Complete in Him

“You have been given the fullness in Christ”. Colossians 2:10

Prayer Requests:
~ Pray for the girls to truly understand what it means to be complete in Him.
~ Pray for the health and well being, physical, spiritual and emotional, of ALL students, staff, volunteers and their families.
~ Pray for the girls to be able to face their fears, and then seek God to overcome them. “For God did not give us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7
~ Pray for one of our students struggling with being here all day.


Praise Reports:
~ Praise God for the walk we enjoyed on the Lake Geneva shore path last Friday. We all travelled along safely; the sun was shining and it was about 35 degrees; and everyone enjoyed the beauty of God’s creation. We found a great little bridge to take a picture on (see above)!

~ Praise God for the students who helped to make a meal for the homeless men of Walworth County last Friday – it was a labor of love! The girls are incredible in the kitchen, and it was a privilege to have a chance to give back to others in need!

~ Praise God for the joy of seeing them actively using their knowledge to express themselves verbally, as well as in writing. Their creativity is amazing!

~ Praise God for the maturity we are seeing in the girls in so many ways, from the pride in doing their chores to completing goal cards to being accountable for their schoolwork!

~ Praise God for the girls as they encourage each other in their daily lives – it is priceless!

~ Praise God for laughter in the classroom on a regular basis – what a beautiful gift!

“Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, The LORD has done great things for them." Psalm 126:2


Wish List:
~ Chicken
~ Beef
~ Iron rich foods
~ Raisins
~ Dried apricots
~ Cashews


Renovation Update:
~ What a joy it will be when the living quarters are complete – please continue to pray for this process to move forward.


“Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” I Corinthians 15:57-58

Love of God

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39

Prayer Requests:
~ Pray for the girls to understand fully the beauty of God’s grace, that Jesus died on the cross for each and every one of us, and that by giving their heart to Jesus, they will be transformed and receive the gift of eternal life!
~ Pray that the girls continue to forgive others so they receive healing.
~ Pray for one of our students struggling with being here all day.
~ Pray for one of our girls who needs healing and wants to ask for forgiveness for hurts.

Praise Reports:
~ Praise God for steady, consistent behavior from the girls this week in the home.
“You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.” Isaiah 26:2-4

~ Praise God for students using words to express themselves instead of lashing out in anger!
~ Praise God for two students who have made more academic progress this week then they have in all the time they have been here!
~ Praise God for all who are pressing into their issues, and letting them go to God.
~ Praise God that the girls are enjoying their Bible reading time in the classroom; they have almost completed the Book of John, and the girls are making suggestions as to which book to read next!
~ Praise God for all the girls working on forgiveness!
~ Praise God for all of the volunteers at Agape – we are so blessed to have tutors, readers, extracurricular class teachers, chapel speakers, lunch providers and servers, last-minute substitutes, office assistance, cleaners, painters, prayer warriors, donors of funding and supplies needed – we could not function as we do at Agape without all of these wonderful people!

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9


Wish List:
~ Chicken
~ Beef

Renovation Update:
~ As the painting continues to progress, we continue to pray and believe for God’s timing with regard to the purchase of commercial appliances for the living quarters.


We are so grateful to all the support we have received from all of you. Have a blessed week!

Love God, Love Others, Love Yourself

The core of our purpose at Agape house is to help everyone come to love God first, love others, and love themselves. How appropriate that we reiterate this on Valentine’s Day!

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.” Mark 12:30


Prayer Requests:
~ Pray for the girls to understand what love is, and why it is important to love God first, then others, and then ourselves.
~ Pray that the girls continue to press in to dealing with their issues, and developing their coping skills.
~Pray that the girls come to understand that God intended us for love and relationships, and to understand the how God intended this to work in our lives to enjoy love and relationships to the fullest.


Praise Reports:
~ Praise God for the work the girls did at the homeless shelter last Friday. They cleaned the community kitchen, including the ovens and refrigerators. The appliances looked like new. The girls showed what a fabulous work ethic they have, as well as their beautiful servant hearts.


“A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another . . . ” John 13:34


The girls were asked this week to write about what they think love is. This is one of the responses we received.

“I am not quite sure yet what my thoughts and feelings about love would be. I don’t yet think that I am mature enough to truly know what love is. What I have felt in the past that I thought was love was a wonderful thing. It felt like the whole world could see me glowing when I saw his face or heard his voice. Like they could feel what I felt when I looked into his eyes. The fluttering butterflies in my stomach every time I held his hand made me think I was in love . . . but I wasn’t.

The fact that someone wanted to be with me at the time, made me feel like I was in love. It was the fact that every other freshman in school didn’t have what I had that made me think I was in love.

God’s love for us is incomparable, unconditional, and indescribable. We could try to compare His love with the love that a mother has for her child, but it doesn’t come close. All of the greatest loves in the earth combined into one cannot even compete with God’s love for us.

Even though He is the awesome, omniscient God that He is, knowing every single one of our flaws, lusts, thoughts and false knowings, He still loves us unconditionally and provides for all of our needs.”


“ . . . Love him as yourself. . . ” Leviticus 19:34

. . . for those who love Him

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9


Praise Reports:

~ Praise God for the fabulous time the girls all had at Tim Stoldt's home last Friday snowmobiling! As you can see in the picture above, they were dressed for the cold weather.

~ Praise for students making it through an entire morning without a blow-up. God is really working in and through the girls to choose ways to express themselves and have themselves heard without exploding. It's beautiful to watch the girls choose their words.

~ Thank you to Shar Schultz for her faithfulness in counting PACE pages each week. Using the completed pages is a wonderful tool in showing the girls all they are accomplishing, along with holding them accountable for their work. God bless you, Shar.

~ Praise God - the classroom is a WORK zone – it is a constant center of activity! The girls are working academically, spiritually, socially, and emotionally each day to help themselves to become all that God created them to be, beautiful, made in His image.

~ Praise for all of our volunteers this week - we have been so blessed that several girls have had one-on-one tutors throughout the week. The girls just thrive with this “special" attention and learn not only the necessary academic skills, but also the vital social skills through communication - awesome!

~ Praise for the privilege of helping a child unlock the door to learning. A child in our program is beginning to read after many faithful tutors have helped with vowel sounds, beginning sounds, etc. This student volunteered to read to the class this week, and was so proud of this newfound skill. One of our other students sat beside and assisted
with the necessary encouragement to sound out difficult words. The entire classroom erupted in applause after our little princess read. Incredible!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Prayer Requests:
~ Pray for students who are no longer at Agape School, as they continue to need to be lifted up for prayer.
~ Pray for good health for all of the staff and students, as someone seems to be off to a doctor appointment almost every day for one thing or another!
~ Pray that the girls continue to be receptive to all that God is working through them!


Wish List:
~ Praise for the iron-rich foods donated this week; please continue to bring them in – the girls enjoy learning what they can do to help themselves!

Food items rich in iron, as several of the girls need more iron in their diets:
• Napkins
• Paper Plates
• Toilet Paper
• Spaghetti Sauce
• Chicken
• Sesame Seeds
• Apricots
• Almonds
• Bran Flakes
• Special K Cereal
• Licorice
• Cashews
• Dried Figs
• Red Kidney Beans


Renovation Update:
~ The renovation work continues; and we are so grateful for Russ Jackson, who spent the month of January here. We are also grateful for Hal Patterson, Bill Smith and John Morrison who have been diligently progressing with painting. The 24-foot ladder is a daunting climb to paint the upper walls of this space!

Have a blessed week!