Why so many pictures of Lily?

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She's getting SO big!

Dear Friends and Prayer Warriors,

It's a blessing to have you following along with our lives and ministry here in East Tennessee, and to have you praying for us.  Last weekend we were blessed to have John and Ngoc Brown fly out from Texas for a visit.  John is one of the pastors in the missions office at Denton Bible Church, our employer.  John was one of the pastors who married us, and it was a real blessing to have them in our home.  We talked nearly the entire weekend about everything from marriage and parenting to life and ministry.  There is something uniquely special when a couple a few years farther along in life and marriage invites you into their lives and shares their wisdom, and we're thankful for the time we were able to spend with the Browns. 

We had a wonderful weekend with John and Ngoc.

We love you, and view you as partners in our ministry.  So one of the things I asked John about was what he thought we could do to improve the blog.  We've got a faithful readership, and we're constantly looking for ways to make it more beneficial for you the reader.  One of his suggestions was that we consider spending some time answering the questions we get asked the most.  Chances are, for every one person that asked the question, ten more people thought it.  So, over the coming months we're going to devote a section of the blog to just answering peoples frequently asked questions.

As you may have surmised from the title of this email, one of the questions we get asked regularly is why the blog has so many pictures of Lily.  The answer is simple.  More people read the posts that have pictures of Lily than the posts that don't.  More people respond to, share, and comment on posts that have a picture of Lily at the beginning than they do on any other post.  So, she's the lure we use to get you to open the blog and read our prayer requests.

In our effort to glorify the Lord in all we do, we try to do everything on purpose and not haphazardly.  We fail a lot, but it's something we're focused on allowing the Lord to improve in us.  I hope the blogs in the coming months will not only answer questions you may have lingering about our ministry, but also encourage you to live with the glory of the Lord in mind.

As an update to the last blog post, my meeting with the local baptist leaders that was scheduled for last Thursday got postponed until this Thursday, the 8th.  I've revised, rewritten, and expanded my proposal for the launch of Sermon Prep groups,  so please pray that I'll find favor in the sight of these local leaders, and the Lord will open doors for serving and training the under-served pastors in our region.

We want to praise the Lord for the new supporters he has raised up to join our team.  We still have some funds to raise, but the Lord has been graciously hearing your prayers and ours and blessing us with new support.

We helped a lot of people this month, including this cute little girl who was fascinated with the camera!

A local troupe of American Heritage Girls came out to serve on 1st Thursday and also on Saturday!

The girls did a great job helping load the food boxes.

Papa brought Lily a new ride!  Praise God for Papa's love of flea markets!

She loves doing whatever Papa is doing, even if it's just rocking in a chair...

or sitting in the swing.

A Busy Winter...and Hopes for Spring!

Dearest Friends and Prayer Warriors,

CHEESE!  Lily playing outside at the Storehouse on 1st Thursday.

Greetings from rainy and snowy East Tennessee!  We pray you are all doing well.  The past two weeks have been busy for us here.  Our teammates, Charlie and Earlene Cornett, left two weeks ago to travel to Denton, TX for a time of support raising and giving a ministry report to the Elders of Denton Bible Church, our sending church.  With them gone, Daniel has been active helping to run the day to day operations of the Storehouse ministry, distributing clothing to individuals and families in need.  This past January was our busiest January on record: we were so blessed to serve about 65 families!  One of Daniel's projects this past two weeks at the Storehouse was getting the back door fixed on our box truck that was rotted out.  This box truck is critical to our benevolence ministry here as it enables us to pick up furniture donations which is a critical need here.  We are excited to say a new door is in place!  The major focus of our benevolence ministry over this next week (outside of our day to day operations) will be preparing for possible missions trips that will be coming in March.  We also have plans for an American Heritage girl's group to come and serve in two weekends.  It is a joy having people to come and serve alongside us!  Won't you consider coming at some point?

Folks lining up for food on first Thursday.

This month we provided food for 68 families.

Pastor Luis and Pastor Gary, two of our local partners, serving on first Thursday.

In our Pastor Training Ministry we are so excited to say that we have had good feedback from Pastor Willie Lunsford, who is the Director of Seminary Extension at the Holston Baptist Association (HBA).  This is the largest association in East Tennessee and many of the smaller surrounding associations take their lead from the HBA.  Daniel submitted a proprosal to him outlining the integration and start of Sermon Preparation groups as a launching pad for the BTCP pastor training program.  Pastor Lunsford felt the proprosal looked great and they are planning to meet in a couple weeks to discuss the time frame for the launch of these Sermon Preparation groups.  A large hurdle that we face with the ministry here in East Tennessee is the "Ya'll aren't from around here" mentality.  A way that we have proposed to remedy this mentality is by gaining the support of the HBA to promote these Sermon Preparation groups.  Daniel would then facilitate a group of pastors meeting together once weekly where they would plan their Sunday sermons as a group sharing insights and illustrations.  This would be meeting a need that many of the pastors in the area have while at the same time, Daniel would be integrating himself in the culture and building relationships with these pastors in hopes that afterward, they would be receptive of the BTCP program and him relationally.  We are excited about these Sermon Preparation groups and hoping they can launch this summer. 

In our personal ministry we wanted to update you on a prayer request that we asked of you not long after we arrived here.  We asked you to pray for us to find a good local church that we could join and serve at.  We apologize for not updating you on this sooner.  In early December we are happy to say we joined First Baptist Church here in Greeneville, TN under the leadership of Dr. David Green.  We are actively involved in Sunday School and worship.  Also, Daniel is serving by leading a group of 15 families through Financial Peace University which started in January and ends in April.  He is really enjoying this time to help families in the church get on the road to financial health.  We have also been asked recently to possibly offer some financial counseling to an individual.  We are excited about this as we love to serve and believe there is true freedom in becoming debt free.  Meredith is also actively involved in a Sunday night bible study with other ladies at the church.  She is enjoying this study but also the opportunity to meet other ladies here. 

In our family life we have battled the stomach bug and upper respiratory infections the past two weeks but seem to be on the road to recovery.  Lily is such a joy in our lives!  We aren't exactly sure but we think her word count is over 200 words now!  She learns something new every day.  She is also learning to play with puzzles.  She really enjoys her time playing with her "friends" at the YMCA each day and in the nursery at church.  If you ever want to see her just let us know!  She loves Skyping and thinks it is so fun and you may even get a kiss through the webcam:) 

Things you can be praying for for us:
1-For Daniel's meetings with Pastor Lunsford and others at the HBA.  That they would be excited about the Sermon Preparation Groups and that these would be able to launch late Spring/Early Summer. 

2-For our endurance through the rest of the winter here.  We like to think of East Tennessee as a "mini-Seattle", it rains A LOT here.  It makes it hard to get outside and as that is Lily's favorite place to be, Meredith is really longing for dryer and warmer days!

3-For discernment and wisdom to know whether or not to buy a house and where to buy in this region.  We are considering home ownership and weighing this option for our family. 

Love in Christ,
Daniel, Meredith, and Lily Shrader

Lily is in a "helping" stage.  Here, she's helping mommy dust the bedroom.  When you're doing something, she runs up and says "help" and then trys to copy you.

And helping mommy load the dryer.  Notice the teamwork!

She's actually not bad help for an 18 month old.

The Christmas Store video

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Ready for church in my cute purple pea-coat.

Thank you to all of you who wrote encouraging notes and emails after our last blog post.  We really do appreciate all of your prayers and all the words of encouragement.  We know the Lord is going to provide and take care of us, and we're thankful to have you interceding on our behalf.


The Christmas Store 2011 from Daniel Shrader on Vimeo.

At long last, here is the video with highlights from the 2011 Christmas Store ministry.  This is a ministry organized by First Baptist Church of Greeneville, TN, where Meredith and I are members.  Mountain Vision collecting items for the Christmas Store was one of our first steps towards developing a long term partnership with First Baptist, so thank you again to everyone who sent items to help out.  It was a huge blessing to us personally, to our ministry, and to those in the community.



Things you can pray for this week.
1. We've been working on restructuring our local ministry this year because of some tax changes, so please be in prayer for a smooth transition.  It shouldn't affect our day to day operations beyond the added planning time.
2. Charlie and Earlene are leaving this weekend to spend a couple of weeks in Texas visiting and raising support.  Please pray for their safe travel, as well as for a productive time meeting with supporters.  

3. In our pastor training ministry, I've submitted a proposal to our local baptist association, so please pray that it will find favor in the eyes of these potential partners and we're able to begin to move forward.

Lily started cutting her canine teeth this week and though she's still her super pleasant self, mealtime is a bit more of an adventure because she doesn't want to chew anything!  She's doing great overall and continues to be a delight to parent.

Thank you for all your prayers and support!

Lily prancing around the kitchen in her princess dress.

One of Lily's new words this week was "dishes".

She likes to help mommy wash the dishes.

This mesh bag has become a favorite "hat".