Here in Kenya

Here I am in Kenya. I've been moving around so much these last few weeks, and not to mention the inaccessability, its been nearly impossible to get around to a new update. But here I am. Unfortunately, its looks like I won't be able to update with pictures for an indeterminate time, but someday I will get them up here.
Its been an amazing past few weeks here in Africa. We've been working in small villages doing house to house visits. But mostly working with AIDS orphans and doing practical work painting a new clinic. We've spent a lot of time speaking at church gatherings. And wonder of wonders, I'm working through my deep fear of public speaking. Which leads me to the knowledge that it is God speaking through me, because I could never do it on my own. It's been awesome to be able to share with the people here of the hope they can have in God's provision. We are working in areas that have next to nothing, and it blows us away how they have such hearts for hospitality. When we leave their villages they give us their best glass bowl as thanks, or eggs or fish they've just caught and we know that they cannot afford it. And a lot of these foods are all they have for that day or more. It's heart wrenching and shows me something we westerners could definitely learn from.
People I've met here have really spoken and blessed my life even more than I could have hoped to bless them. I've just returned from Mbita in Lake Victoria where there is a YWAM base that is running a school on environmental and resource awareness and stewardship. Here they are teaching the local populace and foreign students the calling God has given each of us to be stewards and caretakers of the earth He has given us. Most people in the more impoverished nations have a hopelessness and apathy towards environmental awareness, not to mention no economical resources to do much even if they wanted to. And among the Christians even there is an apathetic attitude that "God's promises of paradise are in Heaven, so we are content with the poverty and conditions we are in here" But many are seeing the small things that can be done there on the base in Mbita just by boiling all water before drinking or cooking. Not throwing garbage everywhere, but collecting it in bins. (Unfortunately, they burn it from there, but its a start, as it keeps it off the streets and out of children's mouths.) There is a mistaken idea in these nations that they have no trees or healthy flora because there is no rain. In fact, people cut down trees to make coal to be used for cooking, etc. And they are being taught that there is in fact no rain because they have not been allowing their trees to grow! It's confusing logic for many, but they are seeing the proof in places where environmental action is taking place. International groups are coming in with new methods of cooking, ie solar cookers (a simple piece of foil covered cardboard) to replace the use of coal and subsequent loss of trees and fresh air. It's been awesome to see how God works in not just the spiritual, relational realm, but also the technological for the betterment of all mankind. We have all been learning how God had never planned for any of His creation to suffer in poverty and disease. And He is bringing such awareness, health and blessing to those who have chosen to follow Him AND His ways. Many lessons I myself will be taking home with me and putting into practice.
I'm in Nairobi today, been given the day off to relax as it's my birthday, not telling how old! So if you don't know, too bad eh!
One of the biggest lessons God's taught me here is humility. Anyone who knows me knows how I love fitness and have a 'pride' when it comes to my physical strength and love of physical labour. Well, some of you may have heard that I injured my lower back in South Africa. I had to be treated both medically and by chiropractor for a week. And I was only permitted to continue on outreach on the conditions of NO heavy lifting, bending twisting or any even remotely strenuous activity (not even sweeping a floor!) Pure torture, especially with all the awesome opportunities I've had to help build, paint, clean in the villages! I wasn't even allowed to carry the small child that begged for me to carry her as I walked through one village. I became so discouraged, as I've quite often felt my 'gift' was my physical strength. Maybe it was, but God used this opportunity to show my how I'd become prideful in it, sometimes showing off a little too much and He allowed me to become weakened while He spoke to my heart on it. It's a month later. I still can't work quite as hard as I'm used to, but I laid it at His feet and allowed Him to show me other areas He has gifted me. Especially areas I was resistant to being used or gifted in like public speaking. And so turned my heart to embrace opportunities to share publicly. Now, I am pain free. And even those day long, bone jarring bus rides we've been taking on a weekly basis have not affected me. And the doctors were certain those alone would send me home. I am healed and able to work again, but I've learned from this experience that God chooses and uses my gifts, not me. And I am to respect them and never to boast in them. Praise His glorious name!
Our outreach plans have been changed due to unforeseen circumstances. We will not be going to Ethiopia now because of political uprisings and rumours of civil war breaking out in the city we were going to be in Addis Ababa. So through much prayer and listening to God's voice, we've determined we are to stay in Kenya for one more week then Go to Egypt early and spend 3 weeks there instead of the 2 we had previously planned. This presents new obstacles in our itinerary, but we are relying on God to show us the areas where He would have us work and minister. Really its quite exciting to be able to witness God's provision in this way! Something I learned during Faith week back in school. It seems so long ago!
We've spent a lot of time living in small villages tucked away in the jungles of Uganda and Kenya. Very primitive concrete buildings with no electricity or running water, not even a well, just Lake Victoria. (You know those pics of African women and children carrying everything from food to firewood to laundry on their heads? Its for real) The ahem 'toilet' consists of a square 6x8" cut in a concrete floor over a hole in th ground. 'Showers are cold lake water splashed over oneself from a basin. An awesome experience that makes me realize just how spoiled I am. I've really enjoyed every moment of it.
God has been showing me how He plans to use my dreams and giftings after I finish here. I can't go into detail at this point. But it's amazing how God commands us to lay down our deepest desires and loves at His feet in the process of making him truly Lord over oneself. Then how He takes those dreams and desires and gives them back to you with a new purpose for them that serves Him. Truly a blessing! I'm looking forward to my time of travelling on my own in August. I will be using this time to process all I've learned these months. And also to spend lots and lots of time communing with God and letting Him speak to me about the purposes He's calling me to. It's hard at times not to focus on the future and all I hope to do in His name on my return. But the time is now, while I am in my self termed "training ground" being groomed and prepared for that time. The lessons I've learned and relationships I'm building are priceless. I'm so amazingly blessed to be here in this continent and able to be used in these ways.
Well, that is my news for now. It is so very little compared to what I've experienced, but it's a start and I look forward to sharing so much more in the future. For now, I thank you for your patience waiting for this update, your awesome wishes and prayers (and birthday wishes!)and your love and friendship. Be Blessed!

Currently in Perth, Australia!

So yeah, here I am in Perth and it's incredible! We're staying at the YWAM base here. One of the largest YWAM bases in the world with over 300 staff and students. For those of you who know them I have met Debbie Coe-Adams and her husband Chris here and she says hello to Parkdale.
Saturday night was the Austalian day of Thanksgiving, orignated 2 years ago by the indigenous people of Australia to give thanks to God for all he's given them. How coool is that! We definitely got a taste of true Aussie pride and culture with song and dance and chant! They sure know how to show God their love and worship of Him.
Today being Monday we went into town to do some yardwork and painting at a girls youth hostel. It was good to get my hands dirty again I have to say. We return tomorrow to finish then we leave for South Africa Wednesday morning.
Tonight we walked to a nearby island kangaroo reserve to see if we could spot any. Despite the complete darkness I managed to get some awesome pictures of some babies that let us get within inches of them as they were blinded by our headlamps. What an awesome experience.
Well, YWAM Perth certainly has tons of ministry opportunities to look at and I have been inquiring into some of them myself. As I continue this awesome journey I would ask for your continued prayers as I pursue God's will for my future, wherever it may take me.
Well, that's all for now. When next I write it will probably be from Johannesburg, SA! Love and blessings!

school pic

school pic
Originally uploaded by Gods Amazon.

Well, Lecture phase is completed! In just a few short hours I will be in Perth Australia for 6 days of Aboriginal outreach then off to Africa for 2.5 months of ministry and outreach. So very exciting!
School has been amazing. I'm taking so much more knowledge of God and His Word with me as well as a deeper relationship with our incredible Father!

Thanks for all of your incredible support, the encouraging emails and all the awesome prayers.! It made all the difference to my experience here!

Forgive me if this page doesn't get updated very regularly while I'm on Outreach. I'm not sure of my access to internet during this time. But thanks for following me along this journey thus far! Til August! P.S. check out the school picture at the link!

Lisa

Last 2 weeks before Outreach!

School is almost done here. We're in our final 2 weeks. Winter is coming upon us rapidly. This morning it was 11 celcius (about 48 farenheit) in my room (we have no heat in this part of the house). We had a pitiful snowfall on Sunday of about half and inch that melted by midday. But the mountains were beautifully white well into Monday.
I have to say I've gleaned so much from this DTS. Outreach in Christchurch on Friday nights has been awesome to meet and interact with the locals and even lead many closer to the truth of who God is. From the lecture phase of DTS, I'd say the Lordship of Christ has been most impressed upon me. The idea of surrendering my all to Him and truly making Him Lord of my life, I've discovered, is a daily process. There have been some times of sacrifice and struggle that have subsequently led to amazing peace and joy at the love of Jesus Christ! Through submission to Him comes blessings and amazing growth! As well as discovering who He really is as my Father who loves me unconditionally.

Final prep is being done for outreach. We will spend one week in Perth, Australia, then Johannesburg-South Africa for 2 weeks, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Egypt each for 2 weeks. Before Grad in Israel. In these countries we will be working in orphanages, AIDS hospitals, building projects and public evangelism.

At present, I don't have a clear direction on what God is calling me to after DTS. I have some ideas and visions concerning a few different ministries afterwards. Right now, I've decided to continue traveling after outreach, for about a month or so with the remaining miles on the Around the World ticket that we are using for our outreach. I plan to look into YWAM opportunities during this time in Greece, Ireland, Scotland, and some states. Then back to NZ for about a week before coming home. When I get home, hopefully by late Sept. I will continue to look for opportunites within Canada unless God reveals His calling for me while overseas.

Some prayer requests I'd like to send along are;
*continued focus as I try to hear God's calling for post outreach.
*the open hearts of the African people as we move to work alongside them in their orphanages, AIDS hospitals, building projects. As well for receptiveness to the message we give through our testimonies, skits, evangelism etc in each of these nations.
*our sensitivity to the African people and their needs and culture. That we will do everything with real love and a driven desire to help and reach everyone!
*safety both within the communities we will be in, and also physically against any disease or sickness for all our members.
*God's provision financially during outreach and afterwards, since I have to buy extra vaccinations, supplies, and general daily necessities throughout the next few months of this journey. As well as a plane ticket home from New Zealand afterwards. I'm thinking of selling my truck to help out, but I'm waiting on Him to be sure.
*And finally, a continual 'dying to self' so that I can give Him every part of me and fulfil His purposes every day.

I'm really excited to get started on this next adventure. And also to get to a warmer climate!
Blessings Abundant everyone!

Home from Faith Week!

To view my pics of Faith Week click here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23038541@N00/sets/221849/
I'm home! This past week I've been travelling around the South Island of New Zealand by thumb with not much more than my clothes and a sleeping bag. The very appropriate name of this adventure was 'Faith Week'. Every student was grouped with 2 others and sent out in the direction of their choice (we chose south) to travel for one week. We were each given $10, 2 sandwiches, 2 cookies and a piece of fruit. We were allowed sleeping bags but no tents. For the entire week we would have to rely on God to provide our transportation, food and shelter. This was an exercise in trusting God and really building our faith in His provision like we never had before.
The first day out it was pouring rain and within an hour we (David, Liz and myself) were all thoroughly soaked. Our second ride, around noon, turned out to be an Australian tourist. He said he'd take us to Dunedin (the city we were aiming for, about 4-5 hours away) but he was taking a much longer route as he wanted to go see Mt. Cook first. We said we were very willing to join him in his sightseeing tour and we all piled into his tiny little rental car. Unfortunately, because of the dreary weather, most of Mt. Cook was covered in cloud, but we did get to the base of it. And we also got to see some spectacular scenery along the way, including the tiniest little stone chapel I've ever seen, over-looking a placid mountain lake. Another awesome blessing, because of the long ride we got with just one driver, all our stuff got dry! We arrived in Dunedin after 9pm to find there were no hostel beds available and we couldn't afford one anyway. After a couple of hours of wandering around we submitted to sleeping on the benches outside of the city hall. Fortunately the rain had stopped and our sleeping gear was all dry too! YAY! We were awaken on a couple of occasions by intoxicated but harmless partygoers wondering what we were doing, but otherwise we slept soundly and safely through the night.
In the morning, I think we were starting to get the idea of what we were supposed to be doing if we were to survive this week. We called out to God in prayer and admitted our lack of direction, we were down to $20 and no further ahead than we had been the previous day. We went to church that morning in Dunedin, and had a lovely tea and hot cross buns for Easter Sunday with the congregation of the First Presbyterian Church afterwards. Throughout the remainder of the week, whenever we started to get stressed from not having any food, not getting a ride for over 2 hours or not having a clue where to stay we humbly turned to God to show us His plan. And did He ever! In this we also learned to praise God at every opportunity for both the incredible ways He provided, but also for the times of leanness, as these were the times when we were shown how powerful and deep His care and love for us was.
Here is a brief breakdown of the rest of the week:
-2nd night in Dunedin, met 2 university students and were invited to stay at their flat. We were fed, allowed showers, even checked email! The next morning one of the other students we met gave us $50 and all of his Easter candy. He said his life had been touched by our testimony and he was seeking God for himself, and this encounter had encouraged him a great deal. We all plan to stay in contact with him.
-after waiting over 2 hours trying to get a ride in the direction we wanted to go, we decided to take a time out, share a coffee and call on God for about an hour. Within 3 minutes of leaving the cafe and putting our thumbs out to go in a different direction we were picked up. Her name was Courtenay, she took us sightseeing on our way to Oamaru at the Moeraki Boulders on the east coast. It's this beach on the Pacific where these huge stones or boulders are all along the beach and in the water. The cool part is, is they are all completely round, perfect spheres! Never been touched by man, they just formed that way, you have to check out the pics in the link! What a cool experience and an awesome blessing to get to go there in our travels. About 30 minutes after she had left us in Oamaru that evening, to head for Christchurch (she still had a few hours drive ahead of her) we were wandering around trying to find someplace we could afford to stay, she reappeared saying she'd felt she was supposed to come back and help us, she handed us $20 and we said our farewells again. This gave us enough for the hostel that night and another loaf of bread for the journey. Praise God, His provision at work!
-Next 2 nights we stayed in the home of the cousin of one of our rides (in Queenstown), and the next night her brother's in Wanaka. Our Queenstown stay gave us $50 giving us enough to stay in a hostel in Hokitika for our last night.
In all of these places and through many of our rides the incredible kindness and hospitality of Kiwi's was constantly evident. Many were very moved by our determination to rely on God for everything, and had to admit that the way we'd come through with everything we needed was more than coincidence.
-final night in a hostel in Hokita on the west coast, and some money left over for a dozen eggs, rice and a loaf of bread to get us through dinner and the following day.
-heading home from Hokitika, a waitress in a cafe ( I stopped here to pray that we would find rides back to Oxford, as we weren't having any luck) was so moved by the story of Faith Week that she gave me a sandwich and 2 muffins to finish my journey home with. Within 10 minutes of leaving I had a ride all the way to Oxford! Even better he was heading through Arthur's pass in the mountains (the scenic route) and I was blessed to be able to take in even more of God's incredible creation. Snow-capped mountains, waterfalls, crystal blue lakes and winding mountain roads. What an awesome way to finish a journey based on seeking God's guidance. What a huge impact this has had on the way I view God. Even with the weather I know He was looking out for us, as the west coast is typically colder and much wetter than the east, but we never saw a drop of rain and hardly a cloud for the whole week, I even got a sunburn! It's become so evident just how close He really is and how desperately He wants to provide for all of us if we'll only let him. I'd do it all again in a heartbeat, but this time I'll bring my sunscreen...B.A.B.E. (Be Abundantly Blessed Eh!)

Faith Week coming up!

Week 4 is in progress. I'm learning a great deal from my studies, this week is based on the ways and workings of the Holy Spirit. It's so awesome to be able to learn so much about the God of all and who He is as the Trinity. This week I am working on more plans for outreach to Africa in May. We are deciding on where to go and what God would have us do in the countries that we are visiting. Also, I have to make plans for any travel I want to do after outreach in August. I pray that God will lead me where He wants and that I will constantly remain open to hearing from Him.
Coming up is Faith Week. On Saturday, we will be setting out in groups of 3 with nothing but $10 in our pocket and a bagged lunch each to wherever our hearts desire and the Spirit leads throughout New Zealand. We will be hitchhiking our way around and basically relying on God to provide for food, transport and lodging wherever we go. (side note: New Zealand is one of the safest places in the world to hitch a ride, and it's actually quite common!) We are not permitted to ask for anything, but just to pray and trust. This is an exciting opportunity to not only see more of this incredible country, but to also earnestly trust in the Lord and see firsthand how He provides for His people. I can't tell you how stoked I am for this!! I would ask you all for your continued prayers for our safety and provision. And above all that God would give us all divine appointments to bless those we meet and continue to share Him! See you when I get back eh!

Something God showed me

A friend sent this to me yesterday. I know it came from God because this is something I'd been dealing with the past few days. Just how does God speak to us? Here you go, be blessed my friend.
The man whispered, "God, speak to me"
and a meadowlark sang.
But, the man did not hear.
So the man yelled, "God, speak to me"
and the thunder rolled across the sky.
But, the man did not listen.
The man looked around and said,
"God let me see you."
And a star shined brightly.
But the man did not see
. And, the man shouted,
"God show me a miracle."
And, a life was born.
But, the man did not notice.
So, the man cried out in despair
, "Touch me God,
and let me know
you are here."
Whereupon, God reached down
and touched the man.
But, the man brushed
the butterfly away
and walked on
. I found this to be a great reminder
that God is always around us in the
little and simple things
that we take for granted..
. even in our electronic age...
so I would like to add one more:
The man cried,
"God, I need your help!"
And an e-mail arrived reaching out
with good news and encouragement.
But, the man deleted it and continued crying.
.. Don't miss out on a blessing
because it isn't packaged
the way that you expect.

Love Lisa