May 7, 2015

 Dear friends,

"Un altro vive in me!" This is how we eagerly anticipate sharing the good news in Italiano - Another lives in me! We are excited to announce that registration is now open for our MPC school being held in the Ticino region of Switzerland, October 18-23. This school will be presented in English and Italian and is being hosted at Hotel Paladina above the shores of beautiful Lake Lugano in Pura, Switzerland. For more information about the school, click here. Ticino Registration is underway and standard rates are in effect until August 31. At this point the only Italian phrase I can speak with confidence is, "Mi dispiace, ma non parlo l'italiano," - "I'm sorry I don't speak Italian." Praise God that all our English-speaking team members can joyfully anticipate learning a good accent to proclaim, "Un altro vive in me!" We ask for your prayers as preparations are made for this school, that the Lord will gather His people from the north, south, east and west to come and receive all He has for His priceless Body. In our team's prayers for this school we've been deeply touched by the readiness of Italian hearts to receive a deeper impartation of Incarnational Reality. We praise God for the way He is continually setting out as the Good Shepherd to embrace and bring home every one of His children!

We also remain full of praise for all the Lord did among us so recently at the New Zealand MPC school. God is on the move in this nation He cherishes, and those He drew to the February school have been activated in a special way. We rejoice at the news we hear since the school of all those going deeper into His Presence, sharing and spreading the gospel, and being transformed and becoming agents of His kingdom transformation in their relationships and communities. Our U.S. team departed for this school on the day Leanne passed into glory, and He was tender with us in a special way throughout the school. All of us were richly blessed by the natural beauty and simplicity of the camp setting at Orama, and we ask the Lord to bless and care for the hard-working staff of that Christian camp. mp3 The MP3 recordings of this school are now available on the MPC website, and we pray that the Holy Spirit will minister in a fresh and personal way to all who listen and enter into the stories, teachings, and prayers.  Please join us in prayer for Gay Barretta and those leading MPC in New Zealand as well as every attendee of the school who is continuing to respond in obedience in the places God healed, cleansed, and gave life. 

AACCThe world of Christian counseling is another arena in which God is calling MPC to serve. Leanne often remarked with amazement at how God collaborated with her to reveal profound truths about the human soul. He used a Spirit-filled literature scholar to write books that lead and guide the Christian psychology movement. Isn't that just like our God? The Society for Christian Psychology, a division of the American Association of Christian Counselors, also leads in this movement with the aim to promote psychology based on a distinctively Christian understanding of human nature. For this year's AACC World Conference (September 23-26, 2015, Nashville, TN), I have been invited to serve the SCP as a track chair and speaker. We praise God for this opportunity to share Leanne's teaching with the pastors, lay leaders, and Christian counselors who will attend. My talk is titled, "How to Cheat at Counseling: Incarnational Reality and the Healing Presence of God," and I am eagerly anticipating how His healing presence will minister at this AACC conference. MPC will have a booth at the conference for those who wish to learn more about Leanne's books and our schools. If you or someone you know will be attending the conference, we would love to connect with you there. Please email Lori and let us know about your plans so that we can coordinate a time for MPC fellowship within the broader fellowship of the AACC.

Christian counselors are valued members of our ministry team, attendees at our schools, and ministers in their communities for those seeking the kind of healing they hear described in Leanne's books. Many people find their way to an MPC school through the recommendation of a Christian counselor. As one such counselor wrote to us in testimony,

The MPC ministry has been a critical influence and support in my work as a licensed clinical therapist. I cannot work with my clients and help them with their deep woundedness without my own healing which our LORD has made possible through MPC. MPC refreshes my soul and prepares me as I watch our Glorious God, Risen Savior heal others in powerful ways during these schools. The teachings on sexuality and gender confusion are particularly important to me as I work with those affected by sex addiction. I praise God for the opportunity to be part of this healing ministry.
Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor
Certified Sex Addiction Therapist

Many Christian psychologists and counselors count Leanne as a key influence in their vocations, and they will attend MPC schools this year in order to be revitalized and further equipped for their critical front-line ministry. We consider it an honor to partner with and minister to Christian counselors who are in real need of the spiritual rejuvenation and moral strengthening that God pours out through MPC.

Christian counseling is often an important part of the healing process for individuals, couples, and families. The care and guidance of a counselor can give us the strength, vision, and accountability to persevere in many aspects of soul-healing, such as leaving the habit of introspection behind and growing in the power to be, and correcting vices and developing virtues. Full healing often requires us to stand in the Cross and suffer as the Lord draws the deep pain of abuse or deprivation up and out of the soul, and counselors can bolster and encourage this difficult but life-transforming process. We praise the Lord for calling and anointing gifted men and women around the world to serve in this essential work of the Church.

raiseupWhile the Lord has provided many compassionate and well-trained counselors, many have not yet been introduced to Leanne's writings or ministry. We often receive your inquiries about how to find a counselor who can help you walk out the healing you're receiving through Leanne's books and MPC. Sometimes we are able to make a connection to someone in your community who is already skilled in an Incarnational-Reality foundation for counseling. But for those who live in a town without such resources, there is still hope. It is possible to collaborate with God to raise up the support we need, including helping relationships such as Christian counselors. I've written a short how-to on our blog that will give encouragement to those who want to recruit a counselor to join in the healing God is working in your soul.

We are busily processing registrations for MPC's 2015 U.S. schools in Wheaton and Portland, and there are still openings for more to join us at both schools (standard registration rates are available for Wheaton through May 14). If God is prompting you to invite a counselor in your life, or anyone else, please email us, and we'll be delighted to send you brochures or bookmarks to share. What an honor and privilege it is for all of us who serve in MPC to collaborate with the awesome ways God is shining His light in this dark world. As we continue to mourn Leanne's departure and celebrate the extraordinary goodness God gave through her life, we are deeply grateful for every one of you - for your prayers, your correspondence, and just knowing that you are seeking Him and living as a vessel of His presence right where you are. I close this letter with a gift for you, written by Barbara Byers, a multi-talented member of our ministry team who is both a Christian counselor and a poet. 

In Loving Tribute to Leanne
February 2015 by Barbara Byers
poem
A winter morn with silenced breath now stilling
Except that heavenward angels unseen come,
Swift, our beloved - friend and mother-mentor...
Not earth-bound she, but free, beholding Him!

No gossamer girl, but sturdy on her path ascending,
Held faith unwavering, tried by joys and tears;
With earthy laugh, enchanting in its freedom,
Well-travelled hope grown surer o'er the years.

Those happy hours spent deep in contemplation,
Weaving His praise in the fabric of her day,
Then, listening, chose obedience in the hearing,
Went forth to serve His will on feet of clay.

Her Scottish roots sang joyously within her,
Her mother's prayers had bid her soar with wings;
Though oft in weakness, flowed the Spirit's power;
Our prophet-scholar, clarion herald of the King.

Belief so truly set in Incarnation,
Inviting us: "Behold the riven1 Christ!"
His resurrection life completing her baptism,
Her "Halleluia!" awed by His eternal light.

Always the Cross, the blood, the Presence gifted,
The true self blessed, broken image now restored;
Pointing us upward, outward, farther onward,
Beckoning our becoming, calling us to more.

How well she knew the real, incarnate Presence;
"Come, Holy Spirit" her continual cry;
With holy water fled the demon spirits,
As holiness and truth were lifted high.

Primordial cries, yet deeper still the healing,
Old wounds lost pow'r when she invoked His name,
Mem'ries long-held released now into freedom,
Communion's cup sufficient for our shame.

Mystery masculine and feminine unveiling,
Healing of will and receptivity,
Uniting mind and heart-desire, imparting
True imagination - brilliant circuitry!

And grateful we for her trailblazing beauty,
Who took the Savior's road less traveled by,
Remember now this gift, this tender mercy:
Entrusting us pastoral care, pregnant with life.

We bid her words with clarity engrave us,
For pen flowed sure with words of vibrant grace;
We would have kept her longer if we could have,
Yet would not rob that glory face to face!

And all is certain, all is settled, all is finished - 
Outside our time, she stepped complete in Christ,
Heard heaven's call, oh jubilant homecoming,
With this three-person'd God enthralled, alive!

1riven: split or torn

Yours in Christ,

Sarah