Does it really say that?

In the last 3 months I have had the privilege of getting to know and learn with these incredible people on the School of Worship.

Ephesians 1 says:

"For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us...

....In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you 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....     

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people,  and his incomparably great power for us who believe."

As a Christian, I thought I knew my place. I thought I knew what it meant to call God “Father” and to pray to my Father in heaven knowing that he is really listening…But it turns out, I was created to know much more than this! This last 3 months I have been learning alongside this small but powerful crew of great people what an absolutely mind blowing privilege it is to be called a daughter of the Living God. A daughter of the King of Glory. A royal princess to put it in other words. HE IS MAGNIFICENT. HE IS MARVELOUS, GLORIOUS, AMAZING, AWESOME, BETTER THAN ANYTHING I’VE EVER KNOWN! And it says here in this scripture that God predestined me for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ. God PICKED me. He chose me. I don’t know about you, but that gets me. It stirs up all these questions like Could it really be that God actually made me? That he actually wanted me…. In the form of being that I am today to be here on earth…. That he may actually have planned for MY life specifically all along?” This reality hit me in a whole new way after weeks of teaching on the truth of adoption and what God invites us to be a part of. It’s so much more than getting saved… I actually bring glory to God in a way that Molly, my sister can’t. Because of my uniqueness in my body, my personality, and my spirit, there is nothing like God’s glory coming through me….and the same goes for you. I never realized it was this in depth and that God even cared for us to understand this. But he does! We just have to look a bit further. We have been made to receive destiny, to receive inheritance, to be a part of a kingdom. And he’s given us authority to take up when we reach certain areas in our lives.

 One of our outreach locations is a Buddhist nation in Southeast Asia.Ok. So this was not God’s original intention for this nation. He wanted its people to know him because he knew how to best disciple and help this nation to become all it’s meant to become! But somewhere along the line people chose to believe in something that was not the truth, and because of that, Christianity is scarce in this region of the world. They are very “spiritual” people, but the Holy Spirit is not involved in any way shape or form. They’ve taken on this false god to get to something they’ll never reach, which is nothing. It’s so meaningless, and people’s lives don’t really mean much to them as an effect of this deception.

 So, back to authority. God has made a way to get into these places and be prayer warriors to find openings through opportunities to talk with people speak truth into their life. We are gonna take authority over these nations... meaning we are going to speak forth the truth because we know we've been given the power to speak it. Not in a controlling way, but in a righteous, God-giving way! We may not be able to go in and transform a nation, but we might be able to have the opportunity to change one person's life... and a nation is changed one person at a time. You see, God predestined these people to be his sons and daughters too.. and he so desperately longs for them to know this just like we do. I can’t wait to see how God will move! We are his heirs! We are able to do exactly what Jesus did! It says in the bible that we will do even greater miracles than Jesus. Well, I don’t know about you but I am incredibly encouraged by that scripture and I wanna see to it that I do whatever I can to let God use me to take back what originally belonged to us as citizens of heaven! Imagine the possibilities of what might go down…

 

This is just a glimpse of what I have been learning about. And I’d love to share more with you if you’re interested in understanding it a bit more.. just e-mail me! 

OUTREACH: It’s time to take you on again. ---> TO THE NATIONS WE GO!!!!!

Love,

Erika 

Look what He's done!

So after Cambodia, our team went to THAILAND for about a week and a half to help with the Bangkok International (Rugby) Tournament. This tournament hosts teams from all over the place; we had lots of people from the UK, New Zealand, Australia, and a few locals. The tournament is put on to raise money for a Christian organization called ARK (At Risk Kids). It’s incredible what they do – taking kids off the streets in the slums and teaching them life skill, English and sport (Rugby) which helps them grow into adults with purpose. So we helped facilitate this tournament and saw over $3,000 come in, which is awesome! 

After a great time in the scorching heat of Thailand, we headed out for our last leg in another part of Southeast Asia (which I can’t say the name of for security reasons) to FINISH UP OUR OUTREACH.

We arrived in the morning, only to be led by foot through a long path with all of our luggage to the underground sub station. We were excited to be in cold weather, as it was around 50 degrees Fahrenheit . It took about an hour and then some on this subway, and we made friends quickly as we were shoved up next to foreign strangers until we got off – it was a battle to keep all our things together as people were still getting on and off and things were flying every which way. Finally we arrived and had to lug our things once again up to the place we were staying. “Finally….!” We all thought. We were pooped out. Because our team was such a large group of foreigners,  we had to split our team up. This made it look less like we were a group on a mission- So I took 6 and Luke took 5 and headed out to a different city. My team stayed in the city we flew into and did ministry there for the final 3 weeks. Our ministry consisted of lots of prayer walks where we would go to a specific location of the city and just really pray over the things that we felt God was leading us to pray. This was cool to be a part of as we recognized hopelessness being a huge weight there. We just really prayed for God to keep bringing hope in and light to be shone.

AN ATHEIST NATION: The main “religion” of this country is actually atheism, so there are a lot of unbelievers. The thing is - a lot of these people don’t even know why they don’t believe in God. They have just been brought up that way, and have not really considered the reality of God’s existence, much less heard the good news about Jesus. Well, let me tell you, as we took time to get to know some of these people, we saw 3 of them get saved! How amazing! One of them is an incredible story. This girl called Sarah was walking near my teammates Amber and Emma to meet her friend. She was introduced to my friends and Sarah noticed that Emma was wearing a cross necklace. She said “I’ve seen that before… I know a lot about Christianity” She was very good at English. She went on to tell that her English teacher was a Christian and he has had her and her classmates over for dinner before and has shared a lot with them about Christianity. This was cool because not a lot of people in this country are taught anything about Jesus, but this girl had some previous knowledge of God from other Christians. Emma and Amber got the chance to talk about their own relationships with God and then asked Sarah if she wanted to have relationship with God as well. And she said yes. It was that easy! So they led her in prayer and she received Jesus that day. They also shared with her about how you need to turn away from sin to really be connected with God because God is holy. She was so excited.  The next day, I went with Emma while Amber met another girl that she saw get saved about a week before that. Sarah and Emma and I went out for lunch and Sarah had so many questions. It was really cool. We brought her a bible and told her to start in Matthew in the New Testament because it would be easier for her to understand the bible as a whole once she knows the gospels. I also told her about the book of Esther and how she was a very brave Jew who stood up to the King and saved her people because she obeyed God. She was fascinated! She also could not grasp the fact that God really loved her. It blew her mind! We also shared with her about how we can talk to God and pray and she said she didn’t really know how to pray but she prayed the night before and said that she tried to think about it like talking to her friend. I told her about hearing God’s voice (not audible but in the word and through different senses). She couldn’t believe it when we said that God can speak to her, just like He can speak to me.  We sat down on a park bench and I asked if we could all pray together and see if God would tell us anything. And she said “Ok.” A little apprehensive, she closed her eyes, and Emma started to pray. She asked the Lord to come and show us each something. I felt like God was just affirming who Sarah was and that she was a real light to the people around her. Emma got an encouraging scripture for Sarah. Sarah said, she didn’t hear Him say anything, but she just felt warmth inside her heart, and we said “that’s the Holy Spirit” and then she went on to say “I’m not sure, but I feel like God is saying we should hug”. If you know me well, you’d know that I’m not big on hugs – only if I’m really close to someone, so you could imagine how I normally would react if someone suggested such a thing. But for her, my heart was so big I would have probably kissed her. All three of us sat on that bench and hugged and it was one of the most precious moments I’ve ever been a part of. We spent the rest of the afternoon at her university looking at her dorm room, just walking around and it was so much fun. It was our last day to see her, so and it was really sad to say goodbye. I thought to myself later that day, what a privilege. This girl had just gotten saved the day before and I felt like I was learning from her faith.  

My favorite part in this location we spent working at an orphanage (welfare center) where we’d focus on the people with special needs, and little babies with clef pallets who have been left abandoned with no one to take care of them. I wish I could post pictures cause these babies were precious. Straight away on the first day we could recognize the atmosphere here was pretty depressing and sad. It seemed like there was not a lot of hope. I was really out of my comfort zone already working with people with special needs (some with down syndrome, some with cerebral palsy, some just badly emotionally wounded) as I’d never had experience before. And the fact that I also did not speak the same language made it more challenging, plus this place is not a Christian orphanage, nor do they really want us coming in here to share the gospel either.  In the beginning of the week I personally found myself asking God the question “Why am I here? Why in the world am I here to work with these people who I can’t even connect with? And I knew my heart wasn’t in the right place. I had the wrong attitude. I was looking at God and saying where is your goodness in all of this? Where is your justice and love here with these people who have no one and nothing? These people are so hopeless and I can’t do anything for them and I’m not going to be able to change anything for them.” I was challenged!  But I felt like there was an answer. The next morning we had a time of worship and prayer, and one of the girls who helped lead us there was praying about God’s mercy and goodness and justice, and all of a sudden BAM! She said it. “Oh Lord, it IS your justice that you would hand choose your people from all around the world and fly them to be here at this very place and time to meet and love these people. It IS your goodness that you’ve done that. It IS your mercy that you’ve done that.” And I physically felt a shift inside my heart as she prayed that prayer. It was like everything made sense, and I had the reality check I needed- realizing that God cares so much about these people that he asked me to come and be a part of their lives. And that I’m here to do something so much greater than what I could think up myself! It blew me away and I got excited again. I wasn’t gonna let anyone else tell me that this week would be hard. After this day, things just started to change. The fact that we weren’t allowed to sing or talk about Jesus didn’t stop us from bringing a guitar and playing worship songs. Every morning after that we would pray and ask God to give us ideas of things to do with these people and ended up with quite the plethora of activities; Foot washing (this was symbolic), nail painting, putting makeup on the women, making cookie necklaces, and coloring to name a few. Our other assignment was to paint a mural down the hallway of this place – the mural was beautiful. It was a make up of different colored people doing a different action. Each one said something different, like “I am useful!” or “I make a difference!” And it was for these precious ones to walk by and read these sayings and agree with as the truth. One of the words we felt came through for the week was from Jeremiah 29:11 “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’.” And we spent a lot of time praying that they would feel special and valued this week. The workers don’t really treat them well. So I could tell it meant a lot to them that we were there. I got to share with a woman that God loves her (I had to be careful doing this). I told her about what Jesus did for her and how much He wants to have a relationship with her. She seemed really happy when I told her this. I underestimated God and His power for sure this week because you could literally feel the difference by the end of the week when you walked in there. It was like color and life had entered back into this place.  I was sad to leave, but I found out another team would be coming the following week to do something similar as us and so I trusted God that He’d finish the work He had started in this place. If you ever think of this orphanage, please pray for them, as they need so much hope and healing.

Incredible, hey? The last thing I learned over my time away was simple but so true. “I am capable”. I am. I have often been in positions of leadership in the past, but never pegged myself as one. I don’t have a loud booming voice and I’m quite content chillin’ in the background not being front and center. I’ve been seeking to figure out how I function as a leader, and I’ve been seeing more and more that I am gifted to lead, and fully capable. It’s my humility to be myself, and to let God take control. And it’s a learning curve for sure, but I was surprised how great things ended up turning out, especially in the last location where I was leading alone. God is so good and so faithful to show up exactly when you need Him. I can testify to so many things that I’ve seen Him do over this last period of time. It’s been an honor and a privilege to get to serve God in the nations. And you’ve had your hand in making this happen!!

Your support has been such a key in allowing God to do all that He’s done.

This is what you’ve supported and been a part of through your prayers, encouragements and financial contributions:

In Cambodia:

               -Teaching kids of all ages how to speak English

               -Fixing up a school that needed some work done

               -Preaching the gospel to people who haven’t heard

               -Educating young adults and kids about how to follow Jesus

               -Loving the unloved and disabled children

               -Mercy ministries

               -Embracing the orphans and showing compassion

               -Reaching out into the community and making friends, and praying for   them!

In Thailand:

-Supplying the needs for children who will now have an opportunity in their future to learn English, play sports, and learn the skills of life

               -Encouragement for ministries running in Thailand

               -Minister to people who haven’t seen what Jesus looks like

In our last location in Southeast Asia:

               -Seeing 8 people in total saved!!

               -Distributing bibles to people who’ve never owned one

               -Lots of prayer for local people

               -Teaching new Christians about who God is

               -Worship

               -Mercy ministries

               -One on One evangelism – lots of seeds planted!

               -Light brought to dark places (literally that you could see the differences!!)

This is what Jesus means when He says

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” 

Thank you for saying YES!

Cambodia.

What a country.

It’s funny how we can paint a picture of what something is going to be like before it happens, and then you get there and your picture looks like someone painted it the wrong colors. 

After a great time celebrating Christmas and New Years in Australia, my team of 12 and myself, packed our bags, and hopped on a plane that would take us to the first part of our 2 ½ month outreach to Cambodia, Thailand and another part of Southeast Asia. First stop: Cambodia. It took about 2 full days of travel before we arrived in Battambang, Cambodia, where we have been staying for the last 4 weeks.

If I could give a short description of what this outreach has been like so far, this would be it.

Loud roosters at 5 am, 98 degree humidity, gravel roads, and the word “Susaday” soon became my forced friends. However, alongside were beautiful palm trees, nice nights, and friendly faces of people who think you’re the coolest foreigner they’ve ever seen. My team has been blessed to live in a gorgeous 3 story house, with bunk beds, and plenty of food and clean water to fill our bottles with everyday. 

A couple days after settling in, we started our ministries. Our team has been working with a few different ministries in this city, including: Jeevit’s house – a place for kids with disabilities and diseases can come and be loved on and cared for by the staff who volunteer there and our students. They play games with the kids and teach them bible lessons. It’s an incredible ministry, especially because there are a lot of kids that are not being taken care of by their own parents.  This past Sunday we had a community party where about 70 kids from the neighborhood came out and we played on the playground, played games, did coloring, and face painting with them! I was on a face painting station, and I loved it. I had forgotten how something so simple could make a child so happy! 

We’ve also been teaching English at a Christian  Elementary and High School called Salaa Hope. We’ve discovered they know a lot of English already, yet their pronunciation needs some work, so we’ve been hammering that out during our time there. The kids really like us, and it’s fun to get into character while we’re teaching…. And I forget sometimes how difficult it is to learn English as I stumble to explain different concepts of how we talk. It can be quite tricky!

We also have been at a place called Date’s house – a ministry that reaches out to the kids and older youth of the neighborhood, and is basically like a drop in and hang out center, only it’s in a Christian environment. Four from my team including myself have been going there 5 days a week and we’ve been having the time of our lives hanging out with these kids. They’ve got so much energy all the time, and I don’t actually understand how they can run around in this weather, but they are a great encouragement to me when I don’t feel like I can! Haha. We’ve been able to just love on them, teach them English, and bible stories, as well as share our own experiences of following God. They really look up to us and it’s been so cool to build up the friendships that we have over the course of our time here. I thought it would be a fun idea to have my team come and teach them hip-hop dance for an hour last week, so I greed and told them we’d come, and later found out that no one really knew hip-hop nor wanted to do it… so I said “we’re gonna put on our happy faces and enjoy this” and we busted out some old school moves like the sprinkler, downhill skiing, the q-tip, the shopping cart and a few more – it was ridiculous.. but we just hammed it up and even though I wouldn’t call them “hip-hop” moves, we had a ball. They loved it too. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with this song or not, but if you ever come to Asia, be prepared to dance to “gangnam style”. 

We’ve also been sending some of our team to the slums to work with kids there, where they give the kids baths, and hang out and let them run and jump around and play with them.  Another thing we’ve been intentional about is evangelism. The language barrier makes it difficult, but we’ve usually found people who can translate. My teammate Seline from Norway and I went out last week and we chatted to a French couple that was here touring, and then they let us prayed for them. We also prayed for a woman in a wheelchair with a crippled leg. I watched as she responded in a bit of a shock when we asked her to pray for her. Cambodians are 94% Buddhist, so one would naturally have this reaction. 

I go to a church in the slums on Sundays. It’s a small little church in someone else’s home, not much more than a little hut made from dried bamboo. I’m so humbled when I see how little they have, yet how much they thank God for. It’s amazing this little community of about 7 people that come together to worship God. I’m so encouraged as I look at they’re faith. And I pray God would grow their church and that it would be a light in the slum they live in. After church last week, we met a man with a crippled leg, and I am terrible at names, so I’ll call him Bob. We chatted to Bob and asked if we could pray for his leg – for healing and strength to come back to it. We explained why we were praying – because we believe that God can heal and that He still heals today. He agreed to let us pray, and then we were able to share the gospel to him, and give him a bible since he didn’t have one. I don’t think he had ever read the bible before, so I was super stoked to give it to him!

We got the opportunity to share the gospel with a bunch of non-believers this weekend. On Saturday, we hosted a volleyball tournament at the base which drew at least 50 people in, about 20 of them un-believers. We had a blast playing and the tournament got pretty competitive. But after the first round, we took a break and shared the “Everything” skit from Lifehouse. If you’ve never seen it, it’s a powerful message of a girl who gets really wrapped up into boys, money, alcohol, an eating disorder, and cutting herself. She gets so far apart from God the more she gives herself over to these other things.. and at the end, she almost kills herself, but decides against it and fights back to get back to God, but all of the other things are holding her back. All the while, God is on the other side pulling her and trying to get her back and eventually steps in representing Jesus by throwing them all back at the same time. It’s an incredible way of acting out the length of love that God extends in order to get us back. And from this we had a girl named Emma share her testimony, and then Luke – my co –leader shared the gospel with everyone. It was really cool and I was so excited about it! We didn’t see anyone receive salvation but there were definitely seeds planted that day. Praise God for sweet opportunities!

This week we finish up our ministries and then we’re off to a village about and hour and a half away to work in an orphanage for a week, where we will teach kids about the bible and do dramas and tell stories, and sing songs. I’m super pumped for it! I have no idea what to expect.

So earlier when I said, I felt like someone painted my picture the wrong colors, I wasn’t kidding. Cambodia is hot, and sweaty, and there are more loud noises than I can count on one hand, I’m mostly eating rice and veggies every day, there are usually challenges daily with our team – like sickness, attitudes, or we aren’t always organized. I will tell you – this outreach has been much harder than I had expected. But perhaps, it’s possible, that it’s not about me. If it were, the picture would be exactly what I imagined it to be.. which would be boring and predictable if I’m honest with myself. Sometimes I think God gives us more than we can handle because His vision is so much bigger than our own, and the only way we’ll ever grow is if He pushes us into the position where it seems like we’re unable.. but it’s totally untrue. With God, great things can happen. In Him I put my hope, in Him I put my trust, that He will be my rock and faithful father. And perhaps God is doing something much bigger. Perhaps, I have only seen a glimpse of the picture… perhaps He’s wanting to stretch my faith, perhaps, there’s so much more than my own understanding and what I can see with my own eyes. Perhaps, things are difficult so that I can come out stronger in the end, with more understanding of what kind of God I live for.  I want to keep looking forward with eyes of faith for God to move in me and my team while we’re here. In Psalms it says “For He is good, His faithful love endures forever. “ And I think I need to embrace that with all of my heart and rest upon it as truth that never changes.

So along with laughs, and tears, loud noises and lots of sweat, this has been an adventure. For me it’s been the farthest thing from perfect, but really, when is anything ever perfect? 

Just want to say thank you for praying. I can’t imagine doing what I’m doing without a support system back home, encouraging me and praying for me and supporting me financially. Thank you! And most importantly all glory goes to God for leading me, and leading my team. I wouldn’t be here without Him. He’s so good. And He’s so faithful. “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us”.

Lord, I give You my heart.

It’s all happening!!! The SPORTS DISCIPLESHIP TRAINING SCHOOL has arrived and is in full swing. We have 21 students from Canada, the USA, Turkey, Indonesia, Northern Ireland, England, Norway, and Holland. It’s been an absolute blast getting to know all of these guys. I’ve been loving the cultural differences… they definitely make for a laugh at times when there is miscommunication. But it’s also been great to see the way that this group in particular has been getting along and really becoming “mates” as they invest themselves into this school.

So our school works like this:

-          6 am is exercising time – we use this time to wake up for the day and to get a kick start into the morning ahead

-          8 am – all students and most staff clean the base for 30 min in different areas- we call it morning chores

-          8:30 am – worship/prayer times/or a school meeting

-          9:30 am – we give the students a ‘morning tea’ break til 10

-          10 am – we start our class sessions for the day

-          From 10-12:30 we have a speaker that will talk about a specific topic every day for one week. Tomorrow we will start learning about spiritual warfare and how to take fight the plans of the devil. We have thus far learned about –hearing the voice of God and spending time with the Lord, the character of God, repentance and forgiveness, and prayer and worship… It’s been sweet to see the students grow and really implement these things into their lives as they each grow in their relationship with God.

-          1:30 the students have work duties til 3:30 this is time for us as staff to be in staff class, staff meeting or catch up on work

-          3:30 – small groups, sport activity, class, evangelism or free time depending on the day

-          5:30 dinner!

-          Monday nights we have class after dinner

-          Tuesday nights we play sport In the community against other organized teams (I play soccer!)

-          Wednesday is our free night

-          Thursday is evangelism in the city

-          Friday night is where we have a meeting all together for worship and a message and fellowship after.

The weeks have been flying by… 

These students have been learning and growing so much, and it’s been incredible to watch them take ahold of their relationship with God and ask Him where to go and what to do. All of them have been taking this time seriously to focus and apply themselves and they’ve been able to see God move because of that. An example would be in the area of evangelism. Many of them have never told anyone about Jesus before coming here.. (I was like that too) But we have made very intentional efforts to go together into areas of the city and sing songs and be unapologetic about our faith in God. Not in a “bible bashing, I’m right and you’re wrong” kind of way, but in a way where we aren’t afraid to actually claim that we are believers. And because of this, many of the students have come to have great conversations with people. They have gotten to connect and share a little bit about who God is for them and this has made a real impact in the city of Perth, simply because they chose to step out in faith and not be silent. It’s amazing.

Some topics we have covered as a school are:

1.       Hearing the voice of God

2.       The Character and Nature of God

3.       Forgiveness and Sins week

4.       Worship and prayer

5.       Spiritual warfare

6.       God’s father heart

7.       The fear of the Lord

8.       Making Jesus Lord

All of these have been great, and our class is a really good group. I have seen God work in each one of their lives as we’ve had teachings and application of these topics… I have been especially blown away by God’s way of speaking to one of my students..He’s really been healing her past and showing her that there is so much more ahead of her. Many of these international students are feeling called to missions, which is so exciting! They are very talented and gifted young people and I’m really pumped for the way they will be used in the lives of others and in the nations!

Jesus has been taking me through a very close and detailed season. I am being challenged in my identity and taking it on as I feel God shows me new things about myself. I have recognized it necessary to lay down my reputation and take up my identity in God in order to find real security… this has been a huge thing for me as I have staffed this school. Accepting who I am and accepting who I’m not and then taking on the call of God and drive forward so that He can use me! It’s been a sweet freedom to experience. I have also been challenged to give up things I want to see happen, in order to make Jesus the king over my life. This, I am still learning how to do, but God has never once left me alone, which I couldn’t be more thankful for. So I’m growing a lot!!

Lastly, I have been appointed as a Co-leader to take a team of 11 to Cambodia, Thailand, and Southeast Asia. We will be working with children and aim to use sports as a ministry tool to connect with the kids. We will also be doing evangelism!

Financial update: God has been so good and faithful to provide a whole heap of all that I am needing. I had an amount of $3,500 of need to go on outreach and He has been really moving as I’ve prayed and obeyed and provided almost three quarters of that! I have a current need of $925 and I am putting my faith in God to see that all come in about a week and a half. We have been doing car washes and hot dog selling to raise finances on the weekends, and we will be doing a run/leap-frog-a-thon in about a weeks’ time. If God is moving on your heart to give towards this outreach, you can e-mail me at erikasimpkins@gmail.com and I’ll let you know how you can do that!

Christmas….. it’s just around the corner! It’s hard to imagine a Christmas where there’s no snow, but I’m adapting to the turnaround in climates. We have been getting weather recently in the upper 70’s and 80’s and will almost definitely have a really hot Christmas. I will miss the snow and all my friends and family, but I can‘t say the beach doesn’t sound nice. J

Thank you again for all of your prayers and generosity. I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing without you, and because of your investing into this mission and what God is doing on this side of the world, there is much more fruit that is produced for His kingdom!

It's all for Jesus.

These last 2 months could be simply summed up like this: Full and fun with family.

To have a close relationship with my sister has been one of the biggest treasures in my life, but after spending these last 3 months with Molly here in Australia, I would say I feel like I’ve been given gold.

As an outsider getting to watch Molly really invest herself here in YWAM, it’s clear that God has changed her heart in so many ways. If you know her, you might know that she is very strong willed and one-minded in her way of thinking. She’s used this to be an incredibly bold leader in her years of growing up, but it’s also caused her to maybe fall a bit harder than she would have like. Over these last 3 months, Molly has been in class learning more about who God is, and what that means for her own life. There were topics like God’s character, what is repentance and forgiveness?, how do we worship God?, God as our Lord and Saviour, and God’s Father heart. As she has met and engaged with God during these times, her heart has become much softer in a sense that she is more open in her ways of thinking. She’s still Molly with a fireball of an attitude, but there is definitely a new recognition of listening to other people that she has begun to put into practice. As well, I think she has really changed in a way where she sees there is a lot of things she wants to see change about herself, and her desire to see that happen has really come out. I love that her and I can be open with each other and share the things that we’re dealing with (like attitudes or problems with people, or situations) and encourage and pray with one another. What a gift that is!! We also had a lot of fun as well. We went on a camping trip together with her sports crew and it started to rain in the middle of the night. She needed my shoes, and I didn’t let her borrow them so after she came back into the tent, she stepped on my pillow with her wet sock, which fueled a bit of a frenzy at 3 am…. But made up eventually :)

Evangelism

Personally, I have been really been stepping out more in evangelism. I mentioned in my last blog how I felt like God was really challenging me to be more active in this area, and I feel that since,  there have been a number of scenarios that I’ve had the opportunity to be bold and say something to someone.  Now they haven’t really been all people that I just randomly go up to and talk to.. they are more so people that I feel are highlighted to me when I have been out and about. I want to share some of them with you:

I was running to the grocery store down the street just a couple weeks ago and I was in a hurry to get home before the sun went down. As I was running, a very old man came into my sight, and I almost came to a complete stop and I just knew I had to pray for him. I got over my fear quickly, and just went up to him honestly and said, “Hello, I’m Erika, and I just felt like God told me to pray for you”. And He said, “Who?” And I said “God.” He said “Ohhh, God!” He accepted my request to pray and actually share with me that his knee has been making it hard to him to walk. So I had the chance to just chat with him and encourage him a little bit. His name is Peter. Little did I know, a couple weeks later I would run into Peter again on the way to the store.  I asked him how he was doing and he seemed to be doing well. We got into quite a conversation where he shared with me a bit more about where he’d come from and about his life. He’s from Yugoslavia and he used to be in the army there. I really felt like him and I had made friends. He also knows I work with missions and tell people about God and he thinks that it’s good so that’s cool!

Another one was an Indian Sikh woman who I felt to pray for while she was waiting for the bus. We were chatting for while and I told her I was a Christian and she wanted to receive prayer, although she is of the Sikh religion (Similar to muslim I think). She said in their culture it is always a good thing when a stranger comes and asks them to pray for them…. So that was really sweet as well!

The last one I’ll share happened today actually. I was in town and I turned a corner to find the sweetest old woman who was shaking in a wheelchair with a sign next to her explaining she has M.S. and any generosity would be appreciated.  At first my heart just stopped. I later went around the corner to ask the Lord what I should do, if anything. It was so sad! So I just started to pray for her and her life. After that, I went over to her and introduced myself and I felt to tell her how deeply loved and cared for she is. And to my surprise she replied something like this: “Thank you. I know God loves me, and I know He’s looking after me. Things are starting to look up for me.” She told me that the police have a place for her to stay at the moment and she is waiting to be moved into a place that takes care of people with disabilities. My heart actually melted as I talked with her. She had so much hope in her eyes, and I was encouraged myself by her ability to remain in a hopeful state being as she is. I did feel to give her some money, which she very thankfully received. But it was by far the best part of my day. There was so much love shared.

^If there is one thing I have learned about this, it's that God will always lead you. Even if you're scared. If you say "God I'm willing to step out and make a difference for you, will you show me how?" He will not set you up to fail. He will put the right people in your path who you can offer something to. God is so committed to seeing the lost found that He will lead you through the whole thing. Just an encouragement if you feel like this is an area you're being challenged in.

Street chaplains have been going well. It’s always an adventure in the night club scene from the hours of 9pm-4am. And I’ve seen a lot of action….been challenged in a lot of ways, but it’s definitely been a highlight of my work here. I love getting my hands dirty..even if that means cleaning up vomit off someone who had one too many :)

WHAT I’M DOING AT YWAM NOW:

If you remember in my last blog, I wrote about how I wasn’t sure where I was supposed to give myself and my time to. Well, prayer has been answered, and I am excited to announce that I will be a staff on the October Sports Discipleship Training School (DTS) that will run from October-April 2013. 6 months of learning and training, class, mentoring, playing sports, and going into the nations and sharing the gospel. In a nutshell, that is what we will do but there are a lot of things that play into this 6 months. I know that I shared last year about the Music DTS that I was on staff with---where  we used music as a tool to share Jesus with people, and make a lot of noise! This year (as I love sports just as equally as music), I have been led to staff the DTS with a sports focus. I’m excited. So this is what Molly is doing, only her DTS started in July and she was at our base for 3 months of training and is now on Outreach to (Northern Australia to work with Aboriginal communities, and then her team will head to Uganda in a few weeks).

I will be staffing alongside 3 of my friends Bridget, Luke and Jason, and Jason and Luke are co-leading the School together. I’m pumped!  We’ve made a short video to send to our (about 20) students coming…kind of an “introductory, can’t wait til you’re here, this is gonna be awesome” kinda thing.

If you’re interested in watching this 1 minute clip, this is it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36Y4gNfuoeo&feature=player_embedded

Bridget isn’t in it, sadly, but she’s still all in.

There’s also profiles on our website you want to read about us J

http://www.ywamperth.org.au/sports/?staff

I anticipate a lot of changes coming (some have already begun):

--Waking up earlier…. 5am…aaaahh and then begin with morning exercise as a group at 6 am.. woo!

--a lot of “go go go” mentality

--stepping up as a leader and fulfilling the role God is calling me to

--challenges, situations where I won’t know the answers

--I’ll be a lot more busy

--Exciting times….getting to mentor and champion students in their relationship with God as well as getting to disciple them as they learn and grow and discover!!! I’m so excited.

--Lots of fun, crazy, spontaneous moments…

--Lots that I will learn!! Always good.

****The thing I need to keep my eye on is Jesus..  the most important thing is that Jesus is in the center and I am depending on Him to make everything happen.  ßIf there is any prayer on my heart it is just that! And that I will stay humble always as I serve.

Thank you so much for your support. I need you to know that I wouldn’t be in the place I am if it weren’t for your prayers, your financial help, and encouragement in all that God’s doing in my life. I’m so grateful and thankful, and it makes me all the more excited to continue moving forward knowing I’m in the right place and I’ve got people to affirm over me as well.

                                                                                                                                             

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. -Jeremiah 29:11

A Piece of Perth.

Home sweet home and then back again just like that! 

I was so incredibly blessed to have gotten the chance to come home to spend 5 weeks with my family and friends in Minnesota. It was so fun. I got to see lots of people, go to heaps of parties, I saw my cousin get married as well as my friend from high school, which were both exciting. A highlight was definitely eating such good american food that I don't get over here...I got to catch up with people, and spend some quality time with the ones I love, especially my sisters and my parents which was really special. I had a really really refreshing break, and I'm really thankful for that special time =)

And since I have arrived back in Perth, life has been pretty much done a 180 as far as keeping busy goes. I've jumped straight back into ministry again, and have been involved in quite a few things over the past 4 weeks. Some of those have included: taking on the direct mail for our base...which may sound simple, but it's actually covering all of the communication with people outside of our base. We take care of all the special cases for mail that comes in...covering a variety of forms with different scenarios, and we make sure all of our information in our database is accurate and always up to date. It took us 2 weeks to train into this position.. and I think I'm starting to get a hang of it. It was a bit of a challenge to take on this new role with willingness, but I had a change of heart when I recognized the way that this serves our base and why we need to communicate with people outside of YWAM. So I am serving the best I can in this time of need.. although it's not my passion, I know that God is still using it to teach me many things I've never understood before. 

I also got straight back into street chaplains. I went out about a week ago during the weekend shift (9pm-4am ) on Saturday night. And I was really pretty pumped up about the night after I got back. I was able to assist 2 individuals who were vomiting and needed someone to clean them up, and sit with them, offered another girl a bit of council, and gave away 2 pairs of flip flops to girls who were needing shoes. Along with these situations were conversations that sparked an interest in many people's heads. They often ask "why are you guys doing this?" And we just say because we're here to help. And it speaks a lot about the love of God without being forward and preachy. It's quite a sweet ministry and I'm really excited to be a part of it.

One thing that I feel that God has been doing in my heart lately is giving me a greater heart for the lost. Evangelism in everyway has been stirring inside of me as something to be putting into practice on a daily basis. It's so simple, yet we make it so twisted and complicated and awkward. At least I do. We went out as a base a few weeks ago, and I paired up with Gabi Norman (one of mine and my sisters' friend from back home who is also here doing a DTS). We saw these 2 aboriginal girls sitting in the park with their dog. We both felt to go and talk to them and so we did. The conversation was really tough to get going, as I found out they were around the ages of 10 and 12, which is so young to be out in the city alone at!! We asked them if they wanted to walk over to McDonald's and get an ice cream cone with us, and they both smiled and said yes. They were both pretty apprehensive but they definitely opened up as we continued to pursue them. I could tell the older one was really hard hearted and at the end when we walked them home, we asked them if we could pray for them, and they said, "yeah pray for a better life". I'm still thinking about that, because it means she knows there is so much more, but doesn't believe she'll ever get there. So we prayed, and said good night to them. 

After this, there have been more people that the Lord has high lighted to me to remind me that there is so much work to be done before Jesus returns. God wants EVERYONE to know Him, and there are still so many unsaved souls walking around right in my own neighborhood and yours too! I saw a homeless guy eating out of a garbage can over the weekend, as well as young girls who were inappropriately dressed and having a smoke of a cigarette, and my heart was just getting so burdened for the lost of this world!! I see how much opportunity is in front of us every single day and we let it slip away from us because of fear or awkwardness, when really we have nothing to lose! Just something to think about... we have an absolutely invaluable gift to share with the world, and it's up to us to think outside of ourselves and go. 

The Olympics has been on my heart too...very massively. I feel moved to pray for this time as SO many people from countries all over the world gather in London. There is incredible opportunity for change to happen, and for God's hand to do something huge...and so I would encourage anyone who recognizes this as well to really press in in the place of prayer for London, and for the people there in this time. We have teams there at the moment, and we have a team focusing in on trafficked women in this city over this period of time... they definitely need more prayer behind their ministry so keep them in your prayers.

One thing I NEED TO say is that I LOOOVE having my sister, Molly here. She's amazing, and it's been so much fun to hang out and live in the same city, and work in the same place every day. She's golden,and she's learning SO much. She pulls me aside from time to time to just spill about how things are going, ask for advice, tell me a story, or to just pester me as little sisters do.. and it's been just a ball. We haven't had tons of time together because she's pretty busy with her Discipleship Training School, but I've loved our little moments here and there. There's also a friend from church here, named Amada, and Gabi as well who I mentioned earlier. It's a cool thing to have people you know well be with you across the world for a time... I like it.

Lastly, I have been really looking ahead into the future and trying to figure out what is the vision I have... one thing you could pray for is that I would see clearly what God is calling me to do and asking of me in this time. I'm definitely here and loving it, but I'd love to know more and get an idea of what I'm working towards this next year. 

Just want to send a thank you for all of you who made coming home an amazing time. It was such a lovely and special time and I'm so grateful to have gotten to spend it with so many outstanding people. And I'm looking forward to hearing from you this next year as I'm away, as well as sharing with you what happens next!! 

Love,

Erika