Follow us on our Vision Trip through Thailand &
Cambodia
to help free women through design! Starting in the fall, we are launching a new
fair trade business entitled "Freed By Design" which will directly help
women who
have been and are being freed from the sex trade industry. We will work
alongside several amazing ministries to help redesign products and
create new
lines of fashion that will not only make a statement, but bring about
real
change in the lives of women around the world.
June 19-24th
Our journey starts in Phuket, Thailand,
working with an
amazing ministry known as SHE (Self Help and Empowerment) (www.shethailand.org). Lins will be personally hiring these women to make her new jewelry line which she
designed during our time here in Spain and I will be busy in the kitchen working
with the
catering side of SHE, teaching these women new delicious recipes such as my famous cinnamon rolls, scones and biscotti. We will be learning
more about
how to best support these women and organizations and our main desire is
to be a
source of great encouragement, fresh ideas and light.
June 24-July 3rd
We will be heading back to our home away from home,
Chiang
Mai, in Northern Thailand to work alongside a ministry that has
grown very dear
to our hearts, The Garden of Hope (www.thegardenofhope.org/). We
will concentrate
on several important tasks including meeting up with the leaders of TGOH
and discuss
new and creative business ideas (such as SAA mulberry paper products) to
help
get and keep these women out of the bars. Lins is looking forward to
visiting her
dear friends, Da and Ploy, two precious girls she met in the red light
district
last year and who give her the passion to do what she does.
I will be scoping out possible hotels, restaurants and cultural excursions/activities to use on future
voluntourism trips. Voluntourism is a growing industry which seeks to provide service opportunities with local organizations while also enjoying some local sights and comforts. We hope to bring
volunteers like YOU on our Freed by Design trips, visiting and serving alongside
these amazing organizations. To find out more about voluntourism, check out www.voluntourism.org or the seven minute YouTube video below which showcases the type of trip I am aiming for.
July 3-8th
Last, but definitely not least, we will be heading
over to
the capital city of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, to work with two other
amazing faith
based organizations that reach out to victims of sex trafficking. StopStart (http://www.stopstart.com.au/node/9
), formerly called Hagar, has a line of recycled rice bags that I
absolutely
fell in love with last year and would love to create my own line for
Freed by
Design to be sold all over college campuses! Our
last appointment will be with the CEO of Daughters (www.daughterscambodia.org/
), a
fair trade business who is looking for new markets overseas to help sell
their
hand sewn products. My goal is to
work with Daughters to create some amazing new lines of products that
Freed by
Design can carry and in doing so, represent freedom for girls who were
formerly
enslaved and did not know there was another way!
Praise God for the many ministries who work day and
night
helping counsel, support and love on these women. We are thrilled to be a
part
of their story and so can you! We need to raise another $3,000 to cover
flights, lodging and food for this packed out vision trip. Although we
are
graduating from G42, you can support us through G42 through next June,
2011. Anything
we raise above and beyond this amount will go towards future trips and
costs associated
with helping us help free these women through design.
Please be praying for us during the next month and
stay
tuned to our blog for more updates including pictures and stories as we
move
forward in the vision God has given us to help women know their true
identity
in Christ.
Thank you for your continued love, encouragement
and
support! We could not do this without YOU, at home, believing in the
kingdom
message being brought around the world.
"Do justly, love mercy and walk humbly
with your God" Micah 6:8
I just booked our inter-Thailand flights (June 19 Bangkok- Phuket, June 24 Phuket - Chiang Mai, July 3 Chiang Mai-Bangkok-Phnom Penh, July 9 Phnom Penh-Bangkok) and the next morning, I get this travel advisory warning from the Canadian consulate in Bangkok...
"OFFICIAL WARNING: Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada advises against non-essential travel to and within Bangkok due to ongoing large-scale political demonstrations, which have been marked by violence, death, and injury."
The title of the e-mail is "5th Notice to Canadians/5ieme Avis aux Canadiens" but I never got the other 4 (I didn't even know I was signed up to receive these travel advisories).
Do you think it was just a coincidence that I got this message now?
Non-essential travel...but for whom? Yeah, maybe we don't need to travel to Thailand right now, but there are 27 million girls and women enslaved by prostitution and being trafficked like lifeless commodities every year. They are reaching out for help and getting out of their hellhole with the assistance of many Christian and non-governmental organizations. These organizations are in-turn discipling, assisting and also teaching these women very marketable skills like baking, catering, sewing and jewelry design. All these organizations admit that they just need a little more market exposure and are very open to our design suggestions to make these women's' natural, creative, God-glorifying skills more profitable and sustainable.
There is something ultra exciting and exhilarating about taking a step out in faith, to go where not many (or any) people would care to venture, and to trust God fully with our wealth and well-being. Joshua and Caleb were energized and ready to trust God with the seemingly impossible conquering of Canaan. Sadly, the rest of the bunch doubted God's promises and were left meandering through the wilderness for 40 years. Going to Thailand now would not be the first time we would be taking a step out in faith. I signed up to go to China with ELIC in May 2003, less than a year after the S.A.R.S. outbreak of 2002. To add to the testimony, we found out at orientation that ELIC was the closest to bankruptcy it had ever been. God must have had big plans and hope and a future for that group of faith-walkers...office and overseas workers alike.
Another example...I fell in love with a woman, from a different country, who lived almost as far away and from a different climate and upbringing as this bright-eyed, bushy-tailed Canadian could get. I didn't know if I could get a job in this different country or even if I did, if my employer could get a working-visa for me. At our ELIC debriefing time in the San Bernardino mountains, at the end of August, I still did not have a green light for employment and I had to say good-bye indefinitely to my gorgeous girlfriend in that dismal LAX airport. By September 10, my visa had arrived and I booked a flight for the next day (with ring in hand...another step of faith, which every man who gets down on his knee knows well)
Another divine immigration intervention happened when Lindsay and I signed up to go on the World Race. My Green Card application was already in process...and missing my Immigration interview was not an option. We visited an immigration lawyer in Beverly Hills, who was able to get the Rolling Stones to hold concerts in America, back in the day, and even he said that there was nothing he could do to help. The on-line estimates were telling us the interview would probably be March 2010 at the earliest (but we signed up for the January 09 Race and had quit our jobs (well, ELIC moved) and our belongings were already in storage. The day after training camp, we got an e-mail saying the interview was scheduled for Dec. 4.
What an answer to prayer!
Do you believe that God is in the details?
Check out this interesting fact...when we were working at ELIC and Calvary Christian Elementary School, we lived off just as much during that year of employment (a little over $100,000) as we have from the faith-walking support of our beloved friends, family and acquaintances these 6.5 years overseas (3 years Tibet (Dave), 2 years China (Lindsay), 1 year of the World Race and now 6 months at G42). We have never been in want...whether at home or abroad...THANK YOU GOD, and THANK YOU fellow body of Christ!
When God calls us....any of us... to talk to someone we're not totally comfortable around or go somewhere we don't really understand, I hope our obedience matches the faith we profess. Was it more of a sacrifice to support us these 6.5 years overseas, a step of faith on your part, too, that other people would join you in the prayers and support we would need. I can definitely see these years as a stretch on your hearts as we've been absent and sometimes in dangerous locations. But was it worth it? Most definitely!
"But how can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"- Romans 10:14-15
Isaiah 49:8-9 "I will make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land and to reassign it's desolate inheritances, to say to the captives, 'Come out,' and to those in darkness, 'Be free!'"
He has given us every thing we need to bring change into a dark, chaotic and hurting world. The time is now to bring light, order and hope.
From the sounds of it, the worst of the riots in Bangkok are over. The government is helping the protesters get home and put the country back in order. Embassies are opening-back up.
Yet, Thailand continues to need our prayers and our presence.Felix and I, doing a happy dance in the Dominican Republic.
One of my readers from my last blog, commented about one of the lines I cited from U2's song I'll go Crazy if I don't go crazy tonight. It was the line, "Shout at the darkness"... and he asked me, "Did Jesus ever shout?"
It's a good question! What do you think?
From a quick glance at some scriptures, it sure seems that if we're supposed to be like Christ, raising our voice (especially at the darkness) is a Christ-like thing .
Remember the story of Lazarus, who had been in the tomb for four days and Martha, Lazarus' sister didn't want to roll the stone away because of the stench of the dead body. "When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come out!" John 11:43
And the story of the disciples, crossing the Sea of Galilee, when they thought the boat was surely going to capsize. "He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, 'Quiet! Be still!'" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. Mark 4:39 Now I haven't been at sea many times, but I can just imagine that during a storm like that, the decibel level of the wind and waves would be pretty high. He must have shouted.
Later on in Mark, there's a great story of Jesus healing a demon-possessed boy. "When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. 'You deaf and mute spirit', he said, 'I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.'" Mark 9:25
(above) William Wilberforce (1759 - 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist and a leader of themovement to abolish the slave trade in England.
We already know that Jesus amazed his audience, because he taught as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. Mark 1:22
So he rebuked death, chaos and demon-possession but did he ever shout at his own disciples?
"But when he turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter, 'Get behind me Satan!' he said, 'You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." Mark 8:33. And again in John, Jesus raised his voice at Peter. "Jesus commanded Peter, "Put your sword away!" John 18:11
Do any of you readers know the Greek or Hebrew equivalent to our English exclamation mark? Is it put in the text for a reason, to convey some kind ofemotion?
Well, maybe loud voices are only a thing of the New Testament? Nah! You remember the most famous shout of the Old Testament, right? When the Israelites had finally entered the promised land, with Joshua as their leader, they faced the mighty city of Jericho, with seemingly impenetrable walls. The priests and the people were supposed to march around the city for six days, and on the seventh day, after circling the city seven times and hearing the long trumpet blast, they were supposed to shout. "But Joshua had commanded the people, "Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then SHOUT!" Joshua 6:10
With a word, God created the heavens and the earth and everything in it. Gen 1: 3-26
Like all the prophets before him, John the Baptist was "A voice of one calling in the desert, ' Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him' Matthew 3:3
"And at the ninth hour, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani"..."and with a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last." Mark 15: 34, 37
We learn in James 3 that the tongue has the power of life and death, praising and cursing in it. I don't know about you, but these verses make me think again about the notion that silence equals piety.
Maybe Satan wants us to be silent Christians...maybe things would have turned out much more differently if Adam had confronted the snake in the garden of Eden and exclaimed, "YOU SNEAKY, LYING SNAKE...GET AWAY FROM MY WIFE...AND LEAVE US ALONE!"
(There's more great videos of "The World Race" and "G42" where this came from. Di has great film-making and editing skills!)
Here's a song I heard on the radio recently (which I'm sure you've heard too), which speaks a lot about what we're about here at G42...through the power of Christ IN us...we're shoutin' at the darkness, squeezing out sparks of light...and BEING the generation that's going to change the world!
"There's
a part of me in chaos that's quiet
And there's a part of you that wants
me to riot
Everybody needs to cry or needs to spit
Every sweet-tooth needs just a little hit
Every beauty needs to go out with an idiot
How can you stand next to the truth and not see it?
Change of heart comes slow...
It's not a hill it's a mountain
As you start out the climb
Do you believe me or are you doubtin? We're gonna
make it all the way to the light
Every generation gets a
chance to change the world Pity the nation
that won't listen to your boys and girls
Is the sweetest melody the one we haven't heard? Is it true that perfect love drives out all fear?
The right to be ridiculous is something I hold dear
It's
not a hill it's a mountain
You see for me I've been shouting
Let's shout until the darkness, squeeze out sparks of light
You
know we'll go crazy, if we don't go crazy tonight!"
- I'll go crazy if I don't go crazy tonight - No Line on the Horizon album- by U2
We enjoyed a great graduation dinner this past Thursday. Five fellow interns who we've come to know and love are either:
1) Going home to bring God's kingdom there
2) Coming back to Spain to assist ministries/ start businesses here
3) Going home for a time, only to go to the nations very soon!
"Start a ministry, build a business, plant a church" are the phrases we hear here over and over...and they're doing it!
This really is such a unique environment, I wish all of you could taste it for a week or so. We're a school in the sense that we sit in class and take excellent notes, but we're not. We're a community in the sense that we live, eat and care for each other, but we're rotating in and out every 3 months, so we all have to be willing to trust each other quickly and easily and dive right in. We're a seminary in the sense that we're processing profound spiritual truths and digging deeper into God's Word, but we're not that exactly either. We're a high calibre life-coaching program in the sense that we're getting brilliant life principles to live by and replicate, but this is the kind of stuff that really works. We're probably best described as an experiment worth investing in. We're the R & D department for God's Kingdom. Our professors/ friends/ coaches/ men of God in Malaga
Here's a quick example of the kind of stuff we're learning.
Looking at the example set for us in the early Church based in Antioch, imagine if we all, as Christians, were:
1) Prepared to leave home
2) Prepared to break new ground, do something not ever done before (preach to Gentiles...not just Jews!)
3) Prepared to be considered fanatic
4) Prepared to fast and pray
5) True worshippers
6) Prepared to trust the Holy Spirit
7) Prepared to trust each other
8) Prepared to give our best people away (like Paul did with Timothy...to other churches, ministries, etc.)
That's G42 Leadership Academy in a nut shell or at least the kind of people we strive to be. It's awesome. It' a privilege. It's a choice.
Like it was for the disciples, so it is for us today...an adventure every day following Christ.
I'm so excited for what next semester will bring. There's something a-stirring in the air, dancing with the wind...can you feel it? Are YOU hungry for more?
Enjoying good food and fellowship with the villa folk on Valentines Day
"Be Yourself!"These were the final words from my maternal grandfather (Opa Nederlof)
to all of his grandchildren- in the form of a letter given to us all back in
1996. I've thought about those
words a lot since then. But
who am I really? On the one hand, I thought about how
encouraging those words are, "My grandfather loved me just for who I am. He didn't want to change me one
bit." On the other hand, as a
freshman in college, away from the family and community I knew so well and to
be honest, participating in activities that I probably shouldn't have (drinking
off campus), those two words were a serious call back to reality.
If being myself means acting irresponsible, going along with
where the crowd is heading and looking for "easy" girls to connect with for the
night, then going to those parties would be totally understandable. Sinners sin, that's what they do. Thankfully I was raised better than
that and being myself meant being responsible, being a leader and treating
girls with respect and dignity.
Now, I'm not the only one who has ever pondered the question
of identity. It all started in the
Garden. Well, it all really
started with Satan, who wanted to trade who he was, for who he was not (Ezekiel
28:14-15). And he brought that
same wickedness to the garden with him."Oh no, you won't die...you'll become just like God, knowing good and
evil". What! Why? They had it so good there, walking in the Garden daily with
God.
Even today, we're trading who we are for who we are
not. We're settling for the
world's lies that as men, if we only have this career, that kind of insurance
and take that drug, we'll be more successful, safe and happy and women can
somehow become more beautiful, energetic, and relaxed if they only use those
certain products too. Like in the
movie Good Will Hunting, where Will's best friend wished he wouldn't just grow
old with him and take his kids to little league, "you're sitting on a winning
lottery ticket, Will!" In fact,
we're all sitting on a winning lottery ticket! Not our incredible minds, but our whole, redeemed selves... we
just have to take that truth in and cash it. We're saints who sometimes sin.
We're being reminded here at G42 that, in reality, we are
created in the image of God.Because of Christ's sacrifice, we can enjoy a redeemed and restored
relationship with our Creator now.We're told that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to us...and
like his disciples, we shouldn't so much rejoice about all the demons fleeing
but that our names are written in the Book of Life! We win this thing!So, let's not fear anything, and since our names are written in
the book of Life, let's send some demons to the place they belong.
Our World belongs to God!
Here is a quote by Marianne Williamson, used in Nelson Mandela's 1992 inaugural address, which I read for the first time after graduating from college and have enjoyed coming back to again and again.
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
Have any of
you heard about the Slave Hunter, Aaron Cohen? He's recently been featured on CNN, a tragic story about one
of the prostitutes he saved from sex-slavery. This teenager, a daughter of God, recently passed away
because of a failed liver: caused by all the alcoholic beverages she was
encouraged to drink, by her brothel owner, because the men who solicited her
would have to keep buying her drinks.Lindsay and I are going to meet this guy once we get back to Los
Angeles!
The big
question that I have about his daring rescues, and which many have about the
flipside of this slavery, is "What next?", "What is being offered as an
alternative income source to these young women?"
This is
where you and I come in. I know
many of you are not totally sure about what this G42 Academy is all about, and
kinda jealous about the fact that we're in such a nice vacation destination,
but we are
really hard at work. We are using
this time to formulate our "now what?" after the World Race, to form our vision
for the future and make a strategic plan.A key ingredient to that is building a network of people around us who
are not interested in maintaining the status quo, who are not content with the
world as it is and who want to make a difference.
Lindsay and
I have a vision to offer alternative income sources for these women through a
fair-trade business. This business will put money in our pocket, give these
women their dignity back and give you a stylish, unique, hand-made product to
keep. We don't want any one buying
a product out of pity, though...that would take away their dignity. We want you to buy it because it is
beautiful, unique, well-made and practical. We are still working on the details about which products to
import, but if any of you saw our mulberry paper wedding invitations made in
Thailand, the recycled rice bag Lindsay used as her carry-on during the World Race (from
Cambodia), the beautiful jewelry that Lindsay wore or the sweet Tibetan rug we had in our apartment in
Brentwood, you can get a jist of the products we will possibly import.
According
to the Business as Mission website (www.businessasmission.com) "Business
has tremendous potential as a force for good, to tackle poverty, to stimulate
local economies, to bring social and environment improvements and to carry the
Message of eternal hope to people and places which are often otherwise beyond
reach. And because a profitable business is self-sustaining, it can help
to bring about sustainable social, economic, environmental and spiritual
transformation."
Yep, we are switching roles from missionaries to "bizzionaries" (possibly coined by Mats Tunehag, who headed up the 2004 Laussane Committee for World Evangelization Issue Group on "Business as Mission")
Actually,
that issue group sees a direct correlation between the benefits of BAM and the
ending of human trafficking."Report after report from the UN, the US State department, the OSCE and
others show that unemployment makes people vulnerable and creates high risk
areas for trafficking. Adequate prevention must include job creation through wholesome, intentional
business development focused on these people and areas.
BAM faces the question, "Out of
trafficking (most often for the sex industry)...into what?" It recognizes that
without jobs in healthy environments there can be no restoration and holistic
transformation of individuals."
Not surprisingly, one big reason
these kingdom minded businesses aren't popping up everywhere is that there is a
lack of initial capital investment.Not to mention, the learning curve for someone just starting up a
business is huge.
We need your partnership with
us.
Continue to pray for us as we have
so many ideas floating around our brains, and passion in our heart...we want to
continue to be led by Him. We will
probably be asking you for professional business advice as well. Finally, we are still in need of 4
months of living and training expenses here in Spain ($8,000). Just as an encouragement, if we raise
above and beyond the required amount, G42 will donate the surplus to our future
business or ministry...because they believe in us that much!
I am excited to start using my voice more often. Yes, I am the strong, silent type...hoping my actions speak louder than words. But there is definitely a time to speak out and speak up.
Have you ever thought about where was Adam, when his wife, Eve, was getting tempted by that sneaky serpent? Would history have been any different if Adam had shouted, "Get away from my woman, Satan!"?
If God spoke and things came to life and I am called, as a Christian, to be like Christ (who spoke with such power and authority that he caught peoples attention), then I'm going to speak too! The power of the tongue has life and death in it.
For one, I'm going to speak His praises more, because I definitely have a lot to be thankful for. Looking at the recent earthquake of Haiti, a place that didn't have a lot of things going for it to begin with, one can't help but feel sympathy for them...even amidst our own economic and political woes.
I'm thankful for the great family, community of faith and friends he's put me in a relationship with, so far this life. The promises He's fulfilled and His faithfulness to me are just the beginning of where my gratitude gains momentum. Did you know that it will only be silent in heaven for half an hour? Check out Revelations 8:1. During the rest of the time, what do you think they're all doing there? They are praising and thanking God and throwing one celebration not soon to be forgotten.
I am going to speak out about the injustices going on throughout the world. We watched a great but sobering video about the child soldiers of Uganda this morning. And sex trafficking: the modern day slave trade is a real, terrible issue which needs people to speak up and do something about...and not sit idly by.
But seriously, what are we doing on this earth...just waiting for that day when Christ will come back and make all things right? Are we just trying to survive and make it through the next week, the next paycheck...just trying to "hang on"?
I believe, we as Christians, are called to much more than just "coasting" until Christ returns, and living with such helpless, wilderness attitudes. "Christ in us, the hope of glory!" (Colossians 1:27). "If we are children (and not slaves), then we are heirs-heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ!" (Romans 8:17). Yes, the poor will always be with us, but at the same time "whatever we do for the least of these brothers of mine, we do for Him" (Matt. 25:40).
"The dead go down in silence" is what our teacher, Andrew Shearman, said this week...and to quote Monty Python, "I'm not dead yet!"
Thank you all for showing enough interest and being in such a relationship with me that you are receiving these blogs. May you be moved and challenged in your walk with God, inspired to go deeper and embrace all that God has created you to be...not through my musings and messages but through His Spirit of Truth, living inside you. I invite you to walk "virtually" (well, in Spirit and in Truth) with me these six months; to write your comments, what God's been showing you, any disagreements or corrections with what I say and just the joys and trials of your unique journey too. We serve a God who is alive, active and powerful and this Truth and The Way He offers is desperately needed amidst our post-modern, relativistic world, which says anything goes as long as it works for you.
So what is this G42 Leadership Academy you heard me try to describe during our short visit through North America? From the words of the staff here and the founder himself... The Goal of The Leadership Academy Our goal at the G42 Leadership Academy is to equip you in three major areas-fulfilling your purpose & destiny, expanding your leadership abilities, and learning how to live out each of those in the real world-and then empower you to establish the Kingdom where God has called you. That's it. We work for the Glory of God and His Kingdom.
The Vision of the 42nd Generation
Here at G42 we have a dream to raise an army of 100,000 to plant the Kingdom of God across the globe. A typical street in Mijas
We want to see a glorious church arise and bring dominion to the empty and desperate places on earth. That is why the leadership academy is not simply a leadership school or ministerial training center, it is also a jumping off point for people who have committed to giving their lives for Christ.
In your case, that could be as a future CEO of a Fortune 500 company, a missionary planting churches in the third world, a caregiver for orphans, or a business leader creating start-up businesses saving those trapped in the sex trade.
After ministering in over 11 countries in 11 months on the World Race, Lindsay and I are full of ideas and passions for how to be Christ's ambassadors amidst a dark and hurting world...but where to start? This world doesn't need more people filling a job or certain position, as fulfilling as it may be, it needs people passionate about seeing God's Kingdom come to earth, and His Will being done, just like it is in Heaven.
"We want to know, that we know, that we know."
We know that we are supposed to be in Spain right now (if you're wondering how, just ask!) We knew we were supposed to go on the World Race, just like we knew we were supposed to marry each other. Once we made those decisions and took steps of faith in those directions (sometimes with hearts pumping as we got down on our knees) God made the way and provided everything we needed for every good work. It is a daily adventure, following Christ, as those first disciples could attest to as well.
Abraham didn't want to leave the land of his ancestors and everything familiar to him...and within weeks of the amazing Exodus, the Israelites were missing the meat and
Our new home, the G42 Villa, in Mijas, Spain. Our invitation to visit still stands!
conveniences of captivity in Egypt... also, Saul found gainful employment persecuting Christians and being the best Pharisee he could be...even a new David in my life had the offer of security and prestige being promoted to a major in the US Air Force. Yet, all these people or groups of people would have missed out miserably if they had done what they had always done and lived where they had lived rather than listening to and obeying God's call on their life.
If any of these ideas and plans get you excited and stirred up as well, we especially welcome your partnership with us. We covet your thoughts and prayers for us, as we wrestle with and digest this exciting and challenging material. We also are in need of monthly donations. $2,000/ month keeps both of us fed, housed, educated, and sent out during our bi-semester (3 month long semesters) practicums = a period of work for practical experience as part of an academic course).
I don't think a day will go by, that I won't be thankful to each and every one of you for giving Lindsay and I a chance, an extended period of time (in Spain! :) , to really listen to God and then (as they say here at the academy) "Say Amen, and make a plan!"
Could anyone have planned a better place and a better fit for Team Luminous (minus Benny) to spend our last month of ministry of the World Race? Seriously...Switzerland!?! Thanks God!
After sending out numerous e-mails and contacting different people who know people, we only received this one e-mail back from a small YWAM base, half an hour from the "main" YWAM base in Laussane, Switzerland. The director of this base in Chatel, Martin, didn't even think his e-mail got to us after receiving 3 error messages. When he got a reply from us, saying that we would like to come to their base, he was a little shocked and a lot convinced us coming must be a God-thing.The view of Lake Geneva from our window
From the moment we arrived, we felt very much at home here. There are 10 CDTS students (Crossroad Discipleship Training School- a DTS for older than the regular DTS students) here from all over the globe: The Gambia, Uzbekistan, Thailand, New York, Georgia, Romania and Ireland to name a few. The staff is just so grateful that we can be helping out with projects that they just don't have the extra time to get to. And seriously, everyone on Team Luminous is using their gifts to the extreme: Mel is interceding for the CDTS students, YWAM in general and all us World Racers (and she lead a great morning devotion today regarding interceding for China), Lindsay is being as intentional as ever with the students and just helping out with whatever needs to be done, Jen is baking up some incredible treats and building relationships too, Steph is eating a lot as well as providing a lot of snacks but then making us laugh, which burns off all the calories : ) and I am just loving doing physical work in the outdoors (even in the rain) and coordinating the smoothest travel and lodging possible for the team. Unfortunately, most of the team has been a little sick while here (probably from all our traveling over the past 11 months, eh!?!) but fortunately this base specializes in hospitality, rest and retreat.
We've had some great opportunities to join in on the activities here and enjoy the local sites too. From sitting in on morning devotions, to enjoying traditional Swiss Cheese Fondue and Raclette (special grill that melts Raclette cheese which you then drizzle over potatoes) to making a team trip around Lake Geneva to see an 11th century castle,
eat Crepes in France, take a fall photo shoot and walk around old town Geneva. Lindsay and I were just moved to the Hospitality wing of this Chalet with a nice bed, hardwood floors, a breakfast nook and the most amazing view of Lake Geneva out our window. Yeah, God doesn't have to spoil us with all these extras: from bringing such diverse students with amazing testimonies to be at the school at this time to giving us feather down comforters on our beds...but he did, he does and he will ever be thanked.
Thanks Team for Giving it All, this last World Race month! It has been a blast!
How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
Starting in the fall, we are launching a new
fair trade business entitled "Freed By Design" which will directly help
women who
have been and are being freed from the sex trade industry. We will work
alongside several amazing ministries to help redesign products and
create new
lines of fashion that will not only make a statement, but bring about
real
change in the lives of women around the world.
possible for the team. Unfortunately, most of the team has been a little sick while here (probably from all our traveling over the past 11 months, eh!?!) but fortunately this base specializes in hospitality, rest and retreat.
