Our hand is always in the hand of the one true Comforter.
Monday, September 26, 2011
the Comforter
Our hand is always in the hand of the one true Comforter.
...allure her
Do yourself a favor and listen to this podcast, if you weren't at Lighthouse on Sunday...excellent reminder of God's unconditional love & mercy on us!!
podcast here.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
kop-khun-ka
With YOUR prayer/thoughts and financial support, I was able to know God better in the land-down-under and make Him known in the nation of Thailand with the organization, Youth With A Mission. The following is a follow-up-report of what I was able to do with YOUR help.
I completed a six-month program called Discipleship Training School, based in Newcastle, New South Wales. The program consisted of lectures, reports, and hands on mission experience. The first half of my DTS, referred to as the “lecture phase” was spent in Newcastle Australia. During this phase I had twelve weeks of classroom setting lectures, where I heard from various speakers on topics such as; Bible Study, Character of God, Missions, and Lordship, just to name a few.
During this twelve-week period of time, our school was also involved in running a local youth group called Youth Street. Youth Street is a group that meets every Saturday and outreaches to the local youth. Every weekend was spent with the same group of kids, that way we could build relationships with them and ultimately lead them towards Christ. Each weekend we ran age appropriate activities, worship, messages, and small groups.
After the lecture phase was “outreach”, another twelve weeks of cross-cultural missions experience. During our lecture phase we were given two options for possible outreach locations, Brazil and Thailand were the choices. From there we were asked to not discuss our intentions with friends, instead take our ideas to God and wait to get His word on which location we should choose. Before I left for my DTS, God had put Thailand on my heart. Ever since hearing Aka John and his wife talk about Thailand in church, I have had Thailand on my heart. When I heard the options I automatically assumed I should go! I took it to God and He clearly confirmed my decision.
After forming our team, we spent time getting to know the culture of Thailand. We did various reports on the different people groups, cultures, and studied the language to prepare for our journey. Finally April came and eight others, along with myself headed to Thailand.
Our team was able to spend three months serving in three different locations. The first location we served at was with a YWAM base, outside of Mae Sot. There we held a mini version of what experienced on our Discipleship Training School for Burmese refugees did open-air outreach and led church services to the surrounding hill tribes. This was the most rural of locations, we got to live in bamboo huts, eat rice three times a day, and take showers with a bucket of cold water. Living like this not only made me feel super blessed and spoiled, it also opened my eyes to see that we are not as blessed as we think. Those in need are more blessed in having nothing, they literally live off of love and putting others first, it was quite an eye and heart opening experience.
Next we spent time in the western city of Chaing Mai. There we taught English with a ministry called The Centre, held various outreaches at the local universities, and taught in surrounding churches. During our days working with The Centre, we would go into the local universities and talk to students about the ministry. Through the afternoon we would teach various levels of English as a Second Language classes. After class we would spend time getting to know our students through sitting down for coffee or having them show us what they enjoy doing on their time off. We were able to make some pretty meaningful and deep relationships with the students.
Finally we spent the last leg of our trip in Phuket (pu-ket), working with a ministry called SHE (Self Help Empowerment). This ministry works to rescue local girls from the tourist filled bars and a life of prostitution. We spent our days doing practical work around the city and our nights going into bars to talk to the girls working. We built relationships with the girls who worked there, letting them know that there were other options for work and that they were valued and loved. Depending on which bar you were in, the girls could have been trafficked or prostituted. While ministering there, we saw two girls potentially walk away from their jobs in the bar. We were also able to hand out Thai Bibles to the girls we had spent time getting to know. For me personally, working with this ministry wrecked me in the best way! I had never experienced more spiritual warfare or the continual presence of the Holy Spirit in a more tangible way before.
I feel very blessed to have had the chance to experience both domestic and cross-culture missions and ministries; it has given me a huge perspective of the Church. I am very humbled by the opportunities God has blessed me. Again, I really cannot thank you enough for the words of encouragement, thoughts, prayers and financial support during this season of my life!
“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ
Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
Ephesians 2:10
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Not Alone - Red
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. // Deuteronomy 31:6
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Now what?
Round two. Deja Vu of my senior year of high school. It's kind of cool to think about how different my application essays are from almost FOUR years ago. I would not change anything about the last three years. Life has been exactly how God wanted it to. I met the people I needed to meet, saw the places I needed to see, and experienced God in ways I will never forget. The amount of growth that has happened in my heart is pretty crazy. To think of what God has allowed me to experience since 2008 is nuts! So now what? Time for the waiting game! Wait & trust God knows what He's doing.
Monday, September 19, 2011
With Us - Hillsong Live
Thursday, September 15, 2011
full on.
Brandon Heath, The Light In Me
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
YOU are worth dying for.
Take a listen and CHOOSE to believe that YOU are something worth dying for.
You might be the wife,
Waiting up at night
You might be the man,
Struggling to provide
Feeling like it's hopeless
Maybe you're the son,
Who chose a broken road
Maybe you're the girl,
Thinking you'll end up alone
Praying God can you hear me?
Oh God are you listening?
Am I more than flesh and bone?
Am I really something beautiful?
Yeah, I wanna believe, I wanna believe that
I'm not just some wandering soul
That you don't see and you don't know
Yeah I wanna believe, Jesus help me believe that I
Am someone worth dying for
I know you've heard the truth that God has set you free
But you think you're the one that grace could never reach
So you just keep asking, what everybody's asking
Am I more than flesh and bone?
Am I really something beautiful?
Yeah, I wanna believe, I wanna believe that
I'm not just some wandering soul
That you don't see and you don't know
Yeah I wanna believe, Jesus help me believe that I
Am someone worth dying for
You're worth it, you can't earn it
Yeah the Cross has proven
That you're sacred and blameless
Your life has purpose
And you are more than flesh and bone
Can't you see you're something beautiful
Yeah you gotta believe, you gotta believe
He wants you to see, He wants you to see
That you're not just some wandering soul
That can't be seen and can't be known
Yeah you gotta believe, you gotta believe that you
Are someone worth dying for
You're someone worth dying for
You're someone worth dying for
Sunday, September 11, 2011
photos
Thailand Outreach Photo Slide from clf815 on Vimeo.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
aching for Thailand
After calling Thailand home for three months, when I start to think about it
I can't help but REALLY miss it! Today I was missing things like...
customs lines. smoggy sun rises. meeting missionary families. passing out Thai Bibles. an elephant ride. shady internet cafes. laundromats. fitting 18 people in the bed of a pick up truck. skype calls. running around the Chaing Mai moat, early enough to see the monks collecting the offering from the shrines. eating rice for all three meals. grocery shopping at 7-11 and Tesco. the colors and smells of the markets. language barriers. bad coffee, but good enough. baht. church services on the cement floor of an four wall church. Karen grandma's. being offered fanta in a dirty plastic cup. battery powered house electricity. nick names. cold showers, even if hot was an option. mountains. hand motions. song-tow adventure rides. learning. growing. sleeping in a bamboo hut. hospitality. sights and sound of the Burma & Thai border. alive churches. worship in Thai. lights & sights of Bangla Road. putting Satan in his place, before going into the bars. seeing the look on a refugee/orphan's face when she was told she was beautiful. living simply. being the minority/sticking out. roof top worship. sweaty bus rides. crowded streets. torrential rain. smoothies. long church services. the kids. trying to teach English in a creative way. walks to the corner hut for mystery snacks. speaking in church services with translators. bug bites. playing UNO with sponsored kids. MANGO. bucket showers with chickens and pigs. Starbucks for bar ministry intercessions. being faithful in the little. the sight of Phuket from a plane window. live monkey's. secret beaches. hill tribes. motor bikes. street vendors. fashion. uni students. the lady at the cafeteria bakery. wild dogs. won gen. hiking backpacks. seeing so many white tourist men. plastic chairs. Sa-wat-dee Ka / kob-khun Ka. culture sensitivity. trying and trying again to use chop sticks. avoiding spice. seems crackers. bumpy bus rides. seeing God move in Thailand.