the coffee house.

After months of planning, the day finally came. This afternoon, from 2-5pm, just over one hundred people filled Sam's Place to hear awesome music performed by the Mittenclaps, enjoyed good coffee and good food, and heard about what God is doing in Portugal. Despite waking up with a sore throat and ridiculous amounts of fluid collecting in my head, the event turned out fabulous and I felt pretty good too. Thank goodness for drugs! 
As I had all sorts of people from all sorts of communities in my life come together, I was blown away by the love and generosity shown to me. So thank you! 


For those of you who were unable to be at the event, here is what I shared with everyone:

First of all, I want to thank everyone here for coming and for supporting both Lesley and I as we prepare ourselves to go on ACTION this summer with MB Mission.

In 2010/2011 I was privileged to spend 7 1/2 months in Portugal through MB Mission's TREK program. I went into the TREK program completely ignorant of what I would experience through missions, through another culture, through people I would encounter and of what God would teach me. It was a huge leap of faith for me to go on TREK, and now, looking back, I cannot imagine my life not having done it. Through my experience on TREK, God has ignited in me a heart for Missions and since then, it has been a neat journey discovering what that looks like in my life.

So, Portugal. Simply put, my heart fell in love last year - I fell in love with the people and the country. I had the opportunity to work alongside some incredible, God-fearing men and women, from all ethnic backgrounds - Angolans, Americans, Congolese, Australians, Russians, Brazilians and Portuguese. It was humbling to see the greater body of Christ come together for one purpose - to bring the love of Jesus to the country of Portugal and to see their love for not only the lost, but for each other. I learned a lot from each of these individuals. They are people full of passion, humility and great joy, even in the midst of opposition. These are relationships that have grown over the months, even as we find ourselves thousands of miles away from each other. Each of these relationships have made a mark in my life and I am so very excited to have the opportunity to return to Portugal this summer and connect and to live in community with each of them again.

 

Not only does Portugal have some of the most beautiful people I know, but it also happens to be an incredibly beautiful country! I have never experienced having my heart broken for a country and for people in the way that I have experienced while in Portugal. It began last December 2010, praying for God to give me his heart and eyes for the people in Portugal. God answered that prayer. My heart broke as I witnessed people trapped in a world of addiction. My heart broke as I heard stories of brokenness and loneliness. Last year, we as a TREK team had a number of opportunities to go on prayer walks through some of the different communities we were plugged in with. I remember one of those days in particular. We were praying for the community of Massama - where we lived and where one of the MB churches is located. During my time in prayer, God gave me a picture. Just as a bit of background, Lisbon and its greater communities consist of a ton of concrete. There is little green space. The concept of a backyard with grass is completely foreign to most people. So, with that being said, as I walked the streets of Massama, I was drawn to the endless amounts of cobblestone and concrete, and yet, every once in a while you come across a beautiful, thriving tree, but it is completely surrounded by stone. It seems unfathomable that something so beautiful could grow out of concrete. That picture of a thriving tree surrounded by stone reminded me of the churches - beautiful, green and thriving, despite the oppositions people are facing in their lives and that the country is facing. But God says, "I will bring up springs of living water in dry and desolate wastelands". That is a promise and I believe that to be a promise for the churches in Portugal. God is raising up leaders and people deeply rooted in the love of Jesus. I am confident that God has some incredible things planned for this country, for these churches. I want to see the church rise up in that place. For the month that I will be back in Portugal, it is my prayer that our team would be the hands and feet of Jesus in each of the communities we serve.

There are some exciting things happening in the life of the church in Portugal right now.

Since Christmas, the Loures Church – one of the MB church plants has started it’s first ever Sunday School class. There has been incredible interest from people in the church and it has attracted those outside the church.

Within the Massama Church, one of the other church plants, there have been nationals who have started taking initiative over the church – truly making it their own instead of depending solely on Otto & Marjorie Ekk – the MB Mission team leaders out in Portugal. This is what church planting is about – creating a space for locals to take leadership of their church so that they can eventually be self-sufficient.

In the past few months, there have been several new people start attending regularly – a huge thing for the church! Just a quick story. Dona Joanna, a lovely lady who attends the Massama church with her family had a friend – Dona Leonilde over for the afternoon one Sunday. This friend was not a believer and probably had never stepped foot in the church before in her life. As 3:00 came closer – the time church starts on Sundays, Dona Joanna mentioned to her friend, that on Sunday afternoon’s we go to the church down the street and invited her friend to join them. Dona Leonilde agreed. That first week, she sat in the service attentive and attracted to the community she entered in to. The following week, Dona Leonilde asked Dona Joanna if she could come again to church with her. The answer was, “of course”. That week, one of the leaders of the church, after his sermon asked if there was anyone who wanted to accept Christ. Dona Leonilde quickly raised her hand and the entire church (which is somewhere around 40 people) gathered around her and prayed with her.
People are being attentive to the Spirit and being bold in their response to the Spirit. I continue to be amazed how God has brings groups of people, broken people, together and uses them and grows them in their faith.

I am excited to have the opportunity to return to Portugal, to continue building the relationships that were formed last year and to explore further, global missions. I have no doubt that these six weeks of ACTION will be transformational in my life, and I am excited to see what God wants to do in and through me, both in Portugal and as I return home.

So, what will we be doing in Portugal this summer? We will be organizing and running VBS programs for the kids in the Massama community - this is a community that is exploding with young kids and kids who spend a great deal of time at the church. We will also be doing some ESL work with some of the youth and adults in both the Loures and Massama churches. We will be spending time with the youth in Loures - they are a vibrant bunch of students, with lots of leadership potential - we will be doing some mentoring and just pouring into their lives by spending time with them, probably playing sports. And we will be there to encourage those who are there serving long term. Being available to encourage and walk alongside some of these people is a huge blessing for them.

Please pray for our team as we prepare our hearts to go. Pray that we would be united together as we serve and that we would be obedient in where God leads us.

Pray for the churches. Many of its members are leaving the country in order to find better jobs in other countries because of the economic downfall currently going on in Portugal. The church is in need of strong leaders to rise up.

Pray for the leaders of the churches - Jose and Paula, Otto & Marjorie, Mente and Theresa and Walter and Nadia, Marques, and Matt and Kiri.

Lastly, pray for this country. Pray for transformation and that the name of God would be lifted up.


I have a slideshow I put together to give you a glimpse of the people and the country that I have come to love deeply. Enjoy!

a new project.

Not only does spring mean warmer temperatures and sitting on patios drinking yummy drinks, but it also means garage sale season commences. With this past Saturday being wonderfully beautiful outside, it meant for many yard sales. Unfortunately, I was working at the clinic, so unable to get an early start (and really, if you don't start at the crack of dawn, all the good stuff is picked over, so I would rather not bother going out than wandering from sale to sale fruitless), but it just so happens I have an awesome dad who not only is aware of what I am looking for, but also who found me a beauty!

I scored this fabulous cabinet - I actually have no idea how much my dad paid for it - he won't divulge that information to me, so for all I know, it was $10 - a steal. I have so many ideas running through my head as to what I am going to do with this piece. For the time being I am going to keep it white, but paint the inside shelves white to match - the blue is just a little much for me. Add some fun, new hardware like these:

From Anthropologie

From Lee Valley

And Voila! A lovely new entertainment cabinet - sure beats the old Walmart wooden shelf I had previously.

give thanks.

- quiet mornings to myself, sipping coffee and journalling.

- wine and movie nights.

- the smell of rain and the freshness it brings outside.

- cozy knitted blankets.

- experiencing the grace of God through relationships.

- moments to read and to get lost in a book.

- the smell of fresh laundry.

- the luxury of flipping through a magazine and dreaming of the projects I want to complete in my one-day home.

- packages that arrive on your doorstep.

- music that inspires, calms and encourages the soul. 

- cozy, comfortable beds that make it near impossible to get out of bed in the morning, especially on rainy,  dreary days. 

Anointing at Bethany

It is the day before Good Friday. A friend put out a challenge at the beginning of this week to read the Passion Story in each of the four gospels - 1 account for each day before Good Friday. Yesterday was Mark - by far my favourite Gospel. 
With the busy-ness that has consumed my life as of late, I allowed the practice of lent and the opportunity for reflection to escape. But, this week has found me in a contemplative state of mind and as such, there have been neat opportunities for reflection. So as I prepare my heart for Easter weekend, I am being invited to stop, sit and absorb the Passion Week story. 

For me, I got lost in Mark 14, where Jesus is anointed for burial by an unnamed woman. I find this story fascinating. Jesus is sitting in a room, eating with His disciples and in walks this woman, no one knows. She enters, bringing with her, a beautiful jar of perfume, which she breaks open and pours over Jesus' head. A couple things stand out to me about this story:

• The jar is made out of alabaster and contains expensive perfume. There is a level of extravagance in her gift and she chooses to break it. 
• She is accused of wasting the perfume. After all, it would have cost her about a year's wage. This may have in fact been some inheritance she received. The cost was high, yet she sacrificed it in order to anoint Jesus for burial.
• Jesus comes to her defense and praises her for doing such a selfless act. Jesus even goes as far to tell the bystanders in the room that what she has done will be discussed and talked about in years to come. That is how significant this act was and it was performed by a woman. A woman would be remembered for what she did for centuries.
• The act of breaking open the jar and pouring out the perfume on Christ's head foreshadows what Christ does only a few days later on the cross. And, we practice this through communion.

I was doing some reading from a book we received from TREK entitled, "Trained by Jesus", and we read,

"The woman in our story provides an inspiration to all who would follow Jesus with sacrificial and extravagant love that values relationships above things, people above money. With this lofty declaration that this woman's story would go with the gospel around the world, Jesus made it clear that her example would be relevant to many through the ages."

In Mark 14:32, we see the story of Jesus in Gethsemane. It is through this scene where we see the pain and the tension of Christ as He knows full well what lies ahead of Him. There is tension between obedience to God's will and plan and the human instinct to avoid suffering. Jesus repeats the line, "Please take this cup of suffering from me, yet I want your will, not mine" (v.36).
Jesus knew the path ahead of Him - the tension he experienced  was indeed agonizing, but the choice for Him was a no-brainer. Right from the moment He set foot on this earth, Jesus' life was one of obedience and submission to His Father's plan. A life headed in the direction of the Cross is indeed one of self-denial and submission. In the shadow of the cross we discover our identity and who we are in Christ. We are called in Mark 8:34 to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow in the footsteps of Christ. A life of obedience to Christ is not an easy one - it is full of tension - even Jesus himself experienced that tension. 

At the end of Chapter 14 of Mark, we have the account of Peter's denial of Christ. Again, we witness emotional and spiritual tension going on inside Peter. A few verses prior, Peter publicly declares, that he would never deny Christ (v. 31). Peter makes the statement pre-trial. It's an easy statement to make, saying that we would sooner die ourselves than deny Christ when life is going on as usual. Yet, as the tension and the trouble grows for Jesus, and for Peter, we see the struggle Peter has. Upon realizing what he has done, shame and anguish overcome Peter. Life as a disciple of Christ is not an easy one, even for a guy like Peter - a man who walked, talked and lived with Christ. Peter's experience of denial is one we have probably all faced at one time or another and we experience a similar tension as Peter did. Loving God extravagantly and relinquishing our plans for God's is no easy task, but one that promises life - life abundantly. 

Lastly, my journey takes me to the site of the cross. Growing up in the church, it is a scene that has become familiar to me, and yet, no matter how familiar the words are, the impact they have, continues to leave me in awe and in reverence. This is the climax of the story. Jesus upon the cross - with blood falling down his face and pain raging through his body, has no anger or bitterness in him. . Instead He continues to seek the face of God. He pleads on our behalf, "Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do". Minutes later, Jesus breathes his last and the words the Roman soldier says, "Surely, this was the Son of God", get to me. Can you imagine the realization after it was too late? Imagine the tension occurring in that man. What a powerful scene. It is the moment where we become reconciled with God. Our sins have been washed away by the broken body of Christ and His blood has been poured out on our behalf.

Jesus has given us the most extravagant gift anyone could ever give us - Life - just like the unnamed woman from Bethany. Only in our case, we are undeserving of such a costly gift.
The story does not end on the Cross. We experience more tension in the next two days as we wait with hopeful anticipation for the empty tomb.

Solitude and Love.

I currently am being blessed with a house to myself, thanks to some friends who are off adventuring in France. After returning from a busy 2 weeks of life on SOAR, I am finding myself making the most of this space of peace and solitude.

This is what my space looks like. Journal...Check! Bible...Check! "Your Ears Will Hear"...Check! iTunes...Check! Latte...Check!

My time of solitude has been consisting of a few things. First of all, I am working my way through an awesome devotional book of sorts, entitled, "Your Ears Will Hear" by Steve and Evy Klassen. I had the opportunity while on TREK to connect with this phenomenal couple. They have since written a book on learning to hear the voice of God.
Secondly, I am pouring over the pages of Ephesians. I am attempting to etch the truths of who God is, my identity and authority in Christ and the love of God on my heart. I want to not only know these truths in my head, but also in the inner most part of my heart. If I'm being honest, I will admit that I am very good at loving others, but not so great at the loving and seeing myself in the way that Christ sees me. I'm learning that it's a process and the more I surround myself with those truths, the more natural it will become. This was a huge theme in my life over SOAR. Here I was, going into the program as staff and yet I had a lot of learning to do about the theme of Love in my own life. I found myself being blown away by the love of God, my craving to experience that love in all its fullness, and the reality that love found here on earth will disappoint because we live in an imperfect world.
It sounds so simple right? If only. I have a hunch I will never fully be able to grasp the depth of God's love for me - there will always be a new angle to explore. Sounds like it could be pretty exciting hey? I think so.

"I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit - not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength - that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all people, the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God".

~ Ephesians 3: 16-19

Lastly, I have been meditating this afternoon/evening on a picture/image I received last week from a friend. It was a picture of me as a little girl, wearing a sundress, running freely and carelessly through an open field. The summer sun warms my skin as I run. It isn't long until I stop and take notice that I am only wearing one shoe. I'm missing one. Before I know it, Jesus is standing before me - face to face. He gently tucks my hair, wild and free, behind my ears.

I think it's a beautiful picture. A couple of things stood out to both my friend and I.
1. The carelessness of being a Child of God and the freedom that brings.
2. One shoe is on - the other is missing. Do I attempt to go out and find it or do I enjoy the freedom of going barefoot?
3. Jesus tucks my hair behind my ears, giving me ears to hear.

I am particularly drawn to the barefoot part and I wonder if that piece reflects the desire in me to leave the weight of my past behind and to instead run barefoot - freely and lightly. By running barefoot I am able to feel the earth more intensely. By choosing to go barefoot I have a more accurate idea of what is beneath me and where God wants to lead me and teach me with my feet. Something to note is that when you walk around barefoot, the unevenness of the ground is heightened, but I believe there is a challenge to embrace the freedom, despite the possibility of it being uncomfortable at times. With time, the soles of my feet will grow both tougher and stronger. In choosing to run barefoot, there is an element of risk-taking and the reward is freedom.
I have come to truly love this picture. It is my prayer that I would learn to adopt the posture and the freedom that girl in the picture holds - to know that beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am loved. Oh that my ears would hear.

love.

I'm letting the lyrics of this song soak my heart in its truth tonight. My heart is indeed overwhelmed.