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come join the hills fellowship
this evening at 5:30pm
at edwin warner park [pavilion #4]
for our first “post labor day cookout”
86 vaughn rd
nashville, tn 37221

we are gonna have a great time
and we will be sharing some exciting news
regarding the future of the hills fellowship

Doug and Linda Howard
along with Sony ATV
hosted an event last night
celebrating the life of my brother, Joshua
i want to thank them for loving Josh
and for all that they did to show it
he loved them just as much

it was great to see some dear friend at the event
one of them is a guy that you hear me talk about all the time
i am an Anthony Skinner fanatic
i love this guy
i am crazy about his music
but i am more crazy about Anthony

as soon as i met him
i knew that he and Joshua had to meet
i knew they would love each other
i told both of them so
they did
and i was right
here are some words from Anthony’s blog

http://tiny.cc/anthonyskinner

the boys & i are ministering in big spring, tx
at life church with pastors clint & kami collins
we love these folks!

yesterday they took us to carlsbad caverns
it was breathtaking
because we walked FOREVER!

really…
it was incredible to see
and even more amazing to experience with my boys

after losing joshua
i realize more than ever
how important it is to make memories
this is a wonderful one

yup!
that’s right…

we are so pleased to announce that The Hills Fellowship
will be joined this tuesday night by Dr. Phil & Cathy Brassfield!

what Dr. Phil were you thinking?
come on!
this is The Dr. Phil!!!
and this Dr. Phil has Cathy!

Phil and Cathy are some of the dearest people in our lives
and we are so blessed
to have them come be a part of The Hills Fellowship

they are a part of the apostolic oversight team
that will be providing covering and guidance for us
as well as The Hills Fellowship
If you would like to read more about Phil & Cathy, click here to view their bio.

everyone needs to meet this amazing couple
as well as receive what they have to impart

if you live in the nashville area
and want to join us
leave us a message in the following contact form
and we will get you directions…

our family would like to thank each of you
for the support and love we have received during this time
so many of you have been so thoughtful and generous

as of 11pm tonight
Joshua’s room visitation is being restricted to immediate family only

also…
because we are sharing the waiting room
with the families of other patients
it has become necessary to limit that area to family as well

we are asking that any food or gifts
be coordinated through Kim Balding
you may contact her at kimbalding@comcast.net
she will be coordinating this effort for our family

if you would like to give gift cards
or make donations
you may mail them to
PO Box 58462 / Nashville, TN 37205
or you can make online donations by clicking
the donate button to the right of this post

thank you so much

- The Ragsdale Family

we just left the hospital
and i wanted to give an update on joshua
he has been in the hospital this stay for over 2 weeks

joshua is now battling 3 separate infections
one of these infections is very serious
because the leukemia treatments drastically weaken his immune system
the doctors have put these treatments on hold
while they give their full attention to help Joshua beat this infection

this is a tough time for Joshua
but he is tough as well
he reminded us of this yesterday
when he said “i’ve gotta fight this, so i might as well get to it.”
he will not give up
neither will we
neither will God

please agree with us in praying that his white count will increase
which will give his body the ability to fight this infection

thank you so much for all of your prayers and encouragement

several months ago
i was praying over our calendar
laying hands on each date
and asking God for Divine alignment & appointment
for each day
asking Him to direct us specifically

as i prayed
i came to May 23
and felt a strong push in my spirit
and i have been praying for that date ever since
i feel that something special is up tomorrow

i have felt feelings sort of like this before
[although never this strong]
i figured this feeling was about us scheduling an event
and that event would be powerful

however…
we had an event scheduled for that date
and it had to be postponed
then another event scheduled
and it cancelled
[this has been a trend in 2010]
nothing else scheduled for May 23

however i never questioned the feeling that i felt

now i am understanding
that feeling probably had nothing to do
with a JRM ministry event
which means it had nothing to do with me
[ain't that just like Jesus to take the focus off of me]

this must mean that something is up in the Body of Christ
then i saw on our calendar that tomorrow is Pentecost Sunday
coincidence?
i think not…

i feel like something strong is getting ready to happen
i encourage you to pray and believe with me
for a powerful push of The Holy Spirit this weekend
and while we are at it
why don’t we take the entire faith focus
off us us and our situation
and intercede for a global move of God…

come on PENTECOST!

does God ever speak to you about certain dates?
have you been feeling anything about May 23, if so what?

well here we go…
after living in and basing our ministry out of nashville for the past 6 years
and after much prayer and Godly counsel
kristin and i feel that God is leading us to plant a church here

God has placed a passion in our hearts for the people of this great city
and He has brought together an amazing team
that has a heart to build a great fellowship of believers

we will begin tuesday night meetings with our launch team next week
with a plan to launch the weekend meetings in 2011

we will continue our itinerant ministry on weekends for the remainder of 2010
this will help us support this church plant
(pastors, get your calendars out now…)

we are asking each of you to partner in prayer
with us regarding this next step in our ministry
(we are also open if you want to stick big checks in the mail…)

if you know people in the nashville area
that are looking to connect with a community of Christians
and they would like to be a part of launching something new
please have them contact us

thank you so much for standing in agreement with us
we will keep you updated as we move forward

best blessings,
john, kristin, evan & davis