Display Name: Josh and Jenny Lawson
Hometown: Waco, TX
Homechurch: Antioch Community Church
Ministry Region: United States

What's Happening:
--- Friday 19th of February 2010 ---
January/Haiti Update Hey everyone, It has been an extremely busy past month for Jenny and I. It has been a month full of transitions as Jenny has started a new, additional part-time job, and Josh has begun the process of transitioning into an oversight role for the ministry. New Leaders We are pleased to announce that we have five new leaders heading up the different areas of ministry. Artie and Luana Sudan will now be leading our Financial Coaching ministry, Blake and Elisa Teipel will be overseeing all of our Financial Peace University classes, Susan Heffner will be coordinating the Prayer ministry, Jim Hare will be our part-time administrator, and Smith Cornell will be helping me develop Come Together and working towards replicating at another U.S. church. Haiti As we pulled into the city, the destruction was incomparable to anything I have ever seen. At first only one out of ten homes were crumbled, but as we neared the epicenter of the destruction it became clear that only the building built with state-of-the art engineering were left standing. The scenes from the television and computer could not capture the devastation in Haiti. Our second day in the city, our team set-up three different clinics and saw well over 200 patients. We treated people with everything from dry-itchy skin to delivering a baby. During our time there we were able to see God move in miraculous ways. One day I met a young boy who was in a four-story house when it collapsed. His mother was fearful that he had something wrong internally, but we were able to assure her that he was a miracle-child, since he only had a few scrapes on his leg. The last two days of our trip, I was able to lead a small team to the island of La Gonave, where we were able to perform fiver hysterectomies. I was actually able to watch my first surgery ever, and I am proud to say that I didn't pass out! My reflections from the trip: • The journey to full restoration is a God-sized initiative and can only be accomplished if the people of God use their giftings and work with the people of Haiti • Don't believe everything you see and hear on the news- the people of Haiti are beautiful, kind, hard-working, and the majority of them love JESUS! • Baby Lawson We have officially reached the end of the first trimester. Everyone now...HALLELUJAH!!! Jenny is feeling great and keeps saying how much little baby is growing and growing. As of today little baby is a lemon. So, we're calling it Lemon Lawson, but we are praying they are sweet! In March we should find out the sex and then we will be able to communicate with it in more personal terms. Please continue to pray for little Lemon that they would grow in health and they would be a fiery, sweet, teachable, lover of Jesus. Living for His Kingdom, Josh and Jenny Lawson

--- Monday 13th of April 2009 ---

March Update:

Hey everyone,
How’s life for you? Great, we hope! It has definitely been a busy month since we last communicated with you. Things are going great here in Waco in both our personal lives and our ministry.

Biggest Loser Update

For those of you who have been keeping track with our Financial Peace University classes, our total debt for both classes is a whopping 2.5 Million Dollars.

We are elated that in the past 6 weeks, since our classes started, our people have paid off a combined $75, 000 in debt and saved over $50, 000 . That is a combined net worth change of over $125, 000 . So far our Sunday morning class is in the lead as they have paid of 5% of their total debt load.

It is amazing to see what a group of people can do when they put their mind to it and encourage one another. Each class there is so much momentum and excitement in the room. People are beginning to see hope at the end of a long dark tunnel for the first time in years and maybe even decades.

Bearathon Conquerors

As you can see by the picture above, Jenny and I finished the Bearathon. We not only finished it, we conquered it. Coming into race day, we were actually questioning if we could even finish the race. It was by far one of the most challenging things that we have ever done in our lives, but through it we grew closer as a couple. We definitely learned a lot, and will most likely NEVER DO IT AGAIN!!!

So Much More Than Softball

Josh has also put together a men’s softball league that competes in the city league. This is a great place for many of the guys on Josh’s team to develop friendships with people in the community. We have already seen a few guys on other teams show interest in coming to church with us. For you ultra-competitive people out there, we are pretty good too; our record so far is 3 and 2. Big games this weekend though- Pray for us!

Coaching the Multitudes

As part of the Financial Peace University classes this year we began offering financial coaching for each of our students. At the beginning we really weren’t sure how it was going to happen because we have over 75 families going through the class and only 6 coaches. But it has been one of the best decisions we have ever made for our classes.

So far I have met with around 30 in the past three weeks. It makes for very long days, with many of them averaging three 2-hour meetings per day. I love it though! It has been my favorite part of this ministry so far. I love hearing people’s stories and dreams and then helping them develop a plan of attack to accomplish those dreams.

I think the most rewarding part of the coaching sessions is when I ask people to list their top three or four financial goals. For the first time in years people are able to finally dream again. It is amazing to see in their eyes as the despondency of a lifetime of debt fades and hope arises.

Workplace Peace

One of the main places that Josh is looking to bring this hope of financial peace is to the workplace. A company in Waco has invited Josh to do a three-week teaching on basic financial principles. This will once again be a challenge for Josh as he must take the things that he has been teaching and learning for the past year and a half and develop them into systematic teachings. Pray for this would be awesome!

Family News- Beginnings and Ends

On a family level, this past month our great-grandmother, Ima V Rountree, went to be with the Lord at the ripe age of 91. She was our prayer warrior and loved us both so well.

Our nephew, Vance, recently found that he was accepted to Josh’s old private school, Brentwood Academy. Way to go Vance!

We love you all! Thanks for supporting us faithfully!

Living for His Kingdom, Josh and Jenny Lawson

--- Tuesday 10th of March 2009 ---
February Update:

March 9, 2009

This update - Jesus Said, “Go!” - Biggest Loser - For You Numbers Folks - To the Workplace - Speak Up! - Hardest Thing EVER!

Hey everyone, It has definitely been a busy past couple of months here in Waco! Things are really booming here with our ministry and we wanted to invite all of you to hear more about it.

Jesus Said Go! In January of this year, our church held our annual World Mandate conference. This conference is not like your prototypical “missions conference” with your cultural food stands and felt story boards. It was a marvelous time of powerful worship, convicting yet empowering teachings, and being re-envisioned for worldwide missions and evangelism. We both came away from the time more convinced than ever that the local church is the hope of the world.

Biggest Loser We also started our second round of Financial Peace University classes. At the beginning of the year, we were not really sure how many people would actually come to the class because we had so many attend last semester, but this year we have an even bigger class. As a matter of fact, we actually have two classes. One class meets Sunday mornings and the other class meets Monday nights.

Last year we wanted to start training other people to lead FPU classes so that we could reach more people. This year we have two young ladies, Sheryl Roberts and Courtney Waters, leading our Monday night class. They are doing a terrific job and hope to train a couple to lead another class later this year!

This year we wanted to be more intentional with our classes in terms of really getting after it to pay off debt, so we started the Biggest Loser… Debt Style. Our two classes will compete against one another to see how much debt they can pay off during the next three months.

For you numbers folks: Our Sunday morning class has 49 families in it and our Monday night class has 18 families, which is about 100 people total. The Monday evening class has a total debt load of $360,625, and the Sunday morning class has $1,256,654.43 in debt. That makes the total debt load for our two classes over $1.6 Million.

To the Workplace At the end of last year, we felt the need to focus this next year on two main areas of our ministry: Training and Reaching.

So far we have trained two Financial Peace University Coordinators and three Financial Coaches. Our vision is to have an effective infrastructure of trained teachers and coaches who have the ability to meet any and all of the financial needs of the people in our church body.

The second area is specifically focused on our neighborhood and those who don’t believe in Jesus. Currently, we are looking to offer a four-week financial course to a major company here in town that has over 100 employees. We have also been approached by a couple other companies to do the same thing at their business.

This gives us a great platform to speak hope to many of the families who are in a difficult financial situation, and to share the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Speak Up! Josh has had the opportunity to speak a few times the past several weeks. He was invited to speak at a weekend retreat for a church in town, Church Under the Bridge and he also had the opportunity to speak at our churches training school called Elevate.

Hardest Thing EVER! Jenny is absolutely loving her job. She is currently working on a huge stained glass window for the Hillcrest Hospital in town and restoring a one- hundred year old window for a college.

We are currently training for the Bearathon, which is supposedly the hardest half marathon in the state of Texas. This is a big deal for us as we were both sprinters in highschool and the longest Josh ever ran was two miles! We would love for you to come cheer us on, March 28th in Waco!

Living for His Kingdom,

Josh and Jenny Lawson

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History:
Josh grew up in Brentwood, TN, and was a member of Christ Church for 10 years. During middle school and highschool Josh attended Brentwood Academy, then after graduation went on to attend Baylor University in Waco, Texas.

Jenny grew up in Fort Payne, AL, and was a member of First Baptist Church of Fort Payne. Jenny attended Fort Payne Highschool and was Prom Queen, Homecoming Queen and voted best Christian attitude. In the fall of 2003, Jenny was enrolled at Baylor University as a studio art major.

Josh and Jenny met in the summer of 2005 while on a mission trip in Sheffield, England. After the trip they returned to Waco and lead a college group for the next 3 years.

In June of 2008 they were married and now live in Waco, TX.

Interests:
Josh loves all kinds of sports, from baseball to badmiton. One of his greatest passions is discipling younger men.

Jenny loves art and recently found a job where she can do this full-time. She works at Stanton Glass Studios (www.stantonglass.com/) where she builds, restores and will eventually help design stained glass windows.

Josh and Jenny have recently undertaken the grand task of training for the bearathon- the hardest half marathon in the state of Texas. (http://www.baylor.edu/student_foundation/index.php?id=49828)

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