A Whirlwind of a Month

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

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

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

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!

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

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...

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