Leaving Camp September 2017

Posted on September 9, 2017 by Black

Anna Claire playing Archery Tag at the camp.

Joshua playing Archery Tag.

Morgan and Lindsey out for a drive.

Joshua and Callum

Joshua’s first VBS

Peter Parker

Chicago Airport

Lindsey and Rohly the duck.

Jenn Harden Black

Cousins

Learning to Trap-shoot

Shane baptizes Lindsey

This summer seemed to take flight even before we realized it. The children reconnected with old friends and made new friends. The girls camped in a tent for a month with other staff kid girls. They rode scooters, horses, bikes, skateboards, ripstiks and the tops of golf carts. We were blessed with a new bike, a horse, a place to keep the horse, a temporary house to live in, and amazing friends. We looked tirelessly for a home and were outbid on several occasions, we changed teams, said goodbye to beloved team members and hello to new marriages, babies and families. We buried a duck named Rohly, several frogs and Parker the rabbit. Lindsey was baptized and Joshua attended VBS for the first time and loved it! We ate way too many Thornburgers at Bucks in St. Joe, drove to Chicago airport twice, flew to South Carolina, went to a horse camp in Pennsylvania, and served with We Can Ride program in Berrien Springs. Our family still has not made it to the U.P. much less Holland MI but we are hopeful every summer.

Grace and her fluffy at the Harvest Bible Chapel Day at the Lake

Short Family Update

Posted on September 11, 2015 by Black

We began our new travel year in a new trailer (provided by the ministry) in a new state with new expectations. We are feeling a little more experienced and a little more comfortable with where God has called our family. We are growing increasingly dependent and desperate for Him to move, sustain, train, educate, change us, mold us, make us in His image and generally mess up any preconceived notion of what we think we need. The first church on Red Team’s schedule is Union Baptist in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. A beautiful area, different from the south we are accustomed to but we still feel very much at home here with this wonderful group of people we are blessed to do life with if only for a week.

On the trip over, our family had the amazing opportunity to experience Niagra Falls on both the US and Canadian sides. We spent the day exploring, riding the boat, eating lunch and marveling in this small part of God’s beautiful creation.

The BlackPack in Niagra Falls

During our off days in Vermont Pastor Paul was gracious to loan us some fishing poles to use at the river behind the church..

The children were also blessed to be able to spend a few days learning self defense from a member of the church.

We are already hearing great things from this group of God’s people about how He is working in their lives and families and in their work places. To hear more of the ministry side of things look for our newsletter and updates on the blog listed as Ministry Updates. For the lighter side and (mostly for the grandparents :’-) we will have our Family Updates on the blog as well. Watch for us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Until next time, we love and appreciate all of you for the part you play in our journey with God for revival in our personal lives, our churches, communities, families and nation. Love the BlackPack

….SECURELY FASTENED!

Posted on July 16, 2014 by Black

….SECURELY FASTENED!

“A journey is like a marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.”

John Steinbeck

Wow, what a journey! Since January of this year we have been to 12 churches, 12 cities, and 7 states. Shane has preached almost 100 sermons, Leigh has ministered to countless ladies, and Grace and Lindsey spoke to students at a school assembly (which God used, partly, to spark a revival in the school). Needless to say, it has been a wild ride! But, our Lord has been faithful as He has held us securely fastened in His right hand! Praise be to our great and mighty King!

We began our travels not really knowing what to expect….boy is that an understatement. Our first Summit began with trailer problems and trailer problems pretty much followed us for the rest of our journey through May (overflowing toilets, broken toilets, leaking dishwasher, leaking ceiling, molded carpet, bent trailer jacks, frozen pipes, frozen black water tank, busted and leaking black water tank, clogged black water lines, broken air conditioner, ruptured hydraulic line, open propane gas line, no heat in 0 degree weather, melted electrical plug, and hub failure to name a few). God was merciful through our trailer problems as all of the problems, except for one (which was on the side of the interstate), were at the churches. So, we were able to call someone in to fix the problems. Thank you God! Leigh adds that riding behind Shane, as he drove the semi pulling the trailer, really gave a new meaning to earnestly praying! Now that we are on the other side of the wild ride, we say, “It was well worth it.” We were honored to be able to see God transform us and the lives of many others. Here are just a few of the testimonies we have gathered:

God has worked in me in such painful, beautiful, almost indescribable ways during the revival. I have had healing from scars of being touched by a step-dad in a sexual way as a 2nd-3rd grader. I have understood forgiveness in a whole new way. My husband and I have greater intimacy. I’ve found anger, pride, idolatry that was hidden deep and wrapped up in pretty wrapping paper. I have been completely broken, completely restored. I am amazed at my God. Tonya, Pikeville, KY

At the beginning of the week God found me not excited about revival or Life Action. I came the first Sunday merely to show my husband how much better I am than him. We have some very difficult times in our marriage. Once the Lord got done touching my husband’s life and the dust settled, I became a bitter and angry person who was beginning to question God’s motives and how he was handling my life. Like I said, the first night I was here to humble my husband. The second night was the same. Much to my chagrin, my husband kept showing up every night too! The third night, God showed me that I needed to get out of the way and let him work on my husband. I obeyed and the end of the week has found us closer than ever as a couple. Closer than ever to God. I am so thankful Life Action came to our church and so thankful that God has shown his wonder to my family. Carrie, St Marys, GA

All I had to show was what a mess I had made of my life, trying to fix it all on my own. My marriage was falling apart, my kids were scared of “mommy getting mad” and I lived a life collecting possessions that meant nothing and eating to comfort myself. I didn’t come to the summit at all for fear of being revealed for who I really was. I came the second Sunday morning (last day of the revival) and gritted my teeth the whole service trying not to be compelled by the Spirit. God grabbed me and showed me my immediate need for salvation. I was able to surrender my life, my heart, my whole self to Christ and as I did the hurt and anger of a life of sin melted away. I am filled with joy and excitement. Sarah, St Marys, GA

I have been struggling for some time now with anger and bitterness toward my husband for past sins. I have been the lonely woman you told us about on Sunday, and still am, but with God’s help I am giving it all to him. I am taking bold steps, but it is a start and I am starting to feel His presence again. Karen, Leesville, SC

I have been impressed to have devotions with my wife. She was unable to come because she was recuperating from an operation. There are other areas of my life that need improvements and I will be working on that. Thomasville, GA

God met me at my lack of prayer and devotion time to Him. I have both, just not enough or the quality it should have been at. My wife and I have started praying together again. We did until we had kids, our oldest is ten. But now we have started back. It was a great experience this week meeting God every night. We had a great time. Jason, Thomasville, GA

There are many ways the summit has ministered to me. I love the emphasis on practical application of Biblical principles, especially at Home Life Café. The teachings each evening challenged me to think of forgiveness and pride as the breakers of unity in the church. I have many wonderful resources now in your literature such as the Put off/Put on pamphlet. I have begun working through each one daily and will be able to share with others. I especially love the children and youth programs as I have 8 grandchildren participating! They have not wanted to miss a single night!! They have memorized verses and worked through the take home questions regularly. Thank you for pursuing the next generation through truth and love. The most moving evening was watching my three sons-in-law, each in a huddle with their wives and children, praying for them. Then to see our church sanctuary lined around completely with our men is a sight that is forever etched in my mind. I feel compelled to pray daily for them all as a result of that incredible picture. Thank you for the teaching on Gatekeepers. Priscilla, Rocky Mount, NC

I have been blessed by our times together this week. The worship, fellowship, and encouragement are always tremendously important to me. I was most convicted in [family revivalist’s] message on Sunday morning in looking at a couple of areas in my life that indicate spiritual dryness. There were things I was already bothered by, but I was encouraged during that time. First Baptist Vidalia, GA

God opened my eyes to everything I thought I was doing right with my family. I learned how to love my wife and daughter the way Christ wants me to. I have also been having a hard time with anger. I was blaming it on other people and not that it was ME not walking with God wholly and fully. These things are going to have to be a day by day step, but with the Lord I can do it all. Thank you all for the love, prayers, and excitement the team brought to me and my family. Brian W, Mineral Wells, TX

This is just a small portion of what God has allowed us (our family and your family) to be a part of over the last five months. You have made it possible for us to travel this journey because of your faithful prayers and support. You have allowed our family to see Christ in you as you have remained at home and stood in the gap! Oh, how grateful we are to you! We desperately need you on our team. All of you are a vital part to our ministry efforts. Again, God is making it possible through you! To Him, alone, be the praise!!!

We are looking forward to our upcoming travel season beginning in September. We would ask you to begin praying for Leigh as she will start doing Ladies Luncheons. This will give her an opportunity to share her story with other ladies. You can keep up with our schedule at www.lifeaction.org under the ‘Happening Now’ tab (We are the Red Team).

Also if you would like to become a part of our ministry financial support team you can go to www.lifeaction.org/sblack to set up your giving. We are currently at about 90% of our support budget. Be sure to follow us on Facebook (Shane-Leigh Black and ourfamilyHisglory) and on Twitter (@DrAShaneBlack).

Come join us as we begin another leg of ‘The Wild Ride”! Look for pictures to come in our next newsletter! As wild as the ride has been we are glad to just get this newsletter out while on furlough! 😉

Awaiting His Fire to fall,

‘The Black Pack’

Shane, Leigh, Grace, Lindsey, Margaret, Ema, Anna Claire, and Joshua

ROLLIN’, ROLLIN’, ROLLIN’

Posted on December 11, 2013 by Black

In 2006 we built our dream house. We built it with our growing family in mind…..plenty of bedrooms and bathrooms, a playroom, a school room, a pool, a pool house, and most importantly full of a lot of love! You see, we were planning to retire here and have a place our children and grandchildren could come back to for years to come. Again, we were building our dream home.

Well, the Lord was in the process of pouring the footings (or lack there of) for our new home! It is a good thing the Lord did not invite me in on this building project because I would not have been an easy sub-contractor to deal with! “Lord, are You sure this is enough square footage. Lord, this thing has wheels. Lord, the walls are like two inches thick. Lord, really, where are we going to put everything? Uh…You are joking right!?” I mean, this is not what my family had in mind when we were thinking of a home to live in. And we were definitely not thinking about living from church parking lot to church parking lot! God, You cannot be serious! Or, Could He?

Serious indeed! Last week I flew to Buchanan, MI and picked up our ‘new ride’. Wait a minute….I meant our ‘new home’. Or is it a ‘ride’? Oh yeh, it is both! Come on Lord! Seriously! YEP! So here we go on our new journey with our new ‘home/ride’ in tow. We will be traveling from church parking lot to church parking lot preaching the revival message to families. We are serving with Life Action Ministries. It is amazing how our Lord has taken us from the desire to live in a large house for our ‘large family’ to living in a house on wheels. We are in awe at His molding our hearts to follow Him for His glory. Now hear me out! We are not beginning this journey with naivety. We are very aware that this journey will be tiring and difficult. We know that we will face great trials. We know that our family will be under attack. It has already begun. However, we are also learning that our God is bigger than all of this. We are learning that this new journey is all about Him and we want to be right where he has us. No where else!

So, “Ho Ho…Ho Ho, on the road we go!” But, we will not go unless the Lord goes with us! And He has promised us just that! Family, hang on! Cuz the Lord has a ride (home?…whatever!) in store for us!

You can see our schedule on our ministry page!

Shane Black

WE HAVE DISCOVERED FULL-TIME MINISTRY IS NOT FOR OUR FAMILY!

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Black

Our family originally surrendered to full time ministry in October of 2010. We were attending a Life Action Summit in our home town when the Lord revealed to us that He wanted our family to begin full time ministry serving with Life Action Ministries. We felt like that within a few months we would be on the road to Michigan serving full time. Well…..the Lord had something else, entirely, in mind.

A lot of time has gone by since that original moment of surrender. We have been on a long and seemingly slow journey. We have spent many days and nights wondering what was going on. Our thoughts and concerns have been as follows…….”I mean come on, we surrendered ‘our all’ Lord. Why haven’t You seen to it that everything falls into place on our time schedule? You called us, right? We have a vision of what everything should look like and when everything should take place! Can’t You see it too, Lord? What is the issue here Lord?”

Well, as the Lord took us on this ‘long and seemingly slow journey’ He had a lot that he desired to show us. I would ask you to go back and re-read our thoughts and concerns again. Do you see any problems? Did you notice the pronouns? We…..our…..us……we……! All of our concerns appear on the surface to be about the Lord’s involvement in this process. However, below the surface you will see hearts that were only concerned about ourselves…..our surrender, our time schedule, our vision, our issues!

You see, we felt like we had it all figured out. And we did in our feeble, finite little minds! But, God wanted us, mostly me, to see a very important truth. Are you ready? Here it is! Ministry is not for us…..ministry is for the glory of our Great, Wonder Working God! God needed us to see that…. yes, He does have everything worked out….yes, He does know the time schedule (He made it for crying out loud)….yes, He does know what we surrendered and what we did not surrender….yes, He did call us….yes, He does have a vision…..and yes, He sees everything…..and most importantly it is not about us! Rather it is about HIM and the advancement of HIS Kingdom. Which means it is about you as well! All of you! Everyone reading this blog! And everyone that will never read this blog! God’s ministry in our lives is about you!

What an honor! Our Lord has invited us to go on His journey with Him! We have an opportunity to see our God do things that are far greater than anything we could ever imagine! Things that we cannot explain away with our abilities and giftedness! Things that will leave us saying, “But GOD!” Things that will impact His Kingdom for eternity! Do you get it guys?! We get to be a part of something that is much, much, much bigger than our little family and our comfort and our wants and our conveniences! We get to be a part of history making! We get the opportunity to see God leave a blazing fire burning in our path for the HIS glory!

As I close, I would say one more thing…..”Look out across the horizon and watch for the ‘Fire of our Lord” burning brightly, and then come join Him.” You see, He may want you to be a part of something that is all about Him!

Shane Black

THE LORD’S TIMING IS PERFRECT!!

Posted on December 2, 2013 by Black

Christmas is nearly upon us and we are almost, exactly to the date, three years from having the official call to Life Action Ministries. God moved on our hearts to surrender to full time ministry in November of 2010. Now in November of 2013 we have been asked to go on the road with the Red Team beginning in January 2014. Shane will be serving in the position of Family Revivalist. Being a part of God transforming families is the heart beat of our family. So we could not be more excited! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Our family is in awe of the things God has taught us over these last three years. We are excited to see what changes and growth He has in store for us through this new season of ministry! We are humbled by your prayers and support and ask that you continue to pray for our family. Pray that we will seek to be continually under His authority, in His will, teachable and joyfully serving Him. Pray that we will trust Him with the dynamics of road life and new relationships. We will continue to pray for all of you and miss you as well.

Please be sure to visit our website, ourfamilyhisglory.org often to see how God is moving on the hearts of His people. The website should have a schedule of the churches we will be ministering in and our family’s prayer concerns. Please include how we can be praying for you on the site or if it is too personal you can email, text or call us directly. We love you and love to pray for you.

We want to extend our deepest gratitude for those of you who that have been supporting us financially. We would not be able to do this with out you. Please continue to send your gifts the same way you have been doing. Your gifts are a blessing to us and they speak volumes of your sacrifice and dedication to the glory of our Lord!! Having you on our ministry team points us to the love and faithful provision of Christ!

As always, may we forever be in awe of His grace and striving to glorify Him in all we think and say and do. You will be in our hearts and prayers as we go to share God’s message of restoration and love. We pray that God will bless you for your faithfulness to His ministry. We leave you with the message God has been plowing, cultivating and nurturing in our family….

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Colossians 3:1-3

Wonderfully made, securely hidden, and

awaiting His Fire to fall,

Shane and Leigh Black and Family

sblack@lifeaction.org; lblack1487@gmail.com

Shane: 334-791-1488; Leigh: 334-791-1487