A New Look at Evangelism

Today we went to a park area downtown to do a little evangelizing. You see, when most people hear the word ‘evangelism’ they cringe. Often times, Christians don’t want to evangelize because, for some reason, it has a negative connotation. We imagine someone standing on the street corner boisterously waving a Bible around yelling about God. It’s actually quite different. Evangelism can be described as: one hungry man showing another hungry man where to get food. The goal is not for you to save the person but to bring them closer to God and allow the Holy Spirit to save them….in God’s timing. So today we went at it from a different direction. We looked a bit crazy but it was so much fun and really seemed very affective. We did a flash mob, which is when one person begins doing something and, slowly, everyone else joins in. Dash started out by stretching and running in place and then two more people joined him. It looked as though he was exercising alone and then two strangers decided to join in. Then the music started and more people joined in. Before you knew it there were about 15 of us exercising in the middle of this sitting area. People looked so confused, not quite sure what to think. After the exercises finished I gave a short message on Jeremiah 32:27 and the strength of God and how He is able to help us when we feel like we are too weak to go on. Immediately after I spoke we did a short drama depicting the power of Jesus in our lives, followed by a short testimony by Katie. After all of that, we stuck around and talked with people. Some approached us and others were approached by us. We had the opportunity to pray with so many people and I think it blessed us as much as it blessed them. We also asked some people who God is to them and had them write their answer on their hands then we took pictures. After all of that we pulled out the sidewalk chalk and spent some time drawing and writing on the ground, some of the locals joining in. I feel like God was absolutely there backing us up and I am sure lives were impacted. There’s no way some of those people walked away from that and forgot about what they experienced, praise God! Today was a day of new experiences for me…my first time speaking in that type of setting AND my first time having a conversation in Spanish with a stranger. I even translated a little. My Spanish definitely still needs a lot of work but I have to say I think it was pretty successful today.

Please pray for us as we prepare to leave for Nicaragua this Thursday. Our schedule has changed a bit and we will be in Nicaragua for a week and then come back to Costa Rica for the remainder of our lecture phase. In October we will go camping in the jungle for a week then head down to Bocas del Toro, Panama for a short time. After that, we will spend some time doing outreach in Costa Rica then make our way up to Honduras for the remainder of our outreach. Thank you SOOO much to all of you who have supported us (and me) financially and for all of the prayers I may never know about. Check back in about a week for the outcome of our time in Nicaragua!

Shaking Things Up

What a great week I have had! Things have slowed down since the 50th celebration is finally over. One day this week we got to paint tribal designs on our faces and then made a video to promote our outreach. We had a DELICIOUS dinner Wednesday, which consisted of cheeseburgers, bbq sauce, and bacon, plus we had watermelon and then doughnuts for dessert. Another day we got to go to the park to play soccer. Another time a few of us were walking back to the base in the rain and we had umbrellas but then we decided to close our umbrellas and just embrace the elements. It was raining really hard…we ran through puddles and got splashed by cars, all for the sake of laughter and allowing ourselves to be carefree for those 15 minutes. It has been such a great week for me. I feel like I have been able to relax a lot and just enjoy myself. I wonder if it’s because of the activities of my week. But then I think about something God did this week and I can’t help but believe that that’s what has made all the difference.

There is a verse I learned recently and I really love it. It’s Hebrews 12:27 and it says, “The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.” When I read this verse I started thinking about what it would look like to allow God to shake all the things out of my life that are not of Him. It’s not always material possessions; sometimes it can be people or even plans you have for yourself. It’s a bit of a scary thought. I think it represents true dependence on God if someone prays this with a genuine heart. When we ask God to remove the things that cannot be shaken we give Him permission to strip us of all the things that are not of Him. The things that remain, the things which cannot be shaken, should be the things God has placed in our lives, especially a relationship with Him. To pray that prayer means to give God permission to potentially wreck your world. Sometimes it feels good to be able to hold onto things. It’s comforting to feel as though we’re in control of things, or at least something. But I know that it’s far better when I give God control over every area of my life. The more I thought about this verse, the more I realized that I really do want to be in a place where I can say that I am holding on to absolutely nothing except the love of Jesus Christ; and that very thing is more than enough for me! It’s the one thing that no one can ever take from me. So I decided to ask God to shake the things that can be shaken so that the things that cannot be shaken will remain. He didn’t take long to get moving on that request, let me tell you! It didn’t take but a few days before I had to let go of a friendship that meant a lot to me. It was a friendship I enjoyed. Someone I could talk to and laugh with at any moment. If you have a relationship with God then you probably know that He answers our prayers in unexpected ways sometimes; and sometimes His answer isn’t always the one we want to hear. The funny thing was that I started recognizing in my heart that I needed to cut off that friendship and I was so sad, and then I remembered what I had prayed and I couldn’t help but laugh. I don’t know why I sometimes think I can get away with things; like I can justify things to myself and God isn’t going to catch on. Obviously He’s aware but I think sometimes He waits for us to show an interest in hearing what He has to say. In saying that, I’m saying that I had a feeling for awhile that this friendship needed to go but I kept justifying it to myself. Anyway, I knew God was answering my prayer and I knew I needed to be obedient…no more justifying anything. Okay, maybe I still tried to justify for a few minutes…after all, God was using me to bring my friend closer to Him. But I knew in my heart that God was answering my prayer and I know it’s not right to ask God to do something and then ignore it when He answers. So I let go. And then I prayed. I prayed really hard, committing my friend to God and asking God to take care of His own child. The day after I chose to obey God I felt so different, so free. Up to that point I had no idea that I was holding onto that friendship.

We should live life with open hands. Go with me here for a second: make a fist with one hand and open your other hand all the way, palm facing up. Whatever we have in our lives, be it materials, relationships, dreams, etc, we should keep all those things in the hand that is open. Don’t hold onto things with a fist. When we hold things that way we don’t give God space to give us new things. So often something pleasing to us comes into our lives and we like it so much that we immediately grab onto it, holding it so tight. The thing is, sometimes God wants to take things from us, and it’s always with good intentions, so that He can give us something even better. (I have a testimony to that, but for the sake of time, I won’t share it now.) What God really wants us to do is stand with open hands before Him and allow everything in our lives to sit openly in the palm of our hands so that He can give and take as He sees fit. The day after I told my friend we couldn’t really be friends anymore, I realized that was a relationship I was holding with a fist and I probably was supposed to have let go of it awhile ago. It wasn’t until I opened both hands and asked God to ‘shake’ my life that I was able to see that He wanted me to let go…and now I’m reaping the benefits. I can honestly say that I don’t think I’m holding onto anything and it feels a little uncomfortable. Sort of awkward, I guess because I feel completely out of control. Yet I have peace knowing that God does have control and He always seems to do a better job than me anyway. This is what it is to live a life of complete surrender.

CENTRAL AMERICA ROCKS!!!

Today we found out our outreach location!!! Or should I say locations?! In two weeks we will leave for a one week outreach in Panama. After that, we will return to the base and finish the final few weeks of our lecture phase. Then we will go camping in the jungle for a week then leave for THE outreach! We will be ministering throughout Costa Rica, Honduras, and El Salvador. WOW! I cannot wait to see what God is going to do. At this point, we really don’t know specifically where we will go or even what type of ministry we are going to do. It does sound like we may be working with a lot of indigenous tribes and possibly spend a lot of time in the jungles though. Anyway, I guess you could say that we are at a really exciting point in this journey….the time where we start planning and using our creativity and allowing God to give us ideas. However, it’s not just time to plan, it’s also time to fundraise. We will be fundraising as a team rather than individually. Some people already have the money needed for the outreach phase, which is $1500 per person, and others don’t have any of the money. If anyone has any ideas of how we can raise money, please share your ideas. Later this week we should have an idea of exactly how much we are lacking. My hope is that we can raise extra money and use it to bless some of the people we are going to minister to.

If you think about it, I would greatly appreciate your prayers, and I know my friends here would appreciate them as well. We are praying that God would show us His heart for the people of the countries we are going to. We are asking that He align our hearts with His so that we can minister effectively. It’s not enough to just go and do things for the people, we want to truly love them and share God’s love with them. We need to know specifically where we should go and we also need to know exactly what to do in each location. There are so many options: orphanages, sex trafficking/prostitution, homeless, indigenous, performing arts, general arts, poverty stricken, the list goes on and on.

Thanks for your love and prayers!

PURA VIDA

Living a Life of Worship

Last week we learned about worship, but the first thing we learned was how to achieve John 4:23-24 which says, “The time is coming when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, and that time is here already. You see, the Father too is actively seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” Our teacher had some pretty good points, saying that our values define our priorities and our priorities define our habits. In turn, you have to ask yourself what your life is all about; what is your main focus? Because that is what you worship! The story in the Bible that talks about the Samaritan woman is found in John 4 and is a good example of someone not worshiping the right things. Jesus was talking to her literally but also figuratively. He was basically telling her that she was drinking from a ‘well’ of sex, which she was doing in an attempt to fill the deepest desires of her heart. She was worshiping sex. Worship and addiction are essentially the same thing. The addiction is the thing we are worshiping.
 
(click on image for larger view)

There are two classes of pain:
1. Wounds from the past
2. Pain from the emptiness we all have (which is filled by Jesus and His grace and mercy).

We have to deal with both types of pain in order to live a life of worship. And we have to develop habits to stay full of Jesus so we don’t feel the void that draws us into addictions and false-worship. (Suggestions: get plugged into a church, find a mentor, get an accountability group)

Anticipating More!

God is so faithful! As I sat here looking at my bank account, I realized how TRULY faithful God is!! I came to Costa Rica with just enough money to get by and in the month that I have been here God has blessed me with an additional $500. It truly is a blessing because Costa Rica is much more expensive than anticipated and I have to pay for bus/taxi transportation, which really adds up. Not only that, but there have been several things I have needed to buy as well. I’m learning more and more that when God calls you to do something, He will absolutely give you EVERY thing you need. I have been provided for financially more than I would have imagined. I have been spared from intense homesickness :) I have been gone for exactly one month today and I have only felt extremely homesick two or three times. Today I have been pondering my next steps. Where will God send me? I have a couple of ideas in mind, but ultimately it all depends on where I feel God really does want me to go. The options seem endless! As days go by I feel as though Austin is home to a big part of my heart but I feel as though it is no longer my home in a physical sense. I believe that I belong among the nations, living cross-culturally. I feel so fulfilled and happy when I think about being amongst the people of other nations. I know there are possibilities and options in the US but there’s a sense of peace within me knowing that God is calling me to serve in international missions. Right now we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of YWAM and I have had the privilege of hearing the founder and his wife and son speak. I am so grateful for their obedience! It amazes me to hear all of the stories and to realize just how many lives all over the world have been changed by God because of one man’s dream and his obedience! It truly has changed the world! So the next time God speaks to you, you might want to listen; you never know what He may be trying to do through you!!

Check out the following books written by Loren Cunningham, founder of YWAM:

IS THAT REALLY YOU, GOD?
Hearing the Voice of God

MAKING JESUS LORD
The Dynamic Power of Laying Down Your Rights

DARING TO LIVE ON THE EDGE
The Adventure of Faith and Finances

Tunnel Vision

There’s soooo much I want to say right now! I want to sum up everything I have been learning but I’m afraid that’s impossible. This week we are learning about spiritual warfare and it is absolutely rocking my world! This man is simply amazing. He is teaching us about prophecy and the power of God within us, but I will save all of that for another blog entry because I’m still processing all of that information. This is my fourth week here and it seems like each week I am receiving deeper revelation of who God really is. I am learning that my relationship with Him is just that: MY relationship. I can’t live life with a religious view of God, what everyone else thinks a relationship with Him should look like. Religion says that it should be prayer every day, a daily devotion, and church on Sunday. Personal relationship says: all that other crap goes out the window and my relationship looks like whatever it is I feel God is leading me to do. All of those things are good, don’t get me wrong, but the presence of them in my life does not define my relationship with God. So maybe one day I pray for hours and maybe the next day I pray for a few minutes at a time throughout the day. Maybe one day I read the Bible for 20 minutes and the next day not at all and then the next day I spend hours with my face buried in His Word. Maybe this week I go to church on Wednesday and Sunday and then next week I hang out with friends on Wednesday instead of going to church…and then Sunday I don’t go to church either. Instead I go for a walk in the park and just spend time alone with God. Does it look unconventional? Yeah, a little…but it’s MY relationship with God and it doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s, especially the way religion makes it look. We are all running a race and we all have our own lane. I’ll look at my lane, my eyes fixed on God, and you look in your lane. We can’t compare our lanes because that’s when we’re going to stumble and start living in religion instead of relationship. We are each unique and individual and that’s exactly what our relationships with God should look like: unique and individual! God is big enough that He can actually have tunnel vision for each one of us individually, all at the same time! What I’m trying to say is this: we need to each live with tunnel vision for God too, not comparing ourselves to others around us but simply keeping focused on Him and living in our OWN relationship with Him…no matter how different it may look!