m just getting old and traveling half way around the world doesn’t sound as romantic and adventurous as it once did.

All of that being said God clearly spoke to me several months ago about going to Africa and He has clearly spoken over and over again for the past several months.  In fact I don’t know if I can ever remember God speaking so consistently to me about anything as much as He has about Africa.  What does that mean?  I have absolutely no idea.  You can rest assured that I certainly do not believe that God is calling me to Africa, but I do believe that He has a purpose that is beyond what I can see with this earthly human eyes…I believe that He wants to use me…I believe that He wants to change me and I’m ready and willing to be all that He wants me to be.  I hope that you feel the same way.

I don’t know what my internet access will be but I am going to do the best that I can to keep you updated through my blog.  Please pray for me daily and I will be praying for you guys as well.

Well I haven’t written anything much in a while…sorry.  I have had way too much on my mind…I have been on mind overload.  Which is not hard for me.  But there are a couple of things that I wanted to remind you of before Sunday.  First, I am stoked about the message for this weekend.  God has clearly spoke to me…maybe the message was for me and not you.  My guess is you need the encouragement too.  So whatever you do don’t miss this Sunday.

Second I want to remind you of the special missions offering we will taking for this weekend.  When I say missions I am talking about local and global missions.  The local missions part is for our Christmas series.  We want to go all out this year for three weekends.  In the past we have sold tickets for a special Christmas program the weekend before Christmas. This year our goal is to go over the top with a three week Christmas series and do it for free.  You will have three whole weeks to invite your un-churched friends to a service where the gospel will be presented in a clear and compelling way…that’s the local missions part of the offering.

The global missions part of the offering will go to Africa.  I will be leaving next Thursday to go to Africa to teach and train pastors in the area of evangelism.  By training pastors we will be able to literally impact thousands upon thousands of lives with the gospel.  As of this week we have over 650 pastors committed to attend the seminars.  There is a long list of other pastors who want to attend but simply can’t afford it.  The average pastor in Africa makes only $6.00 a month.  The cost of the conference is$25.00 per pastor, which includes meals, a workbook, and a certificate, but that is a lot of money for one of these African pastors, so we need your help.  I’m just asking that you pray and ask God what you should give…it’s just that simple.  So have a little talk with Jesus and I’ll see you Sunday.

Wow! Another exciting weekend at SpringWell.  It was unbelievable!  We met Kimberly Walsh via video (thanks to Will wright) and live for the early crowd.  I want to thank Ellis Beddingfield of CCM and Tony McDade of GAIHN for giving SpringWell the opportunity to serve God through serving others in our community.  Sunday was a great day to be at SpringWell.

I also cast some pretty strong ministry vision for the next few months.  It is going to be off the charts.  We are going to continue to serve our community through opportunities provided to us by CCM and GAIHN…that’s right next year we are going to take on another transitional house project…so get ready!  And we are going to have the best Christmas season that SpringWell has ever seen.  And we are going to take the gospel to Africa in just a few short weeks.  There is way too much to say here so if you want to learn more then go to www.springwell.org and listen to the pod-cast of yesterday’s message.

We concluded our Sunday with Apex.  Apex is kind of like a fifth Sunday night singing on steroids.  If you missed it and have no clue to what I’m talking about I would suggest you call the church office and talk to one of our staff.  The crowd was awesome and our praise team went way over the top in sharing their hearts and leading us in worship.  We heard original music from SpringWell’s very own and we had the opportunity to get an inside look into the hearts of those who lead us in worship every week.  It was sweet!