Well we made the transition from Asia to Africa with relative ease! Everyone made it in one piece and with all our luggage. No one was left behind, although plenty of people donated quite a bit of stuff to Asia. And with lightened loads we entered the long anticipated continent of Africa!!! We arrived to the open arms of all our contacts and members of their church. We could not have imagined the welcome even if we had tried. They stood waiting for us holding a picture of our squad. Many had taken the time to memorize faces and names, and all rushed forward to embrace us and to welcome us to Ghana. It was so amazing. We've only been at our ministry site for just over a week now and already so much has happened... like
48 hours in a hospital bed...
I've spent some time in the hospital before, but always as a
visiting family or friend, never the patient. However, I did get to spend the
past 48 hours in the hospital as a patient. The diagnosis was chest infection/
malaria.I don'tfeel that it was that serious, but then again I'm not a doctor
and after working for the two best podiatrists in the US J I learned never
challenge doctor. They did not spend all that time in med school for nothing
right? . But that Is neither here nor there... I wanted to share my experience:
While I was there I saw God show up in many many ways. First
He appeared through His people at the hospital. There were many evangelists who
came through to pray with patients and to share the gospel with them. A man
named Thomas came to speak with me. It was a huge blessing to speak with him.
After a few moments of our conversation he learned that I am a missionary, and
smiled deeply. "May I share something with you?" He asked.
"Please do." I said sitting up in bed.
"You being here is no accident. If you had not been here you
would not have met this old man," he smiled laughing a bit., " and this old man
would not have been overjoyed to hear that brothers and sisters from other
nations are coming to his country to partner with them in sharing the gospel!"
He went on to share with me Romans 8:28 which talks about all things working
together for good. I was greatly encouraged by those words because laying in a
hospital bed was the last thing I wanted to be doing... Had I chosen, I would
have been at the house on my bunk bed so I could at least be with my team to
hear what God was doing in their ministry on campus. I think somewhere between
being sick and being on medication Iforgot that God is not limited to the planned world race ministry... There
were many others who came through to share words with me which were a rich
blessing and an encouragement to spur me on in what God called us to on the
Race and as Christians in general. They all said it was encouraging to them to
know that God was bringing people here to share the word of God because they so
desperately desire their nation to not only know God but to believe in Him.
God also appeared by allowing me the opportunity to pray for
some of the staff there as well as to share some of God's word with a few as
well. Sitting here now I can only laugh at myself for how I felt inside... I just
wanted to go back to my team and back to our ministry, but God kept making it
obvious that if I wanted ministry I was more than capable to do it there.
Because every few minutes someone would walk by to ask how I was doing, what
was I doing here in Ghana, etc. I think I just wanted to be back with my team
because usually someone else is able to better explain things or I can tag team
it with them. I don't think that I have not ever really been able to share the
gospel one on one with someone... But apparently it was about time, hence the 48
hours in a hospital bed... so while I would have chosen to not get a "chest
infection/malaria", God knew what was best as He usually does and for that I
can't praise Him enough!
Please pray many blessings for the staff of the UCC Hospital
as they took excellent care me!
Also Please pray many blessing for Gina and Forson who
helped us figure out where to take me, payment, medicine, and so much more!
The streets were
packed with traffic that day and her mind was occupied with thoughts of a
running to-do list. Her daughter would be waiting to be picked up from school
and there were groceries to buy at the market on the way home... She didn't see
the other Vespa driving through the intersection. In an instant she was on the
ground... It took a moment for pain to set in. The ambulance did not take long to
get there. Before she knew it she was at the hospital... the medicine dripped
through the IV and in a few moments the pain was gone. She would be just fine
in a few weeks. Upon returning to the hospital a few weeks after the accident
for some tests, she was occupied once again with that running to do list. As
the doctor came in she was in the middle of trying to work out the dinner menu
in her mind... "I'm sorry to have to tell you this..." he paused as though he had
lost his breath, " When you came the day
of the accident we had to give you a blood transfusion." She nodded, confused
as to the relevance of that detail. "The donor who gave that blood had HIV. We
were hoping it would not have infected you, but when we tested for it today..."
the doctor sighed. There was no need for him to continue anyways... She froze...
the to-do list dissipated quickly and only her daughter occupied her now racing
thoughts...
When I walked over to her bedside I
saw that although she was answering my friend's questions her mind was
elsewhere. Her eyes full of a whirling grey with hints of color that would fly
by every so often. I wondered what those
flashes of color were... I could only guess that it was hope, yet I could not be
sure if it was for her or someone else. My friend then suddenly asked, "Do you
have any children?" The flash of color came racing to the front of her grey
world. "Yes. She is 7". The color lingered there for a moment and then was
swept up in a blur of fear and longing. My mind tried to match the pace of her
thoughts... My friend caught my eye and prompted me to pray for her. Placing my
hand upon her arm I began. I heard in my heart, "She needs someone to dare to
hope for her." So I prayed... I prayed that her blood would be clean once again.
I declared that she would live to watch her daughter grow and to see her daughter
get married, and she would see her grandchildren. That she and her husband
would live a long happy life together and have no cause to fear the disease,
for it was already being removed. It was wild... I had never dared to hope like
that before, but when I heard that, I felt the gift rising to the surface of my
heart. Once again I looked in her eyes into the world of grey and smiled
deeply.... The gift was taking hold and color danced brightly once more....
It was another
beautiful day and the air was fresh and full of promise. He smiled as he walked
up to the hospital. His boss had made him go to get a checkup which made him
laugh a bit. "I'm perfectly better. That fall only left me a bit bruised and
those bruises faded shortly after." Still he respected his boss so he went
anyways. After being poked and prodded the young man sat, waiting for his
results. He slouched down in the chair thinking and dreaming about a promotion
at work, which would give him enough money to build a better home for his
parents and younger brothers and sisters. They would have a feast to honor him.
He smiled as he saw his favorite dishes unfold before him. "Ahem..." The doctor
cleared his throat the Young man sat up quickly. "Your injury is completely
healed..." The Doctor said. The young man smiled... "But we found something else..."
the young man was puzzled. "Your congestion and those sores you thought were
bug bites were actually caused by the HIV..." The young man heard nothing else...
It felt like he had been kicked in the gut... He stumbled out the door and down
the steps. The sunlight hit is face as he made it outside... He looked around and
saw the sunny world pulled away from him... the color drained from the sky, and
from the trees. He felt no warmth from the sun, no coolness from the breeze...
nothing... His world was gone... all that was before him was a grey oblivion. And
at the end of it... he shuddered to think...
Grey... An endless void of grey where
there was once something so much more was all I could see in his eyes as we
crouched on the floor to speak with him. He was sitting on a straw mat in the
hallway because he could not afford a bed. He had just found out three days
before that he had HIV and had been slowly dying from it for the past three
years. His skin covered with scars from it the war the disease had waged with
his body. As my teammate and our friend spoke with the man only 2 years younger
than me, I could not tear my gaze away from his eyes... Grey... literally that was
all I could see. It was as thought I were looking across the remnants of a
fallen city. A world in ruins that had long lay silent... I realized that I was
face to face with despair... the absence of hope. It was then that I realized the
enormity of the gift I carried.
Before I knew it, the conversation between the
man and my friends had ended. I looked into his fallen world once more before
standing, and smiled... there in the middle of his fallen grey world was a flash
of color... The gift had been given...hope was beginning to grow once more...
Look into my eyes, Look into my face
and you will see the markings of this Alien Race.
Not of this world or outer space
But the markings of the realm of a Heavenly Place.
An inheritance given in a second birth
through the Prince's blood pouring out here on earth.
A gift freely given... freely received... boldly proclaimed.
But there is only one way into the inheritance...
My second birth, covered by His blood.
Called to walk in a new way
the changes and markings made to stay...
Look into my eyes, look into my face
and you will see the markings of this Alien Race
Not of this world or outerspace
But of Royal blood now coursing through my veins.
And with each step I take
A greater awareness of my Race
A history set in a Heavenly Place.
Joy unfettered...I don't know if I ever thought it possible, but the deeper I delve into the Kingdom I know it is possible. This month we had the beautiful opportunity to work at an orphanage. During our time with them they showed me what a beautiful weapon a smile truly is. Though they do not have parents, their own room, numerous outfits, or things like that, the joy that radiates from their smiles reflects the joy of their Heavenly Father's heart. Each morning the children wake up and begin the day with worship...
I've been with them for worship on a few occasions and I can tell you that they ache to worship Him. They worship with a passion God helped me begin to understand back in Guatemala... They dance and they lift up their hands, they smile, they pray, they shout... They stand in the presence of their Father and are moved by Him... With every smile that radiates on their faces the sound of the enemy being crushed can be heard as Light rushes in...
In this I am learning the depth of Proverbs 15:13a:
"A glad heart makes a cheerful face"
God has called us into freedom... He freely offers us His Joy as our strength...a Joy that makes the heart glad... He freely offers and guards our hearts with peace... peace that gives the chance to saturate in His Joy... So why don't our faces show it more often? A smile is such a simple thing, yet it is and essential part of our Joy... It crushes the darkness because when your face radiates what the Father has put in your heart, it unleashes the Light of His Kingdom... it reveals His Joy... your strength... So I urge you, like the beautiful children of Cambodia, to unleash that Joy unfettered... Smile deeply... Don't allow money or To-do lists or What If's to stop you or to rob you of delighting in God and allowing Him to surge through you with His strength... Your Joy!
Look at these faces....
Now look at the faces of those around you... the faces of those who's smiles stand out to you...
Smile!!! You've been given the Joy of the Father's heart!!!!! So unleash the Father's heart!!!
Sitting out on the balcony I listened to the sounds of Phenom Penh ... There is the sound of construction across the way, the crackle of a fire where someone is preparing dinner... Youth playing in the street... a motor bike riding past... a bike bell chiming one street over... There is no remnant of a sound that might even elude to the pain and devastation that once ravaged the people of this country. There is only the sound of life and growth... My mind began to race as a conversation from a book i am reading currently came to thought. The conversation takes place between a priest and a former goverment offical, cut off from society because he voted against the King. Here is what the man written in the book as "G-----" had to say:
"I meant that man has one tyrant, Ignorance.I voted for the abolition of that tyrant...I voted for the downfall of the tyrant, that is, for the abolition of prostitution for women, of slavery for man, of darkness for the child. In voting for a republic I voted for that: i voted for fraternity, for harmony, for dawn... We brought down the old world- a jug of misery overturned, becomes a vessel of joy to humanity."
-From Victor Hugo's Les Miserables
I love that this was the book i decided to take on this month. It is a book of a people struggling to break free. Much like those of us on the World Race and others, we are struggling to break free... to walk in freedom. We've been called to choose... the tyrant of our flesh, or the freedom of the Kingdom... The tyrant will only offer ignorance, slavery, darkness, prostition of your heart... In that tyrant you wll find only misery, despair, and decay... a stagnate pool where you may be but never really live. However, in the Kingdom, the overturning of the flesh... when all of that putrid filth pours out, you are washed out... you are made pure... a vessel ready to be pour into and one made to countinually out... you become a vessel of joy for humanity... I believe that my squad and hundreds upon thousands of my brothers and sisters of the Kingdom are rising up... we are bringing Light where there is none, pouring out Hope, Love and Joy wherever we can. We are a fraternity of revolutionaries, crying out for a better world, a world that is Kingdom bound. We are revolutionaries bound to bring change... It must come...it has to come... God did not desire for his people to dwell in a jug of misery... But you have to choose to allow yourself to be overturned...
The Cambodians had no choice... Men took what was not theirs and implemented immesurable pain to the people with power they stole. But that world of misery was overturned. now you can see it in the faces of the people... it radiate the Hope that I cannot even explain... it looks like laughter sounds, feels like sweetness tastes.... This country is truly a vessel of Joy for humanity...
And as i look around at my teammates...my squad mates... I see jugs of misery that have allowed God to overturn them, and find myself surrounded by vessels of joy for humanity...
I apologize for not keeping you more in the loop as to what God did last month. It was hard trying to post blogs in a country that doesnt really like to be talked about...or I guess meaning more that they don't like to be associated with bad things like prostitution, etc.
But we saw God move in tremendous ways! One group of women I was doing ministry with were able to build a relationship with one woman. They spent a lot of time pouring into her and not only did they get to take her on what she said would be the best day ever, but also they were able to gain the support of a few churches to pay for this girl's schooling! It was amazing to see the way the Lord worked all of that out to a T. Please continue to pray for the woman. she is still struggling to accept the gift offered to her, but we are fully confident that God will work it out in His timing. But pray for her and protection over her... Pray for more encounters with our Father's Heart.
Another group of the women I did ministry with spent the month doing that which God asked them to do...Stay and pray. God showed up in and through them in a mighty way. As the covered those of us out in the bars with a shield of prayer, God spoke to them, giving them words and visions... Words of Truth and Visions of Hope! It was amazing to not only know that they were praying for us but also to feel it even when they were 5-10 minutes away. Please pray for these women, that God would continue to speak to them with words and visions...Words of Life, Light and Truth, and Visions of Hope...
And the last group of women I was blessed to be a part of saw God move in a mighty way... One night when we moved out of the way and let God do His thing, we were let to a bar simply and literally by following the arrows. As we sat down at this bar instantly God started flowing. Before the nights end the women had insisted multiple times that we join them the next afternoon on the beach to hang out. We were beside ourselves with joy! The next few days would be spent in fellowship with the women. The two women i was doing ministry with were able to also go to their house and pray over the house. THey were able to build a relationship with the bar owner who would eventually share with them his desire to help the women in whatever way he could. It was amazing to watch God unravel all of that with perfection. Before we left we were able ot give the bar owner and some of the women our contacts card. Our last night was very difficult to say goodbye to the women. But we walked away covered in flowers they had given us, and full of hope. We had heard God say that He had His hand upon them and would keep them safe as He sang them back to his heart... It was a beautiful breakdown of our hearts... Please continue to pray for the women we built relationships with as well as for the bar owner. From pouring into their hearts we have seen that God will use that bar in a mighty mighty way. Please pray for them that they encounter more and more of God's heart...
It was a great month and one that could never be forgotten...
This month is one I enter into with excitement of knowing that God is causing a major shift for our squad. We've arrived at a season in which He is going to unleash the Spirit in ways we never thought possible... He is going to cause us to use the keys of the Kingdom we've been given, opening up chasims of greatness... We will begin to walk in the fullness of the authority we've been given and walk deeper into the men and women He created us to be.
My team gets to work at an orphanage this month...something we are all excited about. Being able to share with children and youth the love of the Father and their heritage of the Kingdom is something I am eager to do... It is bound to be a beautiful month!
I was re-reading some of my old notes and happened upon my new year's resolution from last year. I thought it was pretty cool how I actually followed through with it and realized that I want to keep it up... but I thought I would share it again in case anyone didn't read it or simply forgot...
Every year, thousands of people make a "New Year's Resolution"...some
to lose weight by dieting or exercising more...some make a resolution
to stop eating something or give up something, spend more time doing
something...the list goes on. But more often than not people's
resolution fizzels out...it just ends...I know personally I have made
many new years resolutions but like most I can't recall any of
them...why? because it fizzled out... However this year has been a year
of epic change in my life. As 2008 draws to a close and 2009 is at hand
I choose to make this year even more epic than the last.
I began exploring what resolution I should make, yet get caught at
trying to remember what "resolution" even means...it's one of those
words we use but tend to forget what it truly means. Here is what
definitions I could find:
1.a formal expression of opinion or intention made, usually after
voting, by a formal organization, a legislature, a club, or other group.
2.a resolve or determination
3.the act of resolving or determining upon an action or course of action, method, procedure
4.the mental state or quality of being resolved or resolute; firmness of purpose
5.a solution, accommodation, or settling of a problem, controversy, etc
Then I checked "resolute":
1.firmly resolved or determined; set in purpose or opinion
2.characterized by firmness and determination, as the temper, spirit, actions, etc.
As I read these definitions I began to think about what God has been
pressing on my heart...the cries of those who have been surrounding
me...Gretchen coming home from her mission trip, Eric preaching about
the basic's of Christianity, Tyler and Liz leading our Bible study with
an element of Genuine Truth and Love I have never experienced outside my
family,the list goes on... but the common theme is that similar to a
warrior's cry in the face of the enemy..."Charge!"
As Christian's we can no longer be silent... Too many brother's and
sister's are lost, fallen, taken captive and made slaves to the
deciever...we posses freedom yet we live lives enslaved to silence...We
must share the joy we know or quit parading around under His banner.
Let the world know we serve the God who has already claimed His
Kingdom. He is big enough to do what He said He would do. The enemy
will strike hard, that is certain. Yet if we arm ourselves daily and
fight with the truth we have, abandoning ourselves and living lives
that are not citizens of this world, who could stop us? Yes it will be
painful, hard and so full of immesurable joy we will only be able to
turn it back into a song of praise to our King... so this is my "formal
expression of opinion or intention"...my "firmness of purpose"...To
live this next year loving like I won't be able to tomorrow...Giving as
though I won't be able to tomorrow...and fighting for those who are
lost in the darkness...Living as a watchman....fighting as a
warrior...bringing the Kingdom... storming the gates of hell knowing
that regardless of whether I live to see Him claim His Kingdom, or not,
knowing He has won...so...who will join me this year by making
resolutions we hold fast to? who will be "characterized by firmness and
determination, as the temper, spirit, actions, etc."?
Will you join in our crusade?
Who will be strong and stand with me?
Somewhere beyond the barricade
Is there a world you long to see?
Do you hear the people sing?
Say, do you hear the distant drums?
It is the future that they bring
When tomorrow comes...
Tomorrow comes!"
Tomorrow comes my friends...where will it find you? How will this
year be different than last year? One thing I do ask of you, regardless
of whether you agree with me or not, pray for me, encourage me...don't
let me forget or give up on this resolution...For I long to see the
impossible...a world where men are free...where chains are broken and
the Kingdom is all we know and see....
Happy New Year, friends. I pray this year you see and experience God in a mighty way...
Isaiah 51...Storm the Gates...
Posted in General Posts by Alana Serna on 12/31/2009
When a man was asked how he felt about the women
who worked in the bars and many nights sold themselves for a few thousand, he
replied "They are here because they
want to be."I thought that was a funny thing to say. As I thought about that I
wondered about the truth of his answer. Yes they were there on their own accord
and could leave whenever they wanted to. But then my thought took a bit of a
turn...
So often we are in jobs that we hate, loathe, or just really don't like.
It drains us... sucks the Life out of us. Yet we daily go to our jobs, and do
what we have chosen to do. We "want" to be there... right? Some would argue
though that they go because there is nothing else... that they have to do something to earn a living. I find it interesting that on the one hand we
look at women who sell themselves and think that we must go in an show them
that there is so much more to life than that... that they can do the things they've
dreamed of doing. And on the other hand we ourselves do jobs we hate just as
much when we don't have to... there is more to life than that... you can do the
things you've dreamed of doing.
A year ago if you had asked me about my job I
would have told you that I liked it alright. There were things about it I
didn't like but that it was alright. At least I had a job, right? If you had
asked me what my dreams were I would have said, "To travel...see the world, meet
the people and to be honest, I'd rather do full time ministry." If you had
asked me if I thought I would ever do any of that my honest response would have
been, "Maybe someday, but more than likely this is it. I want to do that stuff,
but with what I have... well no one can do that unless you have money."
Today if you asked me about my job I would smile
and say "I'm doing what I was made to do, and even though it has its rough
days, I wake up every morning stunned that this is actually my life... It is
amazing."
What Changed? Reality. How? I just stopped buying
into the shitake mushrooms that others drove into my head as "Reality". The
women we have met have been served a load of shitake mushrooms. They have been
told that they have to sell their bodies to make a living to support their
families... Families that typically stays home sending out their daughters.The women then believe that the dreams they
have are unobtainable.They don't mind
it because it is for the greater good. Sacrifices must be made sometimes in
order to provide for their families.
Life doesn't have to be something we just do. It
wasn't meant to be this routine of mundane moments with brief seconds of true
joy. We've been given our hopes and dreams for a reason. That Job you've always
dreamed of doing is possible. You just have to choose it. You have to choose to
trust that God is big enough to give you the things you need and the way in
which to get there. You just have to
keep pressing into Him. He doesn't want you to hate your life, or even your
job. You were created for a purpose woven together with desires, dreams and
hopes. He made this world and breathed life into you so that you would praise
Him for the thing He has done...And just like the women of the bars, you don't
have to settle. There is something more... There is a life waiting to be lived... enjoyed, delighted in...and its right
there. You just have to choose to make that move... To take that step...To stop
buying into someone else's version of reality where you do what you have to and step into the Heavenly one
you were created for. It could be the best way to begin this New Year...
But I can't force you to, no one can. All I can
do is assure you that there is more... more than you could believe to be
possible... I know because He opened my eyes up to it. I have seen Him make a Way
where I never had seen one before. Choosing to take a flying leap of faith ,
stepping into the unseen I've stepped into a Heavenly Reality far more
authentic that the one I knew before....
So I read this
book called the Red Sea Rules by Robert J Morgan. It was one of those things
that God drops into your lap as the here- this- obviously-so- not- obvious-
nudge- to- remind- you- who- I- am- that- it- is- so- not-obvious-that-its-obvious
hint... and well needless to
say, amid this moment of my life when everything seems like it might fall
apart, I needed it... it being
some more truth for me to stand firmly on. So I thought I should share it with
you as well...
The book talks
about the story of Moses and the Red Sea. How He had answered God's calling and
had led the People out of Egypt. I think, like I did for a moment, they thought
it would be this smooth getaway...
But there was a quote from the book that reminded me that the enemy would never
have that...
Picture this:
"As the tyrant
gazed over his wasted domain, he saw slave ghettos deserted like ghost towns.
His building projects were suspended, and the sounds of construction had
ceased. There was no pounding of hammers, scraping of rocks, or shouting of
foreman. The snap of the lash was hushed. Nor was a slave nearby to draw his
bath, oil his body, fetch his breakfast, or bow at his feet. Pharaoh was
plundered and humbled before his countrymen. His anger rose like mercury in a
thermometer." -Robert J. Morgan
Can you imagine
that?
When we choose to
walk in the way God calls us to, all of Satan's projects come to a grinding
halt. His work ends and he is forced to hear only silence. How infuriating that
must be...when your prized prisoners have gone...And you look foolish
before all of the citizens of your kingdom... So
like pharaoh, the tyrant goes after those who left. He pursues with chariots
and soldiers, causing the ground to shake beneath the wheels. His fury grows
with each passing mile.
When the Israelites saw the pharaoh they were afraid. I'm
pretty sure it would freak me out just a bit to see an entire army charging at
me. Especially looking around to see a tattered and worn out group of men women
and children weighed down with their belongings, livestock, etc. with nowhere
to run to save the sea... But
God is God and was not worried. He knew He had made a way for those He called
out into freedom. So He parted a sea for them. I think far too often I think
like the people did, fear coursing through me when it seems there is nowhere
else to go. I freak out and cry out to God, and He calmly parts and ocean..."Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘why do you cry to me? Tell the
children of Israel to go forward.'" – Exodus 14:15
I love this verse because it's almost like God said it like,
"seriously? You are freaking out right now?" Then it's like we reply, "oh yeah... I
forgot you could do that..."
One thing He has been teaching me is that no matter what He
will make a way for those who are walking in freedom...Those who have chosen
freedom from the darkness and its tyrant ruler.
"The reality of
the Red Sea, in a word, is this: God will always make a way for His tired, yet
trusting, children, even if He must split the sea to do it."-Robert j Morgan
No matter what the
enemy may try to do, God Loves us and the bible clearly says in its description
of Love that it ALWAYS protects. I always wondered why He didn't already have
the sea parted when they arrived, but then I remembered times when I would not
have learned had everything been made clear to me right away. Sometimes it
takes the parting of a sea for me to remember Who I have chosen to follow.
Usually it is also those moments that cause me to fall to my knees and praise
Him for without Him it would be impossible.
"I know He only
tries me to increase my faith, and that is all in love. Well, if He is
glorified, I am content." –j Hudson Taylor
And this trip so
far has reminded me of what a cruel ruler of Darkness Satan is. The bondage he
has the people in... our teams have been called out to set them
free...not in, by, or through our power, but in by
and through Christ's alone. And as we walk in the freedom of the Spirit into
the darkness, more and more of the enemy's lands are growing silent and more
and more cries of joy and celebration ring out in God's Kingdom... so take heart for I have seen and continue to see that:
"The Lord will
make a way for you where no foot has been before. That which like a sea
threatens to drown you, shall be a highway for your escape." Charles H. Spurgeon
The Kingdom is here...And our King Quickly Approaches...