Indian Portraits

I've been putting all my energy into my newsletter and severely neglecting this blog. It's sad I have no time to update. But here are some pictures that we took in my new sari. You can't go anywhere without Indian children!

Beautiful!

Healing

(BE WARNED:  This post might mess up your theology and/or the way you live)

I haven't really been updating you on what we have been learning in our lectures so far this month. But this week, I can't NOT tell you because it is so amazing!

We had a week to learn how to heal and heal on the streets.  Really the expectation is that Jesus told us to go out and heal the sick (Mark 16:18, Matthew 10:7-8, and many more times) so we should do it.  The men who were teaching really take Jesus simply at his word and it was so beautiful to watch and learn from their lifestyle.  It was all about Jesus and how much he loves people and how he has given us authority to heal.

I know of a couple amazing healing stories from Canada. One is of a woman who had brain cancer. But I had never been present when someone was miraculously healed or even prayed for someone who was healed of something major over a longer period of time.  This week we learned the basics of how to pray for nonbelievers for healing and how these men have experienced healing to work. After learning that we saw legs grow longer, spines straighten, and pain leave knees and shoulders.  I'm sure there are more things, but even that was amazing!   It takes an open mind to believe that it really happened and that there isn't some other way to explain a healing. And it also takes being there. I can imagine that two years ago I would not have believed that someone was really healed or would be really healed.  And if I saw a video like this one, I would have thought that it was a hoax.  (This man really challenges me, because you know that he just knows how much God loves people and wants to draw them to Himself. And this guy is willing to look a little crazy if someone is gonna get healed.  Because when they are healed, you don't look so crazy anymore.)

I now am left wondering how I'm going to make this information part of my normal life at home. Can I actually be brave enough to walk up to someone in Canada and ask if they would like prayer for healing? Could I even pray this way for my friends and family or will they think I'm crazy too? Obviously I would hope that people would be open, but I thought that this all was pretty crazy two years ago.  I wouldn't blame people for not being open or interested or whatever.

Heritage Tour: Prague

I'm finally getting to post my last pictures from our tour across Europe! Prague was BEAUTIFUL this year. Last time I was there, I remember snow and cold. The time before that, it was just dreary.  This time it was sunny with a beautiful blue sky.

 First we walked across the famous Charles Bridge. It was packed with people, but still really enjoyable. I had a guide book (courtesy Shay) that told me who all the statues were. Last time I had no idea about anyone. (although, knowing the name of the saint isn't always helpful. Knowing a name isn't interesting if you don't know the story)

This is my best photo from the bridge and maybe even the day. However, I don't know which saint this is. The balloon looked like a "historic" hot air balloon that you could pay to have rides in!

The cathedral/church downtown which is so fun inside!  The top of it looks like a fairy tale castle. 

A plaque at Bethlehem Chapel. 

Loosely translated "Here lived Mister Jan Hus (John Goose)"

Mural on Bethlehem Chapel wall:

Jan Hus actually was martyred on my birthday (July 6) in 1415. 

Makes him one of my favourite "reformers" even though he was really just a dissenter before the reformation actually happened. Someone once said that if the Catholic Church had listened to Jan Hus there would have been no need for the reformation (or it would have happened in a nicer way... something like that). 

While in Prague, Shay had the most exciting discovery of the whole tour. His name on something!  Look really close...  

That car dealership sells such high end cars as Lamborghini, Bentley, Audi, and Aston Martin. 

Shay hopes its a relative. I think finding out is a great reason to go back to Prague.

This was a beautiful little bookstore that sold English books!  (can you see that little UK flag? English section!)  I hadn't seen a bookstore like this ever...

Floor the ceiling books, with a cute little upper level that staff could walk around. I want a library, bookstore or cafe/bookstore like this one day.  I LOVE BOOKS!

The "Dancing House" in Prague.  I think it is some pretty cool architecture although it is so strange against all the really old buildings.

The Golem!  I know practically nothing about this mythical creature from Prague. Well I know a little. But I will wait until we go back to Prague before I post more about him because I hope to do much more research on him next time I'm here. I haven't even gone to the Jewish Quarter of the city yet. This is definitely still on my "Must See" list. 

We were so blessed to still see roses in a rose garden. It was really cold in the evenings, but somehow the roses were still blooming. Here is Maria enjoying how fragrant they are. 

Shay picked me a rose and took off all the thorns so I could hold it. Then he and the other boys gave one to each of the other girls in the group. Such gentlemen.

Here you can see the Eiffel tower in Prague. We didn't go up, but we went to the base. I love this picture because you can see our group enjoying the walk. I love these guys!

 St. Wenceslaus Square

We had a great opportunity in Prague to do street ministry. It was super duper cold that evening but we had an hour on the square to talk to people and pray over everything that happens there. Prague is known as the Stag Party capital of Europe. Groups of people from Holland, England, or wherever come to Prague to drink and whatever else. I don't want to go as far as to say it is the Vegas of Europe, but it definitely has an industry built on sex and drinking.  The night we were there was a Friday evening, so you can imagine there were quite a few people out. 

My group ended up standing on a side street that God led us down, with one cabaret on one side of the street and another strip joint directly across from it. And we spent our whole hour there. We prayed, and worshiped, and talked to a guy from one group of men from Holland. We weren't able to talk to anyone specifically about God, but we definitely were active in changing the spiritual atmosphere there. Shay was a champ. It was his first time on the street like this, and did great. 

Below is the Museum at the end of St. Wenceslaus Square with a huge statue of the king. We met back here and it was all foggy, which made this picture super cool.  We also were standing next to a memorial for a guy who, during communism, soaked himself in gasoline and set himself on fire in the square as a sign of resistance. If that isn't radical for freedom, I don't know what is.  Apparently, during the Velvet Revolution there were half a million people in the square. (someone told me a million, but I can't find evidence anywhere else to back that up)

The pretty metro under the museum. 

 At the end of our visit to Prague we saw a protest march going across Charles bridge and probably up towards the government buildings by the castle. It was so noisy, we could hear it all the way up this hill. We aren't exactly sure what its about, but probably connected to all the "Occupy" protests happening across the world.

Prague was such a highlight of the trip for me. I love every city we go to, but I think that this time I realized how much more there still was to see in Prague, and how affordable it is compared to places that use Euro.  And having Starbucks coffee probably helped my mood. 

I saw this picture in the Starbucks in Prague. I hope that on outreach I'll be able to take a few absolutely beautiful pictures of people. Ones like this that I can blow up and put on a wall. 

PS: I still love comments. It lets me know someone out there is reading!

Heritage Tour: Germany

Germany was three days on our tour.   We were at Hurlach and Herrnhut YWAM bases. Both are amazing bases although very different from ours. Hurlach has been owned by YWAM since the Munich Olympics (did I say this last year?) and Herrnhut has over 100 students in their DTS. Can you imagine that many people eating supper? I couldn't either.

We spent an hour in downtown Augsburg one evening. I saw it in daylight last time. More stores were open... but I kinda like that night walking and photography.

Herrnhut is the birth place of the modern Moravian church. This is the cemetery.

These are some of the head stones. They were from the 1700's. Isn't that amazing?!?!

Next: Prague!

Heritage Tour: Switzerland

We have returned home from our tour!  Safe and sound in Slovakia, although VERY tired.

But I want to continue to tell you about our trip!  In Switzerland we stayed with YWAM families who showed so much hospitality to us. They actually had a wood pizza oven and we had a make your own pizza night!  That was AMAZING!

We spent time in Lausanne and Geneva. For many more pictures of those cities, look at last year's post. This was my favourite picture from both cities this year. (Its's from Lausanne)

And as always, I fell in love with the vineyards all over the mountainsides. 

And we were lucky enough to drive into Switzerland during the sunset. The Alps are just AMAZING!

I have at least two more posts, but more pictures than I will ever fit in two posts. The few I do put up will have to suffice.

Heritage Tour: Assisi

Today was AMAZING!  Even as my second time here, I absolutely adore this city! (is it a city? It's pretty small... but anyways: totally worth the whole trip!)

I'll just post a few pictures until I can give some other information. Fast posting means you just put up pictures. Hope you all fall in love with this pretty town where such a great group of people lived.

Francis' Hermitage

 My quiet time in an olive grove this morning. (photo credit to Shay)

 The Basilica 

Burke and Lizzie, two students on our school. They are an awesome couple. If you want to see the front of their faces, click on this link to go to their blog! 

The sunset was GREAT!

Heritage Tour: Rome

Hello from Italy!  After two days in beautiful Rome (with 28 degree weather) we are now in Assisi with wifi connection so that I can share these with you!  It will be so hard to choose pictures but here are a few of our time. I have plenty of the whole group, but I won't be sharing them on my blog to save the students' privacy. I hope you enjoy these though!

St. Peter's Basillica

Week Four

No Way!  It definitely can't be week four already!  But it is!  We just finished our fourth week of teaching. And this surely is the tear jerker week.  Father heart of God. This is the week that you hang all the other information you learn at DTS upon!  This isn't just another book, it is the bookcase where you put all the books. It is the tree you hang everything else on. It is the lens with which you look through at everything else.

Our teacher is a amazing and humble man who currently lives in Belgium. And he teaches this week so well, because he has so much revelation on this topic and because of his own fatherly qualities. It was so nice to see him again as he taught last year as well and really impacted me.   But instead of giving a real cliff notes overview of this teaching, I'm going to write down some of the great one liners that he said that made me think.

Only God is up to date on someone's life. If they have confessed and been forgiven by God, who am I to not forgive them?

Mercy is getting what you don't deserve and not getting what you do deserve. (then why do I always want justice for others, and mercy for myself?)

Sin didn't change God. It changed us.

Everything outside the love of God will not fulfill you. 


No one has been rejected into wholeness. (I can't bring someone to health and wholeness by rejecting them. It is through acceptance and honour that they can find change.)

The greatness of God is like trying to explain the size of the milky way to a six year old. Even if you talk about light years and distances, they still only relate it to the two day journey to Grandma's house.  We have no concept to understand the greatness.

God's ability and desire to speak to you is greater than your ability to hear. (He will tell you again if you miss it the first time, or second, or third)

You cannot become like Jesus by focusing on what Jesus did. (How may people just gasped? Be honest....  The reason is that we don't want to be just a mimic of Jesus. We want to draw from the same source that he did in order to do the same. In order to do that, we need to realize that we also are adopted as sons or daughters of God. That identity is the most important thing in becoming like Jesus. There is much more to that, but I already explained enough)

To be touched by God is not to have a relationship with him (the ten lepers).  Touching is from one side. Relationship is from both sides.

Love is to reveal the beauty of another person to themselves.

For love to unconditional, it depends on the character and nature of the giver and not on the behaviour of the recipient.

If I do not fell God's love daily, I'm living on less than I am created to.

Time does not heal the heart, it just gives us time to get used to the pain.

The main point of the whole week was: God is our perfect Father. We cannot look at him through the lens of our earthly father, because that isn't who he is. And when we don't believe that he loves us unconditionally, we don't want to come to him.

SUCH A GOOD WEEK!

First Two Weeks

When I left to come back to Slovakia for this trip I told myself that I would do a better job of posting on my blog this year. I definitely have not. I forgot how long it takes to get into the rhythm. And with the extra stresses and planning that comes with being staff I'm finding it difficult to have enough time. Right now I'm drafting this while on a bus to Bojnice for a day trip. It is Shay's birthday this weekend and pictures of the beautiful castle there will becoming soon. But I haven't even shared about teachings yet! Last week a wonderful woman of God who has been in YWAM since it's first school of evangelism came to speak. I had met her and her husband before but she always inspires me to become a greater and more faithful woman of God. if I have half as many adventures when I'm seventy then I will be very happy! Unfortunately smuggling bibles into Slovakia isn't really an adventure anymore (praise be to God for that!).

She taught us about prayer and the fear of the Lord. I really love her teachings on prayer because you can tell how much of a prayer warrior she is. Her daily intercession on others behalf, her group intercession for countries and cities, how she approaches God with prayers for herself.

One of the most inspiring things she told us about is women from her town coming together to pray. they come from 14 different denominations (every one in town except the evangelicals-which makes me sad because my church at home is evangelical. I hope we wouldn't pass an opportunity like this up). And these women meet together and learn what is happening in different churches and pray. A could times a year they put on a luncheon and invite Christian women to come but they are required to bring one unsaved friend. They have a speaker and lots of fun. And through these women getting to know eachother, the denominations are working together. When two churches hire a youth worker jointly and give them a commission to work with all the towns youth, that is a huge step for unity in The Church.

I also believe she has a powerful understanding of prayer. And it probably is what people have tried to teach me my entire life, but when YWAM explained it for some reason it clicked: Prayer is partnering with God. We ask God what he wants us to pray for and do and we agree with his plan by praying with the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit is present and you already know God wants to do it you can pray with strength and confidence! Your prayers and words are strong to tear down and build up. I had even heard this teaching last year. It's amazing how quickly you can forget if you aren't actively applying. But I have six months to practice applying this whenever I'm interceeding on anothers behalf or my own.

This week we had another speaker and he was Irish but living in Scotland. He also has acting training so it was so fun listening to him switch between accents. He spoke on sin, forgiveness, conviction vs condemnation, and giving up rights. Those seem like some pretty tough topics, and they are, but he was so easily able to make it real for us. One of his best analogies was about sin and temptation. (Skip to the next paragraph if you have a weak stomach).  Temptation is a nice, shiny wrapper from your favorite candy ( werthers or toffee?) that gets you excited in anticipation and you greedily want the candy... But as you unwrap it and shove it in your mouth you realize it isn't a candy. It's poop. And you taste it and smell it and your breath stinks. It is the grossest analogy ever but sin is gross. And when he was explaining it I was actually very grossed out. But I think it was good to use such a strong idea.

He also taught on how we need to lay down our rights. I hadn't really thought about it before, but the places where you are frustrated and upset with God often are the places where you are unwilling to lay down what you think are your rights in that area. If I think I have a right to a white picket fence life, I'll be upset when it isn't what I have. If I think I have a right to use my money and have a good reputation, and to get married, and to live where I want to then I will not be grateful for God's blessings when they aren't what I think I deserve.  Its such a sacrificial and biblical message, but I've thought my whole life that making sure that I have those rights is the most important thing. To lay them down and let God tell me what is actually what I need.

Next week we talk about the Father heart of God. I LOVE this speaker and his message. And I will upload pictures from today ASAP as well. Thank you all for your prayers. They mean so much to us, and we really do rely on them!

Slovak Concert!

Today is the end of day four.

Last night we had a very cool opportunity as the DTS to go to a concert of Hillsong Live.  This was a VERY big deal in Slovakia. Slovaks from all across the country came to a basketball arena (is it an arena if its small? More like a gymnasium) to be at a Hillsong concert.  The place was amazingly full.

And although I was disappointed by the first couple songs, they actually were a good show.  To see all those Slovaks praising God, with hands raised and in English none the less.

While this event wasn't nearly as big as YC, the other times I've seen Hillsong.. I think the worship was great and worth our evening even if I didn't know about 1/3 of the songs.

I also got to see my Slovak parents at the concert!  Janka's parents came with her and I got big hugs from both of them.  It's so nice to have Slovaks that love me, even if we don't speak the same language. 

Hopefully I'll be able to blog more this weekend. Now we are off to visit the city!  

First Week Back

Well the first week back in Slovakia has been pretty eventful!  Outside of all the preparation work that needed to be done for the students (who began DTS today!) we actually got to do quite a bit!

This weekend was the market (which has a real name in Slovak, but I didn't learn it) in the town square. It actually was a HUGE event!  They brought in acts from Russia and some former Yugoslavian country (which one in particular I forget) to be on the main stage on Friday and Saturday nights.  They also had vendors lining the streets selling all kinds of goods.  It was so much fun just watching people and looking at the goods!

There were balloons EVERYWHERE!

These cookies are everywhere.  Some of them said "lasky" or versions of that word which can be translated love. I'm not sure what all the others say, but they all are heart shaped so I expect they are for sweethearts.  And no I didn't get one. 

They also had falconers (is that the real word? I just made it up...) who were showing off their birds.  It seems to be a pretty big thing here and they had quite a few different birds.  These owls were my favourite but they also had actual falcons and a hawk and a raven.  I'd love to see them actually practice with them.  I know some castles have birds of prey that they show for tourists, hopefully we will get a chance to see that. 

We also had a birthday party which is where all these pictures came from.

Yes this is a gummy bear cake. But it has gummy cows and frogs and mice and the normal worms and bears. Shay says they were surprisingly good. 

It is the end of day 2 of the DTS. I'm already wiped but I'm so happy!  I love this group. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to post a bit about what we are doing.  I have yet to pull out a camera this week though. That is how busy it is.