Mission trip Scotland May 2012 over 50% funded!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR and...

PRAISE THE LORD!!!

Isn't Scotland beautiful? 

We are OFFICIALLY Scotland bound on May 21, 2012!  We have our airline tickets and we are really getting excited now!  Look out Scotland here we come!

The Lord is still working on the schedule, but we know that we will arrive in bonny Scotland on Tuesday May 22 (we fly through the night of May 21) and we return to the states (most likely reluctantly) on May 29th.  

We serve a mighty God who saw fit to provide almost $1000 just this past week, enabling us to purchase our airfare before the rates go up due to fuel surcharges.  We praise God for He is faithful and the bringer of peace that this was accomplished ahead of schedule ... before the New Year!!!  

To check out our 4th Quarter newsletter and hear about what else He's doing in, for and through us... click here.

Scotland update!!!

Praise the Lord and look out SCOTLAND... we are getting there!
 

• Our passports came in just 9 days!!!

• The Hungarian Nut Roll fundraiser covered passport expenses!

• With generous donations, we have just over $1000 in escrow for the trip... about 25% of what will be needed! 
• We are welcoming new members to our prayer team every week. 

If you are being led to GO with us, please respond today!  If you are willing to be a daily/weekly prayer partner - please call or email now.  If you are interested in supporting this adventure, please go to our website and find out how to do that... snyderchalktalk.com
 

 

Busy season of the year...

Hope you can take some time to stop and appreciate the REAL Reason for the Season!  The Birthday of a Savior!  

We have two more presentations this week which adds up to 92 events this year!  We praise the Lord for the opportunities He has given us to share HIS Gospel message, the GOOD NEWS of Jesus!  

May your days be merry and bright (with the light of the world) as you celebrate Christmas and ring in a new year!

Thanksgiving!

WOW!  That is about all I can say to sum up how much we have to be thankful for!  If you read the last blog, you know that we had a LOT of miles to put in in 6 days.  Well, we were so blessed in safe passage, needs met and fabulous fellowship along the way!

Our annual trek to Saugerties and Red Hook, NY was a huge reunion!  We went up on Friday, set up at the church on the way and then on to our dear friends Tim & Edna.  We stayed with them through the weekend and had an excellent time of fellowship.  On Sunday, we spent a wonderful 12 hours basking in the Lord's presence and hanging with HIS kids.  We really did not want to head home.  

Monday we had an impromptu firewood run and the Lord blessed James with another contracting job.  We got heat for the winter, and income to come shortly!  We serve an AWESOME God!

Tuesday we left early for Harrisburg, we needed to get our birth certificates so we can apply for our passports for SCOTLAND!!!!  After digging through all our files we determined we didn't have our birth certificates after all... and even if we did, they probably didn't have all the info that is now required to get a passport.  So.... off to Harrisburg we went and we walked out before noon with certificates in hand!  

On to the next destination... the Wilkes Barre region where we had presentations Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.  Our hosts, the Klines welcomed us with open arms and we have new family in north central PA.  We were thoroughly blessed by the families of both congregations that we ministered to.  Then we hit the road home to return in time to welcome in Thanksgiving.  We went to bed with full hearts and gratitude for the way the Lord allows us to be a blessing to so many.  

Thanksgiving day we got to hang with our great son and Tracy's parents.  It was a relaxing and reflective day. 

We pray that your Thanksgiving was just as much a blessing and as the day approaches to celebrate our Savior's birth, that you will reflect upon the TRUE Reason for the Season!

On the road again.....

We are on the road again!  Wednesday we start the adventure, relatively close to home, when we will share during chapel at Gateway Christian School in Mertztown.

This weekend we head up to the scenic and serene Catskill mountains in NY state to celebrate Thanksgiving with our dear family at New Beginnings Assembly of God in Red Hook.  We have a 4 hour trek Friday evening or Saturday morning, stay with sweet friends for the weekend and share a wonderful time of worship with New Beginnings on Sunday morning and a fabulous Thanksgiving FEAST with them after the service!  

We make our way back home Sunday evening or Monday morning, but then turn around on Tuesday to head north once again.  This time to the Wilkes Barre region.  We will be sharing in worship at the Bennett Presbyterian Church in Luzerne on Tuesday evening and then at the Immanuel Baptist Church in Kingston for Thanksgiving Eve worship.

We pray that you will take time to prepare your heart in Thankful praise this weekend as the holiday of Thanksgiving approaches.  May your time with family and friends be a memorable blessing! 

Learn more about this ministry at snyderchalktalk.com  and follow our journey to Scotland May 2012 here on this blog!  

Yours sincerely in His service and love,

James and Tracy Snyder

The date is set!!!

Greetings friends!


Snyder Chalk Talk is going to SCOTLAND May 23-31, 2012 to minister the Gospel as the Lord opens doors.  We are excited and blown away at the opportunity the Lord has given us.  We are going through S.C.O.T. Ltd (Scotland Christian Outreach Teams, Ltd) a short term missions sending organization.  We are still in the preliminary planning stages, but as co-leaders of Team Braveheart 2012 we send an invitation to any that have a desire to go minister in Bonny Scotland!  There is room for you and your "team" as well!  Check out our website:  snyderchalktalk.com for preliminary information/instructions, or contact Pastor Bill through scotlandmission.org

We are seeking prayer partners, TEAM members, and doing fund raising as May will be here before we know it!  If you would like to get involved, please get in touch with us today!  snyderchalktalk@hotmail.com

3rd Quarter News

Snyder Chalk Talk 

                                       3rd Quarter newsletter

We hope that your summer has been a refreshment to your soul. As the cooler temperatures start to visit once again, this too is a breath of fresh air to be grateful for! It never ceases to amaze us, how so much can happen in such a short time when the Lord starts the wheels in motion. We have SO MUCH to share!

Huge Breaking News

We have been saying for years, “if you open a door, we will walk through it.” An incredible door of opportunity has opened up for us to minister in Scotland sometime in 2012! We are beginning to explore this opportunity, but truly feel that the Lord has opened this door and we are excited to walk through it. In doing so, we ask for:

• PRAYER, PRAYER, PRAYER!!!
• Financial needs to be met
• Opportunity for fund-raising successes...
• help in sharing the news, opportunities and prayer requests with others

As you might realize, missionary work is not an inexpensive endeavor. It takes money to get where you are going and back, it also takes money to cover expenses on the home front while away. As we are in the preliminary stages, we do not have hard figures to quote, but we are already on the fund-raising path! We will be taking this adventure in partnership with a sending organization out of Bernville: S.C.O.T. Ltd. (Scotland Christian Outreach Teams) S.C.O.T. is a non-profit missionary sending organization (501.c.3), incorporated, and recognized by the IRS so donors may have gifts tax deductible. If you share a burden for this trip and can help send us to Scotland, please make your check out to S.C.O.T. Ltd, and send it to our address at the bottom of the page. We will then forward it on to SCOT Ltd, for them to deposit in escrow for us and send you a receipt.

Fund-raising efforts

We have opportunities to partner with S.C.O.T. in fund-raising efforts. Some of you may have gotten notice of a bus trip to NY event in the last week or so. This is just one event that they sponsor and we can invite people to join, we in turn reap some of the harvest of the event. There is another event coming quickly. If golf is your game or you would share this info… Celtic Classics Golf Tournament October 7th at Galen Hall Golf Club, Wernersville PA! Register Deadline: Oct 1.  Email:  snyderchalktalk@hotmail.com for details.

Prayer works!

In mid-August James was suffering great pain in his back. We reached out to an armful of our closest friends and prayer warriors to lift the situation up in prayer, as we had a presentation scheduled in several days and in his own strength and constitution James would not have been able to share with the children at a VBS in Lancaster. James had an incredible burden that the message the Lord had placed on his heart MUST GO OUT. So, we asked, you prayed, we went and Jesus MOVED in a powerful way that evening. Many of you kept coming back to encourage us and continued to lift James (and us all) in prayer. As things start to come back to a little more of “normal”, we truly realize we need your help!

We need your help

We are convinced that we need to search out the prayer warriors that Jesus has prepared for us, we know some of you are already. We are seeking for 100 committed persons who will lift up prayers for the times when we minister, for our personal health and safety, for those that will be moved by the Holy Spirit through events of Snyder Chalk Talk, and for the others that are praying for us (yes, even prayer warriors need prayer support!) We would ask that you only respond if the Lord has placed a burden on your heart to do so. We need you to be open to more frequent and specific updates (maybe even weekly) so that you know how to pray for the specific events in the near future and what barriers we are pushing against in life in general. We, too, will be praying for you. Will you put yourself on the front line?

Reflections of last month

Summer went by so fast! In our last update we shared about creative arts camp and the joy that we had in sharing with some really neat kids in a chalk art class and Bible class.

August opened doors for a NJ church Women's Banquet, for the American Baptist Men of PA & DE annual retreat at Ship.Univ., an evening VBS in Lancaster, an adult day care in Lancaster and would have had a church picnic in Mertztown if not for hurricane Irene! But, it was a rest for us.

Last update we also asked for prayer for the development of a new message on the topic “Fishers of Men” for a VBS program. We are elated to say that Jesus moved in a powerful way that evening and over half the children

"Fishers of Men"

came front in response to the invitation for prayer. It was a presentation like no other as Jesus prompted James to give the invitation to come front in response to the call of Jesus to “come follow me”. The group was probably 40 - 50 strong. It was humbling watching Jesus doing a “new thing” in and through Snyder Chalk Talk.

September we enjoyed a worship service of two congregations combined in Rehrersburg, and a Ladies Tea at Lansdale UM. Still to come in the last week of September: Monday is a double header with an Adult Day Care in Reading for the morning and family night at Alsace Lutheran in Reading and Wednesday we will be sharing with a community seniors group that meets at Emmanuel's House in Reinholds.

A Look Ahead...

We look forward to some quiet time of preparation in October, with only three engagements on the calendar so far. Our ideal goal is to add 13 more, can you help? There is plenty of room to add to any upcoming month and we gladly await for more open doors to walk through! November we have a bit of traveling to do (NY and north central PA the week of Thanksgiving) and December will continue to fill. Keep a watch on the calendar and watch it grow!

Again, we praise God for your interest, support and encouragement in the journey with Chalk Talk. Please contact us if you are willing to join our prayer team. Until then, may the Lord be guiding your steps, lighting your path and giving you the courage and strength to do as he asks – daily. His peace be with you until we meet again!

Sincerely in His service and love ~

James and Tracy Snyder

Snyder Chalk Talk … www.snyderchalktalk.com

P.S. Thank you for your prayer and financial support!

Mid-summer update!

Where does the time go? We pray that you are getting to enjoy summer and not having to hold up in the A/C too much. As our lives are in transition we continue to walk through the doors that the Lord opens for us and continue to be very busy. 

 

We have a high school graduate! Adam graduated with flying colors on June 8, 2011. We praise God for faithfully seeing us through the homeschool high school years and providing us support and confirmation along the way. Though Adam is undecided on a course of study and is holding off on college until he has a clearer vision, he continues to work at his business of garden maintenance. He also has begun breeding his leopard geckos, which he hopes will turn into a lucrative sideline vocation. We currently have two cute little eggs in an incubator in our basement.

Aren't these two just the cutest... OK, so you only see their tails, but they are cute together.

You may remember from our 1^st quarter newsletter that Tracy was shifting gears from homeschooling Adam to diving into a new schedule with helping her mom in her bakery business. As the summer is progressing, those duties are changing and she will be working on rebuilding Mom's bakery website. (A brand new adventure!) James has also been quite busy with contracting.

We are composing this newsletter while we are away for camp. (Though it won't be sent until after we get home.) James is teaching “drawing in chalk” and “elementary Bible study” at Created 2 Praise, a creative arts camp in Neffsville PA. This is our third year teaching at camp. James is once again being stretched in ways that are amazing. We stay with dear friends (and fellow chalk artist) and have an incredible week of fellowship. James and Elva critique and encourage one another all week long. James also helps around the farm doing handyman tasks where possible and Tracy helps in the kitchen. 

 

This year's camp theme is “Taste and See”, which we don't really get to apply well into the chalk drawing class, but Bible study has proved to be a smorgasbord of tasty morsels and we look forward to seeing our 4^th grade students blossom throughout the week.

James demonstrating during class

A quick summary of the past three months. In April we gave 9 presentations... at one venue 11 Bibles! We ministered at nursing homes, senior groups, youth ministry, church function and Sunday School.

May we ministered 12 times for church services and functions, seniors groups, adult day care, Lions Club, MOPS group, and nursing home. Now that is the schedule we would love to see every month! Tracy also had a conference she attended with her mom in Nashville and was gone 4 days! It was a busy month, but very productive in the Lord's work.

June was busy with 11 presentations and some for very unique occasions! We had “Summer Celebration” with Twin Pines to kickoff summer, followed by presentations for church worship services, two family reunions, Twin Pines adult camp, a graduation party, and children's camp. It was an exciting month with opportunity to give away over 3 dozen Bibles!!! Again, please pray for those that received the Bibles... that they would hunger and thirst for more of Him! At one venue alone 21 Bibles went off our table as well as almost everything else that was there for the offering.

As we are at the end of July, we'll give account. We had events for adult day care, christian day camp, two worship services and this week of camp. Tracy even got to steal away for three days to Ocean Grove NJ with her mom and aunt! (What a treat!!!)

Looking ahead we have 12 events scheduled so far the next two months, and 7 more to finish out the year. Typically the phone starts ringing in August to fill in the end of the year schedule. Watch our schedule fill!

Teacher James at the end of a good tiring week.

Prayer Requests:

• more opportunity to share the Gospel message
• God to raise up prayer warriors
• God's provision for financial needs
• our openness and obedience to what He has for us
• that we would be equipped, flexible and effective for His purpose

May you find joy, peace and rest this summer – may the Lord bless you and keep you, until we meet again.

Sincerely in His service and love,

James and Tracy Snyder

Another busy weekend... thank you prayer warriors!

Joseph.... a really neat picture that just keeps evolving, just like the account from the Bible!  We will be in Bensalem this Saturday celebrating a young man's graduation and giving the Joseph message during his party. Then on Sunday we will be in Pottstown at the Salvation Army for a 3pm Community Outreach service, sharing that old favorite about a famous battle in the Old Testament, fought between two men instead of two armies.....  David and Goliath!  That's right.  Please pray that we will be yielded to the Holy Spirit and that the Lord's presence is felt by all at both these events.  We know that the Lord has great plans for this weekend, let us join in prayer that we don't get in His way!

Check out our website:  snyderchalktalk.com for upcoming events and what is open to the public for you to visit.  As always, we greatly appreciate and depend on your prayers!  Peace be with you until we meet again!

Keep prayin'

Wow!  Last night was AMAZING!  God is so AWESOME!  There was an outpouring of the Holy Spirit at City Lights Ministries Friday night and a huge response to the invitation for salvation.  We gave away 22 Bibles and TONS of other tracts and Gospels as well.  The Holy Spirit was definitely in the house last night and shaking things up.  Thank you Father, for allowing us to be part of what you are doing in this world!

Deut 31:8 is a promise we hang on, but WOW, were our expectations exceeded last night.  Prayer warriors thank you for your covering!  Please don't stop!!!  Praise you, Lord Jesus, for raising up an army of prayer warriors for us.  May their prayers be fulfilled according to Your Will!

STAMINA.... that's what we need.

Hey there Chalk Talk friends!  Looking for prayers for stamina as this weekend is stacking up to be BUSY!  We will be at City Lights Ministries, Reading ~ Friday evening for a 7pm presentation.  Saturday we will be out near State College to present at a family reunion at 7pm, then drive home and get here about midnight because Sunday morning we need to be above Allentown at Bethany Wesleyan Church in Cherryville to minister during the 10:30 am worship service.

Prayers for stamina and the Lord's anointing on us, that the Harvest would be great and those that are already in the fold would be encouraged. 

We are both off to work on Monday after that whirlwind, so prayers for rest & restoration every time we lay our heads down would be fabulous.

May you have a blessed weekend in all you do.  Go forth and bring His light into your world!

Hey friends! Check this out!!!

OK... by now you may have noticed that God is stretching me a LOT these last two/three weeks.  Well, add making a movie to the list of BIG hurdles for me to conquer.  We were asked several weeks ago to compile a 2-3 minute slide show for a church that is holding a 24hour prayer summit.  That is what pushed me to ask a friend to teach me how to make a slide show.  Well, 4-5 hours of her time and countless more for me and the following is the fruit of my labors.  Praise the Lord for those times He pushes us outside the box!

I know it is missing audio.... I just ran out of time (and patience?)... Next time!

Please let me know what you think!

Events first week in June

Hey there, this is great... We can tell everyone where we will be ministering and I only have to quick type in a few lines!!!  Please be in prayer for those we will be ministering to, that they may be touched by the Holy Spirit and respond to His still small voice.  Pray for travel mercies and the Lord's provision for our needs through ministry.  May the Lord bless you as you join us in prayer.

Saturday, June 4th -- Twin Pines Camp, Stroudsburg PA for SUMMER CELEBRATION, an all day festival on the beautiful grounds of Twin Pines.  We will be presenting at 1pm.  Come for food, fun and fellowship with many believers.  

Sunday, June 5th -- Kinderhook EC Church for Children's Day at 9:30am

 Kinderhook EC Church,562 Kinderhook Rd,Columbia , PA 17512  717-684-2403

Both of these events are open to the public.  Come and join the fun!

Don't forget to watch our calendar on the website to see where we will be as the engagements continue to come in.   snyderchalktalk.com

Finally getting real...

Well, we are finally getting serious about having a web presence.  Just went to a seminar and learned an overwhelming amount about marketing in two short days.  Now we know that knowledge works best when we APPLY it!!!  So, here we go.  Snyder Chalk Talk Ministries is coming into the 21st century.  

Check out our website to see where we will be this next month, your prayers are greatly appreciated!  This Saturday we will be at a closed event for Coventry Church of the Brethren at Camp Swatara, Bethel PA.  There is a possibility of a presentation on Friday, June 3 ~ so keep that in your prayers as well.