October Update

fall retreat!

Friday nights

Maddie & Gabi with a snow-making maching at fall retreat. they had never seen one :)

Eli and his buddy Caleb :)

Brett & Gabi....unintentional twins :) hi Family!

Wow, we seriously have been running with our hair on fire :) But it's ok! God has been giving us all the strength & rest we need. And we've been taking a weekend here and there away to recharge.

Our large group meetings and our Friday night worship meetings have grown to 20+ and 30+, respectively. Mondays is our Evan night (a guy we met a few years ago who has adopted the Thooft clan as his own. So he comes and hangs out on Mondays:) Tuesday is large group on campus, and can I just say, THANK GOD for Ruth and Mark!?!? Ruth pioneered an XA group at Hibbing Tech last year, and when she transferred here to complete her nursing degree, she jumped in with us. That girl rocks the campus. She's a biblically sound spirit filled spitfire that attracts all kinds of people. There hasn't yet been a Tuesday or a Friday without new people, mostly because they met Ruth somewhere! AND, family, she is organizationally gifted! She does stuff that Phil and I, in all our years here, never knew we could or should do. (yikes, can't believe I'm admitting that) So I think of something and text her and say, "hey, we should do this.." and she texts back, "already done. Yesterday."

This is a HUGE relief for us. With Phil working full time and my internet sales home job kicking into high gear for the holidays (yes, they are almost upon us. can you believe it?!?) - with our official "part time" status and the group at "full time" people....without Ruth, what would we do?!? And Mark....Phil's right hand man & friend....he is a God-send in a million ways. Coming over to side the house when Phil is at work. Available for anything we might be doing.....tilling the garden, siding the house, building a wood shed, putting up a huge fence, leading a men's group....Mark has been there. He is a BSU graduate working on another degree in art.

So God is amazing. Sending us a team, right when we needed it most.

Thursdays are busy days for us too. I have a girls tea in the afternoon, where we literally drink gallons of tea and I make scones or something fabulous, and then we walk, or sit by a fire, or whatever weather permits. We are going through the book Captivating, and after that, Danny Silk's Defining the Relationship series. Thursday nights, Phil's men's group is growing by bounds. It started a few weeks ago with three guys, and last week had 10. 80% of men struggle with pornography in our culture. It's a relationship issue; an intimacy issue. Relationships hurt us, and relationships heal us. These guys get together once a week and share their hearts with each other. Phil has been using Mark Peterson's Purity Pursuit DVD set for this class. It's so exciting to see guys getting free and learning to identify their feelings and make good choices.

The international ministry is going strong- last gathering we had 24 internationals and about 12 americans. Something like that. One of these guys has begun seriously seeking to know God, and several others have had amazing conversations with Ruth and Phil. God is on the move here!

Also, family, if you would keep praying for the Krueger's. We found out a few weeks ago that Michelle Krueger was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer and given a year to live. She is in ICU, has had surgery, and is moving into chemo. We are contending for a miracle. Please continue to pray! For more info, see my last post, MN Chi Alpha Alert.

So I could talk a lot longer, but I'm supposed to keep these short! :) We just got back from Fall Retreat last weekend- 20 students and our family went. It was great. A wonderful bonding weekend and students coming home more intimate with the Lord.

Not sure how this could get much better! (but we're pretty sure it will!)

love you, family!!

Phil & Michelle & tribe