More Changes

Okay, let me start out by saying that I'm bad at keeping this thing updated. But let me tell you what's been going on.

I'm back in Indiana, for starters. I left Harrisburg on the 15th of this month. Kicking and screaming the entire way. I love this place, and it's great to be back, don't get me wrong, but I love Harrisburg and Pennsylvania as well, and I am torn. I didn't want to leave. I quote Red from Shawshank Redemption... "All I want is to be back where things make sense. Where I don't have to be afraid all the time. Only one thing stops me: a promise I made to Andy." Or in my case, Jesus. I promised him I would go wherever and whenever he lead me. I know I'm back on Hoosier soil for a reason, but if I had my choice, I'd be with my fiery-eyed Jesus loving friends in Harrisburg. Just being honest.

However, I'm not planning on slowing down much while I'm here. In addition to doing my best to be around for my Grandma Jean whom I just recently found out has cancer, I'm planning several things with my youth group Cor 59. This is including me speaking one night at our regular Wednesday meeting and an evangelism training day just for starters. I'm also trying (key word) to get my job back at McDonald's.

What most of you are interested in though, is my ministry. I've already been asked several times, "How long are you here?" "When are you heading out again?" Of course plans change, but this is where things stand right now. I've put in my application for the Harvest School with Iris Ministries, based in Pemba, Mozambique, Africa. (Yes, I was going to Congo. I'm not now. It's a long story.) If I'm accepted, I will be leaving in June and arriving back to the USA sometime in August. In my eyes, this is a stepping stone into more opportunities in Africa and beyond.

All my plans hinge on whether I am accepted or not. If I am accepted, I'll obviously be going. But I'm still figuring out what will be going on if I'm not. The key word for this hour is trust. Trust that I hear the word of the Lord. Trust that his ways and plans are higher than mine. And trust that he is faithful. As a wise person once said, He's a better leader than we are followers.

I'll keep you updated as best as possible.

And so we go.

God Bless! <3

Changes

Wow. How much things have changed since my last post! So crazy. To start with, my base leader Jeremy told me that he thinks I should go to another base. It's called YWAM Lebanon, and it's about 30-45 minutes away from Harrisburg. To be honest, I don't want to go, but if God tells me to, then I'm going. Which also brings my time here in Pennsylvania into question. I was planning on being here for 2 years (starting last September) but if I go to Lebanon, I have no clue how long I'll be there. As well as, I don't know if Congo is still going to happen for me, although it should. Basically, I have alot of questions and not many answers. But God is good, and I know that he is with me no matter where I go. Updates as things come up, as always. :) God Bless! <3

2013: Full Plates, Full Hearts

I sincerely apologize for the lack of posts, things have been a bit of a whirlwind around here since the new year started. After a great Christmas in Indiana, I headed back to Harrisburg. The break was awesome, but I knew that it was time to get back to work. However, I didn't realize just how much we were planning on doing. Even the thought of typing it all out just makes my head hurt a bit, but trust me when I say it's all going to be amazing and full of God's glory. The main things are Congo in April, and some evangelistic events we are planning at Harvard and Cornell (and hopefully the rest of the Ivy League schools as well). I'll do my best to keep updates coming as we start to dive in to all of it. Please keep praying that my support comes in, as of right now I am still short on what I need for Congo not to mention some of the other events coming. God Bless! <3

No Place Like Home for the Holidays

Yep, that's right. I'm on Hoosier soil... but only for now. I am heading back to Harrisburg on Monday (New Year's Eve). It's been great to just chill for awhile before getting back to work. I had a great Christmas, it was very relaxed, just a small dinner at my uncle's house and hanging out with my sister and cousin. Also got a guitar that used to belong to another one of my uncles, so that I can work more on my songwriting. I'll hopefully be posting my songs soon. Hope you all had a most merry Christmas, and will have a most joyous New Year. God Bless! <3

Ask, and you will recieve

"Most people have not because they ask not." Wiser words have never been spoken for this particular moment. Let me tell you what's been going on.

As a DTS, we (not me personally, I'm base staff, not DTS) needed $60,000 within about a week for everybody to go on outreach. Jeremy (the base leader) gathered us as a community and said he'd never seen a DTS with so much need and so little time. He and the other leadership felt from the Lord that we were all to pray and fast over this weekend, starting on Friday and ending with a big breakfast to celebrate on Monday. Total, it came to 60 hours of fasting, contending and praying in shifts to see a breakthrough over our finances. Within about 4 days, we saw around $40,000 come in. Come on! However, that's not the end of the story. Just today, we found out that somebody anonymously gave our base $10,000! Within a span of about 5 days, we have seen almost all of the money come in. And I believe that the rest is coming. GOD IS SO GOOD! We need to break off the poverty mindset that says we shouldn't ask, because we probably won't recieve, even if God wanted to. He longs to open the floodgates of heaven and pour out blessings upon blessings for his children! I am even stirred myself for my own financial breakthrough I'm going to be recieving. I am going to need about $2,700 to go to Congo in April, not to mention my monthly staff fees I'll still have to pay while I'm gone. But I'm not worried. Why should I be, especially after today? Haha :) God is good. All the time. Believe it. God Bless! <3

The Power and the Glory (Congo Bound)

As I sit here on this Saturday morning, I have to wonder how it all came to this. How I went from being a smart kid with the sky as the limit, to the girl who threw it all away by laziness and apathy, to the young woman who got a factory job to try and piece it all together, to the fiery revivalist and passionate lover of God I am today. All the steps of this journey have culminated in this moment...

I am going to Congo.

That's right, my first steps outside of American soil will be on some of the most wartorn in the world. I've already been asked to reconsider by some in my family.

"Don't you realize how bad things are over there? Are you really going to make your dad have to bury another kid?"

 My answer was quite firmly, "He won't have to." They couldn't understand how I can be so sure of my safety, but I've learned that the safest place to be is in the center of God's will. So what if I'm shot or hurt? God will heal me. So what if I'm killed? God can bring me back. Not that it will be necessary. This is only the beginning of my journey, and as much as I love God, it's nothing compared to how much he loves me. I am his beloved daughter, and if any decent dad takes care of his kids, how much more so the greatest dad there ever has been or will be. He didn't die just so I could go to heaven, He died so that I could have life, and life TO THE FULL. I serve the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, the same God who wrought the plagues on Egypt and brought Lazerus back from the dead. I serve the King of Kings, ruler over all, who has the keys to Death and Hell firmly in his grasp. I have placed my trust in him and his leadership, and I feel that he is leading me to Congo. These people need me and Jesus! All they know is darkness, fear, and uncertainty. Why would I want to go anywhere else? Most people don't realize that I'm called to war zones. I am called to the hardest and darkest places, because it's there where God's light shines brightest. So that's why I'm going in April. And nobody is going to convince me otherwise because of my safety. "Do not fear those that can kill the body but not touch the soul. Rather, fear the one that can cast both body and soul into Hell." Pretty much. "Death, where is your victory, oh grave, where is your sting?"

In other news, we are not running a spring DTS like we thought. God asked us to shelve it until later so we can start really diving in to the vision of being a Circut Rider community, seeing teams come and go with this as their home that they are sent out from. (Antioch, anyone?) Excited to see this vision come to pass, and am beyond blessed to be a part of it.

More updates as things come up, as always. :) God Bless! <3

Insanity and Convergence, Smacked in the face (Not literally) and Ek Ballo

This will be one of the longest posts I've done to date, but that's because so much has happened in the span of 10ish days. Everything is accelerating. Shifting. Starting. Happening. Going. Moving. We are getting slammed with the reality of what God has for us as a crew and as our wider global community, sharpening our focus and launching us like never before. We are heading into the unknown at Mach 20 with no seatbelt and no way out even if we wanted to be. Which of course we don't. Before I get too ahead of myself here, let me tell you what's going on...

Last week was Andy Byrd's week for the DTS. I was busy working in the kitchen during most of his teaching, but I did get to hear some of what he talked about. He shared about the culture of revival and the practicals on how to live it out. (Come on, somebody!) He led us in repentance for passivity and unbelief, two of the biggest destiny killers in the world. That was crazy in and of itself, but it was just the beginning. Thursday night was the beginning of Convergence, the conference I wrote about a couple posts back. As with most of the times we revivalists get together, it was a beautiful collision of hearts and passion as we sought the Lord to see a culture shift in this nation. We need one, and now. We can't wait any longer!! The alarm clock has gone off, it is time to see America rise to its destiny once again! Revival is reality, awakening is coming, and anybody who says different doesn't know my God. My heart is burning within me as I sit full of faith for what God is birthing in this moment. If I had any doubts about the power of God to change lives, they have been torn to shreds and burned beyond recognition. Forever. We started off Thursday with Brian Brennt joining Andy to speak more on the coming awakening and the practicals of sustaining revival. During worship towards the end, everybody was standing at their seat. I decided I couldn't stand it and ran up front and danced in front of God and everyone with complete abandon by myself. It was so amazing, I can't even describe. Nothing brings me to life like pure, uncontained worship straight to my King. Afterwards I joined in with the cleaning crew. The next day my fellow Leadership Track friends and I had breakfast and worship together, and then another session with Brian and Andy. This time, we seperated the college students and had them on the stage, and then we YWAMers and everybody else commisioned them to go crazy on their respective campuses. There was even a guy there from Taylor University! Woooo Indiana! Haha. :) Saturday we had evangelism training in the morning, and then in the afternoon we sent out 13 teams into Allison Hill here in Harrisburg. Altogether, we saw 37 salvations and 20 healings, all in 2 hours!! Go God! The soil is good in America! Don't belive the lie that it's not! Jesus wants his reward! That night we had Shawn Bolz from Hollywood come and speak. I didn't get to hear much of it, because I was on camera crew and had to concentrate on my very big, professional camera. But it was good, and he brought alot to the table about shifting culture in the entertainment industry. So good!! That night my friends from the Burn Rochester crew got to pray for my sleep, after I explained to them how I grew up with almost nightly nightmares that made me scared to sleep most of the time. Glad to be getting more rest from now on. Yesterday (Sunday) morning at service, Pastor Charles ordained Andy along with Sean Feucht... amazing to see where God is going to take them next. Glory to glory! :) Last night, Sean blew the place up with worship and then Andy spoke about what it means to be Ek Balloed. The word Ek Ballo, (Greek, I think) a word meaning go or send, is the word Jesus used when he expelled Legion into the herd of pigs. It implies a violence of thrusting someone or something. He used the same word when talking to his disciples. "Ask then, that the Lord of the Harvest would send (ek ballo) workers into the harvest field." It's the same idea of thrusting and sending with no ability to resist. Jesus wants to ek ballo us into places, whether it's into the nations like me or the universities like others in my crew. We must go!!!!!!! God also talked to me last night about maybe joining a friend of mine on a trip to Congo in April. So excited for this!!!! I really see this as just the beginning to my role as a minister to the nations. Can't wait. ^.^

Today Brian spoke to the DTS, and really laid some foundation and vision for where we are/should be going as a community. Here's a piece of it...

We are meant to be a hub, not a base (wider perspective).
We are meant to be a mobile strike team.
We are meant to have a virtual classroom along with the one we already have here.
We are meant to be a home for Circut Riders.
We are meant to be a catalyst for global reformation.
We are meant to train in the field. We learn as we go.

This is just a piece of what he talked about. I am going crazy here, trying to figure out where I fit in. There are so many things happening, many decisions to be made...

Congo.
Staffing the next DTS in April.
My roll as kitchen staff and leadership track.
My role in these teams and other words from Brian.

I am beyond excited to see what God will do with me. Whatever it is, wherever he takes me, I do it from love and not for love. I will not go and burn out, I will burn and go out. I will be a peacemaker where chaos now reigns. Stay tuned, more updates will come as these things come together. Much love to you all... God Bless! <3