HMMMMM.....

Some of you have asked, and I wanted to share with you about the student retreat we had last weekend.

We had the opportunity to get away from the city, away from distractions, away from pressures of friends, and for many, the first time to get away and experience God on a deeper level. The week leading up to retreat we bathed that time together in prayer, asking the HS to rain down so heavy upon the place that the students couldn’t deny the existence of the living God. We invited those who were believers (old/new), and those really close.

So as I sit here, thinking, typing, and continuing to process the weekend, where do I even begin to write down the power and workings of the HS? How do I even begin to adequately illustrate how big, how powerful, how glorious and how precious God is?

Two posts ago, I talked about how majestic the mountains are, and how they sing God’s praise. The place where we had retreat was in the mountains. What better way to know God would work the miraculous than to drive through the mountains (the very thing that shows His majesty). I don’t know about you, but I really like to listen to and watch people when they get to a place for something like a retreat. There’s this sense of anticipation in the air, God starts to really take over and He becomes inescapable. Once we started the presence of the Lord was abundant, and I knew people wouldn’t leave the same. Once you’ve been touched by the presence of the Holy Spirit, you’re never the same rather you want to admit it or not.

I wanted to share with you a story about one of my girls but just a little background to the story. Each time we had worship, a student (already designated) would share a testimony of how Jesus had transformed their life.

Friday night Rimma shared her story, so she was the first to share. I couldn’t help but be proud of her for standing up and sharing what God has done in her life. I remember the day she gave her life to Jesus as Lord and Savior and since I’ve had the opportunity to see her grow and learn what it means to follow Him. I’ve had the even greater privilege to have her in my small group. Her love for Jesus is so real it’s infectious and draws people close to the Kingdom. So when she was sharing, she was just real and authentic. Right then and there, God confirmed His presence was ridiculously covering the retreat, and to wait and marvel at what He was going to do.

But of course that’s not the end of the story, so where do we go from here? Our speaker shared a powerful message about authenticity of Jesus. Praise Him, glory to Him when 4 students accepted Jesus! The angels were singing praises to the King!

Saturday was a full day. Like I said in my previous post, at one point we split up. This gave us a time to be real, to be frank, to be authentic what it means to be women of God (and for the guys men of God).

A cool story about this time, even though we (4 girls) didn’t share what we would talk about to one another, God’s hand was at work. He seemed to create this natural flow that awesomely combined what was spoken. His spirit flowed through us, as we seemed to be one heart and mind.

Another thing to share. We had the opportunity to have some down time. I took the time to sneak in a quick nap because I knew that night would be a long night and wanted as much energy as possible. I read this part of scripture:

Teach me, LORD, the way of your decrees, that I may follow it to the end. Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law and obey it with all my heart. Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word. Fulfill your promise to your servant, so that you may be feared. Take away the disgrace I dread, for your laws are good. Psalm 119:33-39

I felt like this really spoke about the weekend so far, especially the part that says so you may be feared. This place, the people, they have this air of fear about them. I think it’s a combination of still dealing with post soviet control, and also religious control. The kind of fear that’s rooted deep down within the heart of the person. I believe even the kind of fear that they don’t even see and recognize anymore because Satan has done a masterful job of hiding it. The kind of fear that needs to be turned into a reverent fear of God.

Saturday night just before dinner it started snowing and actually didn’t really stop until the next day. We were just happy not to get snowed in. Sometime Sunday morning the roads were plowed because we had gotten atleast 8 inches of snow. Although I secretly hoped we would just because I wasn’t ready for the weekend to end.

After dinner we had another time of worship and message. This time there was a new found sense of urgency in the worship. The last song we sang is called Freedom and for those of you who don’t know it I’ve included the lyrics:

I wanna praise a little longer than before.
I wanna lift my hands higher than before.
I wanna shout a little louder than before.
I wanna shout a little louder than before.

Freedom, Freedom
Freedom, Freedom

I wanna worship a little deeper than before.
I wanna love you more than before.
I wanna dance more freely than before.
I wanna dance more freely than before.

Freedom, Freedom
Freedom, Freedom

I want your love so near me.
And I want peace everlasting
And I want joy to flood my soul.
Flood my soul.

It was incredible to hear students shout at the top of their lungs FREEDOM, to see them raising their arms in singing to Jesus, and to feel freedom washing over us. Honestly I don’t even think these words do justice to the experience.

Let me continue to Sunday our speaker had been bringing it all weekend, but this message was even more powerful and spirit led. After he finished sharing what God had laid on his heart, I can’t even describe the atmosphere; the presence of God was ridiculous. He asked if anyone wanted to accept Jesus to come forward, to not be afraid so that we could rejoice with them and pray with them. I can’t tell you how much my spirit was overwhelmed and how much my heart leapt out of my chest as I saw probably 15-20 students basically run up to the front. Seeing them, I was reminded yet again of the power of our Living God! Seeing them I saw yet again how real and powerful the prayers of the saints are.

There’s so much more I could share but I had to pick and choose what to write without this being too ridiculously long. I wanted to thank you for your support, your prayers, and your love.

So I’ll leave you with one last song:

Прихожу к тебе я
С хвалою
Чудеса Твои велики
И любов Твоя сильна (2 раза)
You deserve the glory and the honor
As we lift our hands in worship
As we praise Your holy name (repeat)

Ты велик
Ты прекрасен и велик
И другого нет как Ты
И другого нет как Ты
You are great,
You do miracles so great,
There is no one else like You,
There is no one else like You.

Everyday here is an immense and incredible privilege

Just a little something...

So just a little something I was thinking about the other day....there's more to come but this is just the beginning....

What does it mean to be pure in heart?
First we must look at what pure means: Free from blemish, contamination and is spotless. A diamond is judged pure by 4 characteristics. The purist diamond has met the highest standard of each characteristic: Rarity, purity, beauty, necessity. But this is rare, and just like no natural diamond is the same no heart is the same

So what does it mean to be pure in heart?
First step is dealing with pride. Pride is man’s way of hiding behind their vulnerability and staying independent. The scriptures say: a man’s pride will bring him low (Proverbs 29:23). Pride isn’t something to boast about. Pride is rooted too deep within a person’s heart to be removed alone. You have to ask God to help you remove pride from your heart and life.

So where do we go from here? There’s a verse in the scriptures that says: create in me a pure heart O God (Psalm 51:10).
Let’s look back at what it means for a diamond to be pure and what that means to ask God for a pure heart.

Rarity. A believer’s love for God is rare and unnatural compared to the rest of the world. You want a heart so in love with God versus so in love with man that when someone is around you they see God reflected in your actions.

Purity. You want a heart that is spotless. This I believe is the hardest of the 4 characteristics. This characteristic means that the things in your heart must be spotless. In other words your heart must be God centered, God focused, and not driven by unclean motives. By the grace and love of God, He helps us as we learn what it means to have a heart with this character. Without Him purity wouldn’t exist.

Beauty. A beautiful heart reflects the image of God within a person. Beauty in this case isn’t focused on the outside it’s centered on the inside. A beautiful heart attracts others to Jesus because they see how He has transformed your life.

Necessity. Besides the obvious of needing a heart to survive. Necessity in this case means a hunger, a desire, a passionate pursuit of wanting to know more and more daily about Jesus and what it means to follow God. God’s our life, our breath, He’s our strength. Just like a body needs food and water to survive so does a believer’s heart. We can only be fed and thirst no longer by following Jesus.

So I’ll end with this verse: blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God (Matthew 5:8).
The more we ask God to create in us a pure heart, the closer to Him we get, the more we will see Him, and the more in love with Him we will be.


The next post I'll tell you about the student retreat we had last weekend.....until then.

Praise the Risen King!

Spring...

For the past two months the weather has been amazing. I can safely say this southern girl has found her niche...and that niche is a real legit winter. One complete with multiple feet of snow, air cold enough to sting a little while breathing, and icicles form from snot or any precipitation when walking. I know sounds attractive eh, but I love it!

Although with such awesomeness there's a down side. The dreariness of winter starts to take its toll. The sun doesn't shine as often, the people all seem grumpy, and clouds are always overhead. Don't get me wrong I like clouds, but when you go over 2 weeks without sunshine, clouds don't seem as cool anymore.

That's why I really like the weather right now. The temperatures are in the 50s, a cool breeze, and the sun is shinning. Also the mountains are beginning to peak through the fog of the fading winter. When I look at the mountains I'm reminded of God's glory and His love for creation. I know that all creation sings praises to the King, but I like to think that they sing more when this time of the year rolls around as everything comes back to life.

Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always. 1 Chronicles 16:9-11

One of the things I've been learning more and more this past month is what it means to stay under the blood of Christ. As a believer we know Christ has redeemed us by His blood, but sometimes we tend to forget the redemption. We either get carried away in our own selfishness, or let satan convince us that we are not saved. So instead of looking to the Cross, we look to an idol, a friend, or ourselves and then wonder why we're struggling. All the while Christ is calling out for us.

Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. Exodus 12:7,13

So what did the Israelites do? They put the lamb's blood (Christ) on the doorposts, they stayed under the blood of the lamb, and were saved.

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 1 Peter 1:18-19

So what is Peter saying here? The people knew the scriptures, they knew the passover, they knew staying under the blood saved the Israelites. So Peter is reminding them, that Christ, the new Passover Lamb saved them and took away our sins. The one who knew no sin became sin, He took it upon Himself to redeem us from a perishable life.

So what does this all mean? When I feel like satan is weighing me down with my sin, or battling to win me back to his kingdom. All I need to do is remember that I live under the blood of the Lamb, and sin has no more power in my life.

Folks How is it Already February?

“And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27

“And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.” Genesis 2:2-3

I write these two verses which I believe to be a good glimpse of our January in Kazakhstan. After our Russian final, after pushing through six Christmas parties for our One More Friend students (which I would do all over again), after celebrating actual Christmas (which included 8in of fresh snow and sledding!!), after celebrating the New Year with great fellowship (watching the sky light up like something I've never seen), after many other great memories…needless to say our team needed a break.

Fortunately for us, many of our friends are students and like most college students (especially the first 2 years) go home for the holidays. Since we got a month off from classes, our friends left as soon as they finished their exams. Some of our friends had 9 finals! Yes folks you read that right 9! So needless to say they were glad to be done and going home for a break.

At first we thought, with them gone we would be missing great opportunities to hang out with them. Then God spoke to many of us, to be patient and wait, He would provide many other opportunities for us to speak into the lives of those around us. Then the above verses kept being brought to our attention. We needed refreshment…recovering…we needed a Sabbath.

So what does one do with a month off from school, no vehicle to travel with, most local friends gone, and no homework! Sleep. Relax. Read. Enjoy renewing fellowship with one another. Sleep. Begin to see the vision for the Spring semester. Sleep. Can you tell we enjoyed the opportunity to sleep and rejuvenate?!?!

As we were winding down our break, gearing up for the new semester, we had a team retreat. A pastor from Arizona came to share and speak renewing life into our being. There's something so powerful to be reminded of the promises given to us because of who we are in Christ. We went to a local hotel, we slept on real beds (don’t get me wrong I’ve grown to love my dorm “bed” or shall I say thick cushion) but sleeping on a real bed with springs was an incredible treat. Of course all that was secondary to the words of life spoken through our pastor friend by God’s spirit. We had worship every time our friend spoke, and it was great to be in a room surrounded by people worshiping the Living God. There’s always something powerful in worship when the room is full of people there with the same purpose, same vision, same heart for those around them, the Spirit in the room is overwhelming. Here are just a few things our friend imparted to us:

"If you want to demonstrate the power of Christ, you must know who you are in Christ."

"Our unknown identity leaves us cautious and afraid."

"The devil likes to bring up your past in order to destroy your future."

"You were saved on purpose by God with a purpose!"

Why do we listen to the devil? If he bothers us about our past, remind him of his future!"

"God doesn't disqualify us, we disqualify ourselves."

"You will never be filled with the HS if you are sitting in the corner, not close enough for Him to touch you."

Lastly I wanted to include 3 songs which have not only been on my heart heavily but songs that we sing regularly. The 1^st is the song Everyday by Hillsong in Russian so I won’t translate you can look up the lyrics if you can’t remember them all, the 2^nd is called Pure by Kari Jobe, the 3^rd is a song one of my team members wrote, simple but very powerful and I don’t know what it’s called and I included a translation.

Каждый день

Точно Я знаю за меня
Ты жизнь отдал
Я тебя славлю милость Ты Свою послал
Спас меня Господь для Тебя сейчас живу
Каждый день буду верить слову Твоему

На Твоём Слове буду твёрдо я стоять
Я молюсь чтобы Тебя больше мне познать
Чтоб меня вёл Ты
Каждый шаг мой направлял
Каждый день буду Твоё Слово исполнять

Каждый день живу
C Тобой Бог
Каждый день иду я за Тобой
Каждый день живу Господь Тобой

Каждый день

мой для Тебя...

Pure

Your love is pure
Your love is precious
Your love is all I need
Your love surrounds me
Your love astounds me
Your love is everything

I run to You
When my heart is weak
I cling to You
You're all I seek
It's my hearts desire
To be close to You
Cause here in Your arms
I'll find my strength

Иисус сейчас здесь

Его могучая сила здесь чтоб спасти тебя

Его могучая сила здесь исцелит тебя

Его могучая сила здесь освободит тебя

Иисус сейчас здесь

Jesus is here now

His mighty strength is here to save you

His mighty strength is here to heal you

His mighty strength is here to free you

Jesus is here now

Oh and those from Sam...the 4 of us are doing great! We miss yall and love yall much!

December in rewind

Sorry for not updating about December, but I'll try to give you a brief update of the past month.

December started with the anticipation of the end of this semester becoming more real. We realized we only had 3 weeks left with some of the students before they went home for good, and the rest of our students went home for holiday. We became even more strategic and purposeful with the time we had left with them.

Our students are intimate and personal when it comes to family and friends. As a team we had to decide how to celebrate Christmas with them and share the Christmas story. What better way than to have 6 small, intimate parties on 6 different nights for them to choose from. This way no one would get lost in the crowd, and we would have ample opportunity to talk to them.

They were able to make cards, play games, and decorate cookies. Then we gathered them together in the living room, served them dinner, and Scott shared with them the most important part, the Christmas story. For some it was the first time they've heard the story. I can't tell you how many times we heard the following:

• I'll never forget this night, even when I'm old I'll tell of this night to my grandchildren.
• I've never heard this story before.
• I've always wanted to celebrate Christmas and the birth of His Son.
  
• I've heard the story before but never like this, and never with this much love.
  

It made us feel privileged and honored to be able to share in this great joy with them. After we told them the story we gave them a gift. A bookmark, an OMF CD, and the Great Book in either Kazakh or Russian. It was beautiful to see some clutching that bag like a treasured jewel they would never let out of their sight.

Below is one of the group pictures.



Even after the dust was settled, and the parties were over, and we stopped living the day over 6 times, ask any of us and we would do it again. We laid the harvest throughout the semester, watered the fields and started seeing the beginning sprouts of the work we've done. The fruit is becoming more evident.

Then came Christmas day. BUT let me first explain Christmas eve. Coming from Texas this poor southern has never experienced a white Christmas. The closest I've come is 2 days before and by the 24th the snow had melted away. So needless to say I was giddy with anticipation living in a cold place with the legitimate opportunity to have a white Christmas. However the city was experiencing a warm front, and by warm I mean the high 40s, so my excitement dwindled. BUT then the 24th the day started getting colder and by the end of the night it started snowing! By morning we had gotten 8 inches of snow!!! Needless to say I was a happy camper.

So back to Christmas, after we opened stocking most people went to sled, I stayed to help cook Mexican for lunch! Oh the joys of cooking Mexican, the only thing missing were tamales. After lunch, everyone seemed tired and wanted to nap. So we all took naps, then opened our secret santa gifts. I got an awesome Gloria Jeans traveling mug and tons of tea. Then I went sledding for I don't know how long, it was awesome!!

So that's my December recapped. There's so much more I could share but it would take too long to explain.

So I'll leave you with a few things:

A song I really love to sing in Russian that's been on my heart for some time now, especially since we sing it alot for our gatherings. It's the song Everyday and here are the lyrics in Russian:

Точно Я знаю за меня

Ты жизнь отдал

Я тебя славлю милость Ты Свою послал

Спас меня Господь для Тебя сейчас живу

Каждый день буду верить слову Твоему

На Твоём Слове буду твёрдо я стоять

Я молюсь чтобы Тебя больше мне познать

Чтоб меня вёл Ты

Каждый шаг мой направлял

Каждый день буду Твоё Слово исполнять

Каждый день живу с Тобой Бог

Каждый день иду я за Тобой

Каждый день живу Господь Тобой

Каждый день

мой для Тебя...

Another thing: Praise until the worship comes, worship until the glory comes, then stand in His presence or glory.

Here everyday is a privilege....

Happy New Year! С Новым Годом!

Happy New Year or as they say in Russian С Новым Годом! In post-sovient countries, much like Kazakhstan, New Year is a holiday celebrated much like Christmas.

Let me start by explaining the significance of this day:

Due to the suppression of religion during the Soviet regime, St. Nicholas was

replaced by Ded Moroz or Grandfather Frost, the Russian Spirit of Winter who brought gifts on New Year's. He is accompanied by Snyegurochka, the Snowmaiden, who helps distribute the gifts. He often brings them in person, at the celebrations of the New Year. The "in-person" gifts only occur at big organized celebrations, where the gifts can be "standardized." The clandestine operations of placing the gifts under the New Year tree still occur while the children

are young. Ded Moroz is accompanied by Snegurochka (Russian: Снегурочка), or 'Snow Maiden,' his granddaughter. She is a unique attribute of the image of Father Frost – none of his foreign colleagues has a similar companion.

The traditional appearance of Ded Moroz has a close resemblance to that of Santa Claus, with his coat, boots and long white beard. Specifically, Ded Moroz wears a heel-long fur coat, a semi-round fur hat, and white valenki or high boots (sapogi), silver or red with silver ornament. Unlike Santa Claus, he walks with a long magical staff, does not say "Ho, ho, ho," and drives no reindeer but a troika.

The Christmas tree (Yolka) is yet another tradition banned during the Soviet era.To keep the custom alive, people decorated New Year's trees, instead. Since ornaments were either very costly or unavailable, family trees were trimmed with homemade decorations and fruit. Yolka comes from the word which refers to a fir tree. The custom of decorating Christmas trees was introduced to Russia by Peter the Great, after he visited Europe during the 1700s New Year Eve instead of Christmas.

Few people in Russia remember, but when the communists took power in 1917 they banned the open expression of religion. While it was easy to pray at home, the Russian people were concerned about giving up their traditional Christmas celebration.

So needless to say ringing in the New Year here was epic, and unlike anything I have ever experienced. Days before the 1st, people were already shooting off fireworks.

I had the privilege to spend New Years Eve with some incredible people. We had dinner, played some games, and went onto the roof to watch the fireworks. My friend's house where we were celebrating is close to the mountains. On this night, the view of the mountains was ridiculous. Most days and nights, the mountains are covered by pollution, or some type of fog in the air. Except this night! Minutes before midnight, people were already setting off fireworks, and at the stroke of 12 it seemed like everybody set off their fireworks in unison. The sky was lit by fireworks! We had a 360 view of the city and the mountains, and were overwhelmed by the epicness of fireworks. For the next 20 minutes all over, the city was lit in the best fireworks display these eyes have ever witnessed. They even continued to shoot off fireworks until 4am.

I was blown away by the majesty of it all. These people take this holiday so seriously. To see all those fireworks, makes me wonder how much money these people had to save throughout the year to shoot off that many for that long. The people aren't wealthy by any means, and put alot of their savings into this one night.

Here are a few pictures from that night, which by the way don't do justice to it at all!

Imagine the above picture 360, every house, and maybe you can imagine what we witnessed. Too bad it's a little blury...

Here are a couple of more pictures of my campus after the 2nd snowfall. Usually after a snowfall or the mornings are the best times to see the mountains clearly before the smog of the city is too much. When we do have an opportunity to see a clear view of them we're usually blown away by the beauty. Seriously folks these mountains look like a holiday back drop just pasted in the background.

Here everyday is a privilege