Seth & Emily Phippen Newsletter (Spring 2025)

The Mud Run Changed Antonio’s Life

Here in Florida, we just finished our annual Mud Run fundraiser event. This event provides funds for disaster relief along with essential food and supplies for the needy in partnership with our work overseas. This year we had 634 total runners. I had the privilege of being at the Starting Line and sending off each wave of runners into the mud! Emily, James, Lauren, and Emma all ran the course together and had a great time. This event is a great fundraising and outreach opportunity. These funds are actively changing lives around the world. Antonio is just one of these lives touched.

Antonio lives in a rural village in Madagascar. Several months ago, Antonio became very sick. He was taken to the witch doctor with various shrines of idols for healing, but nothing helped. In fact his sickness became worse. His family lost all hope of him recovering. Eventually Antonio could not walk and soon stopped eating food. One day, some of the kids that attend Teen Missions Sunday school program told Antonio’s mother, “Our Sunday school teachers pray for sick people and sometimes have medicine. Why not call them to come and pray for your son?”. With nowhere else to turn, Antonio’s mother called the Teen Missions Sunday school Circuit Riders. She asked if they would come and pray for Antonio. Upon finding Antonio in his mother’s house, the Circuit Riders couldn’t believe Antonio’s condition. It looked like he was just waiting to die. Antonio couldn’t speak and it had been three days since he had anything to eat or drink. 

The Circuit Riders prayed for Antonio’s healing and that he and his family would believe in God. They  took Antonio to the hospital and the doctors immediately began caring for Antonio. Through the work of the doctors and the healing that God provided, Antonio began to recover. He stayed in the hospital for over a month before he was released. As Antonio recovered, the Circuit Riders continued to visit him and on one of these visits he gave his life to Jesus Christ. He committed his life to serve God for the rest of his life. While he was still in the hospital, Antonio’s mother, sister, brother-in-law and one of his aunts all gave their lives to the Lord! Because of the Mud Run, Teen Missions was able to cover Antonio’s medical bills and food, as well as provide him with food during his recovery at home. 

As you partner with Emily and me, you partner to make an impact in lives like Antonio every day. We can’t do this on our own and we are so thankful for the many people who make this possible. I would need more space than this newsletter to tell you all the stories of lives that have been impacted by your partnership in the Gospel.

Thank you!

Boot Camp to Mexico – MPAM

The Lord has opened doors of ministry for Emily and me to lead a group of teens to Mexico this summer to serve with a ministry of Teen Missions called Mexicanos Para Alcanzar al Mundo (MPAM). Our team will work alongside national missionaries from Mexico, Peru & Colombia. We will host a Boot Camp in Mexico for Mexican youth. The past few years, groups of Mexican young people have been traveling to Colombia to participate in Boot Camp missionary training there. We are excited to bring Boot Camp to Mexico. Our family is looking for financial support for our summer mission trip. If you would like to give toward this ministry opportunity you can use the slip at the bottom of this newsletter. 

Our team will arrive here in Merritt Island on June 10th to begin training. It is a specialized team that is training for leadership. Three of the teens coming on this team were with us last year as we served in Germany! Our team will assist during training in Florida for those who are coming to Teen Missions for mission trips this summer. Then on June 29th we will fly to Mexico for our ministry there. We come back to Florida on July 27th for Debrief classes and to prepare our team for going home to serve God there. Please pray for us as we lead this team, that the Lord would use us as His servants wherever we are and that we would be obedient to Him in everything.  

Family 

James, Lauren, Emma, and Sadie are doing well and are excited for this upcoming opportunity in Mexico. The school year is coming to a close and we are busy getting things packed and ready for the summer ministry. The kids have been involved in co-op classes with a new homeschool group that meets at our church. They are looking forward to classes starting again in the Fall. 

You are making a difference! 

Your prayers and support make it possible for lives like Antonio to be changed. Thank you for your unwavering support. Your prayers, letters, messages, and financial support are essential to the ministry God is doing through us. Your dedication to making a difference in the lives of young people around the world is truly inspiring. 

Praise: 

• Thank God for all He has done around the world through the Mud Run.
• God has given us joy in the ministry and a great family through the Teen Missions staff in Florida. 
• For our partnership team and the ministry that has taken place because of you. 

Prayer:

• Please pray for young people like Antonio from around the world as they testify about what God has done in their communities. 
• Pray for God to prepare Emily and me for the ministry this summer in Mexico and the teens we will lead on mission as we partner with MPAM.  
• Pray for our family that God would establish our steps every day.  

If you are interested in joining this work that God is doing, please let us know. We would love to share more about how you can be involved and become part of the team. We are looking for individuals, families and churches that will partner with us financially. Thank you for your involvement. We could not do this without you.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Seth & Emily Phippen,

 James, Lauren, Emma, and Sadie

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