After Long Absence...

Her eyes caught mine, sparkling, shining, full of the smile which her face couldn't hide. Pure joy and relief. She waved with recognition and affection, sighing.

He glanced from face to face, and then paused. His own grin took him by surprise. He pointed and nodded, remembering. Later coming up to me he shook my hand, the tough kid who is usually using his hands to punch--momentarily so gentle because he knows he is cared for and remembered.

Ministry is about real people. Not numbers or testimonies. It wasn't until our absence that I realized how much I deeply cherish the kids at our weekly local outreach. From the teenage boy who could take me out in a second, to the little lonely 6-year-old who just wants to hold my hand and giggle, to the fourth grade girl who watches me with wide brown eyes because she wants to know what it's like to let your dreams come alive and to let your heart be free.

Every  moment is an opportunity for love. Every breath an opportunity for heaven to invade earth.

Every person is a treasured child of God.

Let's never lose sight of how precious each human being is in the Kingdom of God. He shines through each one, whether they realize it or not.

Thank you Jesus for the joy of loving others!

The Gospel. Chapter 1.

In the beginning, there was silence. A peaceful Presence. There was God.
The Most High. Eternal, Uncreated One.

Perfectly holy and perfectly beautiful.
The Creator of time and space stared into ages unmade, and then.

Then the music came!
Light! Sound! Air! Ground!
A symphony of praise, all from the mouth of the Great Lord of everything.
Flowers, trees and bumblebees all buzzed with the tune of endless creativity.

God spun and laughed, singing the stars into existence;
they spun along with Him, keeping perfect speed and distance,
Like choreographed dancers on the stage of the universe.

And God paused...

And sighed...

With great satisfaction at all the beauty around Him,
each one a glimpse of His own Being, His own character.

Two rulers were appointed: one took dominion over Day; the other set to guard the Night.
And they counted: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5...

And on number 6, the angels held their breath
As God reached down to this tiny round globe...
deep down into the earth and pulled up...
Dirt.

And with the gentle care and utmost precision of Sovereign hands He created: man.

The Most High was UNDONE.

Filled with unexplainable love.

As He exclaimed, "It looks like US!"

(more to come. stay tuned!)

Perspective of Heaven

A little more about Amsterdam.

It's a bit of a wild place! Everything is pretty out in the open. On most street corners, especially near the red light district, you'll see places called "Coffee Shops", which are actually bars where you can buy marijuana products. Most things are totally acceptable there. You kinda just get used to seeing it.

But then you ask God for His perspective and it's a different story.

Do you remember that Holland is actually the place where the Pilgrims first settled in search of religious freedom? There is such a rich history of faith! The openness of the people provided a safe haven for those who were being religiously persecuted elsewhere, a place where they could seek and serve God wholeheartedly and know Him deeply, without fear.

Even when we were sitting in the red light district, with the prostitute windows just down the street, we heard testimony of a revival which had broken out at a church mere meters away from where we were. The Holy Spirit had touched many people during that time, even through healings and miracles.

So I am daring to say that there is a new revival on its way to Amsterdam. Such a loving, welcoming city, it only needs to turn its eyes back to Jesus and it will be free! Walking the streets I was filled with joy and expectation. Something is stirring in the atmosphere over Amsterdam! It has yet to reclaim its destiny as a safe haven to God's people.

Did you know that about 170 countries are represented within Amsterdam, making it the most diverse city in the world??

Jesus said, "Go and make disciples of all nations..." And nearly all the nations are represented right there in one city! Could it be, that God wants to release His Spirit in a fresh way in Amsterdam, so that then the Gospel will go forth throughout the earth?

So with all the discouragement and lies spoken over Amsterdam, I release hope and promise! God has spoken promises over this city--they will not return to Him void.

Amsterdam, awaken! Remember the love of your Savior! And walk out your identity as a city of light to the nations!!

Definition of Ministry

I just got back from spending two weeks in Amsterdam with 16 amazing leaders as teammates and 3 wonderful kids. And I am blown away by what can be accomplished through simple obedience.

On a short trip like ours, it's so tempting to fill our schedule with every ministry opportunity we can find. There are those "things" you seem to have to do on every missions trip--evangelism being a main one. So it was a little shocking when we arrived in Amsterdam with no agenda, no plan. Our only direction was to worship God for 2 hours every day, and wait on Him.

Two weeks later, we hadn't been on any wild crusade, or seen crazy healings, or any of the ministry "norms". And yet we all felt so strongly the pleasure of the Lord that we had done everything right. We had obeyed Him.

So what did we do? It's hard to explain in writing, but I'll try.

1. We prayed and worshipped. Without God's presence, breakthrough is impossible. We can't expect anything great to happen if He's not there! So resting in His presence, and then pressing in to know His heart, and then releasing His truth over the city, is perhaps the most powerful thing to be done.
One day I was surprised with the opportunity to lead worship for the YWAM Amsterdam base. My leaders were a little nervous with me--they'd never heard me lead and it had been a while since I had. I didn't know what songs to do and which ones everybody was familiar with. As soon as I started playing and singing, something happened. God's presence came! I was amazed and brought to tears by the hunger amongst the group. This was a team of multiple generations crying out for God to move in the city of Amsterdam, to move in their own hearts. Literally the Holy Spirit took over the service. I don't even remember what we sang. I remember that Jesus was the focus and we all gladly went over time to worship Him. It will stick out in my mind as one of my most incredible times of leading worship...not because of any feeling or experience, but simply because everyone's hearts were fixed on Christ and glorifying Him fully. That truly marked me.

Worshipping at the Tabernacle, the house of prayer inside
the Red Light district. This prayer room has been responsible
for the shutting down of sex shops simply through intercession!

2. We served. You wouldn't think scrubbing toilets and mopping floors would do a lot. But it did. Being a servant unlocks doors to relationship. It is also walking in the footsteps of Christ. Learning to love in a practical, visible way. This is key. This should precede any other form of ministry. This is where leadership begins.
I got to help paint a lady's apartment one weekend with Serve the City. I worked with three other volunteers, none of whom were from YWAM. The lady we painted for didn't speak much English. I'll admit it was hard at first! I found myself wondering what the point of it was. We were just painting everything white. It wasn't even that big of a deal. Hardly anyone would ever see it. Then the lady came up to the door I was in the middle of painting. She kept repeating something in Dutch. I looked at her and her eyes were filled with wonder. "Beauty!" she said, "Beauty! So beauty!" She kept walking around saying, "Wow, wow, beauty."
I don't care if nobody else sees our effort or credits us. That lady was so deeply impacted that we would care enough to spend an entire day painting for her. The glimpse of love she received that day was worth it! Ministry isn't about what we get out of it. It's about loving others wholeheartedly, not expecting anything in return. And that is the most rewarding.

Painting with Serve the City.

3. We built family. Honestly, a lot of our time was spent simply enjoying each other and being together. One of the reasons for this is that we are all going to be leading together for the next year, and so a lot of this trip involved bonding as a team. But also, we learned how crucial community and fellowship really is. You can only do ministry on your own so long. Spending time together became a good portion of our strength for this trip.
It blew my mind how refreshed the YWAM Amsterdam staff were by our team--and the main reason was our fellowship. Many of them told us that! Within just a few days, they also were drawn in to our "family". They were so blessed and encouraged by our joyful prayers over them. Some wept as they told us how much they'd been needing a team like ours to come to their campus. In the Netherlands, it usually takes a few years to consider someone a friend. Yet they became our friends within a couple of days! And through getting to know us, some of them began to rediscover who they are in Christ. Dreams were stirred up inside their hearts and their passion for Jesus grew visibly.
People are longing for family. That's how God intended it! And so relationships are one of the main keys to effective ministry.

Our leaders and the YWAM Amsterdam leaders, posing after
a morning of fun and worship. These are life-long relationships
we're building, with the strength to change the world.

So yeah! That's it! It's so simple. We didn't see a harvest. But we saw the planting and nurturing of lots of seeds. And the best part is, we obeyed God's voice. We didn't strive. We didn't seek out cool testimonies. We just did what He said. And He opened more doors for us--strategic doors--than we ever expected. We got to become friends with some incredible world-changers, and lift up their arms within the place where they are already making an impact.

This I suppose is a sort of invisible fruit. Years from now we may look at Amsterdam, once the city is totally revived and people are getting healed and seeing visions and all that, and we may be able to say, "Remember when we went there and washed dishes? That was the start of the revival."

Learning to Read

Today I sat with several little girls squished up against me, taking turns sitting on my lap, all with beaming faces, listening to "Cat in the Hat" read to us. It was one of those moments where I just had to sigh with total pleasure and fulfillment. Like, this is what I was made for. This is perfect.

I love children and have a heart especially for girls, to help them know that they are deeply valued and loved, that they have purpose. I guess I hadn't expected to have one of those moments yet with these kids we've been reaching out to the past couple of months. These are kids from difficult backgrounds and family situations, trying their best just to make it through. I mean, they're the kind of kids I really have a heart for! The ones who feel like they have to fight for themselves every day.

And here I was, in a moment where I could just hold them, just smile with them, just remind them without words that they are treasured. That they are worth something.

Last week I helped one of the younger boys with his homework. He is just learning how to read. I had no clue what I was doing. He lost interest pretty quickly.

The boys in this group tend to be super tough, loud, and sometimes difficult. But, when it came to be homework time, this particular boy ran up to me and said, "Auntie! Will you help me with my homework?"

He eagerly sat down with me and struggled through his next book.

It basically melted my heart.

Sometimes in seasons of preparation and learning like the one I'm in, it's easy to wonder if you're even making any difference in the world at all. I looked over at this boy as he smiled, enjoying the rest of his day, his homework finished, and I heard that still small Voice say to me, "You made a difference in this one's life today."

It's the little things! It's the one person! The little acts of love!

It is so good to step back, take my eyes off myself and what I think ministry should look like, and just realize how many people I have the opportunity to affect each day.

When I Finally Read 1 Corinthians all the way through

It's kinda ironic that the book of the Bible which starts so many theological arguments and separations is the very book in which Paul challenged the church to NOT argue and quarrel. I never noticed the beauty and power behind this book before! I knew a lot of the verses, a lot of the beliefs that have come from them. But when I sat down for a few hours and just read the book as a whole, it changed my perspective so much.

This book of the Bible is all about the Gospel--just like every book of the Bible! It's all about Jesus.

Paul starts and ends with the Gospel. He is not just making theological statements on order in the church. Actually, he's rebuking the Corinthians for their reliance on human wisdom. He says very strongly in 3:1-2, "Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly--mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready."

And why does he say this? Because of the poor theological choices of the Corinthians? Not really. It's because of their pride in their own wisdom.

You see, the Corinthians were Greek; their culture was all about philosophy and enlightenment. In that time, they were arguing over who to follow and who to agree with. Some of them didn't even like Paul and had just developed their own philosophy of what they thought Jesus was all about. This led to major division in the church, but worse, according to 1:17, it began to destroy the power of the Cross. For if we can explain the Cross and who God is simply by our own intellect, what is the point? God is so much greater than our intellect--and this is why He uses foolish things. Things that make no sense to us. This is why His ways are so confusing. Because He wants to free us from our own understanding!

"For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom..." (1:25)
"...we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began." (2:7)

What is the beauty and wisdom of God?

"We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless." (4:10-11)

Perhaps God's beauty can actually be found in the things that don't make sense. Maybe that's when He speaks most clearly to us. After all, by human standards, the Cross is utter foolishness. And yet it was the most beautiful act in all history.

Paul goes on to address various issues in the church of Corinth. Most of them have to do with pride. The church allowed sexual immorality to go on undealt with, they were talking over each other during their meetings, they were trying to add to the Gospel and some were integrating idolatry and selfish habits into their faith.

At the end of the letter, Paul says, "Now brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain." (15:1-2)

This is the point of it all. The Gospel. Jesus. We don't need to overcomplicate it with human wisdom or intellect or pride. When we know Jesus, we begin to understand His standards for living. We joyfully submit to His words.

I hope that, like me, this takes some pressure off your shoulders! Our ultimate goal should be knowing and loving Jesus. This sounds so childlike it's almost offensive, but seriously--we can't really know how to live until we KNOW HIM.

Jesus destroy my own wisdom so that I can know the wisdom of Your Kingdom!!!!

Thread of Grace

I sat ten feet away from an outdoor stage where Loren and Darlene Cunningham were sharing about where God has brought Youth With a Mission over the past several years. Loren mentioned the time 50 years ago when YWAM was merely a few students walking in obedience to a word from God that young people would be sent out to all the nations of the earth. Now the Kona base alone hosts 600+ students each quarter.

He said he had no idea where this vision would take him. He simply obeyed.

The amazing part is that as he was sharing there I was, a young person directly impacted by the inheritance and mission of YWAM. Because of this one man's obedience--and thousands of others--I now have a deeper relationship with the Lord and am walking with Him when before I had felt like giving up.

Then I turned to the lady next to me. A recent cancer survivor, still weak, who's had a rough life. A week ago I met her at a restaurant and after a short conversation and a prayer, she eagerly surrendered her life to Jesus for the first time. Because of one man's obedience--and thousands of others--and mine--this lady now knows her Savior and has newfound hope in Jesus! And who knows how many lives she will touch with the Gospel!

When we make a choice, it impacts us. It impacts others. It impacts generations.

I was close to tears as Darlene asked us to pray for the person who had led us to the Lord. The lady next to me laid her hand on my shoulder--the first time she'd ever prayed for someone else!--and prayed for me. And in turn I prayed for all my leaders and people who had shared God's love with me.

I am so amazed right now at the thread of grace that goes through all of human history, that God wants to include all of us in His story. Not just as a side-statement but as a crucial character!

Feeling so blessed to share the Gospel with others and to know God!