We are off to Ukraine in the wee hours of the morning so pray for us!
And enjoy this picture of Dezmond packed in our bag and ready to go!
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
It's been a rainy couple of weeks here in Spain and it was a surprise and thrill on Saturday when it was a beautifully sunny day! Here we are with Matt and Kristen walking through Fuengirola.
Latest family pic!
March 4th our vision projects were due. These projects were a magazine-style article on what God has put on our hearts to do after we leave G42. Our vision is to go back to Ukraine and serve youth there in the future. Along with our project we all had to do a presentation to the class on our vision so we started with those presentations today. The variety among everyone is amazing - from medical teams in Burma, coffee shops with a purpose, outdoor adventure discipleship programs to high-fashion stiletto shoe lines that would help stop human trafficking. The dreams out there are endless! The project for the next term will be a business plan to put our vision into action but we'll discuss that once we get there!
Thursday is graduation for the three students who are done. We unfortunately are missing grad because the only flights we could get in our time frame to Ukraine leave Thursday morning. That being said, we leave Thursday at 6:30 a.m and will be gone until March 30th.
Please Pray For:
- Safe and easy travel (Dez isn't really into the whole flying thing)
- Discernment and clarity to hear God's voice and the guts to follow
- Direction and clear opportunities where we can serve our Ukrainian friends
- That we meet the right people and find out the right information in our research
Thank-you for your continued prayer and support!
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Numbers 33
Two weeks ago as a homework assignment we were given Numbers 33 to study the journey that the Israelites made through the desert. We were supposed to come up with what each station they stopped at meant to them and what it means to us now. For the past two days in class we've been going through it together and gaining some new insight that I'd like to share.
Basically, the Israelites wandered for forty years in the desert and at each place they camped, they gave it a name based on their circumstance. For example, their fifth stop on the journey was the place called Marah which means bitter because the only water there was bitter. We talked about how we can have bitterness in our lives that can kill our spirit just like bitter water kills your body. Being bitter in life is not a good place to stay, especially in a life dedicated to following Christ. Bitterness can eat away at us and cause much pain to ourselves as well as other people around us.
What it came down to was that the Israelites named places after their circumstances when we're told in the Bible to rejoice ALWAYS. We shouldn't let our attitude be shaped by the things that happen to us - that we have no control over. We should be self-sufficient in Christ and not let our unfulfilled needs or bad circumstances determine our moods or actions. In the end, it took forty years for them to get the courage to walk through the Jordan river and step into the inheritance that God had for them when if they would've just been bold in the first place, they could've been spared lots of pain and suffering. Yes there were giants in the land, yes they had huge fortified cities but the Israelites had the ULTIMATE Giant on their side! Guarding them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night! HIS presence with them as the ark of the covenant EVERYWHERE they went!! What did they have to fear except fear itself?
We don't want to be like the Israelites. We don't want to hem and haw and waste time avoiding the call that the Lord has for us. Whether it be bitterness, fear or any other attitude that we've dwelled on in life, we want to step beyond that and boldly step into the Jordan river, going forward into the inheritance that He has for us and not waste any more time on attitudes that bring death to our spirits! In the end - Christ has already beaten death! We have victory in Christ to overcome the things that weigh us down and to not only dodge the arrows of satan but to send our own volley of flaming arrows right back at him!
Basically, the Israelites wandered for forty years in the desert and at each place they camped, they gave it a name based on their circumstance. For example, their fifth stop on the journey was the place called Marah which means bitter because the only water there was bitter. We talked about how we can have bitterness in our lives that can kill our spirit just like bitter water kills your body. Being bitter in life is not a good place to stay, especially in a life dedicated to following Christ. Bitterness can eat away at us and cause much pain to ourselves as well as other people around us.
What it came down to was that the Israelites named places after their circumstances when we're told in the Bible to rejoice ALWAYS. We shouldn't let our attitude be shaped by the things that happen to us - that we have no control over. We should be self-sufficient in Christ and not let our unfulfilled needs or bad circumstances determine our moods or actions. In the end, it took forty years for them to get the courage to walk through the Jordan river and step into the inheritance that God had for them when if they would've just been bold in the first place, they could've been spared lots of pain and suffering. Yes there were giants in the land, yes they had huge fortified cities but the Israelites had the ULTIMATE Giant on their side! Guarding them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night! HIS presence with them as the ark of the covenant EVERYWHERE they went!! What did they have to fear except fear itself?
We don't want to be like the Israelites. We don't want to hem and haw and waste time avoiding the call that the Lord has for us. Whether it be bitterness, fear or any other attitude that we've dwelled on in life, we want to step beyond that and boldly step into the Jordan river, going forward into the inheritance that He has for us and not waste any more time on attitudes that bring death to our spirits! In the end - Christ has already beaten death! We have victory in Christ to overcome the things that weigh us down and to not only dodge the arrows of satan but to send our own volley of flaming arrows right back at him!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Update
Last week classes were a little less intense than usual due to sickness (stomach flu this time). Thursday and Friday we had a guest speaker, Steven Holmes, who is a social entrepreneur. He starts businesses with a purpose all over the world and also has a school that teaches business and entrepreneur stuff.
One of the main parts of our classes with him was a project where he "gave" us a piece of land with some money and in teams we had to come up with a business, a ministry or both to use the land for. It was really good to be forced to start with something, brainstorm ideas of what it could be, pick a simple idea and take it through all the necessary steps to make it a viable business. In the end we had to present our idea to a panel of judges (fake mayor, fake grants officer, fake loans officer etc) and the best idea won a prize (which Steven forgot about in the end so no one got it!). I (Jo) have always thought of myself as more of a visionary who could come up with great ideas and not know how to take them forward into a business but when it came down to it in our groups my business side really came out.
This weekend started out wonderfully - I went with another mom to the flea market in Fuengirola, Steve played basketball and soccer, we went to the beach on Sunday...and on the way to the beach, sickness struck. We thought the flu bug had passed us by but unfortunately, it had not. Dez got taken down first but still seemed relatively happy. After he went to bed Sunday night was when it hit Steve and I. We spent all day Monday in bed and after waking up this morning spent the rest of our time before afternoon class scrubbing and cleaning our apartment.
This week our speaker is George Ridley from Lightforce International. We missed 3 classes with him but look forward to the rest of the week with him.
Fun at the beach on Sunday:
Enjoying the cold Mediterranean
Two more weeks of classes for this term and then we have a two week break. We booked flights to Ukraine from the 17th to the 30th to visit with friends and to pray about what God might want us to do there in the future.
One of the main parts of our classes with him was a project where he "gave" us a piece of land with some money and in teams we had to come up with a business, a ministry or both to use the land for. It was really good to be forced to start with something, brainstorm ideas of what it could be, pick a simple idea and take it through all the necessary steps to make it a viable business. In the end we had to present our idea to a panel of judges (fake mayor, fake grants officer, fake loans officer etc) and the best idea won a prize (which Steven forgot about in the end so no one got it!). I (Jo) have always thought of myself as more of a visionary who could come up with great ideas and not know how to take them forward into a business but when it came down to it in our groups my business side really came out.
This weekend started out wonderfully - I went with another mom to the flea market in Fuengirola, Steve played basketball and soccer, we went to the beach on Sunday...and on the way to the beach, sickness struck. We thought the flu bug had passed us by but unfortunately, it had not. Dez got taken down first but still seemed relatively happy. After he went to bed Sunday night was when it hit Steve and I. We spent all day Monday in bed and after waking up this morning spent the rest of our time before afternoon class scrubbing and cleaning our apartment.
This week our speaker is George Ridley from Lightforce International. We missed 3 classes with him but look forward to the rest of the week with him.
Fun at the beach on Sunday:
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