Laura Frankenfeld - The World Race 2006

Riding the Wave, The Next Leg

Mon, 13 Nov 2006 00:00:00 GMT

And now it's time... the last blog. How can I possibly wrap this up? Instead... I've made a decision. Nothing ends here... it's simply the next leg of the Race.

Now we get the adventure of keeping alive the friendships that started here...

We get the adventure of partnering with our teammates wherever they go around the world...

And we get to learn to lean on a family that spans the entire world...

The word goodbye may slip my lips a few times over this next week... but it will not rest in my heart. We have formed a family that will rest in our hearts and never leave. Even if we don't speak to our teammates for 6 months... they are lifelong teammates... lifelong family. No matter where we go... what we do... we have a group of 22 people who are behind us 110%. That's never a doubt again. We are family forever... this life and the next.

The phrase "returning home" may be spoken a few times this week, but it is simply not true. We have changed. Home has changed. We didn't realize in January that this was the point of no return. Never again would we be able to meander through life, simply existing. We never realized that home really did survive without us... it even flourished. So there is no return... there is simply the next leg... the next adventure to be started. We have new mountains to scale, and new valleys to experience. There are ministries to be started and relationships to be built.

And then one day we cross the real finish line... The real Race is finally over. Then it doesn't matter who came in first or last... who won which leg. We cross together and finally truly return Home - the place we belong. But until then...

"Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us."
Hebrews 12:1

Racers... thank you for being such a great cloud of witnesses around me... it is a pleasure to run with you. There will never be another First Year... and there could never have been a better group. I love you...

This is Laura... Signing off.

Riding the Wave, Ministry Update

Tue, 31 Oct 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Well... the last two weeks have been a whirlwind of ministry! Sorry for the lack of updates... we've been busy little beavers! Let's see if I can't rewind a bit and catch you up on where we've been...

First, we split into two groups. It was a pretty even split with the South Africans forming one group and the Americans forming another. Liesl did join us Americans to keep the flavor :). The South Africans went to Adelaide to help with some manual labor projects at a Bible school. We returned to Uitenhage to do another week of Beat the Drum with Grade 10s. These guys were awesome. They are way too cool to be stuck in a classroom all day... and completely confused about life in general while trying to maintain this front. I loved it. Casey and I taught together and through a lot of blunt honesty we broke through a lot of barriers and talked honestly. Most of the guys wrote us letters indicating they were already sexually active. At the beginning of the week many had no desire to change that fact. Many of the girls wrote us letters about the amount of peer pressure they were facing to give up their virginity and how lonely they felt in their purity. However... by the end of the week half the class ... guys and girls... stood together at the front and pledged purity and to help each other maintain their purity!!!!

The last day of class was really special for me. There was a guy nicknamed Shaky in our class who intrigued me. He was quiet and stuttered anytime he did open his mouth. Despite his large size (think well-built linebacker) he was extremely gentle. Perfect target for high school teasing, right? So the intriguing part was that he commanded the respect of the class. When he spoke everyone else shut up and listened. When he was into something so was everyone else. When he wasn't, no one was. And he was a thinker. Where the rest of the class would make emotional decisions and quick responses he really thought about things and came up with real and deep answers. The last day I had the best conversation with him.

When we "gave the call" to make a purity commitment, Shaky didn't come to the front. Casey stood before those who came forward and spoke to them. I watched Shaky. He sat at his desk with his head down and deep furrows in his eyebrows. But when the front began to read aloud their commitment, Shaky said it with them. Shortly after the purity commitment we shared the Gospel. Casey told the story of Jesus. Most of the class nodded "Yeah... we've heard this." But Shaky stared at her and listened intently. We asked for questions after and everybody just sat there "No.... Let's get this over with." But then Shaky spoke up. He asked about sin and wasn't convinced he had any. A quick overview of the Ten Commandments fixed that :) . But he continued to have many questions. We decided to meet with him after class. So after we said our goodbyes, I motioned for him to come with me. We sat on the sidewalk outside one of the classrooms and began to discuss things. We talked through sin, salvation, heaven, grace for making it through life, and God's great plan for us. Shaky did not make a decision to become a Christian that day... but I saw something in him that blessed me a ton.

I saw that what we said that week sunk in. This wasn't just another sex ed class. This was truth that went deep into him. I knew that what we said there didn't fall on deaf ears. But I saw a seed land on a good soil. Here's a man who doesn't simply accept whatever he's fed, but who chews on something until he knows it's truth to swallow. I have faith that God will grab hold of this one and do something big. Pray with me that this seed will be watered and grow into all that it's meant to be!

We left Uitenhage among teary goodbyes and traveled 6 hours to Ugie where we hosted a weekend camp for Grade 7s. This was awesome. Gary and Chad preached on the theme The Quest. We focused everything towards "You are a soldier in the army of God." We talked through the Unseen War raging around us, God's Choice of Us as His soldiers, The Great Invasion (aka the Cross), and Equipment for the Battle. We also had a special Girl's night where we taught on the art of being a Warrior Princess. That weekend the entire group - about 70 kids - all surrendered to God's call for their lives!!!

After camp we drove a little ways longer and met up with the whole group again. We piled into an UCSA house and got ready for some more Beat the Drum. This time would be a little different though. Beat the Drum came to this area a while back and after the first program some local people pledged to continue the program there despite their lack of resources. Pat and Nicola have pledged their time and money to taking the message to the school and the community and helping local AIDS victims. However... they do all this with no resources. They have no vehicle so they only reach schools within walking distance. And since they walk, they have no way to carry video equipment, even if they did have it. So they teach without the help of the movies. We came to support them for a few days. With the help of our resources (vans and videos) we took the movie to the schools and prepared the foundation for these guys to come back and teach. It was a whirlwind, getting as many movies shown to as many schools as possible.

Next we took a bumpy road trip to the Wild Coast - named because it's one of the few areas left undeveloped. The people still live in small round huts with straw roofs and eat what they grow. And it's simply one of the most beautiful places in the world. We rested here and soaked up as much of God's creation as we could. This is one of those places that we'll dream about when normal life becomes mundane again. We planned to do some door to door outreach there, but the weather didn't cooperate. We may try to do an outreach here in Jeffrey's Bay depending on the debrief schedule.

So now here we are back in Jeffrey's. We are going to attempt to debrief this year and come up with some plan to enter "normal" life again. Somehow I don't think it's really possible. One of Seth's mottos is "Wrecked for the Ordinary." Yup... definitely think that happened! With all these experiences and all the things God has done, normal life will never satisfy again. Praise God!

Riding the Wave, A Grommet Is Born

Tue, 31 Oct 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Almost exactly one month ago the Lord called me to The World Race. During my prayer times He kept saying one phrase over and over "Ride The Wave." He explained that christianity is like jumping in the ocean and letting the wave of His will take you whever He goes. Hence, the birth of the blog title.

Water has been our regular friend this year. We boated across Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. We raced to the Pacific in LA. We watched the lights of Hong Kong over the other side of the Pacific. We lived in the middle of the Indian Ocean in Thailand, taking frequent dips to escape the heat or catch a little dinner. Some were crazy enough to jump in the freezing river of Bosnia while the ones with a little sanity waited for the warmer saltiness of the Adriatic in Croatia. We camped our way on ferries across the Mediterranean and followed the Nile to our Egyptian compound. We made it to the beautiful Indian waves of Jeffrey's Bay and in a few days we will dip our toes in teh freezing cold Atlantic of Cape Town. Having visited SO many waves I have finally achieved something.

I have surfed.

I have been around the world with 2 amazing surfers. chad has been telling me stories of Surf P.E. for 2 hours every morning and having water drool out his nose onto his homework during class. Lloyd has long been labelled Mr. Surfer having walked the beaches of SA for 3 months, making the waves his home. I talked to both these guys at the beginning of the year, deciding at the first chance they would teach me to surf. After many waves the "just weren't right" all around the world, we finally found them at the Wild Coast of SA. Lloyd gave me my first lesson and we hit the water!

I don't know that you can really grasp what a big deal this is. Being a deep West Texas girl for life, waves are something those Houston people talk about. It takes a day-long drive just to see water that's not collected in a man-made tank. And surfing? I think I might have seen someone do that on Baywatch once. So when I say I surfed, don't get any grand imaginings of standing on your board as you ride above the dolphins into the shore. I think I made it up to my knees twice before immediately falling off. But hey... we all start somewhere, right?

The best part of the day was the way being on my board in the middle of beautiful waves gave experience to all the things I've learned this year. I can't go into full detail (got to save something for the book!) but the lessons this year make much more sense.

For example many people jump in the ocean and play in the waves. Everyone's welcome and it's usually a good experience. But few will surf. Surfing takes training, discipline, and can cause a lot more pain. In the same way, many people hear the salvation of the Lord and accept Him. But how many do we see fully surrender themselves to the Lord, being trained up and used in His service. To many that cost is too high and seems to involve too much pain. Or another lesson early a surfer doesn't decide where the wave goes - how high, how far, where it begins or ends. A surfer must simply see the wave and go with it. We as Christians are called to see the wave of God and simply jump on top. We don't decide where the Lord takes us to when we leave there. We simply go when and where He says, being His hands and feet in whatever manner He desires. Just obedience.

The most recent lesson came like this. A surfer isn't a surfer just at the ocean. You can take a california surfer-dude and put him on top of the Appalachian Mountains and something just isn't right. You can recognize a surfer anywhere - even outside the right setting. Theyt dress, talk, and act like surfers. It's a lifestyle. We, as ministers of the Gospel, should be the same. It's not about being int he remote villages of Africa or travelling around the world with the title "missionary." It's about a lifestyle. We should stick out in the world because we aren't residents here. We belong in our own world - not just a certain region of the world or a certain subculture, but a "new heaven and a new earth." And until there, we'll stick out. At least we should

I plan to ride some more waves here in Jeffrey's. I want to make it to my feet at least once! And though the trip is winding down, there are many more lessons to learn and "waves to ride." After all, it's a lifestyle!

Riding the Wave, Beat the Drum Week 1

Sat, 14 Oct 2006 00:00:00 GMT

We have completed Beat the Drum at one school now and are taking the weekend off in Jeffrey's Bay before going back for Week 2 at a new school.

It has been such a privilege to be with these kids! We met with them for about 30 minutes every day and shared as much Truth as we could pack in. Truth about AIDS. Truth about Values. Truth about God. Truth about what He thinks about them. Truth about His plan.

I am incredibly thankful for my testimony right now. I didn't lead your good Christian girl lifestyle for a really long time and God rescued me from much. Now that I am with these guys, I'm thankful for the story. As I was talking with the girls on Thursday I knew I wasn't really connecting with any of them. So I said this...

"I have been thinking this week what you must think about me. 'Here's some white American chick, coming into my school. She don't know my life. She don't know what I go through. She just don't know.' And you know what? You're right. I don't know your stories. I don't know your life. So I thought maybe I could share my story with you so you can see where I've been."

I then shared my testimony... and suddenly there was a connection. These students realized that I hadn't been in there shoes, but my shoes weren't that different. By Friday we were all sad to leave... I hope many of them will come by the church to visit next week!

Praise God with us for what He has done in one week. We spoke to about 200+ kids. They each had the option to choose abstinence. And over 50 kids also chose to give their lives over to Jesus as well! Pray with us that He will complete the work He started this week and rescue these children from the lifestyle that surrounds them. Also pray with us for the upcoming week that God will continue to use Beat The Drum to awaken these children to the Truth of His Love.

Riding the Wave, Beating AIDS in Africa

Sat, 7 Oct 2006 00:00:00 GMT

I've heard about it since middle school... The AIDS crisis in Africa... but it's always been so far away. I never knew anyone with AIDS. I never even knew anyone from Africa. I never thought I'd be in Africa. I definitely never thought I would be teaching AIDS awareness and Abstinence to South Africans. Funny how God works...

For the next two weeks we are working with a program called Beat the Drum. BtD goes into schools (where Jesus is still allowed to be taught) and shows a movie the first dayabout a boy who's parents die of AIDS. He then goes into the city to find another relative and to earn money to help out his grandmother. This movie addresses the issue of AIDS... something they don't talk about publicly. The rest of the week teaches the reality of AIDS and that abstinence is the only prevention.

We in America probably don't realize the scope of this project. The lies these children believe are huge and the repercussions of those lies are vast. For example... one myth we will expose is that "If I sleep with a virgin I will be cured of AIDS." Sounds ridiculous, right? But in reality there are men raping babies because of this myth. Nope... not a joke.

Not only will we expose the myths and lies about AIDS, but we will begin imparting values. The movie addresses issues of courage, faithfulness, and respect, in addition to the issue of purity. We have an entire day where the guys will take the guys off and us girls will teach the girl students about their self-worth. That their value is as a person, not just a sex object. We will share God's love.

A large struggle will come from our mindset. In these cultures, accepting Christ is not an automatic decision to purity. We must present an abstinence decision separate from a salvation decision. We will need the guidance of the Holy Spirit in a very real way to present both these decisions in an effective way. That's where our prayer partners come in!!!! You are very necessary now!

We are completely inadequate for this project. We are entering into situations we could've never dreamed of. Teachers who rape students are common. Unfaithful fathers are more normal than a happy marriage. Girls don't plan their weddings... most say they don't want to get married because their idea of marriage is so screwed up.

Pray with us for Africa... pray for the crisis we are facing... pray that this entire continent will recognize that Jesus' standard of living is the only answer...

Riding the Wave, Easy Racer

Fri, 6 Oct 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Hello from Jeffrey's Bay!

The Brown Team (minus one) has safely arrived in Jeffrey's Bay to begin this month's ministry. Minus one because our precious Kim stayed in Johannesburg to spend some time with her family, since most of them are all together for the first time in a long time. They will celebrate Christmas in October and then she will meet up with us again at the end of this month. We love and miss her a ton!!!

So we all raced to get here... though... in true Brown Team fashion... we were quite creative! All the four other teams found great deals on rental cars and drove themselves from Jo'burg to the pier at Port Elizabeth. However... us Brown Teamers didn't find a great deal so we ended up getting bus tickets to take a LOOOOOONG bus ride here. Luckily, that did mean we got to sleep in and get some more things done around town before we left that afternoon.

As I sat in the barn at Alabanza (the base in Jo'burg) Anna-Marie came in and asked where the team was... "in town" said I. She said, "Oh... well, I have a question... Why don't you guys just take the penalty and fly with me since you are going to lose anyway?" We worked out the price difference and for just a nickel and dime more we could arrive in Port Elizabeth at the same time as the other teams, rested, and ready for ministry. Sounds like a plan to me! So we quickly threw all our stuff in bags, jumped in the truck, and headed to the airport with Anna-Marie.

When we arrived we learned that only the Lime Team had arrived and we might beat all the other teams to the pier. The others had all "heard" we were taking the bus so they weren't expecting us to be there at all. We thought it would be really funny to be sitting on the pier when they arrived all nonchalant like we had really won! As we drove up we looked around for the Lime Team, scheming for a way to sike them out. But... to our surprise... here came the Yellow Team running up the pier! They had seen our luggage in the van and went to beat us to the pier. It was Taj Mahal deja vous.... except this time we had already lost ;-) We raced up there... of course losing to the ever-in-shape Yellows... and congratulated them on their arrival. We then got the pleasure of shocking the Red and Blue at our early arrival. It was fun... and we are all thankful to be rested and ready for ministry.

This weekend we are training for Beat the Drum - a school program to teach kids about abstinence and how much God treasures them and has a plan for them. It is a privilege to be in a country that keeps God in schools... I'm excited to take advantage of the opportunity. Then next week we will travel to local schools to share the Beat the Drum program and speak with the kids. The next week seems to be door to door ministry and some manual labor.

Please continue praying with us as we push forward through these last weeks of ministry. We are believing God for great opportunities and a strong finish to an amazing year. Thanks for all your prayers, support, comments, and most of all love.

We Love You Too!!!!

Wed, 4 Oct 2006 00:00:00 GMT

To the cutest class ever!!! We love you guys too!!!!

Just had to share with the world how awesome Paul's Mom's class is. It's pictures like this that get us around the world :)

Riding the Wave, We Have Arrived

Wed, 4 Oct 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Hey everybody... just a short note to let you all know we've arrived in South Africa. We had a great few days at Alabanza with the First Year Missionaries (a great AIM program) and Kim K's family. We've had a few braai's (barbeque for us Texans!) courtesy of the South Africans and some great times. We just arrived back in Johannesburg after an overnight Safari outside town. Check out everybody's blogs for some super awesome pictures! We saw hippo, rhino, wildebeast, elephant, giraffe, and lion all up close and personal! Plus a bunch of other things that I don't know the names of... but we have it all written down!!!

Bright and early tomorrow morning we race to Port Elizabeth for a month of ministry there. Wish us luck and great travels!!!

Riding the Wave, A Psalm to Cleanliness

Wed, 27 Sep 2006 00:00:00 GMT

A Psalm to Cleanliness

Shampoo is my friend and my comforter
Whom shall I fear?
Soap is the restorer of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?

When African dust assails me
To eat up my flesh
The worms and parasites
It is they who stumble and fall

Though trash piles rise around me
My heart shall not fear
Though flies rise at my smell
Yet I will be confident

One thing have I asked of the Lord
That I will seek after
That I may shower again in the future
To rinse away the layers of Kibera
And to smell like a girl!

I believe I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of South Africa!

Wait for the shower;
Be strong and let your body take courage;
Wait for the shower!!!

hehehe... I really do love this place. The people are great and the ministries amazing... but Man! I want a good shower!!!!

Riding the Wave, The Problem of Wealth

Sun, 17 Sep 2006 00:00:00 GMT

"He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income, this also is vanity."
Ecclesiastes 5:10

As we have walked around Kibera, sharing the Gospel and encouraging the believers, we've run into one central problem - Money. No one has enough... everyone needs more. Unfortunately, our white skin sticks out and screams wealth to the people of Kibera. We've become beggar magnets.

And to a certain extent... it's true. My old lifestyle was probably double or triple the price of the lifestyle around here. My old lifestyle was incredibly extravagant in comparison. I can understand why these people come to us...

I have never lived under a roof that leaked when it rained. I have never gone without a meal because I couldn't afford anything to eat. I have never chosen my toy from a pile of garbage. I am well provided for, thanks to wonderful family and friends whom God regularly provides through. I have never known true want like we live among here.

But I have learned something here. You don't have to "know want" like Kibera to have money problems. We went to a wealthier (as compared to Kibera), westernized church today and heard a sermon all about money. Even the people of this church.... who all have houses, electricty, running water... all their needs and wants... aren't satisfied. They are spending weeks and weeks learning how to earn money, save money, and increase their wealth.

So whether you are an unemployed single mother in Kibera or a wealthy land owner in Nairobi the theme song remains the same... Never satisfied...

And in comparison what does God offer? What is my response to this? What do I do with the beggar on the street and the rich man in church? God has the same message for all...

"Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David."
Isaiah 55:1-3

Is this a promise of God to provide wealth for all those who accept Him? What is rich food? What is this nourishment that causes the soul to live?

It's the message of Christ. Christ came among the poor and the destitute. Christ came among the rich and the affluent. And He came with one message... "You need Me." That has to be my message too... I can provide a loaf of bread that will last a few meals or I can provide the bread of life which lasts through eternity. By God's grace sometimes I can provide both. But the latter definitely carries the weight of importance.

"Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you'." Hebrews 13:5

That's the key right there. That's the message.... He's Alive! He's here. And He wants to be with you forever. That's my mission... that's my message. And that's my hope for all eternity. When I stare real poverty in the face, knowing that my feeble efforts may barely make a dent in the real problem... that message gives me hope. And that hope is easily shared. That is the "rich food" that can sustain any family much longer than a loaf of bread. That is true "sustenance". That's why I'm here.

Riding the Wave, Undeserved Grace

Sun, 10 Sep 2006 00:00:00 GMT

I have thought a lot these past few days about the first few months I started doing street evangelism at clubs around Abilene with Jesus Crew Street Ministries. I remember just standing next to Jose, our leader, or any "seasoned" Crew and learning from them and hearing their ways to begin conversations. I remember countless conversations with other Jesus Crew members, going over the ten commandments and where to take the conversation after that or how to answer some typical questions. I soaked it up. I always wondered if it really worked though. The soil can be hard around Abilene, and I never really got to be a part of someone truly coming to Christ from the street.

Here in Kibera we have joined up with some local pastors and are going from door to door doing evangelism and praying for the sick and hungry. Most of the people we have met have heard the story of Jesus in some way... but somehow they never realized how much they need Him. We come in, ask about their relationship and walk, and have had the opportunity to pray with many to receive Christ. I have to confess, I've been convicted many times - Why did I only do this once a year in Abilene during our big outreach? Sure, America is a different culture, but Jesus is just as effective.

Well yesterday we did a big open air event. We set up on a market corner and started with the pastor's leading in worship songs to draw a crowd. Then we performed a couple dramas portraying Jesus' saving power and shared testimonies. Kim and Friske shared their testimonies. Then Gary got on the mic and presented the Gospel and salvation to the crowd. Even before the preaching began we had people tapping us on the shoulder saying "please... I want to receive Jesus." At one point, Gary said he looked around and every single one of us was in a conversation with an African telling them about Jesus. God was incredibly gracious.

Personally... I got to have three amazing conversations.

First was a man completely drunk who came up to me and a local pastor. Very reminiscent of Jesus Crew days outside the clubs :) He said he wanted to repent in front of the crowd and receive Jesus in his heart right now. The preaching had just begun. So after a lot of translation issues, I finally realized that he thought salvation came from us or from the pastors. I had the opportunity to explain that it was between him and Jesus alone and that he didn't have to wait for the preaching to finish. He didn't have to follow my special words or even speak English. I explained that he only needs to tell Jesus he is a sinner, ask for forgiveness, and ask Jesus to come in... Use whatever words he wanted. The man bowed his head right there and received Jesus. During the altar call he went up and connected with local pastors to find a church near him where he can begin discipleship and to walk in freedom from alcohol.

As I finished with that man, another said "hello... what's going on here?" I explained who we were and what we were doing and asked if he was saved (the traditional way to ask if a person has truly accepted Jesus). He said he used to be a Christian but had walked away. For the next 30 or 45 minutes we discussed the prodigal son story and why life with Jesus is not perfect, but is better. I had the opportunity to really dig deep and help him realize that life could end right now and he would not go to heaven. I also got to answer so many questions about a Christian's walk here on earth. It was a privilege to really see him struggle through this and have the Holy Spirit tugging at him. Eventually, I looked at him and said "Do you want to come back to the Father's House? Do you want to lay down your life, take on Jesus, and accept him in your heart?" He said Yes!!!! Again, he prayed in Swahili and I got a local pastor to connect with him as well!

Then... the third story. As the last guy connected with the pastor, I stepped back in awe of how amazing God was. Then the pastor brought a teenage boy up to me, put him in front of me, and said "He's not saved. You should talk to him." The boy looked at me with this deer in the headlights look :) The pastor asked him a few questions in Swahili and I began praying "Lord?!?!?! What do I do?? This is a completely unnatural situation. How do I start the conversation?!?!?" And then it happened.... Jesus Crew 101 all came back :) All those late nights spent listening to Jose and reading through methods about helping people they were sinners and realizing the enormity of what Jesus did for them. It was seriously like a textbook situation. I started with "What do you know about Jesus" and he had the basics. So we started with the 10 commandments... what would he say before God's throne... how we are called to perfection and have fallen drastically short... and how Jesus comes into that picture to take our place. We went through all of it and in the end he accepted Christ as well!!!!!!!

3 for 3! These harvest fields are ripe with low-hanging fruit! I am so thankful for the way God used Jesus Crew in Abilene to prepare me to be here. I'm definitely on the bandwagon that every Christian needs time on the street... it's preparation for an on-purpose life like no other :) Please keep praying with us for Kibera. We still have 2 weeks here of daily evangelism and encouraging the church. God has HUGE plans for this place and we are privileged to be a part of it!

p.s. Tomorrow is Friske's birthday!!! Be sure to send her comments and e-mails!!!

Riding the Wave, Richness

Fri, 8 Sep 2006 00:00:00 GMT

I have never wanted to come to Africa. I've heard amazing stories, seen great pictures, and been inspired by what the Lord has done here. But nothing inside me ever wanted to come for a visit. First of all, it's a hot desert, right? And all the people live in the bush and hunt lions!

At some point you realize just how incredibly ignorant you are as far as the rest of the world.

Africa is amazing!!! I thought these last three months I could survive on memories from earlier this year. Little did I know that I was only about to add decorations to the icing on the cake!

We started our African leg with quite the adventure. If you haven't checked out the other blogs... Go to Kim Kinsley's blog titled The Humour of Our Lord ... she's got the whole thing written out and great pictures.

This past week we have had a blast together with the Red Team. We have combined forces, while commissioning Sarah Rinn and Jessica Sisson off to Tanzania, to work here in Kibera. Our first few days we were joined by the Blue Team before they headed off to Uganda. It's been a great unity builder for all of us to live and work together for those first few days. We miss you Blue!

Here at the AIM base we have made some awesome friends. Mark, Shelley, and Lillian are Canadians ministering here with a group called Drime - a drama ministry that writes, develops, performs, and teaches incredibly powerful dramas. They have a long history with AIM and most AIM trips are equipped with more than one Drime drama for outreach. Mark, Shelley, and Lillian are here helping equip a Kenyan branch of Drime and build up local leadership. Not only that, but they have helped us get oriented and set up into ministry as well!

We have made connections with a branch of Calvary Evangelical Church here... specifically the Blue House. We visited their church on Sunday and met Pastor Mike who volunteered to work with us here. Monday we went out with him and two of their church plant pastors in order to do door to door evangelism around the locations of the new church plants. In just a few short hours we had blessed local believers and shared the gospel. God totally poured out on Gary and Katherine with Pastor Jackson and they had the privilege of seeing 5 salvations!!! On our first day out!

We made plans with Pastor Mike to continue going around with him and his connections and even planned an open air outreach for Saturday. Under the great direction of Ashley Musick, acting talent of Brown and Red combined, and a little bit of creativity from me... we will perform some incredible dramas, share our testimonies, and present the Gospel in every possible way this Saturday. Every afternoon we will continue to go door to door and encourage the believers, pray for the sick and poor, and share good news with those who need to hear.

It's such a privilege to be among (as Gary put it) low-hanging fruit. We have been seed planters for many months now, and it is lifting all our spirits to see the fruit of seed planting. The church here is powerful and we are encouraged by them regularly. Praise God for being so faithful in a place I never expected!!!

I could definitely come back here.... definitely :)

Riding the Wave, From Africa to Africa

Fri, 1 Sep 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Geography teachers around the world would pull their hair out being around us. We have recently discussed the humor in our conversations concerning upcoming travels. We are continually asked, Are you excited to head to Africa? But wait... Aren't we in Africa right now? And yet when we wake up tomorrow morning we will definitely be in a whole new world!

So yes. I am excited. We have talked about "When we get to Africa" since the beginning of this year. Something about this continent just sparks the imagination and expectations. What is in store for us? Who knows! I am reminded of the beginning of this year when we were in Palenque discussing the upcoming journey to Guatemala.

There was excitement.

It's a new country! A stamp in the passport! We'll get to know these crazy South Africans that just showed up!

There was fear.

Will our cars make it? What will it be like to cross a border that is not America? What will our ministry look like? Did we learn enough Spanish to make it without a translator now?

There was hope.

We have learned something in our time in Mexico and now can do even better!

Over the past few months we have laughed at the complacency we have in our travels these days. I remember the months of preparation before I went on a short term trip before. We labored in every way possible to be prepared. Now... preparation? Ehhh... what's that? I didn't know when our flight left until yesterday!

But something of the original excitement has returned as we head to Kenya. Why? I really don't know. But I like it. We are still pretty complacent and flexible in our travels... but I think that's because we've realized that it's a lot easier than most people think.

I think a lot of my excitement comes because Kenya played a large role in me coming on this trip. A good friend of mine, Kayla, works as an FYM leader in Kibera, Kenya (where we are headed). She came home one summer between FYM semesters and as we rode in a van together to hang out with our old college group she shared the "new vision" of World Race with me. From that conversation, Jessica and I began to pray and hear the Lord calling us to this Race. Now... 8 months and a whole lot of growth later, I'm headed to Kayla's home.

Not to mention Jessica and I should get to see our Peace Corps friend Brent while we're there!!

Europe and the Middle East has been quite an experience. I have a huge respect for the workers God has called around here. It's definitely not a job I would want to jump at. The anti-religious attitude of Europe and the Islamic stronghold of the Middle East make this place hard territory. And yet we have learned a ton and grown a ton here. I'm thankful to have come ... but ready for something new.

Rumor has it we will have an internet cafe not too far from the AIM base in Kibera.. so will be in touch from there!!!! Thanks for the prayers for our travels!

Riding the Wave, Community

Tue, 29 Aug 2006 00:00:00 GMT

"And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those wh were being saved." -- Acts 2:42-47

Before Jessica and I left for this trip, we were part of God establishing a young professionals Bible study in our city. We called it 20/20, as our desire was to see clearly the vision of the Lord. When we began, we met together once a week and started to get to know each other. We would have some snacks and hang out and study together. After not very long, things changed. We began to know each other... and like each other! We wanted to hang out all the time. We started to call each other for lunch... and dinner! We really became community. We also realized that we had something rare among us. Something most people look for their entire lives and never find... something others needed to be included in. And for quite some time the Lord was adding to the numbers daily! As we have travelled the world, it is probably that group that I miss the most. I miss my family... I miss my bed... but more than anything I miss my fellowship of believers back home.

This past week and a half we spent with an amazing community. A place that has found this same verse to be true. We worked with the Coptic Orthodox Church in Qussia, Egypt. This is a place I never would have taken a second look at. Having always been inside protestant churches, I never would have thought to minister side by side an Orthodox church. I thought we would be too different. Man, was I wrong!

We got the opportunity to live right in the middle of all the church activities. And there were a ton! We helped their English classes in the church; we watched multiple weddings and funerals as they went through the church; we attended Bible Studies, Sunday Schools, and daily meetings; we blessed them as they went out to feed the poor and homeless; we encouraged them as they built a walk-through version of Revelations; we lived life with them.

That was the amazing part. These people live, breathe, eat, and drink church. They come early in the morning for mass and spend the whole day there. At first, I had my reservations... I thought, "They have built a compound and aren't reaching out." Again, Wrong! They teach their children from the beginning to gather bread from neighbors and take it around to the poor. They bring in everyone they find to come do life with them. Over the course of their summer program they will have 18,000 people come through! All in the middle of a 100% muslim community!

We were truly touched and changed. We have lived Acts 2 with them. And we are inspired.

You see... things have reached a new point on our race. We have finally hit our crucial financial point. Some people have 100% of their finances raised or coming in steadily. But many people are short. We have discussed many options and prayed hard together. And we have learned something -

We are in this together. All people all pulling together. That's what Church really is.

So here's the plan... we're all on the same page. We are pulling our contacts and resources together and pushing for everyone to raise 100%. AIM is doing the same thing. We are all doing all we can for our brothers and sisters in Christ.

We want to say thank you to our supporters. You have brought us around 3/4 of the world. We have seen places and people we never expected. Most of all, we have seen God move and gotten the privilege of being a part of His wave. And it is thanks to your prayers and generosity.

For the next three months, here's what we are planning. We are continuing the race and finishing strong. We will be updating our blogs regularly (no more lack of internet!) and keeping you posted to where we are and what we are doing. You can stay posted on our financial situation through this website. We will be doing everything possible to keep you aware.

AIM will be our hands and feet stateside to help us raise all our money as well. They will be in touch with you as well to help complete our fundraising. Hanna M. - the coolest person ever! - will be the point person for that.

What we would ask of you first and foremost is prayer. Your prayers and support have "held the rope" as we swing around the world. We know numerous times that your prayers have protected us and provided divine intervention for situations... that's the only way it can be explained! Please continue to support us this way as we face our finances with faith and hope... excited to be able to live Acts 2 in reality.

Second... as the Lord leads please donate to us. You can click on the support link on our blog pages and donate straight to us that way.

I praise God for each and every one of you. I love your comments, emails, and knowing that I have such love and support across oceans. I can't wait to hug each and every one of you come December!!

p.s. We are currently in Cairo, debriefing our journeys around Greece, Turkey, and ministry in Egypt. Sept. 1 we head to Kenya and the depths of Africa!!!!

Riding the Wave, Return to Awe

Wed, 16 Aug 2006 00:00:00 GMT

I have come down with the sniffles. I don't like the sniffles. I have suffered from allergies for years at home and by God's grace they haven't reared their ugly head very often on this trip. And luckily, we are in a waiting period until everyone shows up in Cairo. And we have beds and air-conditioning. So being stuck in bed here isn't that bad.

With my newfound resting time... I've gotten to do a lot of reading. And man do I mean a lot!!! Since arriving in Cairo (about 3 days) I have now read through a wide range of books - Ragamuffin Gospel (get it... now... devour it!)... Conversations with the Fat Girl (you can never go wrong with a good chick novel!) ... and have now started a book previously read by Katherine and Ashely called Gentian Hill. The first and the last have been quite thought provoking! Praise God for the rest in between ;-)

Gentian Hill is an old story... written in 1950 and set much further back than that. I love reading the old stories. There is a language there that we've lost today... a language captured only in the books. My wonderful mother gave me a love of books from birth. I don't have a day in my childhood memories that doesn't include story time. She always read the books like treasures and taught me that every turn of a page holds a new jewel to be shared with me alone. I quickly learned that books were never for coloring... pages were never for bending... and words were to be used as paintbrushes. I fell in love with words through LM Montgomery and her Anne of Green Gables series first. She painted pictures with her words and I had my own Green Gables in my mind. I became Anne in every corner of my imagination. From that birth in the love of words I then discovered Dandelion Wine and Shakespeare in high school... three loves I will never forsake.

Gentian Hill has a chapter that I have read through multiple times today. It speaks of the family's nightly ritual of reading Scripture and prayers. It talks how Father... who entered into this duty with the responsibility passed down through generations (What happened to that these days?!) read and was concerned with pronunciation and getting passed the boring parts. It speaks of Mother dosing and the dairy maid staring blankly.

And then there's Stella. Stella was rescued from a shipwreck and adopted by this family. She recognizes the grace given to her and lives her life truly to the fullest... savoring gazes at stars and treating all animals, strays and pets, equally. Here is her response to the nightly readings:

"But all through the Book, even in the dreadful parts, the language would now and then suddenly affect her like an enchantment. The peculiarities of Father Sprigg's delivery worried her not at all. It was as though his gruff voice tossed the words roughly into the air separate particles of no great value, and immediately they fell again transmuted, like the music of a peace of bells or raindrops shot through with sunshine, and vista beyond vista of unobtainable beauty opened before the mind."

Scripture. That came through listening to the words of the Creator of the Universe. And yet how many times do I miss that? How many times do I open my Bible with my cup of coffee, congratulating myself that I even spend 30 minutes reading it? How many times do I feel a great accomplishment for reading as much as my daily plan tells me to? How many times do I check it off a to-do list?

We have this amazing book... so far beyond any other novel or story ever written. Anne of Green Gables cannot transform your heart. Dandelion Wine cannot rescue you from eternity apart from God. Our Scriptures not only are eloquent... they are powerful! How could we ever treat them as a checkmark on a to-do list!

Ragamuffin Gospel has a chapter on Wonder. He talks of the loss of being in awe of the Cross and Grace. I'm returning to a state of wonder. My lack of ability to go out and make myself busy (sovereign sniffles?!) has allowed me to spend time getting back to that point. Meditating on who I was and exactly what Christ did for me.

My Beth Moore study put it this way... We are told we have robes of righteousness waiting for us and that (like Jonathan did with David) Christ took our manure-smelling filthy robes and put them on himself when he clothed us in His righteousness. Just dwell on exactly what that looks like. What did your robes have on them when Christ removed them? What has He graciously clothed you in now? Really spend time on that... it's life changing!

Riding the Wave, An Interesting Story

Thu, 10 Aug 2006 00:00:00 GMT

So a few days ago we were sitting in the big group, studying Ephesians, and spending some great prayer time confessing to the Lord and lifting each other up. The Lord was totally present and we all came to the other side forever changed.

In the middle of this prayer time, I found myself thinking about getting to Cairo again. We werent talking about that. We werent praying about that. It wasnt an appropriate time for that. I kicked myself and tried to focus on what we were doing. But my mind continued to wander. I imagined an old sailor man with a big bushy white beard and a captains outfit. I kicked myself again and went back to praying.

Later that day I went on a great adventure to mail a package home. (Note to self... dont mail things in Turkey... its a HUGE hassle!) As I was standing in line at the post office a man walked in and stood behind me. It was the man I imagined! He wasnt wearing the captains outfit, but he had the same face! I was so confused. This wasnt a great message from the Lord. This was my imagination and my flesh distracting me from prayer! ... ... right?

So after a lot of logical reasoning and explaining everything away... I decided it couldnt hurt to just ask. I mean... Ive looked stupid before, whats one more time? So I turned to him and said hello. His letter to mail was addressed to England... so language... for once... was no problemo! He said... with a grand smile... hello! I thought... Hmmm... a friendly englishman! Nice! So after a second I turned to him... somewhat sheepishly... and said, Excuse me sir... Do you own a boat?

Okay... now is the time to insert the stupid moment. Of course he was going to be some retired man just come in on the cruise. Of course. I was sure of this as he opened his mouth. And he said, Well... actually I just sold it! Turns out he was a captain!!! Shut up!!! Now what?!?!?!

So obviously this is a divine appointment. God has something huge planned. Im jazzed. This is going to be a cool story. So I turn to this man and share our dilemma. We are stuck in Turkey trying to get to Cairo. The war in Israel has foiled our plans and now we cant afford to get there. Does he have any ideas?

For the next 45 minutes... Johnny (as I found out his name was) spoke to me on women having equal rights. I say spoke to me for a reason. I spoke nothing. I stood. He spoke. According to him... all wars would end if only women had equal rights and taught children. (did I mention I had a hard time following everything?) As we walked away I finally interrupted him and said So... Do you have any suggestions on how we get to Cairo? He said... Oh. Youll get there. When is your birthday? I have studied deep astrology. I said Well... no thank you... And then he said Oh... Oh... Goodbye. And walked away. WHAT?!?!?! Enter confusion now...

I continued on my packge mailing journey and had a wonderful God-ordained day. I got met the most beautiful beggar girl I have ever seen and I got to share the gospel with a great restaurant owner. It was beautiful. I made my way back to camp and shared with Cathy and Casey my strange... yet fun day.

The next day Friske and I are walking back from Starbucks and we notice Cathy and Kim walking on the other side. We yell Hi and they come over. Turns out they were looking for me. They want to follow up on Johnny. Who knows... maybe there is something else there! I did remember that he mentioned an American man who owns a boat at the dock. So we decide to head over there and see what happens.

Turns out there are about 12 boats at the dock with an American flag on it. So... with the spirit of boldness we had just read about in Ephesians... I start yelling inside the boat to see if anyone is there. We walk through about 11 of the boats and are about spent. I make it to the last one and theres a man sitting inside. His name is Nick and he is from Delaware. He is visiting his friend here and staying on the boat. His friend should be here within an hour or so. So we came back in an hour and spent time talking with Nick. We shared our problems and he assured us that his friend would be able to help.

In comes Zanis. Zanis is the boat owner. He is also from Delaware. He puts Nick in a taxi along with his girlfriend and send them off. He sits down with us and we begin to explain our dilemma. This is the most helpful man Ive ever met! He knows everyone in town and all kinds of information about traveling. We have a great conversation about some options and decide to go meet a travel agent friend of his in an hour. While there we discuss more options and get more prices. He was incredibly helpful and I am so thankful to have met him.

However... we dont have much more information than when we began. What is God up to here? Somehow my puzzle pieces are not fitting together. A vision that didnt touch my spirit. The fulfillment of that vision that is into astrology. Following up that didnt get us anything else. Hmmm... I dont get it. I could put all kinds of Christian cliches in here about being obedient or Gods ways being higher than ours. But frankly... I just dont get it. I know He is working... but its beyond me. I think thats okay with me still. I dont have to recognize what Hes doing...

... but it sure does make obedience easier.

Quick update... Still no definites on getting to cairo. We should know more about that in the next day or so. Will try to update you as soon as we know whats going on. Finances are still really tight. Ashley is currently at a point where she has to look at going home or God providing something huge to get her to Cairo. Luckily... we serve a God whose very name is Jehovah-Jireh - the Lord will provide. None of us feel that its time for her to go home. None of us see God moving that way. So we are standing with her for God to provide in a big way. The yellow team is also in dire need of money. If that provision comes from you... our wonderful supporters... we praise God. If that provision comes from a couple thousand falling from the sky... we praise God. If we never see that provision... still we praise Him. Why? Because He is worthy.

Provision!!!

Thu, 10 Aug 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Quick update!

If you think back with me a few months, you will remember Friske, Paul, and I went to Israel and Kim met us there as well. When we booked those flights we also booked return tickets from Istanbul to Tel Aviv. Well... due to the war we sent emails and talked to Turkish Airlines and they said they would cancel and refund our tickets and to just go to any Turkish Airlines office for our refund. When we arrived here Kim and Friske went to the airline and for whatever reason they denied the refund and marked us as no-shows. Do you understand? Neither did we.

Well today... Anna-Marie went with Kim and Friske to the Turkish Airlines office and after much persuasion they have transfered Friske, Kim, Paul, and my tickets to Israel and now we have tickets to Cairo! Praise the Lord!!!! Sisson will travel with the Red Team or South African teams and meet up with us in Cairo in a few days. Praise the Lord for providing exactly what we needed!

Riding the Wave - Turkey

Mon, 7 Aug 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Have you ever felt you got something you didnt deserve at all? Something that really should have gone to someone else? Im totally there right now. Every once in a while the reality of this trip hits me and I think... God... You must have the wrong gal.

Im in Turkey right now. Over the past weeks I have stood in the places where Paul preached. Multiple places. I have stood in the places that inspired the Scriptures that have changed my life. The echoes of the past have been screaming around us these past days and its not possible to truly soak it all in. All I can do is sit back and say Wow. What an incredible grace the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God. And called to adventures with Him!!! I love that we dont serve a Father who just wants us to get a job and get a normal life. We serve a God who wants to take us on adventures. Hes done it through all of Scripture and until He returns will continue to be a God of adventures. What a privilege!

So in other news... We raced from Athens to Turkey and accomplished tasks along the way... See Kim Kinsleys blog for our Revelation study... that was one of our tasks. We talked with the South African teams (who also are low on the finances side of things) and decided it made a lot of sense for us to form an alliance of cheapskates. We all just wanted to have fun with the race and we need to be sure and save a lot of money... so we shared all our information on the race and joined forces......... AND WON!!! Thats right... Were on top now! And its awesome to share it with the other teams. Was a great race and lots of fun!!!

Still waiting for our miracle transportation. For the moment I am confident that God is going to show up. We know He has great plans for us and that He is faithful to reveal them. And for the first time... maybe in my whole life... it doesnt bother me that we serve a God who likes to come through at the perfect time. We dont have to stress about anything... we just have to be faithful to listen and obey. Thanks for your prayers... keep them coming and well keep you posted on what goes on over here.

Speaking of... Anybody got a private jet or a yacht they wanna lend us for a little while? :)

Miracle Opportunity

Thu, 3 Aug 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Hey guys... just a quick note. We need all our prayer supporters and intercessors to put on their kneepads for us. We are currently working on finding transportation between Turkey and Cairo and between Kenya and South Africa. All "normal" means of travel are now out of the picture. We cannot fly, drive, or take ferries as far as our research has shown. This is a perfect opportunity for the Lord to show how He truly is Jehovah-Jireh - our Provider. We recognize that this is His trip, His plans, and His ways. So we just need to recognize that path. Please pray with us and DEFINITELY leave comments and emails with whatever suggestions you have or messages from on High! :)

Riding the Wave, Greece

Tue, 1 Aug 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Well... we've made it across the wide wide ocean and have arrived in Greece. For the next few weeks we are following Paul's missionary journeys around Greece and Turkey. I'm really excited about this. There's a little more stress involved as this is an expensive area of the world, but I'm truly excited to see these sites.

At the same time we are reading through a lot of Paul's teachings and learning from each other. We gather every night as a big group and read through a chapter of 1 Corinthians together. Then we share what the Lord is teaching us or maybe what we've learned in the past about this and really feed off each other. It's incredibly uplifting and a great way to get to know more about each other and about the Word. Thanks Lana for putting it together!

There's not a whole lot going on right now. Lots of travel... lots of quiet time with the Lord. The teams are all spending a lot of time in prayer as the Financial Stressors raise their ugly head again. Luckily we have 7 months of experience to draw on... we know the Lord provides every step of the way and we trust Him to continue. As the Lord lays it on your heart, many Brown team members could use some extra finances.

Hopefully there will be lots of pictures and stories in the next few days. I have a feeling this place will be worth the time! Thanks for faithfully reading... I promise to be more faithful in updating now that I've escaped the bush :)

Riding the Wave, Greece

Tue, 1 Aug 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Riding the Wave, A Debrief on Bosnia

Thu, 27 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Otherwise entitled "Everything I Need to Know in Life I Learned from 400 Pounds of Potatoes."

Wow. This has been a month full of surprises!!!! When I last left you we were all piling into a train to head to the middle of the bush to build camp before heading on to a ministry in the city of Tuzla. Wow did things changed!!!

Our first day of building camp I finished my project early. When looking for more things to do I found myself in the kitchen with Deanna, peeling potatoes for our lunch. And enjoying it! That was the really surprising part I the anti-domesticated one was enjoying kitchen work!

After talking with some of the camp leaders, Jelena and Dena, I learned that they had been praying for someone to come help in the kitchen. They had been hiring someone to assist Deanna, and really couldn't afford it. I explained to them that though I love helping there, I have no Kitchen Talent. But as the week continued I found myself drawn to it. After many conversations and a lot of confirmation from the Lord, I ended up staying at camp with all the South Africans while the rest of the team left for Tuzla. It was strange and unexpected and completely God. I am now a fully adopted African.

I'm not really quite sure how to tell all the stories from camp. We've been so used to being on the move constantly that it's been strange to stay in one place for 4 weeks. I actually unpacked my bag! Let's see what I can do to explain it all

Camp is called Emek Beracah. It's based on 2 Chronicles 20 where Jehoshophat went out to war with Ammon, Moab, and Seir. The Lord told them it was His battle and that they need not fight. He told them where to find them and then He sent confusion on their enemies so that when they finally arrived all they had to do was pick up the spoils. So they sent the worshippers ahead of the army and verse 22 says that when the worshippers began, God caused Ammon and Moab to fight Seir and then each other so that Israel walked into all the spoils lying on the ground. And the spoils were incredible!

So that's the promise the Lord has given to these leaders and we were blessed to be there to receive the spoils! We began the first week by building camp. It was the hardest work I have probably ever been a part of. We built showers, toilets, tents, a coffee shop, and cleaned up the ruin buildings so that they could be the office and kitchen and storage. It was incredible! We also spent this time to really connect with all the long-term team. As we labored and sweated and stunk next to each other, we built relationships that won't easily be cast aside.

Once camp was built we were invaded by the Church of Bosnia (And Friends). The first weekend is designated Intercessors Weekend and they come to cover the ground in prayer and worship and truly prepare the land for the camps about to happen. Just like Jehoshophat, the worshippers came first to see the victory before we reached the battle. I loved meeting the local believers. Many of them are young in age and young in the faith and they have a passion and dedication to the Lord that most of us could learn from. And we also welcomed a team from Fredricksburg, Virginia from their House of Prayer who came to bless the camp and to serve the youth camp. They also are a group of younger people, but they walk in the power and anointing of the Lord that, again, most of us could learn from! We built such incredible relationships and I think there just might be a trip to Virginia sometime in my future plans!!!

Once Intercession Weekend was over we were overtaken by the Youth. The 18-20 year olds of Bosnia flooded into camp in order to seek the Lord. Maybe half the camp was Christians and the other half those seeking truth. The Lord gave the verse from Isaiah 42:9-10 where He says He will make all things new. We had sermons and sports and free time and group time and everything you would expect at camp. In addition, the Virginia team kept appointments from about 11:30-1:30 every day where anyone who wanted to could come sit with them and they would pray and prophesy over you. I was continually amazed at how the Lord faithfully showed up for every person! He spoke His new things into each one who came. These guys poured out so much into these kids and in the nightly meetings we began to see the New Things manifest themselves. Many people came to give their lives to Christ and we heard many of them talking of their renewal in Christ and the things He was birthing in them.

Next we entered into Teenager camp. For the first time this year they separated the Youth and Teens. The leaders were surprised at how well behaved and wonderful youth camp went. As the teens came in they realized it's because their "Problem Children" were all in Teen camp now. We definitely had to set down a few more rules for these kids. At times they seem less like human beings and more like hormones with skin on. What really amazed me was how much compassion the Lord gave us. We saw in each teen's face the desperate need for love and acceptance - no matter where it came from. We saw the pain from broken homes and broken lives and the desperate need for the Lord to show up and make all things new in them as well. And again, as if we should ever doubt it, the Lord was faithful to show up. I saw macho teenage boys come forward, hand over their lives to the Lord, and weep together as brothers. It was truly miraculous.

Last, we had children's camp. This camp was definitely challenging. 75+ kids around the ages of 7-12. It was a little insane. Lots of running lots of attention lots of exhaustion! This was the week I felt lucky to be in the kitchen! Our theme was Jerusalem Marketplace and wow it was incredible. This curriculum took all the items from Bible times and all the Jewish traditions and taught them in a way where the children understood them and how they pointed to Christ. Many of the kids began to grasp the deepest truth ever told - Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. It is incredible to bow your head and hear children praying in Bosnian to receive Christ in their heart. It just doesn't get better than that!

And all of this I saw from my window. I was blessed to be in the kitchen with Deanna and Friends Senada and Veronika. We began our mornings at about 5:45am and crashed on average around 11pm. Together we peeled 10 pounds of carrots, 15 pounds of onions, and I kid you not 400 pounds of potatoes! You'd be surprised how many potatoes 120 kids can eat! We laughed, we cried, we yelled and screamed, and we grew close. Senada had to leave at the beginning of kids camp due to some health problems with her mother and it was definitely hard to see her go. She was a huge help with translation and just generally how things work. Luckily, however, just as Senada was leaving Veronika came back to camp (she and I had met and grown close during Intercessors and Youth camp) and helped a ton in the kitchen while also leading worship and being a group leader! I am so thankful for my friendship with Veronika she is truly one of those whose connection with my heart will not change with time. Watch out for this girl God definitely has big things coming up soon! Prior to this year you never would have found me inside a kitchen unless I was helping someone else. Now I can confidently cook quite a bit as long as it's Bosnian!

In addition I think the Lord grew me a lot this month. I was blessed to have a few hours off every afternoon and found myself engulfed in the presence of the Lord underneath beautiful trees and beside amazing rivers. I accomplished a goal I previously thought impossible I completed reading the entire Bible! Jessica and I began together last year and after much perseverance and thanks to some extra quiet time, I have finished! I think the Lord taught me a lot about perseverance this past month. Daily waking up at 5:45 and pressing through until the kitchen was really really cleaned after dinner. And then pressing through to attend the evening services in order to pray with and bless the kids as well. Pressing through when I'm exhausted to maintain a good attitude. Pressing through to climb over the final rock in order to reach the beautiful canyon. Pressing through in prayer to truly hear the Lord on behalf of these campers and to fight for them in the spiritual realms. Perseverance. And I can truly say we have fought the good fight and finished well. After 4 weeks solid service, we finished well.

I also learned a lot about truly believing the Lord is good and His plans are perfect. I'm sure most of you have read Jessica's blog and seen how incredibly awesome the Lord is to open doors to achieve His dream in her. (if you haven't read it check it out! God is good!) And as I watch His plan unfolding, I recognize His work and yet it was hard. She and I have been deeply connected for nearly 3 years now, and the thought of separation is difficult, no matter how apparent the Lord is in the midst of it. In Abilene, we sat on our porch swing and talked of how we would open the coffee shop together and grow old doing God's work in other nations together. However that was our idea not God's. The Lord began to speak over us the friendship of David and Jonathan and how a love that deep transcends separation. And also how the great works in David's life began when he and Jonathan separated. And despite how I saw the Lord doing these great things I still met him under the trees in order to weep and tell Him how much I didn't like it. And you know what I learned? (again!) The Lord doesn't mind our complaints. In fact I think He's glad we come to Him with them. I bowed before Him in obedience to relinquish my idea of Jessica and I forever working together in order to accept His good pleasing and perfect will. It was quite the process to get there, but He was faithful to walk me through the steps. I learned that it's okay to not like the Lord's plan, as long as you still obey. You obey because you truly believe that His way is best even when your way looks a lot better. He really does know best.

And I learned that true friendship transcends culture. Four weeks without my Brown Team was hard. We have fought through the most difficult of times together and have an incredible friendship and love between us. Being separated from them, with little internet and phone access, was hard. But because of that separation, I found love comes in South African packages as well. One of the first nights after my teammates left for Tuzla, I crawl into my tent after cooking all day and find that Lana, Clara, Liesl, and Estee have gotten me a case of candy and each wrote me these incredibly encouraging notes about how they love me and are glad I am an African with them for a while. I have sat with Stefan and Anthony and Jacques and had great laughs. These guys who were formerly "other teams" are now great friends who I have laughed with and cried with and truly connected with. I am so thankful for their love and encouragement. I can now say I've fought through difficult times with them as well, and we have come out on the other side better people and definitely closer friends. I love you guys!!!!!

Well What's next on our great adventure? That's a good question. We are doing debrief on an island off the Croatian coast called Brach for a week of much needed rest. Then well that's the question. Our original plan was to head from there to Turkey for about 10 days, then on to Israel for 10 days, and then to Egypt for 10 days. Most of you know however that Israel isn't exactly a popular tourist destination at the moment. So we have cancelled the Israel trip and are awaiting news from higher up to see what our exact route will be. As soon as we know the plan we will let you know.

Love you guys and thanks for all the prayers!!!!

Riding the Wave, Pictures

Tue, 20 Jun 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Hey guys... check out the Brown Team blog for latest updates.... Here are some pictures from Mostar...

Paul and some of his girls in Istanbul

A rock near some ruins in Mostar - a city bearing the marks of a brutal war.

Isn't this place beautiful?

The Brown Team girls reunited

Riding the Wave, Thanks Yeshua

Mon, 12 Jun 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Today has been a beautiful day. We had all morning to spare and I got to work on my new Beth Moore book (Thanks Melissa!) and spend plenty of time reading and praying this morning. That always helps start a great day.

We went to Jaffa Gate Ministries today. Elton (the ministry leader) had to go to England for some family business, so we came in to make some food and take it out around Ben Yehuda street to bless people there with some lunch. We met Robert at the kitchen and he helped us prepare the meals and told us some great stories.

One in particular is worthy of sharing. Robert is a big Delirious fan. He doesn't attend many concerts but decided to go to a Delirious concert. He said he found it to be extremely loud and getting louder by the minute. After a while, it became unbearable, so he took his gum from his mouth and stuck it in his ears!!!! After the concert, the gum stuck to his ear hairs and he was off-balance. He ended up going to have the gum removed for a whopping $150. In Robert's words, "it was a very expensive concert!"

Now that's what I call humor.

So from there we took our food out to Ben Yehuda and got the great privilege of handing it out to the homeless around the area. Each person gratefully said thank you as we handed them a well-balanced meal in the name of Yeshua. It is illegal in this country to hand out gifts and do evangelism at the same time. However, we are allowed to let them know that this is all given by God's grace through Yeshua. One lady really stuck in my memory. She had a very dejected look on her face, and just sat lifelessly with her sign. I leaned over and asked if she would like some lunch. She looked in my eyes like, "Are you serious?" and then said yes and thank you. I said "This is in the name of Yeshua." She smiled a huge smile back and said, "Thank you Yeshua."

Then we went and got our laundry done. That was nice. Clean clothes are a huge treat. We usually stick with what my mom affectionately calls our cleanest dirty clothes. Basically if it doesn't smell yet, it's wearable. But we found a Laundromat that lets you do your own laundry fairly cheap. So we hung out there and got everything cleaned.

Have I mentioned how awesome Paul is? I mean seriously this guy goes through a lot. He has to be the only guy in a group of girls most of the time. But I think we're teaching him a lot Sometimes like today he's quite nice and buys us lunch.

Sometimes also today it doesn't quite stick ;-)

But ya just gotta love him...

Then tonight we went to the Jerusalem Hotel to watch the USA play Czech Republic in the World Cup. We were the only USA supporters in the whole place. It was actually quite humorous. I mean it's soccer. Who in America really cares about soccer anyway? So of course our team is pretty horrible. So we thought it would be humorous to be huge fans of the USA. Especially playing the almighty Czech. We made a lot of friends and everyone had a good laugh. Who cares that we completely lost! It was still fun.

Well time in Israel is coming to a close. We will work with Jaffa Gate again tomorrow and hang out with a few of our friends one last time. Wednesday we'll go around and say goodbye to everyone and then meet Kim that evening at the airport for a glorious reunion. From there we take a flight to Istanbul and then ferries on to Bosnia. If communication begins to lax no worries. Just back to traveling again! But we love you all and will keep in touch as soon as we find another blessed internet caf!

Riding the Wave, An Unexpected Love

Sat, 10 Jun 2006 00:00:00 GMT

I have found myself hopelessly and completely, desperately, in love. It's a love I've never expected, definitely never asked for, and yet it is becoming more and more real every day. Hold on let me rewind.

For the past few years I have learned of God's plan for the Jewish people. My church at home, Beltway, partners with a group of churches here in Israel called Tents of Mercy. Every year a group from Beltway comes to Israel and every year Eitan (Tents' leader) comes to be with us in Texas. It's an incredibly deep relationship and one we don't take lightly. We are firmly committed to supporting Israel, not just financially and politically, but through our time and our relationships.

So when the opportunity to come to Israel and hang out with all our friends, both American and with Tents of Mercy, came up, I was extremely excited. I love the idea of God's chosen people, and I long to hug them and love them more. Exciting, right?

We arrived in Israel and began working with Tents of Mercy (and other ministries) 3 weeks ago. One day, we met up with a church plant in Akko and climbed the ancient walls of the city to pray God's blessing on the church and the city. I stood on the walls and I looked out towards the city and expected to pray for my Jewish brothers and sisters. That's when the Love was birthed.

But not for the Jewish people. As I started to pray, I looked at the mosque in the city and suddenly my heart began to break. God brought back the stories of Ishmael and replayed it as if a movie in my mind. He took me to Ishmael's heart throughout the whole ordeal - a birth outside the will of God (not by any fault of his)and rejection from his father, knowing that there was another son more "chosen" than he. All of a sudden, the emotions of that little boy hit my heart deeper than anything I have ever felt.

And as soon as our prayer time was over, like any good little Christian girl, I wrote it off as a great time of intercession now back to the Jews, right?

Next thing I know I'm living in the Arab quarter of Jerusalem. I'm surrounded by women hidden under a veil (some more than others). I can't walk by one without working to make eye contact and send a smile to her soul and say a quick prayer over her. But I'm just doing my duty, right?

So we've been going to a Christian Friends of Israel conference and listening to all their teaching on God's plan for His people and current issues and it's been wonderful. I've learned a ton and had great fellowship with the people we sit with and yet one question continually comes up in my head, "What is God's heart for Palestine?"

We also got to hang out with this wonderful woman named Beth. She's a breath of fresh air right now and has a beautiful gift to refresh and nourish our souls right now. We all loved sitting with her, hearing her stories in the land, and praying with her. We also enjoyed hearing from the Lord through her. As she spoke over each one of us I rejoiced in all she had to say and then she got to me. Suddenly she is telling me how she sees me in dangerous lands working with a people who may not accept me now wait one cotton pickin' moment I signed up for Easy Life 101, right? Oh wait that's right. Total abandon

So with all this on my mind I head towards Sukkat Hallel a 24/7 worship and prayer center. I need some time to just give this all back to the Lord and see what He says. I walk in a little bit earlier than planned and sit down. Only one lady is in there and she walks over to me. "Right now we have dedicated this time to praying for the Arab nations." Alright already!!!!!!!!!!!

So practically I don't know how any of this looks. I know I definitelywill notrun headlong into a ministry among the children of Ishmael that's hard territory. All I know is there is a desperate love growing in my heart that I can't seem to squash no matter what. These children who run over me and yell way too loudly in the market are resting in my heart. These women who I can't talk to or reach in hardly any ways they touch my soul like no other. I know I can't stop praying for them and for that I'm thankful.

Riding the Wave, A Day of the Divine

Thu, 1 Jun 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Have you ever prayed a prayer that you thought was just silly God laughed and all was done? Yeah I learned today that He really listens to those too!

So we've been bored beyond belief. We're in the coolest place in the entire world the Holy Land the Center of the Holy Land . And we're bored. Everything here either costs money or we already did it while our friends were here. So we spent about two days sitting in our hostel, twiddling our thumbs and counting cracks on the wall. Even if we went out in search of something (like this awesome 24/7 worship place) we found nothing.

So yesterday we called our friend Joel. Joel just started working for the tour company that Beltway uses and he came with our tour while we were in Jerusalem to get a feel for how things work. He's an amazing Spirit-filled Messianic Jew who was a huge blessing to us from the very beginning.

So we called Joel to beg for help, and he gave us a contact to get in touch with and then volunteered to hang out with us. So yesterday we called that contact, Elton, who runs Jaffa Gate Ministries, and he asked to meet us today for coffee and see how maybe we could get plugged in. This morning we called and figured out to meet at the Jaffa Gate at 12:30 . We all got ready and headed that way.

Unfortunately, Elton got tied up so we ended up waiting there for quite a while. In the meantime, we got some great entertainment from the tour guides who offered 500 camels for Jessica's hand in marriage. That's always amusing. Luckily, Paul, our hero was there to reassure them she was worth much more than that. Great joke building opportunity J

So finally we give up and begin to head home, but decide to walk a different way, a way rumored to be where JGM is located. All of a sudden we spy a tiny mailbox with an even smaller letters that say JGM. We peek our heads in and hear a familiar British accent calling from upstairs. Meet Elton! Running a ministry can be quite time consuming and he was just a little tied up. However, God wouldn't let that get in the way of us meeting this amazing man.

Jaffa Gate Ministries exists to bring all the different denominations around Jerusalem together to serve the poor, homeless, drug addicts, and elderly of Jerusalem . Already, JGM is being given great favor among the community and all kinds of people are coming to partner with them. Including AIM! During the course of the conversation he describes this amazing organization that is sending a huge group to help him. We look on his board and there's a business card for David Schiff and Adventures in Missions! Whoa!!!! Small world! So we explain that we are connected with this same organization, and may even be coming back to work with him again in August. Crazy! So we prayed together and are currently listening for how the Lord would pull us in for this week or so and Elton is talking with his board as well to get us involved. Pray with us that we will be able to be a huge blessing to this ministry!

So after hanging out with Elton and all breathing a sigh of relief that the light is beginning to shine in the dark world of boredom, we headed towards Ben Yehuda street to hang out until time to meet Joel. We found some coffee, a nice croissant, and went to look for shoes for Jessica in hopes that she might stop tripping over herself. (someone had to take Kim's role! J ) We quickly find the location we are to meet Joel at, but still have an hour to waste. We hang out on the street, look at more shoes, and spend some time in an internet caf. We call Joel and head to go meet him. He asks if we would like to see the Shuk (spelling?), a Jewish open air market. We say Sure! And off we go.

It's Shavuot now, so all the markets were getting ready to close down for the weekend, so everything was selling cheap. Joel then begins to spread his wings and show us the angel he truly is.

As we walk he asks us if we're hungry, have we been eating okay, what would we like to have? And then begins to buy us food after food after food. About 30 minutes later we are heavy-laden with dried fruit, nuts, hamburger meat, potatoes, and a traditional Shavuot dessert, on our way to the house he shares with some other believers, to cook hamburgers. He laughed at us, every time he picked out a new thing to eat, as we turned into little kids on Christmas - What?! Meat?! Fruit!!! Wow!!! No could it be really.. dairy products?!?!?!? Praise the Lord! Even when we told him we had too much, he just said, "Is it okay if I buy you this too?" And kept going. We were in awe little did we know what God had in store.

We arrive at Joel's house which he shares with Paul and Talli, two amazing people we would quickly grow to love over the next few hours. Turns out they had been invited to go out and celebrate Shavuot with other believers, but really just "wanted" to stay home that day even though they wanted to celebrate. In we come with food and fellowship ready to go. We would add Sasha, Laura, and Kanako to round out a perfect dinner party. As we cooked together we got to know each other and the stories of how we all came to be in this house together. We also got to just be church together at the same time. As the meal began we broke bread and began the holiday with communion. Then we shared stories of all that the Lord is doing in the world. As Paul answered a phone call from a friend of his who is stressed out, we got the chance to stop and pray for her and encourage Paul as he ministers to her. Then, as things began to wind down, this beautiful group of believers gathered around us and prayed and encouraged us so much. Such a huge blessing!! Even the little things we had been concerned about, like figuring out a way to eat healthy around the world were answered (Thanks for the help Talli!). They also gave us directions to the never-can-be-found 24/7 Worship Center ! And as the night ended, Paul even blessed us with a financial gift to help us while we're in Israel . Every concern we had on our heart was taken care of! Praise Him!

However they made one mistake they told us we were welcome to come back. Now they'll have to practice the spiritual gift of kicking us out! We're in love with these people! Praise God for the Body of Christ around the world and being blessed with Family that just falls out of the sky. Again another, much appreciated, breath of fresh air. Please pray with us that God would continue to bless Joel, Paul, Talli and all their friends as they bless Israel .

Riding the Wave, A Taste of Heaven

Mon, 29 May 2006 00:00:00 GMT

We found Dr. Pepper for sale in a grocery store here in Jerusalem. I had my first Dr. Pepper while all the friends were here. Pastor David showed us a store that had them for sale and I got a beautiful cold one. It was really hard not to be a big dork about it.

Then two days ago Paul took us on a walk up to a section of town with really cool coffee shops and a movie theatre (of course that's what Paul would find in Israel). We found a great grocery store with Honey Bunches of Oats, Macaroni and Cheese, and Dr. Pepper. I'm not supposed to have a lot of sugar, but we may just have to push the limits for the next few days.

Wow. I'm tired. I really wanted to come up with some amazingly deep thoughts and somehow tie Jesus into Dr. Pepper. I got nothin'. I'm ashamed. I have prided myself on the ability to come up with something deep out of any topic. My brain has turned to mush and I got nothing.

I guess I will leave you to stare at the beauty of a Dr. Pepper can. Enjoy!

Riding the Wave, Encouraged

Sun, 28 May 2006 00:00:00 GMT

I haven't cried that hard since we left Abilene . It's been an incredible 9 days in Israel with our friends from home. Unfortunately, that time has come to an end. This morning Jessica and I walked to the hotel, hugged everyone goodbye, cried ourselves back to the hostel, and slept until afternoon. But as sad and hard as it was to say goodbye, I wouldn't have traded this for the world.

God has been incredibly gracious these past 10 days. We've had the best adventures, incredible learning and ministry, and more fun than I think I could put into words!

We spent the first few days in Akko working with Tents of Mercy. This is such a unique part of Beltway's trips to Israel . Most groups that come here spend all their time touring the innumerable holy sites. In addition to this, we got to meet with fellow believers, hear their stories, encourage and pray over them, and connect the places Jesus walked to the lives He's currently touching.

And these people are amazing. They are small in number but we serve a God who loves remnants, right? There are probably around 10,000 believers in all of Israel , and few of those are Messianic Jews. So this remnant lives where they are rejected by their Jewish neighbors because of their acceptance of Yeshua and they are rejected by their Christian neighbors (be they Arab or anyone else) because of their acceptance of their Jewish roots. Pray with us for an awakening of believers around the world to support their Jewish brothers and sisters!

After working with all of Tents of Mercy (their congregation in Haifa and their plants around that area), we jumped on the tour bus and headed into Galilee . We toured that area, including riding a replica of the type of boat Jesus may have been on, and then stayed in a great hotel on the shores of the Galilee. There's nothing quite like worship where Jesus calmed storms and calmed His disciples!

Next we headed to Jerusalem where we've been for the past few days, touring all the sites around here. We met up with Paul and found a great hostel just inside the Damascus Gate. Our friends stayed at a beautiful 5-star hotel, and we had no problem hanging out there! We toured all day long and, as Cecily's shirt says, "walked our feet off in Jerusalem !"

This is such an amazing land. We have prayed on the Southern Steps, right where Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost. We have sat before the Garden Tomb and worshipped to find it empty. We have trudged Hezekiah's Tunnel under the city, the same way David entered to conquer the city in 1 Samuel. We have touched the very bricks laid for the Temple . And through all of this we have remembered the faces and the stories of the believers in this land.

God has done so much these past days through His word and making His stories alive, but even more in a quiet way. Let me see if I can explain

About a year and a half ago, Beltway went through 40 Days of Purpose and asked for small group leaders for this. God opened a door to birth a dream He had placed inside Jessica and I - a group for those of us who don't fit into the college groups, but also don't fit into the Young Married's group either. Over the course of the next year our "small" group would blossom into a city-wide ministry. We were a close group. Every Friday we worshipped together, studied in small groups, and played and played. Not only did we meet on Fridays but we became such close friends that we hung out all the time. We truly grasped the whole idea of living in community. We were more than friends. We were family. We had people we could call at 2am when life went bad. We had people who truly rejoiced with you when life went good. As a leader I found myself regularly meeting new people, building friendships, and pouring out as much love and encouragement as God gave me grace to do so. It was truly Home.

And now Jessica and I are here. Only 1 year after this group began, we're now on the other side of the world. But having them here for just 9 days has done more for us than I can express. These beautiful friends, who we poured so much into last year, have poured into us. They came to Israel , not expecting to see us, but to encourage the believers in Israel . When we surprised them, they took us in and began to pour into us more than you can imagine. Their love, encouragement, laughter, hugs, and tears have done more to rejuvenate our spirits than anything else this whole year. I was worried that being around friends would make me incredibly homesick and make staying too hard. Just the opposite has happened.

Today as they left they encouraged my heart enough to last another 5 months at least! Asking how to encourage us (e-mail! E-mail! E-mail!), how to pray for us, what messages to send home to all our other friends, telling us how proud they are of us, and praying over us. I am sad to say goodbye, but I'm incredibly encouraged by these beautiful people. I am privileged to call them my friends and to witness how much God has grown each one of them.

So Jessica, Paul, and I are hanging out in Jerusalem for about 10 more days. Then we'll head back to Akko and Haifa to connect with another church from Abilene for a few days, love on Tents of Mercy one last time, meet Kim at the airport, and head towards Bosnia . These next days will be focused on having fun, resting, and connecting with the believers of the land. Thank you for all your prayers and your encouragement they truly do revive our lives!

p.s. To all our teammates We miss you!

Riding the Wave, India's End

Sat, 20 May 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Well our time in India has come to an end. At least for Friske and I it has. Let me explain

When we sent off for our Indian visas before the trip, they got the dates wrong and we ended up having to be out of India before our itinerary planned. However, our ministry in Bosnia doesn't start until the regularly scheduled time. So we found ourselves with nearly three weeks unscheduled. By this time we have all become seasoned travelers, so we all have our plane tickets to Cairo and a date to meet in Bosnia, and we've made our own plans between now and then. We looked into going to Italy and staying with a friend of mine there and working with her church but I never got an e-mail back from her. So then I e-mailed some contacts in Paris who check their e-mail 3 and 4 times a day so maybe we could stay with them again, no e-mail back. So we began to look into somewhere cheap in Europe to stay - that's a joke. Next we thought Man! Three weeks! What if we just flew home and stayed with our family for three weeks? That's what some of the South Africans are getting to do we could too! But after praying about that, Jesus gave a clear and solid "No." So we were like What's up?! What in the world are we going to do?So then we began to think outside the box Who says we have to go to Europe? We have tons of friends through our church in Israel. Why not go love on them for 3 weeks? I sent off an e-mail to some close friends in Haifa to get that ball rolling. Then I opened my next e-mail from my dear friend Carol. At the end it says something to the effect of "I'll be in Israel at the end of May if you could pray for me." Then we remembered. All our friends from our Bible Study at home are taking a mission trip to Israel right now. In secret we worked out all the logistics, changed our plane ticket dates to a few days earlier, and surprised them at the airport. God closed the door to going home because He had this huge blessing of home coming to us!

So we are now in Haifa with all our friends, serving Tents of Mercy church, and will soon be on a tour bus with our friends to pray over the holy sites in Israel. Our friends are only here for 10 days, so we're still figuring out exactly what we'll do when they leave, but the Lord is providing. We are finding incredible hostels while we travel with our friends, so we may stay in one of those to rest and recuperate for the rest of the time. We have also talked with our friends at Tents of Mercy about coming back to stay with them longer. There are plenty of options and everything is working out wonderfully. It's such a huge blessing to be with my best friends, in God's Holy land among God's chosen people, blessing them and working with them in the name of Yeshua.

It was somewhat difficult to leave India. No we don't miss the heat nor the bucket showers nor the tent dwelling. But the children. How I miss the children. The night we left we were bombed with cards and balloons and hugs. These children have committed to continue praying for us as we continue to travel around the world. They have hugged us and loved us more than you could ever imagine. I will never forget them. In fact, I have the mailing address in hopes that we can keep in touch!! I know my life will never be the same for having been with such incredible saints, but I have to confess that I love being here with my friends!!!!

p.s. For all our dear friends at home who we love and miss so much... we're sad not to see you as well and we can't wait to see you in November!!!!

Riding the Wave, Inspired

Tue, 16 May 2006 00:00:00 GMT

I found out today that the people in the leper colony live without treatment simply because the treatment is expensive and the government/religion believes that they have done something wrong in a past life and therefore deserve to have leprosy.

What?!?!?!

I'm somewhere between mad at the government/religious leaders and broken to spread the gospel quicker. I am definitely reminded again why we do what we do.

I do not share my faith simply because it is a command at the end of the gospels. I share my faith because I have found a life full of adventure and satisfaction. I do not share my faith simply because I have been taught one system of right and wrong, but because the life God set up truly does work. I do not share my faith simply because heaven is better than hell, but because life on this earth could be so greatly improved by just a little dose of Jesus.

I am truly inspired once again just by hearing about the leper colony. And yet saddened that it takes such horrible conditions like India to inspire me. And grateful for the opportunity to be exposed to this life. If any of you have the chance to come to India do it. Not because you'll enjoy it in fact you just might hate it but it will change your life.

One life changing event happened last night. I have had reoccurring ovarian cysts since I was 13. They aren't horrible just one day of extreme pain and then I'm pretty much better. Yesterday I had a cyst. It was painful for most of the day, but bearable. However, in the evening time, it got really bad. I knew the cyst was ready to pop. I had already told Jessica and Anna-Marie about it so they knew what to expect. I lay in Jessica's lap, crying from the pain, and the whole group came to pray over me. I am SO thankful to be surrounded by 26 faithful people who truly believe God is big enough for anything. But then I was truly floored.

All of the orphan girls came into the chapel and surrounded me to pray over me as well. Have you ever had 10 orphans pray for you with all their heart? It is the most touching thing I have experienced. These girls, who truly know where every necessity, including healing, comes from, came to pour out their faith-filled prayers over me.

Not only am I surrounded by 26 faithful team members, but I am also surrounded by about 70 orphans with more faith than I have ever met. I am so thankful for this place.

No worries back home I'm perfectly okay now. Like I said, one painful day, and then I'm better ready to continue tackling writing and math lessons and pouring out more love than I ever thought humanly possible. I love these kids.