How great is OUR GOD!!!

Once again I wanted to share this with all of you.....I have never realized just how "big" a prayer can be....the part about Andrea's daughter being reunited with her made me cry. I am continually amazed by what God is doing and I feel that through Andrea and her family I am truly being transformed. God works in mysterious ways but He also goes ahead of us and knows just exactly what we need from Him. He has chosen to use this story as a gateway to get me back to where I need to be with Him. I still have far to go but I am on the right track. I PRAISE JESUS...both for what He is doing for The Vellinga/Voss families but also what He is doing for me and my family as well. He is BIG enough to do this all at the same time....what an amazing God we serve.
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Hi Everyone,

It seems to me, and I hope to you as well, that we have seen the power that prayer can have on a life. In the same way we’ve seen prayer work here for Andrea in her incremental progress over the last 2-1/2 weeks, if you’ll apply it in your own life with a pure heart seeking God’s will, you’ll see the power that specific and collaborative prayer within a group can have on your life. You can choose to be a spectator or a participator.

When I mentioned “collaborative prayer within a group,” I know for some of you it’s sometimes hard to find or create a “group” of people you can trust for a conversation with Christ. However, it should always start with your family first, and I want to encourage the men who are reading this to lead your families in the effort to pray collaboratively with your wife, and children if you have any. Our wives want us to lead in this area as much, if not more, than in any other. You can choose to be a spectator or a participator.



Collectively, we have prayed very specifically for several things over the past 2-1/2 weeks that have contributed incrementally toward Andrea’s progress. At the same time, I sense that several of you have enjoyed incremental progress toward your relationship with Christ. You’ve prayed for the first time in months, or even years. You’ve prayed harder for a complete stranger than at any other time in your life. You’ve prayed with other people you never would have met without this experience. You’ve prayed your first prayer ever. You’ve not felt like you knew how to pray but you did it anyway because you felt the connectedness to a purpose, and one centered on God’s will. Some of you have yet to pray, and I want to tell you that you don’t have to feel guilty for that. You may have watched or heard about this from a friend and wanted to see what was going on with her progress. We sincerely appreciate your interest in what God is doing and to Him alone goes all the glory. You can choose to be a spectator or a participator.



Through a single prayer at 2:55 p.m. today on Andrea’s behalf, God reaffirmed to me that not only has He answered nearly every prayer we have prayed, but that we should pray a “bigger, bolder” prayer. As I considered whether or not to share this with all of you, I put my trust in God to know that He is the only one capable of answering this prayer. Lori and I have a Pastor in Charlotte, NC for whom we love and care so deeply. His name is David Chadwick. This afternoon, he and I spoke for a few minutes and he broke into prayer in the middle of our conversation and prayed for a miraculous healing for Andrea within 24 hours. He prayed a bigger prayer than we have been praying. I realized that if God has answered these prayers for her incremental progress, then why couldn’t we all trust Him with a “bigger” prayer? To God, there’s no difference between a “big” prayer and a “small” prayer. They just seem “big” or “small” to us. If you are infinitely powerful, why would the “size” of the prayer even matter? You can choose to be a spectator or a participator.

I want to encourage everyone…tonight. Let’s pray together for what’s a “normal” prayer to God, although it may seem “big” to us. This shouldn’t seem like a “big” prayer to us if we trust Him. Likewise, it’s not a “small” prayer. In the same way we believed He would answer our incremental prayers for the last 2-1/2 weeks, let’s trust Him to answer this “bigger” one, because to our all powerful God, isn’t it all the same? God can do anything.

I shutter when I think that God might be hurt because the prayer we may be praying is so small that it exhibits a small faith in Him. Isn’t the “size” of our prayers in direct proportion to the “size” of our faith in Him? (Matthew 21:21-22) Let’s honor Him with the “size” of our faith through prayer by praying for a miraculous change in her by 2:55 p.m tomorrow. And let’s remember that the words in our prayer don’t mean as much as our belief in Him to actually do it. Our faith and the condition of our heart is what really matters. When the mirror of our heart is empty of all but Christ, we are then looking at a reflection of what we’re truly capable of accomplishing in our lives with Him. Between now and tomorrow at 2:55 p.m., I will be praying alongside our Pastor David Chadwick for her to wake up and show signs of God’s miraculous healing power. And we invite you to pray specifically with us for God to make things anew in Andrea’s body and better than before with a renewed spirit to praise and honor Him.

Today, Andrea and Lydia were reunited and it was a beautiful sight. There is such a strong connection between Lydia and Andrea that only through reuniting the two of them were we able to see how close they really are. Lydia was so quick to point out that Andrea was missing a tooth and she innocently asked, “Where’s Momma’s first tooth?” As the nurse delicately explained what had happened, Lydia then pointed out that Andrea would likely have a visit from the tooth fairy soon. And in exchange for the tooth, the tooth fairy would leave money for the family. Lydia was quick to suggest a use for the funds. She said, “We can buy a dress for Momma.” As a new father, I especially appreciated seeing the most pure example of a child’s love for their parent through Lydia’s example today. She was so incredibly nurturing and curious about Andrea. Several times, Lydia told Andrea, “I love you Momma,” and even told her, “You look beautiful!” At the end of the night, she was so excited about the opportunity to see Andrea every day from this point forward, and I can absolutely guarantee that Andrea could hear, or at least feel, Lydia’s presence in that room today. I never understood how much God loved me as a child of His until I had a son of my own. And I now know how much I want to love Him back based on Lydia’s example today in her pure expression of love, care and concern for her Mommy. It was one of the most precious moments of my life. Thank you for your specific prayers to God for the opportunity to reunite Lydia with her Mommy today. It was a moment I only wish all of you could have witnessed, but in your absence, my family felt the presence of your prayer and we are so thankful for you.

One other highlight from today was that I had the opportunity to meet Chad Cook, who was admitted last night to IU Methodist. Chad’s mother was kind enough to introduce me to him and I wanted to let all of you know that through your prayer, the doctors have not been able to find an official brain aneurysm. He has had bleeding in his brain and the medical staff is still trying to diagnose from where it’s coming. However, in spite of his severe headache and obvious distress being in a hospital bed, Chad was a lively spirit as he talked about his interest in journaling everything he’s experiencing for the glory of God. He mentioned to his mom prior to my arriving that as soon as he was better, he wanted to go visit Andrea’s room to thank her for the spirit of encouragement she’s brought him. Your prayers have helped make that possible because we couldn’t be here in her progress without you. Thank you for giving Chad so much hope through your prayers for him last night. He was as grateful a man as I have ever met, and I know he’s looking forward to getting back to coaching the women’s basketball team at Anderson High School soon. Shari Doud asked me to tell you to take it easy on Pendleton this year, Chad. I can’t have you demolishing my alma mater when you return at full strength for this season.

In closing, I know many of you may feel like what we’re asking for prayer for is a “big” request. However, what I am really asking for tonight is for your faith and trust in God to be many multiples of what it is at this very moment. Look at how many prayers He has already answered. Hasn’t He done enough to have earned our trust? Hasn’t He done enough to have earned our faith? Every reasonable conclusion should lead to the fact that He has heard you and answered you in your every prayer thus far. And He wants to be honored through your faith in Him. Go big with your faith in Him. Go big with your trust in Him. Why would we choose to do anything else given all He has shown us He can do? Please don’t mistake what He has done here as just being “coincidence.” He has heard us. And He wants to hear more from us…I know it.



You can choose to be a spectator or a participator. Please participate with us in this prayer for Andrea.

All the Best,

Tyler Voss

2:33 a.m. 8/31/2011