Simple Thoughts about Community

This is a picture of our team down in Greenville, South Carolina with my dear friend Ian Finlay on the far right. He was one of my first friends in YWAM and became a brother despite our distance and going separate ways. It was such a privilege to get to see him for a short period of time and it was definitely worth it. We try to pray about every decision we make on this trip as a team and some of our stops have been specifically to visit friends/fellow YWAM brothers and sisters. Being able to encourage them and pray for them as well as receive from them is only creating a deeper friendship and connection that is able to last no matter what the distance is.

I am seeing how there are different levels of community and that they are all valuable. I would define community as a unified body that shares common interests. Would my friends that I rarely see but still have a connection to be considered part of my community? I would say yes and it is very important to build into those relationships. I would like to be way more connected to my friends and family than I am now but I am learning and seeing how valuable these relationships are. I am seeing how much God wants friendship with us and for us to have friendship with each other. Building stronger relationships can only create deeper stronger unity which in the end is better for everyone.

These are obviously very simple observations that I am stating and I in no way consider myself an expert in community. I only desire to learn about community and see the desire of so many people to have community become a reality rather than a hopeless discouraging effort. My prayer is that God will stir my heart and the hearts of others to value friendship and go deeper together. Then community wont be something that we have to create, but will be what God creates out of our love for one another.

Please pray:
-For us to be available these next few days as we take time to process. I am expecting there to be some time to just go out and do ministry. We are heading to Memphis today and will be staying right next to a park where we should be able to meet some people.
-For us to be able to process what we have learned so far and allow God to do in our hearts what He wants. We have listened to so many influential peoples wisdom and definitely some time to see what God has been saying to us.

Check out http://www.awakennations.com/ for more details on the trip and pictures!!!! It's worth the visit!!!!

Family Roots

Chris Little's house in Fayetville N.C.

On my journey I have been challenged, encouraged, and blown away by some of these amazing men and women of God. The amount of wisdom that these people carry is just amazing. I have never heard the simplest truths become so deep and powerful. I am seeing this amazing God that we serve in a new light. At times I just couldn't take any more information and I would get overwhelmed or frustrated, but I started getting before God and asking Him what He wanted to speak to me. I have never had such a clear view on God and His love like this and I started to open my heart more and more to His love in areas that I never even thought of.

We were able to meet with a man named Matt Peterson yesterday in Winston Salem, North Caroline. Matt is a former school leader at Morning Star ministries in Charlotte N.C. and now pastors a church. He shared a lot with us yesterday, but the one thing that struck a chord in my heart was what he shared about the "Parable of the Lost Son"(Luke 15:11-31). Matt pointed out about how the son's expectation in coming back to his father’s house was so work as a slave and be fed. What actually ended up happening was his father welcomed him in, dressed him in a robe, put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet so that they could have a party! He had a wrong perspective about what His father was like.

I wonder how much of my perspective of what God had for me has been filtered through what I think I deserve or what lies I believe about who God is? I have been launched into a revelation of what it is to have my mind renewed. I have never had so much hope, joy, peace and excitement about what God has for me!

We are spending a few days in Charleston, S.C. to rest, pray and just enjoy family time together. I have been blessed with such an amazing group of people to live life with right now. I realize how important it is to have community to challenge, hold accountable, encourage and love each other. These are foundational things that I want more than anything in ministry. I see how important it is to have deep roots that can support the abundant fruit that we desire.

Prayer Requests:
That we continue to seek God for direction and be obedient.
That doors would open to the right people for us to meet.
That we would be open and available for God to put people in pour path to minister to.

The first steps

After a week of this pilgrimage we are finally settled down in Washington D.C. where I hope to catch up on what God has been showing and teaching me through many amazing ministry leaders. We spent our first four days in Cambridge, Massachusetts at the Justice house of prayer where a lot of young people around my age and older gather to cry out to God for injustices like abortion and also for a revival in the many college campuses in the area like Harvard. One thing I never knew about Harvard was that it was founded to train ministers. Now it is far from its original purpose and is highly affected by humanism. We were also able to meet a friend of ours named Eunice who attends Harvard and holds a weekday morning prayer group with about 7 other students. These groups hope to see the Kingdom of God established and see leaders come out of Harvard that will be able to truly change the world.

We were then launched off to New Jersey where we visited the Resting House of Prayer where we were welcomed in like family. As soon as we arrived they sat us down and fed us and then let us rest until the next day. I loved seeing such an awesome group that loved Jesus and wanted to do ministry together. They were such a great example of being family in the body of Christ. They love serving the Lord and their heart is to bring healing and restoration into peoples lives in the community. I believe that this is the kind of community that everyone desires and it’s good to see it that its possible.

Next we took a trip to Lancaster P.A. where we spent a few days with a man named Corey Martin. He is an awesome man of God who truly loves telling people about Jesus like I’ve never seen before. Corey is a pastor of a church and also does a lot in the community as well as works a few jobs. I have never seen someone so passionate about sharing the gospel before. I was able to go with Corey and Chris Little to a drug and alcohol rehab meeting that Corey does ministry at. The age group was between 18 and 21 so it was a little intimidating for Chris and I to share, but Corey was so unashamed about confessing the love of Christ and didn’t hold back. Chris and I mentioned what we did in Hawaii at the Discipleship Training School and two of the guys were showing a lot of interest. They more expressed their desire to just go to Hawaii but I could tell that they hungered for a chance to have their lives changed.

Next we left Lancaster and drove to a town called Coatesville P.A. where we met up with a man named Jamie Galloway. He is a young pastor who had such a perspective on the Kingdom of Heaven that shook us up and challenged us more than anything yet. I could see how his teaching was shared in such a sincere way, but language and lack of time got in the way of a lot of understanding. I can see how instances like this this split up so many churches and denominations in the body of Christ. I am still trying the process the giant load of information that he gave us in the short time we were with him.

I now sit here in Washington D.C. wanting to process everything but overwhelmed at the thought of traveling for two months. With the Supreme Court across the street and having just read about the Heartbeat Bill I am faced with the reality that there are problems in this world that are bigger than me and my understanding, but the creator of the universe knows every day of my life. I just want to know Jesus!

"Ask where the good way is, and walk in it."

Sometimes making a choice in life is like entering a giant knotted highway (as seen above). We enter in and we have no idea how long it will take, how frustrating it will be, or where we will end up. My commitment to follow Jesus at times feels this, but as soon as I focus my eyes back on Jesus I am filled with peace and Joy. The decisions I make are so much more than Geographical steps, but they are choosing every day to acknowledge God in everything I do; choosing every day to love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength; and receiving His love before trying any of this.

It has been an amazing time of rest being home and it seems so soon but I will be leaving for Boston February 3rd. I will be traveling across the United States with some of my friends/co-staff to seek perspective of what God is doing in America and to learn from different pastors/ministry leaders. I have an amazing opportunity ahead of me and I am excited to see how these steps of faith draw me deeper into a relationship with God and with others.

We have a van, an itinerary, and plane tickets to get to Boston, but we are going to be depending on God to provide in allotting of ways. This is a big test for me and I'm sure for others. A lot of what I wanted to grow in this year was simply faith. I don't always realize what I ask for until I am required to walk in it and believing that what I asked for has been or will be given at the right time. These steps have drawn me lower and lower to a place of constant prayer for God’s presence. It's when I stop everything and seek God that I truly have peace in knowing how awesome He is.

I want to embrace the simplicity of just walking with God and communicating with Him. I recently read in a magazine about Intimacy with God. It talked about how we are made in God’s image so that we can relate to Him. I might be way behind on this understanding, but I always thought it just meant that we looked like him, but I started to understand how much he wants to communicate with us, verbally, non-verbally, or any way that we are known to communicate that we don't even realize.

We don't have to leave it up to the experts or our pastor to talk to God. He created us all to relate to Him!

Finishing strong.

Our last ministry location was in Chiang Mai, Thailand at a restoration home called "Abba House". This was such an amazing ministry that we were able to partner with for ten days and see some life changing moves of God. We worked with a group of men who were saved through the prison ministry that Abba house does in the Chiang Mai prison. We also worked with a larger group of girls that were saved out of all sorts of different situation such like trafficking or abuse.

From our kitchen sink, Northern Thailand's largest mountain was placed in perfect view. Every night the sunset was placed right at the peak of the mountain. We were staying in brand new buildings with nice beds and hot showers. I felt such a peace of how we were ending this trip. I could start to look back and see how God's presence was there this whole time. How beyond my struggles and my failures, God was in control and working.

We were able to do allot of work with the men and women there. We even went with them into the Chiang Mai prison got to see around 200 men give their lives to Jesus! A few days into our time with Abba house we were notified that we would be spending our last two days with the ministry three hours away in a hill tribe called the "Lahu". We spent the one day traveling to the village, spending time playing with the kids and eating meals with the people. Our second day which was our last day of ministry ended up being a Sunday which involved having 4 church services and an additional 2 services since we were going to be there. We started at six in the morning and didn't end until nine at night!

We arrived back in Bangkok and headed straight to an Island for debrief. It was a big transition from a cold hill tribe village where we slept on a concrete floor and put on most of our cloths to keep warm, to arriving on an island by speedboat and laying on the beach in the warm sun. Looking back I experienced so much of Gods presence in all of my different circumstances. Whether in Hawaii, Cambodia or Thailand I was given the strength and love that I desired from God.

"11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength." Philippians 4:11-13

Be Available

In our lack of traveling experience we had to change hotels three different times in our five days in Mae Sai. We never seemed to explain how long we wanted to the rooms for and since it was a busy time of the year they were pretty booked. We ended up finding a inexpensive but very nice hotel that overlooked Burma and was very close to the border. I was not going to allow myself to get frustrated by all of my mistakes but was going to trust in God and knowing that He works despite our mistakes.

Our whole team was with us at this point and we decided to have a time of prayer and worship one night outside of the hotel. We were praying for our team and for the city we were in and also for people that were involved in prostitution. We were asking God for His heart for these people and didn't really know what we were getting ourselves into. About a half an hour into it I looked up and saw two men taking a young girl dressed like a prostitute into the hotel and up the elevator. I knew what was going on but didn't want to interrupt our prayer time. When we were finished we decided to take a walk and prayer around the area that we knew had brothels.

The walk was very quiet since most of the brothels are behind closed doors and the streets were pretty quiet that night, but we prayed out loud and I brought my guitar and worshipped God. We got back near the hotel and decided to stop and get some snacks before heading in. Outside of the store were about 6 young adults. Some were drinking and hanging out but there was one young girl holding a baby. I stayed outside and played my guitar and the girl with the baby started speaking english to me. She began to ask me questions like my name and where I was from. I ended up finding out that a church payed for her to go to bible school and to speak around America including Ohio!

Another man was there that was also a Christian in the area and we talked about God and what we were doing. Out of nowhere the two guys and the girl I saw earlier walking into the hotel walked right up to us standing there. I was so shocked and nervous that I was standing there with these people. The girl with the baby grabbed the girl that I assumed to be a prostitute and took her home. When she came back she told us about the girl she took home, that her father had sexually abused her and that her mother passed away so she ended up on the street prostituting herself at the age of 15. Our hearts sank as we stood there embracing the reality of the area we were in. We talked more with the girl and she told us that she was praying for the girls in the area and trying to take care of them.

After all of this we stayed for a few more hours talking and also playing some worship songs that even the drunk guys were singing along with! We had no Idea what we were getting into that night but looking back I could see how we got exactly what we were asking for. We wanted to have Gods heart for the area and for the people and we got it. We were thrown right into the life of the people and the reality of their struggles. Our hearts were broken but we could see that this is what God's heart was for these people.

I had a whole new perspective on these Burmese/Thai people of this small town. I was shown that they were so hungry for the love of God and that us making ourselves available that night to just hang out with them and love on them was exactly what God wanted. Our five days in the small border town with no plans gave us the chance to just be available and see what God wanted to do. I didn't just get Gods heart but truly fell in love with the area and the people and hope to someday return to Mae Sai.

"In all their suffering he also suffered, and he personally rescued them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them. He lifted them up and carried them through all the years." Isaiah 64:9

Drop in Center

The morning of our second day in Mae Sai, Chris and I started our day by going out and getting coffee from a nearby restaurant and had no other plans for our day. We had left our students for a few days to go ahead of them and had no other plans but to pray into the rest of our outreach. On our way back to our room we stopped at the front desk to ask about doing some laundry and were met by a tour guide named Saemoon. He had been waiting in the hotel lobby for us because he had heard that there were three foreigners were staying in the hotel and he wanted to offer his tour to us. I decided to talk to him since we were planning on going into Burma and I wanted to have a guide take us in. I told him that we were Christian missionaries and what we had been doing the past two months and he was very excited. He began to tell me his testimony and and how he had been an alcoholic and in the streets until a English man named Frank came and took him in and gave him cloths and a shower. Saemoon was so excited at this point and had no desire to sell us his service as a tour guide but instead now he wanted to take Chris and I to meet frank!

We were walking down the streets following Seamoon into the red light area near the border to meet some man named Frank and had no idea what to expect. We arrived at a large building and walked in to a see people of all ages hanging out watching "Mr. Bean" and eating lunch. We met Frank who was an older English man. He sat down on the floor with us and began to tell us all about the Drop in Center and how God gave him a heart for the people in the area of the border and especially the children that hang out on the bridge. The kids are sent out by their parents to beg for money that is usually to support their own drug habits rather than pay for food. Often times if the kids don't bring back enough money they will be physically abused. Many kids also have problems with sniffing glue.

Frank wants to give the kids a safe place to come and stay whenever they want that is safe. He feeds the kids as well as teaches them the bible. The building is four stories with allot of space and Frank wants to use the top two floors for discipleship training and to be sending them back into Burma. This was such an amazing day of seeing a glimpse of what God is doing in this area and how there is a light shining in the midst darkness.

If you would like more information about the drop in center or if you would like to help support you can email Frank at frank@supportingheart.com