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!