I have a pretty amazing job...

I have a pretty amazing job. I have to admit to complaining all too often. "I don't have time to do what I want/need to do." "I get no time to myself." "I'm exhausted." "I'm so drained in every way." "I'm tired of living in community." But really, what I do is incredible. I am so blessed! I get to spend three intentional months smack-dab in the middle of the discipleship process in 5 incredible students' lives! I get to walk with young people, watch them grow, learn from them as they ask questions, see the lights go on in their head when they get something or watch the transformation happen in their lives when God drops something deep into their heart. So today I don't want to complain, but celebrate what I do and share it with you and thank you for being a part of it and helping me do this. It's amazing.

Anyway... I can’t believe January is already over! In Australia, it’s the middle of summer. Kids are going back to school starting their new year from summer holidays, but it’s still as hot and humid as ever! We are already on Week 4 of the DTS, and it is going great. So far, the students have explored the topics of Hearing God’s Voice and the Character and Nature of God, and this week in the classroom we are discussing the subject of Worldview. We are looking at questions like “What is a worldview?” and if ideas have consequences, then what are the implications of a Biblical worldview.

Outside of class, the students are really bonding with each other and with us as a staff. Because it’s such a small group of students, they have been able to go really deep with one another which is amazing to watch. God has been speaking to them a lot as a school about relationship, so it’s cool to see them put that into practice. On the weekends, we’ve gotten the chance to do some fun activities together as a school. A couple weeks back, we all took the train to Wollongong together, and last weekend we had a barbecue at a family’s house who are on staff at the base. Here are a few glimpses from these times:

DTS 2012. Here we are. What a good looking group of people. We're even surprisingly color-cordinated in this pic! Ha.

On top of an old war cannon during our Wollongong city tour day together.

Me with the two girl students: Nicola (from Canada) and Anna (from Austria/ Switzerland)

With one of my fellow DTS staff, Emily, and some pretty epic banana splits. YUM!

January DTS

Well, looks like I'm back to Australia and back to blogging! Life is in full swing around here. We just started our January DTS a little over a week ago, and it's going really well. We have 5 students... a guy from California (21), a guy from California (21), a girl from Canada (19), a girl from Switzerland (16), and a guy from Australia (21). They are such a fun group and all so open and hungry for God. It's been an incredible start to the school. This week we have a guy here speaking on Hearing God's Voice. Many of the students are newer believers and still young in their faith, so they are so hungry for God- to hear Him, to know Him, and to make Him known. I'm so excited to be staffing this school and walking this journey closely with these students. It's such an amazing opportunity to be able to have such a short window (3 months) to be able to speak into these students lives. I'm so thankful that God would trust me to steward this time with these students. It's quite humbling, and I know I'm going to grow heaps in this season as well. Exciting stuff. More to come soon.

Sausage Sizzle

Our team is still going! This past Monday we had our first of 2 or 3 "sausage sizzles." One of the local grocery stores, Woolworth's let us set up outside, giving us a grill to use and everything! Sausage sandwiches, as they call them, are definitely an Aussie cultural thing. I had NO idea that they would be so popular!! But those Aussies definitely love their sausages! I would call it a success! :) Enjoy some pictures of our day!

Laura, Jenn, and Sam sizzling up some sausages on the barbie! Haha.

My art skills coming in handy... wouldn't you want to buy a sausage if you saw this sign?? :)

mmmm... sausages! haha. I promise, they like them!

"Hey yall, come to our sausage sizzle!"

Fundraisers galore!

My team has been going, going, going putting on fundraisers galore! After the event night, we had a massive bake sale at our church, complete with homemade Swiss bread, orange almond cake, lemon coconut squares, brownies, fudge, and apple pies! We definitely went all out for this bake sale, but it was worth it. We made quite the profit and are that much closer to sending our team to central Asia!

Check out our mad skills!!! Quite the spread... :)

Bryan baked the apple pies... they sold so quickly!

Eliane and the special bread she made from Switzerland, called Zupfe. :)

I made lemon coconut bars and others in my team made fudge and brownies. Yum!

Event Night Update...

Dear family and friends,

Thank you all so much for praying for the event night we had last Thursday for our upcoming outreach in Central Asia. I saw God do amazing things through this evening. I am in awe of His faithfulness and provision in it all.

I’m amazed at everything that had to come together in order to pull this thing off and make it such a success. I’m also humbled in thinking that God used my team of 8 young people- who had never done anything like this in our lives- to mobilize the body of Christ here in Australia into responding to His invitation to join His work in the world.

It’s really incredible when I think about it. God has been speaking this entire 12 plus weeks of SOSM to us about “team” - working together in interdependence. This has not only moved from head knowledge to heart revelation for us, but it has moved to application and behavior. This night would not have been possible without the transformation God did in each of us to be able to work so well together in a team. We needed every person to pull it off. Some made videos and powerpoint and visuals. Some transformed a plain gym into an incredible atmosphere with wall murals with maps and stats and quotes and floor lamps for lighting and more. Some slaved in the kitchen to cook up traditional Tajik food (cooking for over 100!) Some worked hard on their speaking parts for the presentation we did on God’s work in the world and in central Asia and His invitation to join Him. It was truly a grand production.

The result? We worked hard and achieved each element with excellence, but it would all be in vain if God’s spirit didn’t move the way it did. We prayed so much, surrendering ourselves before God and trusting that we could do nothing on our own without Him. But He was so faithful to meet us. People were inspired by God’s call to go. Their eyes were opened to God’s work in a part of the world mostly ignored. Perhaps people of the Australian church are now praying for the first time for a country off the radar of most of the Western world. That amazes me. There are people interested in giving their lives more to missions. There are people inviting us to speak at churches and Bible studies to share more of our vision and our passion for the gospel to reach the least reached peoples of the world- that all may hear of God’s love. We even received over $1,800 just from donations that evening. God truly is providing for the needs of my team and is proving His faithfulness time and time again. I know there are deep-reaching seeds that the Spirit of God planted in the hearts of those present Thursday night. He truly inspired and motivated the people there.

Thank you so much for praying for this and being a part of what God did. I believe this night was a part of a greater story God has been writing to awaken the church in Australia into His heart for all the nations. You are a part of that. God’s Spirit is moving here. I believe He has asked me to come here and be a part of it for such a time as this. Thanks for coming with me through prayer and your partnership. I couldn’t do it alone.

For His Glory,

Christy

Enjoy some photos from the night...

Three of the girls on my team and I before the event night began- Kiki, Laura, and Jenn

my friend and team leader Bryan sharing our SOSM vision

one of our guests seeing where we are going on the massive wall

map that Eliane and I made together

My friend and I cooked a "taste" of central Asia for 100!

This is rice plov (rice pilaf), a very traditional central Asian dish! :)

Cooking Turkish

Ever since we moved to Port Kembla, I've gotten to know the owners of some of the local shops on our street. Our street is kind of abandoned, but still buzzing with activity during the day with that small town kind of feel. One local shop that I visit frequently is Port Kembla fruit and vegetable market. It is a family-owned business owned by a family originally from Turkey. Once, the dad invited my friend Britani and I upstairs above the shop to try the food he was cooking. We went up with the mom, the dad, and little five year-old boy and ate the most amazing meal. Afterwards, he invited us to come back and to learn to cook a Turkish meal!

Last Saturday, we took him up on the offer. 4 other girls and I showed up, and he graciously bought ingredients while we hung out with his son and his cute cat, Henry. :) We learned to cook an incredible Turkish stir fry and these sort of fritter things with chicken mince, potato, onion, and egg. While we cooked, the grandfather told us some unreal stories of growing up in Cypress. It was a wonderful time enjoying the hospitality of this family above their shop. Then of course we got to try it, and it was AMAZING! Now I'm going to have to try out my Turkish cooking skills. Here are some photos we took...

This is me mashing this stuff with my hands.

Watching carefully... how many eggs are you putting in that??

Enjoying after cooking... the best part!

Turkish stir fry!

My roommate, Jenn, and I

trip to the city

Well, it's been a busy 12 weeks of studying in the School of Strategic Missions training program I have been doing. It will be another busy month this month preparing for our outreach in Central Asia, but first.... a nice 2 day break (addition to the weekend) to catch my breath! I spent the day in Sydney, by myself, just exploring the city. Such a refreshing way to rest for me! I thought I'd include some pictures of my day to show you what I did...

First I went to a massive Bookstore- Dymocks- where I bought a fiction book to read. I picked one out that seemed to be pretty popular and recommended. It's called "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett and is set in Jackson, Mississippi during the 1960's. A good read so far!

With book in hand, I set out to find some lunch... walked by this guy selling flowers and pretty buildings so took a picture....

Guzman and Gomez= yum! Burrito stand in Sydney. If I was in Sydney, you better believe I'd be hitting up the Mexican because you can't really find it anywhere else. :)

Then I went to eat my lunch in Hyde Park... sat in front of this fountain by Saint Mary's Cathedral. I even wandered in to the cathedral at one point... beautiful.

Hyde Park is beautiful... Walking around here reminded me of walking to class through Retiro Gardens in Madrid, Spain.

This little guy was stalking me waiting for some lunch. I wonder what kind of bird he is?

I actually resisted the temptation to get Starbucks! But I had to take a picture anyway because it's just that familiar "homey" place... part of the Sydney experience.

That's all... just wanted to share my day. Definitely feeling refreshed and looking forward to gearing up for more excitement in this next month. Thanks for all your prayers and encouragement!

love, christy

Why SOSM?

If you were to ask me why I chose to do SOSM, I would probably reply with something like, “to gain knowledge about cross-cultural ministry through contextualization” or “to become a better and more effective missionary on the field” or something of the like. But I wouldn’t have replied, “to learn how to work together in a team.” However, God’s idea for what this school was meant to be for me was so much deeper and encompassing than my limited ideas. From day one, His intent was for me to internalize the beauty of team and to make it a part of how I live my day to day life, how I do ministry, and how I go to the nations.

We have lost the meaning of “team” in our Western worldview. We see team as a bunch of individuals working together for a common purpose. But even in that, the emphasis is still on the individual. Other non-Western societies are far more community- oriented in their perception. South Africans have this beautiful idea of “ubuntu,” which essentially means “my wellbeing is extremely connected to your wellbeing.” They believe that we become more fully who we are through other people. We do not have language to express this because interdependence is not a high value in our Western, highly individualistic societies.

However, in the kingdom of God, interdependence is of great worth. 1 Corinthians 12:26 says, “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” Our wellbeing is supposed to be intimately connected to the wellbeing of others. Romans 12:13 says “Share with God’s people who are in need.” This can be translated “to come into communion or fellowship with, to be made a partner in.” We are to enter into others’ needs, to become a partner with them in their need. What would it look like if we lived as if our wellbeing was this connected to the wellbeing of others?

Paul says in Philippians 2:2-4, “make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” We will look to others’ interests and needs when we understand others’ need in deep connection to our own need. When others’ needs are met, my own need is met through that. This concept is so antagonistic to the mentality of the world, but it is at the very core of the kingdom of God.

This is such a deep principle that I believe is so central to the heart of God. It is something that I am continuing to journey with God in seeking to apply. Where does it start? It starts with the team God has chosen for me and purposefully put me in for this season. It means placing myself in service to my team at a cost to myself, believing that God will meet my needs as I seek to serve the needs of others. It starts with the choice every day to believe that others’ wellbeing is linked to my own and to consider their interests above my own. It is a continual journey, but it is one that I am blessed to be on. I am thankful for this season of learning, learning that reaches far beyond my head and into my heart.

So why am I doing this SOSM? To learn how to take the gospel to the nations effectively in a cross cultural context and to do it in a team, learning that so much more can be accomplished for God’s kingdom through interdependence than independence. I am learning how to see others’ needs as being connected to my own needs and that I will enter more fully into what God has intended for me through my team.

A little 4th of July fun

Being in Australia for American holidays is always somewhat hard. But that's no reason not to celebrate and enjoy them as if I was at home. My dear friend Evelyn from church is such a blessing in my life. She studied in Canada for several years, and thus has a fond appreciation for North American holidays. She invited me and some friends over for a bbq and 4th celebration. I got to share this holiday not only with my American friends, but with 3 Aussies and a Swiss girl who had never celebrated it before! How fun! Here are some pictures from the day. I hope you all had a good 4th of July celebrating the amazing Biblical heritage we have as a nation...

One of my best friends, Amy, and I during morning tea at the YWAM base... We had to take a photo because we were the only ones rocking the red, white, and blue that morning...

I made this fruit pizza dessert in honor of my Mama. She made it for the first time in the shape of a flag for the 4th for us a couple of years ago. I had to do the same, and people loved it! :)

Tara and I with our creation... Happy 4th of July!

DTS Graduation

Last Friday night, I celebrated with my family here at YWAM as I saw six amazing people end one journey and step into another. As I reflect on the transforming work of the power and truth of God in each of their lives, I'm reminded that giving my life to this is worth it. God's calling out full and abundant life in His children is worth every tear I shed over missing home or my old life. He is so worthy. His work testifies to His great worth. Word cannot describe the victory, transformation, redemption, healing, and restoration I saw God do in these lives. It has been a beautiful journey, and I'm humbled and honored that He allowed me to walk it. I know they will go on to be world changers. I can't wait to hear their stories. Thanks for making a way for me to do this. I love it, and I love you all.

the students (plus amy) at their graduation dinner

pretty stellar guys, matt (from london) and addison (from georgia)

my girls- drew (from california) and sarah (from ireland)

Stories from Sudan...

The entire team (6 DTS students and 3 staff leaders)

Addison loving on some kiddos

Drew... such a mercy heart...

Last week, the DTS which I staffed from January to April got back from their 3 month outreach in Sudan. It was a week filled with excitement, joy, and celebrating the power of the great God who we serve! The team could not stop telling stories of God’s wonders and miracles, and we could not stop inclining our ears to listen. The stories they came back with of the things that they saw are incredible. In hearing these, I was just compelled to worship. It is the only appropriate response to God’s goodness! I wanted to share some of their stories with you here. Thank you all so much for praying and journeying with the team. These are your stories to celebrate as well, stories of God’s kingdom coming to earth...

The outreach team, composed of six students and three staff, started at the YWAM base in Sudan. There were some building projects going on at the base, and two of the DTS guys were able to make friends with a group of builders who were working there. The men were from Uganda and didn’t go to church, mostly because the churches in Sudan are in Arabic, and they couldn’t understand. The guys started having church with the builder’s outside their dorm room. One of them became a believer in Jesus and received healing for a leg injury as well.

The team was able to go to a remote village and do seminars for the pastors on discipleship. This is so important because in Africa the church is about a mile wide and an inch deep. They were amazed at how much they had to share and to teach to these pastors. They also got to do seminars with the women and with the youth, where each of them spoke. They saw many women delivered from oppression and finding healing and freedom.

One thing the team loved was “hut to hut” evangelism. One of their visits going hut to hut resulted in a witch doctor surrendering his life to the Lord and his whole family coming to Christ! The team rejoiced and celebrated this in a unique form of worship. The man gave up all his idols and things used to practice witchcraft to be burned. They danced around the fire, worshipping and singing praise to the Living God!

A couple weeks into their time in Sudan, the team got to go on outreach within their outreach. They packed 14 people into a landcruiser (inside and out) and drove 18 hours to get to an unreached people group that had never seen white people before. When they arrived, the kids ran away at the sight of outsiders. But the chief reassured them that it was okay. They learned that this people group is known as the forgotten people. They are rejected by everyone around them and seen as the fringe of society. Their water was almost black, with goats drinking out of the same water source. The team was able to share the gospel with them about a God who remembers them and has not rejected them, who chooses them. The team said that everyone they prayed for in that people group was healed .They saw three blind men have their sight restored there and a woman who was healed of typhoid and malaria!

Two men accepted Jesus and became the very first two believers in that people group! Glory be to God! This is amazing news, but it is also sad. Because no one goes to them, there is no one for discipleship for these men. They were begging for someone to come to start a church, but there is no one. Please pray that people will respond to God’s call to go to these forgotten people.

The team finished their outreach doing children’s ministry with Iris ministries back near the base. They were also able to speak at a prison, sharing God’s message of salvation and seeing an eager response to receive the gospel there.

Incredible stories, huh? It blows my mind how desperate God is to reveal Himself in the world. He is just waiting for yielded people willing to take His good news to those who are in need of it. When we obey, He will meet us and respond! Thank you for praying. I hope you find yourself where I did, in worship in response to this amazing report.

Showering babies....

Yesterday some friends and I threw a baby shower for a dear friend on staff here at YWAM. Here are some pictures, with crafty ideas dispersed. Hope you enjoy and maybe even get inspired. :)

Another friend and I planned the cutest craft for the shower... sewing different fabrics/ patterns onto baby onsies, tanks, and bibs. Check out the results... they turned out so cute!

me and the gorgeous mother to be :)

the crafty little card I made for renae/ baby Jack

And... to complete the domestic theme... I made chess squares. Oddly enough, most non-Southerners hadn't heard of these. So easy to make, just don't tell anyone what is in them. :)

Community Development?

“When in the name of Christian missions we do for indigenous believers what they can do themselves, we undermine the very church that God has sent us to plant.” -Steve Saint, The Great Omission

This week in the SOSM, we have been thinking about the topic of community development. Here's something I wrote up reflecting some of our discussion and ideas surrounding this topic:

Many times the good intentions of our Western churches can actually end up doing more harm than good. For example, we can donate heaps of clothes to the poor and the needy. But have we thought thorough the implications of our benevolence? What happens when the only real industry supporting the economy is handmade clothing? We have killed their economy through our supposed generosity.

We have to take time to find out the needs of the community where we are serving, and work with them in inter-dependence. We cannot come in paternalism, thinking we know what is best. Rather, we must work with the community to discover the real need. We are not the only ones who have something to offer. No community is at “zero”; rather, each community has skills and strengths of its own. When we think we are the only ones who have something to give, we rob people of the blessing of giving. Even worse, we rob them of their dignity and perpetuate the lie that they can’t help themselves.

In Steve Saint’s book The Great Omission he says, “When in the name of Christian missions we do for indigenous believers what they can do themselves, we undermine the very church that God has sent us to plant.” Development has to be internal. It must be their idea. If we come and build a road that they don’t want or think they need, they will not maintain it. If we donate a tractor that we have paid for and haven’t taught them to fix, they will think we are the only ones able to fix it when it breaks. We must involve people as much as possible, giving them ownership, responsibility, and a sense of dignity.

If we involve the people we are serving and include them, we will see growth and multiplication in terms of development. Doing something for someone is quick and easy, but it stops with you. Teaching someone takes time, but the fruit far outlasts the teacher. We must train trainers, even if it costs us more. We cannot afford to see our efforts wasted because we misunderstood what helping meant.

A trip to the mountains...

This past weekend, I was blessed to spend two day in Katoomba, which is in the Blue Mountains (3 hours north of here and a bit inland). God's creation is astounding. Being there was so refreshing, just what I needed after weeks of busyness and life on speed dial. Weekends like that remind me just how much we need to take time to rest, process, and just be still. Here are some pictures of my time there...

In front of the Three Sisters, famous rock formation in the Blue Mountains

With Raquel and Tara in front of a waterfall before the rest of our waterfall hike. :)

After getting to the bottom of the Giant Stairway (900 steps) and about to climb back up again!

a little light...

Last night I went to city with some friends from church and from YWAM to see Sydney all lit up. "Vivid Sydney," Sydney's light festival was pretty incredible. It's not every day you see this...

Sydney opera house by day. If you think this is cool, wait until you see...

THIS! Psychedelic, all lit up, opera house!

pretty amazing, huh?

They also lit up other buildings. This one was the best.

I thought you'd enjoy those... just a little glimpse into what I'm up to this weekend. :)

Back into the blogging world...

Dear family and friends,

I haven’t written in ages, so here it goes. This is actually something I wrote and e-mailed out lat week. Yep, I'm cheating. Well, I’m 3 weeks into the SOSM (School of Strategic Missions) now, and with the change of season, the physical season has changed as well. It’s well into fall, approaching winter. It’s strange to think about it being summer time back home. The winter here is pretty mild (lows in the low 40’s), but there is no insulation in the buildings and no heating! Brrr!!! Thankfully, I have a small heater for my room that is keeping me cozy!

Well, I am loving the SOSM so far. It’s amazing training for missions. So far we've talked about how the primary transforming agent on the planet is meant to be the church, and everything must happen in partnership with the church. We've talked about contextualization and the need we have to boil down our message to its core. What is the gospel and what is added tradition from the West? How can we partner with the culture and traditions of other contexts and bring our message in a way that will have more power to the hearer? Last week we talked a lot about the globalized world we live in. Everything is so much more connected, and a lot is possible. Missions today looks different than it did even 20 years ago. So, all very interesting stuff. I'm loving diving more into it.

This week in particular is on the spheres or domains of society- government, economics, science, communication, family, church, arts. and education. We’ve talked about how we need to disciple nations in a way that touches all of these spheres, not just the sphere of the church. We’ve done very well in the church sphere, but God gives us the model in the Old Testament in discipling Israel, His people, in all the spheres. We need to have a holistic approach in thinking about discipling nations in the kingdom of God. It's been a good and insightful week so far.

That’s a very small glimpse into some of the concepts I’m wrestling with in a team of 7 “students” and 6 staff. It’s challenging, but very important, and I think God is really building key principles that if used with wisdom could have powerful implications in the nations.

All for now.

Love, Christy

Reflecting and Looking Forward

Good day family and friends!

I hope you are all doing well and having a rich and filled Easter season. I'm a bit envious of your Spring time... so reminiscent of the new life we have in Christ after winter. Life in exchange for death, leaves and fruit for barrenness. Incredible.

As I approach Easter, I am thankful to have time to slow down and ponder- to remind myself who this Jesus is and why I have chosen to spend my life on Him and bringing His kingdom to those who haven't heard. It's good to slow down. I'm enjoying it.

I've been serving on the base in the hospitality (housekeeping) department for the past three weeks. I've also been working with a small team on developing an eight week series on the person of Jesus, which we will be doing at a local Christian school this coming May. Our goal is to challenge youth to rise up and live in their full potential, looking to see where God is at work all around them and how they can channel their passion to join Him and make a difference in their school and spheres of influence.

In May, things will pick up again more for me as I step into a new season. If you didn't receive or get to read my last newsletter, take a look below to see what's coming up for me:

God has led me into a season of equipping and job training for this task of making disciples in the nations. I will be beginning a three month course starting May 9, called School of Strategic Missions (SOSM). YWAM Wollongong offers this course to its staff to ensure that we are well trained to engage the most unreached, “closed” countries with the gospel in a way that is effective and beneficial.

In the SOSM, we will examine the different paradigms of the world. Our goal is to understand the belief systems of other worldviews so that we can “talk their language” and explain the gospel in a way that is meaningful to them. This is so important in missions, particularly in a non-western context.

It’s great to go out with passion and zeal, but if we don’t add knowledge to our zeal, our efforts only run so deep. Proverbs 4:7 tells us, “The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.”

The SOSM will train me to understand the paradigms through which people are viewing God and the world so that I can then continue to train others to share the gospel with understanding.

I’m so excited about this opportunity. I truly believe that the course will equip me with necessary and invaluable tools as a leader. After doing a course like this, I will be ten times more useful both on the field and in sending teams to the field

The SOSM puts a high value on recognizing what God is already doing in the most unreached places on the earth and bridging the gap between the work happening through the church on the field and the church in the developed world. If we are able to work in unity with the church that already exists, we will come in a way that supports the work of the church, rather than deters it. This is something God has been growing in my heart and speaking to me about for the past 12 months!

After the three months of training, I will have the opportunity to put the things I learn into practice on a three month outreach. During the outreach, I will be able to engage these different worldviews first hand, while partnering with and learning under the local church on the field. Since I will be coming home for a visit September the 5th, I will be deferring the outreach until I come back to Australia.

So, in light of all of this, I am asking for your prayers. I have seen huge breakthrough in my life these past 5 months, and I know this is only possible because I am supported by such a strong network of people who pray.

In addition to your prayers, I am also in need of finances.. Because I will remain as YWAM Wollongong staff, my staff fees are already included in the training cost, but I will need an additional $1,000 for the lecture portion of the training and $1,500 for the outreach, plus my air ticket cost. I am stepping out in faith, because I believe God called me to do this training. I am not asking you to give, only to pray and ask God about whether He would have you give. I am thankful to have you be a part of this with me. If you are interested in partnering with me in this through giving, you can e-mail me at Christy2225@gmail.com.

I'm so excited to share this with each of you and to have you on the journey. I really feel God doing some exciting things, opening up new doors and opportunities. I love sharing all of it and partnering with yall. It's not just about me going, but about the partnership relationship of doing it together as one body.

Thanks yall, and have a blessed Easter! love, Christy

"For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross." Colossians 1:19

The past 12 weeks...

Wow, it’s been ages since I’ve last blogged! That just goes to show how crazy busy things have been here. Now the intensity level has gone from high to low with the DTS outreach team’s recent departure to northern Africa this past Friday night. I miss them already! This has been an incredible journey with tons of up's and down's along the way, but all in all definitely well worth every bit of it.

The other day, we had a time of reviewing with the students the things they had learned over the six months. We have had eleven weeks of teaching with international speakers. Here’s just a small glimpse into the journey of the past twelve weeks:

Week 1: God built a foundation in the students’ hearts of hearing His voice. Upon coming here, almost all of them didn’t really believe God is wanting to speak to them personally. Hearing God’s voice has been radically transforming in each of their lives. They also learned in this week that we can actually change history through intercessory prayer.

Week 2: The students learned what it means to study the Bible inductively (what is the Bible saying to us) rather than deductively (twisting the Bible to fit our own assumptions).

Week 3: The students opened up themselves to experience the Person of the Holy Spirit as their best friend and the great importance of being filled to pour out again.

Week 4: The students studied God’s character and nature, setting the foundation that God is big enough and God is good enough. He is absolutely worthy and is the most valuable Person in the universe.

Week 5: The students learned what a lifestyle of worship means. All of our actions ascribe worth to something. We were born for intimacy with God, and therefore, Jesus will satisfy every need for intimacy.

Week 6: We spent the week laying a Biblical basis and foundation for missions and learned that God is definitely interested in the peoples all over the planet and doing some incredible things in this world for His glory.

Week 7: The students learned about our response to the mercy of God- having mercy on others, particularly the poor and the needy. We learned that compassion leads to an act of mercy. We learned no to be overwhelmed by the need all around us, rather to start with the one.

Week 8: The students learned about relationships, and particularly using God’s wisdom in the area of relationships.

Week 9: The students learned about the Father-heart of God. We learned that we are all “fathered” by our parents in what the character of God is like, what we are like, etc. Those things are meant to be an accurate portrayal, but sometimes they are distorted. God wants to “re-Father” us in the things that have been broken and show us the truth.

Week 10: The students learned that everyone has a worldview, and our worldview directly impacts the choices we make. The worldview of most developed nations is strongly based in a Biblical worldview. Worldview directly impact our standard of living in our nations.

Week 11: The students learned about spiritual warfare. We are constantly in a spiritual war and have an enemy with strategies and tactics. We must put on the full armor of God and stand against our enemy. God has fully equipped us with everything we need for the battle.

the students and staff for the January 2011 DTS

Whew! To think that is just an overview is wild! It has been a challenging, deep, beautiful past 12 weeks. I have loved being on the journey with these students as they have abandoned themselves in surrender to the work that God has wanted to do in their hearts. I’ve seen some beautiful healing and transformation. It’s crazy to think about how much has happened in only this time. Now I truly see that discipleship is so important.

These students have been filled up with God and are ready to pour out in northern Africa. Please pray that they would remember all that God has done in their lives and not turn back. Pray for strength. They will be working with the locals there and doing things like orphan care in a local school, helping with a health clinic, and prison ministry. I absolutely cannot wait to hear their stories. I know He will use this group in amazing ways for His glory and the sake of the gospel of Jesus!

Breakthroughs

It’s been an incredible week on the DTS. God is doing so much powerful stuff in these students’ lives. In staffing this school, God is really showing me the power of prayer for Him to breakthrough in their lives. We, as staff, have been really burdened and really fighting for the students in prayer, and as a result we have seen incredible breakthrough this week. Before the school started, Bruce Skinner, our base leader, taught that the Holy Spirit is the discipler. I’ve seen that this week. The Holy Spirit has brought incredible transformation, by His power and His power alone. It is nothing I have done. God has just allowed me the privilege to walk alongside the journey with the students and invited me to become a part of the work HE is already doing (and I’m loving it).

This week we had a speaker come from South Africa. He taught on the Holy Spirit, including how He moves and gifts of the Holy Spirit. It was a powerful time of God exposing the fear in my own heart and asking me how much I really trusted Him. God brought up all the barriers in my heart to experiencing more of Him: fear, pride, control, past experiences (both good and bad). The most amazing part of the week was getting to walk with the students as they said “God I give you the last ounce of control I am clinging to. I want your presence and you to be real in my life more than I want these fears of mine.”

I love what the speaker brought- in that He didn’t exalt an experience of God’s presence. He made it clear that an experience and encounter with the Person of the Holy Spirit is to lead you into deeper intimacy with the Father in your daily life and faith journey. I really loved that and feel like that’s what happened for the students this week as well. This week, I saw God breakthrough strongholds built up for years, give emotions back to people who had put up walls, restore broken relationships, and more.

One thing God reminded me in the teaching is faith in the provision of God. 2 Corinthians 9:6-11 says,

“The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written, ‘He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor, his righteousness endures forever. He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.’ You will be enriched in every way for all your generosity, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.”

God has been speaking to me quite a bit about living a lifestyle of faith and trust in His provision. He has blessed me more than I could ask or imagine in both financial support and incredible relationships through those of you partnering with me. But, one thing He continues to remind me is that He has not blessed me in order that I hoard and have more. He blesses me so that those blessings will flow through me. God challenged me this week... Do I believe that everything is really His? Will He find me faithful with the finances He has stewarded me with?

So, to apply that... We had a night of giving. I’ve never done anything like that before. The whole DTS and others on base gathered together to give to one another. Before, we each asked God what He wanted us to give and to who and why. The point of it is to remind ourselves that everything we have is God’s and to enjoy the joys of giving to one another. It was amazing. I felt God calling me to give monthly to one of my friends here who has really been trusting God for finances. She has been so faithful to communicate with friends and her church back home. I feel like God is wanting me to continually let the blessing He has given me flow through me, and to trust Him with a greater faith. The rest of the giving night was beautiful- people gave away guitars, cameras, meaningful jewelry, money, acts of service, and more. I was challenged in thinking “I can’t afford this...” to change that to “I can’t afford not to listen to God.”

I feel like there is so much more I could share about this week, but I’ll leave it at that. Please continue to pray. I’m seeing God really move in response to your prayers. It’s amazing.

For the DTS, pray:

-they would continue to become a family, sacrificing for one another and holding one another up

-they would seek to choose God in times they feel like giving up

-for hearing God clearly for the staff as we are praying into outreach- who should go, details ,etc.

For me, pray:

-I would continue to invest everything I am in this school, while hearing from God and trusting Him in what He has for me in the next season of staffing here

-That I would simply hear God and obey wholeheartedly every day

-That I would seek and be filled with more of His Word

Thank you all so much for being such a huge part of my life. I am truly blessed.

love, Christy

Answered Prayer

"If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself."

2 Timothy 2:13

For all those of you who have been praying faithfully, let me take you on a journey with me. Before I came to Australia, I was reading in John one day, and God began- out of nowhere- to speak about the importance of joining a local church here in Australia. He spoke some things clearly to my spirit about having eyes open for a church with people grounded in truth- A faith family committed to teaching the sovereignty of a loving God and upholding the authority of the Scriptures. I knew that I didn’t need a church that would give me a “feel good” experience, just one that taught the Bible and sought to live out what it said with all their heart.

I held onto this thing God had spoken and asked you to pray for God’s leading and direction. Before we moved, when we still lived in Shellharbour, I started to feel discouraged because I didn’t see those things realized in the way I felt like God had spoken. “God, did you really mean I would find a church like that? Maybe, I am being too picky and idealistic... No, you said I would know when I saw these things fulfilled. But when God? I don’t see it happening.”

After the move to Port Kembla, I felt God calling me to run after the things He had spoken, and I randomly found a Baptist church online called Wollongong Baptist Church. I went and was immediately overwhelmed with the fingerprints of God on that place. It’s probably the most diverse church I’ve been to, in culture and in age. There are over 25 different nations represented there, and they have worship services in Chinese, Greek, and Burmese. The church has such a missions heart and focus on reaching the nations!

“God, could this be you? I see you at work here.” There is nothing glamourous about the worship, but they teach truth and are faithful to the authority of the Scriptures. “God, I am seeing the things you spoke that day about. I am watching to see what you are doing...”

That first Sunday I visited, I sat next to an 87 year old woman. She told me she came to know the Lord when she was in her thirties and has walked with him since. She and her husband started a church in their home, inviting people off the streets of Wollongong. She wants to share a meal with me and hear more about what God is doing in the nations through YWAM!

The next Sunday, I met a family from El Salvador! I spoke Spanish with this couple a little older than my parents’ age. They were so refreshed (and I was just plain giddy!) to speak with someone in their native tongue. They have a daughter who is my age. Later that night, I went to another service, and she introduced me to a lot of her friends who are students at the university in Wollongong.

I met another couple who have had a ministry to university students for years. They have opened their home to university students for months and years at a time and have had over 200 university students in their home over the years from tons of different nations! They have even gotten the opportunity to travel to some of their home nations with them because of this ministry. God is working in this church. His heart for the nations is evident in this place...

Today was my third Sunday to visit, and God solidified the stirring up in my heart about being a part of this faith family. I went to lunch at the pastor and his wife’s house after the service. They have three kids- ages 8, 5, and 2. I felt like I was back in Birmingham with my church family... right at home in the kitchen as I helped prepare lunch over good conversation and was taken into the 5 year old girl’s room, as she showed me her treasures! At this point, I am thinking... “God your grace is more than I imagined.” I enjoyed an amazing meal of breaded chicken, potatoes, and caesar salad... finished with an amazing desert of lemon pie and ice cream AND.... a latte made using an espresso machine! Heaven? Maybe. Haha.

I had such a good conversation with Rod and Christine about the church’s history of mission and God’s continual drawing such an international body together. We talked about all kinds of things. I spoke with them about how encouraged I was by today’s message on Ephesians 2... it was such truth proclaimed, glorifying God to the max. We talked about how we are saved only by grace, and nothing we done on our own. We talked about the strength knowing Christ provides in all circumstances, even in suffering, knowing that He is sovereign and in control and His character is good. So refreshing. This church is totally committed to the truth of God’s Word. God completely confirmed that in my spirit through my conversation with them in their home! Praise His glorious Name!

I’m humbled and thankful. Even in my doubting, God still proved Himself faithful to me. He spoke, and He answered the cry He put in my heart more than I could have pictured or imagined! Even through I doubted and questioned whether it would come to pass, He continued to work on my behalf.

"If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself." (2 Tim. 2:13).

Even when I was faithless, He remained faithful. What a great God we serve! Thank you all of you who have continued to pray about this. I believe I am seeing the answer to prayer because you prayed! What a tangible example of you truly being on the journey with me!