January brought in the new year 2012 and with it we have already witnessed 24 old lives exchanged for new vibrant lives dedicated to Jesus Christ. Somebody give a shout of praise!!!

Cindi also began a new believers class with some ladies who recently came to the Lord. She holds the class for a local church where the ladies met Jesus.

New Floors

Once again our dear friends from Georgia, The Weapons of Mass Construction, returned to St. Bernard. This time the men of Smoke Rise Missions laid down and grouted more than 3,600 square feet of tile floor on the entire first floor of our ministry home. This puts us closer to finishing our ministry center. It is a very exciting time.  We’re very grateful for Curt and the gang.

New Healing Rooms

A total of 190 people from more than 20 different churches attended one of three training seminars we held in January. The seminars are designed to train new Healing Rooms directors and teams to begin the ministry in their town. We held trainings in Boutte, St. Bernard, and Baton Rouge. The response from pastors and church leaders was outstanding. We hope to have new Healing Rooms in each area by March. During the training many people were physically healed of  back and neck pain, arthritis in the knees, a migraine headache, bad feet, and an emotional wound caused by an abusive father. Go Jesus!

New Intern

We are blessed to announce the arrival of Terence Edwards. Terence is our new intern who will be spending the next three months (or up to 9 months) helping us develop our new internship. We are working to develop a team of prayer missionaries dedicated to imparting and reaching out in the supernatural power of Jesus through the Healing Rooms ministry. The internship will also have a strong emphasis on the relational leadership skills needed to operate Healing Rooms. Terence is a graduate of the South Carolina School of Leadership which has sent missions teams to work with us the past four years.

New Name

We have a new name for our building, it is now the Louisiana Lighthouse. The change came after spending time in prayer with our team asking the Lord to reveal any thing hindering the ministry. Our choice of the name “healing center” continually came to the fore front. Last year the “New Orleans healing center” opened about 5 miles up the road from us. It is the brain child of the voo doo high priestess of New Orleans.

When we talked about our healing center people were getting confused, because the New Orleans healing center has become well known in the community, and a some were questioning whether we were a Christian ministry. We started asking God what He wanted us to call the building and the name Lighthouse started showing up everywhere even in sermons we heard.

Before the building was donated to us, the US Coast Guard considered buying it and turning it into housing for visiting Admirals and dignitaries. The Coast Guard calls this type of housing a Lighthouse. Seems that the name was right in front of us the whole time. So with that we are now building the Louisiana Lighthouse where many will discover and experience the healing power of Jesus.

New Dog

We have a new family dog. Cindi had desired to have a Golden Retriever because of their gentleness and loyalty. Keith didn’t want one. Cindi prayed and God moved, in a big way. Normally a full bread Golden is a costly dog to purchase, but God cares about every desire of your heart when you set your life to delight in Him. Psalm 37:4

God provided a full bread AKC registered Golden Retriever to us for free. Her name is Daisy and she is a prophetic picture of our ministry. Our ministry is about retrieving the gold that lies dormant in peoples lives and leading them into the fullness of there destiny in God’s Kingdom. You just gotta love how Papa moves.

By the way, Daisy was given to us by one the Nation’s leading breeders of Golden Retrievers and she comes from a championship line. The Lord always does things with excellence. There is so much more to her story, but we’ll save that for the book we plan to write.

Prayer Needs

We are so blessed to be co-laborers with God on this journey of Kingdom building. We still have a ways to go to get to the place where He is taking us with the Louisiana Lighthouse. We still need finances to complete this building that will house our state offices. We have need of finances for life support for Cindi and I and the ministry. Many are finding freedom through the ministries we provide and we need your prayers to help us pray in the provision for the work of the Kingdom.

If you sense the Lord leading you to give, you can do so by clicking on our contact & support tab to donate on line or by sending your donation through the mail. a monthly contribution of $25, $50, or $100 dollars helps us sustain the work of the ministry or a one time gift of $500 0r $1000 can help us move toward opening the Lighthouse. Please continue to pray about how you can partner with us to continue to renew lives and restore hope.

Thank you for your prayers and may God richly bless you!

]]> http://bluestoneministries.com/2012/02/new-year-new-everything/feed/ 0 http://bluestoneministries.com/2011/12/christmas-in-a-cabinet/ http://bluestoneministries.com/2011/12/christmas-in-a-cabinet/#comments Fri, 23 Dec 2011 17:55:46 +0000 admin http://bluestoneministries.com/?p=975 This December has been a flurry of activity with many great gifts from the Father of Lights. We have watched Jesus touch many with the message of the Gospel and His power to heal. 7 people came to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ this month! What a party in Heaven.

No lumps, please.

In Healing Rooms we had a lady who was told by doctors she had suspicious lumps in her breast and after healing prayer she returned to the doctor for more test. The Doctor told her he couldn’t understand it but the lumps were gone. He showed her the x-rays: one showing lumps and the new one showing, well nothing.

Another woman reported that the Doctor had suspected she had MS, but after a prayer session she returned to the Doctor who once again didn’t understand what happened, but gave her a clean bill of health. That’s my Jesus, The Healer!

In Sozo we have helped several people find total freedom in Jesus. Including a gentlemen that had dealt with unforgivness. After one Sozo session he had experienced the freedom of forgiving those that had hurt him and left the session with a renewed sense of freedom in Christ.

Christmas cabinets

We received a call from a local cabinet seller who wanted to donate cabinets for the building, and he delivered them last week. We thank the Lord for people like this man that see the necessity of this ministry. He told us that when he found out about the ministry he had to help. He and his wife donated all the cabinets for the kitchen and will be bringing more for the bathrooms. We were so blessed by a couple of local handy men to help install the cabinets. Right now we have the base cabinets installed and we will install the wall cabs right after the new year begins. What a great Christmas gift from Papa!

The kitchen when we received the building March 2010

May 2010 after sheetrock was donated and hung by the body of Christ

Jingle Bell Sheetrock 

We also had help installing the remaining sheetrock needed for the Healing Rooms. Friends of the ministry worked with Keith to hang the new walls in preparation for the tile flooring that will be laid by three churches coming in January. This will move us closer to opening the Healing Rooms in St. Bernard. We still have some work to do, but now the ministry center is taking shape. Many are awaiting the Healing Rooms to opened in this area with great anticipation. We are so blessed to have the opportunity to serve this region through the Healing Rooms.

Our friend Rich secures the new drywall in a healing room.

Prayer and closing

Cindi and I pray that you and your family have a Merry Christmas as you take the time to reflect on the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We also pray that you will continue to pray with and for us. This month we’ve also incorporated 5am prayer six days a week. We have friends that join us to pray for the needs of the community and this ministry.  We have so much to be thankful for as we continue to see God’s hand upon all that we do. We know that God is going to finish this work that He began. Even though things are moving slower than expected, we’re okay with God’s pace. We’d rather end up with and oak tree than a mushroom.

If you would like to sew a Christmas offering into the work God is doing through BlueStone Ministries, it’s not too late.

You can do so by clicking on our contact & support tab to donate online or by sending your donation to us through the mail.

We appreciate your prayers and support and pray God’s richest blessings on you and yours this Christmas Season.

Merry Christmas,

Keith and Cindi

Brent Brooks speaks to 500 public school students

Wow! We have led or been a part of leading 247 people to the Lord Jesus this year. Recently we had the privilege of hosting our great friend and Pastor, Ken Jumper, of the Harvest and Brent Brooks from Upside Down in Lexington, South Carolina. We arranged to hold a special youth event where Brent would share his amazing testimony with young people from the St. Bernard and the Ninth Ward. We had arranged for Brent to speak to a small assembly at a local high school, but that soon turned into five engagements at four public schools once officials heard Brent’s story. At the youth event held at World Prayer Tabernacle in Chalmette,  181 attended and 35 responded to the invitation. Go God! School officials want Brent to come back and speak in every school in the community.

Pastor Ken displays two of the 40 fish we caught

We also hosted a special “meet our Pastor” night and more than 50 friends and team members attended, including nine local Pastors. Pastor Ken shared a word with everyone that was well received. We also arranged a fishing trip for Pastor and Brent. Together we caught 40 speckled trout, and that was a bad day of fishing in Southeast Louisiana.

St. Bernard Pastors Coalition

Keith addresing local politians.

As St. Bernard approaches one of the biggest elections in recent history, the St. Bernard Pastors Coalition held a public forum for candidates for Parish President and Sheriff.  Keith was among five local pastors asking the candidates questions. Local residents called it the best candidate forum as the pastors insured that candidates focused on the issues and not their opponents.

Jesus the Healer

Cindi with some of our Healing Rooms Team

Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”  This verse gives us proof that Jesus is still in the healing business. In Healing Rooms we know beyond a shadow of a doubt the He heals. Over the last two months we’ve watched  the Lord heal cancer, shrink tumors, and relieve  chronic neck pain. While visiting us on a short weekend trip, Pastor Indar and Christine Singh of the Harvest in Lexington, South Carolina, witnessed as a lady suffering arthritis slowly walk into our Healing Rooms ministry. Her countenance was  dim and she had to use a cane to walk. Less then 20 minutes later she walked out with a bright countenance and  holding her cane above her head while giving God the glory. Healing is part of normal Christianity. Yeah God!

Pastor Indar and Christine Singh

We are excited to announce that we have begun our Sozo ministry in Healing Rooms. Sozo, the Greek word for salvation that means saved, healed, and delivered, is a deep inner healing ministry that uses Holy Spirit led prayers to help people get beyond deep emotional wounds. One of our very first sessions our team helped a woman find freedom from fear of abandonment that was the result of trauma she experienced during hurricane Katrina more than six years ago.  That’s my King! We are booked through the end of the year and we have already more than doubled the amount of clients we saw in 2010. Some people drive more than an hour to receive ministry at the Healing Rooms.

Progress

Contractor sprays foam insulation in Healing Center

As we continue to operate Healing Rooms ministry more than 50 minutes away from our home , we are making progress on the Healing Center. We were able to finish the fire wall required by the the Fire Marshal, and we were blessed by our contractor who sprayed every room in the Center with foam insulation. Our rooms will now be sound proofed! The blessings is, it didn’t cost our ministry a dime. The contractor sees the value of what we are doing and wants to be a part of God’s work.

Churches in and near Baton Rouge, are ready to begin Healing Rooms. These last two months we have spent a bit of time in meetings with church leaders and preaching in churches in Baton Rouge about the healing power of Jesus. Three churches are coming to a future training in January after which we will begin the process of opening the first Healing Rooms in the capitol city.

We have entered the fourth month of our radio ministry “Hidden Treasures” which you can listen to live at kagyradio.com on Sunday evenings at 5:30pm Central Time or on our archived Hidden Treasures page on this site.

Prayer and closing

Cindi and I appreciate your prayers for us and this ministry as we have many pressing needs. The biggest need we have is the funding to complete the Healing Center. We have looked for funding in many places and will continue to seek funding sources that line-up with our statement of faith and our vision. Because of an over-site in an estimation, we now need   $17,750  to complete the building. You can find a list of projects on the LHC tab on this site.

We also need to increase our monthly support. Our current monthly support is around $1,100 up from $950 earlier this year, but we need still need $1,575 additional support each month. This is a very conservative amount of money to fund ministry and sustain ourselves, but God always seems to come through.

If you sense the Lord leading you to give, you can do so by clicking on our contact & support tab to donate online or by sending your donation to us through the mail.

We appreciate your prayers and support and pray God’s richest blessings on you and yours.

Keith and Cindi

Cinid holds a square of the new tile while standing in front of the 13 pallets that were delivered.

Greetings dear friends. We are floored! Just last week we received a shipment of porcelain tile for the Healing Center. A friend contacted Crossville Inc, about donating flooring tile to BlueStone, and they said “yes”. We received 7400 square feet of tile with a retail value of  more than $43,000 for free, including shipping. A local pastor arranged for a forklift and a crew to help us unload the tile. The owner of the forklift refused any compensation because he wanted to help us as unto the Lord. The tile will be used for flooring the entire Healing Center including the residential areas and all the bathrooms and showers.

BJ, of BJ's Construction of St. Bernard, supplied the forklift

Radio Show

Listen live every Sunday at 5:30pm CST

We have had some good feedback on the new radio show “Hidden Treasures”. The show airs every Sunday at 5:30pm on KAGY 1510 AM New Orleans and also at KAGYradio.com. The station is going FM sometime this fall and will continue airing our show each Sunday. KAGY plays Swamp Pop, New Orleans style music, and is listened to online around the world. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to spread the gospel through the airways. If you miss the show you can listen here at our website by clicking on the “Hidden Treasures” tab on the right. There you can find all of our past episodes.

August Rush

Lia Elizabeth

August was a rush of travel for us. Cindi spent the end of July and the beginning of August helping our daughter adjust to the newest member of our family, Lia Elizabeth, our fourth grand child. We are so blessed! We did offer to help our daughter and son-in-law, by having Lia live with us the first 12 years of her life, but they declined.

While Cindi was in New York, Keith was in Tulsa, attending August Rush. Through several small miracles, Keith was flown into Tulsa, to take part in the event held by Scott and Shari Norvell, founders of Blue Flame Ministries, and International Directors for Healing Rooms. Keith played in the worship team and led worship for the morning sessions. The Norvells have an amazing ministry that is developing teams across the globe. In one of the sessions, the more than 200 attendees participated in a prayer exercise to alleviate the drought Tulsa, had been suffering. That day the temperature was 115 degrees. The next day with no rain in the forecast a huge thunderstorm let out a deluge of rain. Papa gave us all a kiss from heaven, and everyone’s faith grew leaps and bounds. To learn more about the Norvells click on their Terra4ming  link under our ministry friends tab.

The men of the Blue Army Band

Later in August Cindi and Keith were able to share some time together in New England due to the kindness of a couple of BlueStone partners. They flew us to Boston where we were treated to a week long sabbatical. We also met with a group of people who have been praying for our ministry. It was a fun trip and we are so thankful for the blessing.

A picture of a New England lighthouse taken on our sailing trip

Funding

We have spent a considerable amount of time between April and July researching grants to fund the construction of our Healing Center. We have learned a lot during this time. Because we are a Christian ministry it is difficult to find grants that apply to our work. To apply for many grants an organization must supply and independent financial audit which cost thousands of dollars. Even if you have a current audit there are no guarantees a grant will be awarded. Most grants take months to write, and then months before a you receive a response. We applied for 5 different grants this summer and will receive $1000 from Toyota in  November. The other four organizations, including BP, declined our request. We did receive a donation of office furniture from BP.

We are convinced that God will provide. How He provides is often through His people. We would like you to consider becoming a monthly partner. Together we can bring the gospel of Jesus to dark places and turn tragedy into triumph. We also need $16,550 to complete the ministry center of The Louisiana Healing Center. You can click on our Louisiana Healing Center tab to find out what projects need to be finished, and if the Lord moves on your heart you can take a project to your church, small group, or work place and have others join together to help us complete this needed ministry.

If you sense the Lord leading you to give, you can do so by clicking on our contact & support tab to donate on line or by sending your donation through the mail.

Thank you for your prayers and may God richly bless you!

Healing Center

Two churches came to help us build walls in the Louisiana Healing Center in July. We are now closer to opening our center, but we still have a way to go before it is completed. We still need $19,000 in materials and skilled labor before the building is ready to pass final inspections. We have approached several foundations for grant money, but have been turned down each time. We have a great plan and vision that God has given us, but most foundations don’t want to help Christian organizations or ministries. Since April, we have spent much time and energy searching and writing grants and we have concluded that unless we hear from God, we’re gonna leave the grants alone. We continue to pray that the Lord will move on the ones He has to partner with us to build His vision.

Union Christian Church from Terre Haute, Indiana

Bible Church of Little Rock, Arkansa

Outer walls of hall way and rooms complete

Reception and intercessory prayer room outer walls complete

Mobile

We were blessed to have a team from Healing Rooms of Mobile, Alabama come and minister to our team and also help further our training in inner healing ministries. The team took our folks through deeper cleansing and really encouraged our young team. It was a great weekend and we held the meetings at the house God gave us. Because the building is unfinished, it often feels like we’re in another country. One of the leaders from Mobile said it felt like being in Guatemala. We continue to move forward and are seeing fruit from our labor.

Mobile team blessing our team

Radio

Out of the clear blue we received a phone call from a local secular radio station about hosting a radio show. After a few meetings we sensed the leading of the Lord to say “yes” to this invitation. The show is called Hidden Treasures. On the show we use the bible as our treasure chest to help folks understand that the keys to success are found in God’s word, and we get to spread the word about our ministry. The show is 30 minutes long and airs on Sunday evenings at 5:30 central time. A local restaurant is sponsoring our air time and the show can be heard online at KAGYradio.com or you can listen to the rebroadcast here by clicking on the “Hidden Treasures” link on the right of this page. This is a great opportunity for us to spread the truth around New Orleans and the world. Our first show was heard in several countries, including 500 listeners in the Philippines.

If you would like to help us continue our mission here in New Orleans, and now around the world through the airways, you can do so by clicking on our contact & support tab and donating on line or by sending your donation through the mail.

Thank you for your prayers and may God richly bless you!

French Quarter Outreach

On Friday and Saturday nights we had the Louisiana Glory Explosion, a conference dedicated to releasing the Glory of God into the New Orleans area. Richard Hanson was our guest speaker and God used him in a mighty way to breathe a fresh wind into our City. The manifest presence of the Lord surrounded everyone as Keith led all into the deep river of God through worship. We were blessed to be able to hold the conference at High Praise Fellowship’s Chalmette campus, which overlooks the City of New Orleans.

Keith with Richard Hanson

On Sunday Keith took part in a special service at High Praise Fellowship’s Slidell campus. Kent Henry, know as the first to be given the title of  worship leader, was the guest speaker and worship leader on Sunday. Keith played led guitar behind Kent both in the morning and evening services. Every services was anointed! What has been God’s signature on our lives since we moved back to the area happened again this weekend. Both Kent Henry and Richard Hanson spoke prophetic words to us about what God is doing and going to do through our ministry, and both spoke  almost identical  words including words about New Orleans being a city of light and refuge. Kent and Richard do not know each other and both came from out of state. WOW!

Kent Henry and Keith

On Monday, July 4, we took part in High Praise Fellowship’s Fourth of July outreach in Slidell. It was a great event where more than 1000 people heard the Gospel and received ministry. Keith played the blues right before closing the day’s concerts with another amazing time of worship with Kent Henry.

Keith plays a holy groove

This was a great weekend for us and for our community. Jesus’ love came through to a lot of people and we were truly blessed to a part of what He is doing here in the New Orleans area.

Playing the Blues and leading people to Jesus

47 Salvations in two months. Praise the Lord!

Playing the blues and preaching the gospel has led 47 people to the Lord these past two months. The music breaks down the walls for the Gospel to be received. This year alone 147 souls have come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ in our ministry.

Let There be Light

New lighting and Electrial in the Healing Center

Thanks to House of Refuge Church in St. Bernard, the Louisiana Healing Center has its electrical finished, and a wonderful friend from Texas supplied all the recessed lights. The Center has passed all preliminary inspections and now we can start closing in the walls. Progress is slow but we are moving forward. We still need lots of funding to complete and we’re believing God he will supply all our needs. There is no doubt that the ministries that will be housed in the Center are needed in our area. God has given us a vision that has been confirmed time and again. Some are calling this a new prototype for long term disaster recovery. Very few organizations stay after a disaster to help the people overcome the long term effects of emotional trauma. Research shows that it is the long term response that is critical to helping a community overcome traumatic stress caused by disasters. Stress can lead to a variety of health problems, but the work we are doing in Louisiana is helping people discover true peace through Jesus Christ, and they are learning that the Holy Spirit is the great comforter that mends broken lives and helps them build new support systems and godly relationships. Please pray that we can open the Center soon so we can help many more find this great peace.

Training

We’ve spent much of the last two months in intensive training sessions for inner healing ministries. We’ve done much of the training along the Gulf Coast with our new Regional leaders and Healing Rooms teams in Gulfport, MS and Mobile, AL. We’ve also spent lots of time with Tom and Barbara Winslow in Pensacola, FL, our new Regional Directors. We are so blessed to be connected with the teams on the coast and to learn from their experience. Our team in New Orleans is growing in number and depth. We have a team from Mobile coming to do more training in July. God is on the move.

Region 10 Directors Tom&Barbara with us in NOLA

New Walls

We had some great folks help us get the walls in our residential area finished these last two month. There are many that played a part, but here are some shots from the teams in May and June:

New walls

Team from Connerstone Christian Center in Brenham, Texas, takes a break from the finish work on the walls

Our friend from Jesus Project Ministries sent a group of Canadians to paint the walls

Creative Mission Trip

We were blessed to have a group of Prophetic Artist visit us. Prophetic art is when a person paints what the Lord shows them in the Spirit. These ladies blessed us with great artwork for the Healing Center and also blessed many others at three different outreaches we did in the city.

Cindi with artist from accross the Southeast

Some of the ladies and the art work they created

Closing

We continue our work ministering in local churches when needed, bringing God’s love in Healing Rooms, Tuegathering every Tuesday at the Healing Center, and Thursday outreaches in the French Quarter.

The Healing Room team worshiping God as we prepare to minister to people through prayer

We trust you will keep us in your prayers. We thank God for meeting our needs these last two months. He is faithful! We now have $950 of monthly support committed, and we only need $1725 more. We are actively seeking available grants as an alternative funding source for finishing the Healing Center, but still need monthly support to continue our work.

If you would like to partner with BlueStone and help us reach New Orleans for Jesus, You can send your tax deductible donation to: BlueStone Ministries PO Box 1701 Chalmette, LA 70044 or you can give online at www.bluestoneministries.com Your Paypal receipt serves as your giving record for tax purposes.

BlueStone Ministries is a registered 501(c)(3) organization and all donations are tax deductible. We appreciate your support and are grateful for your tax-deductible donations. Thank you for helping us change the lives of people on a daily basis.

God Bless,

BlueStone Ministries

BlueStone Ministries is One of 500 Finalists for Toyota’s 100 Cars for Good Program

BlueStone Ministries is proud to announce we’ve been selected as a finalist in Toyota’s 100 Cars for Good program. Now we need your support! Vote for BlueStone Ministries at www.facebook.com/toyota on Tuesday, July 5, 2011.

With a new Toyota we would be able to carry more supplies to families in need, and conduct more outreaches to bring the homeless into emergency shelters during times of extreme weather conditions and to provide transportation to our free counseling and inner healing center for clients who have limited resources.

Toyota’s 100 Cars for Good program will award 100 vehicles over the course of 100 days to 100 deserving nonprofit organizations based on votes from the public. A total of 500 finalists were selected based on their application as reviewed by an independent panel of judges who are experts in the fields of philanthropy and social responsibility. They are vying for the opportunity to win a new Toyota vehicle. Winning organizations will use the vehicles to help expand their reach and mission within the community.

Please support BlueStone Ministries on Tuesday, July 5, 2011. Voting will take place at www.facebook.com/toyota.