May, 2018 “They will be called oaks of

righteousness … to display

God’s glory.” Isaiah 61:3

One morning as I was praying and asking God for His wisdom and peace, He spoke to me and said “Satan is like the wood peckers that are destroying your trees.” We have about 10 trees that are dead and 2 or 3 that are fighting to survive. We had a tree specialist come out to tell us what was killing them and what could we do to save them. The guy walked around our property showing Ben where the wood peckers were attacking the tree and as they drilled their holes into the tree, it weakened the tree and slowly killed them. God showed me that the tree outside our bedroom window that was dead and ready to fall over is like the Christian with no armor against the enemy. The person is still saved, but emotionally and physically they are dying because they don’t know how to stand against the lies of the enemy. He showed me that this was my mom; she loved Jesus and was saved, but she could not stand against the enemy’s attacks and lies. The lies destroyed her emotionally and physically, but spiritually she was saved and now she is in Heaven. He then showed me that the tree in our back yard that fights every year to come back is like the Christian that is fighting the enemy in their own strength and occasionally with the word of God, but not standing firm in His truth. The tree spe-

cialist told us that we could invest time, energy and money into saving that tree, but it would take time. God then showed me that the Christian who is struggling can put on the armor and fill himself up with truth and spend time with God and allow His holy spirit to minister to them and they can be healed emotionally. (He will bind up the bro-ken hearted and set the captives free: Isaiah 61:1). Ben asked the tree expert how we can stop the wood peckers from destroying all of our trees, and he said the only ones we have left are oak trees and pine trees; the wood peckers won’t bother them. They don’t like the pine trees and the oak trees are too hard for them to penetrate. God spoke to me and said if we become strong like the oak trees

then the enemy will not be able to penetrate us with his lies. He said to put on the armor, to know who He is, to know who we are in Christ, to recognize the lies of the enemy, to stand firm in His truths, to spend time with Him being filled up and nourished, and to take care of ourselves physically so we don’t become weak and tired. And if we do these things, we will stand strong like an oak tree so that we can be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, so that He may be glorified (Isaiah 61:3). My prayer for each of us is that we will stand firm by putting on the whole armor of God, that we may be able to stand against the lies of the enemy (Ephesian 6:11), and that we will recognize the lies of the enemy (John 8:44), and stand firm in His truth. Then we will know the truth and the truth will set us free (John 8:32). Please keep Agape House in your prayers as we continue to move forward offering His hope and healing

to a hurting generation.

Standing Firm Against the Attacks of the Enemy

Satan is always out to kill, steal and destroy (John 10:10), especially when we are moving forward and taking new territory for the Lord. Agape House is looking at expanding this Fall and the enemy is not happy; he has upped the warfare upon me personally, my family and the ministry.

~Blessings Beyond Belief, Pam Patterson, Executive Director

Page 2 Agape Connect ion

There is

always that person. You know who

it is. If you don’t know them per-

sonally, you know of them. That

person who may say things out of

turn, loudly or obnoxiously. That

person who dresses in unique at-

tire. That person who never

talks. That person who always has

to have the last word. That person

who stands alone. Different. Isolat-

ed. Ostracized. Take a moment to

see that person’s face pictured in

your mind and look into his or her

eyes.

A few months ago, I watched a

video where two people were asked

to only look into the eyes of another

while sitting in a quiet room. They

were not to speak but to just gaze

into the eyes of the other for a total

of five minutes. Seemed like an

eternity at the sound of it! What

was observed was body language

softening and gazes becoming less

intentional and more relation-

al. Tears streaming down cheeks

and hands reaching across to be

held, while tender touches, such as a

soft pat on the leg or shoulder were

exchanged. Gentle giggles filled

some dead air as deafening grace

and mercy then entered in. Love

permeated the room. In the debrief-

ing when they were given the okay

to talk after that never ending 5

minutes of resounding silence, emo-

tions overflowed! Revealing their

own hearts of judgement turned into

empathy as they saw that person in

such a vulnerable way. Seeing the

person beyond the external shell,

exposes all their humanity as being

beautifully flawed, bold, insecure,

strong, broken and daring. These

moments are where hearts shift and

perspectives change. This exercise

in vulnerability challenged those

individuals to genuinely examine

their own hearts as the hearts of the

one across from them was discov-

ered.

He Left the 99,

for the one.

God is after the hearts of His chil-

dren. I picture Him staring into our

eyes in such a way where He is only

able to see the Spirit He created within

us. He does not become consumed on

the inadequacies that we ourselves fix-

ate on, nor do the opinions of others

begin to influence His admiration of us,

His precious children. We are made in

His image and character and to Him,

we are enough. But some days we

don’t feel like we are enough. Or

worse yet, we don’t treat others as

though they are enough. Dorothy Day

pierced my heart as she declared: “I

really only love God as much as the

person I love the least.”

In the book of Matthew, Jesus uses

the parable of the lost sheep to demon-

strate the love of our God. “If a man

owns a hundred sheep, and one of them

wanders away, will he not leave the

ninety-nine on the hills and go look for

that one who wandered off?” (Matt.

18:12 NIV) Here at Agape, we live out

pursuing the one who has wandered

off. Their wandering may very well be

intentional, but often times they are not

really wandering off at all. Some have

been pushed out. Others have felt that

they didn’t belong with the other 9, and

others didn’t feel safe. Nevertheless,

the girls who are at Agape have be-

come that “one person” I mentioned

earlier. So now is our time to boldly

examine ourselves. Jesus leaves us

with John 14:12: “Truly, truly, I say to

you, he who believes in Me, the works

that I do, he will do also; and greater

works than these he will do; because I

go to the Father.” His assignment was

not easy and the price was higher than I

can imagine paying. The world pushed

us away and He came to give us the

most abundant life in return. Are we

relentlessly pursuing those the world

pushes away? Do we do what we can

in our own power and then say we did

what we could and give up? My heart

challenges you to see those around you

through the lens of our Father’s heart.

With that renewed vision, will you pur-

sue that one the world refuses to see?

Psalm 55:16-17

“As for me, I call to God, and the

Lord saves me. Evening, morning

and noon I cry out in distress and

He hears my voice.”

I really love this Psalm because it’s kind of

powerful. When David says, ‘as for me,” almost

like he knows others are choosing different

methods of help. “as for me, I call to God, and

the Lord save me.” This gives one strength and

confirmation that when I need help or feel like

my enemies are overpowering me, that I can

call out to God and He is there. He will provide

a life line for me. Another reason I like “as for

me, I call to God and the Lord saves me” is it

reminds me how when I’m listening to music a

lot of rappers sing about medicating their pain

with sex, drugs, and alcohol. So, it’s like well, as

for me, I’m going to call out to a higher power

other than drugs. And “…evening and noon I

cry out in distress and He hears my voice,”

reminds me that God will never sleep on me.

~ Alyssa Nelson

QUESTION?

“What is your

favorite Psalm

and why?”

By

Kym Bachtell

Psalm 56:8

“You keep track

of all my sorrows.

You have collect-

ed all my tears in

your bottle. You

have recorded each one in your

book.”

For me this means that my sorrow meant

something. Any sort of emotion especially

sadness is cared for by God. Our emotions are

thought of, we are

not forgotten.

~ Grace Kerr

Page 3 Agape Connect ion

5K Walk, run, stroll

an awesome community event

On April 28th over 200 individuals joined us on the streets of Wal-

worth to not only raise funds for the programs at Agape House, but

to also bring awareness to the growing problem of child abuse.

We want to thank all those who joined us and all those who faithfully

support the ministry of Agape House. A special thanks to our event

sponsors; Kunes Country, WW Trucking, Godfrey, Leibsle, Black-

bourn & Howarth, S.C., John’s Disposal, Service, MGA Innova-

tions, Knead 2 Relax Therapeutic Mas-

sage, Excel Chiropractic & Wellness, Dean

Foods, Best Events Catering, Triple

Crown Products, and John Palmer Person-

al Training.

Thanks everyone,

Hope you enjoyed

your day!

Saying Good-bye ... Liz Pieters, has been our bookkeeper since 2015, however she was also the first Agape employee and has served Agape as office manager and recep-tionist as well. Liz is moving on to follow God on a different path.

Dee Jones, has served as School Ad-ministrator since 2014. She is retiring & looking forward to spending more time with her grandchildren!

Christa Dame, has served Agape faithfully as Counselor since 2014. She is leaving us to pursue her private counseling business, while reducing her work hours to spend more time with her children.

Thank you ladies for your years of faithful service.

Your smiles and loving care will be greatly missed.

God bless your new adventures!

A Day in the Life of our

Angels...

Nurturing, studying, playing, and

moving. Our days are filled with

opportunity to grow and learn. Vol-

unteers play a huge part in bringing

love and care to our angels. From

those who lovingly prepare and serve

lunches, to others who take time to

teach a special skill like sewing or

woodworking, it is our volunteers

who help complete the wrap around

care our girls need.

If you would like to be a part of our

team and make a difference in the life

of a teen, please contact our office at

262.275.6466 to learn how you can

share your special talent.

Thank you, Volunteers!

You make our day

brighter!

SPECIAL EVENTS

Jasmine’s Salon & Spa

On February 16, Jas

mine’s opened their

doors and lovingly pam-

pered our girls for a spe-

cial Valentine’s Day treat. Special day coordina-

tor Barb Ditzenberger, has made this day a tradi-

tion and with the aide of Jasmine’s out did them-

selves in making the girls feel special and loved.

Photographer Kaleigh Thelen, then treated them

to a photo shoot, and escorts Frank and Mary Lou

Stellato accompanied them to the Tuscan’s in

Lake Geneva for dinner.

Brooklife Church On April 19th; the girls enjoyed a Jason Gray con-cert held at Brooklife Church, in Waukesha which was a very intimate setting compared to most concerts. Their music was very powerful!

Jason Gray and

some of our angels.

NON PROFIT

U.S. POSTAGE PAID

WALWORTH, WI 53184

PERMIT NO. 4

P.O. Box 68

Walworth, WI 53184

Agape House, Inc.

ELECTRONIC SERVICE REQUESTED

Save the Date 9th Annual

RUN UNITED 5k RUN

5k WALK 1-MILE FUN RUN Sat., June 18, 2018

8:00am Babe Mann Park—Elkhorn

Visit: www.uw-wc.org

Lakeshore Estate Resale is a local charity created to sup-

port local causes. Located at 80 N. Walworth St. in Williams

Bay it will receive “gently used” donations to support your

charity of choice. The items will be sold and if you desig-

nate Agape House as your charity of choice, all the net pro-

ceeds will be sent to us. A GREAT WAY TO GIVE!

Remember us this Summer…

Though the school year is over ,we still have needs

throughout the summer. Administrative staff pre-

pare for the upcoming year, counselors continue to

meet with the girls and their families and those who

need additional academic help have tutors and staff

available to meet their summer time goals.

SEPTEMBER 4TH!

The 2018-2019

School Year Begins

SAVE THE DATE:

Walking AMAZED

with God

October 25, 2018

Make plans now to join us in cele-

brating all the amazing things God is

doing through and with the ministry

of Agape House

“And they were all amazed at the

greatness of God…”

Luke 9:43