Meet Heather.
Heather explored her design through COMPASS. She realized how very much she wants to help people.
She began to explore careers which have this focus. She observed physical therapy, but the work wasn’t personal and conversational enough.
She began to volunteer at a church’s ministry for students with disabilities. She loved it! As she continued to explore careers, she stumbled upon “Registered Behavior Technician”, a paraprofessional job which involves assisting clients with autism using applied behavior analysis therapy. Certification involves passing a 40 hour training course. Heather and I discussed that she could possibly do this entry level work while she pursues her college studies.
She applied for an entry level position at a local autism therapy center. During her interview, the staff watched her as she interacted with the clients. They hired her, and they are paying for her Registered Behavior Technician certification!
We are so happy for Heather, but even more happy for the autism center clients who will be cared for so well by her!
We are excited to announce that Cultivate will have a presence in Omaha, Nebraska! Sam and Lydia McCool were members of our ROOTS group and participated in SYMBIS premarital counseling with us.
Sam was offered a mechanical engineering job in Omaha, and they moved there as soon as they were married.
After settling into their new life, they observed the need for young adult community and Bible study in their area. They asked if they could start a group like ROOTS in their area. We are SO excited for Sam and Lydia! Please pray for them as they seek to build relationships and minister to young adults in Omaha.
Because of what we have learned through the book, Experiencing God, I am looking more and more for what God is doing around me.
One Saturday morning, I read Psalm 42 in my devotional book as well as in another book I was reading. I sensed this was not a coincidence, but didn’t think much about it. I went to bed that evening and woke up (eyes wide open) on Sunday morning at 2:00am. I couldn’t go back to sleep, so I decided to get up and have time with God. I opened the Bible reading plan in my app and guess what I was to read? Psalm 42. Needless to say, God had my full attention.
Psalm 42 is about disillusionment… I was not disillusioned. It is about being mocked by enemies because of your belief in God…. I haven’t had that problem lately.
I spent three hours looking at commentaries and trying to find some way that the psalm applied to me. I couldn’t figure out what God was telling me through this passage, but I knew He was telling me something!
I fell asleep around 5:00am, and woke up at 8:30. Paranoia began to set in - “Is God telling me that I’m about to go through a time of disillusionment? Am I about to be attacked for my faith?”
Just as the “what ifs” were about to get the best of me, I got a phone call from someone I mentored last summer. He said, “Mrs. Elise, my friend called me last night at 1:50am. She is really struggling.” He told me she is disillusioned in her walk with God and doesn’t feel His Presence. She is trying to stay focused and puts Scripture on her walls to help her, but her atheist roommate rips the papers off the wall and laughs at her for believing in God. Yep... sounds like PSALM 42.
He then asked, “Can I give her your number?”
I said, “Yes. Please do.”
I learned a big lesson that morning. I had to confess how self centered I am when God speaks to me. He was calling me to pray for someone who was in the Psalm 42 struggle. I spent three hours looking for how Psalm 42 applied to me. From now on, when He emphasizes a passage to me and it doesn’t seem to apply to me at the time, I’m going to be praying for the person it does apply to!
Please pray for the girl in this story. She hasn’t called me yet. She doesn’t have to - but God loves her so much that he woke me up at 2am - He wanted me to pray, and now I am.
2022 got started off with a BANG! On January 8, we started a 21 day fast to seek God for the year. On January 9th, our amazing daughter-in-law had a spot on her arm removed that turned out to be melanoma. The dermatologist was very concerned due to some of the factors concerning the spot. Needless to say, our fast took a more desperate turn.
Rachel had follow up surgery on February 24th to remove more of the site and to take lymph nodes for evaluation. We are thankful that this surgery revealed the melanoma was totally gone and the lymph nodes are totally clear. Through this, we came to experience more than ever the need to practice the truth Isaiah 26:3-4 proclaims about God , "You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! Trust in the Lord always for the Lord God is the eternal Rock." In such times, whether the results are good or not, we must choose to trust God.
4/9/22 - Service Project - Cultivate will be providing a meal for the foster families of Coweta County at their Easter Eggstravaganza
4/29/22 - Secret Church 2022 Simulcast - “Who Am I?” Gender. Sexuality. Artificial Intelligence. Race. Justice. Genomics. The Metaverse. Cultivate will again provide a host site for the annual simulcast of Secret Church. This year, David Platt and the Radical Ministries Team will address all of these controversial issues directly from the Bible during six hours of intense teaching. This year's prayer focus will be for the country of Afghanistan. Please pray for the young adults who will be attending this event as they wrestle with how to live out truth in a post-truth culture.
Cultivate is committed to provide services free of charge. This means our ability to continue to do what we do is wholly dependent on God continuing to send supporters who believe in this ministry and generously support this work financially.
So many of you already support Cultivate through your prayers and financial support. We cherish your continued support and cannot tell you how thankful we are for your partnership. If you aren't yet a Cultivate partner, we ask that you consider joining our support team.
The easiest way to give is to use our online platform, provided by PushPay. Visit cultivatenext.org/give or simply text the word "Cultivate" to 77977 from your mobile phone. You can also contact elise@cultivatenext.org for more information.