The Root System

Camping at the base camp park and military family

2011-06-15T12:58:00.000-07:00

Our place looks like a park. It is amazing out at the base house right now. Tony built a childrens play area complete with swings and slide. We have expanded the yard and are going to put in a bit of a sports area. We are working on a bit of a kitchen expansion... we are in need of a little more room. Things have changed a bit this summer and instead of a couple of young adults coming up we are having a little family move in! A military family is moving in to the community while "dad" is overseas for a year. We are very excited to have them come! They will arrive at the end of July.

Most of our crew is headed to Cornerstone at the end of this month. Daughters of Exile will be playing Thursday evening. We have an art festival shortly afterwards in Minneapolis. There are also babies on the way so Tracy will be traveling on a semi regular basis. I'll be taking some coffee brewing classes in prep for the coffee stand at LifeLight.

Here's the really important part for you! Freedom Seed's Communion is coming up! And like I said it is like a park up here! July 28 - 31 - Come camp!

Surfing

2011-04-24T18:58:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you but surfing always looks easy to me. When a professional does it anyway. Doesn't it look easy? They take a board out there. They have groovy hair. They have sweet hemp necklaces. They look totally relaxed. The stroke out in to the ocean like they were born swimming and like the board doesn't create any drag whatsoever. They wait patiently. They hardly even drift. And then... then the wave comes and the slide in to an upright position on their board. You can hardly see the motion they make that takes them from their prone position to standing on the board. Then they are riding the wave. They are inside the wave. They are flying. They are gliding. They come out of the water looking just as relaxed, if just a little flushed with the excitement and victory of their ride, as when they went in. Hemp necklace still in place. Perfect tan gleaming.

Gosh that looks easy.

If you have ever attempted any kind of physical activity you will know that it takes a lot of effort and a lot of practice and usually quite a lot of bruises. On top of that there is the investment in a board and clothes and even the hemp necklace. Sure everything looks "carefree" and easy but these people worked like crazy to make their surfing look easy.

We are practicing a new trick right now. We are putting together a curriculum for this summers (and many summers to come) interns. We are working on a church plant. We are working on starting a business. We are recording music. We are traveling. We are deciding on how we are doing all of these things and keep our community and family lives vibrant, healthy and happy.

It's fun. It's a lot of work.

In the quiet of Sunday

2011-04-03T12:01:00.000-07:00

It's silent.

It's still.

It isn't an uncomfortable silence.

Someone has just finished speaking.

Everyone is letting the moment rest.

If someone speaks and someone else interrupts or explains, makes excuses or in anyway detracts from what the speaker just said it sours the moment.

It doesn't matter what just came out of that person's mouth.

There has to be somewhere that people are safe to share.

Be authentic.

It's a comfortable silence.

And then someone else opens up.

Their words gush out like water.

Unhindered and free because no one has placed a stone in front of them to disrupt the flow.

And then everyone is still.

As we let it soak.

And we are filled.

And it's quiet.

And it's safe.

To be.

Authentic.

2011-03-31T12:59:00.000-07:00

We are prepping for our summer new arrivals this year. We have one who will be moving up full time and another who will be on and off and we are all looking forward to the surprises that come along! If you have an interest in coming up for the summer or know someone who would benefit then get in touch with us!

Our entire group is busy with piecing together side businesses and working on becoming more self sustaining. Things are moving as slowly as the sap around here and we are all trying to remind each other that spring is just now starting. We are having some of the coldest weather for spring though and we have been warned that the next couple of months are going to be chilly... great... there are some years here where you can wear a sweater all year round. We are hoping this is not one of those years. We would like to enjoy some lake time!

Garden plans are in the works and new chicks will be ordered soon as well. Things for the LifeLight music festival are gearing up already and soon there will be a lot of back and forth to Sioux Falls for both Tony and Matthias.

I have to say that our hearts are all straining towards other countries right now, India and Mexico especially are weighing on us all. Right now we can't make it there but we are looking forward to the time when we will be able to go again! Until then, we invite you here! We always have great food and there is hardly ever a dull moment.

Jasmine for the crew

Buy some awesome coffee from us!

Everyone, wanted and needed

2011-03-24T20:00:00.000-07:00

Our "parents" arrived home today! It is strange how you can live with so many people and yet when someone(s) leave for even a short time you miss their part in the daily activities. That is when you know that everyone really is participating in community life, you feel their absence because their part in the daily or weekly activities are missing and that part is vital to the way that we function. Sure someone can take over for a little while and we all live and everyone enjoys a vacation now and then but everything functions the best when everyone is here to fully participate.

Everyone is wanted. Everyone is needed.

Saturday Morning at the Community

2011-03-19T08:22:00.000-07:00

It is Saturday morning at the community and it's far from what the normal populace would call "laid back" but that is exactly what we would call it. It is after 10 a.m. and the pancakes are coming off the grill. The house is loud and filled with all of us and we have extras this weekend.

Aubrey and Tony make the best pancakes. They are huge, fluffy pancakes. I don't even try to compete I have just moved to making flapjacks so that nobody compares my cakes to the perfect pancakes that come of the grill of Aubrey and Tony. How do they do it? I don't know. Maybe I could talk them in to making a "How to make a perfect pancake" post but it isn't very likely because they both have an aversion of sorts to social networking so if you ever want the most perfect pancakes you will just have to come visit.

Jasmine

Coffee with a Cause

2011-03-17T17:12:00.000-07:00

Our mission is to help youth “gap year” or more accurately “gap summer” which is the year that follows high school where many young adults are wondering what to do next. We help these young adults find purpose and gain direction through hands on projects and through volunteer work in the community and around the country. These young adults spend their gap year summer working hard with their hands, learning to live with each other and learning vital life skills and teamwork.

The young adults that set aside this special time to focus on character building come out stronger and full of purpose. Many decide to go on to college or join a volunteer organization or even start their own business. They became highly motivated people.

By buying coffee from Freedom Seed Mobile Youth Church’s you will be supporting our work with young adults as well as enjoying an incredible cup o’ joe!

We purchase our coffee from Peace Coffee, a Minneapolis, MN based coffee roaster. Peace Coffee beans are fair trade organic coffee. Not only are they ethical they are also huge advocates of getting off your couch and being active while saving a little gas! We love that.

We are selling each pound of beans for $14. Local pick up is offered in the town of Bemidji. We will ship it to you and you’ll be charged what it costs to ship your order of beans. We’ll also give you some brewing instructions for drip, Melitta (our personal favorite) and cold brew.

We have a great selection of beans that our coffee fanatics enjoy.

Because of our love of biking….

Colombian Heavy Pedal Roast

Clean sweet light roast with a mild berry/cherry finish.

Roast Level: light
Acidity: medium-high
Body: medium
Aroma: cocoa, honey, almond
Flavor Notes: toasted walnuts, cocoa, wine

Blue Ox Blend

A dynamic blend of three coffees that highlights the individual flavors of each origin.

Roast Level: light, medium, and dark
Acidity: medium-high
Body: medium-heavy
Aroma: orange, spice, earth, dark chocolate

Flavor Notes: caramel, dark chocolate, graham, orange marmalade

This is our crew’s top pick.

Mexican Dark Roast

A big smoky start, nice dark chocolate middle and a crisp, clean finish.

Roast Level: dark
Acidity: low
Body: light
Aroma: dark chocolate, nutty & dried herbs

Flavor Notes: dark chocolate, black currant, prune, toasted walnut, dark toasted wheat

Yeti Cold Press Blend

This special blend makes an extraordinarily balanced, smooth and rich coffee.

Roast Level: medium-dark
Acidity: very low
Body: light-medium
Aroma: chocolate & toast
Flavor Notes: caramel, dark chocolate & smoke

For more information or to order some of this rockin’ coffee for a great cause you can –

Call us: 218-854-7327

Email us: info@freedomseed.org

Check out our website: www.FreedomSeed.org

You can also friend us on Facebook! Just look up Freedom Seed.
For now you are only able to order over the phone or by e-mail.

Please let us know how many pounds and what beans you would like. If you need your beans shipped please send us your address. You may also arrange a pick up if you are local.

You can either pay by check or with PayPal.

Spring Searching

2011-02-18T09:56:00.000-08:00

We are all on a search. Thankfully not on a search for Hope. We've found Hope. We're not in search of inspiration or on a search for Love because we have those things blooming in our lives, overflowing really. We're not even on a search for a home. We have a temporary one here and a permanent one to look forward to.

It really sunk in that we had a home to come back to when a few of us went down to Texas on what was supposed to be a week long trip that ended up including a four day trip down there through what was dubbed "the blizzard of the century". Unbelievably icy roads and crazy weather conditions and to top it all of I (Jasmine) had a car accident with Aubrey, Jude and Cheydon all in the car with me. My car is totaled. So instead of relaxing when we arrived at Tracy's mom's apartment a couple of us headed out the next day to go car shopping and started the long process of getting things settled with the insurance. Not exactly what we were expecting. We are all OK and we all felt an incredible sense of relief that we finally had a home to go to after something like this happened. We didn't have to point our bus in a direction and end up in some place to park for the night. We came home to recover and it feels good.

So what are we on a search for? Ways to sustain our community and to make it so that we all have flexible schedules and way more avenues to reach out. We are looking forward to young people arriving this summer to be trained, to "gap year" and to be rehabilitated as young adults with a desire to seek out Christ. So we are leading by example. We are seeking the best way to be self sustaining because at this point there aren't any more options and since those are the circumstances we find ourselves in right now we know that Jesus has orchestrated them and is leading us in to new adventures that we are charging boldly in to this spring.

If you are interested or know a young adult who would be interested in spending the summer up here this year please get in contact with us. You can also read more about our "program" at www.FreedomSeed.org

Jasmine
Communications

Parenting in community - staying open honest and willing

2011-01-28T14:38:00.000-08:00

Parenting. It is an "interesting" subject to say the least in any context but it community we have some unique forms of "interesting".

Our toddlers are trying to work out some sort of pecking order. They love each other. They enjoy each other. They fight like cats and dogs. That would be interesting in and of itself but we add our differing parenting in to the mix. Thankfully we parent in similar fashion. We hold very similar values etc. At least we don't have huge conflicts. We respect each other as parents. But it doesn't come easy. Each of us have to take turns backing off and letting the other take charge of the situation. We have to trust that each one of us as parents love each others children and have their best in mind. We have to talk things out. Sometimes it isn't easy and sometimes it isn't fun. We have to be honest and open and willing to talk about how we feel and how we can compromise as parents while still staying autonomous.

Do it yourself.

2011-01-22T18:16:00.000-08:00

Saturday is "do it yourself" night.

Our kitchen is the hub of our community. We love to eat. We love to talk. We love to cook. We love to get really close, sometimes really close. Have I mentioned that our kitchen it tiny? It doesn't stop us from putting half of the community in there all at one time.

Some amazing creations come out of that kitchen.

We take turns cooking. There are few people, those who work outside of the community, who bow out and do the dishes but everyone else takes their turn to cook one day a week. Baking is free game.

Once a week we go grocery shopping. Two of us usually go. It's normally the same two. We work with a fairly inflexible budget. We shop smart. We buy good food. We buy lots of fresh food. We buy organic as much as we are able. In the summer we grow things. We keep chickens. We like to buy as self sustaining as we can without tying us down too much to travel. It's a little complicated but we enjoy it that way, it keeps all these hands and minds busy and that is not an easy chore with this crew.

Saturday is "do it yourself" night. Sometimes there is leftovers that didn't get taken by the working people to lunch. People like to go to the local Chinese place on Saturdays. We're all bummed because it doesn't open until 4 p.m. anymore, it's a bummer because it used to be most of our favorite place for lunch, 4 p.m. makes for a late lunch. So people go out, people fix whatever or heat up leftovers. Strangely enough there were only three of us plus one toddler for dinner here tonight. It feels strangely lonely. Nice sometimes but very quiet. I'll be ready for the dinner activity tomorrow.

Beautiful Chaos

2011-01-19T18:24:00.000-08:00

We had a meeting last night. Surprisingly we don't have very many serious meetings around here. When things are rolling they are just rolling and there aren't many glitches other than the occasional growly day that someone might experience.
That is one thing. You always know when someone is having an "off" day. You can stay in you personal cabin all you want but sometime you are going to have to come out to eat or something and people are going to see whatever mood your in. We like to call it fish bowl living, I know, original huh?

Our meeting revolved around unholy vs holy and what does that mean? What does that mean in practical application? We don't like anything that we can't really dig our teeth in to, we want to be able to touch it, smell it and taste it. It all boiled down to is whatever you are doing or thinking of doing going to take you closer to Jesus or farther away? Is going to distract you? Distance you? And you standing there making the choice whether that thing is "good" or "evil" pretty much answers the question for you right there - there was one tree that was to be eaten from and that was the tree of Life not of the knowledge of good and evil.

Our meetings are always open forum. People are free to talk, cry, even get angry. Everyone is welcome to express their feelings and their frustrations or a bit of knowledge that they've picked up. We debate. We get emotional. And we all tough it out until we've discussed it from all angles and then we have coffee and some sort of baked good and someone cracks a joke (and believe me they are never the "so the chicken crossed the road" type) and everyone is laughing. And there are babies yelling, did I mention that?

Beautiful chaos filled Life.

"Who will go for us?"

2011-01-17T21:16:00.001-08:00

“And then I heard the voice of the Master: “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” I spoke up, “I'll go, Send me!”

Matthias made an amazing point this past Sunday during Freedom Seed's worship meeting. He siad that Isaiah overheard the Master speaking. The question wasn't directed at him. The Master was having a discussion, wondering out loud if you will, putting it out there for anyone to hear. And there was Isaiah, listening in. He volunteered, shouted out HERE I AM! Letting the Master that you wanted the job.

That's what we are doing. We have let you all in on our desire to continue to reach out and we are currently searching for ways to become self-supporting. We are taking steps to start up a mobile mini donut/coffee house as well as several other small businesses. We are still accepting interns during the summer and have been very excited to see how the Master has worked in their lives.

Tracy is graduating from midwifery school late this spring. We are all very proud of her.

We have an opportunity to connect the dots, or I should say to send a team to explore once again the possibility of connecting the dots. Oaxaca Mexico. Coffee. The best coffee we have had in Mexico. Also there is a brand new ministry started up that is in desperate need of midwives, you can see the ministry here: www.birthcenter.blogspot.com. They also need people to complete building projects.

As you all know Mexico is very close to our hearts and we continue to find a way to plant a base in another country, specifically Mexico or India, or even more maybe Mexico and then India.

We have overheard the Master and have shouted out “HERE WE ARE, SEND US!” and the Master has filled us with vision and purpose and a great passion.

We would like to send a small scout team to Oaxaca the second week of February to meet with the owners of the birth center as well as explore coffee options and the possibility of a business and base. We know how important it is to take our interns out of the country and we know that to keep ourselves moving forward we have to continue to connect and reach out.

If you are interested in supporting the exploratory team contact us by e-mail, letter or you can send a gift through pay pal on our website.

Please pray for our team!

Blessings,

Jasmine C.
Communications
Freedom Seed
Mobile Youth Church

44528 County Rd 3
Becida, MN 56678
(218)854-7327
info@freedomseed.org
www.FreedomSeed.org

What's up with your summer?

2011-01-13T14:38:00.001-08:00

Are you looking for a life change? A break from school? A break before you go back to school? Do you need some perspective? Some time to reflect? Some character building? Do you want to try something new? Be stretched and changed? Maybe the Freedom Seed base is for you this summer!

The "A" Team

2011-01-09T20:23:00.000-08:00

The Freedom Seed "A" Team is headed to Texas at the end of this month to be parking lot supervisors at the Superbowl! Our team is pretty excited and looking forward to seeing a little warm(er) sun for a week. This is a great opportunity for our logistics and event coordinators team to get their feet wet in another type of event.

We are excited to see how God is going to use our team for event planning in the future. They are great at it.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-15T12:43:00.001-08:00

Make a free digital greeting card

Beginning of the Year Businesses

2010-12-10T16:09:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

In this new year Freedom Seed is launching several businesses that will both compliment the ministry and fund it's operation.

We hope by your initial gift we will be able to eliminate the need for ongoing support.

The first venture is a food vendor bus that will put us in contact with thousands of people at festivals, fairs and events. Aromas Specialty Coffee and Doughnuts will have Freedom Seed flair while serving tasty treats for the mouth and soul!
All organic ingredients will be used in our doughnuts and rolls as well as in our “made from scratch” Indian chai tea and fair trade coffees and teas, this will be our niche. The aroma of these tasty foods and satisfying beverages will draw people so they may come in to contact with the most fragrant aroma for “We are the aroma of Christ.” 2 Cor 2:14-17

The second business is a photography business. There are several other small businesses in the works.

Thank you for considering our “tent making” operation and for all of your prayer and support in the past year!

From His birth to His return, blessings!

Pastor Tony P.

(p.s. For more details please leave a comment or e-mail us, we'd be happy to share!)

A good excuse and a before Thanksgiving accident

2010-11-28T21:02:00.000-08:00

The frozen Northland is having a hard time living up to it's reputation this year, we have yet to see sub-zero temps! On the other hand we did get a load of snow right before Thanksgiving.
We hope that your Thanksgiving was as great as ours was this year, food, family, extras, it was great. We were so happy to have Gabriel back with us for Thanksgiving, he is doing very well in school and enjoying life in Chicago, he is growing by leaps in bounds (yeah, I am outing you Gabriel ;-) Feel free to add your own two cents).

This year we were particularly thankful that Sharayah is not only still with us but ate Thanksgiving dinner without hardly a scab to remind her that a week before she was going in for a CAT scan. Here is what was left of her car -

The smallest detail was seen to in this accident as some good friends of ours gave Sharayah a car to replace this one, a reminder of how much our small lives mean to God in their tiniest detail.

Daughter of Exile played in Duluth on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. It was a bit much on all of us after our busy couple of days, I (Jasmine) actually forgot my guitar only to remember it when we were already half way to our destination which was three hours away, great, now what? Thankfully the crew at Amazing Grace, where we were playing, provided a loaner, the strings were a little old and it was a bit difficult keeping it in tune but it did work out. It was a good show. Music is such a good excuse to get out and meet people.

How was your Thanksgiving?

Discussion

2010-11-10T22:26:00.000-08:00

There are plenty of ways to get involved in discussing things, exchanging ideas and meeting new people by participating here on the blog or by visiting the Freedom Seed facebook page. You can also visit the Wikia page and make your own changes, it is a little more complicated than posting your comment on the blog or joining a discussion on facebook but it also has many more options.
And since we are in the page sharing mood you might as well check out the Freedom Seed Etsy page that is home to some cute winter gifts and will soon be hosting our CD! Speaking of CDs that is the last page I'll share with you all right now, the new Daughters of Exile page on facebook.
Please feel free to share all these sites, the more the merrier!

Hope to see you in a discussion soon!

New Season

2010-10-28T09:06:00.000-07:00

It's a new season! And we mean that in other ways than just the weather though it is getting progressively chillier.

First off we would like to introduce you to our newest member - Cheydon Michael Krueger, born Oct. 13 @ 8 a.m. weighing 7 pounds 3 ounces.

Everyone is busy adjusting to the new little body in our midst.

In other not so exciting news. MOst of our time and effort is being spent building Sharayah and Nathan a winter-worthy space to live and prepping our community for the cold months ahead.

We currently do not have any interns but will be welcoming a few in the spring/summer of this coming year.

We have changed the name of our band to "Daughters of Exile" (you can find us on facebook at www.facebook.com/daughtersofexile) and will be recording here in the next couple of weeks.

We have been sending small teams out about one to two times per month for a variety of events including art outreaches, concerts, inner-city, midwifery, school, childbirth education, photography and more.

Most of our crew is working full time at the moment. Over the course of the winter we hope to start several small businesses that would help our ministry to be self-supporting, freeing our crew up to be even more available especially for extended traveling and short notice ventures.

We are also working on new (to us) and innovative ways of reaching out using the internet.

For us there is no such thing as "down time"!

We welcome your questions and comments, ok, we more than welcome them, we really enjoy them.

Love from the whole FS crew.

Jasmine C.

LifeLight '10

2010-09-08T19:40:00.000-07:00

We had a great time at LifeLight this year. The attendance exceeded all previous years on the new piece of property, over 300,000 people attended over the three day festival. Our crew is just arriving home and everyone is completely wiped out. There was plenty of work to go around as Tony is the Festival Coordinator/Operations Manager. Our crew ran a kitchen to feed the whole ops. crew which turned out to be almost 100 for most meals.

Tapestry performed as well as Freedom Seed's drama team. Paul and Jasmine ran the 5k, Paul was 5th overall (170-something runners) and Jasmine placed 2nd in her age category.

Tapestry has an opportunity to go on tour this coming year so we are currently checking doors. If you are interested in having Tapestry play at your event please get in touch with us.

Sharayah and Nathan are in need of a cabin now and there is a lot of wood to collect for the winter.

Laura came up from Texas for the festival and made the trip to the north woods once again for another week, we are happy to have her.

We are now waiting for Aubrey and Paul's new arrival who is due to join the family sometime in the next few weeks.

There are a lot of things on the plate and we are looking forward to what God has over the next couple of months.

To Reach and To Touch

2010-07-25T15:24:00.000-07:00

Our team just wrapped up a whirlwind weekend in Minneapolis playing music at Corner Coffee and staying with The Source/Fallout crew during their art festival. Tapestry played music twice, our crew helped set up and tear down and put on a performance as well as leading the drum circle. It was fantastic.

We have put together and performed for the first time at the Fallout art festival a new production. One of the biggest points of the production is touching, the power of touch to break through the "bubbles" of our lives, the human touch and the touch of the Divine.

I dug through the Freedom Seed archives and found some pictures that really struck a chord, that showed the power of touch through an expression or gesture captured, and here I would say "on film" but we all know that it is now all digital, so... captured moments.

Paul connecting in Sweden

Tracy touching in Mexico

Andrew carrying in India

Sharayah taking a hold of life in India

Paul in India

Aubrey in India

Is it the bread or the touch that is life?

Cornerstone Adventure - July News

2010-07-07T19:20:00.000-07:00

Our Cornerstone crew was privileged enough to have an adventure on their way home. In small-town Iowa the small RV they were driving blew it's engine. Classic Freedom Seed. This is when everyone was glad that we have a home base and there were several of us here able to drive a few vehicles down and pick them up. 20 hours later we all arrived home in one piece and with our sanity, or what is left of it, intact. The RV on the other hand... it was safely laid to rest in a salvage yard.

Cornerstone was great for our team. There were ministry connections made for inner city ministry in Minneapolis. Our team will be headed down the end of this month to play music, put on a interactive art/drama presentation and lead drum circles at the Fallout art festival.

Tapestry will also be performing at a downtown Minneapolis coffee house the day before.

In the meantime we are busting our tails on getting things prepped for another winter, prepping art, drama and music as well as having people in and out all summer. Everyone is gearing up for the LifeLight music festival Tony will become more and more focused on getting this years festival on the ground in it's new location.

We are also praying about purchasing a business here in Bemidji that would allow us to work during the summer and get our team out in the nations during the winter. It would also free our people up to have small teams take turns going to all the events and ministries during the summer as it has been quite difficult with the corporate jobs. Difficult, but not impossible.

Make sure and check out our new web site.

One more big THANK YOU! to those who participated in the Get Well 2, you are consistently generous and it is gratitude that can't form itself in to words that is yours.

Blessings,

Jasmine C.
Communications
Freedom Seed Mobile Youth Church

We Communed

2010-06-17T08:51:00.000-07:00

Communion this year was great. We had a small and intimate group that remained for the entire time with several families showing up over the course of the weekend. God moved in people's lives bringing direction, refreshing and vision.

The communion projects this year were building a wood fired pizza/bread oven and roasting a whole pig. Both projects turned out great. We had amazing pizza, bread and pork. Everyone looks forward to communion food and it gives us a little reminder to be looking forward to the ultimate feast.

Pizza/bread oven

Camp Changes in a wet May

2010-05-13T11:00:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

It is another wet and gloomy day here in northern MN the bonus being that they most likely will lift the burn ban that has been on because everything around here was spontaneously combusting.

As we are coming to up on the end of spring here we are happy to have finished off many projects around the place as well as Damien and Andrew completing the EMT course. Tracy has attended several births and there are happy and healthy moms and babies who are very grateful for the schooling that she is receiving. Aubrey has a tiny little baby belly. The munchkins are growing like crazy and have their birthdays coming right up.

We have made a few changes to camp. We have changed it from 10 days long to 5 days with camp starting on June 9 and ending June 13. If you would like to register for camp please let us know. It is going to be a great time!

Sharayah and her husband will be moving to the base camp here in the next couple of weeks and still plan to head to Alaska for 2 months with Nathan's (Sharayah's hubby) Texas church. We have 2 young women from Texas coming to spend time in the woods. One of the young women and her family we have known and been friends with as well as them being supporters of Freedom Seed for years, we are excited to have her coming up to spend 3 weeks with us. The other young lady will be spending the summer with us to get a taste of something different and a little more Jesus. We also have a young man coming to spend 6 months, kind of a "gap" season for him. We are looking forward to the work that Jesus will do in their lives during their time here.

Our closing thoughts are those of summer and hoping that it comes soon!

Love from the team.

Jasmine C.

Communications

Freedom Seed Q&A

2010-02-24T13:19:00.001-08:00

We have recently written out an informal Q&A about Freedom Seed that I have attached to the end of this e-mail. We hope it will give you a better insight in to what Freedom Seed is about and the methods we use to train people and why.

Learners are teachers.

What are the PEMS? The PEMS stand for Physical Emotional Mental and Supernatural. They are the way the Freedom Seed has chosen to verbalize the steps that we take to reach and share freedom in Christ.

Why do we use them? They give us practical steps to walk out on a daily basis and a way to clean up our “garbage”.

Where did the basis of how we learn/train come from? Both the 12 Steps of AA and the years that the Pembertons and later Freedom Seed spent traveling and serving.

What do we think about honesty? Honesty is essential. Both with God and with others. We can not stress enough how important honesty is.

How important is community to us? Community is the way we have chosen to walk out our lives so that we are able to practice on a daily basis the PEMS and to be continually challenged in our walk. It also gives us lots of room to practice service. Community is a growing place for us and our refuge. It is very important.

What goes to Heaven or what do you take with you? The only thing that you take with you are your relationships.

What do we think about manipulation? Manipulation in all it's forms is plainly and simply sin. It is not tolerated for any length of time in the group. Manipulation destroys relationship.

What is manipulation? The dictionary defines manipulation as: “To manage or influence skillfully, esp. in an unfair manner.” and “to adapt or change to suit one's purpose or advantage.”. Manipulation is using people to get what you want.

Responsibility and __________ go hand in hand. AUTHORITY!

Why? If you are not responsible with small things you can not handle larger things. The more responsible you are the more people will trust you.

How do chores show readiness for ministry? Once again if you are not able to do the small things you will not be able to do the larger things. Ministry is hard work and often involves a lot of menial jobs. Often times it is hard work that breaks the ice with people so we are able to minister to them. Chores prepare you for this.

Why do your leaders choose to stand aside and let people learn without direct supervision? We believe that natural consequences are often the best teachers. You will not constantly be supervised throughout your life so why start that way?

What kind of churches do we intend to plant? Circle style churches. Churches that function like our small community.

Why don't we have “traditional” teaching? Everyone has something to share and it is important that everyone is given a chance to share during a meeting. Different things touch different people.

What do we think about the “Church”? We love the Church and know that it spans through time and we are a vital part of that.

What do we think about the Bible? It is truth and inspiration. It is inspired.

Do we have any interest in becoming a status quo church? No.

What is our mission philosophy on how to reach people? Relationship, relationship, relationship.

Why do we choose to do this in community? In community we learn how to grow and maintain healthy, Godly, relationship.

How did Freedom Seed start? Freedom Seed started with a family knowing that there was something more. This family spent lots of prayer time and decided as a family to start doing. And they have done ever since.

How did the “Pembertons” become ministers? By stepping out and doing. The next thing. And then the next.

What is the FS mandate for the leaders? Serve!

Why do we share with other people? We share with others because it is what keeps us alive and vital. And it is selfish to keep silent about water in the desert.

Why? Without reaching out we do not have anything new running through our lives. We dry up.

What do we think about young people and children in ministry? They are a vital part of our lives and therefore our ministry. Young people and children can speak profoundly in to a ministry. They should always be included and listened to.

What do we think about the supernatural? It is very real and active in our lives.

What are some of the supernatural things have we have seen? We have experienced many spiritual things including healing, deliverance, multiplication... etc.

Why do we meet regularly? We meet on a regular basis to gauge where everyone is at and to check up on each other. We also meet to pray and worship. It is one of the ways that we stay connected with God and others.

How important is disciplin? Very. If you are not disciplined you will not be able to live in community or a foreign country.

Why do we care about people's motives in ministry? Motive is everything. There is no point in ministry if there is wrong motive.

Why do we have our potential teachers/leaders/church planters work the 12 steps over and over again? So in AA terms they “carry the message and not the mess”. Also so that they commit the Steps to memory so they are able to recall what they need to assist them while ministering to others.

What do we think about taking on other people's responsibilities? Why? It's not to be done. It becomes unhealthy when we take on responsibility that does not belong to us.

Do we think this is the only way to learn/teach? No. There are many different ways to learn and to teach. For some people there very well may be a better way.

Are we interested in another way? No. Though we choose to remain teachable and incorporate new things in to our ministry and lives we have established a way that works for us and are not interested in changing that.

What is the most important thing in our lives? Christ. And Him crucified. Christ in us and through us. Christ behind and before us. Jesus.

Spring Anyone?

2010-02-24T13:18:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

We are hoping that cabin fever is not setting in for you all as it has begun to for us. It has not been terrible so far this winter as everyone has been quite busy but the tail end is always the roughest. Jude especially is ready to spend some time outdoors. We have been enjoying the Olympics this past week and that has eased the fever a bit.

Big news around here is that Aubrey and Paul are expecting baby #2! He or she is due at the beginning of October.

Plans for the Freedom Seed summer camp and coming together and we are hoping that you are thinking of joining us. We do need everyone who is planning on attending to let us know and have an initial payment of $100 in by May 30. This will give us time to get all of our supplies together for your arrival.

If you have any questions about camp please e-mail us or give us a call.

As always questions, comments and conversation is always welcome.

Love,

Jasmine C.

Communications

Freedom Seed
Mobile Youth Church
44528 County Rd. 3
Becida, MN 56678

218-854-7327

www.FreedomSeed.org

Summer Camp Details

2010-01-14T20:50:00.000-08:00

Hello all!

Just wanted to start of by giving a big THANKS to the Lord for clearing up Sharayah's HUGE medical bills!

We hope you are all doing well and looking forward to it getting warmer, we are all happy since the weather has broken in to the 20's here for the last couple of days, we are laughing because we are going to be like the rest of the Minnesotans and be in our shorts and t-shirts as soon as it hits 50.

Speaking of summer I wanted to give you a few more details about our summer camp.

The camp title is PEMS* it will run June 4 - 13 the cost is $200 this will cover your food and drinks and maybe some s'more materials!

PEMS* is the way the Freedom Seed trains people and the way we live out our lives in a Christ-centered missional community and it is how we carry the message (and not the mess) to the field. During the 10 days of camp you will be immersed in this training, you will be challenged Physically Emotionally Mentally and Supernaturally and you will come out changed, strengthened, encouraged and empowered to do life.

We don't want to spoil the fun so I am going to be a bit vague but you will be participating in lots of these things: eating diverse foods, getting out in to nature, spending time with people, outreaching, worshiping, praying, sharing, working and playing, these will be carried out in unique and challenging ways.

You will be camping and it will be a bit on the primitive side, come geared up to smell like a camp fire for a few days!

This is going to be fun!

Please get in touch with us if you are interested so we can make sure and get you on our list.

Questions? Please don't hesitate to drop us a note.

We love you all and look forward to seeing you soon!

Peace,

Jasmine C.
Communications

Freedom Seed

Mobile Youth Church
44528 County Rd. 3
Becida, MN 56678

218-854-7327

www.FreedomSeed.org

2010 Summer Camp

2010-01-07T18:17:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year! We hope you rang in the New Year with joy, peace, hope and LOVE!

Freedom Seed MYC had a re-focus mind map where we write out all of our plans and ideas as a visual prayer and inspiration, a brainstorm time, this past week and are awed to see how God has been speaking to all of us and are inspired for this year. More on this to come in the next months.

We have also revamped our web page in hopes that it will be easier to navigate and contain more information. It is still in construction phase but should be completed by this weekend. Feel free to let us know what you think and if you have any suggestions about what kind of information you would like to see let us know.

I am going to jump ahead to this summer so that you all can start making plans, you do not want to miss out on this!

10 Day Summer Camp - June 4-13

Mark your calendars and get registered! Freedom Seed MYC is hosting a 10 day summer camp June 4-13. This is going to be 10 days of nock your socks off fun and communion. These ten days will be full of meetings, food, fellowship, games, worship, dance, drama, art, fire spinning and whatever else you come up with to bring, that’s right I said what you bring! This is old school Church where everyone brings something to share whether that is music, art, a writing, your story, a verse from the Bible, just don’t come empty handed!

So what do you need to do? Drop us a note letting us know you are coming. We are asking for a $200 check per person (if you are already a supporter please contact us first) to Freedom Seed, this is going to cover your food/drinks and other supplies for the 10 days.
Then you need to get here!
After you drop us a note letting us know you are coming we will put you on a contact list and as the time draws closer we will send you a packing list.

We are looking forward to seeing you here!

If you are under 18 a parent must accompany you.

We love you all.

In Christ,

Jasmine C.
Communications

Freedom Seed
Mobile Youth Church
44528 County Rd 3
Becida, MN 56678

www.FreedomSeed.org

218-854-7327

(Cabin phone #, yes we can actually answer it and talk with you!)

Merry Christmas and ER Visit

2009-12-16T20:57:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone!

Or close enough anyway! We enjoy Christmas and are really enjoying it being here at home base, it is the first time in 10 years that Tony will not be able to sing "I'll be homeless for Christmas..." and we are all taking advantage of it! Christmas cookies, Christmas trees, lights, some presents. The great thing is that we are doing this all with running water!

Now are crew is TERRIBLE about waiting for it to actually be Christmas before we give our presents, so Aubrey gave Tony his present in advance, an axe. It is a fairly practical present considering we have 3 wood stoves to fill for the winter and a pile of wood that still needs to be split. The guys have been splitting like crazy and the rest of us have been hauling and stacking but there still is more to do. So Tony headed out to the woodpile to try out his new axe. He was back in a few minutes later limping and groaning (NOT a good sign considering he has such a high pain tolerance, ask his family because boy do we have some stories!), he had swung the axe for the first time not knowing that the handle was iced and slick, as he swung down it came out of his hands and caught him in the leg. Despite his protests the guys hauled him to the ER where he had his muscle stitched back together and his wound stitched back up, all the while he was asking if they could just throw a few butterfly bandages on it and call it good! Thank the Lord he didn't split the muscle the other way, he split it "with the grain", and that it hit the meaty part of his leg and not knee, foot or ankle! He is having to take it easy right now and is not enjoying his couch time.

Sharayah was also in the ER this past week for an infection and was put on IV antibiotics on top of having the flu. Thankfully she is sounding much better now.

So that is the excitement from the Freedom Seed front, feel free to share your Christmas stories with us!

But really, joking aside, this is a wonderful season and we pray that you and yours will find as much joy in it as we are.

Love,

Jasmine and the gang
Communications

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T09:35:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving all!

We have so much to be thankful for this year! And not even just this year but just these last couple of months. I just sent our last well payment! We have completed taking down an old barn, a project we started this summer and that has supplied the wood for Nathan and Allison's cabin, our chicken house, goat shed and the floor to the main cabin.

We had a great trip to Texas, Sharayah's wedding reception went well and we were able to visit TX friends as well as having an early family Thanksgiving dinner with Tracy's mom.

Tony and Tracy remained and Texas and are now making the rounds to update our friends, supporters and churches.

The rest of us are working, we are thankful for the jobs that the guys were able to find! We are also setting up winter outreaches. We are headed to Duluth MN with Tapestry (our band) on Saturday.

There are several of us trying to shake a nasty cold, it has pretty much been one after another since LifeLight.

We love you all and wish you a great Thanksgiving with a long list of things to be thankful for!

Jasmine C.

Communications

Beltrami

2009-10-29T08:15:00.000-07:00

We had a sweeeeeet time in Beltrami last night. It was a 2 hour car ride for 7 of us (that includes Chennai), we left the early rising work people at home. We had some great channel surfing and chat time.

We were surprised by the number of youth there and had a blast putting on our presentation which included worship music, speaking, drama, comedy and gymnastics, not necessarily in that order.

Our theme was "the reason to get up in the morning" or "pan de vida" (bread of life). Our motivation and inspiration? JESUS

We had a chance to chat with the youth and it is always a pleasure to minister with Don (youth pastor).

They are always so great about paying our gas and going above and beyond. You guys rock!

If you want us to come to you give us a shout out!

Well

2009-10-24T07:13:00.000-07:00

Our well is in! Tony and crew put the finishing touches on the plumbing today! We are all excited. Thank you to all of you who helped "get us well". We are continuing to make payments but we see the end of the tunnel. Thank you all.

On a personal update. Sharayah's wedding went off very well. She is off on her honeymoon and has moved down to Longview Texas. We will miss her.

Up next is a youth group a few hours from here, music gigs and Texas and border work.

Blessings,

Jasmine
Communications

1/3

2009-09-28T11:27:00.000-07:00

So we are about 1/3 of the way to actually getting our well paid for. At the moment it is drilled and such and we have bill in hand! We are not able to get it plumbed in to the house as of yet but we are trusting that there is a plan for that!

Paul is making some awesome t-shirts and we have a pretty decent CD at the moment... we are just getting the new website up and running but we will have photos of everything up there soon and you can place an order for something sweet! For now you can make a donation on the Freedom Seed website (main page) and put in the comments what you would like us to send you.

Here is our thought provoking tidbit for the week.

Also our new etsy shop is up and running! "The Source"

Face-lift and Feeling Well

2009-09-28T11:26:00.000-07:00

Hey all, just a quick note to let you know that the Freedom Seed website has had a face-lift! Make sure and check it out, there are sections that are still under construction but keep checking back to see the progress. (www.FreedomSeed.org)

Also we are excitedly watching our well being drilled today! It isn't paid for, not even very close actually, and they are having to drill quite deep which we are a bit disappointed about, we just pray we hit some good water!
If you would like to participate in "Getting Us Well" please send us your t-shirt size and I'll send you donation instructions!

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support!

Love,
Jasmine C.
Communications

Freedom Seed
Mobile Youth Church
44528 County Rd. 3
Becida, MN 56678

www.FreedomSeed.org

To Every Season - July Update

2006-07-22T19:09:00.000-07:00

(Spelling correction for “Team UK” Mission e-letter that went out, Numbers 13 ASSESS the people)

I do not think that resting is actually a word in Freedom Seed’s dictionary.

Well, maybe that isn’t quite true. The Lord has taught us a lot over the years of being on the road (we are now in our 8th year) and in ministry about resting when He tells you to rest, and finding that place in Him that is named Rest.

So let me explain my opening sentence.

During our time here in Minnesota so far we have had countless people asking us how our “rest” is going.

Well I’m going to let you in on the secret.

We have worked on the “cabin”, dug a new outhouse, and cleaned up the woods around the house. Put in firewood. Helped the Burns (the people who gave us the cabin, we live a few hundred feet away from each other) dig holes and clean up and prepare for building their house.

Our e-mail and webpage went down for almost 2 weeks.

We have held a “Communion”.

We have slogged our way through re-entry culture shock.

This week we have spent 3 hours a day driving to a tent meeting in a very rural part of the countryside where we are the worship team. We were happy to host the speaker at our camper for a night and get to know him a bit. Last night was a Spanish speaking night and we were able to connect with an outreach to the Latin-Americans close to Bemidji (there are quite a few Latin-American people here because of a fabric factory) where they teach English classes, we will be joining them to help teach and to play music.

Saturday will be our day of rest this week as some of us (Jasmine, Aubrey and Matthias) prepare to council at camp for the next week.

After camp our plan is to make it to Sioux Falls SD to make a CD.

During that time the Burns will be building their house, Matthias and Tony will be heavily involved in the construction.

Jasmine and Aubrey are preparing for their 4-week outreach-scouting trip to the UK (if you would like more information about that please drop us a note and let us know). They will be leaving in the beginning of September.

Freedom Seed is also finishing it’s move to Minnesota as we have ministry paperwork to organize, drivers licenses to change… all the things that pertain to moving, not just a family but a ministry as well.
Plans are in motion for this fall, we will be “leaking” information about that soon.

Please keep us in your prayers as the rising gas prices are a large consideration in all of this and as Freedom Seed steps out in more and more diverse ministries and begins to share about the larger vision of the Mobile Youth Church travel is high on the list as well as varying outreach tools.

We are praying for you – you do not leave our thoughts or consideration.

In His faithfulness

End Of Communion

2006-07-13T18:46:00.000-07:00

Finding the words to express all that our days of Communion brought about is almost impossible.

Though we held "the" Communion on a certain set of days for a certain amount of time we would like to point out to you all that communing with one another and with Christ is not for aset amount of time, it has no end. We would like to invite you to come visit with us at any time during the summer here, outside of Bemidji at our cabinm come; stay as long as you want.
"The Communion" is set only because we know that you need to be able to make plans, travel plans and times so that you can get off work.

Communing is the purpose of Freedom Seed, to commune with Christ and with others, sharing in the joys, triumphs, sorrows and pains of Christ and His Body..

During the time of the Communion we were blessed to share in many of these things.

A young married couple came to the Comjmunion (they had only been married a week) and we watched as God worked changes in them through the communion that we took each night and through the sharingm we were excited to watch as God moved in their lives and blessed their new marriage as they washed each others feet, what a way to get started on a life-long journey!

We listened as people poured out their pains and sorrows about the felloship they were lacking and about the choices that they had made.

We watched as everyone quietly listened to each person, giving them the space and the respect of listening and not commenting but sharing in whatever the speaker was saying. People shared Bible verses, writingsm, their various arts, some just shared by serving others, cooking the meals, cleaning up. There were no chore lists and no real schedule and yet everything fit together and nothing was left undone, no one was left out.

Our good friend John Parsons (www.myliferadio.com) came and shared about the use of media in presenting the gospel, referring to them as the "roman roads" and "Greek language" of our day. 4 teams of people made video presentations of some Biblical truth that had impacted them and were taught how to edit and film them by John and his son in law. The films that came out of this excercise were incredible. One young man was very impacted by this part of the Communion in particular and will be helping Freedom Seed with putting together DVDs of pictures and video. There is more than one person that will be carrying on with using filming as a way to communicate the gospel message.

Freedom Seed Mobile Youth Church also gained a new member.

At the end of our time together we were sad to see everyone go but joyful to see what God had done in each person's life.

Communion was sweet.

Thank you to all of you who kept this Communion in your prayers, to those of you who helped to support it.

Please keep in mind our invitation to come and "commune" (visit) at any time, and that is not an empty invitation.

May God bless you all and bring you into a sweet communion with Himself and those around you.

Some Things to Sort Out

2006-07-13T18:42:00.000-07:00

Business.

We are in Becida (or Solway depending on who you ask, and don't bother asking the post office because they will take either) Minnesota at the Freedom Seed cabin/base camp which has been named "The Source".

We have had web problems and e-mail problems, mail problems, banking issues... we do not have running water and recently tried to put a well in, tried is the key word in that sentence, for now the well drilling has been put on the back shelf as we get the place cleaned up and ready for this year's Freedom Seed Communion (i.e. mission camp).

As you might have noticed we have a strange date difference going on right now in our updates and that has to do with all of the interesting internet problems that we have been experiencing. Things are about to change once more on the Freedom Seed web page as we go through another change in the seasons of growth of the Freedom Seed.

The Freedom Seed Communion is being held once again this year July 1-5. We are sending out regular updates on the Communion on our Newsletter list, if you would like to receive our Newsletter please send us an contact us letting us know you would like to be added to our list.

OR go to: www.freedom-seed.blogspot.com to see the newest Freedom Seed update and to leave your comments.

We also have a new address:

Freedom Seed
44526 County Rd 3
Becida, MN 56678

We also have a new phone number, if you would like that new number please send us a request.

Back in the USA

2006-07-13T18:40:00.000-07:00

I am now technically back in charge of our web page. For those of you who didn’t

know a good friend has been taking care of all the internet posting during our

time in Mexico, meaning… that yes, Freedom Seed is back in the USA. We returned state

side on Thursday evening. We spent a two days in Palacios Texas to pick up our

camper and to visit with some supporting churches.

We are glad to be meeting up with churches and people again and telling them of

all that God has done in the past 5 months but we can not say that our physical

bodies are as happy as we are experiencing some culture shock and our stomachs

are trying to re-adjust to the food.

Thank you to all of you for your prayers and support during our time in Mexico.

To see photos please go to: www.photos.yahoo.com/freedomseed6 and see the

album “Mexico 2006”.

We will be making fast tracks through Texas and South Dakota right on to

Minnesota. If you want to grab us on our way through please let us know, we will

be trying to visit as many churches and individuals as possible. The reason for

our fast pace is we still have to move all of our banking, ministry papers, address

and

all other such things to Minnesota and we have many many things to do before

we

are ready for the 4th of July Communion. (If you are interested in the Communion

please let us know as we will soon be sending out information but only through

our Newsletter e-mail list so if you are not on it but would like to be please

send

us a note through our “contact us”).

Further Travel Plans

2006-07-13T18:37:00.000-07:00

For further travel plans of all:

There will be a Freedom Seed Communion held in the north woods of MN.

4th of July weekend, 4 days, Bemidji MN.

We will be sending out more information as the time comes nearer, but for now,

block out the dates on your calanders!

Looking forward to seeing you,

Freedom Seed

Outreach update

2006-07-13T18:36:00.000-07:00

Things are coming along really well for the concert outreach here. We thought we

would send you all a quick note about what is going on.

It is Semana Santa here in MX (Holy Week) so everyone is on vaccations and they

will have black Friday here where they will walk down the streets in black and

barefoot carrying crosses, Mary, a dead Jesus, sometimes beating themselves.

We will be helping with a Christian camp starting tomorrow until Friday, Jasmine

and Rachel are going to be counselors and we have a late night camp fire meeting

to run, the rest of everyone will be in and out of camp.

Saturday we have our friend's wedding where Aubrey and Sharayah are maids of

honor and Jasmine will be singing.

We have found a really neat man of God to come be the preacher for our concert

outreach, we had a chance to spend some time talking with him today and we are

excited to see how God is pulling things together for this time.

Damien asked a friend of his to help out with bottled water for the concert and

as he was telling him about the outreach his friend asked him if he could share

his testimony, before he was saved he was a kidnapper! Damien was very

encouraged and so are we, God is bringing those who He wants.

The MN team will be here the 31st, we are looking forward to them coming.

School ends the 27th, we are looking forward to that, though there are lots of

tests between now and then.

Thank you for your prayers...

Outreach

2006-07-13T18:35:00.000-07:00

The date for the concert is coming closer... we have now confirmed that we will

have a team of 7 people from northern MN that will be coming for a short term

trip as well as to help with the concert outreach.

Their is a supporter of ours that has asked if I would put out that every dollar

that is donated for the outreach (if you have or are donating for the specific

purpose of the outreach please drop me a note to let me know so that it does not

go into the living funds) he will match up to $500.00.

We will have a full update out here soon... we are keeping very busy and looking

forward to how God will use this outreach and the people that are coming down.

Thank you for your prayers and your support.

Communication

2006-07-13T18:34:00.000-07:00

Sometimes a conversation can change your whole outlook on life, your

relationships with others and even your relationship with God. Let me tell you

about one of those kinds of conversations that we had just recently.

We were talking to some friends of ours, in Spanish, and the woman from the

couple that is living with us was telling our friends what they did in their

ministry,

well, actually, she was telling them what she did in the ministry. Our friends

kept

asking odd questions like “Oh, really? You do it all by yourself huh?” as she is

telling them how she builds houses for the poor in Ciudad Juarez. Of course, she

ended up leaving the conversation confused as to why they did not understand

that she built houses, thinking that maybe it was that they could not believe

that

she, as a woman, could build houses.

The next day we went to visit our friends and they started explaining to us

why they had shown so much unbelief and given her such a hard time. It was not

that they did not believe that she could build houses but that they say it is

impossible to do it alone, without help. They began to explain to us how nobody

does anything alone; there is always help. Even if someone was doing the primary

physical work there is someone who is encouraging him or her, someone who is

cooking for him or her, someone who is cleaning… When something is being done

even though you might only see or recognize one person, behind that person there

is many people.

That is the point that we would like to make to all of you. “We” are “us” and

“us” is “we”. All of us together, though we may be in different places of

visibility to

others we all know that it is all of us who make things possible.

I would like to tell you what we have all been a part of. (This means you)

Edgar, one of the younger members of the family that we are with most of the

time has been very curious about Christianity lately, has just recently

completed 1

month of sobriety, joined us at church this past Sunday and had lots of

questions

afterwards. Please keep him in your prayers.

Damian, our young upstairs neighbor is taking slow but sure steps in his walk

with Christ. Matthias has had a great part in all of that, so much so that now

Damian’s younger brother and friends are asking Matthias questions about faith

and inviting him to spend time with them. Keep in mind that these are gang

members we are talking about and it is not easy to earn their respect.

We accompanied Damian and Isaac (the kid who saved Damian’s life when he

tried to kill himself by busting through the glass) and it is incredible to see

God working in their lives, the steps they are taking towards Him.

Also, young people have been asking us for bibles because we have brought

Spanish bibles in contemporary language and they mostly have bibles in Old

Spanish and the young people hardly understand any of it. We gave a bible to

Damian and it has traveled to several other people already and they wanted their

own… if you are one of the people who is thinking about coming down here for a

short trip please let us know as we would like for you to bring us some more!

(We will let you know where you can get them).

Tony, Nolan and Matthias helped roof a classroom on a little Baptist church

outside of the city as well as do some cement work.

Things with Rachel are going well.

The last part of the update I have saved for a question. The question is what

are WE going to do next? Your decisions and prayers have a profound effect on

the
part of you (we) that is here in Guadalajara Mexico.

We are still aiming for the May 6th outreach with a hip-hop artist, Damien

and ourselves playing and a local pastor preaching.

What is determining our next steps is your support. We will have an outreach

either way. If the funding does not come for what we would like to see happen

then we will borrow our friend’s restaurant and have Damian and ourselves

playing

and a local pastor preaching.

To go forward with plan A, a plane ticket needs to be bought here shortly and

we need to procure a sound system and reserve a spot as well as begin to make

flyers…

Those of you who had already said you would like to support this outreach

financial please let me know by the end of this week (or during the weekend) how

much support you will be sending so that we can finalize plans and let the

artist

know how much of a “love offering” we can offer him.

Please consider all of this with prayer.

Because we love Him,

Jasmine for Freedom Seed

The “we” in Guadalajara Mexico

“The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind –

Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you,

So they might be one heart and mind with us.

Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me.

The same glory you gave me, I gave them,

So they’ll be as unified and together as we are –

I in them and you in me.

Then they’ll be mature in this oneness,

And give the godless world evidence

That you’ve sent me and loved them

In the same way you’ve loved me.” -Jesus (John 17:20-23 MSG)

Guad. School Update and More

2006-07-13T18:33:00.000-07:00

Tracy, Jasmine and Rachel have succesfully completed their levels of school! And

may I tell you... we are very happy about that. We have a week break before we

start our second set out school, we are very happy to have the break. Also,

their only concern was whether or not the would keep all their scores in the

90´s or not... so as you can see they have been fairly good students.

More that just that though, our ability to speak has improved immesily already.

Thank you to all of you who have made that possible. I would now like to let you

in on what has been going on and how some of the plans I was telling you all

about are progressing...

First, just some physical details. Most of us (Pembertons) have not been in to

the dentist in enough years that we are actually embarrassed to let you all

know... so we will leave the number unsaid. Since the prices for dental work or

so much better here (by no means cheap but MUCH MUCH better) Sharayah has been

able to go in and get some work done of cavities... Aubrey got a desperatly

needed cleaning only to find that she had multiple cavities... which will be

fixed today. Also, Aubrey has been in need of braces now for several years,

since the prices are amazingly lower here we have decided to just go for it, so

Aubrey is slowly in the process of getting braces done. Matthias has to go in

and get some cavities fixed... and Tony has never had his wisdom teeth removed

which have been killing him for the past couple of years. OK, quite a mouthfull

(literally) I know. We are really thankful that this time down here we are able

to get some emergency work done and possibly some preventative work and still be

able to eat diner! We will see how much gets done.

Tomorrow we have a missionary from Juarez Mexico coming to stay with us for a

while. We are looking forward to the time we will get to spend with him and are

hoping that this time can be a break for him as well as enjoyable.

We have another missionary couple coming next week to move in with us

and go to

their next levels of school as well.

At the beginning May we are going to have Malachi Perez (hip-hop artist)come

down from Washington state. On that first Friday we are going to have a hip-hop

concert and it looks like there will be 3 bands. We will also have a team down

from MN to help with this and to go door to door and pass out flyers... be

prayer help. Also we think we have found a young man to give a message that is

on fire for Christ. It looks like all told the whole concert will cost about

$2,000, if anyone is interested in ¨adopting¨ either the hip-hip artist hotel

stay, the sound equip, or the flight please let me know.

We feel that God is really moving our hearts in that this will be a serious

outreach to gang members or x-members that are traying to find a new way of

life. Our upstairs neighbor that I have kept you updated on is one of those, so

are all his friends. We have been greatly blessed to be able to build a

relationship with him and now his baby and the mother of the baby, his other

friends are now getting curious and asking Matthias questions obout Christ and

telling him how they try to drown their pain with drugs and alcohol, how they

can´t stop. These are young men that have just lost several friends from

drive-by shootings not 6 blocks from our house... these are young people that

have grown up ¨on the streets¨ who have run drugs, who are burried in a

depression and a hurt so deep that they try to kill themselves.

These are who we want to reach for and pray that the message through music and

prayer and speaking will touch their hearts.

Please, pray for them, pray for this event... pray for us that we would have the

words. God has given an incredible gift of feeling His compassion for these

young people. Our hearts are breaking for them, let Him break your heart for

them as well.

We attended church last night with Damian (the young man upstairs) his baby and

the baby´s mom, they are trying to work on their relationship and trying to find Christ, God really touched them last night through the service. Tracy had a chance to pray for them both and Damian was broken. We were able to take themout to dinner afterwards and talk with them.

God is growing the relationship and expanding the circle of relationships.

I could go on and on about more that is going on at the moment but I think that this is sufficient for one.

I just want to leave you with this last thought. Pray - and pray until He breaks your heart.

Guadalajara

2006-07-13T18:32:00.001-07:00

It is hard to believe that we have only been in Guadalajara MX for two weeks, in

one way it feels like we have been here much longer and in another way it feels

like we are leaving tomorrow already.

School is going very well for Tracy, Jasmine and Rachel. It is incredible how

much can be learned in just 2 weeks, we count ourselves very blessed to be able

to come back to this school and learn the Spanish language.

Sharayah decided not to attend language school and has instead taken a

¨job¨helping our friends out at their restaurant, as she does that they are

teaching her spanish and she has plenty of opportunities to practice!

Matthias, Aubrey and Tony have various friends that they are practicing with and

learning from, they are also taking care of all the home related stuff while we

are at school.

It has been incredible how much we have already been able to share Christ with

people, the neat thing is is that they are approaching us about our faith. We

are being asked questions about whether Christ really is the Son of God, about

the Trinity, about Catholisism vs. Christianity, about homosexuality... and the

list goes on. It has also been suggested that we start a Bible study. Please

pray that we have the Christ´s words to tell these people and His wisdom in how

we should continue. They openings that we have into people´s lives here are

pretty much unheard of.

English is a huge opening for us to share here. We have been asked to start some

english classes and are looking in to how we can use the Bible as a tool to

teach English. We have also been invited to 2 public schools to help with

English classes for children and young adults. We were invited to the schools be

a Christian teacher because he would like for us to share with the children and

youth while helping them with their English pronunciation. Both Aubrey and

Matthias are looking at going to the children´s class while several of us who

are going to school go to the youth class. We will let you know how that goes.

We have been completely blessed by the support that we have recieved for the

time here. Also, the house that we have in working out great. We now have hot

water which is awesome. We also were given 2 small tables and some chairs as

well as various other little things. We were able to buy a used refrigerator and

a washing machine (it is not what you think when you think washing machine, a

small agitator on one side and a spinner on the other), we are so happy to have

both of these things, especially the washer as our clothes will fair much better

down here this time, not to mention our hands and arms!

To finish this letter up we would once again like to say that we are giving an

open invitation for those of you who would like to come here on a short term

mission trip. We need to know soon how many people that we need to prepare for

so that we can set some things up. Please let us know. We have another

missionary from Juarex MX coming down in Febuary for a time. Let us know when

you would like to.

We are once again looking at and praying about a long term base here in

Guadalajara Mexico. God has made some incredible relationships here not only

with the local people but we also know many missionaries here. The Lord has

placed a love in our hearts for this place just as we love you all. Please keep

this in your prayers.

We have found a church to attend while we are here in Guad. there are other

missionaries, great worship, preaching, lots of youth. We are attending with a

friend of ours that we have worked with in missions.

We are blessed to have found a place and hope to able to make great

relationships as well as being able to encourage and find more mission

opportunities (the public school door opened through one of the men from that

church).

Thank you all who have been sending encouraging e-mails.

We love you all.

May Christ move your hearts in prayer.

All Over Texas

2006-07-13T18:32:00.000-07:00

Like I said, we are trooping all over the great state of Texas. Well divisions of us are anyway. Tony, Jasmine, Aubrey and Matthias went to Palacios Texas over the weekend to speak to 3 churches and connect with people we know down there. Our "home church" is in Palacios TX as well as a supporting church of ours. We were glad to connect with people and get a chance to share about what God has been doing in the last 8 (or 9 or something like that...) months that we have been away. We were all impressed with how much Tony could say and update about in 3 minutes (missions moments is what they are called, if you didn't already know that).

Tracy's mom (Pat) is settling in to her new place quite well. We have spent time helping her get familiar with her new surroundings and trying to get all her banking and care taken care of.

It was Sharayah's 15th birthday yesterday... our youngest memeber is no longer quite so young and the rest of us are just feeling downright old. Congrats Sharayah!

We do have a new address. Now, pay attention now because this is important, for us and you, but, we admit, mostly for us.

If you would like to write us a letter or send us mail please note that our address has been changed to:

Freedom Seed (Pembertons)
c/o Burns
44526 County Rd 3
Becida, MN 56678

IF you are a supporter or would like to send a donation PLEASE e-mail and let us know as we need to give you directions on how to do that.

We are, during this time, preparing to go to Mexico. We will be going to language school and working with ministries and indviduals while we are there. If you would like more info on the Mexico part of our ministry please drop us a note and let us know.

Also, we would like you to let us know how you like the web page as well as sending some constructive criticism as to how you like our updates, are they too vague, too long...??? It is coming up to the first of the year and we would like a year end report from you! So please take the time to go to our contact page and let us know what you think.

We hope you are all planning a fun Christmas. Remember those that are not remembered, Christmas parties are the perfect chance to reach out to those who are alone or have nowhere to be. Remember Him by remembering them.

Enjoy the Holiday Season and may it be a blessed time!

Texas

2006-07-13T18:31:00.000-07:00

The great state of Texas has welcomed Freedom Seed back once again.

From Sioux Falls our crew went in two different directions, Jasmine and Rachel (who will be going with us to Guadalajara Mexico) went from Sioux Falls to Sheridan Wyoming while a few hours behind the rest of everyone went from Sioux Falls and headed Texas way.

Rachel has agreed to help with Pat's personal care until she is able to find new people here in Texas.

The roads out of Sioux Falls were terrible. For the bus crew that is putting it lightly, they had a terrible ride clear in to warmer weather, blowing snow and icy roads.

At the same time Rachel and Jasmine braved the other set of blowing snow and icy roads. Which were considerably better than we thought they were going to be.

I am going to spare you the details of Rachel and (I) Jasmine's time in Sheridan except for the that they spent lots of time packing, when we got there we had no idea how we were going to get Pat out in the 2 days that we had. As well as packing I (Jasmine) had to take care of the office details for Freedom Seed. On that note:If you are a supporter of Freedom Seed or would like to be, please, drop us an e-mail so we can let you know how you can do that. We also have an address change.

The drive from Sheridan Wyoming to San Marcos Texas is beyond grueling. It is a looooooooooong trip. Three days for both sets of travelers. Everyone is sore to say the least.

Please, please, keep us in your prayers as this transition for Pat is not going to be easy, on her, or on us. During this time we are going to need to continue traveling in Texas to see chruches here, play music and speak. We are also working out the details to be able to return to Guadalajara Mexico, there is housing and language school details to work out. None of which are simple. Please pray that we have the endurance and the funding to get all of this done.

As always, we love to hear from you so drop us a note and let us know how you are doing.

Thanksgiving '05

2006-07-13T18:30:00.000-07:00

Thanksgiving if my favorite Holiday. It is the favorite Holiday of the Pemberton family as a whole.

Our hearts are full of thanks-giving.

Our time in Bemidji has been awesome, refreshing, and yet filled with lots of physical work as well as a lot of discussion and prayer.

We have been comparing notes with one of our elders and others, getting a general feel for what God is doing "Jesus did nothing that He did not see the Father doing.".

The cabin is looking beautiful, we laugh as what we have been working with is other people's junk and yet it turns out that it is a beautiful treasure...hhmmm... maybe that is what our Father sees when He looks at these shattered lives.

We are preparing to spend a little under 6 months in Mexico starting in January. A young woman from Sioux Falls SD will be living with us during that time as well. Tracy and Jasmine (maybe Sharayah) will be attending language school. Please pray that God would already be opening doors in the hearts of the Mexican around who we will be living.

Tracy's mom (Pat) will be moving to San Marcos Texas December 2. That also means that Freedom Seed will be moving it's "office". Keep these logistics in your prayers as we are trying to find the most efficient way of making this move.

As always, we love to hear from you so drop us a note!

His peace be on you.

End of Tour

2006-07-13T18:29:00.000-07:00

The LifeLight tour with Sin-X, Ryan Daniel, Tapestry and Remedy Drive went more than well. We visited 8 towns in 10 days, with a free concert in every town. Each band had a chance to play music and share testimonies with the predominantly high school and college age students. All the bands worked as a team to communicate the message and love of Christ through everything that we sang and said. It was a time of learning for us as well as a time of being able to share our experiences with the other musicians.

Sin-X (Aubrey and Matthias's band) was voted most improved and it was amazing to see them communicate with more and more confidence the message that they have for suicidal youth, reaching them with the message of hope.

Sin-X has also officially disbanded as it's members are going their different ways. Matthias and Aubrey will continue playing their music as God leads them.

Andrew (from Bemidji) and Rachel (from Sioux Falls), both who are taking steps to become full time missionaries, both came on the tour as helpers, and what a help they were! Thanks guys!

During the tour, we enjoyed ministering and fellowshipping with all the bands and LifeLight people (thanks guys!), and we left the tour encouraged,blessed, tired, and a little bit sad to be parting ways with our new friends.

Now, fast forward not quite a week... Tony, Matthias, Andrew and Sharayah took a trip to Sheridan WYO to pick up the rest of our stuff, i.e. hope chests, books two beds and an old pickup, as Tracy's mom (Pat, who is also our home secretary) is moving to Texas later in this winter.

We packed up the Mother Load and pickup and hit the road on the way to Bemidji. This trip was something else... the Mother Load broke down, the truck broke down... we spent quite a bit of time in prayer, an extended period of time trying to fix vehicles, and some time on the shoulder of the interstate waiting for a tow truck. We ended up leaving Matthias and Tony in Watertown while the rest of us drove the rest of the way to Bemidji. It took the better part of the next day for Matthias and Tony to find and fix the problem in the Mother Load. They had to leave the truck in Watertown, behind the Wal-Mart, for a return trip on Sunday. Which brings us to our next story...

Tony and Ron took a road trip on Sunday, which was the Lord's day for them to have an appointment that to normal eyes would not seem so divine.

Ron and Tony's Divine appointment came at their dinner break after picking up the pickup in Watertown, at a Chinese restaurant.

An elderly man fell in the restroom. He had a colostomy bag that he had been trying to empty and had filled everything, toilet, sink and floor with it's contents and in the process had aslo fallen down. Tony and Ron could hear him moaning from the bathroom and the man's daughter was worrying about him. Tony and Ron braved the smell to find the man in the mess. They spent the next 20 minutes or so helping him, and calming him.

As Tony and Ron were telling the story afterwards and we were listening with open mouths as they talked about helping this man and we were wondering at the grace that God had given them to just jump in and help a perfect stranger with something so personal. Their actions defined by their relationship to Him.

We will be in Bemidji for about 2 weeks, getting ready for our trip south and to Mexico. Bemidji will also be the final resting place for the Mother Load. Whether it was her last roll, from Sioux Falls to Bemidji, we cannot be completely sure, but it looks like this was the Mother Load's last ride.

Someone said that the bus was our trademark, who we are, but we are not defined by our things, we give them their voice. Just as when we walk forward in the things that the Lord has given us to do it is not our actions who make us who we are but it is our relationship to Him that makes us anything.

We are defined by Christ.

Tour

2006-07-13T18:28:00.000-07:00

We are back on the road again after our day and a half of rest. This time we are headed to Watertown SD and Lincoln NE (Remedy Drive's home town).

Tony stayed behind this time as it is getting cold and our bus needs to have a furnace in it as well as minor things done on the rest of the vehicles and contact made with people in Texas as we will be headed south again soon. We have a tenative plan of maybe making it to Louisiana to help with the hurricane clean up and ministry that is still ongoing. We will be working with Mike Macintosh (Horizon Church, an offshoot of Calvary Chapel). We will make stops in multiple churches and ministries while we are in Texas. We are also praying about finishing language school in Guadalajara Mexico this winter... more on that to come. Please keep all these things in your prayers.

The rest of us are looking forward to the rest of the tour and what God is going to do in others and in ourselvers.

Once again, if you have not checked out these web sites then I highly suggest that you do so.

Remedy Drive

Ryan Daniel

Sin-X

Tapestry

On The Road with Remedy

2006-07-13T18:26:00.000-07:00

We are on the road with Remedy Drive (www.remedydrive.com), Ryan Daniel (www.ryandanielandthespiritofdavid.com) and Sin-X (www.sin-x-theband.com).

It has been a new experience for us and so far a good one. We have a relax day before we take off again tomorrow.

We will update you fully when we get back.

Freedom Seed House

2006-07-13T18:25:00.000-07:00

We are getting close to leaving our hermitage (dubbed "The Freedom House") for the time being. And I would be lying to say that I wasn't a little bit reluctant. I think that we all are.

But, we are also looking forward to what God has in store in the next couple of days, weeks.

We have a few more things to do here in the North Woods before we head out but as the next couple of days will be fairly busy with people and things I thought I would take the time to give you all a run down on all that "resting" has entailed to Freedom Seed.

• Demolitioning and rebuilding, of walls, stairs... ect.

• (lots of) Painting

• Building, outhouse, trim work, new walls and stairs.

• Late night visiting with returned short-term missionaries. Visits with other ministers, as well as visiting, sharing and listening to others.

• Clearing woods.

• Missionary training (we have a young woman with us who is preparing for full-time missions). Exhorting.

• Preparing for the tour.

• Praying and seeking the Lord.

It has been wonderful to work with our hands.

To see some pictures go to www.photos.yahoo.com/freedomseed6 or go to our "links" page and click on "Photos".

All of the remodeling has been done with the old materials or the materials around the house.

We were given paint by a man who owns a paint shop in Sioux Falls and it has been a great blessing, thank you!

Thank you to all of you who have prayed for us during this time of seeking.

Thank you Clayton for giving up your house for the call of God on your life and how faithful He is to have it fulfilling a call of another.

Thank you Burns for your companionship, encouragement and help.

Thank you Jesus for all the time and connection.

Tired

2006-07-13T18:09:00.000-07:00

There are times when bone-weariness sets in. Not just your average tired that goes away with sleep but deep tiredness that fills not only your body but your heart and comes with a sense of heavy melancholy. It is not frustration or discouragement but just tiredness that has compounded over time.

There is a way to combat this weariness and that is to "come off by yourselves; take a break and get a little rest". Rest with Jesus.

And that is what Freedom Seed - the Pembertons - are doing. We have found our quite place and are setting aside a time to rid ourselves of outside commotion so that we can rest, and so we can listen.

Our place of rest is in Bemidji, MN, where we have been given an unfinshed cabin in the woods. We are keeping our hands busy by working on the cabin and the woods surrounding it. We are taking the time to breath the beautiful fall air and watch the colors change, to contemplate what has gone on the past few months and to set before the Lord the activities of the future, putting it all on hold until He has "fed" us.

We thank the Burns family who have given this cabin and piece of land, just like the Acts church who had all things in common, we have been sharing meals, work and fun with them.

Jasmine is still on crutches, 9 weeks as of Thursday and a couple more to go.

There will be several people coming up from Sioux Falls to visit and set aside some time in their lives to find what the Lord has next for them.

Before leaving Sioux Falls we bought a mini van that gets about 22 miles a gallon (think fuel conservation). It has already been a blessing and it holds a large place in our plans for the future. We were excited to be able to purchase it.

Tapestry will be going on tour with the Ryan Daniels, Remedy Drive, Sin-X (Matthias and Aubrey's band) from the 14 through the 24 of this month, a concert a night. Tapestry will also be adding a new member to the band for the tour, Joey Turner will be accompanying us as our acoustic lead guitar player, he is definitly an answer to prayer. Below is posted the tour schedule so if you are in the area make sure and drop in.

October 14, Friday - Brandon, SD

Living Springs Church on S. Splitrock Blvd

9:00 p.m.

FREE

October 15, Saturday - Wood River, ND

Babels Barn, 108 1/2 Military Road

8:00 p.m.

FREE

October 16, Sunday - Norfolk, NE

Nebraska Christian College, 1800 Syracuse

2:00 p.m.

FREE

October 17, Monday - TBA

October 18, Tuesday - TBA

October 19, Wednesday - Watertown, SD

Watertown High School - Cafeteria

7:30 p.m.

FREE

October 20, Thursday - Lincoln, NE

Location TBA

8:00 p.m.

FREE

October 21, Friday - Brookings, SD

SDSU Campus - ROTC Building

9:00 p.m.

FREE

October 22, Saturday - Mitchell, SD

Pepsi-Cola Theater

7:00 p.m.

FREE

October 23, Sunday - Hendricks, MN

Hendricks Fire Hall, on highway 271

6:30 p.m.

FREE

FREE Pop & Popcorn

Praises!

2006-07-13T17:59:00.000-07:00

Praise #1: Our ministry debt has been completely taken care of! This has been something that has weighed on our minds for the last two years. Thank you for those of you have prayed for us in this as it is now 100% taken care of!

Praise #2: Sharayah was able to go in to the dentist and have everything taken care of we were not charged... thank you David.

Praise #3: Our entire trip was good and our return trip was uneventful.

We will be headed to Bemidji MN on Sunday. We hope to work on the cabin and finish resting before we go on tour.

Please pray for wisdom as we are looking at retiring the "Mother Load" (for those of you who don't know, that is the name of our bus). Both of the windshields have been broken and we are feeling like it is getting close to time, whether it is now or not we do not know. Please pray that it would become clear to us.

Thank you!

Blessed be His name.....

Onward Christian Soldiers

2006-07-13T17:58:00.000-07:00

We spent the better part of last week in Sheridan, WY with Tracy's mom Pat who is our secretary (as well as being family). Tracy's sister also lives in Sheridan so it was a good time to catch up, and catch a little rest.

On our way over to Sheridan our van had a little trouble (we left our bus and camper in Sioux Falls) and we ended up spending the night in a Wal-Mart parking lot with a broken belt. The adventure never ends.

We are in Rapid City for a couple of days at a Methodist camp with the Fellowship of Christian Sportsmen Plus. We were this (Sunday) morning's speaker and worship.
Yesterday most of the Pemberton and Greene families (minus Jasmine and Alan, for obvious reasons).

We will be headed back to Sioux Falls to get ready to head to Minnesota after playing a concert on this coming Saturday. So for those of you who are in Sioux Falls we will be playing at the FireHouse @ 9:00 p.m. onm Saturday the 24th so come and say goodbye!

We will catch you all later....

275,000 Attend LifeLight

2006-07-13T17:57:00.001-07:00

They said it couldn't be done...

275,000 people attended this years Life Light Festival. On Saturday night alone there were 100,000 in attendance.

The work that was involved is another story.

First of all we would like to thank all of you who support us as you as well are a part of this work. Without your prayers and financial support we could not have done this.

The volunteers that we had this year were incredible. There were people that gave of there time and work so much more than could ever be asked of them, it was incredible and we are very thankful to these people as they made all of our jobs easier, we are priveledged to have worked with them this year.
Everyone at the new location (Wild Water West) was great to work with.

Freedom Seed has been a vital part of the Festival this year. There are some that are saying: "If you all are not doing the festival this year then neither are we". We do not say that to puff ourselves up but we want you to know not only that your support is going somewhere that it is being used in His work but also so that you know what you are a part of.

Tony was Operations Manager, Tracy was Volunteer Coordinator, Jasmine was Volunteer Hospitality Coordinator, Matthias was Tony's assistant and all around do everything along with Sharayah and Aubrey.
Tony was an MC for the Main stage. Jasmine was late night MC a night on Souled Out.

Tapestry (Freedom Seed's band) played on the FireHouse stage and well as Main stage this year. Tapestry was part of a call to missions on Main stage; they played between the O.C. Supertons (who are on their farewell tour) and Salvador.
Tapestry will also be on tour in October with 3 other bands, 10 cities in 10 days, look for us in a town near you!

Matthias and Aubrey's band opened the Souled Out stage Thursday afternoon. Aubrey had her picture in the newspaper the following morning.

Freedom Seed has received offers from numerous places of service including Gospel for Asia, Ridgeway, a chance to go serve in Baton Rouge and of course, the LifeLight Festival. Please be in prayer that the doors will open where Jesus wants us to be, that He would speak clearly to us as to what He would have us do.

The Festival has exhausted us all, physically, mentally and spiritually. We are sill in the process of cleaning up. the volunteers that have remained for clean up have been more than helpful. We thank you for your continued prayer as we see this Festival from preperation to clean up.

Going Wild at the Waterpark and Festival

2006-07-13T17:57:00.000-07:00

Please keep us in your prayers as we tackle the enormous job that is LifeLight for the next couple of days.

We are going to need patience and supernatural rest as well as the heart of service and love that will make this an awesome ministry opportunity for so many people.

Thank you and see you all after LifeLight!

Playing at LifeLight Festival 2005

2006-07-13T17:56:00.000-07:00

We have been updating but it has not made it up on the page yet. Sorry about that guys, just part of the job and we are hoping to get things back to some sort of normal here soon.

We have been sending out a newsletter fairly regularly but if you are not on our list… you are missing out, drop us an e-mail at info@freedomseed.org and let us know that you want to hear from us!

Jasmine has been laid up with stretched tendons and a broken foot and Alan Greene has just recently broken his femur. It must be something in the water. Please keep us all in your prayers as this is not the best time for several of the few workers there are to be laid up.

There is now only 14 days until LifeLight! Tapestry (Freedom Seed’s band) will be playing on the FireHouse stage as well as Main stage for part of a mission’s awareness hour.

Even though we have not been able to communicate with you all as much as we would like you all have been in our thoughts, we pray that we have been in yours as well.

Rain, Commisioning, Preaching, Renovation

2006-07-13T17:55:00.001-07:00

Palacios Texas in March can make one feel like a wet sponge that just came out of the microwave… it has rained and rained and rained since we have been here, I heard in theory that it was beautiful this past couple of days but I wasn’t actually here to see it (Tony, Jasmine and Aubrey were in Mexico, more on that later).

The Pembertons were commissioned by our home church this past weekend, our appreciation to the Mission Service Corp and to 1st Baptist Palacios. I shouldn’t be too hard on this town because there has been about 2 days of beautiful sun-shiny weather. But other than that…

We have participated in various things since we have been here. The Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) group was in at the camp right after we got here so we were able to be a help while staying here. As well as serving several other times, we appreciate them letting us stay here.

Also we have played and preached at several different churches and youth/children groups. This Sunday (tomorrow) we will be in 3 different services just in the morning! Whoever said Sunday was a day of rest was not a Pastor, missionarly or a musician, but we are looking forward to it.

The EvangeCube is a great tool to use and we were able, during the training we went to in Longview, to teach them how to use it. They used the cube did VBS and put on dramas. We were able to build relationships and are looking forward to seeing how God is going to continue to use them in the future.

This past couples of days Tony, Jasmine and Aubrey have been in Mexico with Mobberly Baptist Church out of Longview Texas. It was a great trip and the Lord was really with us all as the border crossings really couldn’t have been any easier and it was neat to be a part of the Mobberly youth in their trip and watch them work and learn and grow.

Tony was excited as he was able to talk to a federale (one of the men on the Mexican side who do border checks) and share a bit with him as well as giving him a bible (that the man asked for).

We are planning on leaving Palacios on Tuesday or Wednesday. We will be going up near Dallas TX as Jasmine and Tracy are going to the Global Expeditions (Teen Mania, Acquire the Fire) leadership training where they hope to learn more about training youth in missions as well as meeting other people who have a heart for youth in missions. They will most likely be leading trips this summer, we will keep you posted on that. It is hard to tell you all what else went on because when God is working His inner workings are so personal to people that it would only cheapen and offend to put it out for other eyes to see.

Renovation is taking place all over, in our lives, in others lives and also in the life of our website as one of the young men who was in the trip that we just recently took to Nuevo Laredo MX is in the process of putting together a whole new webpage for us! We are looking forward to having it up.

May your Easter time be blessed and filled with change – new life.

Still Traveling

2006-07-13T17:55:00.000-07:00

But for a fleeting moment wheels are stopped, but it won’t be long before the “Mother Load’s” wheels roll on.

Actually we will be rolling along again tomorrow morning.

First of all we would like to extend a large CONGRATS! To the Kovar family who have been supporters and friends of ours for several years now. They have just welcomed in to their family Elijah Daniel Kovar, yesterday morning at 1:20 a.m. to be exact. CONGRATS! We are off to Palacios TX from our current destination of Rockdale TX.

The other CONGRATS! due is to our very own… you guessed it… Aubrey Jean Pemberton! who last Sunday turned 18!

The service last weekend in Laredo TX was great. We were able to involve some of the local youth at the church as well as a couple of our young translator friends from Nuevo Laredo in the service. We were blessed to see God working in people’s lives as they responded to alter call for prayer. We were blessed by Primera Iglesia Bautista (First Baptist Church).

Also while we were there we had quite a different kind of cultural experience. Laredo hosts a huge parade for George Washington’s birthday (also known as Presidents Day). It is hosted by Budweiser (yes the horses were actually there) and boasts multiple elaborate floats of George Washington and Martha Washington, well at least people depicting them, the costumes are incredible which we are told is part of a competition. Not only is there George and Martha but there is also Pocahontas, (do not ask us what they have to do with each other or how any of this is much connected with Laredo TX because we don’t know). The parade also boasts schools from both sides of the border as well as a whole lot of dance troupes and much more. People were camped out the whole night before just so that they could have spaces for their chairs during the parade; which, by the way, lasted for over 3 hours.

I am going to switch gears a little bit on “ya’ll” and tell you about what is coming up for us in Palacios where we will be spending about a week and half. We will be playing music and speaking/preaching at several different churches as well as at a series of youth revival meetings. We are praying to see some FIRE!

Also on the plate we have been sending out an e-mail about a “event”, if you must call it that, that we will be hosting in July. If you are interested please drop us a note and we will be sure and get a copy of the letter sent to you.

“On the road… (again just doesn’t seem to quite fit)”

"World Mandate" Conference and Missions

2006-07-13T17:54:00.000-07:00

Incredible really is not the word I would use for what went on during this trip. Not because incredible is too big of a word but because it does not even begin to cover the work that God did in and among people there and there is no way that I can even begin to tell you all that happened.

The “World Mandate” conference was a great way to kick off the mission trip. It brought everyone to the place of thinking about missions and removing personal blocks in their lives that they had between them and God or between them and their ability to serve God. It was very challenging and a great blessing.

We were incredibly blessed by the encampment where we were able to stay during the Mandate. Thank you, you have such servant’s hearts.

We were able to “gel” in our small teams as well as the larger team while we were there and get an idea of what we might be doing while we were in Mexico.

Though I do not think that any amount of talking can prepare you for the work that God does in your life. The shaking and changing that happens.

In Mexico there were great experiences but more than just experience it was change. I know that I keep coming back to that point but that is the most impacting part of a missionaries “job” is to watch God work His biggest miracle.

The Mexican churches that we worked with were wonderful. The served so lovingly, setting such an example for the service that we were to do for their people during the week.

We ended up not having many translators the first day and not near enough on the second but God really worked that out as translators either came out of nowhere or there was not much need of them.

One really neat thing to see was a couple of young people from one of the churches that we worked with come first as translators but as the days went on they began to be the ones that shared the message, no longer translating but giving the message themselves.

Freedom Seed does not like to quote numbers but it was really neat to see around 100 people come to Christ through the 4 teams that we split our larger team in to (totally about 44 people).

The vans that we received were very much a blessing to us and the team that came down as every day we had to go 4 different directions so our vehicles were main transportation. God works in such great ways with perfect timing.

We are looking forward to seeing how people walk out what they have received and learned in the places that they have returned to. There was some awesome sacrifices on the part a lot of the people who came and God did not overlook that……

The call went out… the response? ……………………..

Blessings in Christ our Savior the Redeemer.

Just a quick add on. This morning we had quite the cultural experience as here in Laredo they had a very large parade lasting 3 hours having up to 10 dance studios involved as well as high schools from the States and Mexico as well as the Budweiser Shires (horses) and at least 10 floats of George and Martha Washington not to mention tons of law enforcement. Wow… stop right there. Did I say George and Martha Washington? You bet I did. Just a little bit of interesting Laredo history; down here they celebrate George Washington’s bday from the 27th of January to the 20th of February!

We were a little bummed that our team didn’t get to see it… Greg man, you missed out on a photo extravaganza like no other. )

We are headed to Waco today. Please keep us and the team in your prayers.

Prayer and Praise

2006-07-13T17:53:00.000-07:00

Pray.

It is as simple as that. Alan Gardenhire on of the elders of RCF who is a supporting church of ours as well as good friends here in Rockdale TX has just had a car accident. He and his son are also scheduled to join us on the Mexico mission trip here in a week. We are praying that he has no major injuries and is able to walk out of the hospital this evening.

Pray.

Like I just stated- we will be leaving for Waco TX where we meet the team and spend 3 days at the World Mandate conference. We need inspiration and the Spirit of God to be speaking through what will be said and experienced while we are there.

Praise.

We just returned from Laredo and Nuevo Laredo MX where we were preparing for this upcoming trip. It was a fruitful time and we are excited to be working with some very on fire brothers and sister. We were blessed by the pastors and ministers that we met while we were there. They were an encouragement and contacts that we know are lasting. They are people who have given much, homes, jobs, and professions all for the sake of Christ.

Praise.

We received our tax return for the year and with it bought a computer so that we could continue with keeping in touch and all that goes along with that such as business cards, pamphlets, web page, e-mail… and more. That is a big blessing to us and we hope to you all as well.

Pray without ceasing

Thank You Mobberly!

2006-07-13T17:52:00.001-07:00

Thrall, Gause, Noonday, Thorndale… I mean who comes up with these names???

Try Mobberly Baptist Church on for size. We just returned to Rockdale from Longview Texas the home of Mobberly Baptist Church. We had a great time with the church there and really got our socks blessed off!

Knowing these guys is an interesting story in and of itself as we met them in Sheridan WY, where they take youth for one of their summer missions, for the first time about 4 or 5 years ago. We have really enjoyed the relationship and it looks as if we might join them on a Mexico mission. We received two fifteen passenger vans from them. We had the opportunity to lead worship and Tony shared a message. We had a good time of fellowship.

Thank you Mobberly!

We will be on the road to Loredo Texas here shortly to work out the kinks in this next Mexico mission.

We’ll keep you all informed as we are able to get to the internet.

On Our Way to Texas

2006-07-13T17:52:00.000-07:00

We were really blessed on our way down here to Texas. We stopped off at several places including Heart of God in OK City and Christ for the Nations in Dallas. One of the best things for us was having the funding this time to be able to go out to eat for one meal of the day and not having to cook it in the bus. It cut the traveling stress in half. Sometimes such small things can make such a large change.

We have hit the ground running as usual. We are in Rockdale TX. Tony has gone to pick up one of the vans that we have been given in Longview where we will be returning to get the second one as well as do their youth service this Sunday.

The welcome in Rockdale as usual was great, we are glad to be able to catch up with some of the people here and once again be a part of what is going on in people's lives.

We are busy preparing for the Mexico trip in February and things are moving along well. God's hand is all over the lives of the people who are coming and already making awesome changes. We are so excited to be a part of that.

As usual trying to keep up with communications and such can be a chore so we are trying to keep you all as well informed as possible.

Also I have been asked several times if there are more photos as some people have missed the more photos that is at the top of the photo page. I apologize that it is difficult to see. As we are not able to use our computer right now I can not work on a new design, we will hopefully have that fixed ASAP. There is a link on the photo page that says more photos in the top left hand corner and there are all kinds of photos there.

Let us know if there is anything that you would like to see or hear more about. We love to have your imput and we do put it in to practice.

Happy New Year! (2005)

2006-07-13T17:51:00.000-07:00

This is the first update of the New Year. Happy New Year to you all and we hope that you had a blessed Christmas season.

There are a lot of things to say today and not much time. This morning we are headed out of Sioux Falls, SD on our way to Oklahahoma City and ultimately Texas and Mexico once again.

Here's the story.

We were on the December trip that Life Light took to Juarez Mexico. Our whole family went this time. It was a good trip and we were blessed to see people changed and meet new connections and the family of God. (to see photos go to: http://myhrestudio.com/client_pages/lifelight/

On Sunday we worshipped at the memorial service of a wonderful friend of ours who went Home on Friday. These have been wonderful friends to us during the time that we have been in Sioux Falls. True family.

As ever there are physical plans. We are en-route to Oklahahoma City first. We are going to try and make it before this cold front hits us as it would not be very pleasant in the bus.

We are headed off to Texas. Some of the things that we will be doing are services and picking up the vans that Mobberly Baptist Church have given to us. We are going to spend a couple of days with Heart of God to help out and visit with them on the way down.

We will also be preparing for the mission trip that we will be leading in February.

Right now we are booked all the way until April. And we hope to see all of you in Texas.

We have several prayer requests: Safe travels and good driving weather. Our computer is still partially working but, well, it's about toast. The monitor only works a small percentage of the time and it looks like it will cost more to get it fixed than to buy a new computer. So if there is a large break in communication... you will know why. We do have a cell phone and your calls are welcome: 218-368-3728.

Dad-tony- is in the background saying that it is time to roll and the compute monitor is on the fritz... So God bless you all and we will udate again as soon as we can. Thank you for your prayers and support.

In Christ,

Freedom Seed

---------------

HUGE UPDATE ON THE WAY SHOULD BE UP BY TONIGHT. SOrry to you all for having to wait so long.

to view photos from the last Mexico trip go to this link: http://myhrestudio.com/client_pages/lifelight/

Merry Christmas! (2004)

2006-07-13T17:50:00.000-07:00

Helloo everyone and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

We hope that you all had a blessed time. I know that it has been a long time. And this will just be short. Things have been crazy here in December... We have been to Bemidji and back, to a wedding and back (that Tony performed, Jasmine attended). Along with the things that have been going on here in Sioux Falls. Tomorrow at 5 in the morning we head off to Mexico again. We will be there for 10 days. I will update again when we return.

May God bless you all and thank you for your prayers and support

Prayer Requests

2006-07-13T17:49:00.001-07:00

This is a short update from Sioux Falls before we are off on the first of several mission trips to Mexico that we are co-leading with memebers of LifeLight (if you have not had a chance to check out their website yet please take the chance now: www.LifeLightFest.com). We will be in Mexico for 10 days.

That brings me to my first prayer request.

#1. Aubrey has been sick now for several weeks with a cold with fairly severe coughing, she is doing better now but the recovery is really making her tired and slow. We ask that you pray for the Lord's healing before we head to Mexico as we do not want her to be making the trip if she is still sick.

#2. Our Macintosh Laptop that we have used very extensivley for over 5 years now has just about had it. We took it in to get looked at and they basically told us that it was no longer worth what it would take to fix it because at that expense we might as well buy another computer. It is still working at the moment but there is no telling when it will stop. That would severly cut back on our communications. We would like to get another Mac laptop. Please keep that in your prayers.

#3. This prayer request comes with a great story...

"Once apon a time... there once were 3 young men that travel and do music, a good deal of it on the reservations, there were 2 young rap artists and their DJ. They were traveling in a van but on their way to Sioux Falls SD they had an accident and no longer had a car to travel in. With stitches and some bruises they did a show in Sioux Falls where they met Freedom Seed who Red Cloud (one of the rap artists)already knew to some extent.

Now Freedom Seed knows what it is like to be without something that is necessary to do the Lord's work and the thought came in to some of their heads that "oh we'll be praying for you" but was that really enough?" So, at the end of this story, we gave the Suburban that has been absolutely incredible for us, that our brother's and sister's in Texas got for us, to Red Cloud and friends.

They were so incredibly blessed! they really could not afford to rent a car and have gigs all over as well as having to get back to CA. It was great to be able to receive such a gift and great to be able to pass it on.

So that brings me to our other prayer request. Depending on what the Lord has in mind we might be in need of another vehicle. Right now some brother's and sister's are letting us use vehicles which has just been awesome. We don't really know if we need another vehicle or not as we are not sure what the Lord wants to do. So just keep it in your prayers. So Texas family, that is where the Suburban now is, passed on to more use of spreading the gospel, may it run forver... (well of course... ya'll know what I mean :o) ).

#4. Please be praying for wisdom on our parts on how to proceed with a lot of the requests that we have had here in Sioux Falls. There has been a lot of things asked of us and a lot of fairly large opportunities. These are rather large decisions. Please be praying that the Lord will lay on ALL of our hearts what He would have us do.

As the last request please keep the whole Mexico missions team in your prayers. There will be 45 people going down, quite a few young children. Quite a few of the people have never been to Mexico before.

Thank you for your prayers. If you have things that you would like us to be in prayer about for you all then please e-mail us and let us know.

In Christ's peace and overwhelming joy,

Jasmine for Freedom Seed

Mexico Missions

2006-07-13T17:49:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the first day of December and the last day of this year without a bit of snow in sight here in Sioux Falls SD. I don't know about you but this year has flown.

On Saturday at about 11 p.m. Matthias, Sharayah, Jasmine and Tony arrived "home" from Juarez Mexico where they had gone with the short term LifeLight missions team as help. They all translated a whole lot as well as being involved in the activities that went on. It was a very good trip, God did some neat things and we saw some great things. Tony preached to a church that was full and overflowing... there was standing room only and well as people spilling out in to the courtyard. It was just amazing to see as it was cold outside. We were priviledged to see people give their hearts to the Lord in that service. The neat thing was that it was not just women (which happens quite a bit in Mexico, the women are more open to the gospel and it is hard to reach the men) but also men. It started just slowly with just one hand and then space and another and another, it was awesome.

We spent time ministering on the streets as well as putting on "Bible clubs". These or not things that Freedom Seed usually does as we usually are living at a place while we are in Mexico and so the forms of ministry is very much different. In most of these things we were translators for people but also just all-around do it all people. It was great to see how God worked in the lives of the people that came on the trip. There is nothing that will break you down faster than being in a place that you do not understand around people and a language that you do not understand around people that you don't know very well for the most part (your team), God uses it as such a tool to break down ALL deffences, and there were broken people.

The pastors and ministers that we worked with and met were just awesome, the native ministers and also several full-time ministers from the States. Our mexican brothers and sisters hearts of service was just overwhelming at some times as they went above and beyond the "call of duty" with the team that went down even to the point of going and buying gas for a furnace that they had no money to pay for but easily shrugging it off and saying "God provides". It was a blessing to be with them as well as a great example.

The drive back from Mexico was a little hairy as about 30 of the 40 people on the trip were sick and throwing up! this particular team had a whole bunch of children on it as well (there was about 15 or so 13 and under). That made for a very interesting ride! a real "missionary experience" for these first-timers but that wasn't quite the end of the "missionary adventure" about 45 minutes out of Sioux Falls the Life Light bus broke down. The engine had blown. Now the missionary adventure was complete. They good thing was that there was a bus that was only a couple of minutes away that came and picked everyone up and we did all make it to Sioux Falls, a lot later than originaly planned and a little travel worn and sick but all in one piece :o). With plenty of stories for people to tell of the faithfulness of God and also the boldness of sharing their faith with others. As a foot note on that please be in prayer for Life Light as they now do not have a bus and there is another trip scheduled at the end of December. Pray for His guidance and His provision.

Just yesterday we were informed that we are to be given 2 vans! a church that we have worked with before has talked about it for a while and now has made the decision. We are going to need to get them, they are in Texas, and it sounds as if we might be able to meet someone part of the way or so but either way that is a pretty long haul. We are very excited about the vans and can't wait to see how He will work everything out. (see, give away a suburban and all of the sudden you have 2 vans...................hehehe)

We have a concert coming up on the 11th at a Christian coffee house here in Sioux Falls, we are excited about that.

AWESOME! there is just no other word for what God is doing and what He has planned.

Please keep LifeLight in your prayers as they are going through a difficult time. We know that the Lord has put us here for "such a time as this" so pray for our strengthening as well.

We are pretty much all sick with colds so please pray that the Lord would heal us.

Thank you for your prayers, support, love.

Staying in Sioux Falls a Little Longer

2006-07-13T17:47:00.001-07:00

***The COFFEE TALK has been (finally) UPDATED!***

I hope that you have all taken the time within the last couple of days to check out the *NEWSLETTER*, *ZAP* and *COFFEE TALK* (the Coffee Talk was just updated today so go check it out).

Things have been crazy busy around here. You have read the updates on what has gone on this summer and I hope have taken the time to see some of the photos that have been put up. The summer was a very busy and very blessed time. But I do not think that it is going to beat this winter!

For those of you who don’t know we are staying in Sioux Falls SD and will be here at least until the beginning of the New Year, most likely until February. This next couples of months are pretty much completely full of things that we will be doing and those are just the things that are down on the calendar let alone the things that God is going to bring in to our lives unexpectedly.

We will be going to Mexico 3 times in the next 4 months as well as minor trips in the US, Sheridan Wyoming and Bemidji MN in the next 2. There are also outreaches going on here in Sioux Falls.

We have played a lot of worship lately which has been awesome. Matthias and Aubrey have started a band and they are playing for the first time on Saturday for an outreach before Halloween. We hope to get some photos of it for you all.

We know that the Lord is doing something new here, not only in us but also in Life Light. It has just been awesome what God has done through both of our ministries working together as partners.

For more of a full update please see the *NEWSLETTER*.

God bless!

We just had our socks blessed off!

2006-07-13T17:47:00.000-07:00

We just spent the weekend in Bemidji and took Mark and Zigrid (who are a couple who are full time in the ministry with LifeLight and whom live on the same place as the Greenes who run LifeLight, the place that we are staying right now). We just had our socks blessed off! We were able to see the young people that the Lord really touched during this summer and saw that the fire was still burning bright and that they are stepping out in to the things that the Lord has for them.

We had great fellowship and rest time even while being very busy. We stayed with some friends the Burns and that was just a blessing, they actually moved out of their house and stayed in their RV so that all of the missionaries could move in to their house for 4 days! It was a great blessing and a lot of fun, a time to talk about Jesus and to roll ideas around with some Godly people.

We are waiting on the Lord for the plan for the winter as well as continuing to be here at Life Light helping out.

Please check out the photo albums again as they have just been updated. There are a couple more photos of Life Light and the team that was up there, some of Souix Falls and Tony and Tracy's 20th wedding anniversary as well as pictures of the trip we just took. There are some really pretty photos in the Bemidji/Itasca folder so check them out!

www.photos.yahoo.com/freedomseed6

Thank You for the LifeLight Help

2006-07-13T17:43:00.000-07:00

We are back at the Greene's house after LifeLight. LifeLight was awesome this year. We had plenty of opportunity to evangelize through drama and personal interaction.

We had quite a team come for the festival, not only did we have a crew from Bemidji, MN. But we also had a couple of young men from Denver,CO. We were blessed to be able to work with all these people and it was great to see what God did in their lives.

This is just a quick update right now. We will update more in depth here in the next couple of days.

Please check out the new photos. We have an album up with some Life Light pictures, there will be more as soon as we find the charger for our camera!

God bless you all

Back in Sioux Falls - Sturgis Testimony

2006-07-13T17:41:00.001-07:00

There is another long update to do as we just returned (returned is a very relative term if your home is in a bus, on this occasion "returned" means that we are in Souix Falls,SD) a few days ago. Since we have returned we have been blessed by the staff of LifeLight and have been able to pitch in and have felt very welcome, thank you LifeLight! the Greenes are just awesome, you guys rock! www.lifelightfest.com

Now that we have said the beginning piece on Souix Falls, though there will be a lot more to come from this part of the country, I will fill you in on Sturgis. As there was just so much that went on (as usual) I will hit on highlights.

For the first year ever we actually had power in Sturgis! wow... that was quite a blessing to us and made the stay a whole lot easier than on previous occasions. We were blessed to work with a lot of people at Jericho Camp some that we had known before but new friends as well.

We spent a good deal of our team on the streets ministering, first just prayer walking and putting up posters for Jericho Camp (as they got torn down every or every other day that was just about a constant job, every other day we would be back out stapeling or taping them back up). We did street preaching, music and drama (you can see photos of this now but there will be more photos to come shortly!) as well as ministering in those ways at the camp and helping out in the kitchen. Some people from Bemidji,MN came down for a couple of days (2 different groups) and were really an encouragement to us and God used them in neat ways and has made changes in their lives as well. There was street ministry for the first time going on for a lot of people. The thing was that the drama that we did on the street and the preaching and the passing out of tracts was ridiculed by people and we were called names, called crazy and called freaks and many other things went on, but through that we were filled with JOY, we have no shame in being called freaks for the sake of Christ, Jesus Freaks? anytime.

It was really neat to see how it was not just the youth that came out but after a couple of days of them coming out on the streets with us some of their families joined us as well.

We joined up with several different ministries from different places in our music and also the one night we were down on the streets we joined with a group as well.

The drama that we did caused shock waves in Sturgis, that is an incredible thing in and of itself, people were talking about it... wondering about it... and we even got a report here of someone who saw it! and they remember! praise God, may they be reminded of it again and again.

One really neat thing that happened was that there were some major bands playing on the Sturgis main stage, for the first couple of nights right durring our service time the main stage (which was right accross from Jericho Camp) would come on and just blast us out until late late at night. We prayed about main stage and asked that the Lord would just take down those things, the evil influence...ect. The next day the concert was incredibly short and we were wondering what went on. Come to find out the next day that the promoter had taken the money (some $350,000 dollars) and had run off! there were no more bands in Sturgis.

It is also a very sobering thing to be in Sturgis and to minister on the streets and to look for any hungry souls and not find them. It is a terribly sad thing to here people mock where they should repent and it is aweful to here see people reject Jesus Christ. We carry that sorrow along with our Lord though in such a small measure in comparison. We are blessed to be counted among those that have been persecuted in the smallest measure for our faith and stand true to our Lord. We pray that here at Life Light as the festival begins (September 2-6) that there will be hearts that are willing, ears and eyes that are open.

Testimonies from Youth Camp

2006-07-13T17:41:00.000-07:00

Here are a few quotes that were given as testimony or that were written in the prayer room that went on for the whole youth camp 24 hours a day by the youth and staff and continued on in the kids camp most of the time.

"at the beginning of camp he (my friend) didn't want more of God and last night he (my friend) broke through and worshipped God with all he (my friend) had"

"Before I came to camp I was on my way to Hell. I hated everyone and every part of my life, but God saved me..."

"I felt like my burden was gone from me because of God"

"I do not want just an experience with you but for us to spend our lives together. To be close to you and know you, be with you my creator, my friend and my end...I love you..."

"I just want to confess that right now that to you. I need to give you my life I need to walk in you..."

"I pray that everyone will praise you in everything they do, because I know that I haven't. From now on until I grow old I will praise you..."

"Daddy why do you love us so much I know I don't deserve it......."

"I love you...your child."

"God is awesome! Tonight God delivered me from rom some really bad stuff. Things that I was too ashamed to tell..."

"God does not care how you pray as long as you do..."

"What do you want me to do? I yield."

"I am full of pride. Please please replace it........."

"God, you have touched so many lives this week in such a powerful way I am changed and so are many others..."

"The enemy can't have them! They belong to Jesus!"

There are countless more like this. We want you to all be as blessed as we are with what God did in this camp and thank you for our sake and theirs for your prayers and support that got us here.

Wow that is all we can say.... Go God!!!

We are headed out tomorrow after church to meet in SD (that is where we are now) with the Lifelight Festival people and then onto Sturgis for the next couple of weeks then back to Lifelight. Lots of hours across South Dakota.

Several people from here are meeting us in Sturgis and we have been asked to do speaking on families there. Please continue to pray for that and for the Christian Crusaders and their families, these are the ministers we work with there. Also for inspiration as to how to reach the youth that are out on the streets there in Sturgis.

We are having many young people join us at Lifelight from the camps so they can go on and continue in ministry helping there and praying and also to fellowship some more.

We do not know what comes next after the middle of September so please pray for direction as well.

That's it for the moment we will try to update after each event or in the middle for prayer requests as we can get online

What God is Doing in Bemidji

2006-07-13T17:40:00.000-07:00

Hello all from Bemidji, MN!

We have been very busy while we have been here and are about to head off to camp so we will not be online for about 10 days starting this Sunday (the 18th).

Every night we have a camp fire going on and spend time talking about what the Lord is doing, what He has done and speaking about peoples lives and looking for what the Father’s heart is in each individual. It might seem strange that a camp fire and people that are willing to take the time to listen not only to the Father but to the people that come around can be ministry but it has been one of the most effective that we have seen. We have been very blessed while we have been here. It has been exciting seeing the Lord work. This past weekend we had all kinds of people from the church here come out and camp over the weekend. It has been a real time of fellowship in the Lord and just an open place for people to be ministered to.

We have spoken twice here at the church and will be speaking every day at the camp (Tracy and Tony) as well as doing the worship. Jasmine has put together a youth band and choir for camp. We are working on getting the youth in to ministry, ACTIVATE! In-between teen camp and children's camp we will be taking a team of young people (the band) to a church in a small town about 2 hours drive from Bemidji. After camp we will be playing at the church that we are staying at now again before we leave for Sturgis.

The Lord has really been faithful in showing us what we are to speak to the youth about and how to present it. We are looking forward to what He is going to do.

We have met yet another person that has offered for us to go to a foreign country. This time Sweden. We are not sure what the Lord is going to do with that opening but we will keep it in our prayers. If we were to do such a thing we would want to take a team. As it is there are all kinds of openings to share in Sweden. You can even speak in the public schools and in their religion classes. They are looking for pastors.

After our time here that we have been allowed to try out some things and the time spent with the other Christians here we have our whole outline for the rest of the summer.

There is also another missionary couple that are headed on the road this summer that we know from Scotland. They will be with us in Sturgis and Life Light. Please keep them in your prayers. John and Chris Parsons.

For the moment this is the update. We are hoping to get a Newsletter and a ZAP up a little later today or tomorrow. May God’s blessing rest on you all as you are active in the work that He has prepared for you.

Back in Action

2006-07-13T17:39:00.000-07:00

We are back in action. Not that we were really out of action but it has been a while since I have been able to sit down and write about what is going on without involving a whole bunch of family stuff.

We had, once again, a pretty rough time in Wyoming. There are just not open doors or people willing to receive. Tony and Matthias ended up getting a couple of jobs while we were there. We all breathed a sigh of relief as we pulled out.

We have spent the last 4 weeks in Sheridan Wyoming. Sheridan at this moment is the place that we “run” the ministry out of in the way that our bank is there, our vehicles are registered there ect. Also, Tracy’s mom is there and so we have to make the once a year visit and had quite a bit of family stuff to take care of while we were there.

We spent 8 days getting to Bemidji MN because we are very early arriving and didn’t want to arrive too early. When we got what we needed to leave Wyoming we did it quickly as we were not sure as to when we would have the chance again and it would be better to be early than late!

Our reception here in Bemidji, as always, has been incredible. Our brothers and sisters have welcomed us with open arms and open hearts to what the Lord has for them. We have been busy since we got here. Meeting new poeple, and catching up to old friends, speaking, and learning about what the summer camps that we will be speakers, worship team, and councelors for, as well as meeting people that we will be working with and hearing about some of the other stuff that we have lined up while we are here. More and more stuff is lining up. This time here is just going to fly.

We are on our “Set Apart to Serve” campaign this summer, Sunday was the first time that Tony and Tracy preached on that campaign. Helps, Hospitality, Encouragement. All leading to Freedom in Christ.

We have not had the chance to put up new photos as of yet but we will be doing that soon! We have our computer back and access so that we can now have a little more freedom to do some of that. As you might have noticed the web page has been totally re-designed and for a while it will stay that way but don’t get too comfortable with it. Just like Freedom Seed and the things that God sets us to do, it is continuely changing, the message stays the same but the form and the way we present it changes often “becoming all things to all people...”.

If you didn’t get the note, our e-mail address has changed to: freedomservants@freedomseed.org . If you would like to join our private Newsletter and contact list drop us a line and let us know.

May God bless you all and keep you. There will be plenty to be updated on so keep checking back. If you haven’t been here for a while make sure and check the “Coffee Talk” and Tracy’s new place “Zap” and the Newsletter.

Freedom Seed

Sturgis and MN

2006-07-13T17:38:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow morning we are headed out of Sheridan Wyoming and on our way to MN, it will take us a while to get there as we will be making a couple of stops; one of them being in Sturgis, SD to visit a church there and also to prayer walk a little. We will see how it all works as we are not quite sure how we will arrive in MN yet but we are looking forward to being there and looking forward to this summer full of ministry. We all know that God is on the move and is doing something different and boy are we ready for it.

God bless you friends If you haven't done so yet I suggest you go and read the ZAP. It will really tell you "where we are".

Some Catching Up To Do

2006-07-13T17:37:00.000-07:00

It has been a while and I have a lot of catching up to do!

I hope you all have taken the time to read the Newsletter (remember that if you would like to have it sent to your e-mail address please drop us a note) and the Coffee Talk.

We have been so blessed these last couple of months.

I think I will have to back up fairly far though I must say when I don’t keep up it is awfully hard to recall everything since all of it happens in such a short time and over hundreds, sometimes thousands, of miles.

I can imagine that some of you might be wondering when we might break down again so that things would get a little more exciting on these updates! We have been told that our life sounds like a soap opera! Of course, we are not sad at all that we have not broken down. More than that while we were in Texas we were given new front tires for the bus, which was sorely in need of them. In Nebraska we had our brakes reworked (courtesy on Tony and Larry) and found that 3 of the 7 springs were broken on the one side of the bus. We can not say how relived we were that we were not driving along some time and just have those snap. God is good and we must be getting better at hearing when to stop and go!

After spending time in Rockdale and Palacios we headed to Nebraska again (the destination we were still headed to after 2 months) and stopped by to visit a church that we had not visit for almost three years. We were welcomed there by some friends of ours who volunteer and a Baptist Encampment (where we stayed) and spent Easter with them. We also got a chance to speak to their youth and to meet an hispanic congregation. Our time there was great and we plan to stop in again before another three years!

Larry and Stacey, Larry’s sons Anton and Clayton showed us much hospitality while we were in Nebraska. As I said, Tony and Larry reworked the breaks and fixed the springs. Larry, Stacey and Clayton are remodeling a semi trailer and a bus (Clayton’s bus) to move full time on the road as ministers. We have met and worked with Larry and Stacey the two years that we have been to Sturgis and will be working together again this year. It was good to be able to spend time talking about those things and encouraging them on. We also were blessed to find hearts open to Jesus and how He was/is moving. We are blessed, once again, to have God put in our lives people who are ready to take another step and just need a little encouragement. Thank you guys for everything!

Leaving Nebraska we headed to Wyoming, yes, it is that time of year again. We have not been back for around 8 months or so now and it was time, also this is the time that we have to do what we need to do at our currant “home base” before we hit a crazy summer. Pat (Tracy’s mom) has been such a help to us for the time that we have been ministering on the road. All this would be virtually impossible if she did not take care of all of the things that need done while we are traveling i.e. banking, mail, phone, encouragement, all of the corp. Sole paper work. Please keep her in her prayers as she is working for those of you who don’t know she is a quadriplegic and at the moment is having slight health troubles.

We are all looking forward to being very busy this summer but seeing God move in a new way. Things are changing for us once again, they never do stay the same, and it is a change that we are looking forward to. We are not completely sure as of yet what kind of shape this change will be taking as just the tip of it is visible right now.

We have been blessed and blessed and we have been able to be the tools of God’s encouragement in other’s lives also and that is the ultimate blessing for us.

If you did not receive the notice then here are some news flashes:

1. We do have a demo CD. It has three songs on it (one in Spanish) we hope to make a full-length disk here soon but we will see. If you would like to receive one of these please e-mail us with your address to: freedomseed@earthlink.net . We also ask that you do send a enough to cover the postage the rest is up to what God lays on your heart.

2. We have brochures! this summer is the “Set Apart to Serve” campaign. You will be seeing some more changes on the web site as we change to better encourage you. If you would like to receive a brochure please drop us a note with your address, again: freedomseed@earthlink.net .

I am sure that you have noticed the new menu bar that has been put in. I hope that it has made your whole experience on our web site more user-friendly not to mention a little neater looking! Thank you once again Ryan for all of your hard work.

Blessings on you all.

Communion Directions

2006-06-22T10:19:00.000-07:00

To get directions to the "Communion grounds" please go to:

www.mapquest.com - enter your starting point and then enter this address:

44526 County Rd 3
Becida, MN 56678

If you get lost or want to clarify directions feel free to call us at:

218-209-5788

Don't forget your bugspray, sleeping stuff, some warm clothes, food
and whatever else you got off the list that we sent out.

Feel free to get ahold of us if you have ANY questions, there are no
stupid questions.

God bless and we are looking forward to seeing you!

Jasmine for Freedom Seed
www.FreedomSeed.org

What To Bring

2006-06-14T13:25:00.000-07:00

Please make sure and read all of the following if you are at all interested in coming to
this year's Communion, and if even if you are not please take some time to read this over
and add it to your prayers. Please bear with us as it is a little long.

Begin your "Communion" experience now!

We would like to give you an overview of what the grounds and weather are like here in
Becida.

It is a wooded acreage, it borders state land, there are plenty of walking trails,
perfect for spending your quite time with the Lord or relaxing and enjoying the company
of a friend(s).

There are several small lakes within a 2 mile walking distance though we are pretty sure
only the brave will want to swim as you will be accompanied by plenty of leeches.

Ticks, mosquito's and other insects abound. But don't let that scare you off, just think
of the African jungle, and bring more bug spray!

It can be cold at night, cool to very cool in the evening and anywhere from very warm to
cool in the daytime.

It is incredibly beautiful, you will think you are staying at a state park.

Town is about a 25 minute drive away and it is the nearest place to shop (for anything,
including bug spray, groceries...).

There are lots of camp sites where you can camp close to someone else or in a secluded
spot.

Solar showers could be used and swimwear is suggested for shower use.

Following is a list is of what we do have and what we do not have. We want you all to
look at this as a training spot in all areas of missions, so when you are about to head
out on the foreign field you must know what your spot has and what they do not have, what
will be supplied and what you must bring.

What We Do Have
__________________
1 outdoor shower
Cooking Utensils
A freezer
1 grill
1 small cooler
A Culligan 5 gallon water dispenser (the on-site water is full of iron... that rusts as
you watch it)
Fire rings and wood (some cut, some not) + chainsaw and ax
10 camping chairs or so
1 picnic table
Sound equipment
Outhouse (with a limited supply of toilet paper)
A volleyball net

What We Do NOT Have (needs)
____________________

Food to feed at least 40 (or so) people, 4 breakfasts, 3 lunches and 4 dinners
A large supply of drinking water
Tents or sleeping gear (for you)
Camping chairs (also for you)
Bug spray
S'more stuff (this was Matthias's addition)
At the moment - running water, we are working on that! (please pray for that)
Sufficient coolers for food
Drinks
Volleyball or any other balls or frisbees (etc.) for games...
Also, we have NO fireworks as of yet

We have divided camp chores in to 4 categories, please choose one that you feel you would
be suited to and that may determine what you bring - please let us know what category you
choose.

1. Firewood Gathering
2. Kitchen (Cooking)
3. Kitchen (Cleanup)
4. Camp cleanup

For your personal ministries, anything you would like to share, please bring your own
supplies (drama, drawing, interactive games...ect.). Also, if you would like to share
something with us, music, a testimony a drama... please let us know.

One of our projects is to make several evangelical media presentations (you will find out
more when you arrive). If you have a digital camcorder PLEASE bring it!

If there are to be more interactive activities that require you bringing something, we
will let you know.

Don't forget your Bible, notebook and pen or pencil.

Once again, the Communion starts Sat. July 1st, people will start arriving in the
afternoon, the evening meal will start at 6. The event concludes July 4th after the
evening service and fireworks(?) (though you will want to spend the night that night if
possible). Breakfast and cleanup on Wednesday morning for those who are able to stay
later.

Please make your own lists of supplies from the information above, if you have any
questions please contact us by e-mailing (reply to this message).

Also, to interact with us and with other who will be attending the Communion this year,
to get ideas or express concerns we have opened a blogspot, at the bottom of each blog
post you can leave a comment and read other's comments, please make use of it! The
address is: www.freedom-seed.blogspot.com

Thank you!
Jasmine for Freedom Seed

Communion Invite

2006-06-13T14:40:00.000-07:00

Mark the date July 1-5!

This is a date in history as the radical and ancient
yet new Church comes together to commune, share and
learn, to worship, praise, pray, fast and feast, to
serve to love and to share all things in common.

The date is set: July 1-5 2006.

The place is set: Just outside of Bemidji, Minnesota.

We are making the call. Will you answer?

We will be missions focused, we will be discussing and
learning the HOW in the WHERE.

We will be calling other missionaries and ministers in
to share but also you all are to come with things to
share (art, testimony, music, dance ect.).

24-7 prayer and worship will be going on.

We will fast and feast.

We will commune!

Questions? just drop us a note.

On Fire for Christ, let it shine let it shine let it
shine...

Freedom Seed

"Light yourself on fire and people will come for miles
to watch you burn"