There is so much going on in Masters Commission 360. This year has started out very successfully and has launched us headstrong into a busy year!

The year started in September and with the new semester came the official launching of Souled Out, our ministry for the children living in and around our apartment complex.  Souled Out is on Tuesdays at 4pm to 6pm. So far it has proven to be very successful and the relationships with the children coming are developing into more than we could have asked for!


In October we helped a Master’s Commission in Mobile, Alabama with their House of Horrors. Although posed as a regular Halloween “haunted house”, this one has an amazing twist. The last section of the house is dedicated to the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the third year that we have gone and had the wonderful privilege of seeing lives transformed. It is hard work but well worth the time and effort.

On October 31st we worked with Christ Church at Fall Fest. This year’s festival was the biggest yet: we had more workers and higher attendance than any other year. It was a great night of thanks to all the Christ Church donations and volunteers.

The beginning of November was packed full of preparation for our South Regional Masters Commission Retreat. We had the privilege of hosting the event this year. It was a grand slam! Seven other MC teams joined us, bringing the total attendance to more than 200. Over 300 people packed out both evening services.

During Thanksgiving week we passed out over 1000 pounds of turkey to every the occupied apartments in our complex. We are blessed to be able to help out and build strong relationships with our neighbors.

Coming up on the first Sunday in January (January 4th) we have our annual Southern Gospel Concert. Mark your calendars for a fun night of your favorite Southern Gospel songs with a Masters Commission twist!

As always we love and appreciate your prayers. We are still praying for a bus for travel. As our team grows our vehicle has to grow with us, so keep those prayers coming! We can always use prayer in the area of student finances. Although our First Phase students are not allowed to have regular jobs, most work odd jobs on their day off to help pay for their tuition.

God has been providing and all of the blessings have been humbling we thank you for helping us make this the best year of Masters Commission360 yet!

Every Christmas and Thanksgiving they reach out to hundreds families- bringing gifts and food. It?s not enough for them to tell the families that God loves them? they show it. It is an awesome learning and ministry opportunity for Master?s. We get to go out there and hang out with kids as well as participate in the services?coordinating the games, singing, and speaking. We build relationships with the kids- we see changes in them and know that we have really impacted their lives. Hopefully we showed them how to build momentum in their lives to push past the gangs and into fulfilling their God given dreams.

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Retreat is the point in the year whenever the team literally retreats and gets away from the way things are. They get away from stress and are influenced to form together into a family. The results of Retreat can only be told from the individual because each is different?but there is freedom and there is peace.

Suddenly, as you are worshipping, you hear a loud noise coming from outside of the building. It isn?t chaotic?no it is a voice speaking in a language you can?t understand. It isn?t louder than your music, but you can hear it distinctly. A man standing next to you tells you what it is. It?s obvious from your expression that you?ve never heard it before. It takes a moment but reality hits: it is the mosque call, calling all Muslims to prayer. You have already heard it four times today but never got the chance to ask someone what it was. The realization that you aren?t home doesn?t make you home-sick? rather it ignites you. You are on the mission field in a world of people who believe in an distant, uninterested God. That is life in the U.A.E., and we experienced just a taste of it.

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Along with many of the other residents, he just wants a friend? to be remembered, to have someone sit down and talk. And every week we do just that. We get to be make their world a little brighter. Nursing homes are so often a place where people go and wait to die. We believe that God isn?t done with them yet. So we go and we sing, and we pray, and we talk with them, and remind them that there is still something worth living for.

They just believe without any complications. When did they stop believing that they?re superheroes and start believing that nobody loves them? Why didn?t anyone tell them that they have permission to be strong forever, or that beauty is second nature?

Children will live the same way as those who impact them. Every soul that we don?t try to reach, we lose by default. The words ring in our hearts: ?train a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it?.

So with that charge we impact their young souls, helping them to understand the greatness of the God who created them. Not all children make it to Children?s Church on Sunday mornings?sometimes we must take church to them. In our apartment complex we are bringing a tangible experience of God to those who may never get it at home or anywhere else. We bring them hope for their future.

Maybe it?s when we sit down and help with their homework, or the game that we play and the snacks that we share. It could be the dance that we are practicing, or maybe it?s the Bible story. They get to come and worship God. For some that means not having to worry about being the man of the house, for others it?s a chance to escape from the drugs, or abuse. They get to just be kids and learn that they?re important to somebody.

For a couple days, we just hung out in Times Square and other areas of NYC, just talking to people and passing out books and pamphlets (of which seemed to end up all over the streets of Times Square!) But then we met a young Jewish minister who had a very unique ministry: His small “church” met in the back room of TGIF Friday’s on a weeknight for a couple hours. Essentially, he would go door-to-door throughout Queens inviting people to “dinner.” So we got to help him for a couple days, inviting people to his meetings. It was really awesome to see him connecting with the people in his area like only he could, and just to know that he is still there in Queens doing all that he possibly can to reach people for Jesus Christ.

Ok, so you know we couldn’t go to New York and not have a day to just chill! So that we did. We walked all through Manhattan, seeing the sights including Ground Zero and Central Park. We took a ferry to the Statue of Liberty and saw Ellis Island and its museums. That night we went to eat at a cool restaurant and one of the most memorable activites yet: We saw The Color Purple on Broadway. Other nights we did different acivities, like ice skating and visiting the Imac Apple Store.

So there you have it, New York had great ministry, great sights, and we had a great time.