Sunday, December 29, 2013

Right now

Wearing: a very comfy dress I bought in Ross, a long cardigan and grey shoes.

Listening: Madison and Riley Cunningham - There May Be Tears

Reading: Funding Your Ministry by Scott Morton
 
Watching: I'm just about to go to the movies to watch Hunger Games 2

Doing: Not much. Listening to good music.

Loving: the weather in Arizona!!!

Hating: hm.. I don't hate anything right now.

Wishing: that God would answer some very specific prayers.. and wishing he would say what I want Him to say.

Wanting: oh.. a lot of things :)

God in my life

It's been 3 months since I moved to Kočevje where I now call home. I feel accepted and loved by the church and other people from Kočevje. I feel taken care of by God and people, and I feel like I fit in. Kočevje is such a small town and everyone knows each other.
I like living in a small town.

God is doing amazing things in our youth groups!

Shawn and I have been going through the Gospels with our youth, taking different events/parabells/Jesus stories, trying to help the kids understand who Jesus is and why they need Him. We have shared the gospel with them many times in the past year but now we started focusing more on what life with Jesus looks like after you accept Him into your life.

We have the most amazing High School group. We have 4 girls coming regularly, 2 pairs of sisters. They've been friends for a long time and meeting with them every Saturday doesn't even seem like ministry - it's friends coming together, playing games, talking about Jesus and how our lives are nothing without Him! God really blessed Christena and I with these girls.
We just recently had a girls night. We played sardines in the dark and watched a couple of different movies.
We watched The Vow - not a Christian movie but I really like the way a man pursues his wife who lost her memory of the past 5 years. He loves her so much he even lets her go until she comes back to him on her own. Isn't that a picture of Jesus in our lives? He pursues us with everything but then He also waits.. and we come to Him when we decide to, when we're ready. Such amazing love!
We also talked about our future husbands and how we would like to be pursued like that when the right man comes into our life.
I am so proud of these girls, they are really following God's plan for their life.
  
A new chapter in my life
I was recently offered a 1-year internship program with Josiah Venture, an organization that's been working in Slovenia for over 12 years and through which I came to the Lord. After praying and thinking about it I accepted their offer and I feel so honored to join Josiah Venture for a year, to serve under + with them, and to make an impact in lives of Slovene youth.


I'm in Phoenix, Arizona at the moment. I am so blessed to be spending time with Callie, my best friend from College, and her family on Christmas and New Years. After I leave Arizona, I am going to California, Oregon and Washington. I am going to share about God's work in Kočevje and invite people to partner with me in different ways.I will be returning to Slovenia on Feb 1st.
________________________________________________________

My life is pretty interesting at the moment :)
God is doing some things and I'm not sure what they are but I for sure know He is in control, He loves me and He only wants the best for me.
I am so grateful I belong to God, that I am His beloved daughter and that I can trust Him COMPLETELY with my life.


Merry Christmas, everyone, and a very happy New Year! 

Friday, November 22, 2013

Speakers week - Day 4 + 5

I am at home, in my bed, trying to reflect the week I just experienced. It was just so full of truth and love, and God's voice... that in the end it almost felt like too much. I felt like I couldn't receive anymore. But I did. God is good to even give for me to receive.

This is what He pointed out to me in the last 2 days.

2 Corinthians 9
2 marks of maturity:
1. Having a heart to sacrifice
2. Having a heart of dependency

This chapter also talks about money. Guilt is never a motivation but Paul exhorted people to be a body that gives. If we give with blessing, it comes back with blessing!
Matt 19:27-29 --> the economy of God works differently than the economy of men. Men hold it closely and lose it, God says to give it away and find it!
Time, money, stuff, life... if we give it away, it's not a resource issue; it's a heart issue. 
You never give unless you give yourself.
When we give, we fear we'll miss out and won't have something. "I don't sow because then I won't have it..". But we forget to realize that if we sow, it will grow and (re)produce!
God is overwhelmingly powerful and able to provide for us - but we need to depend on Him and have our hearts in the right place.

Do you believe the theology of dependancy on God or are you dependant on God?
We talk big but we need to live it!
God will NEVER let you down!

You want to change the world - but are you willing to pay the cost? It's going to cost you your own life!
Learn to depend on God!
_____________________________________

2 Corinthians 10
God is not in business to change our personality; we are who He made us to be.
God is in business to develop our character.

God brings us to a place of being complete + lacking nothing through shaping us!

We often think we'll go out in mission, claiming back people for the Kingdom of God. But before we can do that, we have to deal with strongholds of darkness that are within us.
(Eph 6) Truth, righteousness, Gospel, faith, salvation, the Spirit - these things are able to pull down strongholds. The contrast is the flesh!

Our salvation is not just coming out of bondage but coming to a place that God prepared for us!
_____________________________________

2 Corinthians 11
Ministry - not just about bringing the people in but about taking Christ out!

Corinthians began to believe a lie.
We must be careful; one of the deceptions out there is the idea that if I have a desire for something then it's probably not from God. Don't understand this in a wrong way - things still have to be confirmed by God - but we often think "Would God do what excites me?" --> God wants to give us desires of our hearts!
______________________________________

2 Corinthians 12
We can boast about a lot of things but even though Paul had a very interesting experience with the Lord, he didn't really share it with people.
Chuck Smith - he could boast about himself in so many different ways but his boasting was always in what God was doing!

When we're in our weakest, that's when God is the most glorified!

"A guy who is most blessed by God is usually most buffeted by Satan." - Alan Redpath

Suffering is not nice BUT it's needed! For us to learn our weaknesses, we need to be weak!
Step out into those things that are going to stretch you, break you, that are too much for you! That's when God's power is made perfect!

Are we willing to be used up for Jesus?
God's grace is enough - but it requires for us to walk in those areas of weaknesses to experience it and know it!
______________________________________

2 Corinthians 13
Verse 5 gives us two commands: examine and test yourself.
Continually do this.
- Examine, be found, be approved - find out where you are your walk with the Lord!
- Test, try, see if you're genuine, if you're the real thing.


This is how we finished our speakers week. With all that we heard, we took over 30min and just worshipped the Lord, took communion, spent time with our God. And we examined our hearts.
This was such a powerful week and my prayer is that I will remember the key things God spoke to me and live them, not just know them.

We have a really good God who speaks to us, if we listen.
Thank you Lord, that you opened my heart to hear you.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Speakers week - day 3

Today was one of those days when God just pours out SO MUCH! I was so richly blessed by all 3 sessions and all 3 pastors.
This is what stood out to me (forgive me, it's a lot.. which is a good thing really.)

School Paul went to - 2 Cor 6:4-5
1. Great endurance/patience - don't get ahead of God! Wait, wait, wait, then wait some more, wait, and wait until God tells you to go! How long did David have to wait to be a king, knowing he'll be a king?
Abide in Him and He will tell you when to go! John 15
2. Tribulation, living in need - 2 Cor 6:4-5
Faith-based missions movement! Who do you trust when you're in the season of need?
Classes Paul took at school - 2 Cor 6:6-8
Purity, knowledge, long-suffering, kindness...
He was learning how to treat people, learning about the Word of truth, the power of God - while serving God!
Degree Paul received at the end - 2 Cor 6:9-10
He became a nobody in many ways, people mocked him, saying his ministry was falling apart.
Paul said he was unknown but well known. Where was he well known? Read Acts 19 about the sons of Sceva - the demons in that story said "Jesus we know and Paul we know..." - Paul was well known in hell!

If you're in Christ Jesus, you're known in heaven. But you're doing very well in serving Jesus if you're known in hell!
Heaven knows those who are being in Christ. Hell knows those who are being used by Christ.

Paul was a man of sorrows - but sorrows for others!
If God gave you 2 bottles; 1 filled with tears shed for yourself and 1 filled with tears shed for others. Which one of them is full?

Paul gratuated his school with a heavenly perspective. He had nothing in the end but he was the richest, as are we! Why? Because we (will) always have enough. That's abundance!

Holiness! - 2 Cor 6:11-18
Have you yoked yourself to the worldly ideas and you don't even know it anymore? "I need to do something to succeed, I need to tell people I'm in need..." . Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. - Luke 12:31
___________________________________

3 marks of maturity - 2 Corinthians 7
1. Change - but being stable
Stability is not absence of change, it's the dependance upon God. Removing change from your environment  isn't maturity!
Am I changing? Is the ministry changing?

2. Commitment
We want commitment from everybody but we don't always commit ourselves. 
Paul had a heart to live + die for the people he ministered to. 
Will you give yourself for a people group/country/people/person...?
My generation has a huge fear of commitment because we feel like we're going to miss out on something (else) so we don't commit to anything! VERY dangerous in spiritual ways!

David + Goliath. David conquered Goliath.
Why was David at the battle? He was asked to carry some food to his brothers who were at the battle. He was a delly boy. It wasn't a great task - he was doing the daily things.
We think calling is formed in great decisions but we're wrong! Most of the time we receive our calling doing little things, like David! 
Commit yourself to anything you can find of the Lord you believe He calls you to! Don't just stand at a distance, help and then leave. Be a person who is willing to give herself in a service of Jesus Christ!

3. Repentance
Worldly sorrow vs Godly sorrow --- "I'm sorry I got caught" vs "turning from one direction and going a different direction, recognizing that something offended the heart of God."
Repentance = a change of mind, heart + action
Prov 23:7 --> your thinking reflects where you're at. 
Amos 3:3 --> you can't walk with the Lord unless you agree with Him!
Prov 27:18 --> your heart reveals who you are!
____________________________________

Giving - 2 Corinthians 8
When was the last time we thanked God for the grace to give? 2 Cor 8:4 - those people LOVED to give! 
When we understand the generosity God continually pours out on us, it should change our attitude of giving (finances, time, energy...). 
We wouldn't be able to give unless God gave us - it's a privilege to give!
It's easy to give when you have the money. When you don't, it's challenging.
Walking by faith - maturity.
We often limit what God would do because money isn't there.
Not having a lot of money makes us relatable to people we're ministering to.
If we look at ourselves and everything we have as the Lords, and God tells us to give to someone, the argument wouldn't/shouldn't be "But this is mine.."!
Do we abound in giving?
We should give as a habit.

The willingness to give reveals sincerety of our love. Jesus is the example --> gave up riches + glory in heaven to be with us and minister to us!
If we want others to benefit from our ministry, it's going to cost us something - life, health, money, time...

Receiving - 2 Corinthians 8
Money can corrupt you - be careful!
It's important to be transparent about money!
Have someone as an accountability!

The Bible never tells us about results but about fruit. Fruit has seeds in it and will re-produce. 
We want fruit that remains and not quick results - here today, gone tomorrow!
________________________________

This is some really good stuff! Well done if you stuck with me until the end! :)
I hope this is encouraging for you, it for sure is for me!

Speakers week - day 2

2nd day of Speakers week, another really good day with great messages.
This is what I got out of it today.

- Recommendation letters can never be what validates the ministry, and they will never qualify you for ministry - what validates the ministry is the fruit (2 Cor 3:2)

- You can't seperate your life from ministry; see it as a whole, don't make compartments out of this.
(My Missions training teacher Pam Markey puts it this way:
God is always #1, everything else is #2 - no specific order or anything.

- The older Paul was, he grew in the knowledge of how unsufficient he was - but he also grew in the knowledge of how sufficient God is!

- We want to bring people under the authority of the Spirit who brings freedom - the law brings death (2 Cor 3:7)


Pastor Phil Metzger shared on 2 Corinthians 4 and talked about how apostle Paul saw trials.
The first and the last verse of the 4th chapter in 2 Corinthians say "So we do not lose heart."
How can we not lose heart in trials?
1. Remember that God is using them; when ministry is successful, we say "it's all the Lord"! But what about when ministry isn't successful? We should also say "it's all the Lord"!
2. The eternity overshadows all of this;
Will we still be consumed with trials 15.000 years from now? Will we even remember what trial is?
3. Paul saw God was producing glory through suffering; "Trials are not to be endured to reach glory; it's a process that produces glory!"

Concluding message:
Your life is not your own - get that and you'll experience greater joy! You're owned by Jesus and you don't have a right to choose what happens in your life.


Amazing teachings, once again. So blessed!

Monday, November 18, 2013

Speakers week - Day 1

We arrived to Calvary Chapel Bible College in Vajta, Hungary yesterday around dinner time. We had a great time of catching up with our Slovene students here, laughing at all the fun they have with Hungarians that don't speak any English or any other language than Hungarian :)

We started with the first session of Speakers week this morning.
Speakers week is a week of teachings on a specific subject or on a specific book of the Bible. It's a week in the semester where students don't have to do any homework but just listen to teachings, make some notes and be open for God's answers + direction about their lives. It's pretty amazing, really.

We'll be going through the book of 2 Corinthians and it's just all about ministry. SO ENCOURAGING! (Also encouraging to hear it as someone who is in ministry and not as someone who's hearing about their future ministry)! Phil Metzger, the pastor of Calvary Chapel Budapest, shared in the first 2 sessions, and Mark Walsh, the director of Calvary Chapel Bible Fellowship in New Zealand, shared in the evening. I'll just share a couple of things that stood out to me:

- You need to be comitted for good, otherwise you're ineffective.
- Do you know what your calling is? Knowing your calling will be exceedingly important when criticism comes - it may be the only thing that keeps you where God has called you to be!
- Don't base your calling on response from people!
- Are you able to comfort others with the comfort you got from God?
- When in suffering, we think comfort is going to come in the change of circumstances but the only comfort can come through Jesus Christ! Comitt yourself to Christ! Don't run to other solutions!
- Apostle Paul didn't have to get a sense of gratitude from people, feeling he belongs to them.. He was receiving ALL he needed from God! Am I receiving all from God?
- God is the One that validates people and ministry, and no one else!
- Ministry needs to begin on the grace of God!
- If you are in Christ Jesus, no one has a dominion over you! Also, ministry isn't having dominion over people or to have control over them! They're in the hands of God, and you're just His worker!
- There is no "me" in Christianity; it's all about Christ!

5 things that show maturity in Christ:
1. The willingness to speak truth in love (even when you want to avoid it, when it's hard...) - 2 Cor 2:1-4
2. The ability to give forgiveness (+ comfort); Love = action = forgiveness. - 2 Cor 2:5-11
"Doctors practice medicine, lawyers practice the law and pastors practice grace." We are to be people of grace.
3. Being able to hear God's voice - 2 Cor 2:12-17
4. Bringing the frangrance of Christ into the situation (Do you smell like you or do you smell like Christ) - 2 Cor 2:16
5. Knowing we're sufficient in ministry in Christ - and never on our own. (Are my inabilities my excuse for not doing something for God?) - 2 Cor 2:16-17


We heard so much in just a day, and the Lord is good to be speaking to me; convicting, challenging and encouraging. I'm beyond thankful!

And it's so good to be here, for so many reasons. Bible College still represents home to me, even after being back in Slovenia for 2 years. And there's no place like home.

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Worship

I listened to a sermon by Jeff Schlenz today. He is a pastor of Calvary Chapel DC Metro in Washington DC. It's a church my good friends go to, and I went there when I visited them.
Pastor Jeff is an amazing teacher and God always challenges me through him. He spent 4 Sundays talking about worship. This is what he talked about the first 15 minutes of the first Sunday.

What is worship?
Is worship something you came to consume or to produce?
Did you evaluate the worship or did you participate in the worship?
Is worship something you came to observe or is worship something you came to enact?

Is worship just the musical portion of gathering? It must be more than that, right?
When Satan was tempting Jesus in the wilderness, he said “All this I will give you, if you will bow down and worship me.”… - Matthew 4:9
Satan wasn't talking about singing here, was he? 

Worship must be an attitude 
before it ever becomes an action!

Mechanics – what is worship, why those songs, how loud, how soft, how long, hands raised…
What's the heart behind it though?
Both are necessary – a right heart AND right actions! But before we dig into the mechanics of worhsip, we need to have a right heart. 

Why + how do we worship?
"Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." - John 4:23-24
True worshippers – one group. Their heart is in the right place about worshipping God. 
Are we doing what we do for our own purposes, to accomplish our own goals – or are we doing what we do completely for Him?
We can use God/worship as a tool to achieve our own emotional objectives! 

God had given explicit instructions on how He was to be worshipped. We have an obligation to obey God. We often do what we want to do instead of having a heart that is set on serving + obeying God. Both have to be in place: authentic attitude + heart = authentic worship. But you don't get to give yourself your own stamp of authenticity. You don't get to decide based on what gives you the greatest goosebumps what is the most authentic. It's objective and it changes from time to time. 

God established an unchanging set of principles what creates authentic worship. Do we accept His authority to define for us what authentic worship is or do we continue in the realm of worship to say »I will determine what I like the best, how I like to worship the best, and I will bring that to my God.«?
If you want to worship God the Father, Jesus says »you must worship in Spirit and in truth!«
It's not optional and it's not occasional – it's essential. You must worship in Spirit and truth – and God is the authority who defines what that is.

So what is our attitude? Is it about our needs or about God's glory?

This really challenged me today. Musical worship is different in every church, of course. And I find myself thinking about the way people sing and play guitar so many times! Am I worshipping God with it? No!
Where is my heart in worshipping God? I often have an attitude of complaining and I often think worship is to be in a way I like it to be. This message challenged me not to think that way but to focus on my attitude of worshipping God - in Spirit and in truth!

This is only 1 out of 4 sermons on worship, I'm excited to hear more!
You can listen to them with me: What is worship?

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Christmas music? Yes.

Every once in a while I find myself in need of new music. Fresh, slow, fast.. whatever. Usually Christian music. Usually worship.
I often go to NoiseTrade to find new artists who aren't very known yet, and that's where I find the new, fresh music.

This time I discovered Folk Angel. Because we're coming close to the season of Christmas, I'm looking for some Christmasy music, and they just happened to have a Christmas album.

I really like them :)


Monday, November 11, 2013

"Right now"

Saw this on someone else's blog.. it would be interesting to do one every month.

Wearing: stretchy pants, a very warm and comfortable pullover + warm, warm socks. It's Monday - my day off - and it's just one of those days when I like to feel comfy.

Listening: Greer River Ordinance is a band I found on Noise Trade a week ago, and it's refreshing. But I'm also very much in love with Kelly Clarkson's Christmas CD (yes, I'm already listening to Christmas music).

Reading: Why Grace Changes Everything by Chuck Smith and The Bondage Breaker by Neil T. Anderson. Both very encouraging. I usually read more books at the same time, and I'm just about to start reading I Dared To Call Him Father by a muslim lady.

Watching: Slovene movies of my childhood with an American friend that lives in Kočevje and is learning Slovene.

Doing: Updating the wall in my room - I'm starting a project called "Prayer wall". It will help me remember to pray for people every day.

Loving: all the pumpkin food I can eat!

Hating: the rain - I'd be totally fine with sun or snow, but rain.. not liking it much these days.

Wishing: that my back would stop hurting.

Wanting: to have a pet - a very cuddly cat OR a lizard with fingers (aka salamander) OR a snake. I want company.

Friday, November 08, 2013

A Fall Party

Colorful leaves, fresh breeze, lots and lots of pumpkins.. and not to mention one week off school... of course we needed to use this opportunity for a party - a fall party!

We had super fun games, amazing food, great decorations, costume competition...
We had so many kids come, it was amazing!
Fruity shish kebab, guacamole throw-up, and "guess how many" + pumpkin cookies, pumpkin pie... Lots of yummy food! :)
 Explaining the games, taking pictures, waiting for volunteers to get ready for a game...
Top 2 pics: a game where each group of kids had to make lemonade out of water, lemons and sugar. They spit it out in a pitcher. (our 2 most bravest kids actually drank the lemonade in the end - their idea, not ours! :)
Bottom 3 pics: "Find gum in the flower" - so much fun! :)
A group picture! :)

After all the crazy games Shawn talked about the spiritual world. We shared the gospel and talked about God and satan, and how calling ghosts, going to fortune tellers... is very dangerous and is not a game.

We then walked to the center of Kočevje where most of us played Assassins. It's a game where you get a piece of paper with a name of one of the contestants. We say "go", count to 30, and the game starts. You need to find the person whose name is on the paper, and hit them with a ping pong ball. But.. someone else got a piece of paper with your name on it and is trying to hit you with his ping pong ball :) Super fun game! We played it for almost 2 hours, and there was 22 of us playing! :)

We ended the night with hot chocolate and great conversations. Such a great day AND celebration of fall and all the pumpkins it offers :)

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

God's Great Dance Floor

Matt Redman came to do a worship concert in Zagreb, Croatia, on Oct 11, and it was amazing!
It was a small place, a couple hundred people probably fit in. It was packed, though, and one would think there were more Slovenes there, than Croatians.

One of the best feelings for me is to worship God with a crowd of Christians, who raise their hands to worship and glorify God with you. Such a picture of heaven, right? Can't wait to experience worship in heaven!

"Who will not fear you, Lord,
    and bring glory to your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
    and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed."
- Revelation 15:4


Saturday, October 12, 2013

Camping at Vršič

Church in Kočevje organized a 2-day camping trip at Vršič, in the beautiful mountains of Slovenia. Not a lot of people responded to it but some of our youth did, and we made an awesome trip out of it!
We came Friday night, had dinner together, sang some songs, had a small Bible study and then went to bed.
After breakfast on Saturday morning we went on a small hike. It was raining and it was cold but it was still so much fun! I loved spending more time with our youth and also getting to know people from Kočevje church better. I've been living in Kočevje for over a month now but I still don't know people from church that well yet.
The Werdebaughs - a family I serve with in Kočevje

Christena and I

Highlight of the weekend: playing a lot of card games and simply enjoying each others company.
I love it when God blesses us in such a simple way... and yet it means so much. 

Monday, September 30, 2013

Round and around and around...

September was a great month of adjusting to my new home in Kočevje and a great month of travelling around different places.

Visiting Calvary Chapel Bible College in Hungary (CCBCE)
Shawn and I were able to visit our Slovene crew at CCBCE. We wanted it to be a surprise but somehow they found out we're coming. Shoot...

It was awesome to be back "home" for 2 days, seeing old friends and family. We were able to sit in a class of Acts with one of my favorite teachers and be encouraged, we were a part of a Home Fellowship and got to meet a lot of new people, and we also went to Missions Training class where I was given an opportunity to share my testimony and how life looks like after leaving Bible College, and Shawn got to share about moving to a foreign country as a missionary (with a family) and what adventures that brings.

Overall, it was an amazing trip. CCBCE is my home, still, and thinking of "sharing" it with other Slovenes was a bit of a struggle for me. However, once Shawn and I got there and saw how CCBCE became their home now, the struggle went away immediately and I'm so happy they love it. It was great seeing them there, especially Sergej who is a part of our High School group. Well, he's more of a leader now :) I'm very proud of him for following the Lord with all his heart.


Josiah Venture Fall Conference
For the first time I was able to attend a JV conference in Czech. It's a conference for youth workers who serve God in Eastern Europe and only people who are invited get to go. I felt very privileged to be invited.

Our Slovene team was big; 32 of us went. It was mostly Slovenes who are in either full time ministry or part time ministry with youth.
Conferences like this are usually ministry focused, with guidance and encouragement. We experienced that... but this conference was very different. We focused on our relationship with God for the first 3 days, having joined sessions and some workshops in small groups. We talked about Stubborn Sin, Loneliness, Prayer, Community... just different topics. The theme of the conference was Radiate and the question throughout the whole was "Do we radiate Jesus on the outside?" or something like that.
One of the best things we did was spent 4 hours with the Lord - just us and God. We "had to" read the gospel of John, write down what God spoke to us, intentionally listen to God speak to us, and just enjoy being with Him.

During that time God spoke some amazing things to me.
1. I LOVE YOU - (God speaking) I don't love you because you read your Bible, pray and do things for me in ministry. I love you because you're Mine, because I chose you and.. just because. I love you. (so simple yet... amazing!)
2. "You have not because you ask not". There are a couple of verses in John that come alongisde this. I've been longing for some things in my life; some necessary and some not so much, they're more my desires... but the Lord was speaking to me about them, saying I may not have them because I don't even ask Him for them. I often feel like I don't deserve certain things in my life, partially because of my past.. but the Lord was telling me "Ask in my Name and it will be given to you." God is amazing and SO gracious!
3. Repent + BELIEVE - we all have sin in our lives and some of them are very stubborn. We talked about this at the conference and the Lord knew exactly what to say. I've read these words in the Bible so many times but never realized it says repent AND BELIEVE. I've always repented but never truly believed God cleansed me and made me pure! I believed He forgave... but not cleanse. Interesting, right? But the Lord was so faithful to meet me exactly where I needed to be met, and spoke so powerfully to me.

There is much more that God spoke and did in my heart last week. Don't we have an amazing God? He speaks, He directs, He rebukes, He forgives, He cares and He loves. Oh, and how much He loves!!

I feel so privileged to be His beloved daughter. So privileged He chose me to be His, and not only that, but that He chose me to serve Him. He put a calling on my life and even though I sin and don't always do what He says, He still pursues me and leads me, guides me, cares for me and loves me. Such a beautiful feeling!

It's a wonderful feeling to love and be loved by God!!

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

A Leap of Faith

My heart has always been centered on Africa. When I became a believer, I knew I wanted to be a missionary in Africa. When I went to Ghana in February, the Lord gave specific verses. I came back home to Slovenia and I thought to myself "Ok, so I'm leaving in a couple of months..." Little did I know God had different plans for me.

I moved to Kočevje on Saturday, August 31. God completely changed my heart about ministry in Slovenia and Kočevje. I was praying and thinking about different things during the summer.
 

Kočevje is a small  town of around 10.000 people. Church here is growing tremendously (more than 500% growth in the past 5 years). God is doing amazing things here. Hearts of people are open, they want to know more but there are also very strong spiritual strongholds, which is connected to the past.

The Lord provided a place to stay for a month or two, and I'm in a search of an apartment.
I am slowly starting to fit in the town and the community here. I've been partially a part of it for a good year now so it's not all new, but living here is different than just visiting once a week.

We started our youth group this past weekend. We did a big "welcome back to school" party for everyone. 9 kids showed up and we had a lot of fun. We're praying more will come since we had 30 come to English Camp from Kočevje.

As you can see, our youth group contains mostly girls. We are praying for more boys, like everywhere else in the country :)

This year we will have Junior High youth group on Fridays and High School group on Saturdays. I am so looking forward to study the Bible with the youth, to talk about things that are hard to understand, to get to know each of them better...
This is going to be a good year!

Prayer requests:
- Quick adjustment to the new environment
- Lord's wisdom + guidance in ministry
- Financial provision
- Finding an apartment

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Back home from Ghana!

We’re back from Ghana!
It has been an amazing journey of experiencing different cultures, different food, different climate… and also experiencing the Lord in a completely different light.


We arrived to Accra on Monday night (Feb 4), slept for 4 hours and went back to the airport to catch a plane to Tamale, in the north. We got there at 7.30am. One of the pastors picked us up and drove for almost 5 hours until we finally reached Zebilla, our home for a week. We met some other pastors that day and then rested and prepared for the outreach.
We went to a different church every day and shared with people. Because we were foreigners, a lot of people came to the service. Not just the church members but everyone from that village that had time. That’s why we used the opportunity and shared the gospel with every message.

I was stretched out with teaching at church. I’ve only taught kids at our youth group and that was different – here I had to share a message from the Bible and try to apply it to their culture. Not the easiest thing to do! The Lord was so faithful though, and He spoke to me + through me very clearly. Things I shared with churches were things He’s been teaching me over the past couple of years. Verses I used in the teachings are verses He’s been sharing with me. I was terrified before I had to teach every time, but once I started, I loved it!!
There were so many kids – at least 200 in every village we visited! We brought them some group toys to play with and they loved it. We also brought them Bible stories coloring pages and coloring pencils. They didn’t know what coloring pencils are so I asked if they know any kids of paint. One of the pastors said they know paint (probably acrilyc) so I told the kids coloring pencils are like dry paint. They got it :) while they were coloring we were able to share the stories they were coloring, and with the stories the gospel.
The kids received everything with so much joy and thankfulness. Also, Ghanians are such a humble and serving nation! I felt so respected and loved by them!
So, one of the reasons I went to Ghana was to live out my dream of going to Africa, but also to spy out the land and see if Ghana is the place where He’d want me to go.
The Lord first spoke to me on Friday (Feb 8). I shared with one of the churches in Burkina Faso. Afterwards everyone comes to you, shakes your hand and says “God bless you”.  One of the pastor’s wives came to me and said “I’m looking forward to hear more of your teachings.” I was pretty much shocked! I’ve never taught people at church before, have no real experience with it… and here I am in Ghana where this woman came and said she’s looking forward to hear me teach again. Who am I? I’m nothing, I’m no one! Yet God used me and spoke through me. I was so humbled…
I had a battle inside for the first 4 days. I had to get used to the heat, less food, culture, language… and it took me 3 days. If someone would ask me if I’d like to move to Ghana in those first 3 days, I’d say no. But then the Lord spoke to me in Burkina Faso… and I started thinking and praying about it.

Saturday was a great day. We visited 3 different churches but in order for us to do that, we needed to split the team. I went to a village called Kamega with pastor Michael. I played with the kids for an hour and then shared with the church. That’s when I met Sarah. She is such a strong young lady, with a great gift of leadership! She leads worship at church and also leads youth. She is only 16 years old but the Lord put her strongly on my heart and I’d like to ask you to join me in prayer for her. I believe the Lord would like to do many great things through + in Sarah!
After Saturday I started liking Ghana. Don’t get me wrong… it’s not like I hated it for the first 3 days, it’s just that I wasn’t used to the new things. I did love their worship from the second I heard it! No instruments, no distractions… just their voices and clapping hands. And some dancing too, sometimes. I also loved the simplicity of life they live. And they are happy!
Every morning one of us had a devotional, and we were going through the book of Philippians. I shared from Philippians 3 on Sunday morning. I asked a question and it seemed like God was asking me that question. "Do we consider everything as a loss? Are we ready to lose everything and move to Ghana so we can gain Christ?"
We had a church service on Sunday, united with a farewell service (we were leaving the next morning). It lasted for almost 5 hours. There was a lot of worship, Ana, Shaunice and I shared 5min each, Gus shared for 30min, and then pastor Moses and pastor Michael both shared.

We left Zebilla on Monday morning and drove to Pepease for 15 hours. It was a long drive but we saw so much of Ghana! It really is a beautiful country!

Pepease is a small town where they have a Calvary Chapel Bible Training Center. Pastor Donne, the man who runs the center, met us in the morning and showed us around campus. Later on one of the students took us around and showed us the town. We also visited Calvary Chapel Community Academy (Primary school) and the headmaster said they're looking for assistants! I thought to myself »something to pray about!«.

We rested for that day and left for Accra the next day. We visited art market where we bought some bracelets and small things for our families and ourselves. They have beautiful art!
















That night Ana and I flew back to Frankfurt and from there to Venice. It was a shock to come from 45°C to 0°C!
______________________________________

I've been home for a good week now and I've been feeling discouraged and tired. I talked to one of the American missionary couples just a few days after I came back home and they really encouraged me. They also lent me a book by David Platt called »Radical«. I gotta say I just love it!

This is one of the things he says.

»The modern-day gospel says, »God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. Therefore, follow these steps, and you can be saved.« Meanwhile, the biblical gospel says, »You are an enemy of God, dead in your sin, and in your present state of rebellion, you are not even able to see that you need life, much less to cause yourself to come to life. Therefore, you are radically dependent on God to do something in your life that you could never do.«

The former sells books and draws crowds. The latter saves souls.

Which one is more important?

I’ve been discouraged for many different reasons but one of them is the difference of receiving the gospel in Ghana and in Slovenia. People in Slovenia are hungry for the Lord and are seeking Him, but it takes a lot longer for them to realize who He is and that they need Him, while people in Ghana got it pretty much right away!
We decided to change one of our youth groups a bit. We went through different subjects of the Bible, we talked about who God is and why we believe He exists… we talked about missionaries and Jesus a lot… and we shared the gospel. But there wasn’t a constant theme going on and that was hard on us as leaders and probably on the youth as well. That’s why we decided we’re going to have a Bible study as a part of the youth group. Instead of me talking about something, we’ll be going through the gospel of Mark, verse by verse, chapter by chapter. Discussing, asking questions, maybe even arguing. But we’re going to bring it on, black on white.

This kind of scares me because this means some of the kids may not want to come back to our youth group. But… do I want to present the gospel as some steps they need to follow and tell them to just trust God and everything will be ok? There are no steps to follow to be saved! You need to realize you need Jesus, believe what He did for us is really true + depend on Him!
The Lord’s been teaching me about simplicity of the gospel lately. We are just the messengers. We share the gospel, as simple as it is, and people may receive it or not – but that’s not up to us; it’s up to the Holy Spirit.
I’m really excited to see what the Lord will be teaching me in the next season of my life as I seek Him and His leadership. “Everything is a preparation for something.” One of my Bible College teachers said that and it’s true! Youth groups in Slovenia are a preparation for something in the future – only God knows what! And I’m thankful I get to learn and serve Him, wherever, however. But I’m also thankful He called me to Africa and answered my prayers! I serve an amazing God who is always faithful! Glory to Him!

Sunday, February 03, 2013

It's time! :)

The time has come when I need to leave with whatever I have packed and go to the airport to fly to Frankfurt and tomorrow to Ghana. How exciting is that! :)

I only have 16kg packed with me but we hope and pray we have everything we need. We mostly have things for the kids and people in northern Ghana + the basics of clothes for us.

I am nervous and excited at the same time.
Will you pray with us we have all the papers we need and everything else + that the enemy wont be able to stop us from entering Ghana? Please pray we will trust the Lord and surrender this whole trip to Him and let Him lead and open all the doors.


Thank you for being with us on this trip + for all the prayers! If I get a chance, I will update my blog and let you know what's going on while being in Ghana.

Blessings,
Mana

Friday, January 25, 2013

8 days!!! :)

The time has come - we leave for Ghana in 8 days!! Can you believe it? 8 DAYS!! I can hardly believe my dreams are coming true - I am going to Africa after dreaming about it for 9 years. God is good for sure!

Other than that, life has pretty much been a routine of a study group with 12-year olds, of hours spent with kids at the kids center and of sharing the word of God with teenagers. This month we spiced things up - we're having a missionary month since I'm going to Ghana as a missionary. I'm sharing one of my favorite stories with the kids - a story through which God spoke to me about Africa and especially about tribes. It's a story of Mary Slessor; a Scottish lady with blue eyes and curly red hair. She went to Calabar, Nigeria, when she was 28 years old. She lived there until her death (66 years old). She worked with tribes, with people who had never heard the word of God before. God used her in mighty mighty ways and I higly recommend her biography! Teenagers love her story and can't wait until the next week so they can hear more :)

Mary with some children she saved.
(Tribes believed when twins were born they brought a curse over the whole village so they killed them. She was the one who tried to save them.)

___________________________________________

I get Greg Laurie's devotionals on my email every morning and sometimes I get encouraging messages from his wife too. This one was especially encouraging because I've been waiting to go to Africa for so long but also because I am waiting for that special someone to come into my life and marry me. God's timing is always better than mine.

Maybe this will be encouraging for you too, in any way.


What good comes of waiting?

In Mark’s Gospel, we read the story of a man who certainly thought Jesus was too late. As a matter of fact, his friends even told him, “There’s no use troubling the Teacher now.”

Like a first-century 9-1-1 call, Jairus reached Jesus by falling on his knees and begging attention for his only daughter, who was 12 years old and dying of a fever. His only hope was hanging by a single thread in the form of this young Rabbi from Galilee.

But as Jairus is hurrying Jesus back to his house, hoping it isn’t going to be too late, a huge crowd is pushing and slowing the way, to the point of almost crushing them.

Suddenly, Jairus’ plan is derailed when Jesus stops and asks, “Who touched me?” Everyone denied it. And Peter said, “Master, the crowd surrounding you is pressing in on you.” But Jesus knew someone touched the tassels of his garment and power had flowed out of him.

In those agonizing moments of time, a nameless destitute woman had come from behind and cut in line, securing her healing. Jairus may have been thinking, “This woman, sick as she may be, would have lived another day. Why is Jesus stopping to speak to her now?

It’s curious—how easy it is to dismiss the need of others as insignificant when we compare them to our own. So often we can’t see beyond our own needs. And that is why Jesus’ dealings were so often surprising—even disturbing—to everyone. It was the tax collectors, notorious sinners, lepers, and immoral women who reached His heart. He had as much concern for the nameless, insignificant, poor, and chronically sick woman as he had for this obviously “deserving” ruler of the synagogue.

For Jairus, how could he have known that both healing and resurrection were easily within Jesus’ power? So rare are resurrections in Scripture, there are only six ever recorded. So it isn’t likely that option would have entered his mind. Jesus was about to do exceedingly abundantly above all he could ask or think! All in His good time. . .

And Jesus also knew He was not going to allow this woman to leave with just a quick fix for her physical problem. What she needed was an encounter that would pale in comparison to a healing. It would transform her inside out. She would hear the words, “Take heart, My daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”

Why does God’s allow delays? I don’t know all the answers to this question, especially when I am in the thick of a desperate situation, but there are a few principles that I can learn from the case of Jairus.
  1. People matter to Jesus. All kinds of people, not just the rich, influential, “good” folks. This woman was “unclean,” destitute, and isolated, but despite how others looked at her, Jesus wouldn’t risk losing her in the crowd. His compassion extended beyond a mere healing; He wanted to make sure she was set free from bondage and at peace with God. “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
  2. Delays are often His way of taking the self-centeredness in our hearts and knocking it out. How often I have prayed in recent years, Lord Jesus, just come now! Take us all home; isn’t it about time? Yet in the years that I have waited, how many more souls have been born into eternal life? In my selfish desire to be delivered, have I forgotten that God is exceedingly patient to those I may not give a passing glance at?
  3. In our waiting places, we need to see the needs of others we can tend to in Christ’s name. We can and should rejoice that in delays we have more time to spread the Good News to as many people as we can!
  4. What lies in our future, beyond the waiting and pain, is often an even greater and more glorious answer than we could imagine. Jairus would see Jesus’ power displayed in such a tender and loving way. His little girl would have her touch from the Master in good time. We read Jesus’ words, spoken gently, Talitha koum: “Little lady, wake up.” Even in the worst case scenario, death, our greatest enemy, isn’t to be feared. In the end, it will have no power over the believer. It will be nothing more than a sweet night’s sleep from which we will hear our Savior say, “Dear one, it is time to get up.”
Can we trust Him when our time schedules are stretched to the limits and snapped? Jairus didn’t know how this would end, or that a resurrection would tap no more of Jesus’ power than healing a fever. Jesus said to him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

However, in our in-between time, between our pleas for help and the answer that is certainly coming, may we read these words and hear Him say to us: Don’t be afraid; just believe!

All who believe will hear their own “Talitha koum.”

by Cathe Laurie