True joy in Jesus: Cambree

The Lord has been teaching me to live Romans 12:9-16. How to love & love genuinely. How to take the lead in honoring others & be patient when things are hard & pray always. To rejoice with those who rejoice and help carry the burdens of those who weep. 

He is teaching me that to truly live a selfless life is to think of others as more important than myself. (Philippians 2:3). I know that verse, but do I live it?? 

This past month has been a month of realizing that the Lord still wants to teach me SO much, and i'm grateful for that. I am learning how to really be a doer of the Word, especially when it's hard. 

It's easy to read the Bible and only listen to the verses I like, but that's not the way God has called me to live. I have found true joy in reading the Word daily and actually LOOKING for ways I need to grow- so I can become more like Jesus. 

I am not ashamed at all to admit that I am weak & being convicted for something new like every single day, because that means I have more opportunity to grow & become who God has created me to me. I could write a book at this point honestly... but probably the biggest thing i have learned is that I have to let Christ be my strength. Some days are super hard here & I cannot be independent or think I can do anything without Jesus, because I actually can't. I need Him more & more every day.

-Cambree

I sure do love Jesus: Lydia

The Lord has been teaching me that time is precious & so is everyone. 

Everyone is worthy & needs to hear the Gospel. 

Every single moment is spent making a decision. 

Every decision made will affect someone, somehow. 

Every word will mean something to someone. 

Every moment that is wasted because I was hesitant to talk to someone will never be able to be recovered.

I have been learning that Jesus does not care who I talk to as long as I am loving them & sharing with them His love & His life story.

Every sunrise & sunset counts.

Every person should hear.

Everyone should know.

There was once an older Christian man who told me I shouldn't look to share with drunkards, only peaceful people. I realize now how foolish it was for me to believe that. 

Everyone deserves to hear about Jesus!! They may not believer BUT they should know His name & His love.

I sure do love Jesus.

-Lydia

A day in the life: Lydia & Cambree

Ministry during this season of the Gap Year looks a lot different than it has until now. We are in charge of making our schedule & being intentional with our time. A typical day will see us getting out & exploring the city, trying to meeting people. We try to do this prayfully so we don't miss any opportunities God provides to share the Truth.

If we make friends, we try to go back & follow up within the week, inviting them to hang out. The Lord has opened so many doors & we have been able to have some amazing conversations with people. We currently are studying the book of Matthew with a girl who is interested in following Jesus. It has been a joy to watch her slowly understand that Jesus loves HER and died for HER so that she can live in freedom. Please pray for her to know the trust & be set free.

We usually end our days with watching the sunset by the ocean... isn't ministry life so hard??!! It's a great way to meet more people also. We live in the middle of the city so it's great to have tons of people walking around right outside our place. We are in awe of God's power & ability to guide conversations right into the Gospel. Super, super honored & blessed to be able to grow & serve Him.

-Lydia & Cambree

Bold prayer: Andrew

Prayer.

Praying bold, specific & consistent prayers out loud is something God has been teaching me lately.

In 1 Kings 18, Elijah comes against the prophets of Baal & challenges them to show the power of their god, and he would show the power of his God. After the prophets of Baal fail, Elijah prays to God (vs 36-37). There's no "if you want" or "only if it be your will" in that prayer. Rather Elijah has complete faith in God that He will do it.

How many times when asking God to heal another, or to bring our friends & family to Him, do we add in that "if it be your will" simply because we don't have the faith to believe He will actually do it? This isn't some prosperity gospel where you just have to believe hard enough & you'll get a brand new car. Maybe if more of us truly believed God would do what we pray for Him to do, then we might have a few more miracles and a few less lost friends in our lives, not for our glory, but His.

-Andrew 

All in good time: Addi

This past month, the Lord has been teaching me to trust in His timing. I also feel He's teaching me to grow in being intentional. It's been much harder to make friends & build close relationships with people than it was in the other places I've been so far this year.

In past places, it seemed so easy to find times to meet up with people. Sometimes it was hard not not double book our time! But here, we've met lots of people, but trying to find times to meet up with them again can be a struggle. 

I've been growing in being more intentional with initiating conversations and continually pushing to set up times to follow up with the contacts we make on campus. Even though it's been a little hard, i'm learning to trust that the Father's timing is perfect. We will make good friends in His time.

-Addi

The Lord is my strength: Grace

One day we visited a cave outside the city. Both inside & outside the caves are many Hindu temples. In preparation for an upcoming festival, we saw many people walking to the temples with their sacrifices. 

The main temple of worship was located in the caves. In order to reach it, you had to climb up 19 flights of stairs. Part of this festival required Hindus to bring their sacrifice up all 19 flights of stairs without wearing shoes. For most people, this was a fairly simple task, but for others this was very challenging.

I saw a woman crawling up the stairs on her hands & knees as she was too weak to walk. No one could help her either as the pilgrimage must be done from one's own strength.

This scene reminded me of the joy & freedom we have in the Jesus Christ. It also reminded me of the millions of people who live their lives everyday like this woman, believing that they can find their way in their own strength.

The Lord is using my time here to continue to open my eyes to His heart for all nations.

-Grace

Pray for open doors: Camille & Jessica

Our ministry over this past month has seen us visiting a couple colleges to meet people and prayer walk. Our daily activities consist of learning language and meeting new people. We also spend time following up with many people in the hopes of getting them connected with local believers. We are also sharing the Good News with them as we have open doors. We have spent time teaching English to high school students & are hoping to start an English club at one of the local colleges.

We've also traveled about 4 hours from our city to teach English at another school. It's our prayer these opportunities will open doors for our believing friends to follow up & connect with them in the future.

Pray for personal conversations which will lead to relationships which will lead to Gospel conversations. 

-Jessica & Camille

Finding the lost: Geoffrey & Andrew

We are given people groups that we lack information on & are sent out to find, map & learn what we can about them. We learn about the population, religions, locations as well as prominent beliefs & customs. We stay in house of the local people & use whatever transportation we can... even walking between villages if need be. After we've learned all we can, we take back the information we discover, using it to write up a report for our team. 

Between our research trips, we go out sharing & are involved in language classes. 

Pray for safety as we travel. Pray for those we "find"... and for strategies to share the Good News with them.

-Geoffrey & Andrew

Student 2 Student: Grace & Addi

For the past month, we have been exploring our new work here in Southeast Asia. Our focus is the large population of university students. Our city is home to more than 400,000 college students who attend over 50 universities in the city.

Most of our days are spent walking around campuses, trying to start conversations with students. After we meet a student, we get their contact information so we can schedule follow up meetings. We also attend a weekly Christian club meeting on campus where we have the opportunity to fellowship with believers & encourage students in their faith. 

We spend a couple days a week mapping campuses. We go to a campus our supervisors have never been on & write down basic facts about it. We also try to identify easy points of entry into the campus. This includes Christian clubs or even coffee shops where we could easily meet students.

We love working with all these students. Please pray that our Father will open these students hearts to the Good News. 

-Grace & Addi

Our God... the same today!

Some themes I've seen recently in my quiet time are boldness & how God is on the throne. As I've been reading through Acts, one passage that was so amazing to me is Acts 16:22-32. 

Our God is the same God who performed miracles back in Paul's day. He is alive, sovereign, ruling & reigning! In the first few verses we see Paul & Silas in prison. In verse 25 it says they were singing & praising God while the other prisoners listened to them. 

God used these verses as a reminder for me to keep going in the hard times & praise Him. Because no matter our situation, He can use it for good and He is always worthy of praise!

-Camille
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