When the Holy Spirit moves

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG827sCz-v4

Check this guy out, Francis Chan. He was the senior pastor at a mega church in California until he decided to step down from his role in July this year. I can empathise with this guys story. His obedience to the Lord and the move of the Holy Spirit in his life is quite inspiriational. Francis Chan also wrote the book Crazy Love, which is really about how the American church today differs so much from the Early church and what Jesus called us to as his disciples. Well, if thats true for the Amercian church, its true for the church in the UK as well. the idea of the church as a movement of people, built on relationships, that breaks people tradtional viw of what the church is,  now thats appealing to me. 

A Restless Spirit

Its already 4 months since Jennie and myself moved back to the UK...hard to believe! We are both loving married life and discovering life in England together. We are both enjoying our new jobs and trying to figure out what our community and church life looks like. 

We have both experienced lots of change in our lives over recent months, but i continue to experience a stirring, a restlesness in my spirit. 

I believe that the author of Psalm 42 penned the words “deep calleth unto deep” because he recognized the deep spiritual hunger that resides in every human heart. He also recognized the persistent call of God that is tugging on our spirit inviting us to come closer to the Lord, to come deeper into the things of the Spirit. 


I guess thats what I'm feeling at the moment in my walk with the Lord, a stirring that he is leading us to something new, something more, something deeper with him. There is a stirring in my heart, and a feeling that God is calling us to something but we don't know quite what that is. This seems to be quite a normal experience for many Christians who are truly following Jesus, just look at the example of Abraham, who set out in obedience to God not knowing where his final destination would be.

Final Ella update

SO SO much to share but long story really short (I’ll try), Ella and her lawyer, Hanan, and I bus-tripped 4 hrs south to Aqaba (city on the Red Sea where Ella worked before) last Saturday to meet with the police there.  It was the last step she had to take before being released to fly back to Manila on the 15th.  Once in the police station, though, Ella’s previous employer was notified and came to meet with us (the same man who raped her repeatedly, he AND his son) and it was decided that since Ella was a run-away and now illegal (work permit had expired) the law said she needed to be taken into custody until she could be returned to the Philippines.  Hanan fought it and fought it…Ella had one more week of work, hadn’t said goodbye to anyone, we weren’t prepared for this at all, I asked them to make me her guardian til the 15th promising to deliver her at risk of being deported myself…NO.  It was the law.  So Hanan and I went with her employer to the airline office to change her ticket to the following night…

Second Sunday of Advent – December 5

An excerpt from iGracias! by Henri J.M. Nouwen

"A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him . . ." (Isa.11:1-2).

These words from last night's liturgy have stayed with me during the day. Our salvation comes from something small, tender, and vulnerable, something hardly noticeable. God, who is the Creator of the Universe, comes to us in smallness, weakness, and hiddenness.

I find this a hopeful message. Somehow, I keep expecting loud and impressive events to convince me and others of God's saving power; but over and over again I am reminded that spectacles, power plays, and big events are the ways of the world. Our temptation is to be distracted by them and made blind to the "shoot that shall sprout from the stump."

When I have no eyes for the small signs of God's presence - the smile of a baby, the carefree play of children, the words of encouragement and gestures of love offered by friends - I will always remain tempted to despair.

The small child of Bethlehem, the unknown young man of Nazareth, the rejected preacher, the naked man on the cross, he asks for my full attention. The work of our salvation takes place in the midst of a world that continues to shout, scream, and overwhelm us with its claims and promises. But the promise is hidden in the shoot that sprouts from the stump, a shoot that hardly anyone notices.

iGracias! - A Latin American Journal (December 2, 1981) © Henri J.M. Nouwen. Published by HarperCollins. Reprinted with publisher's kind permission. Photo by K. Smith.

Ella update 2 & 3

So guess WHAT??  Since I wrote last, Ella’s former employer AGREED!!!  He’ll return her paperwork/passport and will drop all charges against her, without compensation, if she agrees not to take him to court.  Can you believe it??  Our Daddy is SO good.  Truly a miracle.  I still can’t believe it.  Bless you all for praying…I called Ella straight away and told her the news and she just cried and cried…soooo thankful to all who have given and been praying through this…and wanted to make sure I thank you for her.  Man what a privilege it’s been to watch God remind one of his children how dearly loved she is and how bright the future is with him THROUGH his people on earth rallying around her and giving and praying and fighting for her!  Beautiful.

So keep praying…I dropped off a copy of Ella’s ticket back to Manila yesterday with her lawyer, and once they have that, her papers should be returned quickly, hopefully early this next week.  Pray for the details of that, for her employer’s heart in all this, for wisdom for Ella’s lawyer in making sure all the little details are covered (visa expenses and police reports, etc) between now and the 15th so she can get on that plane and fly out without any hangups.  And pray for Ella and I as we talk and dream about the future for her and her family, for God to “take us by the hand and lead us in the path of life” for them, for direction in how to best use the money that’s come in (and still is…there’s time if you still want to!).  About $1250 has come in so far over and above what was used to buy her ticket, and right now her dreams are to use ~$500 of it to pay off an outstanding debt from her previous job in Hong Kong and the rest of it to start a small business in Manila so that she can stay close to her family.  I have a few contacts in Manila I’m writing that might be able to help in her transition and know of one microcredit NGO working there, but if you have any ideas or know of anyone who could help, pls let us know!!

Follow up...

Quick Ella update:  Found out this week that she needs to present herself in person at the police department in Aqaba (4 hrs south of Amman on the Red Sea) before they’ll drop the charges that were filed against her by her employer when she ran away. I called Ella after talking to her lawyer to tell her…she was instantly in tears, so so scared, wondering why and if her employer would be there, etc.  I was on the other end just exhausted, wanting all this to be over, not knowing what to say or how to support her.  I was on a break from class and had to get back so told her I’d call her lawyer again to get more details and then call her back after class finished.

Two hours later I called her back, and she answers with “Oh hi Ate (big sister), I’m fine now!”  WHAT?  I asked her, what happened?  “Well, I just did what you and Pete & Layne (my two friends who just left after visiting me and who got to meet and pray with Ella while they were here) told me to do.  After we hung up, I went into the bathroom and locked myself in the stall (her only place of peace and quiet in the gym where she works, she spends alot of time there!) and sat on the toilet and asked God what He thought I should do.  And he told me that I didn’t need to be afraid.  That actually, my employer was afraid of ME.  And that he is with me wherever I go.  So I’m ready Ate, let’s go to Aqaba!” 

AMAZING.  I was laughing and crying on the other end, she was like a totally different person than the one I knew even a few months ago…amazing and beautiful to watch her change as it sinks in how MUCH God loves her and how he longs to walk with her, in confidence and truth and boldness.  LOVE IT!  The Spirit of God at work, isn’t he amazing?

I was wondering how this trip would happen…two foreign gals-one with some basic Arabic, showing up at the police department in Aqaba and hoping for the best, but if they weren’t there or the right paperwork wasn’t signed, the time is so short before she flies I wanted to make sure we knew what to do and who to talk to…so today I went to her lawyer’s office before class with some cookies and a card Ella made her over the weekend and before I said ANYTHING, the lawyer volunteered to come with us.  YAY!!  So this Saturday the 3 of us are taking a bus trip there and back, and insha’allah everything should be set after that for Ella to fly back to Manila on the 15th.  So keep praying!!!

Redeeming Our Communities

Some of you may notice a new shiny widget on the left of your screen...did you see it yet? 

That's right, I'm fund-raising...again! Is anyone really surprised? I'm sure not, that the Lord would lead me on another journey of faith. I'm actually thrilled because its another opportunity to see His provision and for my trust in Him to grow. We both feel this way, Mark & I, and we hope that you'll join with us in prayer and giving (as you can).

Redeeming Our Communities is a worthy cause and I hope to keep you informed on this blog about what we do here. For now, I'll leave you with a video to hear some thoughts from folks who have caught the vision with us.

ROC Ambassadors Conference (29th-30th Oct 2010) from Redeeming Our Communities on Vimeo.

Ella update!

an update following my previous post...wow!!!

You won’t BELIEVE what happened today. Long story short, we were able to buy Ella’s ticket for 360JD (the cheapest I was able to find online was 640JD) thanks to a Sri Lankan angel with connections @ Royal Jordanian. She flies out in’shallah 15 Dec. AND Ella and I met with a pro bono human rights lawyer we learned about who, with Ella’s permission, called her former employer and gave him a choice of either handing over her papers and dropping all charges against her without compensation (the $800 he had asked for that we were trying to raise) OR having his and his son’s butts hauled into court for multiple cases of rape and sexual abuse. YES!!! He was speechless…hadn’t known prior to that that his son had raped her too…and in the end he said he’d think about it tonight and give her a decision tomorrow. The lawyer feels confident he’ll agree but we need to PRAY!! Pls pls pray for his heart and decision tonight.
The beautiful thing was that after sharing about their conversation, the lawyer looked straight at Ella and said “What this man did to you was WRONG and we will FIGHT for you.” I just started weeping, am again now writing this. Seeing someone care enough to fight for her! And Ella turned and looked at me, her eyes just SHINING and said “Ate, God did it! He gave me the JUSTICE!” She just knows he’ll give in, that he’s scared, but even without his decision already justice is being done. I had no idea up til then how completely injust it seemed to her that all these people were raising money to pay off a man who had wronged her so horribly…today made me want to go to law school. I think I want to be a lawyer.

On the way out to the taxi, Ella started talking about how her family could use the money that was meant to go to this man…she was DREAMING out loud…of having enough to start a little market or buying a motorcycle taxi and hiring a driver…the possibility of being able to provide long-term for her family while staying in the Philippines…we’ve already raised ~$650 in addition to the money spent on her ticket and more’s coming in…so let’s dream WITH her and do what we can to see it come true.

So praise GOD!! WOW. And keep praying esp for tomorrow!! The lawyer will call me as soon as she hears from him, and if he doesn’t call her she promises to call him.