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…go to the land I will show you.

August 7, 2008 in Ignite with 2 Appreciated Comments

God brought me back to Genesis 12:1 tonight:

The LORD had said to Abram,
“Leave your country, your people and your father’s household
and go to the land I will show you.”

I’ve been seeking God a lot lately about my call to Europe – how I should go, when, what exactly I will be doing. And tonight He reminded me of something that I had been feeling before the missions trip to Czech…that He’s called me to go, and in the process, He will show me what I’ll be doing. It’s the same thing He did for Abram. God just told Abram – go in this direction, and I will show you the land you will move to.

Imagine the faith of Abram…leaving his country, his people and his father’s household and just heading out believing that God will show him where to go. No plans. No detailed descriptions of where he’ll end up. Just a promise that God will show him a land if he obeys and heads out. Crazy. I bet that’s what everyone thought. I kinda know the feeling…

And this revelation is really just the third in a series of what God has been speaking to me about Europe. I got an email last week from a friend of mine. I was just sharing with him that I have been praying for direction in what to do, and he challenged me that most times, God has us keep walking forward without a clear end direction – and we just have to trust that urge to move forward in simple steps of faith knowing that God is a rewarder of faith. It’s about praying…and moving, praying…and moving, praying…and moving.

Then of course this past weekend when Jon was sharing a bit on his heart before they left to Mexico, he challenged us that now is the time to step out in faith – and believe God to provide whatever it is we are needing.

I think God might be trying to tell me something…guess I need to take the first step and see what God will do…

Emotional…

August 4, 2008 in Ignite with Leave Your Thoughts

The past few days have been somewhat emotional. On my ride to work on Friday I just really started missing being in Czech…and all my friends there. I’ve just been very bored here in Monmouth the past few weeks. I think a lot of that is just because I’m alone all day at work for 9 hours – with no one to talk to! That will definitely make me miss being in Czech for sure. But I just have really been missing my friends there, the culture…and the anointing that’s on me while I’m there. Aaahhhhh…Just send me to Czech!

It was also rough cause this was the weekend that we send Jon and Nancy off…which was hard to do. They have been apart of River of Life since I became apart of that community of believers…and to know that they won’t be here in Monmouth…that’s rough. I’m excited for them for sure – cause I know God is really going to use them to impact the Meso-American area, and I know this is God’s next step for them…but it’s still not easy to know they aren’t just on the other side of town.

It’s just been an emotional few days…

Expanding Ministry

October 8, 2007 in Ignite with Leave Your Thoughts


I’m simply amazed at what God is doing in and through the Covenant Groups at MC. Last night I was able to share about my trip to Europe with the group and, even though I was the one who went, these people God connected me with aren’t just my connections, they are OUR connections. The students here at Monmouth are making a bigger impact than they realize!

I shared with them how I take the discussion notes from every group gathering we have, add in the comments, questions and issues they bring up during group…and am turning those notes into discussion resources that we can send to our partners in Czech and future partners all over the world! Plus, the outreaches we do, the activities we plan, the format of our group…all of that is being turned into resources. Everything we do here at MC will be able to be modeled around the world. Sounds like a promise God made me 5 years ago…
 

It’s just so cool to see God move this way. I’ve always known that what we do here would be modeled around the world, but now it’s starting to become a reality. Sending resources to two youth pastors and a university student. Developing our 
own training materials and discussion notes. Even taking a team of students with to Czech in July for a youth convention. It’s all a start to seeing our min istry making a different internationally.
CGI…Covenant Groups International. It’s starting to become more of a reality that we think…

…then i will follow after you.

October 5, 2007 in Ignite, Life with Leave Your Thoughts

I was reading 1 Kings 19 the other day, and God really challenged me in walking in the call he has put on my life. I have long since accepted that God has called me to youth/young adult/university ministry in Europe, and even embrace it! God has captured my heart in such a deep way for that calling, that I look forward with anticipation to what He will do.

But that is where the challenge comes in. In 1 Kings 19:19-21, we see Elijah putting his mantle on and calling Elisha to be his successor. It was God’s call for his life. Elisha’s response has always interested me. It says that “Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his attendant.”
Elisha didn’t second guess the call. He didn’t say, well, I will just wait until God brings this around. He didn’t give any thought to where he would live, or how he would live. He was presented with the call of God and he stepped into it right away.
All this time, up until my trip to Czech last week, I’ve been pushing the call of God off til a future date. Oh, I’ve accepted it and embraced it, but it’s always been “well, that’s 3 years away” or “That’s what I’m called to do when I move there.” I even caught myself writing it that way in my journal…when God releases me to do ministry in Europe.
That’s not what he wants from me! This calling isn’t for the future. It’s for right now! God isn’t going to some time in the future release me to do ministry in Europe…he already HAS released me to do ministry in Europe. It’s time to stop hesitating about the call of God on my life and walk forward in it. Yea, I have questions. Who wouldn’t? Where will I live? What kind of job will I do? Will I have to move there? If I do have to move there, how will my family take it? That’s going to be a hard move, if it ever comes to it. I know I’m called there, but moving there. That will be hard. Leaving Monmouth and my family behind. Moving to a new place…a new country! And until then, how do I do ministry in Europe? I know I will have to take quite a few trips there, but how will I pay for it?
Hence my hesitations. But now is the time to be like Elisha. No matter what comes, I not only will do it, I am doing it. I am doing ministry in Europe. And whatever comes in the future, let me do it without any hesitation!

I left my heart in Czech…

October 4, 2007 in Ignite with Leave Your Thoughts


God really surprises me sometimes. I just recently returned from a trip to the Czech Republic…and God did more on that trip than I was expecting. I have felt called to University ministry in Europe for a while now (probably about 3 years), and I knew going into this trip that God was going to connect me with some of the people I would be working with and giving me an idea of when I would start doing ministry in Europe. I was thinking it would be 2-3 years from now, but God had his own plans in mind!


Right from the start of the trip, I knew God was doing something amazing. We flew from Chicago O’hare into Frankfurt, Germany. On our descent into Germany, I felt God say that I would return to Germany sometime to do ministry. We were only in Germany to catch a connecting flight to Poland, but in that hour and a half, God broke my h
eart for that country. While we were sitting in the plane waiting to take off to Poland, I began to weep over Germany…and didn’t want to leave. 

We left Germany and went to Poland, where some of the pastors from Czech came and picked us up. We went from the
airport to our hotel and prepared for the start of the conference. I was kind of worried that the conference might be boring – I mean, we were in Europe, but spent the majority of the trip inside t
he hotel, listening to teachings and feedback. But God reall
y moved during that time. The messages at night were challenging and we had the opportunity to pray for people. It seemed that every time I went to pray for someone, they were either a young adult, someone with a heart for young adults, a college student or a youth pastor. God was connecting me with anyone involved with this young generation. It was amazing!

I really connected with one young man in particular. He is a youth pastor in the town of Czesky Tesin – and really has a heart to see these young people follow after God. You could tell that he’s been crying out for someone to come along side and help him, give him advice and coaching. I really felt that he is one of those guys that God is connecting me with to help push him to the next level in his anointing. I would have stayed in Czech just to see him become all God wants him to be!

On Saturday, a few of us decided to hike up one of the mountains in the range our hotel was at, in order to see the sunrise. It was a pretty hard hike…but well worth it. We got to about the half way point and there was a spot where we could look out over that region of the country. We ended up coming back to this spot after climbing some more, to pray for those cities and for each other. It was an amazing time…connecting with Ben and seeing the beauty of God in the Czech Republic!

Sunday morning, we all split up and went to different churches to preach. I went to the church in Bohumin, which I was a bit unhappy about, cause I was told they focused mostly on gypsies…and i have a calling for young adults and college students. But God showed up yet again. Apparently, the service I spoke at was for the young adults/college students/youth and the business people, while the gypsies had their own service after lunch. God connected me with a young man who wants to start a ministry at his university…and he was my translator! He also connected me with their youth pastor and a few other university students. I didn’t realize it when I got to the church, but I sat right in the young adult/university student section! It was amazing!

God really opened some amazing doors for me this trip. I thought God would release me in a few years to do ministry there, but apparently that’s not soon enough. I’m helping a youth pastor and now a university student in their ministries, while still living here in the States. God is so amazing…just makes me want to cry thinking about what he is doing. God is raising up the next generation in the Czech Republic…and I want to be apart of it! I don’t know exactly what it all means, but whatever you want God, I am willing!
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