Jambo rafikis :) I'm here in Kakamega, the team made it safe and sound. Our hotel is awesome and the past 2 days have been absolutely glorious.. The first night we slept about 12 hours and our first full day was yesterday! We went to the orphanage and hung out with the kids all day- I learned a lot of Swahili but have no idea how to spell any of it :) The kids think it's hysterical when I speak to them in swahili, my favorite word is jahkula which means food haha.. I made a bunch of friends- Medrine, Joy, Maureen, Savilla, Esther, Dorcas, Selah, Sharon, Lucy... Steph led worship and we sang and danced with them. We fed them and then played with beach balls in the yard.. They LOVE piggyback rides and taking pictures and videos. We did that for hours... We taught them 'the bernie' dance as well, don't worry, I have videos! Every night we have dinner at someone's house and we eat SO much food so don't worry about us :) it is awesome.
Today we did village evangelism, which means that we walked from hut to hut through the fields and went in each hut and prayed for the people and blessed them with some flour. It was NUTS :) A few people and a couple babies had chest problems and a man was addicted to alcohol and was tormented in the night and a woman had a lot of pain in her legs and stomach.. so much pain and suffering.. but the Lord worked miracles in every situation. It was wild. Each and every one of them was touched and delivered by the Lord. Steph played guitar and we worshipped in the huts, there was so much joy! My mind is being blown that is for sure, but continually the Lord is reminding me of the gospel.. it is such good news and I am so happy to be serving Jesus alongside this team... There is so much more to say, but I can't say it all! The street children are my favorite- I love spending time with them. Continue to pray that we can just love the one in front of us. Each one. Every place we go. I know the Lord will keep blessing us with strength as we look to Him. Oh yeah I totally forgot! Today we went to the school that Waweza Movement built, and it was so awesome.. we shared the gospel with the kids and fed them and gave them sweets and beach balls. I met all the street children and went and sat with them while they ate and we had so much fun, mainly because I would say a couple Swahili words and they'd die laughing at me :) We took pictures and kicked around a beach ball for a while, and I felt like I made a legit connection with 2 of the street children.. it is hard here, since I don't know the language I hardle ever feel like I can make deep connections with the people because we just don't understand eachother.. but I dunno.. the Lord is bigger than cultural gaps and language gaps. He is faithful and he is working wonders all around us. The gospel is being told and lived out in every interaction, just pray that that continues and muliplies!
P.S. Our pastor Julius is incredible. We love him, he takes such good care of us. :)
Shout out to Skylar! I love you and I will see you soon. Wish you could see what i'm seeing.
-Kristen
Intercession: prayer on behalf of needs other than my own
Intercession: prayer on behalf of needs other than my own... Intercession accelerates God's purposes in the earth.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
The Dust on My Feet
"Albertine"
I am sitting still
I think of Angelique
her mothers voice over me
And the bullets in the wall where it fell silent
And on a thousandth hill, I think of Albertine
there in her eyes what I don't see with my own
rwanda
now that I have seen, I am responsible
Faith without deeds is dead
now that I have held you in my own arms, I cannot let go till you are
I am on a plane across a distant sea
But I carry you in me
and the dust on, the dust on, the dust on my feet
Rwanda
I will tell the world, I will tell them where I've been
I will keep my word
I will tell them Albertine
I am on a stage, a thousand eyes on me
I will tell them, Albertine
I will tell them, Albertine
I am sitting still
I think of Angelique
her mothers voice over me
And the bullets in the wall where it fell silent
And on a thousandth hill, I think of Albertine
there in her eyes what I don't see with my own
rwanda
now that I have seen, I am responsible
Faith without deeds is dead
now that I have held you in my own arms, I cannot let go till you are
I am on a plane across a distant sea
But I carry you in me
and the dust on, the dust on, the dust on my feet
Rwanda
I will tell the world, I will tell them where I've been
I will keep my word
I will tell them Albertine
I am on a stage, a thousand eyes on me
I will tell them, Albertine
I will tell them, Albertine
It is 1:15 AM, and I am done packing. We meet at the airport at 4:30 PM... and I am super full of joy. This is my last update before we head out, so I wanted to share this picture and this song that I like a lot... the words "i carry you with me in the dust on my feet" speak to me a lot. So, the Lord gave me this sweet idea to take my white keds to kenya with me and work in them and walk miles in them, to get them covered in the dust and mud and rain of Africa and then to bring em back as a reminder of what I experienced there... He is a pretty cool God, huh? ;) Anyway... how can you be praying for me and the team? Please pray against sickness, pray for patience and for us to take our tensions with each other to the Lord, pray that we can laugh at ourselves and laugh at life (aka not freak out when things aren't how we wanted them to be), pray for a Philippians 2 attitude- one of service, one of humility, pray for us that we would be slow to anger and slow to speak... and that our hearts would be so incredibly full of worship to the King. that we'd be in awe of the gospel. pray for good rest as we stay the night in Washington D.C. Tuesday night...
Thank you :) The next time I'll write it'll be from Kenya! Woohooooo! :D
Monday, June 20, 2011
Christ, the FULLNESS of God
So, it's been a while. Not because I haven't been learning and praying for the team, but because I haven't been able to articulate what I have been learning! It was a long semester in which the Lord fixed my eyes on Jesus and went to town clearing up a lot of misconceptions that I had of Him. I'm gonna try to give you the simplest form of what I have learned... it comes from Colossians 1-2.
Colossians 1:12 says that the Father has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. THEN Colossians 2:28 says 'therefore, let no one disqualify you..." These verses are like bookends, like two buns of a hamburger. The meat, what's in the middle, is the most important part.
The middle consists of two main sections that are all about the sole sufficiency of Jesus Christ (1:15-20 and 2:10-15). The Colossian church has this problem where they worshipped these aeons or star gods in order to obtain salvation, so when they heard about Jesus, they just threw Him into the mix. He became just one of many gods that they worshipped. Paul combatted this idea by magnificently articulating the uniqueness and sufficiency of Jesus in 1:15-20.
Then in 2:10-15, Paul reminds the Colossians of what has happened in their lives since they accepted Jesus. They had been filled in Him (2:10), they had been circumcised in Him and were no longer controlled by their fleshly desires (2:11), they had been buried and raised to new life in baptism (2:12), they had been made alive with Jesus and forgiven (2:13), their record of debt from their sin had been cancelled or erased (2:14), and the demonic rulers and authorities who condemned them had been triumphed by the seemingly weak cross (2:15).
BOOM BABY. That's the meat. Because of who Jesus is and because of what has happened in our lives by accepting Him as Lord, we do not have to let others "disqualify us." See, there were many people in the Colossian church who thought that Jesus wasn't enough for salvation or qualification. They thought they also needed to worship these star gods, beat their bodies, have spiritual visions, and gain some kind of "special knowledge" from those spiritual visions. They were oppressing the rest of the church and forcing these other qualifications on them. But Paul was saying 'No way! Jesus is the fullness of God that fills all in all, and you have been filled in Him, and that is enough. You don't have to beat your bodies or worship other star gods or angels or have these spiritual visions. You have been qualified by God through Jesus. So, don't let anyone disqualify you!"
So, for our team... I know that we all have insecurities and thoughts that we are not qualified for this ministry of reconciliation. But the truth is, we are qualified. Not because of anything we have done, but because of Jesus and what He has done.
4 Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, 6who has made us competent[c] to be ministers of a new covenant... 2 Cor 3:4-6
Pray for the team, that we would be reminded of the sole sufficiency of Jesus. That we are just jars of clay but that we have great treasure in us. Pray that our confidence would be in Christ alone and not in ourselves. That we wouldn't think too highly of ourselves (Romans 12:3), but that we would think much much much higher of Christ! Pray for our insecurities... we DO have something to offer the people we will meet in Kenya- even though there are language and cultural barriers.. Pray that we wouldn't be afraid or hesitant in our ministry- that we would really enter in into every opportunity, whether to pray for someone or to play a game with a child or whatever.. Also, pray for WISDOM. In James it says that if we lack wisdom we should ask God for it because He gives generously to all without finding fault. I gotta admit, I lack wisdom. We are learning more about Kenyan culture, but there will be tough situations I am sure... pray that we would humble ourselves, that we would observe a lot and learn from the people there, that we would go not with an attitude of "oh I have all this to give you because I am so wealthy blah blah blah..." but instead with a teachable attitude, ready and willing and overjoyed to learn. THANK YOU! Intercession is so powerful... we need it! :) Keep checking back for more... we leave in a month and six days!
-Kristen
"An intercessor pleads with somebody in authority on behalf of somebody else." -The Happy Intercessor, p. 66
"The great thing to remember is that, though our feelings come and go, His love for us does not. It is not wearied by our sins, or our indifference; and, therefore, it is quite relentless in its determination that we shall be cured of those sins, at whatever cost to us, at whatever cost to Him." -Mere Christianity, p. 133
Colossians 1:12 says that the Father has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. THEN Colossians 2:28 says 'therefore, let no one disqualify you..." These verses are like bookends, like two buns of a hamburger. The meat, what's in the middle, is the most important part.
The middle consists of two main sections that are all about the sole sufficiency of Jesus Christ (1:15-20 and 2:10-15). The Colossian church has this problem where they worshipped these aeons or star gods in order to obtain salvation, so when they heard about Jesus, they just threw Him into the mix. He became just one of many gods that they worshipped. Paul combatted this idea by magnificently articulating the uniqueness and sufficiency of Jesus in 1:15-20.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
Then in 2:10-15, Paul reminds the Colossians of what has happened in their lives since they accepted Jesus. They had been filled in Him (2:10), they had been circumcised in Him and were no longer controlled by their fleshly desires (2:11), they had been buried and raised to new life in baptism (2:12), they had been made alive with Jesus and forgiven (2:13), their record of debt from their sin had been cancelled or erased (2:14), and the demonic rulers and authorities who condemned them had been triumphed by the seemingly weak cross (2:15).
BOOM BABY. That's the meat. Because of who Jesus is and because of what has happened in our lives by accepting Him as Lord, we do not have to let others "disqualify us." See, there were many people in the Colossian church who thought that Jesus wasn't enough for salvation or qualification. They thought they also needed to worship these star gods, beat their bodies, have spiritual visions, and gain some kind of "special knowledge" from those spiritual visions. They were oppressing the rest of the church and forcing these other qualifications on them. But Paul was saying 'No way! Jesus is the fullness of God that fills all in all, and you have been filled in Him, and that is enough. You don't have to beat your bodies or worship other star gods or angels or have these spiritual visions. You have been qualified by God through Jesus. So, don't let anyone disqualify you!"
So, for our team... I know that we all have insecurities and thoughts that we are not qualified for this ministry of reconciliation. But the truth is, we are qualified. Not because of anything we have done, but because of Jesus and what He has done.
4 Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, 6who has made us competent[c] to be ministers of a new covenant... 2 Cor 3:4-6
Pray for the team, that we would be reminded of the sole sufficiency of Jesus. That we are just jars of clay but that we have great treasure in us. Pray that our confidence would be in Christ alone and not in ourselves. That we wouldn't think too highly of ourselves (Romans 12:3), but that we would think much much much higher of Christ! Pray for our insecurities... we DO have something to offer the people we will meet in Kenya- even though there are language and cultural barriers.. Pray that we wouldn't be afraid or hesitant in our ministry- that we would really enter in into every opportunity, whether to pray for someone or to play a game with a child or whatever.. Also, pray for WISDOM. In James it says that if we lack wisdom we should ask God for it because He gives generously to all without finding fault. I gotta admit, I lack wisdom. We are learning more about Kenyan culture, but there will be tough situations I am sure... pray that we would humble ourselves, that we would observe a lot and learn from the people there, that we would go not with an attitude of "oh I have all this to give you because I am so wealthy blah blah blah..." but instead with a teachable attitude, ready and willing and overjoyed to learn. THANK YOU! Intercession is so powerful... we need it! :) Keep checking back for more... we leave in a month and six days!
-Kristen
"An intercessor pleads with somebody in authority on behalf of somebody else." -The Happy Intercessor, p. 66
"The great thing to remember is that, though our feelings come and go, His love for us does not. It is not wearied by our sins, or our indifference; and, therefore, it is quite relentless in its determination that we shall be cured of those sins, at whatever cost to us, at whatever cost to Him." -Mere Christianity, p. 133
Friday, January 28, 2011
Q: How do you make unity?
That's the question that was on my mind last weekend one morning while I was reading John 17. In verse 22-23 Jesus says, "..that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me." And I really want that for the Africa team.. so my question was what is He talking about exactly, this becoming perfectly one business..?
The KJV says, "that they may be made perfect in one.." I was still at a loss as to how that happens or what Jesus really meant. The specific Greek meaning behind the phrase made perfect is "to add what is yet wanting in order to render a thing full." So I started praying and thinking..
It was interesting to think about the phrase "becoming one." The word used for "one" is literally just "one," the number. So, it's like- though the disciples were 11 guys at this point, they weren't even 1. And for all of us in the body of Christ- though we are so many, we aren't even one. I thought about it this way- it's like we are each a very small fraction, and when you add up the numbers, it doesn't even add up to 1.
Hopefully that makes some sense.. But in John 17, Jesus basically says, "add me to them, so that they may be perfectly one." The Lord makes us one by connecting all the small fractions and "adding what is yet wanting" in order to render us as one.
This was kind of a new way of looking at unity for me... so I kept thinking about it, and the Lord eventually reminded me of Ezekiel 37. There's a bunch of dry bones layin around in the middle of a valley, and if you put them all together, they couldn't even add up to one body, they were missing necessary stuff. So, God gives the bones breath, sinews, flesh, and skin. And the bones came together, bone to its bone. Then the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
I used to think that Ezekiel 37 was just about individuals getting revived- but really it's about bones that have been divided. Bones that lack what they need to be brought together.. This interpretation is supported in the next chunk as well, 37:15-23. The Lord has Ezekiel write "Judah" on one stick and "Joseph (aka the stick of Ephraim)" on another stick. He tells Ezekiel to then "join them one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand." When the people ask what he means by doing that, the Lord says to explain that He is making two nations one. This whole scene is about 2 sticks, or 2 separate kingdoms, becoming 1.
They will no longer be a bunch of separate bones dealing with and struggling with different problems at different times. Instead, they will be connected, and they will deal with things together. And together, they will finally be able to "not defile themselves anymore with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions."
The Lord brings the dry bones together, and He adds what is lacking to render them one, complete. He adds the breath and sinews (whatever those are) and flesh and skin, which makes the body a full One.
The bones cannot live until they are connected.
And a bunch of connected bones cannot live until the Lord breathes into them.
Then- this body that is united and alive- can truly overcome, be saved from their backslidings, and be cleansed.
That is a sweet, sweet picture of the body of Christ.
So, I ask whoever is reading this- please pray for my team, pray that we would see that each of us by ourselves is just a tiny fraction of the body. Pray that we would realize that even connecting dry bones isn't enough to make life. Pray for the Spirit of the Lord to make us fully united and fully alive. Pray that I would see myself as dead without the body and without the Spirit. Pray for a recognition of need and a passion for authentic community in us. Pray that at our next meeting (Feb. 12th) we would really share deeply of ourselves with each other, that we could pray for each other, and that we would have a STRONG bond and KNIT TOGETHER HEARTS, that we would be on passionate mission side by side.
"Only behave as citizens worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that... I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents.." Phil. 1:27-28 -Pray this over us :)
Grace and Peace,
Kristen
The KJV says, "that they may be made perfect in one.." I was still at a loss as to how that happens or what Jesus really meant. The specific Greek meaning behind the phrase made perfect is "to add what is yet wanting in order to render a thing full." So I started praying and thinking..
It was interesting to think about the phrase "becoming one." The word used for "one" is literally just "one," the number. So, it's like- though the disciples were 11 guys at this point, they weren't even 1. And for all of us in the body of Christ- though we are so many, we aren't even one. I thought about it this way- it's like we are each a very small fraction, and when you add up the numbers, it doesn't even add up to 1.
Hopefully that makes some sense.. But in John 17, Jesus basically says, "add me to them, so that they may be perfectly one." The Lord makes us one by connecting all the small fractions and "adding what is yet wanting" in order to render us as one.
This was kind of a new way of looking at unity for me... so I kept thinking about it, and the Lord eventually reminded me of Ezekiel 37. There's a bunch of dry bones layin around in the middle of a valley, and if you put them all together, they couldn't even add up to one body, they were missing necessary stuff. So, God gives the bones breath, sinews, flesh, and skin. And the bones came together, bone to its bone. Then the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
I used to think that Ezekiel 37 was just about individuals getting revived- but really it's about bones that have been divided. Bones that lack what they need to be brought together.. This interpretation is supported in the next chunk as well, 37:15-23. The Lord has Ezekiel write "Judah" on one stick and "Joseph (aka the stick of Ephraim)" on another stick. He tells Ezekiel to then "join them one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand." When the people ask what he means by doing that, the Lord says to explain that He is making two nations one. This whole scene is about 2 sticks, or 2 separate kingdoms, becoming 1.
They will no longer be a bunch of separate bones dealing with and struggling with different problems at different times. Instead, they will be connected, and they will deal with things together. And together, they will finally be able to "not defile themselves anymore with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions."
The Lord brings the dry bones together, and He adds what is lacking to render them one, complete. He adds the breath and sinews (whatever those are) and flesh and skin, which makes the body a full One.
The bones cannot live until they are connected.
And a bunch of connected bones cannot live until the Lord breathes into them.
Then- this body that is united and alive- can truly overcome, be saved from their backslidings, and be cleansed.
That is a sweet, sweet picture of the body of Christ.
So, I ask whoever is reading this- please pray for my team, pray that we would see that each of us by ourselves is just a tiny fraction of the body. Pray that we would realize that even connecting dry bones isn't enough to make life. Pray for the Spirit of the Lord to make us fully united and fully alive. Pray that I would see myself as dead without the body and without the Spirit. Pray for a recognition of need and a passion for authentic community in us. Pray that at our next meeting (Feb. 12th) we would really share deeply of ourselves with each other, that we could pray for each other, and that we would have a STRONG bond and KNIT TOGETHER HEARTS, that we would be on passionate mission side by side.
"Only behave as citizens worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that... I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents.." Phil. 1:27-28 -Pray this over us :)
Grace and Peace,
Kristen
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Prayer Blog
"When evil is looming we can postpone its coming with our prayers, and when good is delayed, we can accelerate its coming with our prayers."
"One of the most profound ways you can love someone is by praying for them. Intercession does something very powerful in the intercessor: it joins the heart of the intercessor to the heart of the one being prayed for."
"The body of Christ doesn't work properly without the members praying for each other. Prayer is the immunity system of the body of Christ. Through prayer, we fight off the invasive forces that seek to disease and afflict the body. Prayerlessness in the body of Christ is akin to leprosy. In leprosy, the nerves stop functioning properly, no longer sending signals of pain to the brain... When the church does not feel pain with other suffering believers, it indicates the presence of "spiritual leprosy." The church's nerves are dead. What happens next is the church begins to lose body members. Pain signals the body to send help to the hurting member. Pain is absolutely necessary for the body to be able to repair itself and heal itself. Thus, pain is a gift. Intercession is a response to pain. We cry because we're in pain. Cries of intercession are the vehement cries of believers beseeching heaven on behalf of one another."
This summer I get to be part of a team of 13 young adults serving in Kenya, Africa. The team was put together by Waweza Movement (see wawezamovement.org). My desire is that we would be a team soaked in prayer and that everything we do would be covered in prayer as well. So, I thought I would make a blog to give everyone who wants to an opportunity to pray for us. :) I'll be posting scripture and prayer requests throughout the next couple months, so keep comin' back!
Grace and Peace,
Kristen
"One of the most profound ways you can love someone is by praying for them. Intercession does something very powerful in the intercessor: it joins the heart of the intercessor to the heart of the one being prayed for."
"The body of Christ doesn't work properly without the members praying for each other. Prayer is the immunity system of the body of Christ. Through prayer, we fight off the invasive forces that seek to disease and afflict the body. Prayerlessness in the body of Christ is akin to leprosy. In leprosy, the nerves stop functioning properly, no longer sending signals of pain to the brain... When the church does not feel pain with other suffering believers, it indicates the presence of "spiritual leprosy." The church's nerves are dead. What happens next is the church begins to lose body members. Pain signals the body to send help to the hurting member. Pain is absolutely necessary for the body to be able to repair itself and heal itself. Thus, pain is a gift. Intercession is a response to pain. We cry because we're in pain. Cries of intercession are the vehement cries of believers beseeching heaven on behalf of one another."
This summer I get to be part of a team of 13 young adults serving in Kenya, Africa. The team was put together by Waweza Movement (see wawezamovement.org). My desire is that we would be a team soaked in prayer and that everything we do would be covered in prayer as well. So, I thought I would make a blog to give everyone who wants to an opportunity to pray for us. :) I'll be posting scripture and prayer requests throughout the next couple months, so keep comin' back!
Grace and Peace,
Kristen
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)