…into His likeness with ever-increasing glory…2 Corinthians 3:18

JANUARY 2012

HOLDING ON TO THE TRUTHS OF CHRISTMAS IN THIS NEW YEAR!

Christmas is past. The New Year has come.
What from Christmas will we choose to tenaciously hold onto in this New Year in each new day we are given?
Will we welcome and acknowledge that Immanuel – “God with us” (Matthew 1:23) – IS truly with us?
Will we let “the True Light that gives light to everyone” (John 1:9) shine in us and through us to others?
Will we let the One who came to “save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21) truly save us from our sins…from our sin habits…and from our self-centered justifications?
Will we let the “fullness of grace and truth that comes through Jesus Christ” (John 1:14,17) direct and transform our thoughts, words, actions and interactions fully?
Will we let the Living Christ live in us in real, tangible ways?
May our Holy God give to each of us the joy and courage to keep living and celebrating the grace and truth of Jesus Christ in this New Year…every new day of our lives!

For PRAISE and PRAYER!

• Connecting with the Annie Jennings PR Firm (AJPR) has been great, allowing Sylane even more radio interviews! We’re now vetting one other PR firm (with more Christian media connections) and praying about our next steps – including whether or not we should pursue TV interviews for Sylane. Please PRAY, as we ONLY want to follow the LORD’s leading.  This type of marketing is costly, and we want to be good stewards of what the Lord generously provides for making His transforming grace known in many lives…in whatever format God chooses!
• Planning and Praying for opportunities to offer: The Story of Grace and Compassion – Freedom in Jesus a joint venture with TBG and Compassion International! Sylane will tell her story of God’s intervening love in her life and offer listeners the opportunity to intervene with God’s love in the lives of children, bound by poverty, via sponsorship through Compassion.
  • We need Prayer AND Churches and Organizations to Book an Event!
  • Please reach out on our behalf to encourage your contacts to book a Grace and Compassion event! May the Kingdom of God grow in many lives – in those who attend these events and in the children who will receive the blessing of sponsorship!
  • Compassion has provided poignant and beautiful posters and Child Sponsorship Cards and Info for these events.
• Thanks to Curtis Peter, our website manager, TBG’s site will soon be easier to navigate and clearer about the ministries we offer.
• TBG’s Counseling Staff daily offers the grace and truth of Christ and deep therapeutic care to many who are hurting in a multitude of ways. “God is able to do immeasurably more…” – PLEASE keep our counselors and those we serve in prayer!
• Upcoming Speaking Events that are planned – or in the planning stages – for early 2012:
  • Jan/Feb 2012 – Back to Mathom House for various sessions with the sexual perpetrators, their families and Staff
  • Feb 3-5 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama – Harvest of Hearts – Women’s retreat at Trinity Presbyterian. DeAnne Harland will minister and travel with Sylane for this exciting opportunity to join with some Southern Sisters!
  • May 3-5 – in Atlanta, GA – Teresa Warren and Sylane will attend and host a TBG Table at the BAACC Summit (Black African-American Association of Christian Counselors). Sylane served as Assistant Chaplain for the BAACC Board from 2009-11.
• Lives are being moved in deep and powerful ways as more people read Convinced!
  • Convinced! is NOW offered on Kindle – via Amazon. READ Convinced! for yourself! Get Convinced! for others!
• Facebook is a great vehicle for ministry! Connect with Sylane there for encouraging and challenging messages! Go like Sylane’s page!
• Our Financial Needs are a reality on this side of Heaven. PLEASE join us as a committed Monthly Partner in Grace now!

For those of you who are our current PinGs – Thank You! We encourage YOU to seek God about increasing your financial support to this ministry dedicated to offering the transforming grace of Jesus Christ with passion and purpose! You can DONATE NOW via paypal on our website @ http://www.transformedbygrace.org OR Mail your gifts directly to P.O. Box 976, Newtown, PA 18940

Please help further the Kingdom of God for through your Financial Gifts and Prayer! THANK YOU!

I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace. – Acts 20:24

Remember to join us on the 10th day of each month as we passionately PRAY for God’s life-giving, life-freeing, transforming work to be done in the lives of all with whom we minister – at conferences, counseling sessions, on corners and in coffee shops!

With love and prayers for you all! From Sylane on behalf of the Board and Staff of Transformed by Grace

TRANSFORMED BY GRACE, Inc., P.O. Box 976, Newtown, PA 18940

www.transformedbygrace.org email: info@transformedbygrace.org 215.497.0882

…into His likeness with ever-increasing glory…2 Corinthians 3:18

CELEBRATING GOD’S SOVEREIGN and INTIMATE LOVE!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

Wow! How blessed we are to celebrate our LORD Jesus – the Sovereign and Intimate LORD of all creation – entering into our world as a human baby! Born with the purpose, passion and love of God to totally transform our lives – to forgive our sins, to free us from all brokenness, to fill us with His Spirit and to give us the task of being His ambassadors to this world!
Merry Christmas to all of you…and to all others we meet!
May we truly reflect God’s transformation in us as His forgiven, set free, Spirit-filled ambassadors!

For PRAISE and PRAYER!
· “For such a time as this…” Over the past few weeks Sylane Mack has been interviewed on numerous radio programs. The Annie Jennings PR Firm reports: “Sylane Mack has reached millions with her messages of hope and healing on radio airwaves across the country. This includes CBS Radio in Minneapolis, plus top rated programming in Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas, Portland, Cleveland, San Antonio, Sacramento, Kansas City and more. National media has also featured Sylane as their expert in sexual abuse counseling and recovery in both mainstream and faith based formats. Of course, we can’t forget the nearly 4 million listeners who tune into The Jim Bohannon Show each week, one of the top National Shows in America.”

· Planning and Praying for opportunities to offer: The Story of Grace and Compassion – Freedom in Jesus a joint venture with TBG and Compassion International! Sylane will tell her story of God’s intervening love in her life and offer listeners the opportunity intervene with God’s love in the lives of children, bound by poverty, via sponsorship through Compassion.
o   We need Prayer AND Churches and Organizations to Book an Event!
o   Please encourage your contacts to book a Grace and Compassion event! May the Kingdom of God grow in many lives – in those who attend these events and in the children who will receive the blessing of sponsorship!

· TBG’s Counseling Staff daily offers the grace and truth of Christ and deep therapeutic care to many who are hurting in a multitude of ways. “God is able to do immeasurably more…” – PLEASE keep our counselors and those we serve in prayer!

· Upcoming Speaking Events that are planned – or in the planning stages – for early 2012:
o   Jan 2012 – Back to Mathom House for various sessions with the sexual perpetrators, their families and the Staff
o   Feb 3-5 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama – Harvest of Hearts – Women’s retreat at Trinity Presbyterian
o   Feb 26 in Philadelphia, PA – details will be shared as more is fully coordinated

· Lives are being moved in deep and powerful ways as more people read Convinced! Order Yours Today! Get Convinced!
o   Convinced! will soon be offered on Kindle! Details to be announced.

· Facebook is a great vehicle for ministry! Connect with Sylane there for encouraging and challenging messages!

· Our FINANCIAL NEEDS are a reality on this side of Heaven. PLEASE join us as a committed Monthly Partner in Grace now!
For those of you who are our current PinGs – Thank You! We encourage YOU to seek God about increasing your financial support to this ministry dedicated to offering the transforming grace of Jesus Christ with passion and purpose!
o   You can DONATE NOW via paypal on our website @ http://www.transformedbygrace.org OR
o   Mail your gifts directly to P.O. Box 976, Newtown, PA 18940

Please help further the Kingdom of God for through your Financial Gifts and Prayer! THANK YOU!

I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me
–   the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace. – Acts 20:24

Remember to join us on the 10th day of each month as we passionately PRAY
for God’s life-giving, life-freeing, transforming work to be done in the lives of all with whom we minister – at conferences, counseling sessions, on corners and in coffee shops!

With love and prayers for you all to have a Merry Christmas!
Sylane – and the whole Board and Staff of Transformed by Grace

TRANSFORMED BY GRACE, Inc., P.O. Box 976, Newtown, PA 18940
www.transformedbygrace.org    email: info@transformedbygrace.org  215.497.0882

Trusting the Invisible, Visibly!

by Sylane Mack

Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the first born over all creation.

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in Jesus,

and through him to reconcile to himself all things,

whether things on earth or things in heaven,

by making peace through Jesus’ blood shed on the cross.  – Colossians 1:15, 19

We live by faith, not by sight. – 2 Corinthians 5:7

Let your light so shine before men [and women, boys and girls!],

that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

– Matthew 5:16

We, who have put our faith in Jesus as Messiah, have put our trust in the Invisible. Not exactly a natural, practical or success-driven choice, is it? Nope. It goes against our let me see, hear, touch, taste and smell something to know that it’s real. It goes against our sense of practicality that tells us that we must do Step A, B and C in order to manage our lives. It goes against our need to be the one in control of our lives (and of all those around us!) in order to be successful in this life – in our work, in our family, in our fame, in our fate.

We, who have put our trust in Jesus as the Son of the Invisible God – who died a cruel and ugly death for the forgiveness of our sins, who conquered death fully through his resurrection to give us life with our Holy God and Eternal Abba forever – are called to trust in the Invisible…and do so visibly. Yes, although we are called to live by faith and not by sight we are also called to let our light – given by the Light of the world, Jesus Christ – to so shine that others will visibly see what we do…Visibly see that Jesus has made a very real, tangible, eternal – and right here and now – difference in our lives. The Invisible God intends to make Himself visible – make His Love, Grace, Truth, Peace and Hope known – to others by how we live our lives.

Yep, this is BIG job for us as God’s children. Remember, though, that ALL that we need to visibly live out our trust in the Invisible God is all given to us by Him – given by God’s Sovereign and Intimate Love, by God’s Spirit and by God’s Eternal Word. Are you taking time to be filled up deeply in your own mind, body, spirit and soul to sense God’s Invisible Presence, to have your burdens lightened and your whole being enlightened by the Light of Jesus?

Do this, and you will not be able to hide the light of Jesus to those around you! You will love more sincerely, speak more truthfully, act more kindly, help more willingly, offer your gifts more generously and fill those around you more fully with a hope that flows from the very heart of God and His unfailing love and unlimited power to save and transform lives!

Trusting in the Invisible, visibly, is a grand and glorious call…and a heart-pumping, adventurous, powerful way to live!

VISIBLE ways to trust and serve our INVISIBLE GOD!

We are so excited to let you all know about a deeper relationship with Compassion International that God has brought to TBG! A very VISIBLE way to make our INVISIBLE GOD known!

In recent newsletters you’ve read that God has brought TBG and Compassion International together…about how Wess Stafford, President of CI, and Sylane share a similar story of childhood abuse and God’s redeeming intervention. Over the next few weeks and months TBG will be piloting a co-sponsorship series of talks with Compassion International. Here’s what we, with much prayer, communication and work (!) with Compassion, will be doing:

• TBG will reach out to local, regional (and beyond) churches and organizations to ask them to HOST an event which will be co-sponsored by TBG and CI at no cost to them.  The hosts will receive promotional materials in advance to announce:
  • The Story of Grace and Compassion – Freedom in Jesus, with the message given by Sylane Mack
  • The opportunity to make a difference in the lives of children around the world

• The PURPOSE of these Grace and Compassion events will be three-fold:
  • To grow the Kingdom of God, the Body of Christ, both in numbers and in regards to a deeper understanding of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Yes, our INVISIBLE GOD saves and transforms His people VISIBLY!
  • To tell in a powerful way the message of how the grace and compassion of Jesus Christ sets people free from the bondages of poverty at every level – whether that poverty be spiritual, emotional, social, physical or economic. This is a perfect convergence of what the ministries of TBG and CI have been called to VISIBLY proclaim!
  • To encourage people to sponsor a CI child, those precious ones who are among the youngest of the least, the last and the lost – so that one child at a time (and another and another!) will be given the opportunity to VISIBLY break free of the bondages of poverty in Jesus’ Name.
• Compassion’s design department will provide a pre-event promotional template and CI will send videos, info materials and sponsorship packets in advance of each event. As well, CI is committed to helping support the ministry of TBG through a financial gift for each child sponsored.
• God has called TBG to take a huge step of faith by seeking out HOSTS to open their doors so that we may pilot these Grace and Compassion programs at no cost to the HOSTS. We are TRUSTING our INVISIBLE GOD to provide for our VISIBLE needs!

WE NEED YOU TO HELP US TAKE THESE VISIBLE STEPS OF FAITH! Here are some very specific ways YOU can help:

• PRAY!
• Help TBG make contact with possible Hosts that YOU have a connection with for these Grace and Compassion programs.
• BECOME A PARTNER IN GRACE FINANCIALLY!
  • TBG will accrue new costs in creating, printing and mailing quality materials, traveling and ministering in order to develop and execute these Grace and Compassion programs.
  • We truly are a not-for-profit organization, fully dependent on GOD and on ALL of YOU to provide the funds so that we may VISIBLY carry out our Conference Speaking Ministry, wherever we are called, AND our Counseling Ministry as we daily serve many individuals, couples and families within the Delaware Valley region.
  • PLEASE join us as a committed monthly Partner in Grace now! For those of you who are our current PinGs – Thank You! We encourage YOU to seek God about increasing your financial support to this ministry dedicated to VISIBLY offering the transforming grace of Jesus Christ with passion and purpose!
    • You can DONATE NOW via paypal on our website @ www.transformedbygrace.org OR
    • Use the enclosed envelope to send your gifts and prayer commitments directly to: P.O. Box 976, Newtown, PA 18940
    • Contact the TBG office at 215.497.0882 or via email info@transformedbygrace.org

Take VISIBLE steps through prayer and financial gifts to help further the Kingdom of God for little ones…and bigger ones!

WHAT WE’VE DONE and WHERE WE’VE BEEN LATELY!

• September 28 – October 2 – in Nashville, TN – Teresa Warren and Sylane Mack attended the 2011 World Conference hosted by American Association of Christian Counselors. Almost 7,000 psychiatrists, doctors, pastors, counselors and support ministry representatives from all 50 states and approximately 40 other countries came together to worship, learn, network, become more fully equipped and encouraged to carry out the powerful and humbling call to counsel hurting people in Jesus’ name. This was VISIBLY done by the power and love of our INVISIBLE GOD! May GOD’s good work continue far and wide for the healing and transformation of many, and especially for those in the Body of Christ!
• October 8 – in Columbia, MD – the Simply You Fashion Show – This VISIBLY beautiful event raised awareness and funds to support survivors of cancer and domestic violence. Sylane (Miss December!) was one of 12 models, all survivors themselves, for this event AND for the 2012 Simply You Calendar (testimonies included)! Julia Mack ministered through songs – thanking God for giving hope in the most difficult of times AND celebrating each person’s beauty in spite of any ugliness experienced! Tim Mack participated as TBG Ministry Support and Fabulous Husband and Daddy! Awwwwwww!

ORDER your 2012 Simply You Calendar(s) which celebrates God’s love, presence and power in the lives of real people who have survived great adversity! Go online at: www.atikal.org/simplyyou.html OR order them directly from the founder of Restoration Continuum, Dr. Nicole Barber @ barbergrace@aol.com

• October 9 – in Langhorne, PA – Sylane Mack shared her story – God’s story of His powerful, transforming LOVE – with one of Grace Point’s Life Groups made up of young professionals. Allison Taite-Tarver, a TBG Counselor, also attended to support and participate in offering the transforming grace of our Lord Jesus. Consider inviting Sylane or another TBG minister to speak at your own Small Group/Life Group!

WHAT WE’LL BE DOING NEXT!

• October 21 – 22 – in Hawthorne, NJ – the 51^st New Jersey Christian Ministries’ Convention – Rachel Mack and Teresa Warren will be co-teaching a workshop on Saturday morning entitled, Loss – A Pathway to God. This is such a great opportunity for these two TBG Speakers, both with life-changing stories and God-given wisdom, to minister together in such powerful and relevant ways! Pray that through their teaching many will find encouragement and healing in their own losses. Sylane Mack will be serving with them in prayer and hosting at our TBG ministry table. Plan to attend! Come by the TBG Table to visit and encourage us!

PLANNING AN EVENT – OUTREACH, CONFERENCE, RETREAT?

If YOU or ANYONE you know – locally, nationally or internationally – are interested in booking an event with Sylane Mack, or any of our other Conference Speakers from Transformed By Grace, PLEASE contact DeAnne Harland, our Administrative Assistant, via the TBG phone: 215.497.0882 or office email: Info@transformedbygrace.org

We desire to VISIBLY serve our INVISIBLE GOD in sharing His transforming gospel of grace, truth and unfailing love!

I consider my life worth nothing to me,

if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me

– the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace. – Acts 20:24

Remember to visit SYLANE MACK on FACEBOOK!

PRAY that our God will use this cyber-space connection to connect many more lives to our Lord Jesus Christ, who is our LIFE! Get on there and LIKE it!!!

Order your copy of Convinced! now!

Our INVISIBLE GOD is able to save, heal and transform even the most broken of lives in undeniably VISIBLE ways! Read Convinced! Be Convinced! Order now via: www.createspace.com/3404109

With love and prayers through our Lord Jesus Christ

And on behalf of the Board and Staff of Transformed by Grace –

Sylane

TRANSFORMED BY GRACE, Inc., P.O. Box 976, Newtown, PA 18940

www.transformedbygrace.org email: info@transformedbygrace.org 215.497.0882

Our Unfailing Power Source!

Sylane Mack

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.  – 2 Peter 1:3

Many of you who receive our TBG Newsletter have just experienced the east-coast earthquake on August 23 and Hurricane Irene the following weekend. As was I, so might you have been (or still may be), without power  – at least electrically.

In spite of that loss of power, we who are believers in Jesus Christ as our Savior and trust in God’s Eternal Word are never without His divine power!  It is through our knowledge of Him and through receiving the divine power our God has given us that we are able to move through and deal with the most inconvenient of circumstances and, even more promising, we are able to heal from the most devastating of hurts and losses in our lives.

Our God is Mighty. He never loses His Power. And God’s divine power is always available, offering us His love, joy, peace, hope, strength, courage, wisdom, mercy and forgiveness for ourselves and towards others. In our Lord Jesus Christ we are able to live – to think and speak and act – connected to the divine, unfailing power source of our Mighty God! But, will we?

When I read what God’s Word has to say: His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness – my two questions (that I truly do ask myself over and over again!) come to mind in the midst of these major events and the loss of some earthly power sources:

1. 1. Do you believe it?
2. 2. What are you going to do about it?

I pray that we will all answer with a strong “YES!” to the first question – as we take God at God’s Word. The second question must be answered daily as we each choose to intentionally and actively – and humbly – trust God and seek to know Him through His Word AND choose to receive and apply God’s divine power, His truths and His ways to our own lives.

It is in an intimate relationship with our Lord Jesus that we will be open to receive His divine power for everything we need for life and godliness…for everything we need to live a life that is filled and flowing with His glory and goodness – filled and flowing with our God’s Unfailing Power Source!

SUMMER SUMMARY

Counseling Ministry –

We are so thankful for each of our five TBG Counselors! We do not take this task lightly, and ask that you, our friends and Partners in Grace, please keep us lifted in prayer as we minister the love, grace, truth, healing and transforming power of our Lord Jesus Christ to the many individuals, couples and families with whom we meet. Pray for each counselor to remain fully dependent on God’s wisdom and Word as we serve so intimately in the lives of others. Pray for those we counsel, that God’s divine power will be unleashed in each life in amazing and eternal ways! Pray that each one will know Jesus as Savior and Lord and be fully set free by His unfailing love!

Connections and Contacts –

How beautiful is the Body of Christ! This June we connected – up close and personal – with two faithful and powerful ministries: Compassion International and Navigators while out in Colorado. Please pray as Sylane is in discussion with Compassion about the possibility of serving via their Speakers’ Network and with Navigators about offering some counselor training pertinent to ministering to those who have been abused. May God guide every thing we do in every way!

FALL – FORWARD!

CONFERENCES and CALENDARS –

• September 28 – October 1 – in Nashville, TN – Teresa Warren and Sylane Mack will attend the 2011 World Conference hosted by American Association of Christian Counselors. This is an incredible event where world-renown speakers (including our friend Dr. Wess Stafford of Compassion International!), psychiatrists, doctors, pastors, counselors and many support ministry representatives come together to worship, learn, network, become more fully equipped and encouraged to carry out the powerful and humbling call to counsel hurting people in Jesus’ name. Sylane is also looking forward to meeting with her fellow Board Members of BAACC – Black African-American Association of Christian Counselors.
• October 8 – in Columbia, MD for the Simply You Fashion Show – Yes! Sylane is one of the 12 models – all survivors of cancer or domestic violence – for both the 2012 Simply You Calendar (in which our stories are included) and for the Simply You Fashion Show! Go on line at: www.atikal.org/simplyyou.html to:
  • Learn more about this fabulous ministry, Restoration Continuum, founded by Dr. Nicole Barber
  • Order your tickets for the Simply You Fashion Show
  • Purchase your 2012 Simply You Calendar(s)!

  TBG will be hosting a ministry table at this event AND Julia Mack will minister through song! Please plan to attend this worthwhile event! Encourage everyone you know in the Greater Baltimore Area to attend also! AND Order those 2012 Simply You Calendars now – a great ministry tool, a great gift! BTW: Sylane is Miss December!

• October 9 – in Newtown, PA – Sylane Mack will be sharing her story – God’s story of His powerful, transforming LOVE – with one of Grace Point’s Life Groups – geared mostly to young professionals.
• October 21 – 22 – in Hawthorne, NJ – the 51^st New Jersey Christian Ministries’ Convention – Rachel Mack and Teresa Warren will be co-teaching a workshop on Saturday morning entitled, Loss – A Pathway to God. This is such a great opportunity for these two TBG Speakers, both with life-changing stories and God-given wisdom, to minister together in such powerful and relevant ways! Pray that through their teaching many will find encouragement and healing in their own losses. Sylane Mack will be serving with them in prayer and hosting at our TBG ministry table. Plan to attend! Come by the TBG Table to visit and encourage us!

PLANNING AN EVENT – OUTREACH, CONFERENCE, RETREAT?

If YOU or ANYONE you know – locally, nationally or internationally – are interested in booking an event with Sylane Mack, or any of our other Conference Speakers from Transformed By Grace, PLEASE contact DeAnne Harland, our Administrative Assistant, via the TBG phone: 215.497.0882 or office email: Info@transformedbygrace.org

We desire to Speak Up to serve our God and share His transforming gospel of grace, truth and unfailing love!

I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace. – Acts 20:24

Remember to visit SYLANE MACK on FACEBOOK!

PRAY that our God will use this cyber-space connection to connect many more lives to our Lord Jesus Christ, who is our LIFE!

Get on there and LIKE it!!!

Order your copy of Convinced! now!

Let God’s divine power to love, save, heal and transform even the most broken of lives be undeniably revealed to you! Read Convinced! Be Convinced! Order now via: www.createspace.com/3404109

PLEASE become a Partner in Grace (our PinG!) with us!

We truly need each one of YOU, your Prayers and your Financial Support to help us carry out this ministry of God’s Transforming Grace – through our Counseling and Conference Speaking Ministries!

Please JOIN with us as a Partner in Grace!

You can NOW give your donation via paypal on our website @ www.transformedbygrace.org OR

You can always STILL join us as a Partner in Grace via more traditional routes:

• Send your gifts and prayer commitments directly to: P.O. Box 976, Newtown, PA 18940
• Call the TBG office at 215.497.0882
• Send an email to info@transformedbygrace.org

THANK YOU ALL FOR EVERY BIT OF PRAYER AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT THAT YOU GRACIOUSLY SHARE WITH US!

With love and prayers through our Lord Jesus Christ

And on behalf of the Board and Staff of Transformed by Grace –

Sylane

TRANSFORMED BY GRACE, Inc., P.O. Box 976, Newtown, PA 18940

www.transformedbygrace.org email: info@transformedbygrace.org 215.497.0882

SPEAK UP! by Sylane Mack

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.  – Proverbs 31:8

I recently returned from Colorado Springs where I met with several brothers and sisters in Christ who take this call to Speak Up seriously and with a deeply committed passion. Their passion is lived out through sharing the healing, hope-giving words of our Lord Jesus Christ and through sacrificial, practical, tangible, life-empowering, life-transforming actions on behalf of those who are destitute and cannot easily speak up for themselves!

So, why was I in Colorado Springs? Here’s a little background on God’s Intimate and Sovereign weaving of lives and ministries!

One year ago, two of our TBG Board Members, Francisco Batres and David Ridder – who just happen to also serve on the Board of Compassion International (CI)  – gave a copy of my book, Convinced! to the President of CI, Dr. Wess Stafford. While Wess read my book I read his, Too Small to Ignore. (You should too!) Through this God grew a deep friendship between us. We recognized in each other a shared “fellowship of suffering” as victims of abuse and a shared joy because of God’s transforming power in our lives that had called us both to Speak Up with Christ’s message of hope, healing, salvation and freedom in the lives of so many others…in so many ways! Our God is Intimate and Sovereign! We saw clear evidence of this in noting that God led us both to use the same key Scripture verse in our stories – the first one in Convinced!, the last one in Too Small to Ignore:

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. – Genesis 50:20

Through this understanding of God’s good purpose in our lives and praying through what this might mean for our ministries to somehow work together for the saving of many lives, Wess invited me out to Compassion’s Headquarters to meet with him face-to-face and with some of CI’s executives, all humble and fabulous servant-leaders whose ministry responsibilities reflect CI’s wise and well established Christ-like efforts to Speak Up on behalf of the destitute.

My husband Tim joined me (YAY!) for the meetings at CI! Here’s the WHO With and WHAT About we prayed and spoke:

• We were first given a personal and deeply moving tour of Compassion Headquarters. So faithful to Christ’s call!

Tim Glenn, Marketing Director – USA Advocacy Director

• Possible partnership options on the book
• Compassion’s Child Protection policy
• Compassion’s Speaker’s Bureau

Lunch with Wess in his office — Ahhhhh! The Love, Joy and Fellowship of the Body of Christ!

Dr. Wess Stafford and Sylane Mack

Mark Yeadon, SR VP of International Program and Lillian Gitau, Child Protection Advisor

• Compassion’s Child Protection Policy
• Abuse Training in Field Offices

Spence Smith, USA Artist Relations Manager

• Discuss Compassion’s External Speakers Network

All is still in prayer…All is ALWAYS in God’s Intimate and Sovereign Hands! Pray with us and for us at CI and TBG as we seek God’s good and perfect plan…and His good and perfect timing…for whatever this may mean for us and the ministry to which we are called! We each know this is not about us…not individually, nor about the ministries of Compassion and Transformed by Grace. This is ALL about our God and God using us to Speak Up for the saving and transforming of many, many lives! All glory to our Lord Jesus Christ and His Beautiful and Holy Name! Amen and Amen!

WHAT ELSE in COLORADO???

Although the primary reason for my trip was to meet with Wess and executives at CI (Big Love to Angie Lathrop, Wess’ Executive Assistant, and to Gayle and Mary Lou on the 3^rd floor!), GOD had more good plans to set up other meetings for me to Speak Up while in Colorado Springs! ‘Cuz GOD is GOD!

My first other meeting, to discuss a possible future speaking engagement, was set up with Cathy Roberts, the Director of Women’s Ministries and Equipping Ministries of Tri-Lakes Chapel, and Carol Mehl, my close friend and fellow TBG’er who now lives in The Springs and worships at TLC! Thank you, Carol, for making this connection for TBG!

The second other and all-day meeting came about this way: After reading Convinced!, Dave Legg, Director of Navigators’ Peoples’ Resources Team (the PRT serves to support, counsel and mentor the general staff of Navigators), responded to our TBG note informing ministry leaders in The Springs that I would be available to meet/minister with them while in the area. Dave responded in a big way…in God’s Big Way! I was invited to spend the day at Navigators’ Headquarters on June 23, and was joined by Carol Mehl as my TBG prayer support person that day! God is so good!

• We first met with Dave Legg and his wife and fellow Navigator, Terry, for an intimate time of prayer and learning about Navigators’ sense that God is calling them to deal more directly with the horrors and healing of abuse.
• At a Lunch and Learn session with the PRT and other Navigator executives and employees, I shared my testimony and why I am Convinced! of God’s power to transform even the most broken of lives through His unfailing love!
  • Dave had ordered 40 copies of Convinced!, prior to my visit – asking all of his PRT staff (17) to read it.
  • We watched the other copies go after I spoke! May God use Convinced! mightily for the personal healing and professional/spiritual training of the PRT and ALL of Navigators’ staff, their families and friends!
• A deep Question and Answer session followed for the PRT and anyone else who wanted to participate.
• Our time at Navigators ended as Carol and I were treated to a tour of the Glen Eyrie grounds by Terry and Carol.

FROM COLORADO to CALENDAR GIRL! Say, WHAT???

I returned late on Friday, June 24 from Colorado and on Sunday, June 26 was at a photo-shoot in Baltimore, Maryland at the historic Corrollton Inn! Nicole Barber, my dear sister in Christ and fellow Board Member of Black African-American Association of Christian Counselors – BAACC (through which I serve as Assistant Chaplain), invited me to participate, to Speak Up, in the project which will help launch her foundation, Restoration Continuum. The project: Simply You 2012 Calendar will feature the photos and stories of twelve women survivors (more than conquerors!) of cancer and domestic violence. We were dressed, be-jeweled and had our make-up beautifully applied by supportive and generous business women in the Baltimore area. Angelina, Tina and Janina from the Simply Divine Boutique in Fulton, MD put me – Miss December – together. (It took all 3 of them to do it!)

FYI: A Simply You Fashion Show will be held on October 8, 2011 from 2-6 pm in Columbia, Maryland at the Owen Brown Interfaith Center. (Yep, I’m walking the runway for Jesus!) For those of you who are able, get it on your 2011 Calendar – and remember to get your own Simply You 2012 Calendar when they’re available! Details will follow in our next TBG Newsletter.

FYI – SYLANE MACK IS NOW ON FACEBOOK! Another way to SPEAK UP!

PRAY that our God will use this cyber-space connection to connect many more lives to our Lord Jesus Christ, who is our LIFE!

PLANNING AN EVENT – OUTREACH, CONFERENCE, RETREAT?

If YOU or ANYONE you know – locally, nationally or internationally – are interested in booking an event with Sylane Mack, or any of our other Conference Speakers from Transformed By Grace, PLEASE contact DeAnne Harland, our Administrative Assistant, via the TBG phone: 215.497.0882 or office email: Info@transformedbygrace.org

We desire to Speak Up to serve our God and share His transforming gospel of grace, truth and unfailing love!

I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.

– Acts 20:24

Order your copy of Convinced! now!

Let God use it in your own life and in the lives of those you care about. Here you will experience God’s Unfailing Love in deep, powerful, encouraging, challenging and undeniable ways! Read Convinced! Be Convinced! Let the Unfailing Love of our God Speak Up intimately and powerfully to you! Order now via: www.createspace.com/3404109

PLEASE become a Partner in Grace (our PinG!) with us!

We truly need each one of YOU, your Prayers and your Financial Support to help us carry out this ministry of God’s Transforming Grace – through our Counseling and Conference Speaking Ministries!

Please JOIN with us as a Partner in Grace!

You can NOW give your donation via paypal on our website @ www.transformedbygrace.org OR

You can always STILL join us as a Partner in Grace via more traditional routes:

• Send your gifts and prayer commitments directly to: P.O. Box 976, Newtown, PA 18940
• Call the TBG office at 215.497.0882
• Send an email to info@transformedbygrace.org

THANK YOU ALL FOR EVERY BIT OF PRAYER AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT THAT YOU GRACIOUSLY SHARE!

With love and prayers through our Lord Jesus Christ and on behalf of the Board and Staff of Transformed by Grace – Sylane

 September 2010

For Such A Time As This!

Sylane Mack

“…And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?”

Esther 4:14

These are Mordecai’s words – and challenge – to Queen Esther, whose royal position granted her an opportunity to speak to the King on behalf of her people so that many lives might be saved.

Do you realize that if you have trusted in Jesus as your Savior you also have been placed in a royal position in the kingdom of God?

For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption and the forgiveness of sins.

Colossians 1:13-14

Do you realize that in this royal position in the kingdom of God you have been given a powerful purpose?

…you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God,

that you may declare the praises of Him

who called you out of darkness

and into His wonderful light.

1 Peter 2:9

Instead of risking ourselves before the King, as Queen Esther did, we as God’s people are to risk ourselves before those who do not yet know Jesus as Savior and before those believers who do not yet know the fullness of God’s freedom and transformation that He so lovingly offers. Our royal position calls us to speak to the people on behalf of our King so that many lives may be saved…and transformed!

May we each recognize that, as followers of Christ, each and every day is for such a time as this!

Upcoming Conferences and Speaking Events!

September 17-19, 2010 — Canadensis, PA

Sylane Mack has been invited to be the speaker for this year’s Women’s Conference hosted by Spruce Lake Retreat Center in Canadensis, PA.  She will share her most frequently requested, multi-session teaching of Harvest of Hearts through which the power of God’s love to save, heal and transform a life — no matter what any of us may have experienced — is clearly, unflinchingly and thankfully declared!

The special times of focused worship during this retreat weekend will be led by well known singer/musician Cheri Keaggy. What a blessing these times will be for all of us!

Jean Heiss, a TBG Partner in Grace and long-time friend of Sylane’s, will minister, pray and serve alongside Sylane throughout this Women’s Conference at Spruce Lake.

This is an open event for all women interested in attending! To find out more about this event and how to register to attend, please click here.

September 23-25, 2010 — Branson, MO

Sylane Mack and Teresa Warren, a faithful and wise TBG Counselor, will be attending and ministering together at the National Conference for the American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC) in Branson, Missouri from September 23-25.

Sylane, as Assistant Chaplain to BAACC (Black African-American Association of Christian Counselors) will also be leading a workshop entitled: Transforming Counseling: Counselors as Vessels of God’s Love and Freeing Truths during the BAACC Pre Conference Day on September 23.

October 5, 2010 – Newtown, PA

Sylane Mack has been invited by the United Methodist Women’s Ministry of Newtown, PA to share her story of God’s transforming love in her life at their gathering on October 5 at 7pm. This is an especially sweet and meaningful opportunity for Sylane as she was first baptized and confirmed via the United Methodist Church as a teenager in her childhood hometown near Lake Ontario in upstate NY. Sylane and Tim have a long history with the UMC — even serving as lay-leaders for a Rochester, NY based UMC years ago — before God started moving them to France, CA, back to NY, then to PA and NJ!

For more information about this event contact the Newtown UMC via their website at www.newtownumc.com  TBG Counselors Allison Taite-Tarver and Linda Donohue will be serving with Sylane as the TBG Ministry Team for this evening’s event.

October 16, 2010 — Milford, PA

Sylane Mack has been invited to lead this year’s Women’s Conference at Milford Bible Church on Saturday, October 16 from 9am – 2:30pm. 

Their title for this Conference, which focuses on dealing with the stress and worries of life that can so easily and so often overwhelm us, is: Be Still My Anxious Heart! 

Then there’s Sylane’s let’s-get-to-the-point subtitle for the same teaching: I’ve Gotta Get Over Myself! Right Now!

This is an open event for any woman interested! So join us for the day! Contact Milford Bible Church for information on how to register for the Conference via their website:  www.MilfordBibleChurch.org

October 22-23, 2010 — NJCM Convention

Sylane Mack and TBG Team Members DeAnne Harland and Julia Mack will be ministering at the 2010, 50^th Annual  New Jersey Christian Ministry (NJCM) Convention, hosted at Hawthorne Gospel Church. This year’s theme is Empowered by Christ We Keep Pressing Towards the Goal.

On Friday, 10/22 at 7:30pm — Sylane will present the workshop: Body Image – Kingdom View – which calls us to reflect on and take seriously God’s desire and purpose to make His children, all of His children — as individuals and as His Corporate Church — look, think, speak and act more and more like Jesus Christ in order that we would be God’s powerful ambassadors of His grace and truth to all those who are still lost without the saving love of Jesus in this world.

On Saturday, 10/23 at 9:00am– Sylane will present a second workshop on Prayer entitled: Running Into Abba’s Throne Room of Grace – which offers a greater understanding of the Intimate gift of communication we have been given by the Sovereign Lord of all Creation.

Transformed By Grace will also be hosting a ministry table in the exhibit hall throughout both days of this fabulous ministry event!

This is an open even for all interested! Please check out NJCMs website for more information on attending this fabulous event at www.ministriesconvention.com

For Prayer!

·         Pray for all of the Upcoming Speaking Events listed above…and anything that may yet be scheduled!

o    Pray for each person who attends each event – that each one’s heart, mind and life will be completely open to the salvation and transformation that Christ alone offers!

o    Pray for God’s LOVE to lead all that is done so that a unity of spirit and purpose will bind us (Speaker and TBG Team) together with each member of the different Leadership Groups with whom we’ll minister.

·         Pray always and with great thanksgiving for the on-going Counseling Ministry of TBG!

o    Pray that each of us who counsel will be humble and powerful vessels of our Lord Jesus! Pray that we will enter into the lives of all those we counsel with, and completely dependent on, God’s Word, Wisdom, Grace, Truth and LOVE!

o    Pray for all the individuals, couples and families who come to TBG to receive counsel. Pray that each person will put their trust in God, the Wonderful Counselor, to bring healing, hope, transformation and the renewal of peace, purpose and passion into their lives!

·         Pray for all of our Staff and Board Members that we will yield always and only to our God, His wisdom and timing in everything we do!

o    Pray for all of us to be bound in the unity of Christ’s love, and for each of us to seek and receive continual refreshment of our bodies, minds and spirits as we depend on our Lord Jesus.

o    Pray for our TBG Board Meeting on October 14 – for all the discussions and decisions that need to be happen.

·         Pray for our Financial Resources and consider joining us as a Partner in Grace! Pray that our God who is the Lord Provider, Jehovah Jireh, will raise up people who will join with us through to help support the on-going call of TBG to provide:

o    Counseling Services for those struggling financially

o    Conference Speaking Events for many churches and small groups who do not have sufficient funds

o    Purchasing Bibles for those without resources

o    Purchasing copies of Convinced! for some with whom we counsel and for many other ministry contacts

o    Administrative stewardship of this ministry – including being able pay our Staff!

·         Pray that God will continue to use Sylane’s book, Convinced! in powerful, healing, freeing and transforming ways in the lives of every single person who reads it!

Remember to share Convinced! with others, including leaders of ministries and organizations! Order now via:

·         www.createspace.com/3404109 This site provides us with the greatest financial support!

·         www.amazon.com

JOIN with us as a Partner in Grace! Become a PinG!

Your faithful prayers and financial gifts provide the tangible and greatly needed support necessary to carry out God’s call on the ministry of Transformed By Grace!

·         Visit our website at www.transformedbygrace.org

·         Or call the TBG office at 215.497.0882

·         Or send your gifts directly to

P.O. Box 976, Newtown, PA 18940

Convinced by Him
In Whom We Have Believed!

Sylane Mack

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord
…This grace was given us in Christ Jesus…
who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher.
That is why I am suffering as I am.

Yet I am not ashamed,
because I know whom I have believed,
and am convinced
that He is able to guard
what I have entrusted to Him for that day.

2 Timothy 1:7-12

Oh! To know and have a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline (of a sound mind – according to some translations) no matter what we may be experiencing!

When the Apostle Paul wrote this, he had been imprisoned and chained in a Roman dungeon by Emperor Nero. He was suffering. He was lonely. He was close to the end of his life. Yet Paul was unflinching in his hope in Christ! He was convinced of his Lord’s faithfulness to him – no matter what!

Paul passionately imparted the gospel message of Jesus Christ – telling of His death for our sins, His resurrection for our eternal life – with every breath he had left on this earth! So that any and all who listened would believe and be saved!

Jesus has accomplished it all! Jesus offers us full forgiveness, eternal life with our God and renewal of our lives and minds right here and now on this side of heaven!

And we too have been given a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline to proclaim the gospel and transformation that our Lord Jesus Christ offers to all! This is the call that belongs to each one of us as followers of Jesus.

This is our clear mission as ambassadors of Christ who serve via the ministry of Transformed by Grace. And because we are convinced of the faithfulness of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are unashamed of sharing the truth of His unfailing love and sacrificed life with all those who share this life with us!

As Paul invited his contemporaries, so we invite you:

Join with us in this call – this life call of trusting in and telling of Him in whom we have believed!

Rejoice in our Convincing Lord!

- Updates –

Over the last few months we have been given so many opportunities to serve as ambassadors of Christ in numerous private counseling sessions – planned and unplanned with our six TBG Counselors – and in various speaking engagements locally and not-so-local with our three Speakers and TBG ministry team members!

Our recently completed speaking events include:

• April 8 – Lydia Austin, accompanied by DeAnne Harland, as the TBG ministry partner, spoke to a MOPS group at the Pilgrim Church in Manayunk, PA, challenging and encouraging all moms, in their uncontrollable worlds – with their ducks going in every direction, to “let go and let God” take control.

• May 1 – Rachel Mack spoke at the Mother-Daughter Brunch held at Trinity Bible Church in Bristol, PA sharing “Bad Hair Days, Bloating, Bathing Suit Shopping and Other Things that Affect my Attitude“ and giving the remedy – to P.R.A.I.S.E

• April 29-May 1 – Sylane Mack and Teresa Warren, one of our TBG Counselors, attended the BAACC Summit VIII in Atlanta, Georgia where Sylane presented the workshop: Transforming Counseling: Counselors as Vessels of God’s Freeing Truth

· May 2 – Sylane Mack shared her powerful testimony at Bridgeway Church in Alpharetta, Georgia at the Sunday worship service and with the Adult Fellowship Group

(This was a special connection for Sylane as she was invited by Sherry and Clay Auwarter who had previously served as Camp Directors for Ontario Bible Camp where, at seven years old, Sylane put her trust in Jesus Christ as her Savior!)

• June 5 – Sylane Mack facilitated a two session Counselor and Staff Training Workshop hosted at Black Rock Congregational Church in Fairfield, CT for the volunteers who willserve abused and neglected children forthe 2010Royal Family Kids Campthis August. Cindy Falltserved as the TBG ministry partner.

• June 6 – Sylane Mack, with Cindy Fallt and Kristin Chace as TBG team members, declared God’s salvation and honor, healing and transformation that are all completely dependent on God at two Sunday Morning Worship Services andagain at an evening Healing and Prayer Service held atHuntington Chapelin Shelton, CT.

Rejoice in our Convincing Lord!

- Continued…always! –

Whether we minister in the intimacy of the individual, couple or family counseling sessions or in the dynamic forum of speaking to various groups (all made up of various individuals!) our message is always grounded in the grace and truth of God’s Word and empowered by His Spirit who transforms lives!

We have been humbled and awed at the work of our Lord in our midst! Many individuals have placed their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior for the very first time – from those we share with and minister to in the counseling sessions, in the speaking engagements at churches or in the prison ministries!

Others have contacted us after reading Sylane’s book, Convinced! to tell us that they know they “need Jesus!” They need Him as their Savior and as the only One who can heal them and help them forgive those who have caused them pain in some way.

Others have been encouraged to trust God more fully and believe His Word that declares the passionate, unlimited, unfailing, unending love He has for them! And still others have been challenged to allow the Spirit of the Living God to truly rule over their lives and empower them to live with Jesus Christ as not only their Savior but also as their Lord!

We thank our God for what He has allowed us to do and witness via the ministry of TBG! We have seen our Lord Jesus call people to Himself in order to save, transform and renew many, many lives – for their freedom and His glory! Amen!

And we thank each of you who has ministered to us at TBG through your prayers and your financial gifts that allow us to continue to do what we have been called to do!

Please JOIN with us as a Partner in Grace!

Become a PinG!

Your faithful prayers and financial gifts provide the tangible and greatly needed support necessary to carry out God’s call on the ministry of Transformed By Grace!

Your FINANCIAL gifts help to provide:

• Counseling Services for those struggling financially
• Conference Speaking Events for many churches and small groups who do not have sufficient funds
• Purchasing Bibles for those without resources
• Purchasing copies of Convinced! for some with whom we counsel and for many other ministry contacts
• Administrative stewardship of this ministry

Your gifts of PRAYERS help to provide:

• The right attitude of humble and complete dependence on our God for all that we do within the counseling, speaking and administrative ministries of TBG
• The spiritual, emotional and mental support we need as members belonging to the entire Body of Christ
• The deep and persistent intercession we need so that we may intimately and powerfully enter into people’s lives with the love, grace and truth of Jesus Christ that transforms and heals His people in mighty ways
• The strength and refreshment that we need when the battle for people’s souls, minds and lives are fierce
• The joy of celebrating together the victories of our Lord Jesus as He transforms one life, one couple, one family, one circumstance, one place at a time!

To become a PARTNER in GRACE:

• Fill out and mail in the enclosed PinG form
• Or visit our website at www.transformedbygrace.org
• Or call the TBG office at 215.497.0882
• Or send your gifts directly to

P.O. Box 976, Newtown, PA 18940

God’s Convincing Work continues through the book

God is using Convinced! in powerful ways that encourage, challenge and minister healing and freedom to those who have read it! All glory to God! Such joy for us!

You may order your copy (or several!) today via:

http://www.createspace.com/3404109 (our preferred site, Createspace, is more generous with royalties)

OR http://www.amazon.com

A Special Offer: If you want to order 10 or more copies of Convinced!, please contact TBG @ 215.497.0882 or @ info@transformedbygrace.org

We will be happy to work out a discount for you or your church and have the books shipped directly to you.

Remember to join us on the 10th day of each month as we passionately PRAY for God’s life-giving, life-freeing, transforming work to be done in the lives of all with whom we minister -at conferences, counseling sessions, on corners and in coffee shops!

The Resurrection and The Life-
Do you believe this?
Do you believe Him?
Sylane Mack

“I am the resurrection and the life.
He who believes in me will live,
even though he dies;
and whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.
Do you believe this?”
John 11:25

Do I believe this? Do you believe this?

We cannot choose to stay passive in our attitude about Jesus. He demands an answer. We have to either acknowledge the truth of who Jesus is-or we need to admit that we are actively dismissing Him.

We cannot be passive about Jesus.

There is nothing passive about the way that Jesus went about His ministry-His interaction and interruption of time, space and people’s lives.

There is nothing passive about the way that Jesus taught people God’s truths; nothing passive about the way He healed people from multiple maladies; nothing passive in His exorcism of demons or His raising the dead to life. And Jesus certainly didn’t go to his death passively. Without fighting His crucifixion, yes. But His death was actively planned for, prepared for and chosen by Him with a purpose: He alone could be the full and worthy atoning sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins by our Holy God.

Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life. And believing this frees us completely from the bondage of sin and death-for all eternity…and right in the very midst of the lives we are living now.

Jesus is never passive. He is passionate. He is present. He has purposed to offer us His very life and the power of His resurrection. We need only to receive what Jesus us offers as we believe Him and who He says He is:

The Resurrection and The Life!

May this be the truth you believe this Easter-with the fullness of its power and the depth of its peace!

REJOICE IN THE BODY OF CHRIST!

- Updates-

March 1-5-Sylane was lovingly hosted by Dave (Vice President and Dean of Bethel Seminary) and Diane Ridder as she ministered at Bethel University and Seminary in St. Paul Minnesota. Sylane spoke with many different groups and individuals in a variety of venues-classes, lunches, small fellowship gatherings, conference room meetings (including with one group from nearby Northwestern College who minister to the sexually abused), in individual counseling sessions and at a Chapel Service attended by approximately 1700 people.

God led this time in full and powerful ways in the lives of many! Keep these precious ones in prayer as they continue to deepen their understanding and experience of the transforming love of our Lord Jesus Christ!

March 6-Transformed By Grace celebrated our 7^th Anniversary! Keep us in prayer that we may faithfully minister to every person with whom we interact-through speaking events and private counseling-with the love, grace, truth and transforming power of  Jesus Christ!

Our BIG News! God has generously, wisely and powerfully brought on three new counselors to TBG’s Staff: Patty Arvanites, Linda Donohue and Allison Taite-Tarver! Our God truly is Jehovah Jireh-the Lord Provider! The need for counseling is great; and our God has greatly provided! We are so thankful for these fellow servants!  Please visit our website: www.transformedbygrace.org and meet ALL of our staff!

March 9 and 10-Sylane spoke with young men and their therapists in 2 different Therapeutic Group Sessions and to a Parent/Family Group Meeting over these 2 days at Mathom House, a Rehabilitation Center for Adolescent Sexual Offenders. These 3 sessions were Sylane’s 20^th, 21^st and 22^nd time ministering with different groups connected with Mathom House since 2003. Thank you, Mighty God! Pray that these young men’s lives will be irrevocably turned around by the power of God’s forgiveness and restoration! 15 young men asked for Bibles, which Grace Point Church is helping TBG to supply to them! How beautiful is the Body of Christ when we humbly unite to honor our God and to love as Jesus loves!

March 21-Sylane’s Starbucks in Princeton, NJ graciously hosted a book sale and signing event for Convinced! A number of people from various churches where Sylane has ministered came to support her by getting their previously purchased books signed and/or to buy new ones for themselves, family or friends. Others came out of curiosity; one man because the phrase, God’s transforming love, caught his attention! May he come to know the truth of this!

Remember to join us on the 10th day of each month as we passionately PRAY for God’s life-giving, life-freeing, transforming work to be done in the lives of all with whom we minister-at conferences, counseling sessions, on corners and in coffee shops!

Upcoming Events

April 8-Lydia Austin will be speaking to a MOPS (Mothers of Pre-schoolers) group at the Pilgrim Church in Manayunk, PA at 10am. Lydia’s talk, Quacking in Harmony - Challenges all moms in their uncontrollable worlds to “let go and let God” take control.  It’s ok to have your ducks out of that perfect row…it’s okay even if you don’t see any ducks in your pond (all moms can relate to this!) because God knows where they are!  And God is taking care of them! - Set your minds and keep them set on what is above, not on things that are on earth - Colossians 3:2 – Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says. - James 1:22

April 29-May 1-Sylane and Teresa Warren (one of our six TBG Counselors) will attend the BAACC Summit VIII in Atlanta, Georgia. On Saturday, May 1, Sylane will present a workshop entitled, Transforming Counseling: Counselors as Vessels of God’s Freeing Truth -based on Romans 8:6 -“The mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.”

Registration for the BAACC Summit VIII can be made at www.BAACConline.net (Sylane serves as Assistant Chaplain to the Board of Advisors for BAACC.)

May 2-Sylane will be at Bridgeway Church in Alpharetta, Georgia (near Atlanta) to speak at the Sunday morning Worship Service at 9:45am and then to speak with the Adult Fellowship Group at 10:45am.

This is a special connection for Sylane as she was invited by Sherry and Clay Auwarter, who she met last year in their positions as Camp Directors for Ontario Bible Camp (where she accepted Jesus as her Savior 44 years ago!), when she spoke at the Commissioning Service for Staff and Counselors July 2009. Sherry and Clay have since moved to the Atlanta area and have lovingly acted as liasons to bring the ministry of Transformed by Grace to their new home and church! Thank You, Lord, for the strong bonds in Body of Christ!

Update on CONVINCED!

God continues to use Convinced! in powerful ways that encourage, challenge and minister  healing and freedom to those who have read it! All glory to God! Such hope for us!

You may order your copy (or several!) today via:

http://www.createspace.com/3404109 (our preferred site, Createspace, is more generous with royalties)

OR http://www.amazon.com

Minister With Us! We Need You!

Please JOIN us as a Partner in Grace!

Become a PinG!

Your faithful prayers and financial gifts provide the tangible and greatly needed support necessary to carry out God’s call on the ministry of Transformed By Grace!

Your FINANCIAL gifts help to provide:

• Counseling Services
• Conference Speaking Events
• Purchasing Bibles for those without resources
• Purchasing copies of Convinced! for some with whom we counsel and for many other ministry contacts
• Administrative stewardship of this ministry

Your gifts of PRAYERS join with ours so that we may bring glory to our Lord Jesus and His transforming grace to all the people with whom we minister!

To become our PARTNER in GRACE – our PinG:

• Please visit our website at www.transformedbygrace.org
• Or call the TBG office at 215.497.0882
• Or send your gifts directly to

P.O. Box 976, Newtown, PA 18940

The Kingdom of God—Within and Around Us!

Some thoughts from Sylane Mac

It’s still early enough in 2010 to acknowledge the entering into a new year and into a new decade. It’s still early enough in 2010 to ask ourselves some introspective questions…and some broader thinking questions. Actually, asking these kinds of questions is always a good idea. As is doing something about the answers we get-especially when (and IF) we invite God to be the One who answers us!

So, let’s each ask ourselves first the introspective questions: How is my life-my mind, my heart, my words, my actions, my reactions, my relationships, my stewardship of my body and all of my resources-reflecting the passionate love that Christ has for me…the sacrificial, unfailing love that cost Jesus His Holy Life to save me and to transform me to be more and more like Him?

And let’s each ask ourselves the broader thinking questions: What am I doing, not just for my own spiritual growth or even to help grow my own church, but what am I doing for the growth of the Kingdom of God-for, and with, the whole Body of Christ-since we all are called to be Ambassadors of Christ (not Ambassadors of our own home church or favorite way to worship, study and fellowship)?

As we ask ourselves these questions-and open ourselves to seeking God’s perspective, passion and purpose for both our personal and universal Body of Christ growth-I have no doubt that our God will answer!

Let’s each allow God’s Spirit and God’s Word to minister to us and challenge us-whatever the calendar date…or the life season we may be in-to live and grow in the present moment as His children and to live to help grow the Kingdom of God for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ!

The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.

Above all, love each other deeply,

because love covers over a multitude of sins.

Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

Each one should use whatever gift

he has received to serve others,

faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.

If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking

the very words of God.

If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength

God provides, so that in all things

God may be praised through Jesus Christ.

To him be the glory and the power

for ever and ever. Amen.

1 Peter 4:8-11

REJOICE IN THE BODY OF CHRIST!

Update on events for end of 2009

November 6-8-Sylane Mack presented the four session, oft-requested Harvest of Hearts at the Women’s Retreat for Lawndale Baptist Church of Philadelphia, PA. God’s love and transforming power was declared and deeply responded to by those who attended this retreat held at S.P.A.D.E. International Conference Center in Kempton, PA. Kyoko Iwashita Kneller ministered faithfully and lovingly as the TBG prayer partner and team member.

November 14-Lydia Austin led an all day/3 session retreat for the women of Abundant Life Community Church of Port Murray, NJ held at The Inn at Panther Valley in Allamuchy, NJ. Lydia’s teaching was powerfully and passionately based on James 1:22-“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”-and is appropriately and encouragingly entitled:  Just Do It!

December 5-Lydia Austin gave a special Christmas presentation called Joy to the World!- at a Morning Christmas Tea for the women of Langhorne Terrace Ministries in Langhorne, PA. Rachel Mack, another of our TBG Speakers, ministered with grace and enthusiasm as the TBG prayer partner and team member.

Upcoming Events

March 1-5-Sylane will be at Bethel University and Seminary in St. Paul Minnesota.

• Throughout the week she will be speaking in various classes, at a Community Life Gathering Lunch and at the Friday Chapel Service.
• The schedule still very fluid-venues will be added even while Sylane is there! Go for it, God!

March 6-Transformed By Grace celebrates our 7^th Anniversary as a not-for-profit ministry!!! Join us in prayer and thanksgiving for all that God has done and is continuing to do as we yield to His leadership and minister to many lives-through speaking events and private counseling-with the love, grace, truth and transforming power of our Lord Jesus Christ!

March 9 and 10-Sylane will be speaking with young men in 2 different Therapeutic Group Sessions and to a Parent/Family Group Meeting over these 2 days at Mathom House, a Rehabilitation Center for Adolescent Sexual Offenders. These 3 sessions will be Sylane’s 20^th, 21^st and 22^nd time ministering with different groups connected with Mathom House since 2003. Thank you, Mighty God!

April 29-May 1-Sylane will attend and present at the BAACC Summit VIII in Atlanta, Georgia. On Saturday, May 1, Sylane will present a workshop entitled, Transforming Counseling: Counselors as Vessels of God’s Freeing Truth -based on Romans 8:6 -“The mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace”

Registration for the BAACC Summit VIII can be made at www.BAACConline.net (Sylane serves as Assistant Chaplain to the Board of Advisors for BAACC.)

Update on CONVINCED!

We are thanking God deeply for what we have already seen and heard as to how our Lord is using the book, Convinced!, written by Sylane Mack, to minister to those who have read it since its publication on November 13, 2009.

Kathy Watson, one of our faithful Partners in Grace, wrote her own personal review-reaction to Convinced!:

Every day God is present in our lives, writing our life story, our testimony. We would all have to admit there are times we would rather forget, choosing rather to lock the door and forget about our ugly, shameful times. Instead, in writing Convinced!, Sylane has fully opened the doors to her dark places in order to give each of us hope and the assurance that God is with us in the midst of our darkest days and nights. God stepped into her life when Sylane was only 7 years old and took hold of her heart, but did not take away the pain. It was wonderful to read how, as her life went on, God continued to use amazing people to draw her closer to God, and how she found the loving, Abba Father she was seeking. The bookend to Sylane’s salvation is her witness to her abusers and her unrelenting desire to see each of them know the loving God of grace and salvation that transformed her life. We are blessed to read her testimony and find hope in this broken, sinful world-and to be Convinced! that God’s love changes everything!

You may order your copy (or several!) today via:

http://www.createspace.com/3404109 (our preferred site )

OR http://www.amazon.com

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Minister With Us! We Need You!

Please JOIN us as a Partner in Grace!

Become a PinG!

Your prayers and financial gifts provide the tangible and greatly needed support necessary to carry out God’s call on the ministry of Transformed By Grace!

Your FINANCIAL gifts help make possible:

• Counseling services to those who otherwise are without the financial resources that would allow them to participate in this healing process.
• Conference Speaking Events for churches and organizations whose budgets are greatly limited compared to their hunger for God’s Word and their desire to grow as disciples of our Lord Jesus.
• Purchasing Bibles-often given to the young men at Mathom House (see Upcoming Events) and to others via our counseling ministry.
• Purchasing copies of Convinced! for some with whom we counsel and many other ministry contacts.
• Administrative stewardship of this ministry.

Your gifts of PRAYERS join with ours so that we may bring glory to our Lord Jesus and His transforming grace to all the people with whom we minister!

You may let us know your PinG Support Commitment of Prayer and Finances by clicking on this link now: Partner With Us

• Or call the TBG office at 215.497.0882
• Or send your gifts directly to: P.O. Box 976, Newtown, PA 18940

With love and great thankfulness to our Lord Jesus for all of you!

The Ministry Team of Transformed By Grace

God Interrupts…Grace Intervenes

Scripture references from Matthew 1 and Luke 2

God loves us so much that He will interrupt our lives and our plans to intervene with His grace. God has always done this to call His people to Himself. Jesus Christ interrupts our ways of doing things when He comes to us to intervene with His grace for all eternity. He did this in a manger on His way to the cross.

Mary, a young virgin pledged to marry Joseph, was suddenly and shockingly visited by the angel Gabriel who told her that she will be with child…that the Holy Spirit will come upon her and the power of the Most High will overshadow her and the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.

Mary’s response: “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.”

These weren’t Mary’s plans, but God totally interrupted her life-to intervene in her life, and in the lives of all who would believe, with His grace.

Joseph’s plans for his life were also suddenly and shockingly interrupted when he found out that Mary was with child. Yet, even in the hurt and betrayal he must have felt, Joseph planned to quietly divorce Mary so she would not be publicly disgraced. But, before Joseph could carry out his plan, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream to tell him to not be afraid to take Mary home as his wife and to assure him that Mary was with child through the Holy Spirit; “She will give birth to a son, and you will call him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

Joseph’s response: he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him.

These weren’t Joseph’s plans, but God totally interrupted his life-to intervene in his life, and in the lives of all who would believe, with His grace.

May we each choose to let God interrupt our plans…our lives…our worries…our self-focused thinking…even our ways of doing Christmas…so that we may allow the full love and grace of Jesus Christ to interrupt and intervene in our lives.

May we each respond in awe and thankfulness, and full faith acceptance, to the God Most High who is born to us vulnerably as a baby in a manger with the purpose to die humbly for our sins on a cross.

Christmas and the Cross of Jesus and Christ’s Eternal Resurrection are God’s gifts of LOVE to every one of us…these are God’s full interruption over the power of sin and death in our lives through the full intervention of His grace!

Have a beautiful, God-interrupting,

Grace-intervening Christmas!

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Celebrating our Call in 2009–with JOY from Transformed by Grace

We thank God for the privilege we have had throughout 2009 to be vessels of the love, grace and truth of Jesus Christ! We are so grateful to all of our Board of Directors and to Cathy Buser who, as our Bookkeeper, maintains our financial records with great detail and integrity and for DeAnne Harland, our ever-available Admin-istrative Assistant, who truly ministers to all who make contact with TBG.

All three of our Conference Speakers-Lydia Austin, Rachel Mack and Sylane Mack, plus Mindy Benjamin, one of our Counselors-have been invited to speak to a variety of groups in a variety of settings: at Women’s Teas and Women’s Retreats, at MOPS groups, at whole Church Outreach Programs, to speak to prisoners, train their counselors and minister to their families. We have been awed by the power of God’s Word and Spirit to use our words to bless, encourage and challenge many people to trust the grace and truth of Jesus Christ for salvation and for the transformation of their lives-for now and for all of eternity!

The openness of so many individuals, and even within large groups at the retreats, to receive the freedom offered through Jesus Christ has kept us humbled and in awe of the intimacy and sovereignty of our God. We are evermore aware of how God is passionately reaching out to all of us with His transforming love!

Likewise, our Counselors-Mindy Benjamin, Kristin Chace (now living in CT), Teresa Warren and Sylane Mack-count it a privilege …a very daunting and humbling privilege…to have ministered over this past year to numerous individuals, couples and families within the intimacy of our biblically-based counseling services. We seek to fully rely on the wisdom of God, on His grace and truth, on His Word and His Spirit as we serve those who seek counsel from us. We take seriously the trust that is placed in us-guarding people’s dignity and protecting their confidentiality-as we offer Christ-centered counseling for the transforming healing, and renewing of their lives spiritually, physically, mentally and relationally.

This past September Sylane was invited to serve on the Board of Advisors as Assistant Chaplain for BAACC, Black African-American Association of Christian Counselors. Our God is a God of love and unity. May we all become more like Jesus!

Another new ministry venue for TBG in 2009 were the daily devotions which Sylane has posted daily since January 1, 2009 on our website, entitled:  A Time for Grace and Truth

Check these out. Be encouraged. Be challenged.

Along with TBG’s ongoing ministries, it was with great joy that we celebrated the publication of Sylane Mack’s book, CONVINCED!-or as she calls it,

“God’s transforming love story written in my life.”

We encourage you to order your copy (or several copies!) via:

http://www.createspace.com/3404109 (our preferred site)

Or via:

http://www.amazon.com

We believe that God will use CONVINCED! for His glory and to bring His transforming freedom, healing and power of forgiveness into the lives of many, many people! Because God’s love changes everything.

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Continuing our Call in 2010–with HOPE from Transformed by Grace

We, the Staff and Board, who serve through the ministry of Transformed by Grace prayerfully, faithfully and thankfully reaffirm our call to share the love, grace and truth of Jesus Christ through our Conference Speaking and Counseling ministries. We are ready and willing to “Go…and tell the full message of this new life”-Acts 5:20-wherever God would lead us. And we are ready and willing to continue to serve our local community as we disciple and counsel people with the grace and truth of Jesus Christ. Because…“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free”-Galatians 5:1.

As we look ahead to minister in the year 2010, we also, quite honestly, have some significant challenges to meet. We have had to make hard choices to not consistently pay some of our Staff because the support funds have not been available. We are trusting God-our Jehovah Jireh-the Lord Provider to stir up His resources and His people to supply all we need for our operational expenses. God is faithful. And so are His people.

We are asking each of you to PRAY about how you will support TBG. If you are not already a Partner in Grace-a PinG-with us, we encourage you to join us now. We really do NEED YOU!

If you are already a Partner in Grace with us currently: THANK YOU!

• Continue those prayers! They are the powerful foundation for placing our full trust in God for all that we do!
• Consider how you may continue or increase your financial support for TBG.

As a gift of gratitude, we will send out a free copy of CONVINCED! to our PinGs who are able to make a Monthly Pledge of financial support of $25 or more for 2010 OR to those who can give a One Time Gift of $300 or more.

You may let us know your PinG Support Commitment of Prayer and Finances by clicking on this link now: Partner With Us

Thank You All for your encouragement, your prayers and your financial support for this ministry! We truly are the Ambassadors of Christ together!

We need and appreciate you greatly!

May this Christmas and 2010 cause each of us to know the interrupting, intervening LOVE of God in a more personal and powerful way!

Our love and thankful prayers,

The Ministry Team of Transformed by Grace