After spending the year of 2006 teaching two weekly Bible study groups for incarcerated women, you might think Linda Horton would have been happy to take a break and sit back and relax for the summer months. She and her leaders group were deeply committed to both prison classes, one in North Carolina’s maximum-security facility in Raleigh and the second in Troy, almost a two-hour drive from home. They had worked hard and given their best to the glory of God. But Linda says that as those ministries took a break that summer, “It was clear to me that I did not want to shut down or take a vacation from the Word, so the Lord opened a door for me to teach on the coast at Atlantic Beach, NC.” That was the beginning of Beach Babes Bible Study, and Linda has been teaching the class every summer since.

Looking back Linda says, “Little did I know it would totally revolutionize my summers and enrich my life with great spiritual growth but also bring new relationships that have been blessings beyond measure. The group of women God brought to Beach Babes decided that we would be saturated in the Son instead of being saturated with the sun.” God has honored that commitment in many ways beyond Linda’s wildest dreams.

·      It was through Beach Babes that she met Angela Stanley who willingly took over the Bible study ministry at Southern   Correctional Facility in Troy, NC, freeing Linda to concentrate on her teaching at North Carolina Correctional in Raleigh.
·      It was in Beach Babes that Linda met a woman who shared that she had never before understood the grace of God. But as she studied the Book of Galatians her eyes and heart had been opened. Linda says she had been questioning all summer why God had led her to choose Galatians as the first study. That woman was her answer.
·      Beach Babes attracts women who have never known the Lord and those who have never studied God’s word, as well as seasoned Bible students. It is a summer opportunity that turned out to be a gift from God -- gifts of salvation, friendship, discipleship, and fellowship.

Linda comments, “I wish I had kept a journal of all the powerful statements that have come out of our group.  I am so very grateful for this experience.  Most people think we are on vacation but we are on a "stay-cation" with Jesus and it is incredible!” We at Disciplers think the beautiful, vibrant faces of the Beach Babes in the picture above is a powerful statement of the joy this ministry has brought to their lives.

This year, Beach Babes began their summer in the Book of Psalms. At the end the study, each member of the group was  asked to write her own Psalm, based on Psalm 136. A few of the women were willing to share what they wrote, and we know you will be blessed as you read.
        
Thank You, Creator God, that You wonderfully formed me from the foundation of Your glorious world.
Your steadfast love keeps me secure daily and eternally.
I thank You, Father, that You placed me with my parents who taught me of Your love.
Your steadfast love keeps me secure daily and eternally.
I thank You, Lord, that with your love, You drew me to Yourself and into Your family while I was still a child.
Your steadfast love keeps me secure daily and eternally.
I thank You, my Teacher, that as a teenager You provided youth ministers who taught me, not the ways of the world, but Your ways found in Your holy word.
Your steadfast love keeps me secure daily and eternally.
I thank You, my Shepherd, that You have walked with me through the difficult times of my life which were brought about by my own willfulness, by painful or confusing circumstances and by deaths of those dear to me.
Your steadfast love keeps me secure daily and eternally.
I thank You, my Provider, that You have given me great joy through the earthly love of my life, my husband, and all my wonderful family.
Your steadfast love keeps me secure daily and eternally.
I thank You, Omnipotent God, that the friends You have given to me have evidenced Your power and grace working in and through them.
Your steadfast love keeps me secure daily and eternally.
I thank You, Covenant Maker, that even when my faith falters Your faithfulness remains unbroken.
Your steadfast love keeps me secure daily and eternally.
I thank You, my Redeemer, that You have given me life itself, now and forever.
Your steadfast love keeps me secure daily and eternally.                   ~ By Elaine
    
Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good.
His love is everlasting.
Give thanks to the God of heaven, who reigns over all
His love is everlasting.
Give thanks to Almighty God who is in control.
His love is everlasting.
Give thanks to Our Creator, who made us in his image.
His love is everlasting.
To him who rescued me from a life striving to please everyone and earn love.
His love is everlasting.
To him who redeemed me from a life spiraling toward hell.
His love is everlasting.
To him who is the giver of all good things.
His love is everlasting.
To the One who bought me at a great price.
His love is everlasting. Amen
          ~ By Cris

He chose me to be His own
     He truly loves me
He saved me from sin
     He truly loves me
He showed me the way
     He truly loves me
He is always with me
       He truly loves me
           ~ By Joanne

The past few days of my life have been spent preparing for and living through hurricane Iselle. Although she was downgraded to a tropical storm and her circulation was disrupted while battling with the towering volcanic mountains of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, we still felt her fury on my island of Oahu. I had dragged my deck furniture into the living room to keep it from flying away, so I sat in the wicker rocker and watched Iselle spit her rain against my windows and angrily shake the branches of my old avocado tree. Spellbound by the wind and rain, the thought drifted into my mind that the hurricane tells us a lot about ourselves and about life. A hurricane is an unwelcome and formidable interruption that can bring out the best or the worst in us. It can also be a picture of the evil in the world that often threatens and sometimes kills. Did you know the word “hurricane” comes from “Juracan”, the god of evil of the ancient South American Taino tribe?

As a picture of evil, hurricane Iselle came and disrupted our peace while she was still many miles out at sea. She brought out the ugliness in some people as they fought for the last cases of bottled water in the stores and pushed back a woman on crutches who was pleading for someone to help her. Iselle struck fear into the hearts of those living on the eastern coast of Hawaii as they boarded up their windows, closed their places of business, or fled to Red Cross shelters. Tourists lined up at the airport, eager to get out of town. As if to taunt them all, the category 3 hurricane swirled off the coast and slowed her speed toward shore. Then, like an unrestrained terrorist, she burst forward and flooded the streets with over a foot of rain, toppled power lines, uprooted trees, tore the roofs off houses, and stirred up thirty foot waves to crash over the sea wall. She had no regard for human life, though thankfully she shed no blood. But perhaps the worst part was that no one knew what she would do next as she moved across the seas toward our islands. The meteorologists “predicted”, but in the end they had no way of knowing because they had no control. 

Having no control may be the thing we fear most in the face of evil. I had no control of the rain slashing at my windows and flooding down my street. I had no control of the fury that pummeled my avocado tree. We had no control over the evil that was unleashed on our nation on 9/11. We have no control of suicide bombers who become human lethal weapons, or of Hamas’ rocket strikes on Israel. And though it breaks our hearts to hear of innocent people, many of them children, stranded in Northern Iraq and threatened by ISIL terrorists with the choice of starvation or brutal execution, we have no control!

Although we may have no control over the evil in our world, as Christians, empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit, we do have control over the evil that wants to rule our souls. By the grace of God, we can refuse to allow evil to make its home in us. We can refuse to be a source of evil that can make the lives of those around us a nightmare. By the grace of God, we can refuse to be tempted and hardened by the deceitfulness of sin (Hebrews 3:13). We can refuse to lie, cheat, steal, or gossip -- to be lazy, proud, selfish, hateful, or manipulating. We can refuse to be involved in anything that does not honor God and glorify Him. I thought about what those things might be in my life and I am convicted to make needed changes. I decided that I do not want anything in my life that I would not like to see in the lives of my grandchildren. 

Besides removing the negative, we can also shine our light upon the darkness of evil in our world by praying for those who suffer in the face of evil. We can intercede with the One who does have control. We can pray humbly, harder, longer, more fervently, and together as our lives stand as a testimony against evil. Furthermore, we can be informed about the evil that disrupts our world and speak against it. We can speak up for what is good, right, decent, and humane. We do not need to remain silent in the face of evil. We should not!

All these thoughts came from a few moments of sitting at my window, watching and contemplating hurricane Iselle. I believe it was God’s message to me as an individual, but I have shared it with you in the hope that you will glean some bit of nourishment for your soul or conviction of your heart. My prayer is that we may live as pure lights in the world, being the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13), that the darkness may be exposed and inhumanity to our fellow human beings eradicated.

Hurricane Iselle has begun to look small in consideration of the evils of this world. 

By His grace

~Suzie