|| around the world in..fifty ||
what
a crazy year this has been for me. if you were to ask me in january what i
thought my year would look like i can guarantee i would not have said any of
what i just lived through. this year brought me to an even greater awareness of
the favour of the lord in my life and the deep desire i have to follow him
wholeheartedly. it all began while on an outreach to iceland in January. my
motive for being there was purely to see the dream of one of my now closest
friends become a reality. while in iceland i got a call that would change the
course my life would take for the next few years. i was asked to lead the april
awaken dts. this again was the last thing on my radar, in fact i had made it
really clear last year i didn’t want to lead a school in kona. but little did i
know..
now
that it is all said and done i can’t imagine having not led the school. i was
able to lead with two incredible co-leaders who helped keep me grounded, and
more scheduled than i ever like to be and never ceased to amaze me by their encouragement
to me through these past 6 months. i gained many new friends and got to do what
i love most of all; tell and show people about the love of jesus, while
traveling to some of the worlds most unreached people groups. i have learned
many many new lessons through this season and learned how to press in in an
even greater capacity to trust that i will see the lord move. through these
lessons i have had many joys, disappointments, much laughter and tears, and
even some new emotions i have never experienced before...but at the end of the
day i know it is all to the glory of god. he is so great and faithful to us.
i
wanted to share a couple highlights from my time around the world in fifty days
as the lord did so much in and through me..
one
of my favourite stories came from our nepal team. during a time of prayer and
waiting to hear what the lord would speak. one of the gals saw a picture of a
man dressed head to toe in a white with a turban on his head. one of the
long-termers said she had never seen anyone meet that description before. the
gal undiscouraged continued to pray and keep a look out for said man. after a
few weeks the team was doing some evangelism in the city and as they were
getting out of the van spotted the man! the man dressed all in white with a
turban on his head. they ran over to him and were able to share with this hindu
sadhu the gospel of jesus and how much he loved him and all that jesus did for
him. the man through revelation of the holy spirit decided in that moment to
give his heart to the lord!!! what encouragement for our team and this gal as
they pressed in in belief that the lord speaks!
on
another team in the philippines, our people were handing out rice..with only
one bag left they looked around to see whom they could leave this blessing
with. they sought out this one particular man but oddly enough he did not want
rice, who doesn’t want free food they asked?? but the lord clearly had another
plan, so.. they found another man nearby and he received it with great delight.
this man was almost blind and with blurry eyes he took them back to his home. the
teams desire was to pray for him and to see his sight restored. as they prayed nothing
changed in his eyes, but his heart ignited. the man then opened up and said god
told him to go out to the corner that morning and it would be there where he
(god) would provide for him. it was in the exact location that the lord
revealed to him that our team met him and gave him food. he began to speak to
them of some visions and dreams that he would have. it became very clear that
he had a very real and active relationship with the spirit of god. there are
too many details to tell, but i can assure you no one left unmoved by the
presence of the lord as he shared visions that came straight out of the book of
hebrews.
while
in cambodia many peoples lives were touched by teaching english to the khmer
people. a highlight for me was to see the number of salvations and the
discipleship that followed it, reminding me of our need for follow through as
we take the gospel to the nations.
 |
| photo by:: isaac ordaz |
one
of my favourite stories comes from brasil. i have been to many villages in my
life time but none like this one...imagine a group of people living in the
middle of the amazon who years before fled for their lives from their
portuguese captors. these were families who had been brought over as slaves
from africa many many moons before. the ran for safety in to the heart of the
jungle and our team got to go and minister to them there. while there i met a
little blind boy named marlon. never has someone impacted or touched my heart
like this little boy. we had the incredible opportunity to pray over him, speak
life and destiny in to his heart, hear of his love for singing and worshiping
jesus. it rocked me to see how a little bit of releasing his identity to him
changed his entire countenance. there was not a dry eye in the room as we the
spirit of god fell and we saw his life change forever. I still pray for marlon
everyday in hopes that the lord will fully heal and restore his sight.
it
was an incredible journey, one that has marked me forever, has opened up new
doors to discover more of who jesus created me to be and how he wants to use
each one of us to release a future and a hope over every person we meet. i was
once again reminded of this today as i was in costco in kona and bumped in to a
mother/daughter duo. in our short interaction i learned of much stress in their
lives and was able to pray for them both. these women left have encountered the
father and forever changed. let me encourage you that we don’t need to go
overseas to see these things happen but it is happening right around us
everyday, we just need to open our eyes! so let us open our eyes with hope and
see how the lord can use you to make an impact and see anothers dream become a
reality!
there
are so many more stories to tell, with so little time to tell but i will be in
the seattle/vancouver area for a few weeks this fall and would love to connect
with you while i am there and share more with you in person.
Share story
So good! And encouraging! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeletePlease tell me you're coming to DC area too! ��
oh Christine, I would LOVE to, not sure when I will again though! come visit us here!!
DeleteGreat to hear your update, Lori. It has been quite a year for you! Did you end up getting to Toga? John & I have a new sponsor child, with Compassion, who is from the Dominican Republic. It may be a bit easier to get to see him one day!
ReplyDeleteHope to make it to Hawaii sometime, so we can have a visit!
May God continue to richly bless you.
Love,
John & Shell
Hi Shell!
DeleteSo great to hear from you! Thanks for all you and John do for me! You are a blessing! I didn't get back to Togo, sadly, but you are right it was a VERY full year for me! Hope you guys can come out to Kona soon!
Love, Lori