…”There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repents.” This is the verse that came to my mind this past weekend as we saw many tears being shed at the altar. I was envisioning Austin rejoicing and praising God as well, as approximately 15 to 18 men and women accepted Jesus as their Savior in our four services. 50 to 60 responded at the altar to rededicate their lives to Jesus. To God be the glory! I believe that God allows Austin glimpses of these events as He continues to use Austin’s life story and his “home-going” to soften and change the hearts of those we minister to.

I met a young man the other evening who had been Austin’s friend. They had only spent a few times together over the past few years but I know that Austin appreciated his friendship. This young man made me cry and I told him that he won’t ever know how much I was blessed by what he said to me! He shared how he had looked on the “outside” like he was doing all right but on the “inside” he was walking away from the Lord and not living the life that pleased God. After seeing the peace that Austin had while he was waiting for his second heart transplant and the power of God that was evident in his life, he came back to the Lord. He expressed that he is who he is today because of Austin and he thinks about him every day and then prays for our family. What a blessing! Both of us were crying together and his hug was just what I needed! It felt like a hug directly from my dear son. Even though this doesn’t take the pain of missing Austin away from us…it is so comforting and encouraging to us to continue to allow God to turn our tests into testimonies of His goodness.

The service with approximately 400 ladies in the women’s prison was the highlight of our weekend. We saw many tears streaming down individual’s faces and tissues being passed around. This was the first time that Brianna and Alisha were allowed in to this prison and the women absolutely loved it! They gave standing ovations and applauded during the times they were singing. It was almost overwhelming for the girls. We had to crank up the volume of our monitors to be able to hear ourselves over the responses from them. Afterwards, many of them expressed deep pain and loss that they were facing. I struggled with knowing how to respond when one woman shared how her young son was brutally murdered… another young mother had a 9 month old baby who was over dosed and killed by her husband and she was not able to leave the prison to go to her funeral. We just hugged and shed tears together. The girls were surrounded by the ladies who wanted to hug them and express their appreciation for coming.

Thank you so much for your prayer support for our family.

Thankfully His,

Cindy (for The Mullett Family)