Growth and Gratitude

  I would like to say that, when things start getting rocky, my first response is to immediately pray and fight back against the spiritual warfare happening in our lives. Unfortunately, it takes me some time before I realize the obvious - satan is doing whatever he can to try and derail what God has put into motion. 2018 started out a little crazy; new diagnoses, medications, Addalyn chipped her teeth, Dean got a crazy skin bacterial infection, and we were trying to figure out how to host CR at a location that is only available 3 weeks a month, while still running all 4 CR programs and homeschooling the kids. Our community program had dwindled to only a handful of people, and Christmas and New Years put a huge damper on our momentum. The men's side of the prison was closed more weeks that it was open to us. It felt a little bit like things were falling apart.

  BUT GOD always has a plan, and He always "causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." (Romans 8:28). When we finally slowed down enough, God reminded us that "we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world..." (Ephesians 6:12). He also reminded us that He has overcome and that we can tell satan to leave us alone.

    Addalyn got her teeth fixed right up! The dentist was very nice, and the bill was super affordable! The new medication is doing its job, Dean's funky skin problem cleared right up, and we are all staying pretty safe and healthy.


We got creative for Celebrate Recovery and started "Second Tuesday Fun Days!" for the weeks that our meeting space is unavailable.

Our first funday was spent playing volley ball, net ball (a local sport), and celebrating Aaron's 10 years clean mark!

Dean stepped on the cake! But it still tasted delicious.

 Since that day, our CR group has grown to more than double what it was in December! We have a both locals and expats coming, and we are seeing some awesome spiritual growth even in this short time. God has never stopped working and preparing our path as we move forward in what He has called us to!

  Toward the end of January, we got to host our very first missions team! Faith Promise Church, our home church in Knoxville, TN, sent 4 wonderful people down to love on us, encourage us, help us, and to plan out what bringing down a larger team might look like.

Wes, Kelsey, Will, and Amanda

 We put them to work leading worship, spreading the word about CR via flyers and the radio, speaking at each of our CR programs, prayer, and meeting with pastors. They also blessed us by playing with our kiddos, sending us on a date, and making us freezer meals! It means a lot to us to be so poured into by this team, and they helped us make major headway in developing each existing ministry and opening up doors for a new one as well!

 Will leading worship at church on Sunday morning.

 Wes, Kelsey, and Amanda walking in the community that we meet in, talking to people and handing out flyers.

 Wes found  his "sign!" He is not only our missions pastor, but the small groups pastor for NKX FP as well!

 Sharing about CR at Independence Square

 Worship in the square.

A reporter for an international news outlet, WINN FM interview Aaron for the evening news radio broadcast! 

 New Horizons where the men got to share their stories.

 Wes and Will shared their testimony on the radio.

Will played some worship music, and was invited back the next day to do a full 30 minute set!

Each visitor agreed to share parts of their story and participate in a panel discussion for CR

We had the privilege of taking the team on an island tour to learn about the culture, the history, and to spend time praying over the nation. We prayed for revival, for the children and youths, for the government, for the visitors, students, expats, and future missionaries, against the spirits of poverty and addiction, and for God to be known throughout the country.

These two ladies blessed me and filled me up so much the whole week!!!

The team helped us out at our church's annual chili cook-off!

 The judges

 Wes entertained the kids

  During the week they were here we emphasized the need to be flexible. Plans changed, things were rearranged, and new opportunities presented themselves as we went along. The Holy Spirit really led us through an incredible week with this team! As the men went with Aaron to the prison to do CRI, Aaron had warned them that they may not be able to get in. Typically Aaron is able to check, but that day the call was not going through. However, Aaron's devotional was on expectations that morning, so the men loaded up and expected God to open the doors of the prison to them. They got in!  Will led worship, and then Will and Wes shared their stories with the men and presented the gospel. They were able to pray with many of the male residents and one even prayed to accept Christ as his savior! And since that day six more men have begun a relationship with Jesus!

  With the women, Amanda agreed to share her story and the female residents hung on her every word. As she shared from her heart about her life, her choices, and how the Lord has worked and done such great things for her, some of the women began to cry (some of the guards too) and I could feel the freedom that was being proclaimed over them. After Amanda shared, we gave the ladies a chance to ask questions. The confessions and queries they made were beyond my expectation. You could see that the hope that has been forming the last few months started to blossom. They were able to see that maybe God would do big things in their lives too. As we wrapped up, one young lady asked if she could sing for us, and then she led us in a gorgeous worship song. As we sang, the guards encouraged us to stand and we all (even the guards) joined hands as we worshipped the Lord together.

  If that wasn't enough, a certain lady, "P", then announced to the group that she had given her life to Christ that week! This women, who had told me she was too young to make that decision, has actually been in our prayers for over 3 years. Her image popped up on a google search as we put together a video to show why we were preparing to move here. I started then praying for her, and God has given me the opportunity to spend time with her each week, and now to see her come to want to know Him! Oh the grace of our incredible Heavenly Father!

  The next day Wes, Kelsey, and Will accompanied Aaron to Lighthouse Baptist Church in Sandy Point to meet with the pastors there. Lighthouse is considering doing multi site campuses, which is something the staff at FP are definitely familiar with :) Wes and Kelsey used their understanding to help deepen our connection with Lighthouse, and God used the meeting to help show how in control of our week He really was. The group was invited to come down to the high school after and meet with some students and the principle. The principal invited Aaron back the following week to speak at their morning assembly! The relationships being formed in Sandy Point will help open doors to Celebrate Recovery in that community in the near future.

We had some new friends come and visit while the team was here. Gina, from Knoxville, reached out a couple of months ago and wanted to know if she could be of any help while her friend and she were vacationing in St Kitts. Gina, and her friend Penney, were so sweet and fun! Gina spent time playing with our kids, brought us lots of educational games and toys, and was an encouragement all the way around!

Gina and Addalyn playing Candy Land. Gina taught me how to use Candy Land to quiz the kids on what they are learning! 

We let the team have a little bit of fun ;) 

 Snorkling at Carambola

 They invited Kayla (a student here who is from Knoxville) and Tarheim to spend the day with with at the pool!

 Tarheim brought fresh coconuts to share. The team loved them!

We got to enjoy Lobster Fest (yum!)

Their last morning, Aaron, Wes, and Will drove up to the top of Timothy Hill to watch the sunrise.

  Then they picked up the other men for a hike to Sofa Rock

As we said goodbye to our amazing group from Faith Promise, you may have notice two other faces that had arrived!

  Mark and Kevin from Rock Point Church in Crawfordsville, IN came down to visit us and to help us in building CR. Kevin has been instrumental in mentoring us and equipping us to be able to start CR in St Kitts. Rock Point and Kevin have sent us most of our needed materials, and Kevin has always made sure we have the right connections with the right people to be successful. I was sick most of their visit, but Aaron really enjoyed his time with these men and they were a huge blessing.

  While they were here, they were able to make it to every ministry that we get to be a part of. They spoke and shared and helped to feed into Aaron and build us up. A gigantic blessing was that they accompanied Aaron back out to Sandy Point to meet with the pastors at Lighthouse Baptist Church once again. This time the meeting was specifically about Celebrate Recovery. By the time they left, Lighthouse had committed to launching the next Celebrate Recovery St Kitts!!! We will begin training their volunteers in June, and God-willing they will have CR up and running by August 2018!     

Aaron, Kevin, and Mark spoke at the school assembly in Sandy Point.

  This new CR program at Lighthouse is such an answered prayer because one of our values as a ministry is to equip local people to do the work of recovery. As much as we love pastoring, shepherding, and leading, we know that the most effective way to reach a culture is through those who are a part of that culture. Please pray that God continues to bring local men and women to us so that we can train them to be the future leaders of CR at every location. Please pray for more churches, like Lighthouse, to get involved so that Celebrate Recovery can become a place of love and hope all over the island of St Kitts! 

As we headed into February we had two more visitors.

Garth and Andrea lived here for most of last year. They have such amazing hearts and are a source of encouragement and spiritual leadership. We miss them like crazy, but we are grateful for the time we had with them last week. 

And then we got to relax a bit. On a church catamaran trip to Nevis!

 The kids loved swimming, jumping off the boat, and laying on the nets.

 Nevis!

Heading home into the sunset.

  Now as we hit the middle of February, we have realized that we are less than 2 weeks away from touching down on US soil. We are coming for you Tennessee (and Indiana, Hawaii, and Georgia)! We will be spending two weeks in Knoxville before heading to beautiful Maui to celebrate the marriage of my incredible sister Olivia to her wonderful finance Alex! Thanks to very sweet parents, we will get to be there and be a part of everything, which is not a blessing we take lightly. Then back to TN, IN, and GA for 2 1/2 weeks before heading home to St Kitts.  

  While we are home, one of our purposes will be to raise enough support to be fully funded ($350/month away), and  also to be able to put our kiddos into St Kitts International Academy ($1,000/month for tuition + additional medicare and social security taxes we would owe based on our "income increase"). While we have all settled here pretty well, our kids have struggled to make friends in a culture that relies heavily on school for social interaction. As CR continues to grow and expand, we are finding it challenging to have the time to balance school and work. Having our kids in SKI Academy would help them to put down better roots, and enable us to pour into ministry and family more effectively. If you would like to be a part of helping us raise the additional support,  you can set up monthly re-occuring donations at Shepherd's Staff - Aaron and Katelyn Comer. If you would like to meet with us while we are in Knoxville to learn more about what we do, please e-mail us at OurMissionJourney@gmail.com, or message us on Facebook, so we can set that up!

  Your prayers, support, encouragement, and comments mean the world to us! Thank you for following along and being a part of what The Lord is doing the country of St Kitts & Nevis!

Love, 

The Comers