Please join us in our "Upper Room" for prayer!  Our staff and some volunteer friends have transformed our second floor conference room into a prayer space.  You can sign up for 30-60 minute time blocks (or for however long you feel led)  to pray for Aspire Together clients, staff and the community.  We have a sign-up sheet and you can call or email to let us know when you would like to come in. 

Our Upper Room is open for prayer from 8:30 - 3:00, Monday thru Thursday. There are different areas for more specific prayer, or you can wait on the Lord to hear what He has for you.

We are trusting in His plans for us as we look for His direction in ministering to the young people of the Burlington and St. Albans areas.  Never in our nation's history has the need for the good news of the gospel been more evident than right now.  Yet people have never been so resistant to hearing anything that might gently convict them of their need for a savior! 

               We hope that you will give serious consideration to joining us.  
"Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day." 1 Kings 8:28

Aspire Together now offers Text-To-Give!  You now have the option of donating through your credit or debit card and it is as simple as texting Give now to 802-277-7027.  You'll instantly receive a text message linking you directly to a secure donation form that captures your donor data right from your phone!  After you input your data, it will be saved securely so the next time you want to donate,  it will be even quicker and easier.  

Working at a pregnancy resource center isn't easy even in the most conservative states.  Being located in a state that allows abortion up to birth and whose biggest hospital has a former Planned Parenthood executive at the head of their board of trustees is challenging at best.  As we get ready to dress for coming into work, we have this as a wardrobe choice.   It's not stylish or comfortable, but over our regular dress we are all wearing our invisible armor as we battle against "...powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." (Eph 6:12)  

We often ask you how we can pray for you.  As the war of light against dark heats up, we need to ask you to pray fervently for us.  Websters Dictionary of 1828 gives this definition of the word fervently: 1. Earnestly; eagerly; vehemently; with great warmth. 2. With pious ardor; with earnest zeal; ardently. Epaphras - saluteth you, laboring fervently for you in prayers.   

Will you pray like this for us?  We need a great group of believers to push back against the negativity and darkness directed at us.  We need you to bathe us in prayer.  

What, specifically, can you pray for?  We need clients to walk through these doors.  We need prayer for the clients who do come in to fall in love with their babies.  We need prayer that our quiet presence is felt throughout the area. We need you to pray for the Lord's direction and provision for the center (ie: do we stay in Burlington? Do we instead of (or as an addition to) the center use a mobile unit?) We need prayers for our good health, for safety at the center,  and that the Lord will soften hardened hearts at the university, hospital and schools.  Pray we would have equal time to present in the schools, especially, where we are not currently  welcome.

I recently sat in on an ultrasound with a young couple.  Their baby was bouncing around in her uterus, heart beating strongly.  The young mom kept engaging her partner as if she was hoping he'd be more excited.  He looked detached from the whole process.  Please pray that more young dads come in to be encouraged!  Men are increasingly being sidelined by the culture as unimportant when nothing could be further from the truth.  We need to remind young dads of God's plan for them as head of the family and encourage them to be the godly fathers they were meant to be.

We are working on inviting pastors to come here to pray upstairs. Prayer warriors are also very much welcome to join in.  Your presence will be a blessing to us and a light in the darkness.  There is so much to pray for and the stakes are high.  Will you join us in the battle?  We know our wardrobe choice will not be popular in this world, but no one who claims Christ can call this world "home".  Will you be mindful of your armor of salvation and pray for and with us?  Lives are at stake.

  

Here we are beginning another year,  and a good question to be asking ourselves is: How to be of actual use for the Lord? 

Christian apologist C.S. Lewis wrote: 
“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations – these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit – immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously – no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption.”
― C.S. Lewis

It's interesting how often clients show mild surprise that we are "nice" to them.  Typically, they have distractions galore: the ever-present phone screen, maybe homelessness, financial woes, and/or drug addictions tugging at their attention, unhealthy relationships and so on.  When we try to minister to them as Christ has ministered to us - even if we aren't what would be counted as successful - we are being of use to the Kingdom.  The seriousness that Lewis refers to reminds us that we're ministering to souls that the Lord sees as precious treasures; maybe especially the most unlovely of them.  When we see a glimmer of hope in them, it gives us joy and reason to keep going.  When a young mom chooses to cherish her baby, we celebrate.  They may still be looking at their lives as just a series of events, but we are trying to maintain the view of small but critical moments in eternity.

This year, as we try to improve on the last, may we all focus more on looking beneath the surface to find the treasures in each other and the "strangers" we meet. The adversary would like us to make snap judgments based on appearances.  How much different would our year look in hindsight if we spent the time allotted in building up, encouraging and helping the ones who still need to find Him?  

Remember to suggest Aspire Together when it might be helpful to someone you see struggling with their pregnancy, relationships or just holding a family together in this wicked world.  We can help with the immediate needs, while pointing to someone who can help them with their eternal needs!
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