A Call for E-mail Address

If you would like to get my e-mail updates please e-mail me at

smichic01@gmail.com

Thanks!
Shawntay

Beginning in Canada

We just finished our 8 day Summit in Wyoming, Ontario. Well it was supposed to be an 8 day Summit but God was doing such a work that we extended an extra 2 days. God is so good. Our team loves it here and we have been richly blessed. We were also told that we will be able to have the chance to return here at the end of our traveling season this year in May. We are all very excited. I have been able to get to know a lot of the kids in Base Camp, a few families and a girl from the college and career group.

The Lord has been doing a cleansing work here in Ontario. Many...and I mean many marriages have been renewed. I even heard one couple make the comment that it's like they are newly weds all over again. They thought that getting open and honest with each other wasn't going to be good but in the end it brought them closer together. Another family shared that one night their daughter came back and started asking her mom's forgiveness for how she had been acting. In Base Camp we also got prayer requests from the kids and one boy asked us to pray that he would obey his parents because he was having a hard time with that. These are only a few stories here and there of what God has been doing.

Of my 2 years and 2 months of traveling this is the most I've seen God at work in His people. I am excited to see and hear what God is doing and see the change in May. When I get some of the written testimonies from the church I plan to post a few on my blogspot.

Keep your eyes set on Christ and live your life pleasing in His sight!

3 Thirst Conferences

These are some pictures from the first 3 conferences.

Wilson, NC
Peace Church

Raleigh, NC
Wake Cross Roads Baptist Church

Loudonville, NY
Loudonville Community Church

My first 3 weeks as a Children's Minister have been amazing. I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching kids and working with Evan, Rachel, and Brennan. We don't usually get a chance to find out what is really sticking out to the children we teach but at the end of one of our conferences a girl asked us to pray for her because she was having a hard time obeying her parents (We taught on Obedience as our first lesson). Another boy mentioned to us that he didn't think he knew how to pray but after our lesson on prayer he realized that he wasn't doing anything wrong. And one night I saw Evan and Brennan praying with one of the boys, I asked them what they were praying for him about and they said that they weren't praying for him but he was praying for them. Those were a few very encouraging things to me.

"Aloha! My name is Shawntay Celestino I'm from Waianae, Hawaii. This is my 3rd year traveling and I'm a Children's Minister in Base Camp." Every Sunday night is introduction night for our team. This was the first time I did not say "Finch's Family Assistant." God has other things for the Finch family. They will be working at our ministries camp and Jimmy will be heading up the music aspect of camp.

This morning we had almost 70 kids in Base Camp and 56 returned for the evening service. Please pray for us as we teach these kids. It was a rougher night but God gave me the grace through out the night. Also pray that we would be able to figure out ways to make Base Camp run smoother.

1st Sunday morning at Peace Church in Wilson, NC

Base Camp was lot of fun this morning. It is amazing to see how things can flow smoothly. Evan, Brennan, Rachel, and I taught the kids for about 3 hours today. For me it felt like it flew by. We did lessons, a skit, a song, games, and snack time. Thankfully we also had some extra help. Sasha and Tyler are in our worship team and came to help with the kids along with Austin one of our speaker's kids. The church also provided 2 helpers for the Sunday School Hour and Morning Worship Service. We definitely had more than fifty 2nd through 5th graders, I forgot to look at the list at the end of Base Camp.

Rachel taught about Psalm 24...Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord and who shall stand in His holy place.?....we need to have clean hands, a pure heart, to not lift up our soul to what is false, and not swear deceitfully.

I taught about Obedience. Obedience is doing what I'm told to do, when I'm told to do it, with the right heart attitude. We did it in the form of a skit so that the kids had a better picture of what obedience looks like. In the skit I get wet because Jeeneva is upset and gets me a cup of water, but instead of giving it to me she throws it on me. Eventually Jeeneva obeys correctly and I get a cup of water to drink.

I gotta get some rest before tonight's service. Please pray that God would do a work in these children and that they would become more like Him.

Year #3

This year I will be traveling as one of 6 children ministers on the White Team. For the past 2 years I have been the family assistant for Jimmy and Christi Finch. About 2 and a half weeks ago I found out that they will not be traveling anymore, but will be transitioning to a position at our ministry's camp in Buchanan, Michigan. Of course I was sad to hear the news but am glad for the opportunity that God has placed in their lives. They will be leading music for our camp.

God is and will always be in control. Little did I know that when I decided to return as a children's minister that God was already working to place the Finch family at our camp. God is so good and I know He will use this family in many ways at Life Action Camp.

Our training camp for this next year is currently in session for the next month. Life Action's 3 road teams are all here and it's been nice to meet the new members of our teams. This week we are having some classes and next week will be our ministry wide revival week. I will be missing part of the meetings because of a funeral in Washington. I'm glad for the opportunity to go and for a family member helping me get there. On Sunday I shared with a friend what had happened and they prayed that God would allow me a way to get there. God answered that prayer yesterday night. It was so exciting to see God work things out and then be able to thank Him for it.

Well I got to go for now.

I'm just in the midst of mailing my update and thought about my blog spot. It has been a while since I've wrote something here. I always forget how much work it is to put out an update letter....writing it, copying it, addressing envelopes, folding, stuffing, etc. I'm thankful that the church from Pearland, TX helped me out with getting addresses on most of my envelopes. I am thankful for this blog though because it has saved me some time and money in having to send my updates through the mail.

Right now I'm enjoying the time off from the road. I'm try to refresh and refocus for another year of traveling. I'm going to church in Kiel, Wisconsin and have been encouraged with the nearly completed church building. After 2 year of building they are working on the finishing touches and will have their first VBS there. I will be able to help in one of the classes and am currently working on tracing, painting, and cutting stars for the decoration. This year our VBS is Operation Space, a curriculum through Answers in Genesis.

Oh...and now that I'm thinking about it I need to remember those of you that have supported me. There was a change that was made concerning my personal support. All money that is sent in through Life Action Ministries for me will be applied to my Ministry Expenses until I have reached the amount needed for the travel season. After my ministry expense is reach I will be able to receive personal support if there is any leftover. This past year I wasn't able to receive any personal support because I am still $142.55 short for the 2009-2010 travel season. But the Lord still provided what I needed throughout the year through host families and teammates. If you have any questions please call me or e-mail me.