35,000. That is the estimated number of decisions the average American adult makes each day. According to Cornell University, 226 of these have to do with food, in case you were wondering. Many of these decisions are barely perceivable and a lot are very insignificant-what mug I chose to drink my morning coffee from, for example. (does that count as one of my 226?) But often seemingly insignificant choices we make, do have unforeseen rippling effects. My decision to go to the grocery store ends up in praying for a friend in the parking lot. When I decided to go to the store at that particular time, I didn’t know it was going to have an encouraging impact on anyone else.  (By the way, Cornell people, does grocery shopping also count as a food decision?) So whether in my personal life or in my role as the Director of Mercy Market, I frequently have no idea what impact my apparent “little” decisions are going to have. And that is why I am writing this blog today. As we move into the new year, I am very aware of the many decisions that we will be making as we embrace once… Read More »

30 hours away… a vast canyon sprawls deep and wide… …and the tiniest of details blossom. 30 hours away… a mama scrubs her laundry on a stone… …while her daughter’s toy is a tire. 30 hours away… a playground is just feet from a cliff… …and thirst is satisfied from ground water. 30 hours away… there is cactus so sharp… …and pools of turquoise so blue. 30 hours away… Bibles are received so eagerly… …and there’s not even standing room at church. 30 hours away… everyone pitches in to help with dinner… …and is heartily enjoyed by all. 30 hours away… houses are barely adequate… …and children must snuggle together to stay warm. 30 hours away… school is raced to straight uphill… …and 2 + 2 = 4 no matter what language you speak. 30 hours away… a boy dreams of becoming a mighty warrior… …and a girl a beautiful princess. 30 hours away… pine needles and plants… …become beautiful works of art. 30 hours away… children begin to see the value of their parents’ handiwork… …and rejoice in God’s creations. 30 hours away… kids love to pose for the camera… …and we enjoy every minute with them. 30 hours… Read More »

“In everything, do to others as you would have them do to you.  This sums up the law and prophets.” These are the words of Jesus.  Who when asked what was the greatest commandment answered: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. The Second is like it“, he said, “Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and prophets hang on these two commands.” The law and the prophets. From Genesis to Malachi. From Moses to Jeremiah. Every law and every command. Every “Thou shalt and “Thou shalt not”. Summed up in a single word: LOVE This is the number one rule of Christianity. The top priority. The foundational value. LOVE It isn’t rule-obeying, regulation-following, command-keeping. It isn’t church-going, money-giving, sin-shirking. It is LOVE. LOVE in everything we do. In the checkout line and the parking lot. In the office and in the kitchen. Behind the steering wheel and computer desk. In our politics and prayers, our spending and our giving, our speaking and our listening. In EVERYTHING we do. There is no thought or action or place or time or… Read More »

Life is a lot of work.  The list in my head of business to handle, people to care for and projects to complete – not to mention the ceaseless cycle of cleaning – can get so overwhelming. I often sit immobilized and can’t attend to any of it. Does anyone else feel like the whole machine of family, or ministry, or career, depends entirely on you to keep moving? Like you’re the one shoveling all the coal and if you don’t keep up, the train will immediately run out of steam? What a relief to encounter the truth of Mark 4:26-29: “This is what the kingdom of God is like.  A man scatters seed on the ground.  Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.  All by itself, the soil produces grain – first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head.  As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.” The corn in our local fields is incredibly tall this year. This is due in part to periods of intense labor – preparing the… Read More »

In March of 2016, the chaos of sights, sounds, and smells of India filled our days…and our nights. It was powerful and overwhelming, yet humility and beauty intermingled with every step we took. Dreams of change, determination to see it through, stark and a constant awareness of our own wealth in comparison ruled our days there. Since that trip anything India catches my eye, my heart, and my attention. When I read of India in the news I immediately think of the women we met, the lives that for a brief time embraced us and invited us in. I think of the contrast of desperate survival and joyful living that we witnessed. Today marks an event that I had no knowledge of. I wonder if you knew that 5 years ago today, 1,138 workers were killed when a multi-story building collapsed? That thousands were injured? That they were making clothing…for us? On April 23, large cracks were found in the structure of the Rana Plaza building, in the Dhaka District, Bangladesh. The lower floors were shut down, but the garment workers on the upper floors were ordered to return to work the next day. The building collapsed only hours after… Read More »

It wasn’t where I had expected to hear from God. Sure, I had been praying. Asking. And I had hoped that sometime, somewhere, I would get an answer. But I sure wasn’t expecting it then. And definitely not there, of all places. For years I have read the Bible and sought to put its words into practice. But recently I had been finding a theme popping up all over the Scriptures that I was woefully amiss in addressing. I was not sure how I could have missed it, given the multitude of verses on the subject, but now here it was clearly before me: God’s heart for the poor and needy. The more I read, the more aware I became of my shameful neglect of that which was so important to the God I said I followed. So I began to pray, “God what do you want me to do? I prayed this for months. Asking God to show me how He would want me to respond to His deep compassion for the lonely, the broken, the outcasts, the destitute. “What do you want me to do?”, I asked over and over. And I listened for His answer in my… Read More »

“Four days without food…how much longer can I survive?”  Lying quietly on a thin mat, Nancy watched as the monsoon rains forced their way thru cracks and holes in the tin roof of her small hut. The leaks were by far the least of her problems. The hunger was ever present, gnawing away at the void in her stomach, from dawn to dusk. The ache for food pounded through her body like her heart working overtime. Four days…how much longer could she hold on? How would she find the energy to care for her family?  To search for food? How were they to keep on?       Her husband unemployed, her small family no stranger to hunger…but this time there seemed no hope for a way out. She watched as her young children played in the sweltering, muggy heat.  Her mother’s heart agonized while watching them, knowing that in spite of giving up her food, they still longed for more. Tiny bellies extended, she again wondered at how they could continue on. Just last week, her friend’s tiny daughter succumbed to starvation.  Their small and destitute community mourned, but all were well aware that many of their own children were at… Read More »

Thank you to those of you who have been praying for us today. As our time of intentional quietness and seeking God comes to an end, we are grateful that you were part of this day. The primary thoughts we believe God wanted to say to us today could be summarized as follows: Certain of God’s plan*, we will continue to press on**,  putting no confidence in the flesh***.  If you’d like to dialogue more about this statement or our experience today, feel free to contact us at [email protected] Also, if you think God said something to you in your time of prayer, we would love to hear from you! Again, thank you for partnering with us. We are blessed to know we are not alone! Denise–for the Mercy Market team * Jer. 29:11, **Phil 3:12, ***Phil 3:4

Mercy Market is inviting you to join us in a day of prayer on Monday, August 14.   From wherever you are, would you pause and lift up our ministry to the Lord?  Perhaps breakfast, lunch, supper and bedtime would be good times to remember to intercede on our behalf.  The leadership team will be praying and it would mean so much to us to have you join with us. Please pray that God would give us His guidance as we evaluate the direction of this ministry: Are there changes He wants us to make? Are we following His leading? We do not want to lag behind or rush ahead of Him, so, we ask: “Are we on track with you Lord?”   Are there new doors of selling opportunities?  New people to help by selling their products?                                         Would there be new people who would want to join our team? Mostly, we want a fresh anointing of the Lord.  We will listen to anything He wants to say to us about His ministry that He entrusted to us.   Please pray that we… Read More »

The music was loud.  The atmosphere seedy.  She sat at a table, waiting for her turn.   Her turn to dance on the counter, scantily dressed, with a number on her back like some commodity to be bought and sold.   Why?  What was her reason for being employed in this manner? Her answer: she has two small children to feed and care for.   This young woman in the Bangkok Red Light district is there because she is a mother. The prison was crowded and noisy. The conditions deplorable.  She sat on the courtyard bench and told her story.  The choice to transport drugs with the promise of enough money to pay off her house.  The chance to provide her children a secure home.  So she took the risk and ended up in an Ecuadorian prison.  Because she is a mother. The trip was long.  The feeling lonely.    She had left all she had known; her village, her friends, her family and worst of all, her children.    How she hated being separated from her children.   She wanted to be the one to comfort them when they hurt, the one to laugh with them, to watch them grow,… Read More »