Transitions

I am in a point in my life where I am transitioning from one extreme season to another. I have just finished up the lecture phase of the 6 month Discipleship Training School that I am running and moving onto the outreach phase. The first three months have been packed with teaching and discipleship of 75 students and 25+ staff and encountering the God of Love move so radically in our lives. It is such an amazing environment to get to focus very directly on Jesus and be transformed with a group that is all wanting the same thing. It never gets old to see peoples lives go from hopeless and broken to alive and moving in power! I have now seen eleven teams launched from our base in Kona, Hawaii to some of the hardest and darkest nations on the planet.

It has been such a privilege to be in the position of a school leader during this time because of the outside perspective that I am granted. This can sometimes be overwhelming when I am hearing every single problem that is going on throughout the school but I am only forced to be at the feet of Jesus constantly. Despite my weakness and my failures, God used this past three months to reveal His Love that demands a life change. From leadership to staff to student, there is such a transformation that happens in each individual as they are put into this greenhouse like environment and allowed to grow. I am excited to see my generation filled with courageous leaders who live to see the Kingdom of God advanced in the earth!

 I am very appreciative of where God has me. I think sometimes about what I am doing and what it is costing me to live like this here away from family and friends and I can only look to Jesus and trust His call in my life. There is something about the peace and joy that comes from having a relationship with Jesus that makes it possible to live such a different life. I do have to face the fear of lack of provision or fear of failure as well as many other insecurities but, whether I am living the life of a missionary or back in Cleveland working a more normal job I am set on being a man of faith and courage!

After recently hearing a message from Andy Byrd who is a base leader here in Kona, I was very convicted about ways that I was not taking initiative as a man and not being courageous in the face of fear. I believe that there are promises that God has given us that He simply has "given" us. He has already blessed us and handed them to us but we have to take initiative and take what is ours. It is not our responsibility to sit back and observe whether or not we are capable but to go and take what is rightfully ours! I had to repent of passivity which was causing me to sit back as a leader and watch and observe situations until I felt comfortable and secure enough to act. I realized that I was not putting any faith in the Creator of the universe but in my own capabilities. Thankfully I had some good friends to walk me through repentance which is calling out my passivity as sin and choosing to walk in faith.

After getting some quality with my girlfriend Sarah-Jo as well as closing up finances for our school I will be heading out October 8th to Battambang, Cambodia for my first of four pastoral visits. These visits are crucial for a successful short term outreach. They are almost like a diagnostics check on how the team is functioning. It allows me to bring outside perspective to the team as well as remind the team of the bigger picture of what we are doing for the Kingdom of God.

Please pray for this trip. I will be traveling by myself in Asia and I definitely need your prayers as a covering over me. Also, pray for these teams to see salvation in these nations!

Psalm 67:2-4 "May your ways be known throughout the earth, your saving power among people everywhere. May the nations praise you, O God. Yes may all the nations praise you. Let the whole world sing for joy, because you govern the nations with justice and guide the people of the whole world."