Here's an important intro to the incident I'm about to explain. Allen and I have had a passion for missions since before we met. We were fortunate to have the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Moscow in 1999 with FBC Ft. Lauderdale just after we got engaged. We stayed at a former KGB camp that was being used as a resort (with a surrounding wall manned by soldiers with rifles and all) and taught English to Russian kids as a vehicle for sharing the Gospel during a retreat that they called "English Camp." Many kids were saved that week, and we were so blessed by the experience! Ever since then we have had a burning desire to continue in missions work but have not been able to for various reasons, one of them being my many diagnosed health issues. Our goal for many years has been to become financially independent (and get healthy) and have the freedom to participate in short-term mission trips on an ongoing basis. We're still working on the financial part! However, for the past year or so we've had a desire to take a family mission trip to a particular location in the Dominican Republic to work with Viva Kids and in the meantime have been supporting them in various ways from here. That's where our story begins....
Blessings,
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: Miriam Moss [mailto:miriamlovesjesus@cfl.rr.com]
Sent: Monday, October 12, 2009 6:40 PM
To: Tracy
Subject: RE: Tracy and Miriam's big God-Incidence!
Tracy,
This is so awesome! I love seeing God at work like this! I feel so humbled and blessed to be a part of it and know you do too! I was thinking after I sent the original email the other night that I should have included an intro in the subject line that said: "Tracy and Miriam Experiencing God." I led the Experiencing God course earlier this year for a group of ladies in my church Real Life Christian, and it was amazing. There are so many stories in the book similar to what's going on with you, my family, and eXfuze for VivaKIDS right now. I also know that FBC started teaching Experiencing God not long ago as part of their Fit for the Future program, which also includes Biblically-based health/diet education and financial wellness using Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover. That's another awesome connection with the work I'm doing in Clermont! In addition to the Experiencing God course, I led a Biblical health/nutrition course the prior year as part of my health ministry and have been working on Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover for our family with Allen since earlier this year after receiving the package as a gift from another couple at Real Life. It's almost like we're living parallel lives for the Lord with FBC while operating out of different cities. God is so awesome!
I would like to forward your response to the other girls and to a several other people, including the owners of eXfuze. Rick and Ann Cotton will be so encouraged to see how God is using their sacrificial labor of love in the lives of His people! We also need to show others how God works in their lives if they just come near Him and then follow Him whole-heartedly when He calls! The greatest lesson I learned in the Experiencing God course is that one of the most fundamental ways to experience God is to watch and see where He is working and then join Him there. Larry Thompson just preached that very same message yesterday at FBC. Here's another fascinating connection I just noticed yesterday. I found out that on Wednesday nights FBC is now doing prayer meetings called "2020." Well, get this; over two years ago, Allen named his eXfuze business "2020" because he thought it sounded catchy. How cool is that? That was another God thing because a few weeks after we started drinking eXfuze Seven+ mine and my sister's vision improved so much that we had to get new eyeglasses. I realized then that God gave Allen that name for the business, not because it was catchy, but for prophetic reasons based on what was going to happen with my improved vision (and as I later discovered, the improved vision of many others including a few members of Real Life). What I didn't realize at that time was that "2020" would also be connected to what FBC is doing right now in regard to the prayer meetings and the missions focus. However, the picture is starting to look much clearer and bigger than ever before (pun intended).
What we are accomplishing here with eXfuze for VivaKIDS and the efforts of precious churches like FBC and Real Life are the same two things that Jesus focused the majority of His mission time on Earth doing within both the spiritual and physical realms:
1. Preaching Good News to the poor
2. Physically healing sick, hungry, and broken people
"The blind can see, the lame can walk, those who suffer from dreaded skin diseases are made clean, the deaf hear, the dead are brought back to life, and the Good News is preached to the poor." Matthew 11:5
Through proceeds from sales of eXfuze products and direct donations to VivaKIDS we've been feeding, clothing, educating, and evangelizing the poor in 3rd world countries and now physically healing their bodies with organic eXfuze for Kids Viva Bars. In the process we've also been healing the sick right here in the U.S., Asia, and now Canada using God's glorious super-foods (eXfuze Seven+ organic, nutritional drink) straight from garden and sea. I am a living, walking testimonial to this because I can now see better and walk better, and I am raised to life again after being in the pit of so many overwhelming illnesses and diseases:
"The fruit of the trees shall be for meat (food), and the leaf there of for medicine." Ezekiel 47:12
Amazing things happen when we take God at His Word!
Can't wait to see you in person so we can laugh and cry together! I love your precious heart for Christ, my friend!
Love,
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: Tracy
Sent: Sunday, October 11, 2009 9:25 AM
To: Miriam Moss
Cc: Tracy
Subject: RE: Tracy and Miriam's big God-Incidence!
Hello Miriam:
Thank you so so so so much for making a write up on this purpose and mission of God. As you have written it out, I am even more amazed to see how our father in Heaven is wrking. I want you to know seeing this in writing in front of my eyes makes me even more aware of Gods incredible love for us. To know that he is using us amazes me. I am going to be forwarding your email to each member of our Dominican Republic team, faculty and president of our Pharmacy program at PBAU. As you have clearly stated in your email, GOD is doing amazing things and I want those that attended this mission to see that there work was definately lead by the grace of our father. There were sever non believers on our trip and I think your email says ALOT about how God moves. I still cannot believe it. We are being used by God and I cannot wait to see what he does next. I tried to explain this story to Jordan and He just didnt understand my enthusiasm. I couldnt explain it to him. He thought I was crazy. But when God moves thngs seem very awakward at times You just cannot explain it you just have to go with it. Taking every opportunity that God gives to us is the only way to go. I almost didnt make it to the Dominican Republic that year. The amazing thing is FBC sponsored me and the remaining balance of the trip a friend of the family sponsored me. Between the two, I was able to go. After continual prayer, I was one of the last students added to the team. God is unbelievable.... We had experiences that were only explained by our LORD. For instance, I worked alongside two of my professors and we created a evangelism team while on this pharmacy mission. We wrote hyms in spanish and would have gatherings and sing hyms to the people, fmilies and children of esperanza. After we sang and presented the gospel we gave people the opportunity to accept christ as savior. Peopl would come forward to the front. several times we had large circles everyone was joinded hand by hand and three of our team members walked around the circle and prayed over each. The holy spirit was stronger than I had ever remembered!! One occurence, I was standing behind a pretty large women, as my profesoor was praying over her, I had my hands on this womes back as we were pring over her this women began to fall to the ground. All I remembered was her falling back into my hands and she was praising the lord. Pretty amazing experience. I had never seen this before and when I did, I saw GOD!! Another incidence occured when a man had been very involved in witch craft for years and one day he came to the front and finally surrendered his life to Christ. I remember both Dan and MErcedes sharing this mans testimony with us and as they said he was involved with witch craft they couldnt believe the amazing act of God... Mariam, Im telling you God is doing amazing things there. I saw it more than I have ever seen before. The holy spirit was so present and watching crist move each day was absoltely the greatest days of my life....
I look forward to talking with you. Sorry I didnt get to se you at church today unfortunately Jordan didnt feel that I should go back just yet. He wanted me to wait until next week t go back. Please call me when you get a chance Id love to catch up again. I was wonderful catchin up with you. Miss ya Lots friend.
Tracy
-----Original Message-----
From: Miriam Moss [
Sent: Sat 10/10/2009 3:54 AM
To: Cc: Tracy
Subject: Tracy and Miriam's big God-Incidence!
(Nicole, I decided to write this out instead of re-telling it a bunch of times. Besides, I don't think I could do it justice verbally!)
Hi, Ladies. Some of you know a little about the following story, but not all the details. This is such a great God-incidence! It's a very long story but well-worth the read! Please bear with all the twists and turns. Here we go...
A couple of days ago I went to Tracy's FaceBook page to ask for her address and look at baby photos of Logan (so adorable!). As I was getting off the page, I noticed that she had a few photo albums and decided to take a look. I then saw photos of her PBA University mission trip to the Dominican Republic in 2008. Although the photos were not labeled, I started realizing that it looked like Tracy had gone to a place called Center Bread and Life (Centro Pan y Vida) in Esperanza because I recognized one of the women and the building structure in the photos. That's where the goose bumps started. During this past week I had been watching videos on the www.VivaKids.org website, much of which had been filmed at Centro Pan y Vida and featured Mercedes, the director of the center, receiving a brand new donated SUV to help keep her from getting into accidents with motor cycles while she makes trips into town via taxi (she had been in 5 accidents so far). The woman in Tracy's photos looked just like Mercedes. I wanted to be sure this wasn't all in my imagination and that it really was the same place and people, and since I couldn't reach Tracy, I called Lisa Farrow to help me confirm that it was Mercedes and the center in both Tracy's photos and the VivaKIDS videos. Lisa noticed that Mercedes had a gray hair spot that showed up on both the photos and videos. Now with assistance from my fellow detective we knew for sure!
When I finally spoke with Tracy the next day she started telling me that during her trip she felt a very strong connection right away with Mercedes and that she also worked with missionary Dan Gower and set up VBS classes with him using materials that FBC Fort Lauderdale donated to them. She and her group also did their morning devotions at Dan's house, which was just across the way from their hotel. Dan works for the missions organization, VivaKIDS, and has been living in the DR for 10 years with his family. It so happens that I had just met Dan a few weeks ago (I'll explain later how I met him). VivaKIDS was born out of a desire to effectively help impoverished children in third-world countries. The founding members of VivaKIDS (Rick and Ann Cotton) have lived in third-world countries and personally witnessed the need in the lives of thousands of children. By partnering with programs which are founded and run by nationals, VivaKIDS contributes to the developing infrastructure of the country, while utilizing the most effective means to meet the real needs of children.
It all started when Rick Cotton met Dan Gower in the Ukraine 17 years ago where they were both working as missionaries. They then worked together in Venezuela, where Rick met and married his wife, Ann, and then in the DR. Rick and Ann then went to work in Mexico. After about 10 years on the mission field working with impoverished kids, Rick told Ann that he felt God was calling them back to the states in order to build a network marketing company that would enable them to better take care of the kids. That's when the idea for VivaKIDS and eXfuze was born. Through the power of network marketing, eXfuze has the ability to use their proceeds to support VivaKIDS and ultimately reach millions of kids around the world with food, clothing, and education.
When Rick came back to the states in 2004, he didn't know what kind of network marketing company he was going to build; he just knew he had to build one. But then something happened that later became the inspiration for eXfuze. Rick's Dad started dying of liver failure. He and his brother, Don, got a call from the doctor urging them to go and say goodbye to their father who was in a coma. However, their Dad hung on and wouldn't give up. Rick and Don then decided to try a treatment protocol they had heard about that involved using mind-blowing exotic botanicals from all over the world that had been scientifically studied for many years and showed miraculous results in people consuming them. The protocol ended up working beautifully, and their Dad was able to enjoy a good quality of life and became a prime candidate for a liver transplant. A couple of years later, a liver became available, and the doctors took their Dad off of the botanicals to dumb down his immune system so he wouldn't reject the new liver. Unfortunately, two months later he got an infection that he couldn't fight off with his now weakened immune system, and he died. However, Rick and Don will never forget those extra years they were able to have with their Dad and the time the grandchildren were able to have with him also. There Dad was actually able to live a fairly normal life for a few additional years because of those fabulous botanicals.
When it was time to build the company, Rick and Don got together and started thinking, "Wouldn't it be great if we could do sort of what we did for our Dad and made it affordable for everybody? If we could take all of those incredible ingredients, get the most efficacious, most nutrient dense version of them, and put them in one bottle where almost anybody could afford them, that's something you could get excited about." That idea gave birth to the Seven+ drink that my family and I have been enjoying for over two years now and that has dramatically changed our lives in relation to our health and our ability to participate in missions right from our home. Allen has been a distributor with eXfuze since 6/07, before the company officially opened. It was so early in the process, that the product was not even available when he first got involved. We had to actually wait a few weeks before we could place our first order, and it was driving me nuts because I couldn't wait to try it. For about a year prior to Allen learning about eXfuze, I had already been drinking inferior versions of 5 of the 10 botanicals in Seven+ and knew all about the strong science behind them. Needless to say, I was anxious to switch over to Seven+ after going through the product information with a fine-tooth comb and discovering that it was absolutely exceptional and far better than any product of this type that I had ever researched or tried myself!
Proceeds from every bottle sold, including that very first bottle we drank, feed one child for an entire day. VivaKIDs currently supports 1,000 kids in 5 different centers in South America, including an orphanage and a school. They are about to start supporting a kids center in Mexico and plan to expand VivaKIDS into every country they can get into. eXfuze has also formulated organic nutrition bars specifically designed for the dietary needs of these kids (not available to the public), and they contain some of the exotic botanicals that are in Seven+. Customers and distributors can donate boxes of them to the kids ($24.90 for 10 bars that feed 20 kids). eXfuze matches the bar donations one for one. Usually these kids are given the minimum nutrition needed just to keep them alive. Now we are doing something that is enabling them to actually get healthier and thrive!
Back to Tracy and me.... Later that night Tracy watched the videos on the VivaKIDS website and wrote me on FB:
I so am calling you tomorrow. I was in absolute tears after viewing that website. We were in esperanza, and many of those kids were the same faces i remembererded my heart was so broken, i know God ssent me there for a greater reason im definatly prayin on this one, i cannot belive it... I LOVE BEING USED BY THE LORD....You AN AWSOME TESTIMONY OF GODS LOVE.. GREAT TALKIN TO YOU TODAY
Now back to how I met Dan Gower. A few weeks ago, Allen I went to an eXfuze international conference in Las Vegas. Rick Cotton is still a pastor at heart, so he always conducts church services and preaches on Sundays mornings during weekend conferences. Guess who did our praise and worship? Yes, you guessed it, it was Dan! He also showed us neat videos of the work VivaKIDs is doing in the DR, including extreme home makeover VivaKIDS style. I got so fired up about VivaKIDS once I really understood the big picture that I have been watching videos on their website over and over again since we came back from Vegas and started a group on FB called "My Personal Mission Project to help Viva Kids" to raise awareness and support for VivaKIDS. A few days later I felt led to send Tracy a bottle of Seven+ in the mail as a baby gift and went to her FB page to request her address, and that's when I saw the mission trip photos......
Tracy and I are both convinced that God is doing something amazing here and is using us to accomplish His purposes. It turns out that we have both been working with the same kids from different angles. It's so cool that FBC was in the picture too with the VBS materials donation! By the way, Mercedes' SUV donation...it was a personal gift from Gary Gaglioti, one of the eXfuze leaders and big financial investor in the company! Gary is a wealthy business man whose heart has been melted by what VivaKIDS and eXfuze are doing. He just keeps throwing money at eXfuze so they can keep on growing. Gary is not alone. Rick has taken many other investors and distributors to the mission field, including several from Asian countries where eXfuze now operates, and their lives are being changed while their hearts are absolutely breaking for these kids. I have seen huge witnessing opportunities here for these people who would have never stepped foot onto a mission field otherwise. I can't wait to see how this all pans out for kids worldwide, and I am very excited about the amazing Kingdom impact this is all having on people who have never seen Jesus at work before!
Stay tuned.....
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