According to the CDC, HIV is defined as "the human immunodeficiency virus. It is the virus that can lead to acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS. CDC estimates that about 56,000 people in the United States contracted HIV in 2006. HIV damages a person's body by destroying specific blood cells, called CD4 T cells, which are crucial to helping the body fight diseases". HIV is primarily spread by not using a condom during sex with a person who has HIV, unprotected anal sex is riskier than unprotected vaginal sex, among men who have sex with other men, having multiple sex partners or the presence of other sexually transmitted diseases can increase the risk of infection during sex, sharing needles, syringes or other equipment to prepare illicit drugs for injection, and being born to an infected mother (HIV can be passed from a mother to a child during pregnancy, birth or breast-feeding). The fist known case of HIV was from a man in the Democratic Republican of the Congo in 1959, how he contracted the virus is unknown. The only way to know if you have HIV is to be tested. It can take 10 years or more to show any symptoms. According to the CDC, at the end of 2006 it was estimated that 1,106,400 people in the United States were living with an HIV infection.
According to the UNAIDS, 33 Million people were living with HIV/AIDS in 2007:
30.8 were women
2 Million were children under the age of 15
2.7 Million people were newly infected with AIDS
2 Million died
22 Million were living in Sub-Saharan Africa
4.2 Million were in South and South East Asia
1.7 Million in Latin America
1.5 Million in Europe and Central Asia
1.2 Million in North America.
According to Avert, the stigmas, or social construction, dramatically affects the lives of individuals with HIV/AIDS. Stigma and discrimination refers to prejudice, negative attitudes, abuse and maltreatment directed at those infected with HIV/AIDS. They can be shunned by family, peers and the community, treated poorly in health care, employment, education and even housing settings, can cause psychological damage, and can negatively affect the success of testing and treatment. Stigma and discrimination exists worldwide, however may manifest themselves differently in various countries, communities, religious groups and individual. Factors that contribute are that HIV/AIDS is a life-threatening disease, which causes people to react in stong ways, it is associated with behaviors (homosexuality, drug additiction, prostitution or promiscuity, most become infected through sex which often carries moral baggage, it is often thought to be a result of personal irresponsibility, and some religious or moral beliefs can lead people to believe that it is a result of moral fault and deserves punishment.
Fear of HIV/AIDS stigmas and discrimination cause people to NOT seek proper medical treatment, which impact the spreading of the disease. So, what can we do? How can people's attitudes toward those infected with HIV/AIDS be changed? Proper education and knowledge of and individual's rights can help. What are some other ways? I would love to hear what you have to say. Please feel free to comment or message me.
Last Friday we found out the locations for outreach. They were India, Haiti/Dominican Republic, Mexico/Central America, and Philippines.
On January 11th I was let go from my job, the following day an earthquake devastated Haiti. I posted something on my Facebook status about trying to find away to go, a friend of mine told me her brother, who is on staff with YWAM, was taking a team and tried to connect me with the team. It ended up not working out, but I never gave up hope that I was going to Haiti. Friday, January 15th I got my acceptance to the photogenX DTS with YWAM in Kona, HI and knew there was a slight possibility that I would get to go to Haiti on outreach for three months, I knew it was a small possibility, but a possibility none the less.
Haiti had been on the list of places I had gotten from prayer from the very beginning. On Friday morning I had prayed again about where I was supposed to go. I got several other places, but Haiti was still at the top of the list. When Haiti went up on the board, I couldn't believe what I was seeing, I really thought it was a very slim chance that it would be an option, but there it was. Then I thought everyone would pick Haiti and not everyone would be able to go. Immediately I wrote down my first and second choices and dropped it in the box.
On Tuesday night we had a big party and the teams were announced and I'm going to Haiti!!! We have an awesome team. I will introduce them to you soon. We will be leaving at the end of June and spend most of the time in Haiti and a few weeks in the Dominican Republic. I wish I could share more about what we will be doing there but we don't know yet. As soon as I know more information, I will post it. I do know that photogenX is working on the second book for Voice for the Voiceless, which we will all be contributing through. I also believe that there will be some new projects coming out of our teams, please pray for wisdom and direction about what those might be.
A week from today, we have to have $2,500 of our outreach fees in. Outreach is expected to cost about $6,000. Currently I need all of the $6,000! I am confident that God will provide all that I need and more! He is so good and faithful! Would you consider partnering with me to reach the people of Haiti (and the Dominican Republic) with the Good News of the Gospel. The vision of photogenX is to use photography as a tool for cultural transformation so that issues such as gender based injustice will be issues of history instead of the future. photogenX advocates for those who cannot speak for themselves (a voice for the voiceless) and challenges the current global status quo. In addition photogenX seeks to capture the people and places of every nation in the world showing off their beauty but not masking their pain.
If you would like to partner with me on this mission and support me financially, there is a 'Donate' button on my blog page. Please feel free to contact me if you would like other options to make a donation.
Please join me in prayer for God to prepare the hearts of those we will be ministering to, for unity in our team, for all the preparation that needs to happen before we leave at the end of June, and finally that I get the $2,500 I need by May 6 and the remaining $3,500 when it is due.
Thank you for supporting me in prayer and financially! I am excited to see what God will do through all of our teams.
There has been a longing in my heart, an ache, an emptiness longing to be fulfilled, for a love I have never known. There has been a battle raging over my heart, something I could not understand. The lover of my soul, was seeking me, fighting for me, panting after me! I was running, running in the other direction, wanting desperately to be captured. I was blind to see what was right in front of me. I was deaf to hear his calling. I was numb to feel his touch, his love, his comfort. I was empty. I was stupid. All along what I desperately wanted, needed was right there! I have been struggling to surrender, to surrender my heart and everything I have held dearly, everything I have loved. A battle has been raging over my heart, something I could not understand. I have occupied my mind, my time and my heart with meaningless things. I have held closely things I desperately, desperately wanted and tried to release, but couldn't, no matter how hard I tried. Today I wept! WEPT! The King of our Universe wants to marry me, yes me! He wants to be my everything, my first Love, the reason I live, the Lover of my soul, the first thing I think of when I wake up each day, the last thing I think of before I go to sleep, and to be at the forefront of my thoughts all day long! Yes, the KING of our Universe, JESUS, our Lord and Savior, the King of all kings, the Messiah! Yes, I wept! I saw Him, our KING, down on His knees begging to be my bridegroom! His arms WIDE open, waiting, waiting ever so patiently for me to run to Him, for me to say "YES"! To say "YES, You are my Everything, my heart belongs to You and ONLY You"!!!! He is a jealous One, but He has waited ever so patiently! A battle has been raging over my heart, something I could not understand. A battle that has been won, a battle that is no more! I surrendered, I surrendered everything I have, everything I am, everything I ever wanted, everything I could possibly need, I surrendered it ALL, ALL of it to HIM! There is a peace that covers my heart. A revelation of a new love resides in and over me, a love that I will never let go! I FLING OPEN the door of my heart and let Him have control, let Him dwell in and consume my heart!
YES, I said YES!!!! What is your answer? Will you say "Yes" to Jesus, will you marry Him? Will you let Him be the ruler of your heart? Will you let Him capture every thought? Will you give it ALL up for Him?
Friday, April 23, 2010
What burdens your heart? Weighs heavy on it?
What are you doing about it?
What is God telling you to do?
Are you standing by doing nothing? Allowing an injustice to happen around you?
Are you embracing this very thing that you say burdens you?
Or are you taking action (whatever that may be to stop the injustice)?
Do you know God?
Do you hear His voice?
Do you obey it?
Do you desire to hear and obey it?
Does fear grip you so you cannot move?
What do you have in abundance that could be used to bless someone else? Or put an end to an injustice?
What is your 'true' heart's desire?
Do you know why you are here?
Are you living that out?
Or are you searching for some greater meaning in your life?
Do you know what it means to be loved? Do you want to know?
The book, Is That Really You, God?, is an incredible story of Loren and Darlene Cunningham’s journey of following the Lord, hearing the voice of God, and responding to His calling. There are countless stories of how Loren trusted the Lord in founding YWAM (Youth With A Mission). It all began when Loren, at age 13, heard God’s calling to “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature”, this is known as The Great Commission in Mark 16:15. Loren’s parents were missionaries and he began preaching immediately. His first sermon was on testing, little did he know how much testing he would go through over the next years in following the Lord’s calling and in founding YWAM. During one of his father’s sermon’s two years later, just after Loren’s 15th birthday, he was reminded of the verse in Mark “Go ye into all the world…” and sacrificed his dream of owning a souped-up Chevy and gave money that he had been saving to help buy a vehicle that would help a missionary halfway around the world. He finally saved enough money to buy the vehicle he dreamed of owning but something was stirring inside of him, something telling him that his life would be more than cars or keeping up with others. Three years later Loren went on a mission trip to Mexico with other youth and something inside him continued to germinate, something he didn’t quite understand.
Two years later, at age 20, Loren and three other young men formed a gospel singing quartet that brought them to the Bahamas, where a “unique experience of guidance there set the course for the rest of his life”. After meeting some teenagers doing missionary work on their own, Loren got a vision of all the continents and waves crashing on all the shores. As each wave went onto the continent, it receded and came up farther until it completely covered the continent. The waves he saw became young people preaching the Gospel. Loren began to question, “was that really You, Lord?” Then he began to notice a pattern of God speaking to him, giving him a distinct call, and then a testing would follow. It started small with a mission trip of 106 people to Hawaii, an office in his bedroom and some volunteer recruits. Two years after starting YWAM, Loren would meet Darlene, his helpmate, wife, and friend and they would continue the journey together. Loren was offered jobs by his well to do Aunt and had been a pastor, but never gave up on listening to the still small voice of God. On another trip to the Bahamas, just before marrying Darlene, Loren got a vision of the wave beginning in the Bahamas and began talking to local churches about doing a Summer of Service, in which they received an open invitation. While recruiting for this trip, they would meet some key people that would be instrumental in the YWAM journey.
It was during outreach that summer that Loren realized that many of us were in danger of not stressing properly one major part of the Gospel message, Jesus. Jesus told us to do two major things, love God with all our hearts souls, minds, and strength and teaching people to do that is evangelism. The second was to love our neighbors as ourselves; this means caring for people, as best we could. These two things “should be almost indistinguishable- so linked that it would be hard to tell them apart”. This would be key to Loren and Darlene’s ministry, to disciple young people and send them out to share the Gospel, the Good News about Jesus Christ, with the end of the world.
Loren and Darlene had to go through many lessons, such as: the key to ‘releases’, coming to God with a clean heart, multiplication of guidance, the danger of success, the man in the shadows, steps to hearing God, and many others. There were many challenges, testing’s, and a tremendous amount of faith required in the exciting story of YWAM. It gives me chills to think ‘what if Loren hadn’t listened to the insistent voice of God?’, especially as I sit here on the Kona campus in Hawaii, the very campus that was instrumental in a movement that has sent hundreds of thousands of missionaries out to share the Good News about Jesus. One of the lessons involved turning their focus from the Giver of the gift to the gift itself and required complete surrender to see God bless them abundantly, more then they ever imagined. One lesson that seemed like a failure, later turned into a lighthouse for the Pacific and Asia and founding University of the Nations in Kona, Hawaii, the very campus I am sitting on right now. An extremely important lesson they learned was that in hearing God’s voice, the most important thing is ‘Getting to know Him better’! Today YWAM has over 20,000 missionaries worldwide, in more than 1,100 locations in over 170 countries.
This year YWAM is celebrating 50 years in ministry and we had the awesome privilege of worshipping with Loren and Darlene here in Kona tonight.
Some of the things we learned this week about the character of God are:
IF we understand who God is, how can we express that through our talents and gifts? How can we express God’s character through a song, picture, and video, etc? There is something about the arts and opening places for the Gospel, music and photography, etc has often gone before others and opened up the door.
To say that God is love and do nothing about it does no good for anyone. Knowing about God does not make any change in our life or for the world unless it is followed by action.
We need to take what we know about God and put it into our lives and everything we do, especially interacting with the world and others.
Last week we talked about hearing and obeying God, in order to hear and obey, you need to ‘trust’, in order to ‘trust’ someone, you need to know their true character, not our distorted view. What we experience triggers our emotions and beliefs. What we believe affects our emotions and our behavior. We can wear sunglasses that distort what we believe about God (and others). What glasses do I have on? Am I wearing distorted sunglasses? By looking at our behavior, we can see what we believe about God. It is important to consider what happens to us and how that triggers what we believe about God?
We need to know God’s character because we need to know the ‘true’ God, NOT a distorted view. What we know and believe about God will affect and shape everything we do and think! Quote: “It is not our (way) to redefine God to fit an image that we prefer, it is our job to look at God and redefine who ‘we’ are!” Trust is increased, when you truly know someone’s character. The more intimate we know someone, the more we will know if what we hear about that person is true or not. If we don’t ‘know’ God and His character, then we cannot trust Him. Believing God takes faith. Knowing God’s character protects us from false teaching. We cannot ‘make God known’, if we do not know Him.
We talked about God being four things, Spirit (John 4:24), Light (1John1:5), Love (1John 4:8,16) and a Consuming Fire (Hebrews 12:28-29, Duet :24).
We spent a lot of time in prayer this week and saw God working in amazing ways. One day we stopped our lesson and prayed for guidance on what we were hearing from God, which turned into a time of worship and surrendering what we needed to. We all wrote down what we needed to surrender, stood in a circle outside on the grass and ripped up our papers and threw them out, surrendering them to God. I love the way our group, students and leaders, all stood in a circle, signifying the unity we have in Christ and the vulnerability of each person let their brothers and sisters see their brokenness.
This really stood out to me: IF GOD/JESUS believes in us, that we can be like Him, then we need to have faith that we can!!! Our challenge is to know and understand who God is. We have worth because that is how God sees us! We are not worthless, to be thrown out! Us ordinary people can become great! FIRST we have to understand who God is before we can move on. Part of this means understanding what compassion and mercy are and how different they both are. IF we are called, we have to believe we have what it takes, others may discourage us and likely it will require giving up much! God uses common people to do extraordinary work, after all the disciples were common people. How encouraging!
This weeks reading was in the Book of Matthew, chapters 8 through 14. I chose to reflect on the passage found in Mathew 14:22-32, where Jesus walks on water. Jesus tells Peter to come to him. Peter has faith in Jesus because he got out of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus, however when we saw the wind, he was afraid and began to sink. He cries out to Jesus, “Lord, save me”. When Peter saw the wind, he had taken his eyes off of Jesus. This is something I have to remember to do daily, to keep my eyes on Jesus, not to lose sight of the prize! Something new that Christian Fox, one of our school leaders, showed us was that Peter most likely lost faith in himself, and not in Jesus because he immediately calls out to Jesus and not the disciples or anyone else. So he knows that Jesus will save him. I’ve always looked at this passage as Peter took his eyes off Jesus and never thought about the fact that Peter lost faith in himself. It reminds me of how we can do nothing on our own, how much we need Jesus, not only for our salvation, but in our everyday life, in the little thing, in everything we do.
On week 1 Susi Childers, co-founder of photogenX, shared the story about Hakani. I can not do the story justice, but would encourage you to read my roommate, Dawn's blog.
AND then listen to the story online. It is WELL worth the listen! Listen to the podcast released 4/16 (Hearing and Obeying God's Voice, Part 5) about Susi's experience in the Amazon.
You can also watch the movie, however I would encourage you to listen to the podcast first.
Several of our teammates got to meet Hakani downtown and had pictures taken with her. Her story is such an amazing one and one of hope!
During worship last week, I was praying for a friend of mine, my eyes closed and completely focused on our Lord and Savior, something told me to open my eyes and I saw Hakani coming up to me to give me a hug, it made me cry. IF you listen to her story, you'll know why. I hope it blesses and encourages you as much as it did me!
During the three months here in Kona, we have a Gospel Challenge to learn Who Jesus is. We will be reading all four accounts of Jesus' life during our three month lecture phase. The hope is that through out these months the person of Jesus will be come so real to us that we cannot help but respond! We are to do justice in bearing the name "Christian" and pray that our lives be transformed daily! Following the death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ, a movement, know as The Way began to flourish, early on the roman civil authorities scornfully tagged Jesus followers with the name "Christian", meaning 'little Christ'. Being a Christian meant being like Jesus; following His way meant imitating the life of Christ, even to the cross. We are encouraged to know Christ better and better as we grow in faith. This week's readings were from Matthew chapter 1 through 7.
The people of Israel were waiting for the Messiah, their King, they were waiting for an earthly kind. Matthew shows us how Jesus descended from the line of David as a heavenly King, not an earthly one. Even at birth many recognized Jesus as King. Herold, the ruler at the time was afraid of Jesus and tried to stop Him. We need to recognize Jesus for who He is and worship Him accordingly. He is King of our lives.
I love how Peter and his brother Andrew, left their jobs immediately as fisherman to follow Jesus. He told them He would make them fishers of men. James and his brother John, immediately left their boat and father and followed Jesus too. Many people began to follow Jesus. While I've been a believer most of my life, I can honestly say that I did not 'immediately' leave everything and follow Him, I didn't even follow Him for many years. Leaving everything behind and moving to Kona for three months and going on outreach for another three, I feel like I can relate to what it means to follow Jesus and leave everything behind. For me this is not a short time thing, but a new way of life, as I plan (if it's God's will) to go into Missions full time. I also love how the bible gives us everything we need to live our lives today. In Matthew Jesus teaches us how to pray through the Lord's prayer. He teaches us about loving our enemies, giving to the needy, fasting, money, worrying and criticizing others.
There are several times in Chapter 6 that we are told to do things in 'secret', not to be showy and make it known to everyone that we are praying, fasting or giving to others. This is SO contrary to what the world teaches us, which reminds me just how important it is to read our bible, to be in the Word and to meditate on it. We are bombarded daily with images and taught to be successful and what that looks like, but that is NOT what God wants or calls successful. He wants us to LOVE others and to be obedient to Him. IF we are not in the Word and in 'community' with other believers, it can be easy to forget this and live by worldly standards. I do NOT want to live this way! I am so thankful and blessed to be part of a community that also wants to be obedient to Him!
Chapter 6:19-21 says "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on this earth. where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for ourselves treasures in eaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your hearts will all be." This passage is important to me. When I was doing a bible study about 7 years ago, God spoke to me through this passage and others and began changing my heart and perspective as He called me to full time ministry. It has made it easy for me to get rid of belongings, "STUFF" (stuff that weighs us down and keeps us from being in relationship with Him) and being to truly follow Him.
Chapter 7 talks about judging others, which is something God has been working on in me for many years, even this week. I felt convicted as I read this passage this morning and was reminded of some of the sin in my heart this week. So I pray that God would continue to reveal my sin to me and break me from this sinful nature of mine.
Today we watched some webisodes about Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery. One of them was on “A Global Search for Human Worth” (a link is included below at the bottom of this blog post). The Sex + Money team is working on a documentary to expose the abuse of sex and money in the United States. They have traveled across the U.S. to tell the untold story of human trafficking in the U.S. As part of the photogenX community (www.photogenx.net) we desire to both deepen our education and understanding as well as grow in our love for those affected by the global injustice issues of our day. We had to do some basic research and share our findings. I will warn you that the information presented here is fairly disturbing and I pray that we all take action to do something to stop it!
·300,000 are bought and sold for sex every year. This is enough to fill three, count them THREE, football stadiums!
·27 Million people are currently enslaved or trafficked
·In India the going rate for a cow is $400 and $30 will buy you a child
·12 Million children are trafficked globally every year
·It costs $0.50 to have sex with a child in Ethiopia.
·Sex with a girl in Thailand is $20
·Sex with a woman in Amsterdam is $70
·75% of all trafficked victims are sexually exploited
·81% of these are female
·Today 50% of the world lives in extreme poverty
·Every 3 seconds a child dies from preventable causes (This means that approximately 84 children will die during the time it takes you to read this blog post)
·This global slave trade is making $42 Billion Dollars a year
·What our generation allows, the next generation will embrace
Do we really want the next generation to ‘embrace’ this type of behavior and abuse? OR will we step up and DO SOMETHING?
Many of us have think that slavery was abolished many years ago and do not even realize it is very much happening today, right here in the Unites States. There are more slaves today then ever before. The average age of entry into prostitution is 11-12 years old. I’m sure you know someone 11 or 12 years old, think of their innocence at that age, now think of that innocence being taken/stolen from them. This breaks and burdens my heart and I pray that it does the same for you.
According to the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools, cases of human trafficking have been reported in all 50 states, and the victims can be children or adults, U.S. citizens or foreign nations, male or female. The U.S. government estimates that thousand of men, women and children are trafficked for sexual and labor exploitation purposes. “Sex traffickers target children because of their vulnerability and gullibility, as well as the market demand for young victims. Those who recruit minors into prostitution violate federal anti-trafficking laws, even if there is no coercion or movement across state lines.” Minor victims can be targeted through telephone chat-lines, clubs, on the street, through friends, and at malls, as well as through friends and after-school programs. This makes me utterly sick to my stomach!
A victim may:
Have unexplained absences from school for a period of time, and is therefore a truant
Demonstrates an inability to attend school on a regular basis
Chronically runs away from home
Makes references to frequent travel to other cities
Exhibits bruises or other physical trauma, withdrawn behavior, depression, or fear
Lacks control over her or his schedule or identification documents
Is hungry-malnourished or inappropriately dressed (based on weather conditions or surroundings)
Shows signs of drug addiction
Additional signs that may indicate sex-related trafficking include:
Demonstrates a sudden change in attire, behavior, or material possessions (e.g., has expensive items)
Makes references to sexual situations that are beyond age-specific norms
Has a “boyfriend” who is noticeably older (10+ years)
Makes references to terminology of the commercial sex industry that are beyond age specific norms; engages in promiscuous behavior and may be labeled “fast” by peers
To report a suspected incidence of Human Trafficking:
In cases of immediate emergencies, it is best to call your local police department or emergency access number.
You can report suspected trafficking crimes or get help by calling the national 24/7 toll-free Human Trafficking Resource Center at 1-888-373-7888. This center will help you determine if you have encountered a victim of human trafficking; identify local resources available in your community to help victims; and coordinate with local social service providers to help protect and serve victims so they can begin the process of rehabilitation and restoring their lives. When appropriate, the Resource Center makes referrals to local organizations that assist victims with counseling, case management, legal advice, and other appropriate services, as well as to law enforcement agencies that help trapped victims reach safety.
For sexually exploited or abused minors call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s (NCMEC) hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST to be connected with the most appropriate assistance in your area, or you can report incidents at http://www.cybertipline.org.
You can report suspected instances of trafficking or worker exploitation by contacting the FBI field office nearest you at http://www.fbi.gov/contact/fo/fo.htm or by contacting the Department of Justice’s Human Trafficking Office at 1-888-428-7581.
Now that you know this, what are YOU going to do? Do you want more information, please send me a message or go to www.freedomprojectinternational.com for some practical ways to help
Yesterday we began talking about Hearing and Obeying God’s voice and what it enables us to do, today we continued the lecture and heard God speaking in powerful ways! We started the morning with worship, if you read my blog yesterday, you’d know that we start every morning with worship, I absolutely love this and can get used to this everyday. Worship is right after our Jesus time, which allows us to spend some sweet time with our Savior, to quiet our hearts and to prepare our hearts for worship! I LOVE IT!!! My prayer this morning (which came from a song we sang) during worship is that I would NOT turn back, this world has nothing for me, that I will follow Him and only Him and leave it ALL behind. There is NO turning back. I will follow Jesus!
During the break before lecture began about 8-10 of us gathered on the grass outside our classroom and spent time praying for our finances, several of us still have money due for tuition and/or outreach. While one of the girls was praying, I received a vision of money raining down on us, actually pouring like a monsoon! It was almost TOO much, if that is even possible and knew that God was not only going to meet our needs but abundantly exceed them in ways we could never imagine. Let me back up to Monday and share a little about how God has been answering prayer this week. Dani is from Germany and came without any ability to pay his school or outreach fees, he wasn’t going to come, but Paul and Susi Childers, our co-founders and school leaders told him he needed to come, so with a huge leap of faith Dani came. Dani shared his story with the class on Monday and after lunch shared that someone had given him a generous donation to help pay his tuition. After praying during this morning’s break, Samuel was on his way to lunch and a lady stopped him and gave him a laptop. Samuel needed one! Dani received some money from two other people in his mailbox today and someone stopped him on campus and told him they wanted to support him! WOW…..what a HUGE encouragement and blessing! IF we let Him, our God, who is able, will richly and abundantly bless us! We also talked about some fundraising ideas to cover our school fees. One of the girls has a t-shirt business so we are planning to sell t-shirts here on campus and possible even at the farmer’s market, along with some other stuff. It has been amazing to see God answer prayer so quickly! We have two students and two staff members that don’t have cameras, but several individuals stepped up to lend extra cameras or parts to provide for those students and staff members! Being part of a community, a family that prays with and for each other, watches out for each other, shares with each other and loves on each other, is so incredible, words really cannot describe the awesomeness of it!
Some of the things I would like to share from the second part of the lecture on Hearing and Obeying God’s voice, when we hear and obey Him, He enables us to:
·Live with purpose! God is not interested in providing us with a plan or blueprint for our lives, but He IS interested in a relationship with Him. Often He doesn’t give us the whole plan but just the ‘next’ step. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to ‘Trust in the Lord with all of our heart, in ALL our ways acknowledge Him and He will make our paths straight!” When we do this and walk with Him step by step, one step at a time, we don’t need to know ‘exactly’ what to do…..we just need to walk it out WITH Him!
·Walk in Confidence! When He gives us the seemingly impossible tasks, we can continue to drive it because of the confidence of God’s word received in prayer.
·Break out of the box! We all live in some kind of box and we need to step out of those boxes and STOP living within our comfort box (zone)!
Hearing and Obeying God does NOT (guarantee):
·Immediate Success – often it brings persecution, not a warm, fuzzy feeling or an easy fun life. When we are doing God’s work and advancing His kingdom, satan will do EVERYTHING possible to stop it and discourage us.
·Pain free life – it could require ‘years’ of our lives to see through what God is calling us to do. IF we step forward and come under severe testing, DO NOT step out. God will uses and refines us through that process. We should embrace the test in order to be more like Christ. When we are tempted to be selfish we should learn generosity OR when we are angry, learn how to be kind and loving in that situation.
·Financial Success – often when we learn the lesson, God will provide.
·Blueprint – God often doesn’t lay the whole plan, step by step out for us, but maybe just the next step. This is against everything in our culture/generation, which wants to take the risk out of everything.
·A Good Reputation – people may think we are bad, not like or disagree with what we are doing, but we need to die to what others think and walk through it with God.
·Change – Do NOT use God to validate what we are feeling, our own preconceptions or desires. Many people only question God when things are bad, not when they are good. Often what God tells us the first time is what He wants us to do, however if we don’t like the answer we’ll pray for a different one or think that we didn’t hear God correctly.
We also looked at foundational principles and scripture to go along with these points and we looked up ways that God spoke in both the old and new testaments. God is not confined to speaking one way. Some of the ways that God has spoken in the past are: through angels, writing on the wall, through friends, a donkey, visions, plagues, prophets, audible voices, miracles, dreams, Holy Spirit, animals, parables, fulfilled prophecy, and so many more. If you would like scripture references to see any of these, I’d be happy to share them, just let me know.
We also talked about how we can hear God in conscience ways.
Tonight we had a time of Intercessory prayer and watched a video, which I am inserting below. We learned 10 principles important for effective intercessory prayer and how to use them. Then we split up in groups and prayed about what we heard God telling us. It was really neat to see how several groups heard the same things. We also asked God to show us His will or prayer for people in our group. It was amazing to hear the testimonies that came out of our prayer time. Please join us in praying for these things that came out of several different groups during the prayer time (these were common themes across several groups, which confirms God’s hand in what he shared with us):
·Pray for the men that go into brothels or are trafficking women and children, for the root of their sin and emptiness to be taken away. That God would heal them and that they would know how much God loves them despite the evil and pain they have caused.
·Pray as is says in Luke 2:11 that God would raise up more workers, people with compassionate hearts and seekers of justice.
·Pray that the children, who are victim, would have HOPE, a new HOPE that is only found in Jesus, that they would run to Him and be restored.
Please also pray for our team and leaders to seek and stay in God’s will, for protection from the evil one, to be broken and surrender completely to Him and for the finances to pour in!
Did you know that in India the going rate for a cow is $400 but $30 will buy you a chile? I pray that you are weeping as you watch this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjEFtjVMCHY and that you would take action and DO SOMETHING about it! Those who passively accept evil, by knowing what is happening and not do anything about it, cooperate or agree with it! PLEASE don’t be one of those people. God is increasingly burdening my heart for the victims of injustice and to step forward and DO SOMETHING! To learn more visit:
Praise God for the work He is doing in and through our team, leaders and others here at YWAM! It is exciting to be a part of advancing His kingdom. Thank you for the role you are playing in that, for walking this journey with me and for your support.
Sunday……was a pretty relaxing day! A day of rest for sure! J There are several local churches that run shuttles to campus to pick up students. Many of us had decided to go to one called The Solid Rock, however after standing out at the bus stop for about 40 minutes it was becoming clearer and clearer that the no one was coming so we opted to try The Living Stones Church, which was still running even though the service had started because there were so many of us waiting. The drivers were super nice and I was really thankful that they extended their trips to make sure we all made it there. The church is located right on the water, which was beautiful! It was a small building, which was jam packed and then they had a screen set up with chairs outside. I walked into town once to go to the farmers market and scored some organic super large avocados for a dollar each, then walked back with a group that got ice cream in the evening. I also took a bunch of nature pictures along the way.
Roomies
This is a picture of me with my roommates and the building we call home.
First Day of Classes
Today was our first day of classes, it was pretty amazing! I’ll walk you through my day, but first let me back up; yesterday we had a room meeting to talk about living in community. We have lights out at 11pm and quiet time until 6am, breakfast starts at 6:30am and 6 girls need to get ready in that half hour or so (not much time for girls, SO we came up with a shower schedule, 10 minute showers between 4 of the girls and Dawn and I chose to shower at other times during the day to make it easier. Luckily I don’t take much time to get ready. I woke up around 5:45am this morning, got out of my bunk about half an hour later, hoping to catch a quick shower because they actually started at 5:45am instead. I was in the shower at 6:25 and down to breakfast 10 minutes later. Breakfast usually consists of fresh pineapple or papaya, oatmeal and cereal.
Here’s a look at our schedule:
6:30-7:15 Breakfast
7:30-8 Jesus Time
8-9 Worship & Prayer
9-10:15 Lecture
10:15-10:30 Break
10:30-12 Lecture
12-1 Lunch
1-2 Skill Development/Photo Teaching/Small Group/Photo Assignment or Photo Development
Yes, we have a pretty full schedule! I’m excited though!
Philippians 3:13 talks about forgetting what is behind and straining to what is ahead, pressing on. Our first day of classes we were asked to share who we are, where we were fun, what we were leaving behind in terms of struggles, addictions, fears, etc so we can press on, and what we hoped to learn here. One of the staff members came up and gave us a lei and laid hands on us and prayed for each one of us. Other staff members would share visions they received and what they felt like God was telling us or had for us while we were here. Our group is represented by 9 different nations, so several people prayed in different languages, so cool! Christian Fox, one of the leaders for our school, shared with me the passage from Matthew 19:29 “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or motheror children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.” WOW….how powerful! There are almost 60 students and about 15 staff. The staff shared as well and we laid hands on them and prayed for them. It was such a neat and awesome experience! Each of us is exactly where we need to be, we are all here at this time for a purpose, we are all uniquely and wonderfully made! It was amazing that after only being together for a few short days, that everyone felt comfortable and opened up and shared some deep personal stuff! We are blessed to have some pretty talented leaders and students amongst us. The stories are pretty incredible.
We are getting TONS and TONS of exercise here, I love it! Three of us also started a P90X workout last night too. I’m feeling a little of the effects today, but loving it! :)
Second Day of Classes
This morning we finished testimonies and started lecture! POWERFUL, POWERFUL stuff! Paul Childers, the photogenX President and co-founder, spoke on “Hearing & Obeying God’s Voice”.
Here are some what God spoke through Paul:
·If we hear and don’t obey, we cannot be effective.
·Faith engages us to break away from ALL the boundaries that cripple us and enables us to walk into a new freedom.
·The world desperately needs people who will live for God, diametrically different then the world lives. We live in a world yearning to see the people of God released into the world, a world increasing suffering from injustice.
·One of God’s attributes is communication. He is ALWAYS communicating with us! BUT we cannot hear Him because of the distractions that we fill our minds with.
·When we turn our eyes upon Jesus, the things of this world grow strangely dim!
·Engage our minds to bring Glory to God!
·In Mark 8:27-38, Jesus says no one can be His disciple unless they pick up their cross and follow Him.
·That we need to position our selves to be in sync with God.
My prayer today is that I would:
·be in submission to God, in everyway, with everything in my life.
·that I would be self sacrificing with my finances, evangelism, spiritual discipline and relationships.
·that I would remove any distractions that prevent me from being synced with God.
·that I would be still and silent to hear Him.
·that I would step forward in the area of prayer.
·that I would be intentional in my relationships.
·completely surrender the area of finances for my support to Him.
·that God would release areas of bitterness within me.
SO……My work for two hours every day is event planning, little did I know what an important job this was going to be or what it was about. In late November YWAM is planning an Ultimate Celebration to celebrate 50 years. It will be six days here in Kona. They are expecting 3-5 thousand people to attend. Well, I get to help plan and coordinate it! WOW! What an HONOR!!! There are five of us assigned to this work duty and we get to work with some of the leadership here at YWAM! For more information about this event go to: http://YWAM50.com/kona
God at Work
On the plane ride from Phoenix to Kona, I met a guy coming to a school here on my flight, but didn’t really get a chance to talk to him. For the sake of protecting his identity, I will call him, Jon. Yesterday, I ran into Jon on the street in town and was presented with an opportunity to speak truth into his life through his invitation in something he shared with me. I cannot get into the specifics but challenged Jon with something and told him I would hold him accountable. Today I was looking for a space to relax and update my blog and Jon called out to me and shared that he did what I challenged him to; he shared this in front of several guys in his small group. Well, he didn’t really complete the challenge, but I believe he will. After their small group Jon stayed behind and prayed with a guy, I'll call Nick, that I met the first night. Nick is a ‘praying’ man. Every time I turn around I see Nick in prayer or laying hands on someone praying for them. Afterward Nick and I were talking and sat and prayed over Jon’s life. It was all God! I was moved and felt privileged for being a part of what God is doing in Jon’s life. Please join me in praying for Jon, for addictions in his life, for him to be open to hearing and receiving what God has for him here.
Well that’s all for now!
Much love and thanksgiving for your prayer and support,
