An Invitation to Dream

Create a Network of Justice Workers

2011-01-25T20:19:00.000-08:00

Number five on my dream list is to create a network of justice workers.

People that know me today would be surprised to know that it wasn't until I was 23 that I really cared about what was going on in the world. It all began in my Discipleship Training School (DTS) with Youth With A Mission (YWAM). When deciding on what focus to take, I was torn between the Impact Pacific DTS or the Compassion DTS. The Impact Pacific School would be sending teams to the many small tropical islands in the Pacific, like Fiji and Samoa; nothing like ministering to people on the beach in the middle of the tropics. The Compassion DTS was a school focused on the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa and would be sending teams to Africa. My decision to choose the Compassion DTS was completely based on what I felt the Lord leading rather than on a desire in my heart to exercise compassion. I remember through the school asking God to show me what compassion was and to fill my heart with it. It was so foreign to me at the time. I would see other students react to injustice with grief or anger, but I was somewhat numb to it. I was so disconnected at that time from the realities of injustice around the world.

One day, one of our school leaders showed us a video documenting an American woman's story of how she ended up homeless and eventually had to give her daughter away to a family that had the financial means to take care of her. When the film ended I sat stuck in my chair with the relentless feeling that something like this should not happen. I never really witnessed an injustice that could have totally been prevented. It was as though the Lord showed it to me and asked me, "So what are you going to do about it?" I didn't really know the answer. I waited for the right opportunity and approached my school leader and asked him. His response was that now that I was aware of the injustice I needed to ask the Lord what my responsibility is to respond. I walked down the stairs that night pondering what was happening in my heart and how I should respond.

My eyes had been opened to injustice in the world and I began discussing with the Lord the emotions that were filling my heart as I was exposed more and more to the brokenness that filled so many lives. I kept asking Him to fill my heart with compassion, to soften my heart so that I could see people the way that He sees people. Over the course of two months, my heart was set aflame and I knew that I could not rest until I saw justice fill the earth.

After my time in Rwanda, I had made the decision to staff a Justice focused DTS. The Lord resoundingly kept saying "Justice, Justice, Justice" like a gong ringing in my spirit and I knew I needed to move forward so that I might respond to His calling. Throughout the Justice DTS I was exposed to more and more justice issues around the world; human trafficking, blood diamonds, war, homelessness, child abuse, and infanticide to name a few.

Much of our response to injustice often involves punishment of perpetrators. I would say, more often than not, punishment is what comes to mind when people think of executing justice. By the end of the lecture phase of this school, however, the Lord had completely redefined my definition of justice. He showed me that His justice is all about restoring relationships. When someone does something to violate another person, it is the Lord's heart that both the victim and the perpetrator be restored and reconciled. This is ultimately why Jesus came and died on the cross; He took the punishment of our sins so that we could be restored and reconciled in our relationship with Him and with others. That is the ultimate goal of God's justice, and with this revelation I was sent out to lead a team of students to Belfast, Northern Ireland and Jos, Nigeria. Talk about huge opportunities to apply what the Lord was teaching me.

A few months after the Justice DTS finished, I had the opportunity to go to South Africa for a leadership training course. During my time there, Xenophobia riots broke out and I was able to help at a refugee camp for foreign Africans that were being violently run out of the townships they were living in because people were jealous and looking for a scapegoat for their poverty. My time in South Africa was also a time in which I began my masters in international relations. I knew I wanted to get involved in changing foreign policy so restorative justice would become a goal of U.S. international engagement.

One of the instructors for the leadership training course led us through an exercise that helped us explore our "destiny by design", by examining our dreams, past experiences, interests, personalities, gifts, passions, and network of people that the Lord had orchestrated in our lives. By the end of the course, I realized I have a passion to see people's dreams come true and to network individuals in such a way that those dreams can be fulfilled.

Fast forward 2 years to January 2010. When I heard about the earthquake in Haiti, it was as though the Lord had dropped a bomb on my heart to intercede(pray) for the people in this country. I remember walking around my house telling my roommates that we should all just drop everything and go. After a night or two of staying up all night, I found myself on the third night praying that God would have mercy on Haiti, over and over. I stopped for a moment to listen to the Lord and He said to me, "How much is one life worth?" As I pondered this question, thoughts of how there are so many of us who want to go to Haiti to help, but don’t have the money or the time. It struck me when God asked the question again, that even just one life would be worth going down to Haiti for a week where I would have to take the next year to pay it off on my credit card. One life would be worth not showering for a week. One life would be worth missing school for a week. One life would be worth missing a little sleep. One life would be worth taking the criticism of people saying this was crazy. One life would still be worth it. So I asked the Lord if I could go, and He said, "Go." The next day I had purchased my ticket and the following day I was on a plane to the Dominican Republic. I spent ten days in Haiti and I haven't been the same since.

In my times of intercession for Haiti, the Lord also planted another seed; it was to create a network of justice workers entitled One Life Worth. It is an exhaustive network focused on building relationships to see justice fill the earth in every sphere, every nation, and every community. My heart for justice and my desire to network people so their dreams come true, had collided. I know that one day the One Life Worth Justice Network will be a reality and the Lord's heart for restorative justice will fill the earth as people with His heart work together to see this world transformed.

So far, I have begun this journey by creating a website and a Facebook group to begin connecting others. The vision for this organization is grand and it can only be fulfilled with the Lord's help and provision. I'm excited to see where the Lord takes it and the impact it will have in bringing Heaven to Earth.

You can check out the website HERE. Thanks for taking the time to read!

In Christ,
Janet

Own A Sailboat

2011-01-21T19:26:00.000-08:00

The next dream on my list is to own a sailboat.

I have loved being in the ocean my entire life. Growing up in San Diego and going to the beach weekly as a child deposited in me a deep respect and awe for the ocean. I remember at my dad's end of week work picnics at the beach I would go out into the surf, with no board what-so-ever, and try and ride the waves while dodging or being dodged by surfers. In high school when I needed time to think I would go to a small beach covered in rocks and watch the sun set behind the silhouette of the surf. During the summer between my junior and senior year I went through a program to become a certified beach lifeguard, and what a thrill it was to jump off the Mission Bay Pier!

I left for college at 17 and moved to San Luis Obispo. While the water temperature was noticeably colder, I was still within a few miles of the ocean where I could retreat for a run or find peace reading a book. When I moved to Redding, my biggest hesitation was that the closest distance to the ocean was four hours away. I was comforted by the fact that the city is surrounded by mountains, lakes, and rivers; adequate substitutes for the ocean when all three are present.

When I was 21, I had the opportunity to go with a group of young adults to Hawaii and help to build and establish adventure programs for a retreat camp. Basically we harvested coconuts, dug toilet latrines, set up heavy duty tents, and then went on adventures all over the island. One of these adventures included sailing on a sailboat down the Big Island coastline. In return for the owner's generosity, we cleaned the barnacles off of his boat. I can't remember if I had been on a sailboat up to that point. I remember hearing stories my dad told me about a catamaran he had when he was younger, but I don't recollect ever being on a boat with sails. I didn't really know what to expect. I had been in tiny aluminum boats and large fishing boats growing up, but those don't compare to sailing.

The day we went on our excursion, we drove down the coastal highway and pulled off the road in an unmarked location. There was a small bay about 200 yards from the road with no buildings in sight. The water was crystal clear and the sky was cloudless; a perfect summer day on the Big Island. About 100 feet from shore sat a little sailboat anchored in the bay. Our group made our way out of the back of the truck we were riding in and across the lava rock lining the shore. We adorned our snorkel gear and jumped in. There were all kinds of colorful fish swimming beneath us as we made our way over to the boat. The captain lowered a ladder for us to climb aboard. The boat itself was not very big, it held about seven of us at one time. We sprawled ourselves out over the boat and prepared for the ride.

It's hard to describe the emotions I felt as we sailed across the ocean. I was gazing at the endless blue sky, the sun was shining down and the wind was blowing over me in a perfect collaboration to moderate my body temperature, and a slight mist covered the surface of my skin each time the boat sailed over a swell. With ease, I was able to find peace in an instant and lean into in the presence of God. It was a drunken feeling encountering the fullness of goodness, peace and joy, and to top it all off, I was able to share the experience with some of my favorite people. We sailed in serene silence as we drank in the depth of His lavish love for us.

It was this experience that produced a longing in my heart to sail ever since, and why I dream to have a sailboat of my own. In the mean time, I'm perfectly content to go along with friends on their sailboats until my dream is fulfilled. Call me any time friends, call me any time...

With Love,
Janet

The little Hawaiian sailboat that planted a seed

Learn Arabic Fluently & Go to the Middle East

2011-01-20T21:37:00.000-08:00

The next two dreams on my list are to learn Arabic fluently and go to the Middle East.

Ever since high school I have had a fascination with the Arab world. I'll give a shout out to my good friend Manal for being a part of this dream being planted in my heart. She is from Lebanon and in her home she spoke Arabic growing up. Whenever I went over to her house, I loved hearing them speak and also observe the unique cultural differences they had from mine. The hookah was always out, goat skins were on the floor, Arab soap operas were on TV, generosity and hospitality were their profession, and her mom often taught little kids Arabic in the garage. I always enjoyed spending time with her family.

When I started getting involved with restorative justice, community development, and reconciliation work, I quickly became attentive to how these skills could be useful in the Middle East. I have never been to the Middle East, but I know with certainty that I will spend extended periods of time throughout the Arab world and Middle East. News articles about Iran, Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Morocco and many more consistently catch my attention. I've had many friends who have spent short periods of time throughout the Middle East and I am always fascinated by the beautiful images and stories they bring home with them. It is nothing like the news portrays. I also have a grace and hope in my heart to see peace and reconciliation touch the hearts, communities, and nations in the Middle East. I know that the Lord is absolutely in love with every man, woman, and child that lives in this area of the world and I feel He has placed a piece of His heart into mine for these people, their culture, and their language.

That said, I also found in my travels that people are honored when you, as a visitor, come and can speak their language. As I finish my Masters degree in International Relations with a focus on Conflict resolution, I have begun studying Arabic so as to honor the very people I hope to be working with one day to find peace and hope in every area of their society. I can already tell that I have quite the challenge ahead of me, but the more you invest in something, the more valuable it becomes when you receive it. I can't wait for the days that I find myself traveling and working throughout the Middle East speaking their language and sharing life with those that Jesus loves so dearly.

Hope Always,
Janet

Zip-Line Through The Redwoods

2011-01-20T09:09:00.000-08:00

In no particular order, I will begin with the first dream on my list:

Zip-lining through the Redwoods.

About a year ago, I was at church during a worship time and the Lord began speaking to me through a vision. He and I were in an orchard/forest walking around and exploring the various kinds of trees that were planted there. He was telling me that each tree represented the dreams He had for me in my life. There were trees with all kinds of different fruit and flowers, and a variety of scents filled the air. It was exciting to explore all that the Lord had in store for me. He seemed particularly excited to show me a specific tree and grabbed my hand and we began running through the forest. After a short time, we came to the base of an enormous Redwood tree.

The diameter of the tree's base had to be at least 15 feet and it was so tall that I could not see the top of it. The Lord said to me with a huge smile, "Let's climb it," and a rush of anticipation and excitement filled my being. He started to climb and quickly I was right behind him working our way up the tree with nearly no effort at all. At different points the Lord and I raced to the next branch and laughed away like little children as we climbed higher and higher up this giant Redwood tree.

I almost forgot that we were in a forest of my dreams as the whole experience of climbing up this tree with the Lord captivated my heart. Here was the Lord, the Perfect Father, my Best Friend, the Love of my life, joyously sharing this experience with me that would further define the infinite affection we have towards one another. If this was all we had done, I would be satisfied, but He had more to show me.

God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us. -Ephesians 3:20 MSG

Near the canopy, the branches began to thin out and the Lord brought us to a place where we could sit comfortably and look out over the view. It was magnificent. It felt like we were miles high and yet there was no end to the forest. There were other tall trees of various heights, but none like the one we were on, and there were a number of trees of all different colors, like how the trees change color in the fall. As we gazed over this forest, my forest of dreams, I was in awe of the mystery of His great love for me that He would create such a place as beautiful as this with me in mind. He truly is good and great.

After what seemed like hours confined to only moments, the Lord said He had one more thing to show me. I turned around and noticed we had been sitting on a platform. On the other side of the tree a cable was firmly attached that strung across the forest, all the way down to the forest floor, I could barely see the end of it. The Lord said, "I have this in store for you too." I knew exactly what to do. I strapped myself in and attached myself to the cable, and the Lord did the same. On the count of three we stepped off the platform, and what felt like flying, we took off over the canopy of trees with my heart full and hope renewed. I knew at that moment someday the Lord would work out an opportunity for this to happen in the physical world along with the fulfillment of all of the other dreams He has planted in that forest. This is where my dream to zip-line through the Redwoods was rooted in my heart.

Not long after this vision did I discover that there is a zip-line course in the Redwoods in Santa Cruiz, CA. I have yet to find the time, funds, and people to go with to see this dream become a reality, but I know in it's right time it will be fulfilled.

Thanks for reading,
Janet

A New Year

2011-01-19T23:12:00.000-08:00

Considering it has been almost a year since my last post, I thought it might be a great idea to start blogging again. Yes, just like adding a workout routine to my new years resolution list, blogging is yet another I hope to follow through on.

A year ago I was blogging about my time in Haiti in response to the earthquake, this year I am going to start on a little lighter note. I've decided to start compiling a dream list. Up to this point, I have forty dreams on this list and I wanted to share them with whoever decides to read this blog. My hope in sharing these dreams is to open up a little about who I am and what I love, explore how these dreams took root in my heart, give myself an opportunity to discover how I might see these dreams fulfilled, provide an opportunity for others to help me see these dreams fulfilled, and also give others permission to dream. You're never too young, old, washed up, or messed up to stop dreaming. A quote by Dutch Sheets characterizes the heart of why I'm writing this next series of blogs, "Hope is hearing the melody of the future and faith is dancing to it."

Here's to me dancing to the melody of my dreams fulfilled!

Janet

Out of the depths of His heart, my dreams arise...
Created by Janet, 2011

A Heavy and Rejoicing Heart

2010-01-28T17:40:00.001-08:00

Today my day ends with a heavy and rejoicing heart. We saw around 500 patients today and it was probably the most emotional. We received a 14 month old baby who was unconcious and barely breathing. Her grandmother brought her in. All of the doctors from a children's hospital in the USA got right to work. The baby was extremely dehydrated and hypoglycemic. It took about 10 attempts all over the baby's body to find a vein to put an IV in. She was so dehydrated it made it almost impossible to find one, at one point she began seizing. Myself and another woman just began praying, singing and declaring life into this baby. Finally the IV went in and they pumped fluids and sugar into her body. Right away her breathing eased and she opened her eyes and began looking around. We sent her off in an ambulance to another hospital with supplies that will help her to recover.

We also saw a woman today who we thought we might have to amputate her finger. After consultation with her and her cousin she consented to it being removed if it was necessary. In surgery the doctor found that the wound was actually doing very well and that if she was in the States she could easily get a skin graft and recover well. But being in Haiti, it is unclear what her aftercare and follow-up would be and ultimately she would lose the finger anyway. It was a tough call to make, but the decision made was to send her to a hospital ship off-shore to see if she could get the care she needs. When the woman woke up she was surprised to see her finger still there. She began to tell us how thankful she and all of the people are that we are there. They can tell that we really care about them. The head police chief of the entire city actually came to us and asked us if we would replicate what we have there to all of the police stations in the city because he sees that we really care about the people and he wants that for the entire city. What an amazing testimony of God's heart flowing through us for these people.

Two nights ago, in the tent city next to us, refugees began worshiping and singing praise songs for hours. Around 11pm about 50 people started walking through the street singing a song in Kreyol(the local language). Some doctors were on the roof watching and listening when a woman they had never seen before and haven't seen since came up the stairs and translated what they were saying. "Satan you will not defeat us, you will not defeat us this way." The resillience of the Hatian people is absolutely amazing. We have translators come to help is everyday with a huge smile on their face while at the same time they had lost their home and family members in the earthquake. At the end of each day we make sure to send them home with food, water, and clothing. I heard the UN is starting a program to hire 100,000 Haitians to help clear the rubble from the city. We already saw people begin to work and even stoplights were functioning today. Haiti is moving forward and looking to the Lord on High for their hope and future.

Today was my last day at the clinic. Tomorrow I'll be driving back over to the Dominican Republic, and Saturday morning I fly out. Im still looking for a ride from San Francisco to Redding, otherwise I'll be paying $200 to rent a car for 4hrs. Let me know if you or someone you know could help me out.

Keep on praying. This weekend a whole new batch of doctors are arriving. A few of the doctors with us have been passing some kind of virus around and are taken out for a day while on an IV. Pray for strength, health, and peace for everyone here; doctors, Hatians, everyone.

Thanks for praying and taking the time to read.

Bless you,
Janet

Location:Port au Prince, Haiti

A Wild Day

2010-01-27T17:23:00.000-08:00

Today was an interesting and busy day. We saw about 600 patients. We started off the morning with the police carrying in a man who was shot in the butt and the bullet went all the way through. The bullet missed his femur and no major arteries were hit. Then American soldiers showed up to say hi with a horde of Hatians following. NBC showed up to film and interview us, CNN came yesterday, you can look for me on the news. Our volunteers that are helping us translate and regulate people traffic started asking for medicines for themselves and sneaking medicine to people, we nipped that quickly. It was ineresting to say the least.

Post-Op

Surgical Ward
We are still seeing patients that were yet to get medical treatment since the earthquake. One 19 year old girl came in with a broken foot, we had to send her to the hospital because it had already began healing in the wrong place. We are also seeing a lot of people with skin allergies because the water they are using to wash themselves is dirty gutter/basin water. We don't have any skin cream for it. We've been administering a lot of anti-parasite medication. Im finding that many children and teenagers are coming in with stomach pain, not sleeping at night, and have no appetite. After asking the regular questions I've found that these symptoms are from post traumatic stress. There is no medicine we have for that, so I've been praying with most of them. Jesus is the ultimate comforter who will be with them even in the night.

This evening I am staying at an orphanage. I was able to play with some of the orphans with developmental disabilities. A little boy named Samuel with a really, really big head(literally) introduced me to all of his friends and taught me some French and how to properly pronounce names. They are well taken care of. They have also been running a clinic and a team from Bethel church (where I go to school) were there working. It is such a small world to meet people you know from other parts of the world in a place like Haiti. It has been amazing to see how unified the doctors and aid workers are in just helping the people of Haiti.

Keep praying for supplies and people to get to where it is most needed. Also keep praying for the people of Haiti as PTSD starts to set in.

Thanks for all your prayers!
Love,
Janet

Location:Port au Prince, Haiti

Beauty In Their Faces

2010-01-26T18:33:00.000-08:00

This place looks like a war zone. I think I have some kind of idea of what it must have looked like to be in New York City right after 9/11.

On the drive into the city we drove past two dead men. One of the guys with us said that it was probably a fight that broke out and the men were shot. It was sobering to see. I haven't seen any other dead, they have done well to clear bodies from the city so people don't get sick.

These last few days have been intense. Yesterday and today, the medical clinic I've been working with has seen around a thousand patients. Complaints range from a cough and itchy eyes from the dust in the air to full-on amputations. We have a setup consisting of an ER station where minor wounds and illnesses are taken care of, deep wounds and more serious sicknesses we take inside the police headquarters building to clean and treat, we have a pediatrics station in the building along with a surgical ward and post op room. It is pretty amazing what has been put together. We've had many teams of doctors and nurses coming through. God has been so faithful in providing people, medical supplies, food, and water. The doctors coming through who have been to actual hospitals in the city said the supplies we have are better than the hospitals.

Each morning I've had the opportunity to go onto the roof of the police headquarters and worship and pray over the city. The capitol building you see on the news that has been destroyed is across the street from us. This country is actually quite beautiful, this whole island is. We drove from the DR to Haiti and I was amazed by the beauty of the towering mountains, limestone cliffs, and papaya and banana tree groves. It was absolutely gorgeous.

Today I connected with some of the people dircting the flow of people coming in with YWAM Haiti. Hopefully I can help them out in creating a system that people can get plugged into to help supply medical clinics, mobile clinics, refugee cams, and hosting teams coming through. Right now a few people are doing a ton of work and they really need help to carry the weight of running all of the relief efforts. These people are amazing, but Im noticing each new day they start off a little more tired. There is so much need administratively at this point, we need people to come for a more long term commitment (3-6 months or longer) to help out with facilitating relief teams, and supply distribution. Keep praying for those who have already been here doing the work of many.

Bless you for taking the time to read. Im personnally doing great. Im used to roughing it eventhough I have about 50 mosquito bites (don't worry Im taking malaria medicine). Love you and thanks for your support.

If you would like to give to help cover my costs, click the Paypal link on the left. Anything I receive above my personal costs will go towards YWAM Haiti relief efforts. Thanks for everything!

Janet

Location:Port au Prince, Haiti

On My Way to Haiti

2010-01-23T02:06:00.001-08:00

Well I'm here and I'm ready. It's 5:50am and I'm about to hop on a YWAM bus over to Haiti. My flights here were as smooth as can be and I was even given a bag full of leftover crackers and cheese from the stewardess to take to the staff here at the Ywam DR base. I arrived last night at 11pm and was able to see my good friends John Gillespie and Jeremy Bardwell as they fly home this morning. They were on the first bus in from Ywam DR after the earthquake hit. It was great to catch up and also to hear what is happening in Haiti. Before heading to sleep for a few hours they prayed for me to have heaven's perspective. I'll be working in Port au Prince with teams from Ywam Tyler Texas and Ywam Relief. I've got my duffle bag full of medical bandages and granola bars and I'm excited for what's ahead. My heart is to give and serve with everything I have. Jesus loves these people and I am priveleged to be His hands and feet in the midst of this devestation. Pray for safe travels, wisdom, faith, and heaven's perspective!

Love,
Janet

Haiti Burning on My Heart

2010-01-18T21:34:00.000-08:00

This last week, my heart has been set aflame for Haiti. Since the 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti last Tuesday, there has been a growing hunger to do something. I am getting to a point where I can no longer just read the reports and see the pictures of the people suffering in Haiti and not do something. I was praying to God to have mercy on Haiti. I even got to a point where I told God that if He wanted to teleport me to Haiti in my sleep so I could help people, I’d be willing. Last night I was up at midnight praying till 4am, and my heart was racing to do something. I felt like God asked me the question, “How much is one life worth?” As I pondered this question, thoughts of how there are so many of us who want to go to Haiti to help, but don’t have the money or the time. It struck me when God asked the question again, that even just one life would be worth going down to Haiti for a week where I would have to take the next year to pay it off on my credit card. One life would be worth not showering for a week. One life would be worth missing school for a week. One life would be worth missing a little sleep. One life would be worth taking the criticism of people saying this was crazy. It would still be worth it. One life is worth it all. One life is worth my own. So I’m going.

Right now I'm working on getting contacts who are already on the ground there. I would fly out Friday night (the 22nd) and return the following Saturday (the 30th). I'll land in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and hop on a bus over to Port au Prince, Haiti. I'm ready to do whatever it takes to help; distribute food and water, medical attention, move bodies, hug somebody, pray for people. I'm sure my EMT skills will come in handy and also some of the water purification tips I learned in YWAM. I'm going to take some medical supplies down and also power bars or something to distribute. All I have to give is myself for these people. The video above I hope inspires you to do something, either give or go.

If you'd like to give, on the left is the Paypal link that you can give into. Thanks for all your prayers, gifts and encouragement!

Janet

Holiday Reunions

2009-12-29T14:01:00.001-08:00

I have been so blessed this holiday season. I had the opportunity to go down to San Diego both for Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, and for the Christmas break I was also able to tromp around Northern California visiting friends in Sacramento and the Bay area. It is always amazing to me, when reunited with good friends, how refreshing it is to reconnect as if it hadn’t been very long at all since we last met up. I was able to spend the day with a friend from Hawaii, who I have not seen for 3 1/2 months; my best friend from high school, who I have not seen for about 3 years; my Bible study leader and friend from Cal Poly, who I haven’t seen for about 5 years; my outreach team leader to Rwanda, who I haven’t seen for a year; and another good friend from high school, who I haven’t see for a year as well. I’ll be meeting up with one other really good friend from Hawaii on New Years too. There is nothing like summing up what has been happening in your life for the last 1-2-3—5 years. It helps to put things into perspective, because a lot of times you don’t ever sit down by yourself to actually think about how you’ve grown, what you’ve experienced, and where you’ve come from and where you’re going. It is such a fruitful thing to do, while at the same time you get you hear from your friend as they do the same and you can rejoice together in how you’ve each grown so much, come so far, and anticipate what’s ahead.

It is such a blessing to have so many amazing quality people in my life. Down in San Diego, this season, it was great to connect with the family I have and hear about what is happening in their lives. As an amazing feature this year, we had 4 generations represented at the holiday gatherings as my cousin had a baby girl earlier this year. It was such a joy to play with baby Allie as she is the happiest baby I know, and to see her parents doing such a great job even with lack of sleep some days. Having conversations with my Uncle Kurt about how to create skydiving formations at 12,000 feet, my Aunt Laurie about her pioneering new business in creating nametag costumes, my Uncle John about how to cook a delicious swordfish, my grandma about the goodness of God and the hope we have in Him, are just a glimpse of the good times spent with my family this year. In addition, my parent’s remodel is almost complete, and spending the days preceding Christmas Eve preparing/cleaning the house, we enjoyed the beauty of just how good it all looks. We even managed to get all of the Christmas decorations up within the one hour before the party (including the Christmas tree!). My sister and I had a lot of quality time together, which I’m so thankful for, as we drove to and from San Diego and San Francisco. We realized that gas right after the Grapevine is always 30 cents more than any other place in the Central Valley, and that Pea Soup Anderson’s is a great place to stop for lunch or dinner on the way.

I’m back in San Francisco for another week or so, helping my sister move closer to work and also doing all that I can to get all of my homework done for class next Tuesday. I’ve really enjoyed my time with all of these wonderful people in my life this season. It is probably the best gift I could ask for (however, my new laptop is a close second). I love everything that is happening in my life and for all that is ahead. I’m heading into the New Year with expanding optimism and can’t wait to see the blessings in store.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Janet Mulvey

Campus Awakening - Healings, Signs, & Wonders

2009-11-19T23:25:00.000-08:00

Hello from Redding, CA! I am here attending the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry. Things are really taking off this year and literally almost every day is filled with stories and testimonies of the miracles that God is doing in the hearts and bodies of His people. Just recently I heard this incredible testimony of a woman healed of a brain tumor! She was given one month to live when she decided to come to Bethel's Healing Room on Saturday morning. As worship music was playing she was looking at a painting one of our students painted that said HOPE on it. In an instant she heard a pop and a dark liquid began flowing out of her ear. She went to the doctor the following week and the doctor said she was cancer free; the tumor was completely gone! God completely healed her!

Recently I was on a ministry trip with our Campus Awakening ministry and we were in teams at UC Berkley looking for people God wanted to specifically touch with His love through a word of encouragement and/or with healing. One of the teams came across a homeless man who was limping with incredible pain. They asked him what was wrong and he said that he had a tumor in his foot and the doctors said that the only way to treat the tumor was to amputate his foot. The man didn't want that to happen so he had been living with intense pain for a while. The team asked him if they could pray for his foot because they know that God loves this man and doesn't want to see him living with pain. They put their hands on his foot and prayed, when they removed their hand, they watched as the tumor shrank right before their eyes and the man said that all of the pain completely disappeared! Not only that, the man was so touched by God that he wanted to know who this God was that loved him so much, and the team was able to lead the man to Jesus! Praise God!

It is such a privilege to be part of what God is doing in the Earth!

Our heart and passion at Bethel International is to raise up a generation of world changers that will be known simply for their reckless abandonment to see that Jesus is Lord in all the nations. As we are building relationships with various regions around the world one of the main goals that we have is to make the nations look like geniuses. Our strategy is go to and raise up influencers in their own nations so they begin to run with the inheritance that God has given them to transform their nation. All of our Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry trips are partnered with Bethel International's vision for transforming nations.

Campus Awakening is the university arm of Jesus Culture, Bethel's national youth and young adults ministry. The primary vision of Campus Awakening is to see revival come to college campuses across the United States and to see every university student have a relationship with Jesus and live a transformed Kingdom lifestyle. Campus Awakening also has a greater vision to see campuses transformed and Kingdom-minded students sent into the seven mind molders of society to see Heaven come to Earth.

During March 5-16, we will fly to at least three US cities (Atlanta, Dallas, San Francisco and maybe more!) to ignite revival fires on university campuses across the nation. This missions trip will include two Campus Awakening conferences where we will help to train and equip university students and campus ministry leaders in supernatural evangelism, campus transformation and contending prayer. We will minister in churches, on college campuses and at Bethel Atlanta. Help us to ignite revival fires on campuses and transform this nation!

Financial Gifts
Partner with me in traveling with Campus Awakening
In order to go on this trip, I need $1,450. Would you like to join with me in seeing Heaven touch Earth? Financial gifts may be made online at ibssm.org. This gift is tax-deductible and you will receive a statement at the end of the year for your tax records. If you wish your gift to be anonymous, please check the anonymous box. This will allow you to receive an end of year statement, but will not allow me to see your name. This gift is non-refundable, and if for any reason a team member or team does not go, the money will support another mission trip sponsored by Bethel Church. (If online payment is not an option, donations can be mailed to Bethel Church Attn: Bethel International 933 College View Dr. Redding, CA 96003.)

Thank you so much for being a part of my life! I’ve included a prayer card with some ideas of how you can pray for my team and I. I would also love to get an update about what is going on in your life and how I can pray for you. When I return from my trip on March 16^th, I look forward to telling you all the amazing things that you helped make happen!

Even though miles separate us, it’s really important to me to keep in touch with you! Feel free to send me an email at coachmold@gmail.com if you have a prayer request, great praise God story, or just to say “hi”. Let’s keep taking new ground in this journey of faith!

I pray that the life changing power of Jesus invades your life and sends encouragement your way today. I’ll keep you updated on what God is doing in my life and would love to hear what’s going on in yours as well.

God Bless!
Janet Mulvey

YWAM Update

2009-06-29T00:14:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends & Family,

Hello there! I hope this newsletter finds you well and the grace and favor of God rests on you. It has been a while since I last sent out an update and I wanted to share with you what has been going on in my life the last 6 months and what's ahead. The Lord has been moving a ton here in Kona, so get ready to hear how your prayers and support have been making an impact in this community and beyond!

Discipleship Training Schools (DTS)

Starting in January, I took on the position as a Quarter Point Person for all of our DTS's going on during January Quarter and April Quarter. My position includes liasing between campus departments and the DTS's, administrative and financial tracking with the schools, and also pastoral care and training with our DTS Staff.

In January, we saw over 150 students go through our DTS with 5 focuses; Justice, Fire and Fragrance, Extreme Places, All Nations All Generations, and French World. We ended up sending teams to 18 different locations around the world, from Kauaii, to Afghanistan, to China. In the last month all of these teams arrived back to Kona safely with radical testimonies of God moving in their lives and the people they were ministering to on the field. It is amazing to hear how much God is on the move around the world.

In April we saw over 110 students go through our DTS with 3 focuses; PhotogenX, Performing Arts, and Go Asia. Within the last week we have sent teams to 10 different locations around the world, from Panama, to Jordan, to South Africa, to China. Already we have been able to see these students amazing gifts in creativity as PhotogenX presented a photography expo in downtown Kona of pictures of people in the community, and as Performing Arts students presented their production to the campus on our Thursday Night Ohana Gathering of the story of the Prodigal Son called Coming Home.

Yo Quiero Taco Bell

In January of last year, I felt a nudge from the Lord to get a job in the community in order to stay connected to the needs of people here in Kona and also to supplement my income a little. Having come and gone and come back again multiple times for when I lead teams overseas, I am again working at Taco Bell. I have to say that it is actually an awesome opportunity for me.

Living in the YWAM community, it can be easy to lose sight of what a lot of people are struggling with in the community. I work alongside single moms, drug addicts and alcoholics, people with health problems, and people ultimately searching for love that only the Lord can provide. I am in constant need of God's love for my co-workers and so aware of how He is the only one great enough to help them overcome. He is our hope.

Also, working at Taco Bell, I am challenged in different ways that expose my character and I can see how much I need the Lord to give me His heart for people and to walk in His ways. I am constantly challenged to be patient and be sensitive to the Lord and how He wants to show His love to people. It is funny how many times on a shift people will comment on how great a job I do in taking orders in drive-thru, when on the inside I might be getting frustrated with how long it is taking for orders to be made. I've had YWAMers come through not knowing it was me and comment to one another that the person taking the orders must know the Lord, then they find out it's me. It is my hope that through my actions and words that my co-workers and customers would see that God loves them infinitely, lavishly, and completely. It is only by Him that anything good can come from me.

Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry (BSSM)

So you may be asking at this point, what's next for you Janet? I have recently completed my 2 year commitment to YWAM Kona and have been seeking the Lord for what is next since last October.

Since before I can remember I have had an appetite to do the impossible. I think we all do, that is why society has an infatuation with superheroes. In the Bible, Jesus performed miracles as a testimony He came from the Father. The testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish - the very works that I do - testify about me that the Father has sent me (John 5:36). One of the major functions of miracles and supernatural living is to offer immediate, irrefutable proof of what God wants to happen on earth. It demonstrates who God is by showing what His reality looks like. The apostle Paul put it this way, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:2). With this in mind, I feel like the Lord is leading me to take a 9 month 'School of Supernatural Ministry' in Redding, CA at a church called Bethel starting September 15th, 2009.

Here is a description of the school from their website:

BSSM is a Holy Spirit driven ministry school where students of all ages come to learn how to live in the Kingdom of God and extend it's borders through a supernatural lifestyle. It is important to note that although many young people come to BSSM, the school is multi-generational with participants ranging from the ages of 18 to 80. One of Bethel's core values is honor, which manifests through joining the generations and teaching every age group to value and serve one another.

The school emphasizes hands on training and experience along with academic understanding. This creates a do and teach culture where all of the students are expected to take risks to stretch their faith and grow in their understanding of God. BSSM believes that each verse of the Bible is an invitation into an experience with the Lord, therefore the students are challenged to live the Bible. This produces a class environment that often feels very much like a laboratory where disciples practice the things they are being taught while instructors coach the process and all this takes places in a setting of passionate worship.

As the year progresses and the students begin to gain confidence and experience within the safety of the classroom, they are sent on outreaches into the community. These exploits include ministry to neighborhoods, after-school programs, and street & service evangelism. When the students take their supernatural ministry into the community, it gets pretty wild and exciting! They return to class to share testimonies, give thanks and debrief, always cheering each other on as they share.

Boldness, passion and risk are center stage in Bethel's school. These values define our atmosphere and are manifest in worship, ministry and in relationships with each other.

This has been a glimpse of what has been going on in my life the last 6 months and a picture of what's ahead. In addition to what I've shared I've also been working on my Masters in International Relations with a focus on Conflict Resolution, attended a Conflict Mediation Seminar in Fresno, went to a Youth Revival Conference in Redding, and getting amazing revelation of humility, leadership, and best of all, God's love. This summer I will continue to work at Taco Bell and also be working on DTS applications for the September Quarter (we already have 500 applications started online!). I appreciate so much all of your continued prayers and support. I am so thankful for you and pray that God would bless you as you continue through your day.

Please let me know if you have any prayer requests, and I would also love to hear from you what has been going on in your life.

Sincerely,

Janet Mulvey
University of the Nations
Youth With A Mission
Kona, Hawaii

Personal Update

2008-08-22T00:38:00.000-07:00

Belfast, Northern Ireland Team Video

As I sit here in my room after hearing one of our organization’s leaders share about God’s heart for the Muslim world, I am just in awe of what God has been doing in our midst here in Kona, Hawaii.

In my life personally, I am so stirred to see God's Kingdom come to this earth. Jesus told us to pray, "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven." He wouldn't tell us to pray this if is wasn't possible. I've observed in these last seven weeks God's Kingdom invade the lives of our students in our school. I've been so challenged by many of them that are crying out to God asking Him if there is anything else in the way that is keeping them from receiving the fullness of what God has for them. Oh if I could thirst for all that God has for me like that! I've really been challenged and have been seeking that out.

I remember in my own DTS I did the same thing, however, since being on staff it has been so easy to get caught up in all the tasks that need to get done. It is about a 60 hour work week with being on call 24 hours a day 7 days a week. It is truly the most exhausting and fulfilling job I've ever had. I really want to come to a place in my relationship with God where I am open to Him speaking into the areas of my life that are "in the way" of me receiving all that He has. He is ready and waiting to pour out His blessings on my life, but I know there are things that I have put in the way that hinder my capacity to receive. I love Him so much, and He has done so much for me, He is so worthy to give my life to because He saved it.

I feel like I am called to greatness. Something so much greater than myself that only God could do. I think we all desire this. Our world is infatuated with superheroes. I think it's because God put in our hearts a life filled with something so much more that this natural earth. I want the supernatural to become natural in my life. I think this is what the Bible means when it says that we are citizens of another world(heaven) and we are aliens to this world(the natural). I'm challenged to step out more in praying for people. I've often walked in fear of failure or that what I'm praying for might not happen. I'm afraid I might disrespect people by asking them if I can pray for them. But my friend challenged me the other day and said that if by stepping out and praying for someone and they are actually healed or see and actual miracle, they could care less about whether it was respectful or not. They are healed! But if I don't even try because I'm afraid I'll fail (which it doesn't depend on me anyways) then there is no chance that that miracle can happen, because I didn't take the opportunity.

I'm excited for the life that God has for me. He has created me in His image, fearfully and wonderfully made. I'm ready to walk out in the fullness of all that God created me to be. I'm tired of being ripped off of my destiny because I'm afraid I might be rejected or fail. I am accepted and have victory in Christ. I am secure in Him! There is nothing to lose, but gain a deeper relationship with the living God of all creation who loves us so dearly. I'm walking out, stepping forward and taking hold of my destiny. I may not know all the steps to take, but I know that my Father in heaven is good and great, more than capable to make all His plans for my life be complete. He will show me the way, even if it is step by step at times. He is so good.

Where are you at in this whole process? How do you feel you are doing in living out the destiny and the full identity in Christ that He has granted you? Is fear something that is holding you back? I'd like to pray for you if that is the case. Just email me and let me know. I can even call you if you want. I know that God has for every single person on this earth a destiny and call into a deep intimate relationship with Him. Let us let go of the fears that keep us from taking hold of it.

Much love to you.
Blessings,
Janet

A Whirlwind of a Month

2008-06-28T14:28:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends!

Since the last post, a lot has happened, so this blog is divided up into multiple sections chronologically.

Xenophobia
The last you heard from me was a prayer request for the township and the foreigners that were being forced to leave their homes and businesses. I have great news to report. On the Monday morning, after the weekend you received the prayer request email, on the front page, the news papers were quoted as saying “….Masiphumelele leads South Africa and restores our southern peninsula dignity.” Here is a brief outline of events of that weekend:

Thursday night: relatively minor trouble in Masi following evacuation of foreigners by police - mostly young drunken ‘tsotsis’ taking advantage of the situation and looting.
Friday: Yandiswa Mazwane, community leader, mobilizes all other leaders for peace rally with help of the ‘Ubuntu Coalition’ (eMzantsi Carnival, Art of Living, other NGOs). Leaders address packed community hall at 6pm, vociferous support expressed for foreigners (”we want them in 2010, why not now?”), wonderful prayer and singing, and candlelit vigil. Tangible sense of calm restored on leaving at 7pm. NO TROUBLE AT ALL IN MASI ON FRIDAY NIGHT.
Saturday: community leaders hold two follow up meetings, first to allow their community to voice any concerns. Quite apparent this is not evidence of xenophobia but rather persistent economic stress (NB no force was used against foreigners in Masiphumelele [Masi]). 2nd meeting of all community structures made a plan to restore righteous order…
Saturday night: A joint community and police effort to recover all stolen property by going door to door. Street committees re-empowered. Masi pride restored.
Sun morning: People still spontaneously bringing stuff back; all taken to Ocean View police station for safekeeping.
Sun afternoon: Premier arrives to congratulate Masi community leaders. Deputation take memo to Soetwater(refugee camp) to read to refugees to invite them back home. More than 70 people welcomed back to Masi with a Kentucky Fried Chicken supper in the late evening.
PLEASE NOTE this was a community initiated and community driven
effort. Masi leaders should be praised for doing on Friday what Mbeki (South African president) had not had the courage to do - stand up and say, “This is not acceptable here. We condemn it, and we will act immediately to make amends.”

Praise God! It is amazing what prayer can do and we each have the opportunity to partner with God in seeing Him work in the hearts of people and their communities. Just a year before this time, Masi was the township in South Africa who initiated the violence against foreigners; this year, they lead the way in bringing reconciliation.

Outreach

Our team had an amazing two weeks doing ministry in the valley we were living in. Some continued to come alongside and disciple the women who we built the house for and had dinner with them each night. Others created an after school program for children at the local library and taught them Biblical principles and demonstrated to them how much God loves them and has a plan for them. Some of the guys on our team spent time with a local basketball team doing Bible study, going on a hike, and of course playing basketball with them. A few others and myself had the amazing opportunity to teach the Destiny by Design material to the teachers at a local primary school. It was amazing to see the passion and vision those teachers had for their community. When we finished our time with them, they wanted to continue meeting and having a teacher’s Christian fellowship where they can pray for one another, encourage one another and study the Bible together. By the end of the outreach, our hearts for this place had grown for the different people we met and the great plans that God has for them in bringing God’s Kingdom to their community.


House of Hope – Namadi		Library Kids


Destiny By Design – Primary School		Destiny By Design – Baptist Church Youth

Children in Massi
		South African Penguins

San Diego

After a week of debriefing the outreach in South Africa, I headed on the long trek back to the USA. After 30+ hours of traveling, I arrived at the train station in San Diego where I met up with my parents. For a week I was able to visit with my parents and rest from the long travels. We were able to go see the Indiana Jones movie, go to the Natural History Museum, go kayak fishing, and even go to Disney’s California Adventures. I had such a great time and even was able to go to lunch with my grandma.

Kayak Fishing

Back in Kona

I arrived in Kona, Hawaii on Sunday June 8^th. Since then up until now, preparations and training have been taking place for the July Quarter Discipleship Training School, which starts on July 3^rd. I can’t express enough in words how excited I am about this next school. After taking the Making Disciple Makers School in South Africa, this next DTS that I am staffing is going to be an awesome opportunity to apply the things that I have learned.

Plaza of the Nations

University of the Nations

Kaulua-Kona, Hawaii

As of today, we have 59 students accepted from 14 different nations! The nations represented are Canada, China, Ghana, Kosovo, Myanmar, New Zealand, Norway, Rwanda, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, United States, Vanuatu, and Yugoslavia. How amazing is that?! We are so excited for them to come. We know that God has incredible plans in store for all of us.

Prayer Requests

A vital part of the ministry here is your prayers. You are as much a part of this ministry as I am. The victories that I experience are your victories; the struggles and challenges are yours as well. I am so grateful for your willingness to stand with me, and together we can work to see God’s plans accomplished.

Please be praying for our students. Pray that God would be preparing their hearts, that the rest of their finances would come in (for the total length of the school, lecture and outreach, they will need approximately $9,000-$10,000), and for Visas and traveling, that everything would go smoothly and doors would be opened. I’ve included below a list of the names and the country of origin of each student. Continue to pray for them as God brings it to your mind. We come into this school with great anticipation and expectation from God to speak deeply into the lives of every person associated with this school, even to you. Thank you for your prayers.

July Quarter DTS Students

1	Shiona	Nickel	17	Canada
2	Chui Shan	Chung	29	China
3	Ernest	Baffoe	22	Ghana
4	Daniel	Ofori-Boafo	33	Ghana
5	Altin	Ademi	22	Kosovo
6	Arben	Hoti	20	Kosovo
7	Arberesha	Zhuja	20	Kosovo
8	Thang	Tuang	26	Myanmar
9	William	Trayes	23	New Zealand
10	Daniel	Aalien	19	Norway
11	Jarle	Tollaksen	19	Norway
12	Fidele	Kanamugire	32	Rwanda
13	Francine	Uwera	27	Rwanda
14	Buvanaswari	Padhman	31	Singapore
15	Se Kyung	Choi	20	South Korea
16	Yejin	Hwang	23	South Korea
17	Taeli	In	22	South Korea
18	Jeongwon	Jang	21	South Korea
19	Yejin	Kim	18	South Korea
20	Healeen	Kim	23	South Korea
21	Moon Hwa	Kim	54	South Korea
22	Jee Hye	Lee	18	South Korea
23	Hyun Suk	Lee	48	South Korea
24	Chang Jun	Lee	61	South Korea
25	Seung Han	Yoo	26	South Korea
26	Melanie	Meury	26	Switzerland
27	Zipporah	Peter	23	Switzerland
28	Tiara	Agustin	18	USA
29	Jae Yun	Cha	38	USA
30	Timothy	Cho	21	USA
31	Young	Cho	26	USA
32	Samuel	Choi	19	USA
33	Daniel	Choi	18	USA
34	Paul	Chu	18	USA
35	Meehan	Dellar	22	USA
36	Alisha	Dykstra	24	USA
37	Nicole	Ellens	26	USA
38	Timothy	Feddes	20	USA
39	Paige	Foelker	18	USA
40	Caroline	Fraley	20	USA
41	Katherine	Hobin	21	USA
42	Kaelyn	Hughes	23	USA
43	Stacy	Im	21	USA
44	Nina	Kang	18	USA
45	Kevin	Kim	33	USA
46	Julie	Lapides	27	USA
47	Nahyun	Lim	18	USA
48	Jesse	O'Neill	18	USA
49	Karen	Park	22	USA
50	Marguerite	Schmid	46	USA
51	Valerie	Swiney	19	USA
52	Jeremiah	Troyer	27	USA
53	Rikki	Vick	17	USA
54	Nina	Villarin	27	USA
55	Tiffany	White	19	USA
56	Patricia	Yu	42	USA
57	Aaron	Zepeda	19	USA
58	Dimitry	Kuautoga	21	Vanuatu
59	Adhurim	Xhemajili	24	Yugoslavia

Recognizing God's Voice

2008-05-07T11:01:00.000-07:00

In some of our free time here in Capetown we've had the opportunity to catch up on past seasons of some TV shows that are on DVD here at the house. CSI has been a big favorite, but also the TV show House. Gregory House, M.D., is a maverick medical genius, who heads a team of young diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey. House's nationally-renowned department typically only sees patients who have failed to receive a correct diagnosis at other hospitals, so the cases tend to be exceptionally complex and subtle. Furthermore, House tends to resist accepting cases that he does not find interesting.

Recently I watched an episode in which a teenage boy experienced sudden devastating cramping in the middle of a church service. This boy claims he can hear God talk to him. Now, granted, this is a TV show and everything is being acted, but when Dr. House says that claiming to hear God is "just weird" he wouldn't be the only one on this planet to say the same thing.

In the Bible we find multiple instances in which God speaks to people.

Burning Bush (Moses - Exodus 3-4)
Audible Voice (Samuel - 1 Samuel 3:4-10)
Through an Animal (Balem and the donkey - Numbers 22:21-41)
Send an Angel (Messenger angels are all through the Old Testament)

There are also multiple times God tells us He is speaking to us.

Proverbs 8:34 "Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at my doorposts."
Psalm 32:8 "I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you."
John 10:3,4,27 "and the sheep hear His voice, and He calls His own sheep by name, and leads them out and the sheep follow Him because they know His voice. When He puts forth all His own, He goes before them, and the sheep follow Him because they know His voice... My sheep hear My voice, and I know them and they follow me."

This last week in the Making Disciple Makers school we recognized the great privilege it is that God is speaking to us and that we can hear Him speak. God is our father, friend, and teacher. He has things greater than we can even imagine prepared for us. "I [Jesus] came that they might have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:10)" He wants us to listen to Him and follow His instructions so that we can fulfill the MOST AMAZING plan that He has created for each and every one of us.

We get the opportunity to hear God (the creator of the universe) in order to solve problems, make plans, and even hear Him speak about how He feels about what is going on in the world and what we can do about it.

But just as it is written,
"Things which eye has not seen
and ear has not heard,
and which have not entered the heart of man,
all that God has prepared for those who love Him."
For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. (1 Corinthians 2:9-13)

Did you see that?! "The thoughts of God no one knows exept the Spirit of God... now we have received the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God." That is amazing! When we trust in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we receive the Holy Spirit who reminds us of "the things freely givent to us by God!" Ephesians 1:13-14 says, "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession-- to the praise of his glory." Ok last Bible verse of the week, "Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come."

It is by the Holy Spirit that we hear from God. I know it may sound weird or foreign to some, but I have to say that personally, it is THE MOST AMAZING THING I AM CONTINUING TO EXPERIENCE EVERY DAY OF MY LIFE. And it's available to every person on this earth.

When we turn to Jesus, we are set free from the constant pressures of life telling us that we have to measure up. We are set free from the lies that tell us "you are a failure, nobody loves you, you are not enough, you should be ashamed." Jesus sets us free from these lies! This is because when we enter into a personal relationship with God, through what Jesus did on the cross we become completely forgiven by and fully pleasing to the Holy God of all creation. The Holy Spirit constantly reminds us that we are deeply loved and totally accepted by God, and He never leaves us or abandons us.

You are significant. God loves you. In Christ you are absolutely complete. Imagine walking out the days of your life knowing that you are more than enough and nothing you do or anything anyone else does or says to you can change that because you are secure in the love of God.

I hope you are blessed this week. Please pray for us as we begin our outreach phase and we go into the township communities to share God's love with people we meet. Pray for safety and great relationships to develop during this time. Thank you.

Love,
Janet

Making Disciple Makers Class

Way Down Under in South Africa

2008-04-27T11:32:00.001-07:00

So I am totally aware that it has been forever since my last post. I really do apologize for not keeping you updated. But here I am really excited to tell you what I have been up to the last month.

After a 50 hour flight from Kona, Hawaii, I arrived in Capetown, South Africa at 4:30 in the morning on April 5th. I'm here on a mission... to learn how to be more efficient in in raising up leaders, teach others how to teach others, and make disciples who can go and make more disciples. Ever since my youth ministry classes in college, I have had a deep driving force in me to make sure I am investing in people who can go further, who can lead others, who can take my job. Multiplication of leaders, people taking up their passion and call to make an impact on the world and lead others to do the same. So that's why I am here. I'm taking a course called "Making Disciple Makers" that will train me to do just that.

The first week of class focused on destiny as designed by God. Each and every person was designed by God with specific dreams, personality, and gifts; and we each have our own personal experiences and network. We are all created to have relationship with God and because of what Jesus did on the cross we can have that relationship and live out our destiny as designed by God. God has been preparing everyone for our calling and destiny and during this week we were able to look at ourselves and see what God has been preparing us for. It was so exciting to get to know the other students in the school (3 Brazilians, 1 South African, 1 German, 1 New Zealander, 5 Americans, 1 French) and hear the passions and dreams that each of them have.

The second week we focused on the Holy Spirit and the role He plays in our life and within a community. He is a person of the trinity constantly pointing us toward the Father and the Son, reminding us of how much God loves us, and motivating, empowering, and enabling us to walk as Jesus walked in fellowship with God and with people. It was an amazing week and I received so much understanding of God's desire for relationship with us and how we can be so blessed by having loving relationships with others.

This last week we dove into the purposes, guidelines, curriculum, and outcomes of a Discipleship Training School in YWAM. There were great brainstorming sessions ranging from how to train staff, how to create a live/learn community, and activities that we can do in a school that will challenge students to understand and apply the curriculum.

Aside from classes, we've been busy with all sorts of activities. Weekly, a group of us have been meeting to pray for Zimbabwe and the crisis it is in, and I've also had the opportunity to pray for the next DTS I will be staffing in July in Kona and also a DTS that will be going on in Brazil. (P.S. My heart is growing for Brazil, I might just have to go there some day) We have also been busy with ministry in the community. One project recently is that we are building a home for 4 sisters, one of whom has HIV. The oldest is working at a local jail, the one who has HIV is learning to sew and hopefully will be able to start her own business soon, and the next two sisters are going to school. They recently were told they had to start paying a higher rent for the place they were staying in (800 Rand = $100 per month), which was way to high for them to be able to stay there. They have been staying at a friend's house and one of the youngest sisters and the girl learning to sew had to stop going to school in order to work to get money in order for the family to eat. When one of the people in our school was talking to these women, she found out that across from their friend's house where they were staying was an open plot of land that they could build on and stay in for only (125 Rand a month). There was a pile of rubble stacked as high as the houses in that little 10x10 plot, but if they could clear it out, we told them we would build them a house. A few days later, we got started. The women are so greatful. This house enables all of them to stay in school and keep working. I heard Namandi (the girl with HIV) say that God gave her this house because He loves them (How true it is!) and that she wants to paint on the wall inside the word HOPE because this is what this house means to them. And what is great too is that they want to start a Bible study at their house when it is completed. It has been an amazing experience to see God provide for these women and be a part of His answer to their prayer.

Clearing the Trash (before)

Framing a Wall

The Worksite

Almost There (after)

4 Sisters who God Loves

As for South Africa itself, it is probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. The weather is very similar to San Diego. It's almost always perfect. The view from the house I'm staying at is incredible with mountain views and the ocean off to the left. We get to watch the sunset every night over the water. It's so beautiful. We've had the opportunity to do some sight seeing including going to Cape Point, the most Southwestern point of Africa, the Cape of Good Hope, and Chapmans Peak. I've included a few pictures for you to see how amazing it is.

Haut Bay

Chapman's Peak

Cape Point

The View from Cape Point

Ostrich on the Beach

Baboon Family

Well, that's about all for now. I promise I'll keep you better posted than previously. Thank you all so much for your continued prayers and support. I am greatful for you.

God Bless,
Janet

Malaria, Car Washes, and Government Leaders in Nigeria

2007-11-06T07:27:00.000-08:00

We’re now in Nigeria, and we have been so incredibly blessed! The flight with Lufthansa was amazing, good food, plane half full we got our own rows, and it was a day flight, so it was uneventful. We landed in the capital and were greeted by our contacts who took us strait to the base in Jos 3 hours away.

Our accommodations and the YWAM base were not exactly the Marriot with 6 of us in a room and the 2 guys pretty much in a closet, but other than that this place is so amazing. The people are so warm and welcoming, God has definitely gifted this culture with the gift of hospitality. Also, the vision the base leader has for this place is incredible. They have purchased 15 hectares of land in order to build a YWAM University of the Nations that will be used to train up Christians, and the local church in making an impact on Northern Nigeria and beyond. So far they have a primary school built and running, a chicken house, and one housing building for DTS students. The rest of the base is running out of an old abandoned government building and that is where we were staying.

The weather has been really nice as well with highs in the 80s and it is just dry and cool at night. This place is also beautiful with rock formations everywhere in this state called the plateau state. As always the sunsets here in Nigeria haven't let me down for seeing Africa's amazing skies.

The ministry we have been doing is working in the primary school, giving messages and doing skits in churches, having bible studies with some guys that work at a car wash, meeting with the paramount chief of the area telling him about what we are doing, and also doing some practical work on base like planting cactus around trees so they are not eaten by goats. As for myself, the DTS school leader has asked me to also be a part in training his staff. I got the opportunity to talk to them about the responsibility God has called them to in raising up the students entrusted to their care.

The team is doing awesome too. We have this thing in our outreach training manual for staff talking about the developmental stages of group dynamics the first stage is about seeing if you belong to the group, the second stage is called the storming stage where power struggles happen, then the third and fourth stages are the norming and performing stages. I really believe we are coming out of the storming stage now and God is really working through each of us to touch the lives of people here. It's amazing to watch.

As for myself, I am doing pretty well, however if you asked me last Thursday I would have given you a different answer. Thursday morning, at about 1am, I woke up and found my body shaking and in a lot of pain, in addition to having diarrhea. I thought that I could go back to sleep and hopefully feel better in the morning. Unfortunately by 7am when the team was waking up I was so weak because I hadn’t slept the whole night and my body was still shaking. They took me to the hospital and after vomiting during the check-in process they decided to admit me to the hospital. I was not even able to keep a sip of water in my stomach without vomiting. L So they hooked me up to an IV. They took a blood test and a stool sample (diarrhea still) and found out I had gotten food poisoning AND malaria. I was miserable. They treated me right away and the malaria treatment made me feel horrible, but by the end of 3 days in the hospital, the IV was out, I was eating meals, and taking the medicine orally. I joined back up with the team and have been taking it easy since. Others on the team seem to one by one be taking turns with some kind of stomach bug, so please pray for our team that our health will be restored quickly.

Just yesterday we moved to a new location in the city in order to work with an organization called Urban Frontiers Mission (UFM). The ministry is directed to prostitutes, alcoholics, drug addicts, runaways, the homeless, HIV/AIDS victims, orphans and vulnerable children, juvenile delinquents, teenage mothers, convicts, ex-convicts, the mentally ill, and others who desperately need the gospel to transform their broken lives. Their mission is to show Christ’s compassion to the harassed and helpless in the urban world through evangelism, meeting physical need, discipleship, and rehabilitation in order that they may experience freedom and maturity in Christ, becoming productive members of society. We will be visiting the brothels of Jos tomorrow to meet with prostitutes to hear their story and minister to their needs. We are very excited to get working with them.

That's about all for now. I hope you are all well. Let me know if I can pray for you. Talk to you soon!

Love,
Janet

Love Conquers All!

2007-10-19T13:27:00.000-07:00

This is the last update from Northern Ireland. We leave for Nigeria tomorrow morning and arrive there on Sunday night. Our time here in Belfast has been absolutely amazing. We've been able to see God working in so many different ways and had the opportunity to work with Him in various ways in the community.

Beautiful Northern Ireland Coast

Ministry this week consisted of helping out at preschools/toddler groups, having an after school club, working in the cafe, spending time with the elderly at a daycare center, and going out to spend time with teens out on the street. Everyone had the choice to pick which ministries they wanted to be a part of either in the morning or at night, and every afternoon this week and the previous we came together and either did prep for the after school club or put on the after school club. The week was filled with amazing highlights for all of us.

Irene showing off her waitressing skills at the cafe

Cafe Menu

When the week began and we had the first day of the kids club, we were kind of like deer caught in headlights. We had no idea of the discipline problems that we were going to face. At different points in the beginning of the week we had carried one boy out of the church for getting violent with the other children and the next day that same boy (13 yrs old) was climbing on the roof and trying to steal the ladder he got up on. It was crazy! We quickly realized that many of these kids come from extremely rough families and do not get very much attention at all. Our team, however, did amazing! They were so flexible and loved on the kids no matter what. As each day progressed, the kids were able to trust us more and were absolutely responding to and obeying what we would ask them to do. It really was an act of God to get the kids to sit still for more than a minute, but it all turned out so great. About halfway through the week a couple of the children asked us what it meant to be a Christian, so we explained the gospel to them and what it entails. We asked them if it was something they were interested in, they said yes, and we prayed with them to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. God's grace was truly upon us and love really did conquer all the struggles we had.

Snack Time

Learning the theme song

As for the team, I am continually amazed at what God is doing in and through them. Jordan is gifted in connecting with teens, and he is beginning to get a heart for possibly coming back here to work with them some more. Elijah and Irene are our team peace makers by making sure relationships are going well within the team and are always willing to go to others to see how they are doing and bring understanding between all of us. SaeWon is totally blossoming into the woman God has destined her to be and is becoming more secure in her identity in Christ. Lila is our inquisitive team member who is always asking great questions so we can accomplish our tasks in the most efficient and effective ways. Michelle totally stepped up this week in being head over the after school club, learning to delegate, and beginning to get over homesickness. Everyone's attitude has amazed me in their willingness to serve and prefer one another. It really has been a blessing to have each one on the team.

SaeWon, David(6), Elijah, Jordan, Irene, Lila, Michelle

As for myself, I am doing pretty well. I sometimes find myself a little lonely as the only leader of the team. I struggle at times because I don't really have another leader to verbal process with, but God has been meeting me where I am at and totally providing opportunities to talk with the local contact, or the team leaders of the Cameroon team about any challenges I might have. Our team as a whole, but I especially, have been really busy and have been getting more tired as the week progressed. I look forward to getting to Nigeria and recuperating at least the first week we are there as we get acquainted with the area. The after school club took a lot out of each of us, not only because of all the kids, but also because it takes place about 2 miles from where we are staying and we had to walk to and from the church everyday. But really overall, I am truly blessed and thankful for all that God is doing in and through all of us.

That's about all for now. Be praying for our safe travels and that all of our luggage will get to where it needs to be on time. Pray also for the team's health and that God would continue to transform us and give us greater revelations of who He is. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support. I really can't put into words how grateful I am for each and every one of you. God bless you so much!

Love,
Janet

All is Well in Northern Ireland

2007-10-05T12:03:00.000-07:00

It's been about two weeks since leaving the USA and it is about time to write an update. Everything is going great and quite a bit has happened since the last email, so I'll start from there.

We flew out of Kona on a Friday afternoon, expecting to catch a flight from Los Angeles to Washington, Dulles, an hour after arriving in LA. When we landed we immediately checked the boards to find that our flight to Washington had been cancelled. As you can imagine, we were quite tired of all of the delays we had already experienced, but it turned out to be an amazing blessing. After standing in line for two hours waiting to talk to a United Airlines representative, we found out we had a flight out the next morning at 9am. They put us up in the Ramada hotel, gave each of us $35 in meal vouchers, and also each a $100 travel voucher for a future flight. It was so awesome! We were originally going to land in London on Saturday night, but this flight only delayed us a night and we landed in London Sunday morning. We had a good rest in LA before flying out and the only red-eye flight we ended up taking was the one from Washington to London. We were so blessed!

After arriving to London, we took the Underground and a train to the base in Harpenden. Here we had our last week of lecture. You could basically say the topic of our last week was Reconciliation. We had three separate speakers, one from an organization called the International Justice Mission, one working in the city of Luten bringing reconciliation among the great diversity of people living there, and on Friday the national director of the UK spoke to us about reconciliation and the need to understand the history of an area and conflict before charging in and doing our own thing. It was a powerful week of lectures and we also had enough time to begin getting over jet lag and serve the base by helping with the grounds and painting windows.

Big Ben, Parliament & "The Eye"

Big Ben

Wesminster Abbey

Last Saturday we left London to fly up to Belfast Ireland. What an amazingly beautiful place! On Monday we received a tour of the area that we are in and a history lesson of the conflict and social problems affecting this place. We are staying in an area right on the peace line between the protestants and catholics. It is so interesting to see each side of the wall (they literally have a 30 ft wall separating the two sides), and begin to understand the conflict that is happening here and the similar problems that each side of the conflict has within itself with paramilitary organizations terrorizing their own people on each side. We have been going on prayer walks around the city and becoming more familiar with the area. On Thursday we worked at a cafe connected to a church that provides a place for people in the community (especially the older generation) to come and get some great food and good company. We had a blast as a team.

Belfast Murals

As for the team, they are outstanding! We had some conflict already, and I love it because the junk is coming out and people are growing. God is so at work in our team it is amazing and He continues to provide for all of our needs and is blessing us like crazy.

In being here in Northern Ireland God has been speaking to me so much about reconciliation and how we are called to be a people reconciled to God and to others. How Jesus gave his all, while we were still alienated and hostile towards Him, so that we could be rejoined in a relationship with Him. Studying this has brought me huge revelation about humility as a leader and also great awe and praise for the God who loves us so much. He has been showing me how Jesus paid the price for all of my sins and also all of the sins of both peoples involved in this conflict here in Northern Ireland and that Jesus is the one who levels the playing field between all of us because He was perfect and paid the price for all. All we can do now is come to Him for healing, there is no reason to hold grudges, or to respond in violence, the punishment has already been taken and violence only brings more pain and anger in this place.

I sit here now, it is around 9pm and I can hear fireworks going off in the streets and glass bottles being thrown in the street as people turn to alcohol to wash away their sorrows. It breaks my heart that tomorrow morning their pain will still be there and that the trouble they caused the night before may have caused others more pain. Jesus truly is the only one who can take that pain away and I thank God He has taken all of our sins and nailed them to a cross so that we can be forgiven.

That is about it for now. Next week we work in the cafe on Tuesday, will be doing service projects around the community, doing prayer walks, and putting on programs for youth groups. We're excited for what's ahead for all of us. Please be praying for good health and safety as most of us on the team are recovering from or right in the middle of a cold.

Thanks for all of your prayers and taking the time to check up on how things are going. God bless you so much. I am so grateful for you!

Love,
Janet

10 Days and Counting...

2007-09-09T16:40:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can't believe it has been over a month since my last post. We are so busy, I never knew life could go by so quickly. It has been absolutely amazing though. Each week we have had speakers come and share with us their stories and what God has laid on their hearts as a topic for each week. We have heard teachings on the Father heart of God, the Kingdom of God, Reconciliation, Hearing God's voice, Identity in Christ, and most recently I had the opportunity to teach on Destiny.

Much of my time outside of class has been working on preparations for our time in Ireland and Nigeria. I never knew it would be so complicated to get visas especially when we have minors going with us. It has been quite the task. We were able to send everything to the Nigerian Embassy last Thursday though, so we are just praying now that our passports with approved visas in them will get back here before we have to leave on September 19th.

In the last month there has been so much growth among the students it is incredible. God is absolutely faithful in each of their lives as students receive revelation after revelation of who God is and how God sees them. There aren't even words to describe being able to see God work in people's lives in such a way. I love it!

Some adventures as a school that we have had the opportunity to go on were camping on the north side of the island, and hiking; and also going to Haupuna beach together for a day. They were so much fun. When we were camping we got little to no sleep because it was pouring rain all night long and the wind was blowing so hard our the tent's poles we were in snapped, but the next day everyone was in good spirits and glad to have spent time with one another. Also during the camping trip we were able to stop by Makapala where I had my DTS. I gave the students a little tour of our isolated little YWAM base. It was great to see the place and to also see Kia (the really old dog that was there during our DTS).

Trying to decide who is going to pee on Makaela's
foot to make the sea urchin spikes stop hurting
(Haupuna Beach)

Hiking after the night of camping with no sleep.

Kia is still alive!

As I mentioned earlier, I was given the opportunity to speak Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday (3 hours each day), to teach on Destiny and the plan that God has for each of our lives. It was so cool to see students begin to realize that the dreams, experiences, personality, identity, gifts, and network God has given each one, are intentional in guiding and directing them in the plan He has them. I had never taught so much or so long before, it was really draining, but I loved it and God totally used it to speak into student's lives.

Also, on August 27th I celebrated my 24th birthday. It was an incredibly busy Monday in that we had our normal schedule in addition to a night class at night. I was able to get out of a staff meeting early and go get some sushi for dinner with some friends which was really awesome. Later that night the students lured me outside and surprised me by all of them singing happy birthday. It was really neat.

Well that is a brief description of the last 5 weeks. Feel free to email me if you would like more details. If you could be praying for a couple of things I would be truly grateful.

-Pray for finances to come in both for students and the staff to go on outreach.
-Pray for our passport/visas to arrive back here on time.
-Pray for us as we are preparing to leave in less than a week and a half.
-Pray for continued revelation and understanding of who God is, who we are, and that we would really learn how it applies to our lives.

10 days till we fly out...

Thanks,
God Bless,
Janet

I love my life!

2007-07-29T17:01:00.000-07:00

It has been a few weeks since I posted my last blog and basically it is because I have been crazy busy or incredibly exhausted. We just completed week 3 of DTS and it has been incredible. We have 22 students, 11 females and 11 males, and God has been doing some pretty amazing things in and through each and every one of us.

Our first week we focused on Worldview and studied pre-modern, modern, and post-modern thinking and how it has effected many of the minds in the world today. In our second week our speaker, Mark Anderson, challenged us to take hold of our new identity in Christ and rely on the Holy Spirit's filling to help us live from the inside out instead of being affected on the outside and letting that determine who we are on the inside. In our third week our speaker Philip Powell, YWAM's representative in the United Nations and director of the International Center for Justice and Reconciliation, challenged us to really seek to understand what Justice really is in the context of the Bible and what God says about it. All three weeks so far have really challenged all of us to go deeper in our relationship with God and let Him speak to us about how He really sees us.

Catherine Christina Michelle

Did I mention that I'm crazy busy and exhausted at the end of every day. Well it's true, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Being here is so incredible because what I am doing here is exactly what I am created to do. My favorite times of the week are my one-on-ones with three of the students, Christina, Catherine, and Michelle. During these times I get to listen and ask questions about what God is doing in these three girls lives. It is so incredible how God has gifted me and works through me to help these women discover how much God loves them and has an incredible plan for their lives. I am so honored to have been entrusted with the students in our school and daily I am finding myself coming to God asking Him for more wisdom, love, and patience. He is the only reason why I am able to do what I am doing. I love it!!! I have never been so exhausted and yet filled with so much life than before this time.

My Weekly Schedule

Some big news that I'm sure many of you would like to hear is my outreach location. After much prayer individually and as staff we will be sending out 3 teams from our school. At the end of week 11 we will fly to Harpenton, England to finish our last week of lecture. After that two teams will head up to Belfast, Ireland to work with a reconciliation ministry between Protestants and Catholics. The other team will head strait to Bosnia. After about a month, the Bosnia team will go to Ireland and the other two teams will split and go to Nigeria and Cameroon. The team I will be leading is going to Ireland and Nigeria! We will have 4 female students, 2 male students, and a 6 year old boy who is the son of one of the women. The eight of us are very excited for what's ahead and we are just beginning to meet as team and prepare for outreach, only 9 weeks away!

Belfast, Ireland

Nigeria

As a side note, two friends of mine, Sharissa and Carolyn, came to Hawaii for vacation and visited me here. On the weekend we were able to go to the other side of the island and see many of the beautiful views and waterfalls that cover the north east side of the island. We also made it over to the volcano and visited many of the sites there. We had a great time and it was such a blessing to spend time with them here.

Volcano!Sea Turtle!Adventures Around the Island

That about sums up the last few weeks. If you could be praying for a couple things I would be so greatful. First, please pray for our students as they are growing and challenged in many ways while they are here. Pray that they would receive the peace and joy of the Lord even in their times of struggle and that God would speak to them right where they are at. Many have come here with a lot of wounds from their past and God is bringing healing and reconciliation into their lives. Second, please pray for my outreach team. As I am the only staff leader leading our team I am really seeking God as to how to unify our team and raise all of us up as leaders in our gifts and strengths that God has given each one. Lastly, pray for continued revelation and understanding for all of us in our identity in Christ.

Thank you all so much for all of your support. I love you and am so thankful for you and all of your prayers. God bless!

Love,
Janet

Training, Training, Training

2007-06-23T14:34:00.000-07:00

Well, these last four weeks has been all about training. The first was Uniquip which I told about in the last post. The second and third week consisted of the staff internship training that was for all new DTS staff. We learned a TON of valuable stuff including spiritual disciplines, time management skills, having the fear of the Lord in realizing the great responsibility we will have discipling students, and so much more.

Activities included a 5 hour speaking fast, creating a collage of what the Lord is calling us to commit to, and a couple of trips to the beach to promote bonding. :)

It was an amazing time and God really met me right where I was at and began providing new friendships which has been so awesome.

This last week has been a corporate training week for all schools that will be beginning this quarter, such as English as a Second Language School, DTS, and Introduction to Biblical Counseling School. It was so awesome to get connected to people from other departments on campus. Some valuable knowledge that I have taken away from this week is YWAM's Core Values, having discussions about why we do what we do, why we have the guildelines that we have, how to handle difficult situations with students, and really the value in listening to understand where people from all walks of life, including culture and upbringing, are coming from. It really has been a valuable time of training.

A side note that was really a blessing during this time is my friends Candace and Tim Marinello were here in Kona on their honeymoon and gave me a call to see if I'd like to hang out. We were able to go to church together on Sunday, check out the lava on the Hilo side of the island, and they were able to join me on a Thursday for our campus' Thursday Night Meeting. It was so much fun and I am so excited for them and their new life together.

Now we are in the last 2 weeks before students arrive. Things are going to start getting really busy these next weeks, but I am so excited! For my school I am officially in charge of intercession times, and I will unofficially be helping out with graphics design stuff, and readily available to help anyone who needs it.

If you could be praying for our students that would be amazing! The last two weeks before coming can be quite stressful and they will also be scrambling to get their finances taken care of as well. Pray for God's protection on them and their families these two weeks and also that God would supernaturally provide the finances they need to get here.

Thanks you guys for taking the time to read this, I am truly greatful for you and appreciate all of your prayers and support.

Love,
Janet

Settling In...

2007-06-03T23:00:00.001-07:00

Aloha everyone! Here is my first blog from Hawaii. This week has been one of adjustment, reunions, and insight. When I arrived here last Sunday I quickly discovered that where I was going to stay was off campus about three quarters of a mile away from campus. However, because I arrived on Sunday, and because Monday was Memorial Day, I was not going to be able to get a key until Tuesday. All was well though because a friend of mine said I could stay on her couch on-campus until I could go to the housing office to see if I could get a room on-campus anyways. Well, as the week went on, it wasn't until Friday that I was able to get my room key and get a ride for my two 60lb bags to my room off-campus. Let me just say that it was so wonderful to wake up on Saturday morning in my new bed knowing that I was all unpacked and settled in. Definitely a relief.

Hale Ola is where I live

This week the new staff were invited to attend a seminar called UNIQuip. It consisted of corporate gatherings of worship, prayer, and listening to God in the mornings; and then the rest of the day there were a number of modules that we could choose from in order to become further trained in specific areas of our choosing to help with our ministries. I chose the "Discipling the Sexually Broken" module. The purpose of this module was to train people to become the bridge between secrecy and shame to coming into the body of Christ. I learned that sexuality is the divinely inspired longing to connect with others. I also quickly realized that to some degree or another we are all sexually broken, but having a relationship with Jesus can heal our hearts and bring us to more wholeness. Some great quotes I have in my notes include, "Our past does not predicate our future;" and "Lack of intimacy with God causes us to look to be satisfied by people." It was an amazing time of growth and learning for all of us in the class.

I'm officially staff!

As for adjusting to the YWAM lifestyle, I think I'm getting back into it. It amazes me how quickly we can forget things. When I went to the first morning of UNIQuip I was overwhelmed by the spiritual atmosphere. Back home, it's just not like here. So, it has taken some getting used to. I've been struggling with pressing into my relationship with God. I sometimes wish it would just come so naturally, but recently it has been something I have to be really intentional about and choose into. When I have, God has really spoken and it is amazing; He is so amazing, and He loves us so much. It still is a struggle though, so if you could pray for me in that area, that would be awesome.

Reunions!

That about sums it up. Reunions with some friends from my DTS have been great and I'm really excited for the staff internship to start on Monday. Please pray that God would use this training to speak to us about our future as staff and ignite a passion for the ministry He is calling us to. God Bless you all!

Love,
Janet

Rwanda 2007 Trip

2007-04-30T20:08:00.000-07:00

So for all of you that weren't able to attend the open house I had to tell about my trip to Rwanda, this post is for you. As you scroll down you will find the stories and pictures that tell of my adventures in Rwanda. I hope you enjoy.

Team Reports

December 22^nd, 2006

Well, our team has finally arrived in Rwanda! After 3 days of traveling, we are all a bit jet-lagged, but doing well and excited to be here. It's not easy to get everyone to an Internet cafe all at once, so we thought we would send out the first e-mail ourselves to let you know that we have all arrived safely. If you don't hear from us for a few days, don't worry - it may take a few days before any of us are able to make it out to an Internet cafe again. If you know someone in your family who would like to receive this e-mail, please forward it to them since we are only sending it to close family members.

We have just purchased a team cell phone that you may call on Christmas day (or in case of any emergency) if you would like to wish your loved ones a Merry Christmas! Keep in mind that we are 10 hours ahead of Pacific Standard Time, and 7 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time. Here it is: If you are calling from North America dial 011-250-08-519-477. If you don't get through the first time, keep trying!

-Team Rwanda

January 3^rd, 2007

We're all loving being here in Rwanda. Just as we're sure all of you are, we're starting to get used to cold bucket showers, toilets that don't flush, food that tastes similar almost every meal (yet is well-cooked and hasn't made any of us sick), very crowded public transportation, and people staring at all of us 'westerners' as we walk down the street. A word we have all learned by now is 'muzungu,' which means, "white person," as we hear it yelled out at all of us so often. It is much cooler here and a lot more expensive than we expected. Yet, the people are wonderful! Language is a barrier, but it doesn't stop people from saying hello and stopping to shake our hands warmly. Kids will often come up and give us a big hug or hold our hands and walk with us for a while, even if they have never met us before. Most of us have willingly given a piece of our hearts away to various children we have met – especially Clemence, who has been staying here at the YWAM base with her father this past week.

Some highlights for these past couple weeks include being invited to a Rwandese engagement party. The first half of the team coming to Rwanda met a girl named Claire at the airport in Kenya, and she invited us to her house on the 24^th for her party. We didn't expect such an extravagant ceremony! Here in Rwanda, the wedding ceremony is in three parts over a few years and the engagement is the first part. Kylee got to be in the "wedding party" as Claire's "sister," and looked beautiful in the traditional clothing and jewelry. We saw amazing dancing and singing, ate a fantastic meal, and even saw two cows being given from the groom's side as a present for gaining a daughter in their family.

Four of us were able to visit a small orphanage early in the morning of the 25^th and we passed out gifts and played there for several hours, which was such a wonderful way to spend Christmas morning. All of our team went to a bigger orphanage of mostly older kids the next day, bringing gifts and spending some time taking pictures and being shown around the property. On New Year's Eve, most of us went to an American house (through a friend of Brandi's) and spent the last hours of 2006 eating American-style food, fellowshipping with many long-term missionaries in Rwanda, worshipping the Lord and praying for each other.

We have started getting involved with the YWAM AIDS ministry called APRECOM. We've been joining them as they have led support groups and made house visits so far. We will start doing hospital visits this week as well. Janet and Joanna have had an opportunity to preach a short message during the support group times, and we have all heard heart-wrenching testimonies from brave people with HIV who attend the meetings. At one group, we even had our taxi driver join the meeting and he asked for prayer for some really personal requests, while the taxi attendant with him accepted the Lord at the end of the meeting! Our entire taxi (large van) sang praise songs all the way back to the base. Another neat testimony comes from Amanda and Kelly, as they went to a hospital with some guys from the base on their day off, and led eight people to the Lord in the AIDS ward!! God is so faithful!

Apart from APRECOM, we feel God leading many of us to pray into ministering at prisons, working with street kids, widows and orphans, and getting involved with medical clinics and village ministries.

The Lord has been so faithful to us already and we are excited to move ahead with wherever God leads us. Please pray for good health on our team as many are struggling with bad colds and can't work in the AIDS ministries until they are no longer contagious. Brandi specifically has been bedridden for the entire week and we long to see her join us and be in great health again.

-Team Rwanda

January 8^th, 2007

This past week we got really involved in many different ministries. We continued with the YWAM AIDS ministry, APRECOM, visiting people’s homes, attending and preaching at support groups and praying with AIDS patients at a local hospital. Before visiting the hospital, we went on a prayer walk and noticed crowds gathering around us. Janet started preaching on the street and the rest of us prayed around the people. About 60 people gathered around to hear the ‘muzungu’ talk, and this was the first time for most of us to be part street preaching and evangelism. One young man was mocking us and asked for prayer as a joke. We laid hands on him and prayed for God to show Himself to this man. No prayers were translated, but when he stood up, his attitude had changed. He talked to our translator and in front of everyone accepted the Lord as his personal savior.

We heard many testimonies during the week – especially from women with HIV. A few of us had the privilege to visit an old compound with free government housing, which supports many families. Recently, the government chose to do new things with the land. So they will be evicting them all at anytime this month. We visited three homes; two were widows supporting six children each, the other was married but very poor with the same number of children. None of these families had any plans after eviction – no homes to go to, no money, no jobs… basically all 19 of these people, along with the many families we didn’t meet, will either be overcrowded into homes of relatives (hopefully) or be forced onto the streets. It is terribly sad. We prayed and encouraged them and will continue to do this.

Homes, school fees, jobs to support their families, and healings are common prayer requests from most of the people we have ministered to with HIV. We are starting to hear more testimonies from the genocide, as well – terrible to read about, but even harder to hear it out of the mouths of survivors. But God is faithful and has good plans for the Rwandese people. We all believe that their tears of pain will be turned into garlands of praise! Our faith for provision and healings has been awakened and most of us are praying for God’s grace and mercy to spill over abundantly in their lives!

This week, many have been part of various ministries. Some have been meeting specific people and following up with them from prayer walks in our community. Janet has been teaching the material on “Destiny” for the past few weeks to a couple American girls here on the base, and Brandi has been helping since recovering from the sicknesses she had been experiencing. Kelly and Amanda preached in a support group, Dan preached in the Assemblies of God church this past Sunday, and Rosanne preached in a women’s ministry of the same church a few days later. Our team had two opportunities to perform the AIDS drama we learned in Makapala and both times were a great success! Dan had a chance to teach and answer questions on HIV/AIDS, which was so needed. (We hope we have more chances to teach what we’ve learned to more groups before we go!)

Yesterday, we were invited to a special ‘Giving Day’ and we joined two long-term missionaries that help run a ministry called Global Family Rescue (GFR), and their staff by handing out 18 cows, many goats, pigs, mattresses, mosquito nets and even five houses (all donated as gifts from American families who support them). They are some of the poorest of the poor in Rwanda and it was such a privilege to be a little part in seeing their joy and giving many a means of supporting their families. The day was very tiring, but it was so fulfilling to see this end of what support from others across the world actually does locally. We will spend a night with these families in their homes next week, and help build one of the houses that was donated. Our team has really grown in unity and health! Thanks for your prayers.

-Team Rwanda

January 15^th, 2007

Life in Rwanda continues…along with it, frustration: a lot of waiting, joy, tears, hearing God’s voice, growing in unity, being so hot that we badly burn one day, to being wet, cold and muddy from a sudden downpour of rain the next day. Unfortunately, we had a lice outbreak for the past 2 weeks (Brandi and Tina last week, and Joanna, Cynthia and Brandi (again) this week). We think they might have caught it from riding motos. Erin was our honorary ‘lice victim’ because she was sick and stayed behind from ministry with us, helping us boil our clothes and pick lice out of our hair. Fortunately, it seems the lice have died - may we never see any more remnants of it on our heads again!

In terms of ministry, we continued to join the APRECOM ministry doing home visits and support groups. This week, Kylee and Tara were our guest preachers and they both gave anointed messages! During one of the home visits, our group met a lady named Jaqueline. She was 48 (but looked much older) and has lived with AIDS for 25 years! She lost two children and her husband died in the genocide, so she currently raises 2 teenage daughters alone. She is almost blind, has a tumor in the back of her throat, has a serious foot injury, has no job and is very poor. Yet this woman started testifying how faithful God has been in her life. She started to sing out her praises to the God while we were there and we just started weeping. The presence of God was so strong in this woman’s life and you could feel it in her little, humble home. She challenged us to realize that Jesus is enough… we can look at all her problems and feel overwhelmed with need and our inadequacy to meet any of her needs… hopeless comes to mind… yet, this woman experienced and understood God’s faithfulness and really taught us that He is enough! As a woman with HIV testified in one of the support groups this week, HIV is not the problem… having no hope is the problem.

Other ministry news… A few of us revisited the Mother Theresa orphanage and feel that we would like to do this regularly until we leave Rwanda. Erin got peed on twice that day - once playing with some children near the YWAM base and another holding little babies at the orphanage. Once a month, YWAM invites the community to the base to enjoy a time of worship and fellowship. Dais helped lead worship during that time and our team had a chance to perform the drama ‘Thief’. The music wasn’t working properly so it made performing difficult - yet God still worked through it and it seemed like many were touched. Joanna had an opportunity to visit a group of widows with a different YWAM ministry and she saw God working in huge ways in their lives. One woman was saved last Tuesday and that night had a dream that Jesus healed her and her children of HIV! Another asked for prayer last week for a house as she was being evicted from hers, and God surprised her with a house the next day, which greatly encouraged her and those who prayed with her. Amanda and Kelly have been ministering to a young boy named Eric. They met him on the street and they shared a little of their faith to him. He knew God but couldn’t go to church because he had no shoes, so they felt God prompting them to buy him a pair. They also took him to the base so he could have a shower, and they gave him some new clothes and something to eat. His mom died of AIDS and his father died after the genocide. He lives on the street and Amanda and Kelly are trying to get him into school and involved in a street kids ministry that YWAM hosts. He comes to the base often to visit and they took him to church on Sunday. Both ask for your prayers – he is deeply on their hearts and they feel like moms to him, yet are not sure what they can do now.

Yesterday we joined the missionaries we know with Global Family Rescue and helped dig a foundation for a house that was paid for from an American sponsor. We hiked up the side of a mountain, picked up shovels and hoes and dug up dirt for about an hour and a half. The Rwandese were staring at us and laughing as they looked at the muzungus work, and even though we were not as efficient as they were, we know they were encouraged and that they appreciated our efforts. Unfortunately it started pouring rain, so we were all slipping and sliding down the mountain back to the van. Dirty... cold... wet... hungry… but all of us want to go back and continue with the house when we can.

-Team Rwanda

January 22^nd, 2007

This week was a week of harvest. The Lord put many in our path that wanted to receive the Gospel. Kylee and Tara continued meeting with a man named Happy that they met on the road a few weeks ago who was interested in knowing more about heaven. Last Friday, after calling him up, they sat and spoke to him and eventually led him to the Lord. Others of us have started attending a widow ministry with YWAM Rwanda. On Friday, Joanna gave her testimony and Dan shared the Gospel message. Sixty-three widows and one street boy received Jesus as their personal Savior. The leader of this ministry, a 25-year-old Rwandese girl who is filled with wisdom and compassion from God, cried because she knew the women and they had never been willing to accept Christ before. Some of us also went to a hospital on Saturday to feed the sick and pray for them. Dan and Dais led about 14 people to Christ, the majority from Dan preaching on the street corner, and the rest from their hospital beds.

For the APRECOM ministry, our preachers this week were Janet and Tina. Both of these girls gave heartfelt and challenging messages during the support groups. Rosanna also preached at the Assemblies of God church nearby on Monday to a group of prostitutes and widows. Our team will be leading a three-day seminar and preaching about their destinies and identities in God on Sunday next week to this same group of women. A few of us spent over an hour talking with some Muslims we met during a prayer walk earlier this week. Erin, Jack and Dais have a heart for them and will continue to meet with them. Dais had the opportunity to lead a group of long-term missionaries, as well as many from our team, into an intimate time of worship last Saturday night for a few hours. (We just heard that he also got accepted into the School of Worship in Kona! Congrats, Dais!)

On Tuesday, we held a medical clinic and continued to lay the foundation of the house we’ve been building with Global Family Rescue up in a village. Around 50 people were examined and given free medicine (everyone had a terrible case of worms, on top of other sicknesses), and five people received the Lord that afternoon, as well. There is definitely a party in going on in heaven!

With three weeks left, we are getting busier and busier…yet more focused on God than ever. We went to the Genocide Memorial as a team last Thursday and spent a powerful time of prayer over Rwanda that evening. From the surface, it appears that unity between the tribes is going well. However, from personal stories we continue to hear, and even the relationship struggles with the Christians we know on base, there is still a lot of tribal tension. The Memorial is definitely incomplete. There is no mention of reconciliation. One is simply left with a terrible view of the horrors that one tribe inflicted on the other. Brandi noticed a statement they made of themselves: “Rwanda was dead.” Spiritually, most in this country are dead as emotional wounds fester and have not been healed. The Lord gave us amazing promises through Ezekiel 37. We prophesied life into these dead, dry bones through the Spirit and claimed the promise that these two tribes would be one. We’re praying for beauty from the ashes, and believe we will see it during our time here.

We have a few prayer requests as well this week. Rosanna’s dad is very frail and sick and we are praying that he will gain strength and be protected, at least until the time that she can go home to see him again. Amanda and Kelly both ask that you would continue to pray for a home for Eric, the street boy that they have been looking after over the past few weeks.

-Team Rwanda

January 31^st, 2007

The countdown is upon us. Two weeks from today we head on a plane back to Hawaii. There are mixed feelings... excitement to go back, coupled with feelings of sadness to leave the wonderful people we've been connected to.

Ministry has been getting busier and more focused. Dan and Rosanne have led a few more medical clinics this week – again set up so they can see patients medically, give out free medicines whenever possible and have ‘counselors’ who share the gospel and pray with everyone who sees the doctors. The first clinic was at a local doctor’s office that we rented for the day and we saw easily around 100 people from the community – sadly still leaving a big crowd behind us as we left. We led over 30 people individually to Christ, so although it was exhausting work, the harvest was again plentiful. The second clinic was in a nearby village, where most of the team helped build a seedbed with GFR. We got to cut logs with machetes, dig holes with our hands for posts and carry down ‘seemly’ light tree trunks to use as the posts for the seedbed. Our doctors treated many patients while all this was going on and the ‘counselors’ led six people to Christ.

Our preachers for the APRECOM support groups this week were Dais and Cynthia. At the widow ministry our team had the joy to give out 5 lb bags of rice to 220 people and also dance the ‘Redeemer’ song for them. Rosanne shared her testimony and Brandi preached and inspiring sermon from Ezekiel 37 – even demonstrating reconciliation between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes with large sticks she taped together. The response was amazing as all the women responded with a desire to move forward as God’s army! Dan had the opportunity to preach on forgiveness at a church this past Sunday. The team shared the ‘Redeemer’ dance and the ‘Thief’ drama and Joanna also shared her testimony during the service.

A small group from our team followed up with the Muslims they met last week – and this time they were requested to come to the Mosque and share with the Muslim leaders and officials about why they were here in Rwanda and what they wanted. Erin and Kylee boldly shared the full Gospel message and everyone listened without interrupting (something that hadn’t happened in previous visits). Seeds were planted and we are praying that God will use His Word to grow in them and to see Him for themselves.

Our team also had an opportunity to share with a group of international students about relationships. These teens were ages 14 to 17 from an English speaking Christian school. Erin, Kelly and Rosanne shared testimonies about various stages of relationships they are in or have been in to encourage these young people to make wise decisions about dating, sex and marriage. Our team also gave an AIDS awareness message by using the AIDS drama and Janet spoke about it. Jack was able to answer some questions that the boys had at the end – basically sharing that they need to pray and ask God about dating and who to date! J

We’ve started a team day where we cancel all scheduled ministry on Thursdays and meet in the morning for ‘God guidance’. God led us to downtown Kigali last Thursday through various words and pictures our team received from Him, and led us to pray in front of the TV station. A reporter watched us pray and took interest in us. He was going to take his TV crew to join us with the widow ministry last week, but he had a change of plans. We remember a word of the Lord we received from God in Makapala that we would be in the media while in Rwanda… so who knows what He still has planned for us in these last few weeks. J

This morning we were able to visit ‘Cards for Africa’ and tour around a place of employment for 30 orphans, with 20 more in a training program. Chris Page heads this missionary-based business as a YWAMer who began it with Gabriel. Perhaps you remember Gabriel’s testimony of how Cards for Africa won second prize from a Newsweek contest while we were together in Kona. Chris shared how this ministry business began, what they are doing now and where God is continuing to lead them in the future. We were all extremely impressed and inspired from his sharing and the variety and quality of cards his orphan employees produce. Most of us bought something, so ask us and we’ll gladly show you what we acquired and point you in the direction of getting any for yourselves or for fundraisers when we see you in Kona.

-Team Rwanda

Stories, Pictures, and Ministry

The Story of Erik:
- Account retold by Amanda Morgan

So this is how it goes.... There was one afternoon where Kelly and myself were sitting at the gas station in Remera, when I saw a young boy who looked about 10 years old. He had on over sized clothes full of dirt and holes and no shoes. There are many street kids who roam the streets; they are all left parentless due to the genocide or AIDS. From the second that I saw him I knew something was different about him, my heart was beating so fast and I knew it was something that the Lord was trying to tell me.

Kelly and I ushered him over to us, and he was very shy- He spoke broken English and we learned that his name was Erik and he was 12 years old. He continued to tell us that he had no Mother because she had passed away a couple of years ago due to AIDS. My heart began to break for this little boy-I felt as if I had nothing to offer him, but I was so wrong. As he ate the cookies we gave him, I started asking him if Erik knew who Jesus was, he said he did, but he couldn't go to church because he had no shoes. From that moment I knew God wanted me to bless him. We bought him some shoes and socks and took him back to our base and gave him a hot shower and food. The Lord kept giving me a heart for this boy; I was starting to feel like his mother. And later on Erik actually began calling me his Mother as I would clean him and his dirty clothes every time he came to the base! I couldn't think about anything else but Erik- I'd pray for him all day long, just hoping that he was okay and that God would protect him and keep him safe.

We were able to get to know him more and more each and every time he came to visit. We learned more about his past and He told us that his Dad has passed away during the genocide when he was a baby, so his Mom re-married a man who treated Erik very badly and beat him often. When Erik was a little older his Mom passed away from AIDS and left him to live with his abusive stepfather. Afraid and hopeless Erik left his home to live on the streets of Kigali. Erik had been living by himself and the other street kids for close to 4 years. Every night Erik would search for a place to sleep on the street, usually sneaking onto someone's doorstep. Often Erik would get his shoes and money stolen from him. There was a time that he got beat up by the other street kids because they knew that Kelly and myself were helping him.

I knew that I had to do something more than just bring Erik to the base and feed him and give him clothes and toys. I knew God wanted so much more for him than that. So I started to seek God, and ask Him what He wanted to do. I was really tested throughout the whole outreach when it came to Erik. I was trying to get Erik a place to live with a Mother who would take care of him and treat him as her son and not just a house slave as many people do with street kids.

As I looked for someone to help me do this-I was shut down in every way. I couldn't do it by myself because-one, I couldn't speak the language and two, I didn't know the area very well and if I did, who would I talk with?

So, I just kept praying that God would reveal to me what I was to do. I fought with God on this. I pretty much told him I was going to stand and fight for Erik because he belonged to his Creator not the enemy. I told God I wasn't going to leave Rwanda until I knew Erik was in a safe place.

Behind the scene I was freaking out for Erik and fighting with God all the time, but on the outside I just showed Erik love, the love that he hadn't felt in years. We took him out to dinner, to soccer games, and to parties that we had on the base.

It was amazing being able to see the change in Erik, in his eyes. Everything about him was slowly starting to change. Erik had begun to become very close with me and also with a student at the YWAM base; Selassie.

I didn't know at the time, but Selassie would be my answer to prayer. Selassie finally told me that his Mother had been looking for a son to adopt! I was amazed; I was overwhelmed with emotion and happiness for Erik. From that moment on I knew that everything was in God's hands and that He would take care of Erik. He would place Erik in a good home with a Mother who would love him as her own and also a brother and a sister!

Selassie took Kelly and I to his home to meet his Mother. Selassie called her, 'His Queen.' She truly was, Selassie's Mother was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen and a very strong Christian. She hadn't even met Erik yet but she already loved him and was willing to help him and be there for Erik.

God totally worked everything out and it was totally in His timing, which I learned is always the best timing! We took Erik to his new home and he met his new Mom. A couple of days later we went to visit the family and Erik was doing amazing- Selassie's Mom began to tell us how he was acting as if he was the king of the house. He was already going to school and learning better English! Praise God. He is so amazing and totally provided for Erik. We were really able to witness God's love for his children. He had a plan for Erik and part of that plan was played out though us!

GFR:

Global Family Rescue is a non-profit relief organization that provides Rwandan families with relief and support in the aftermath of years of genocide that killed over 1 million innocent people. There are certain families that are involved in this program that are being supported by families in the United States. These Western families help their family in Rwanda with housing, food, school fees and other basic needs.

Our team was able to work on giving days- where the families from the west had sent in extra money for houses, cows, goats, pigs, mosquito nets, and beds. We also worked with GFR to build a house for a family and build a seedbed for a community. We were able to hold medical clinics because our team was blessed with two doctors that brought A LOT of medicine! In the medical clinics, one by one the people saw the doctors and received the medicine needed and then right after were sent to the rest of our team for counseling and prayer. We were able to pray with every single person and many came to Christ! GFR was amazing to us, and we were able to bless them in return. We made some awesome relationships with the people involved in the organization, and many of them want us to come back!

THE WIDOWS:
Every week a group of over 400 widows would meet together to hear the word of God. We would preach to them and we also handed out lbs of rice and Keyarwanda Bibles. These woman were amazing, many of them loosing their husbands due to the Genocide or AIDS.

These women LOVE to hug and we hugged each other for probably 45 minutes because there were so many of them! These broken women were slowly becoming whole through hearing the word and fellowship with one another. There was a time that Brandi preached about reconciliation and reuniting the two tribes: Hutus and Tutsis. It was amazing, God was totally moving within these women, and they were hungry for more. Each time we went to the visit the widows hundreds of them came to the Lord. Simply amazing!

WE WENT TO A TRADITIONAL ENGAGEMENT CEREMONY:

While our team was in Kenya for a layover we met a woman named Claire. She was so nice and she invited us to her engagement ceremony! We were really shocked because we had just met this woman, and never in a million years would anyone do that here in the States. It just really showed how awesome the Rwandese people are. One of our team members, Kylie, was actually asked to be in the ceremony. We were treated like royalty when we were there. We even ate before the family! It was insane. But God was totally blessing us and we had the best time ever!

ORPHANAGES:

We were able to visit a bunch of different orphanages that were pretty close to our base. The first week that we arrived in Rwanda was the week of Christmas and we really felt that the Lord was telling us to bless one of the orphanages, but we didn't know which one. He lead us to one that was so perfect- it was really close to the base in Samaduha and had about 12 children which was amazing. We made the kids bags filled with toys and brought it to them on Christmas morning; they were so happy. It was so awesome getting to visit them all the time and just play with them.

Going to the orphanages was one of the favorite things our whole team loved doing. There was also a Mother Theresa Orphanage in town. Where our team would go and just help out the women that worked there by changing, playing, and feeding the babies.

I Was Arrested in Rwanda

Its true, I was. Well, actually, I was detained, but close enough. Here’s the story:

Every Thursday was our free day from scheduled ministry to seek the Lord and ask Him what we should do that day. It was our last Thursday before having to leave. That morning we had intercession and most of us felt that God was leading us into Remera. We always passed through Remera and went to the Internet Cafe there. People knew us there but we never really ministered in Remera. So, we traveled the bumpy road of Samaduha into Remera- when we arrived our whole team kind of split up and just talked with different people and began preaching and ministering to people. That morning as we were praying we felt God tell us that He would provide translators for us and we should not worry about making arrangements. Dais and I were together and there was about 40 people standing all around us just because we were white and talking to people. A young adult named Owen began talking to us and we asked him if he could translate for us. He began to translate for us and I began to tell the crowd what the bracelets we were wearing meant. We were able to share the gospel using this simple tool and explain that God loves Rwanda so much that He sent us there from across the world to tell them that He loves them and has not forgotten them.

As we finished sharing the gospel and began asking people if they needed prayer, I looked behind me and saw a police truck with about 4 men with AK-47s in the back and two of our teammates being pushed into the back seat. They came to Dais and I and told us to get into the back of the truck. As we began driving away, the police continued to collect the rest of our team and told them to get in the back of the truck. I called out to Owen who was translating for us to pray for us.

The police officers took us to the station and we had to sit there for a while until they came and asked us questions about why were there and what we were doing. They told us that if we were going to have a program that we needed to notify the police beforehand. After all of that, they took us back to the gas station that we were at and asked us to return home for the day. We were able to meet back with some of the people we were talking to and lead them to the Lord before taking a taxi back to the base. It was so awesome!

The most intense thing that day was not getting taken away by police but it was actually intercession that morning. God had told us that we were going to have distractions and that our faces would be turned away from the real reason we were there. That's what happened! But, it still didn't stop us!
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Well that's all the adventures and ministries I have for you today. There are many more that you will just have to hear when we get together for coffee or something. I hope you were blessed in hearing about what God did through us in Rwanda. Thanks for taking the time to read!

God's Provision

2007-01-27T18:53:00.000-08:00

Hello from Rwanda! We have 2 ½ weeks left here and it has been amazing. We have continued to work with the HIV/AIDS ministry here called APRECOM with home visits and support groups, but we have also been working with a widows ministry, and an organization called Global Family Rescue (GFR). With the widows ministry, this last week we went out to a village and were greeted by about 200 widows from the genocide here in 1994. We received many, many hugs from them and they were so grateful we had come to visit them. We performed one of our songs called Redeemer Lives and then Rosanna from our team shared her testimony and Brandy shared a message of reconciliation between the two tribes here in Rwanda. The whole group of them wanted reconciliation and about 20 women prayed to receive Christ as their savior and Lord. After the message we then gave away $800 in rice to them and they were so grateful. It was amazing to see how God was using us to provide, bless, and speak to them through the ministry we were doing.

We have also had the amazing opportunity to work with GFR. This is an organization based in Chicago, Illinois and has begun pioneering its ministry here in Rwanda. The identify people here in Rwanda who make less than $3 a month and connect them with sponsors who then give money monthly so that the families can get the food, clothing, school fees, housing etc. to sustain themselves. Our part in this ministry has been three-fold. We began working with them by helping out with a giving day when the sponsors gave extra money so families here could receive mosquito nets, mattresses, goats, pigs, houses, and cows (owning a cow here is like owning a Mercedes Benz). Many government officials showed up to show their support and the day was an amazing day of blessing for the families. We have also been helping build a house from scratch here. This past week we helped level out the foundation (digging into a hillside till it was flat), and make mud bricks. The Rwandese constantly laugh at us for not knowing how to use a hoe and pick, but it is very fun and they are so grateful that we are there. Lastly, we have also provided medical clinics for the families. We have a doctor and a nurse on our team and they raised extra support money to provide medicines for people here. With translators by their side, they have been able to provide healthcare to over 100 people. God is so good to all of us and has certainly not forgotten the people of Rwanda. He loves us all so much.

This last week we also had the opportunity to go to the genocide memorial in Kigali and get a better idea of what the people here have gone through. It broke our hearts and made us ask the Lord for reconciliation and healing for this country.

Starting next Monday, Brandi and I will be meeting with a group of teens in a girl's home for a small group based around their identity in Christ and we are so excited. God really has laid it on our hearts to tell people here and back home how God really sees everyone and that He loves them so much. He designed us for a specific purpose and values each one of us. We are hoping to discuss with the girls if they have a relationship with God and if so, what it really means now that they are a child of the Living God. I can't wait.

This coming week is very busy and we are all looking forward to it. On Tuesday we will be working with GFR planting crops with families and doing a medical clinic. On Wednesday we are going to an international school where I will be teaching about HIV/AIDS, our team will be doing our skit about AIDS, Erin will be teaching on relationships, and Rosanna will be answering questions. Thursday, Friday, and Sunday we are doing a seminar for a church nearby the base and the theme is going to be identity in Christ. We will have testimonies, skits, songs, and a speaker each night. We are praying for God to speak to each person individually about how He truly sees them as His beloved children. Then on Saturday we will be going as a team to a game park to see all of the African animals that we have missed out on seeing since we are in the city most of the time. We are looking forward to this week very much and can't wait to see how God is going to work in and through us.

Thank you all so much for all of your prayers and support. Without them, I have no idea what we would do. Keep praying for us, and if you have any requests, please share them as our team would love to lift them up to the Lord for you. I love you all so much and look forward to seeing you very soon. God bless you and thank you again!

Love,

Janet Mulvey

Rwanda, Rwanda!

2006-12-30T18:51:00.000-08:00

Hello from Rwanda! We've been here a week or so now and we are definitely still adjusting, but it is great as well. The unity of our team is definitely being challenged but we are fighting hard to keep it and push it to grow deeper. God is teaching me so much already in being here it is crazy. Ministry wise, we have been partnering with a ministry out of YWAM here called APRECOM. They provide counseling, home visits, support groups, and physical needs for people living with HIV/AIDS. We heard testimonies yesterday of how some people here got HIV. We heard a woman's testimony of how she was raped during the genocide and got HIV. She said that she went crazy for four years following the genocide where she went around not wearing any clothes. God totally got a hold of her life and healed her mind. You would never know that she had been through all of that. This woman though, a few months ago was raped again and now she is pregnant and doesn't know what to do with the child. It broke my heart to hear her story. What we are discovering here in Rwanda though is that so many of the people here are numb to the emotional pain of life. People could share their testimonies and not show one bit of emotion. It is really interesting. We're not sure if it is just cultural, or if it is because they are so guarded because of the deep wounds that they have. We are continuing to build relationships with people and our hearts are growing for them.

If you could be praying for our team for health and unity, we would be so greatful. I hope you are doing great, and that you had a wonderful Christmas and New Years. I love you all so much.

God's Amazing Love

2006-12-12T18:42:00.000-08:00

The last 11 weeks have been so amazing. I have learned so much about God and about myself. My eyes have been opened up to the world and the great need people have to know and experience God's love for them. In the last few weeks we have had teaching on our identity in Christ; identifying our gifts, talents, and dreams that we have been given from God; unity and reconciliation in relationships; missions; and this week we have our last teaching on compassion.

I have learned so much about what God has done for me by sending Jesus to die on the cross for my sins. God loves me so much and offers an amazing plan for my life but because I have sinned I was separated from God and therefore, I could not know and experience God's love and plan for my life. Jesus Christ is God's only provision for my sin and that through Jesus I can know and experience God's love and plan for my life. When I prayed to receive Christ as my Savior and Lord an amazing thing happened. My standing before God changed. The Bible says that the punishment for sin is death. When Jesus came to die on the cross for my sins, He took the punishment for what I deserved. When I put my faith in Jesus, His death became my death. What also happened though is that His resurrection became my resurrection! I am a new creation! Everything that is true of Jesus is also true of me; everything. This means that God's feelings and thoughts towards Jesus: adored, accepted, righteous, powerful, royalty, and authority; all of those things are also true of me. The following I wrote in my journal a few weeks ago when I realized what all of this meant:

"God loves me so much. It is because of who I am, not because of what I do. I am holy and created in the image of God. I am loving, peaceful, joyful, patient, kind, good, gentle, faithful, loyal, caring, compassionate, just, righteous, personal, relational, powerful, filled with and speak truth, comforting, encouraging, serving, edifying, have self-control, passionate, take initiative, zealous, fun, exciting, obedient, Spirit filled, and pleasing to God. I am His bride, His Beautiful, His Precious and Treasure. I am a gift to this world, and am humble. I am washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of Jesus and in the Spirit of God. The power of God is in me because the Holy Spirit is in me; the character of God is in me because the Holy Spirit is in me. The authority of Jesus Christ is in me. I am an intercessor and I am a proclaimer of truth. I pray against fear, insecurity, and rejection and receive with the authority of Christ all that He says that I am. I am Janet Mulvey and I am a child of the Living God! I am His Sweetheart."

Isn't this amazing! Two other things that are just as amazing is that this can be true of anyone who places their faith in Jesus Christ. Every single person on this planet is a child of the Living God and is created in God's image. God is just waiting for us to invite Him into our lives to pour His love out upon us. He isn't forceful, He's patient and gives you the opportunity to invite Him in. No matter what though, He still loves you, no matter what you have done, but He wants, so badly, to take away your sin. The other thing that is amazing is that God has given us His Holy Spirit to live inside of us so that we can have the power to live up to this new identity. In my own strength I would not be able to love God or love others the way that I am called to. The power of the life of Jesus in me (the Holy Spirit) is greater than the power of my old self. I no longer have to be dominated by my self-defeating and self-destructive desires and I no longer have to live a defeated life or as a victim, I can live in victory! God has given me life and a freedom to be who He has created me to be. Praise God!

What this means for my future, I'm still not completely sure. I have identified some things that I definitely have a heart for and love doing; such as working with youth, kids and women, traveling overseas, coaching sports, and being hospitable. We will see what the Lord has in store for me when I return. As for the next two months, I will be in Rwanda serving and loving people there with the love of Jesus Christ. I am so excited to get there. We leave December 18th and arrive in Kigali, Rwanda on December 21st (Pray for our travels as it will be quite exhausting!). When we arrive there we will take a few days to get over the jet lag, celebrate Christmas together, and then head into the New Year working with a Youth With A Mission base there. I am looking forward to the ministry opportunities that we will have there. These include working with people affected by AIDS and HIV, children's ministry, evangelism, working with street children/orphans, working with widows, youth ministry, and vocational training. It will be an amazing time and God is going to do amazing things in and through us.

If you could be praying for us as we travel, for our safety and that everything will go smoothly; praise God that He has provided financially for everyone at our school to be able to go to Africa (that is $5000-$6000 per person for over 80 people!); pray for us while we are in Africa for our safety, our ministry, and our health, we have teams going to Rwanda, Ethiopia, Uganda, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Mozambique.

I hope that you are doing so well and that this holiday season is an amazing blessing for you. You have been such a blessing to me and I thank God for you being in my life. I pray that God would pour out His love upon you.

"I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God..s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God..s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. (Ephesians 3:16-19)"

God Bless You!
Love,
Janet Mulvey

P.S. Here are some websites that you can take a look at about what I will be doing in Africa.

YWAM Rwanda Website - http://www.ywamconnect.com/sites/ywamrwanda

Janet's Myspace - http://www.myspace.com/coachmold

Team Rwanda Myspace - http://www.myspace.com/teamrwanda

YWAM, DTS, AMAZING!

2006-11-01T18:12:00.000-08:00

Being here has been such a blessing and faith building experience. Daily we are seeing God's faithfulness. There are so many stories of God providing for people physically, spiritually, and emotionally. I'm learning about generosity and compassion, and I'm growing a lot. I've been working through a lot of forgiveness. Realizing that when certain things excessively bother me here that there is probably a deeper thing going on and I need to ask the Lord to show me why it upsets me. Through a lot of that, I have been able to release forgiveness to a lot of people that I have been holding on to.

Things are great here. I'm sitting here trying to put into words everything that has been going on. So much, it is so crazy! I'm just going to start rambling and hopefully you will understand some of it. God has been showing me a lot. I definitely had to work through some acceptance issues. I was so self-critical when I first got here. God spoke to me about it though. He's been telling me that as I want to become a more beautiful/better person, it is not about what I should be and shouldn't be doing. I just need to look to Him. He will work on me. If He wants me to work on something He will convict me of it. I don't need to be so hard on myself all of the time about who I am not. That gave me so much peace. It has been awesome. God loves me exactly the way I am. He created me with all my strengths and my weaknesses. If I was anyone else, I would not be able fulfill the calling God has on my life. He has been revealing His love to me more and more. This week I was wrestling with the fact that I didn't really have anyone to talk to about some stuff I was working through. I closed up, withdrew from people. God totally met me where I was at. He showed me that when no one else is around, when it seems like nobody cares or is listening, He is there. He has not forgotten me. He wants me to recieve Him as my best friend. The one that I run to. When I am lonely, I turn to Him. When I am totally excited, I will run to Him. It was really cool that God met me where I was at. It was actually funny because I fell asleep during the speaker's talk and I woke up and he was asking if anyone needed prayer and I raised my hand and God met me right where I was at. It was amazing. So far our topics for classes have been The Father Heart of God, Hearing the Voice of God, the Holy Spirit, and Discipleship and the Cross. It is all good stuff.

God is so good. I love Him more each day. Even when I feel like crap, He loves me and He is there for me even if my emotions tell me otherwise. I've been challenged to make the Bible my standard for everything. We are living in Bible times today and it is so cool to see what God is doing and hear what He has to say.

Well, besides all the spiritual growth stuff going on, we have been having a good time. (Just check out my pics at myspace.com/coachmold ) Some of us walked 4 miles to Magic Sands beach, we only thought it was 1.5 miles away. But we pressed on and it was so worth it. It was awesome. We stayed in the King Kamehameha Hotel the first week here, it was so sweet! Air conditioning is so great. I went snorkeling a few times while in Kona. I got to see some sea turtles(adorable! I so badly wanted to touch it, but it is illegal), lots of colorful fish and coral. We went as a school to Haupuna beach for a day and that was awesome. I bought a boogie board and had a lot of fun. We walked to a cave that was carved out of the lava rock by the waves and jumped off of it (8ft drop). I cut my foot pretty good on a rock on the bottom though and couldn't wear shoes for a couple days, but it is getting better now. After Kona, we moved up to Makapala which is totally different from Kona. It is 60mi north at a little christian retreat center. We have 2 girls dorms with 20 girls each in them, a house with 4 rooms with 4 girls each in them(I live here), a bunch of little bungalo cabins for the guys, and a house with 4 rooms for the 4 married couples we have with us. It is a neat little place and really pretty, but it is in the middle of nowhere. Basically anything near by is really pretty, but there is nothing to do there. Even at the 2 beaches we can go to you can't swim in them because of all the rocks and crazy swells. We've been bonding a lot over Friends episodes, ping pong, movies, and random fun activities such as capture the flag at night, open mic night, and next week we are having a costume masqarade. We don't have internet and have really bad phone reception too. So it is interesting to say the least, but our team is really getting close. We have people from all over the world on our team; Thailand, Korea, Japan, Austrailia, UK, Holland, Mexico, Canada, New Zeland, and USA. It was pretty crazy here during the earthquake we had a few weeks ago. I had been in plenty before, but most on our team hadn't. It was really big and really long and it happened at 7:15am when most of us were still sleeping. Talk about a wake up call. FEMA came the following days and tagged 4 of our buildings as condemned (on the whole island 30 were tagged as condemned). We've been cleaning up and adjusting. We went into the closest town and helped people clean their homes and shops. It was a great opportunity to serve the people in the community and show God's love to them. We were able to volunteer at an aid station for the Iron Man (look for me on TV). We had a blast!

So I think you're all caught up. Every Thursday we come down to the Kona base to worship and gather together with the other schools here. We get here early and head over to Walmart for supplies and then plop down and type away at our computers until the meeting.

If you could be praying for me, I have a couple of prayer requests. Pray that God would provide financially for everyone on our team. So many people need money still. I still need $1500 or so to cover my outreach fees. Also pray that I would continue to submit under the Lordship of God over my life and be obedient to what he calls me to do. Lastly, start praying for our outreach. I found out that I'm going to Rwanda! I can't wait. Pray that my compassion and love would grow for the people there and for all of the lost in the world. I want God's heart to be my heart and I am far from it, so pray that God would work in me.

I hope you are doing wonderful, and that God is meeting you where you are at and drawing you into His presence. I hope to hear from you soon!

Keep Worshipping,
Love,
Janet