One Word: Incredible

This winter break was incredible: incredibly random, incredibly different, incredibly busy, and incredible impactful. Like an insane college student, I registered to take a class over the break between Christmas in New Years. (DUMB) However, this class required a trip to St. Louis for one of the biggest student missions’ conferences in the world: Urbana 15. So we loaded the 12 passenger bus at 4 o’clock in the morning two days after Christmas and headed on a 10 hour road trip through the rain and freezing cold weather.

(Side story: on my way back to school, I was literally running away from all the tornado-producing storms. Praise the Lord, I made it to campus BEFORE all the tornado alarms went off and we had to run to the shelter. AND that one of my amazing neighbors was home to give me a hug to calm me down!)

Ok, back to Urbana. They took such good care of us! We were spoiled with a suite to ourselves at the hotel we stayed at in downtown St. Louis! Nothing like a king sized bed, a sweet suite mate, and a view of downtown all to myself for the week! (Rough life, I know…)

The week was impressively organized and one of the best conferences I have been to! They literally thought of EVERY detail. Worship was amazing as we learned how our brothers and sisters all over the world worship in their cultures! Since diversity in cultures intrigue me, I was having the time of my life! Not only did we learn the songs in their language and their meanings, we got to dance in church! (The Baptist kids didn’t know what to do with themselves! I DO believe there WILL be dancing in Heaven. Get ready!)

God anointed so many godly men and women as they spoke during the general sessions and I learned something from each one of them. The seminars I got to choose where equally helpful! But what happened Wednesday night I will never forget….

The focus of the main session that night was on praying for the persecuted church. The message was about Jesus praying in the garden just before he was arrested. He took some of his disciples who fell asleep while Jesus was agonizing over his coming persecution. Jesus pleaded with the Father to take the persecution away, but ended with “Yet not MY will be done, but YOURS.” Three times he wrestled with it and surrendered until he completely accepted that he was the Fathers.

Like the disciples, we are tired of suffering and are overwhelmed, so we turn away and fall asleep. We are overwhelmed, yet Jesus went straight to prayer. The challenge: Don’t fall asleep, rise up and wait expectantly for God to act! His will be done. What is the temptation? To lose hope and to not trust in God. The victory is clear, there is a resurrection. Always! Wow.

This opened up for an opportunity to pray for an hour for these countries in a variety of different ways. On the floor around the stage they had scattered banners hanging from the ceiling with the names of persecuted countries. I decided to go down and kneel before the Kenya banner, with my missionary friend’s voice in the back of my head, “When kneeling in prayer, eventually your heart catches up with the position your body is in.”  However, after 10 minutes my legs were numb, so I stood up and starting wiping the tears off my face. In my prayers I was asking, “Lord, please teach me to pray fervently and fearlessly for my brothers and sisters. Break my heart for what breaks yours.” Tears started flowing when God brought specific people to mind, my friends who I met and spent time with in Kenya. As I was wiping them away, a guy who was sitting about 10 feet from me walked up and patted my arm as if to reassure me that I was not alone and it was going to be ok.

About this time I thought I heard a girl wailing, except there were words. She sounded upset and she kept getting louder. “Go find her,” the Holy Spirit kept prompting me. I followed the sound and found her next to the banner, kneeling with her face on the ground. I knelt beside her, put my hand on her back and began praying for her. In mid prayer, she sat up. Her face was wet and her hair was sticking to it, so she tried to clear it off so she could see me. I leaned in and asked her, “What is your name?” 

“Christina.”

“Christina, can I pray with you?”

“Of course, sister!”

At one point we stood up, my hand on her far shoulder and holding her arm in another. I started praying until I couldn’t finish a sentence due to choking back tears and then she began to pray. When she couldn’t pray, I started praying. I cannot even begin to describe what kind of a bond we had that night. I have never met this chick before in my life! We stood there holding each other weeping, crying out to God on behalf of our brothers and sisters on the other side of the world.

At one point Christina prayed in Arabic and then in English, she prayed, “Father, thank you for giving me the courage to unashamedly call on your name! Thank you for allowing me to have a relationship with you God!” She yielded, signaling for my turn to pray, I paused and quietly said, “Father, please give me the courage to pray with passion and to live unashamed for you.”

What happened next brought an ugly cry… Like the tear-falling, snot-dripping, ugly sob… She began praying for me. This was a sister who shared the same Father and the same struggles. God was using her in an incredible way in my life that moment.

Then the hour ended and we were encouraged to go to back to our seats. She gave me a big hug and said, “Thank you for praying with me sister! God bless you!” As she walked away, I thought to myself, I may never see her again on this earth, but I know we will have a sweet reunion in Heaven one day! Before heading to my seat, I knelt down one more time and asked, “God, WHAT WAS THAT?!”

You asked me to teach you to pray!

Wow. Incredible. The only word I can think of to describe what happened. It is incredible to serve a God that loves his people enough to have intimate moments like this with us. Because of what Jesus has done, we are allowed to have communion with him on a level only priests could be at! Incredible. My question to YOU, dear friend, is how are you taking advantage of this incredible opportunity to talk with God on an intimate level? 

More Faithful than the Morning....

“Come close and listen to the story, about a Love more faithful than the morning…”

What comes to mind when you hear the word “faithful?” Maybe it’s just a word that is used in church, or maybe the word “relationship” pops into your mind. What does it mean to be in a faithful relationship? That means that the man and woman are completely committed to each other no matter what happens.

The phrase used above mentions a “Love more faithful than the morning.” That phrase wrecked me when I figured out what it means. The sun rises everyday. Every. Single. Day. Without fail. No matter what season it is, no matter what the weather is like, no matter what time, it ALWAYS rises. You may not always see the sunrise, but it is always there. On cloudy or rainy mornings, we know that the sun is still shining behind the clouds.

The Love the song is talking about God’s love for his creation. No matter what we have done, are doing, and will do to disappoint Him, he STILL loves us the same. No matter what season of life you are in, no matter how busy you are to spend time with him, no matter how much you avoid him, he STILL loves you. Wow. Romans 5:6 says, “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” While we were sinners, helpless and weak, God died for us because he loves us. He loved us at our WORST moments. This is the mystery of the Gospel and it is so hard to wrap my mind around this.

Last week, the Holy Spirit broke me. I mean I couldn’t look at anyone, I couldn’t stand looking at myself, and I couldn’t get off my knees. God showed me what I was doing to Him. I was killing Him and living a worthless life. Sure, I would get up every day and read the devotional thought of the day and I would spend some time praying. I would go to class to study about Him in the scriptures and I would serve the people at church two days a week. I was doing all these good things for Him! But there was no heart or passion behind them. They were useless. All He wanted was ME!

I was too busy doing things FOR God I wasn’t doing things WITH God. In my mind I was still keeping my priorities right by spending time with him first thing in the morning. But it became a ritual. I was stressing out about doing good in school so I can honor Him, but I was forgetting to do it for His Glory. I was working so hard, but I was doing it in my own strength for other people.

A good friend pointed out, “Who cares if you have a degree, or a great job? If you are not spending intentional time pursuing a love relationship with Jesus, everything else is useless.” Just look at the book of Ecclesiastes! Solomon was the richest man in the world, he had so much wisdom he might as well had a PhD, and so many women he lost count. But everything was useless. He wasn’t satisfied, content, or happy. Neither was I. When I was trying to describe this to another friend I said, “It’s like I know where the well is to get the water, I lowered my bucket to get the water, but I wasn’t deep enough. I was stuck.” (And then the “Brindley Moment” came and I was excited for awesome analogy that God brought to mind. Way to go, God!)

God is still showing me what it means to pursue an intimate relationship with Him. We were each created for a relationship with Him that is real and intimate. That is my purpose. He is the only place I will ever find fulfillment and contentment that will never come from a degree, job, or a spouse. I am so thankful God is pursuing me even when I am running from him. Talk about faithfulness!

  I pray as you are reading this that God is stirring you affection for him and revealing to you how much He loves you. He has already forgiven you for EVERYTHING you have done, are doing now, and what you will do. He loves you the same and his love never changes. If you have any questions, or just need someone to pray over you, please email me. We are all in this together…

Food for Daysss

We have enjoyed so many amazing foods while in Vancouver. Our dear friend Sophia invited us over to her new place for dinner. She cooked us a popular Chinese dish. She is a great cook! We enjoyed laughing at Chinese and American music videos and talking about life. We also tried Korean food at the Yoons house one night.  So delicious! I also found a bottled Dr. PEPPER!! Bottled in Plano, Texas. 

Sunday

Sunday we woke up, got ready for church, and loaded up the Yoon's car with sound equipment, music stands, a projector, and kids toys for church which was held in the Student Union Building. This occurs every week. Last year, Michaela asked an intern, "So what do you think you need for a church plant?" The Intern replied, "Sons. So they can do the lifting."
Origin church has been on campus for the last 4 years. This Sunday, we had about 30 people for service and we were still missing 3 families. God is definitely working in the hearts of people here.
After singing some familiar songs, prayer, and scripture reading, we sat down to watch a video sermon since Craig was out of town. Unfortunately, WiFi was not working so we had to improvise! Javier, our fearless worship leader, decided to share his story. He talked about finding purpose. What is our purpose? Our purpose in life on earth is to have a personal intimate relationship with God through his Son, Jesus Christ. God is the Creator, therefore he has a purpose. Our ultimate goal in life is to love and enjoy our relationship with God so much that it overflows into every area of our lives.
Work, school, homework, grocery shopping, church, dinner, hanging out with friends, whatever! We should do all of these things as thankful worship to God. Wow. I needed that reminder and God knew it! Even when things don't work the way we want it to, like wifi, God still has a purpose.
We enjoyed talking to students after church. Loaded the car back up, ate pizza for lunch, and spent the day reflecting on my purpose here, and in life back home. I am so excited to see what else God has in store for me!

Saturday

This was one of our busiest days since we had to get up, buy a bus pass, catch a bus, a train, and walk a few miles to meet up with a team we were touring around downtown today. We made it just in time, Praise the Lord! It was cool walking them around downtown, getting to know them and hearing about their mission here. Rebekah knew the leader from her school and it was cool to meet all the rest of them from Georgia!
There were so many sights to see, but here is the Olympic Torch!

 The team!

 The view of the Marina

 Hey look! It's Fox sports news station  for the FIFA Women's World cup!

 We took the team to the underground mall to have some free time before they catch their train. AND  I FOUND A DQ!!!!! I was so happy I almost cried. (Y'all know me!) A Birthday Cake Oreo was  the perfect break from the summer heat and walking 7 miles.

 Then we said "Adios" to the team, caught a train to meet Jeff, Cindy, Nathan and his team from Louisianan for Chinese food at Bubble World complete with my "Milky Mango slushy with Tapioca pearls"

 SO GOOD

 And quite beautiful!

 This is fried Squid, actually wasn't too bad. a little rubbery, but good!

 My Sweet and Sour Chicken, sticky rice, and seaweed. :)

 Picutred from left: Jeff, Cindy, Irene, Courtlynn, Cody, Blade, Rebekah, Emily, and Nathan. These guys (and 4 more) are working with North American Mission Board working with the demographics of Vancouver prepping for more church plants. All of them have interesting stories! After dinner we went to a Karoke place where we rented a room and sang out hearts out!

 It has been great getting to know Jeff and Cindy. They make me laugh!

It was a long day, but so thankful God gave us strength and the direction we needed! We were ready for a cold shower and bed before church in the morning! 

Busy Week!

As you can tell, it has been a busy rest of the week since I am just now filling you in... Wednesday I went to my favorite coffee shop to get online to answer a few emails before I had to meet with Craig. Our meeting was very helpful as we talked about what ministry looks like here. We talked about the difference in part time and full time ministry and the responsibility for both.
As we were talking a single rain drop hit out table. We both looked at each other, looked past each other just in time to see more rain start falling! We moved inside, finished our conversation, said goodbye and parted ways. I headed back to the apartment about 2 blocks away and found Rebekah getting ready for lunch. The rest of the day was a very much needed chill day until dinner that night. Our friend Sophia came over to help cook Baked Alfredo Ziti, and then we waited for Jeff and Cindy to show up. (Jeff asked what we were having and said he would bring something to compliment the meal. We were thinking "Yeah, right!" He showed up with sushi.) Jeff is Canadian/Chinese and Cindy is from China. We had great conversation, laughs, stories, and made plans for the weekend. We both went to sleep with a smile on our face that night as we thought of our fun friends.

Thursday began with us taking brownies to a high school on campus to thank them for what they do for the students, campus, and for Origin Church.  We came back for lunch (left over sushi, risky? YES. I like living life on the edge..) We packed up things for our "Happy Birthday UBC" booth and headed to the bus stop. We set up with a sign and balloons for extra affect.

We handed out ice cream to whoever wanted some, let them know about Born for More (the BSM club on campus, who is "pregnant" with the church) (Hey, I didn't phrase it that way! The church basically, comes out of the club on campus.) Met some cool people and my "Showtime" skills from HEB came in handy. :) Since the ice cream was melting in the heat of the day, we packed up and headed home. We deserved a nap! I dozed off listening to a podcast, however when I woke up God used it to get my attention. I have been asking myself,
Why am I here? I mean, I love meeting these people, but as soon as we build relationships with them, I am leaving. What is the point? It's so hard because I want to still be there friend even if I don't see them again.
God was showing me how Christians need fellowship where we talk about what God has done in our lives, what he is teaching us now and to thank him for everything he has done for us! We need that community to thrive. Personally, I haven't had that kind of community in two weeks and I feel the effect from it. Here in Vancouver it is so hard for Christians to find that community because there are so few Christians. There was my purpose! They need fellowship with believers and assurance that they are not the only ones! That we are running the same race, just a different track. I woke up refreshed and ready to be intentional! Linda a friend that Rebekah spent some time with last summer, texted us and asked if we can finally meet for coffee since we have been trying to do all week.Linda is from Nairobi, Kenya and everyone kept telling me I have to meet her. I was so thankful we got to talk (even in Swahili!) and I got to share my story of the biggest lesson I learned in Kenya. (I also wrote a blog about it, "Why Kenya" if you want to check it out!) She is going back Friday, so it was great to meet her before she left! She was very sweet for sharing her Kenyan Chai tea with us!

On the spur of the moment we decided to go buy some pie for dessert that night so we caught a bus, and found this place!

 The Rose Garden of UBC. Apparently we crashed a graduation party too...

 A regular view of the bus!

 My apple blackberry pie! T'was delish!

Friday started out like any other beautiful day, at the coffee shop. :) Skyping with my parents is always a blessing and I appreciate their encouragement! Dad affirmed my thoughts by pointing me to Paul's missions career. He didn't stay in places very long and his main focus there was to encourage the believers to reach out to others in their area. What better example to follow! I was so excited to encourage the believers here, starting with Sophia. She met us at the Beanery so we can study Philippians together. She is so hungry for the Word. Her enthusiasm and questions encourage me! :)

After Bible Study we headed back for lunch, and handed out Popsicles in the neighborhood. Me and Sophia walked to the store to buy more hot dogs for the cook out that night. We talked about the Bible, life, America, and China. I learned so much from her! When we got back me and Rebekah decided to rest up before getting things ready for the cookout on the beach.

About 6pm, we loaded up the hot dogs, watermelon, and tablecloths  and headed to the beach! We had a great time of fellowship with several church members, a team of NAMB volunteers (Who are here for 6 weeks, more on them later!), and the O'Brien family.

 After dinner we headed to the water. It was COLD!

 Christian, Mikayla, Nathaniel, Rebekah and I.

 Jamie jumped/fell in...

 Seriously, how fast can they grow. Ridiculous!

 She is seriously the cutest!

 "Hey let's bury Brindley, It won't take long!"

Sam!

 
The view to complete the perfect day! And the sun didn't set until 10pm.. Crazy!