Incredibly Blessed

So as I write this I am fighting off I don't know what but definitely
feeling on the attacked side. We had a good morning hanging out and then went to the beach where something came over me and it felt so overwhelmingly oppressive! I went and sat alone and just poured my heart out to God. I could not control the tears streaming down my face and could not understand where this all was coming from. I would love prayer as we go out to the mission field for this may be the cause of the attack, keeping me ineffective and oppressed. I would also like to share the remaining teaching we have had here I stopped at week 5 so will continue with Week #6 our speaker was Dave Bryant and he spoke on Spiritual Warfare.(how appropriate in my state at this time haha) His wife, her sister and her sisters husband were with us as well. His wife Cheryl and sister Juanita are the granddaughters of A.A.Alan. (an evangelist in the 50's)Dave told of a great book by Merrill Unger called What demos(or fallen angels however you look at them) can do to saints. I am interested in reading this . I liked Dave because he started out with I don't do weird, but when weird is staring you in the face you have to deal with it, so we went to the bible and found out what Jesus did with weird(only it wasn't weird then, they found it quite normal for Jesus and the apostles to cast out demons and heal the sick! what are we missing today?) God has given us the power and authority through Jesus Christ to forcibly eject (ekballo) evil spirits from ourselves and others. John 14:12 Sometimes God must offend the mind to get to the heart! There needs to be a balance between supernatural (which God is and has made us with a spirit as well) and knowledge. We cannot do kingdom life being heavy on either side of this there must be a balance.
Week # 7 was Mark Anderson who talked about the Acts church and where the world is headed. The top down church is not what Jesus had in mind. We run church like a business when it couldn't be further from that. Mark has been teaching on Neighborhood Centers and they are growing up all over the world. People meet together in their homes, places of business or even dorms. Elders are just that, older men of wisdom and integrity for accountability, overseers and deacons are the younger to be servers of the groups. The apostles, teachers etc. are the body of Christ, we have all been gifted to do this and need to step out in faith and take turns preaching
his word." My house shall be a house of prayer" and this is where we should start along with a time of teaching, worship, communion and fellowship over a meal. This is the simple church to come. We must also live from the inside out, letting Holy Spirit (who is the third person of the trinity) lead and guide us. I love this quote from Paul Harvey "We have turned from being fishers of men, to keepers of the aquarium." On friday we heard from Dan & Basil about preparing a sermon and giving our testimony. There is power in our spoken testimony because it is ours and noone can take that away! We are to glorify God through what He has done in our personel lives and help others who can relate to our personal story. Week #8 was Fred Markert.
Fred told us we need to know the times so we know what we should be doing! There is a cycle to our history. We go from a Multi-Polar world to a Bi-Polar World to a Uni-Polar World. We are in a Uni-Polar world now but on the verge of Multi-Polar if things don't change. The Gospel is spread through a Uni-Polar World much easier than any other due to the freedoms of travel and safety for the most part. The traits of these great powers are 1) Economic 2) Military 3) Political 4) Cultural 5) Morality (this is the one they leave out in the universities but is what is missing or starts to fade in a society and bring it down) They must also be effective and effecient. When we are blessed we forget about God, so He shakes us and makes us to have revivalin all the nations. Global harvest is the purpose. C.S. Lewis put it this way : What if what is on Gods agenda is not our happiness but that we grow up!" & core things to be a Christian: 1)Repentance, both individually and corporately 2)Be baptized and live it out 3)Prayer as a lifestyle 4)Love God and your neighbor in a practical way 5)Give generously, without the thought of return 6)Break bread, share a meal, fellowship 7)Be witnesses of Jesus where you live and around the world, help others to do the same. One of Fred's quotes that stuck with me is " Don't imminitize the Eschaton" We cannot have perfection in a fallen world, get over it! We can overtake the darkness withHis light if we so let it shine to all! The bible is a story with a relational God not a systematic study. Focus on what we know, love God love others and go into all nations(people groups, not countries) Only 1% of the Christian body needs to go into full time ministry. Are we being wise stewards? All men are equally lost, but all men are not equally needy. Dr. Ralph Winter Week#9
we had another corporate week with Jaison Ma and Eric Fish, both involved in the student led simple church movement. Jaison spoke on intimacy with Christ and waiting on the Lord as well as how Holy Spirit is a person of the trinity just like Father and Son. Holy Spirit wants to be known and experienced. (I know this was right up there with weird but when you experience it you know it is real and it is of God!) The day God stops using you is the day you stop seeking Him! We must be diligent and consistent in our seeking His face. Are you content with the level of God in you? Then seek Him out daily, we must make room for Him in this busy (Being Under Satans Yoke)life we lead. There is a price to pay but if you seek Him you will find Him. He delights in His children and loves for us to come to Him. Repentance opens the door to intimacy with Christ.How I walk is dependant only on me relinquishing my rights and allowing Holy Spirit to lead and listening to the voice of the Father. Jesus never did anything the Father did not tell Him to do, we are to listen to that same voice. Week # 10 was with Gord Whyte and he spoke more on Holy Spirit and this is where I again received more healing and partook in things I did not believe in. It is very hard for me to believe that someone could be blown on and fall over, however when you are on the receiving end of that and feel Holy Spirits presence and healing deep in your soul it is so undeniable. WOW I pray that all will come to a relationship with and enter into the circle dance of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It has been quite a journey and I will never be the same! We are packing up now and cleaning so we can leave early Tuesday for Fiji.
On another note God has been so faithful and has been my Jehovah Rapha (healer) and Jehovah Jirah (provider) I came her after paying my $1000 deposit and upon arriving paid another $575
of the total owing of $8000. The rest the lord has provided through the body of Christ and I am forever thankful to Him and my loving brothers and sisters. I will be continuing this life of service and would appreciate full time support from any who felt led of God to do so. I would love to share what has happened in my own life and talk with others as well. Feel free to contact me if you are at all interested. May His face shine upon you all and may we all shine in His Glory.

Publish Post

Mahalo (Thank you hawaian style) I will share more from Fiji soon. Love to all.

OFF TO FIJI

Yes I know the missionary life is a tough one but someone has to go to the islands as well as the other countries and God has found favor with my team to send us to Fiji. We are preparing and doing much cultural study on the people of the island. It seems a very hospitable culture and family oriented. There are a few Fijians on the Kona base and a couple who have just returned that are sharing with us and helping us to be prepared and not offend right off the bat! We are learning the do's and don'ts of island life and the importance of our unity as a team. There will be much interaction between the children and us and that leads to relationship with the rest of the family. The Fijians respect the wisdom of the elders and the preciousness of the young. In between are the young adults who work to train up the young and learn from the wise. What a concept! I was going to share the last couple weeks but will wait till I have more time. Until next time, May you be covered with the dust of your Rabbi..........

OFF TO FIJI

Transformation Process

So I apologize for not updating sooner. However we are on quite
a rigorous schedule! Monday thru Friday we start the day with
breakfast at 6:15 - 7:30 Mondays corporate worship for an hour in Ohana (family) Court from 8 am to 9 am and then on to class until lunch at 12:00. Wed. I have my one on one with our small group leader at lunch time. Monday and Wed. we have outreach prep from 1 pm till 2:30 and Tues. and Fri. we have small groups. From 3pm till 5pm every day we have our work duties.( I am getting to garden in tropical weather which is so very different from what I am used to! Learning a lot.) After that we have dinner from 5pm till 6:30 and we are free to do our class reading, work on our journals and our 2 book reports that will be due during this 5 months. Wow I am tired just going over it all. On top of that our class meets in the pre-school area which is at the bottom of this somewhat steep hill and our room is at the top! God has a sense of humor for sure..I had said I wanted to lose weight while I was on this Journey and He is making it all quite possible in His quirky little ways!
So the corporate worship is incredible. I am enjoying it tremendously. Our classes have been intense as well. We have speakers each week with specific topics and I will give you a little taste of each one:
Week #1 was Brian Brennt on The Character of God. Brian made class so much fun and confirmed that the Christian life can be fun and should be! God is LOVE.
The word tells us to pursue love, put on love, increase and abound in love, be sincere in love, unified in love and fervent in love as Jesus is fervent in love for us! God wants us to replicate His character on earth. There is only one problem, satan does too. We went through some of the Names of Jesus as well. I love this kind of study. There is so much meaning.
Week #2 was Doug Richardson on Hearing Gods Voice Doug showed from the beggining of class by knowing all our names and entering into relationship with
us that hearing Gods voice is all about loving other people. It's NOT ABOUT ME!
The Imagio Deo of God the Father, Son, Holy Spirit in relationship with me in the center of their love. Doug touched on a couple points I would love to share.
1) Don't believe everything you think!
2)The difference between "doing" and "being"
We are made to "be" not "do"
We must put ourselves at stake if we want to know God. We must live out LOUD!
The nature of the Kingdom is not to end evil but to overtake it, by hearing His voice and being obedient to His calling.
Week #3 we had Kristen (a man) and Cindy (incredible worship leader) from New Zealand - Corporate Week - we met in Ohana Court everyday.
They talked about how God will shake all of the things in our lives until He remains! The things that shake us can be our best friend, but others may think we are crazy. Matt. 22:14 all are called few are chosen ( Gods response to how we position our hearts, our desperation for Him, our hunger to be filled with Him.
Kristen told us we need to have better times in private with God than we do in public, to find that secret place and spend significant time with Him only then will He give revelation because His desire is relationship with His people!
Week #4 Dr. Bruce Thompkins -Plumb Line
This was a video series and very intense. Amos 7:7 talks of Gods plumb line and how we are all out of line with God. How we can swing to either rejection (unbelief) or rebellion (pride) or both. Thats where I was swinging back and forth between the two and not even aware of it. We had a day of ministry time for each of us in our small groups and it was there that I was delivered from so much pain from my past I had no idea was buried in there. I feel such a peace and am learning the love of God through these wonderful people He has put into our Crossroads class. I also have new eyes for so many of my friends back home and my dear sweet family. So exhausting physically and emotionally but well worth it! Praise God for His love and care.
Week #5 just ended and was done by Don Stephens (no not the guy in the book)
Don spoke on Biblical World View.
God created everything for His glory and wants that glory to shine through His people to other people until the evil in this world is overcome by the light of His glory. His glory is revealed in so much, music, nature, movie moments even. The seeds we sow we will reap. Truth produces life and lies produce death. However if we add truth to to death it can begin to grow! Praise God. Go to all the nations and bring the kingdom to them. We don't want to take over the world just influence it in the 7 spheres (education, family, media, church, govt., commerce & science, arts & entertainment) and as we do this we are planting seeds of truth that will over grow the weeds of the lies of the enemy. The church is the body (His people) visible and relative, the kingdom is the Kings territory ( all creation)
invisible and absolute.
I will post more in a week or so. Keep up your prayers God is doing a work.
Love to all in Jesus name!

Community Living

So this is the view from our front lanai (balcony) and these are my roomates I will be living in community with for the next 5 months. We are a unique group.Grace is our youngest at 23, she has a contagious laugh and just fills you with a happiness looking at her.Grace comes from Virginia,USA. Susan is one of the 3 older women in the room and has such a nurturing spirit about her that makes you quite comfortable in sharing anything.(She knows what I am talking about hehehe)Susan hails from the great state of Washington, USA.Next is me and most of you know me I hope.I am from California, USA. Christie is one of 2 Aussie's in our room. She comes from Perth and has a gentle and quiet spirit about her, but I am guessing there is much more there waiting to come out! Keisha is a precious prayer warrior coming from the state of Kentucky, USA. She has been at IHOP for the last couple years and her competitive side is showing now as we start playing UNO! hehehe. Kim is the other older woman to join myself and Susan. She comes all the way from the other side of the big island in Hilo. She is Korean born and has such a child like spirit. So very sweet and innocent. She also has her car with her! WhooWhoo! Last but certainly not least would be our warrior preacher Sally, from Melbourne. The other Aussie in the house. Love to listen to them speak. She is a strong presence for the Lord and looking forward to seeing how He uses her. So here we are 7 women, one large sleeping area, a community room we share with another 6 women and one bathroom with A shower and 2 stalls!
Incredibly life has been so smooth these past weeks. We all get along very well and have learned to give and take quite well. The consideration level grows more everyday..God is so very good!
More to come.

Traveling

So I thought traveling would be pretty cool and it was with a few minor glitches. I thought my flight would leave at 9:20 from Manila but we left at 10:30 so....I was at the airport at 6:00 to get everything checked in! If you can believe this I was through all of it by 6:30 and waiting for my flight. Our flight was quicker than the flight there only 11 hours so I left Manila at 10:30pm on the 8th and got into San Fran at 7:30pm on the 8th(I got to live the day again only in an airport!can you say groundhog day..hehehe) I had to wait for the flight to Kona in the am at 9:00. The flight was over booked and very risky for stand by. God is so good! They had one empty seat and it was in first class! Wow! I felt so spoiled and very out of place.
So I arrived at the airport in Kona and was just amazed and in some kind of culture shock I believe, little huts as terminals (hehehe ) the other airports were so big and this one so laid back and small.
I collected my bags and found a taxi to the campus. Another God thing here, I asked how much cause I only had 33.00 American dollars and the rest in Philippine pesos. The driver said that was about right so on we went.I kept watching the meter go up and when it passed my 33.00 amount I thought God how am I going to pay for this, silly question I know....So I get out and tell the driver (who as we talked on the drive told me he is Filipino and knew the places I had been but was from another province)I only have 33.00 dollars and he said " oh I can take the pesos I will use them on my vacation! "Thank you LORD!
At this point I think I have basically been up for 2 days traveling and catching a cat nap here and there! I must have looked like a new student because the most wonderful young man walked by and asked if I needed some help. Again thank you LORD. I said I was a CROSSROADS Student and looking for Bob Hopkins. He took my bags and said follow me everyone is at lunch (to me it is around 11:00 pm Filipino time)I followed and we found Bob in a round about way. I had some salad one of the students offered me and then Bob took me to our room, which happens to be a new building and all the way at the top of the campus.(I am going to get in shape if nothing else!)
We walk in and I am introduced to 6 other women I will be living in community with for the next 5 months, 3 of those with one bathroom and who knows on outreach. Their response " your not Filipino!" I guess since I was coming from the Philippines they thought I was Filipino! We had a meeting around 3 and then dinner and opening night, the Holy Spirit's presence was so powerful and I was washed over with such a peace that after (I think I am close to 3 days now without much sleep) sleep came and all was well. Remember the heat from the Philippines? Well I slept with a light blanket and it was so wonderful!!! Sorry no pictures but soon I will post some.
I am still praying for support and trusting God for His provision. May you feel the peace of His presence in your life.