It's okay to get ugly... cry ugly... be ugly

This summer, I had the opportunity to go to a city in Southeast Asia. This city was very diverse. It had Chinese, Indians, Malays, Europeans, Africans, etc. I love that about the city! With so many different cultures and backgrounds the city has, it brings a variety of religions as well: Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Free Thinkers, etc. It was so cool to meet different people and learn about their cultures and beliefs. 

For about a month during our summer, we had a condominium up on the forty-first and forty-second floors. We had amazing views from every angle of that condo and I loved to go out on one of the porches and just sit, look, and pray over the city. 

Then, it started to get hard. One of the first nights we were there as I was looking over the city, reading my Bible, and listening to music, a single tear escaped my eye. I quickly wiped the tear away, but the tears kept coming. At first, I thought I was doing something wrong. There was no reason to cry. I’m a big girl. But, the city. Most of the people I am looking out at are . . . lost. They have no hope. Then, I saw this mountain far out beyond the city with just a few lights on the tip of it, allowing me to be able to see it. The tears kept flowing. I can remember getting on my knees and saying, “hold on, just you wait. I’m coming. I’m coming.” Because, how can they call on the One they have not believed in, and how can they believe in the One of Whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? (See Romans 10:14) I do not know anything about the people up on that mountain. I don’t know if they are Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, or something else. All I know is what the evidence points to: they are lost. The reality is, if I believe the Bible is true without any mixture of error, if I believe that Jesus came, was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life, performed many miracles, died on the cross, rose from the dead three days later, if I believe Jesus is the Son of God, that Jesus was, is, and is to come, and if I believe that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, then I have to face the fact that those who do not believe in Jesus as Lord are lost for all of eternity. And sitting up there, overlooking all these people, it broke me. 

I was broken, and I still am convinced I don’t need to be fixed. 

All I could do was pray. I cried out to God with deep, deep sobs. My heart felt like it was being ripped out of my chest. This prayer happened quite a few times during our stay in the condo. The more I prayed these tearful, ugly prayers, the more I realized that it was okay. It’s okay to get ugly before God. It’s okay to show Him our hearts. And the more I did it, the easier it was to hear His still small voice to go and talk to that girl on the train, to let the Holy Spirit work speak through me to my grab driver, and to lead with the Gospel and filter with the Gospel. 

Then I grew hungry. I could not get enough of His Word. I wanted it more and more! I wanted to not just read it, but to know it. AND I COULDN’T KEEP IT TO MYSELF. I had to go out and share it with people. All of this is because I believe broken and ugly prayers get the attention of God. 

It is okay to get ugly, cry ugly, be ugly. We are the most beautiful when we get ugly before God. And don’t let it stop there. Allow God to use your brokenness to further His kingdom. 

Let me say one more thing and then I am done. Please do not think that what I did this summer was in any way significant. Do not think I am qualified for the work He has set before us. I am not. If anything, I am disqualified. I have messed up in countless ways. But God, by His infinite grace and mercy, has qualified me. And God has qualified all who have carried their cross and followed Him. When we have done that, we have surrendered our rights to Him. We have given up all we have and all that are we are to do the work He has called us to! So if you think about it, what I did by going to Southeast Asia was not so significant, it was simply obedient. We are all called to GO, be obedient, and complete the Great Commission! 

So let’s go! Let us carry our crosses. Let us surrender our rights to Christ. Let us allow God to use us in ways we never thought we could be used. Let us shine our lights from the highest of the mountaintops to the bottom of the valleys. Let us follow Him into the Great unknown. Let us sing with all of our hearts, “take me deeper than my feet could ever wander.” Let us need the Word of God like we need the water that we drink. Let us fight the battle of which the enemy has a head start. Let us plunder the gates of hell! And let us with every breath and every tear and every step fulfill the Will of the Father, starting on our knees with broken, wholehearted, ugly prayers. 

So Others May Hear and Live, 

Alex

Shared from Alex's personal blog, http://alexgraceanthony.blogspot.com/2016/08/its-okay-to-get-ugly.html?spref=fb

Best summer of my life

I cannot find the words to describe this summer! I have seen God's faithfulness, His power and His love on full display. I have met the kindest people, shared in the crazy adventures, and had the blessing of doing life and growing with seven amazing teammates. I have had the best summer of my life! I'm so thankful. Part of my very full heart will forever be in a city half way across the world. Until next time!

-Andrea
Global City Outreach Team

Awesome Awkward Family Photos

Thank the Father when Jacob and I received an invite to Hari Raya randomly from “Louis,” a busker we met in a Ramadan bazaar near our home. From our initial meeting and invitation, Jacob and I had grown closer to him, sharing with him what we could from the Father, so Hari Raya would make for a dedicated time in which we could pour into Louis and his family. Though the festivities with Louis only lasted one day (unforeseen family emergency for Louis), both Jacob and I gained different perspectives from the event, where God revealed Himself to us and Louis in different ways.   

Jacob's Perspective:
My day started in a normal manner of waking up and mentally preparing myself for the day. I was prepared for an excursion of about 3 days into the outskirts of our area of SE Asia, to stay at our friend Louis' home and to travel to see his family. We began our day in a rather rough manner. We had planned on meeting him around 10 that morning but things fell through on that rather immediately as we had trouble with the local train system.  We were already running half an hour behind getting to the train station. To make matters worse, the next train didn't come for another hour. So, to say the least, we finally arrived at around 12 noon. We were greeted about 15 minutes later by a 'flying by the seat of his pants' smiling Louis. Louis had come by car with his wife and 26 day old son. He was deeply apologetic for making us wait despite the fact that we were 2 hours late ourselves. He was dressed to the 9 in his traditional Hari Raya duds, while we were still in our jeans and t-shirts, because we didn't want our outfits messed up on the train.

Next, we had a nice 20-30 minute car ride and discussion out to Louis' mother-in-law's home.  At this point some interesting things occurred, or at least interesting things to me. Louis is a very free spirited character, but he is very traditional and devout in his beliefs.  A traditional practice for the first day of Hari Raya is to visit your parents and eat with them, but most importantly, when you are leaving, you are to go through a ritualistic reconciliation by asking forgiveness from your parents. This really spoke to me in the sense that it showed me that the people here are seeking inter-connectedness. Despite their actions that year, they also know that forgiveness can be asked for and given by their parents. I can definitely understand that from where I personally come from in my beliefs. The only difference is that my reconciliation is with my Father, and it isn't just one day a year. These events showed me what the people here are seeking:

They want forgiveness and they want to renew their relationship with the Father. Keep these things in your heart and know that these people seek but don't know the way.  

Lift them up so that they might see.

Tyler's Perspective:
For me, the main standout of Hari Raya was family. The whole celebration is centered around relatives and visits to their homes; from meeting Louis at the train station, we traveled quickly but purposefully from house to house, relative to relative, visiting upwards of 20 to 30 people per location, and four houses, in a span of 8 hours. At each location, Louis and his fellow relatives interacted joyfully, as if congratulating each other after a long trial, with two Americans in tow who could only semi-communicate with a slim number of people. My initial reaction to the interactions was actually negative, whereas Islam drives this joyous occasion, making this belief that much more of an obstacle to seeing our friend and his family know Christ. But the more I've thought about the family aspect of Hari Raya, the more I've come to see it as almost God-like: these types of relationships and joys are what God intends for us to have with all peoples, blood kin or not, and especially with the family of God. And if a group of relatives can know and love each other this much without God, imagine how happy and joyful these meetings would be with God as the center! 

-Tyler and Jacob

Caves and Waterfalls

Have you ever been attacked by monkeys?  I couldn't say that before this trip, but those things are vicious! Okay yes I'm being dramatic and no we did not actually get attacked, but those feisty little things will do anything to get your food and water bottles.  We had monkeys trying to steal our bags while we were in the waterfalls.  Let's just say selfie sticks are good for more than just taking pictures, they can be used as weapons too! Maybe that's actually the reason why they get banned from everywhere. Other than crazy monkeys the waterfalls were awesome and so beautiful and we got more than a workout walking up thousands of stairs to get to them.

We also got to go to a Hindu temple.  That was very interesting.  We walked through a cave that displayed many interesting creatures, objects and humans that the Hindu worship.  It was really sad to see all of the idols that they pray to.  Hindus are a very hard people group to reach.  They believe that there are gods for everything and sometimes they will even accept Jesus as just another god to add to their collection.
I feel like a lot of times in America (at least for me) I get stuck in a bubble.  I do not see a lot of true idol worship and I do not realize the true lostness of people.  Yes I see my friends searching for other means of comfort and love and idols through things that they do, but I don't see as much of people truly and confidently worshipping another god.  They fully believe that their way is the true way to get to eternity.

For Muslims, they don't even know if they are going to Heaven, they only hope that on the day they die, God will let them in for their goodness here on Earth.  I mean I live in FULL ASSURANCE that I'm going to Heaven and these people only hope that they will.  They devote their whole lives to no certainty what so ever.  How incredibly sad and unfortunately worthless is that?

How can you help from home?  PRAY.  God works through us and God works through prayer.  He CHOOSES to fully orchestrate this world through our prayers.  How cool is that to have so much ability to use His work on our Earth?!  
Please be praying for open doors and for the Holy Spirit to win the darkness back.  Jesus is the one and only true light and these people HAVE to hear and know that.

-Lauryl

Hari Raya Adventures

In our area of SE Asia, the end-of-Ramadan festival, known as Hari Raya, is quite a big deal, to understate its cultural importance. For Americans, the closest comparison I have heard is that Hari Raya is the “Christmas” of holidays here, but even that doesn’t come close to the magnitude of the festivities here; Hari Raya is at a minimum three days, but the actual holiday is full month. It’s a time of celebration after fasting from sun up to sun down for an entire month, which seems to be a bittersweet trial or celebratory religious experience, depending on who you ask. Nevertheless, nearly all of the Muslims in our ~7.2 million population city skip town and return to their home villages and towns for Hari Raya to celebrate with extended family and friends.

Byan and James got to visit this beautiful beach on their Hari Raya adventure!

Naturally, all of the NTers here have had a much-prayed-for goal all summer: get invited! Ramadan provides such an easy, natural opportunity to share the Good News, and Hari Raya would not only facilitate increased friendship with people we have met through the bonding experience of travel, but it would also allow for constant discussion, maybe even with family members of our friends! (Also, it would give us a chance to dress in formal SE Asian clothing, which is always a plus). The girls get to wear long-sleeved pretty shirts and long skirts, while the guys get to wear long sleeves and long pants with a saneing that goes over it.  Yes we all died a little inside going to houses with no air conditioning wearing long sleeved clothing, but while we're here we might as well get the full on Southeast Asian experience.  We all got to experience Hari Raya with different friends.  The girls stayed in our city with friends that we met and the guys got to travel a little outside of our city.  

All in all our experiences were full of lots and lots of food, full bellies, and lots of fun experiences with our friends.  Some of us got to share with our friends and even with their families.  Even if we have not seen changed lives, God's word is being sown into lots of people's hearts and lives and these people are hearing.  Our fun experiences and even not so fun experiences are leading to changed lives one way or another and we just pray that the Lord allows for many of the seeds to change lives in the near future!

-Global City Outreach Team

Learning is Fun

There a few things this summer has taught me so far. 
1) With God you can do anything He calls you to. 
2) Comfort zones are not all that great after all. 
3) You never know where or when God will use you. So always be on the look out and be ready.

There have been many times this past six weeks where I have felt unprepared, unsure and completely out of my depth. But throughout these challenges I have come to learn an even deeper trust in and reliance on God. I can honestly say that it is not me who is working, but it is Him using me to reach the people He loves. 

I have experienced so much from teaching refugee children English when I have zero teaching experience, and really no idea how to handle pre-schoolers, to walking up to a complete stranger and starting a conversation without even knowing if they speak the same language. I have been blessed to be pushed out of my comfort zone and in doing so having the chance to share with the people here about Jesus and his amazing love for us.

From parks to coffee shops. From the busy streets and malls to the quiet bookstores and little cafes. There are chances everywhere to share the Gospel. One thing about staying in another country is that you really realize how many people there are in the world that need to hear. But just as important, it makes you think of all the people in your country, city, town, and neighborhood that need to hear as well. Sharing the gospel should be part of who we are everyday, not just for a week or a summer!

So if I could pass encouragement on to you all I would say to throw your comfort zones out the window and look for God to lead you to everyday opportunities to share the truth with someone, anyone, across an ocean or on your street. Trust Him enough to know that even when you are not sure what to do or say that He can and will use you, and your own unique abilities. He is the one who saves, we are just blessed enough to be His messengers.

-Andy

Love love love.

Can I just say how much I love it here?  I don't think I have ever loved a place as much as I do here. The city life, the luxurious malls, and the H&M's on every corner are enough for me to want to move here, but my love for this city goes so much more than just the city life experience.  This city has people from all over the world doing life here.  Each person I've met has absolutely amazing hospitality.  They will sit and smile while listening to me share the Gospel with them, even though it goes against everything they believe in.  They will always ask to take pictures with us, they never cease to smile, and they love to laugh.  This city has stolen my heart!

The first week we got here I got the opportunity to lead a girl to Christ and baptize her the next day. It was definitely the most surreal moment of my life! Since then, nearly every day we have gotten opportunities to share the Gospel multiple times a day!  It's kind of funny, actually, because you know how your parents would always tell you, "don't talk to random strangers on the street?"  Well, that's exactly what we have been doing!  We will walk up to people, ask for "directions," ask why they are not eating (during Ramadan), or find some random way of complimenting them just to get a Gospel conversation started.  No salvations have come out of that yet, but we are praying that God will send us persons of peace to hear and receive the Good News.

Pray with us that people will receive visions, dreams, and confusion that will completely corrupt their life.  Pray that we will find them and the Holy Spirit will work through us for them to find the way, the truth, and the life.

-Alex

Let's Talk Donald Trump

You read it right folks, presidential candidates are a hot topic here as well! Oh yeah and did I mention hipster coffee shops are a thing too? Our group talked about what people think about Donald Trump and got to talk about different preferences and issues when it comes to voting. 

This was the beginning of our weekly gathering at a local coffee shop on Monday nights in hopes of getting our new friends of varying religions to come and talk about global hot topics. They are aware that Christians are leading the discussions, but we want everyone to feel welcome and able to express their own opinions. This goes against the majority of their culture because it is more common to keep their thoughts and opinions to themselves, which as you know is unlike the American culture. 

It was fun to get people out of their comfort zone, but this makes it very hard to get people to come to our discussions. This was just week #2, and we did not reach our goal of the number of people we wanted to come. We hope and pray to have a room full of people as the weeks go on.  Our goal is to get people to come so that we can form relationships and introduce Christ into their lives. Please be praying for this opportunity to open up to huge advances for the kingdom.

-Global City Outreach Team

Southeast Asian Time

Tessa and Lauryl experienced some true Southeast Asian time with 3 of their new friends.  After planning to eat and go to a different city at 6 PM, the girls did not show up until almost 9PM. Needless to say our patience was worn pretty thin and we were not as excited about the night as we initially intended. 

The night was a little awkward for the the first half, because the girls did not speak as much English as we hoped they would. When we got to the city everything we planned to do was closed because unlike the city we live in, this city's night life was not very lively. So, the night was a little bit of a flop until the way home from our exhausting trip when the Lord did His beautiful work. We were able to share the gospel with our three new friends! There were not saved lives, but we were able to be the Lord's servants and deliver His good news and they actually wanted to hear and talk about it. One of the girls has Christian family members and we pray that our relationship will lead to more gospel conversations and that the Holy Spirit will open hearts. Please be praying for our new friends!

-Lauryl and Tessa

Faith in Numbers

Five more shall be added to our numbers today! A church group from South Carolina is sending 5 more people tomorrow to stay for the week. Another Alabama church has 8 other students here for the summer, who arrived the week after we did.  God has 21 students here for one week, and while this is a short time period we know that He has some huge plans for the lostness here. The 5 will join us at our refugee schools where we teach on Wednesdays and Thursdays. We are going on an adventure on Saturday to a temple and to waterfalls. We will celebrate the 4th of July with all of the Americans. As of now there will be 63 people celebrating together. It will not be the same as home, but bringing home here as best we can will work.

The numbers have already been evident through the 16 here. Just last week one of our members shared with a girl at the mall, who had already been shared with that day by one of the Alabama members. How incredible?! God wanted so badly for that girl to hear truth, so she got to hear it twice. The darkness has been here for way too long and it is time for lots of light to shine!

Pray that our numbers would bring extreme boldness and that no one would shrink back from sharing the goodness of God.

He has written his steadfast love and faithfulness on the tablets of our hearts and we are prepared to send that out to the people here. It is time for the nations to hear some amazing news!

-Global City Outreach Team

It's Conference Time

Our team was able to go to a Christian conference with two college fellowship groups. It was an incredible kickoff to the summer! 

Alex was able to lead an Indian, previously Hindu girl to Christ and baptize her.  
Byan baptized another guy who has been a Christian for a few years, but was too afraid to be baptized and did not fully understand the significance of being baptized. 

We got to encourage the groups to share with the many lost people in their community. Most of them are very afraid to share with other people outside of their people group and feel the need to do missions outside of the country. 

Please be praying for the believers here to be bold in their witness and for the Holy Spirit to move in mighty ways!

-Lauryl

Food, Food and More Food!

New countries call for new foods! 

A few of our team members have gotten a little excited about trying new foods... 

• Tyler ate an octopus whole.
• Alex licked a chicken's foot.
• James tried durian, the local "King of Fruits"  

Most everyone that we have come into contact with LOVES durian, but Americans have a harder time enjoying this interesting fruit. Just take one whiff and you will have had your fair share of durian. 


We have also gotten to celebrate 2 birthdays and will get to celebrate 2 more on July 1st. Byan's birthday was June 17th. That meant Tessa and Lauryl got to get some baking in with the infamous dirty brownies (chocolate chip cookie layered with oreos and topped with brownies). 

The people here love to eat spicy, but are not too fond of the American sweet tooth.  Here's to many more food adventures to come. 

Sorry for all of the pictures, we just felt the need for you to experience the food as much as you can with us!

-Lauryl

Meet the Team: Global City Outreach

L to R: Tyler, Jacob, Byan, James, Andy, Alex, Lauryl, Tessa

Alex is from Mississippi. She is the team leader. Do not be surprised if she asks to pet your dog, she know no strangers.  She is passionate about people and sharing the gospel.

Lauryl is from South Carolina.  Do not be surprised if you catch her talking in different accents, it's a true talent.  She is passionate to share the love that none of us deserve to have!

Andy is from South Carolina.  She has a crazy obsession with Hawkeye (the Avenger). She is most passionate about reaching those that other people overlook.

Tessa is from Ohio. She owns no normal socks and is fluent in sarcasm. She is most excited to learn more about God and herself and see God be glorified.

Jacob is from Mississippi. He likes long walks on the beach and brushing his long locks too many times.  He is most passionate about learning about culture and people because he loves people.

Tyler is from South Mississippi.  He likes spicy food. He is passionate about eating all the food and sharing with others at the same time.

Byan is from South Carolina. He has an old soul.  He has a deep burden for those who have never heard the gospel.

James is from Ohio.  His maturity goes out of the window sometimes.  His main passion is to see the entire nation of Somalia come to Christ.