Back to Brazil

It has been about four weeks of little to no ministry. It started when we were minstering in Filedelphia, Paraguay eating lunch at a fellow missionaries house. This woman that we met was three months pregnant when her husband was martryed saving her life and their unborn child.  I felt strongly that the Lord wanted me to stay back and serve and honor this woman and her precious daughter Shekinah for a week.
I stayed there with my friend Melissa as the rest of the team took off to Bolivia. Well, the one week turned into 3 weeks away from the team but it was all ordained from the Lord and I don't regret any of it. Melissa and I were able to pray, babysit, make dinner, clean out the car, and serve her however was needed. We felt honored to bless her and sow into what the Lord was doing in her life.
We spent one week with her and then headed back to Asuncion to rest and seek the Lord. We had five days there just the two of us to really lay low and do no ministry whatsoever. We got to listen to teachings, worship, pray and just relax. I felt that this was a real special time that only the Lord could have set up for me. Although I was missing the team and wanting to be with them,  I felt that I needed to take advantage of this time for it was so precious. I was able to hear from the Lord so clearly on some things but the most important was the Lord reminding me of my royalty and the calling on my life. He so lovingly released His thoughts over me and reassured me that I am so right in the right place.  I feel like the Lord showed me who I am in the Spirit and I actually saw myself as He sees me. It was very powerful and clear.
I was hoping to rejoin with the team right after that but the team ended up being in Bolivia even longer so Melissa and I ended up going onto Sao Paulo, Brazil where some of the team was already at. We took a bus there and had a fun adventure.
We got to stay there for a few days and rest and get to know a wonderful Brazilian family that we stayed with. We felt so blessed and honored to get to know this family. My birthday was coming up and my one desire was to be back with the majority of the team so I prayed and asked that it would be possible. I found a cheap bus ticket to join up with them as they were getting back into Brazil.
I was so blessed to be back with the team for the three weeks seemed like months away. The team was exhausted from alot of ministry in Bolivia. We travelled onto Sao Paulo and stayed at a beach house of the same people I had stayed with. It was such a blessing to be able to rest for five days at the beach house before heading into Rio. We are currently in Cabo Frio outside of Rio de Janeiro staying with the family of one of our team mates. We are excited to do some ministry with the homeless, prostitutes and various churches and I am excited to jump back into ministry especially leading worship.
We are trying to be done with the continent by the time a lot of us head home for the holidays mid- November. We plan to start the Caribbean portion when we come back from the holidays.
More to come, bless you all!

www.irislatinamerica.blogspot.com

Leaning into His Heartbeat

Welp, as I was reading my last post that was nearly 2 months ago, I realized it has been too long since an update. So, here it goes! Last update was in Uruguay in Montevideo. I am currently in Filidelphia, Paraguay.  We had quite a process getting our visas for Brazil when we were in Montevideo so that prolonged our stay there. The embassy was on strike and it took almost an extra week for us to get everything done. We were given a free place to stay an hour away from Montevideo in a beach town called Cuchilla Alta. It was a wonderful week of rest as half the team went ahead into Porto Alegre, Brazil to make it on time to minister at a church there. Those of us that stayed back had a great time of rest, hanging out and cooking alot of great food as we took advantage of having a great kitchen and some down time.
It was here that I heard word from my parents that they had a couple week window that they had been praying about using to come see me and the team! I was blown away by the possibility of this happening and the Lord caused everything to fall into place with visas going through, plane tickets, time off of work, my mom´s foot healing supernaturally fast after her surgery, approval from the church leadership and my leaders. Praise God! They met us in Curitiba, Brazil where we went to the One Thing Conference held by IHOP International House of Prayer from Kansas City. We met the rest of the team there as well and enjoyed a few days of great worship and receiving at the conference. I can´t tell you how much of a blessing it was to have my parents apart of the team for a couple weeks. They fit right in and became a ma and pa immediately to all the team. They brought so much joy and love with them and the whole time I couldn´t believe that the Lord had brought them to me! God is so good. It couldn´t have been better timing really. Dad preached one night and they got to travel with us, stay with us and get a great perspective of what our lives are like. They were quite flexible, up for anything. They were such a blessing to have. From Curitiba we headed to Foz do Iguacu, Brazil where the spiritual leaders of one our teammates live. We ministered at their church and the Lord showed up and brought such joy and freedom to that place. The pastor have us free tickets to the famous huge waterfalls that were beyond words. I will post some pictures from there. So stunning and soo much water! It is such an honor to be able to travel the world and see such natural and spiritual beauty in each place.
From there we headed into Asuncion, Paraguay. The Lord lined up contacts like he always does and the team was able to do some ministry in a local prision, hospital and church as well as some ministry on the streets. I was able to take a couple of these days to just be with my parents and spend as much time with them as I could for the time went by so fast. We blessed and sent them off and they also prayed over each of us. My Dad looked at each of us in the eye and called us out by name releasing the Father´s love and blessing over each of us. Let´s just say there were alot of teary eyes including my own. Such a bitter sweet goodbye but I am so honored and blessed that my two families were able to connect and my parents now have a more clear idea of my life here. I feel so much closer with them and was so blessed to share my parents once again with many other brothers and sisters. We headed from there to Filidelphia, Paraguay where there was another Mennonite connection from the church we were in Montevideo, Uruguay. We arrived on a Saturday by bus and had a service that night at their church as well as the next morning. The Lord showed up so strong here as there was a spirit of freedom that broke out as the Lord spoke to so many and healed so many. I always cherish the services that end with a crazy dance party ..woot! Thank you, Jesus. We got to minister to a daycare of children that mostly don´t have fathers at home and it was so great to see our guys playing with them and the children coming alive to the father´s love. For some this was the fist time a loving male has played with them. We also went to a surrounding village where there are 2000 indigineous from four different tribes. We got to speak to the kids about hearing Gods voice and pray over them. We came back to that same village a couple days later to love on the familes. I was able to announce on the local radio, for that is how they commmunicate in the village, that we want to pray for the sick and share the love of Jesus. We split up into groups and went around to the houses to love on people. My team only made it to one house for their was much pain there. They had lost their child the week before, one daugther suffers from demonic dreams and attacks, the mother has heart issues, and they have a paralyzed son. We got to pray over them and break off the spirit of death and welcome joy into that family. By the time we left we saw smiles and hope and felt the joy of the Lord with this precious family. We later gathered at the center of the village and loved on the children with chalk, balloons, nail polish, balls, and ribbon for the  the hair of the girls. We just wanted to love on the kids and release the joy of the Lord. The girls LOVED the ribbon for it was a perfect way to love them with touch and smiles and words of affirmation as we got to tell them how they are beautiful princesses of the King.

We were blessed with a beautiful place to stay in the middle of nowhere that is a christian camp or retreat with a lake, zipline and a waterslide. It was so peaceful and such a blessing. We stayed there 5 nights as a team. We had lunch at a missionary´s house named Hedy who went to the church we ministered at. She told us her incredible story of her work in the dark dangerous places of Sudan, Somalia, and Kenya. She is such a brave courageous lover of Jesus who has seen so much persecution. Her husband was shot in front of her when she was three months pregnant. He jumped in front of her in order to protect her and the child. Her daughter is now six and I have the joy of spending time with her. Her name is Shekina which means the glory of God. I was so moved and broken by this testimony and I felt the Lord tell me to stay there longer and serve this woman. The team was planning to go on the next day to Bolivia but Melissa also felt led to stay back. So we sent the team off and knew we would be here at least another week.
It has been an incredible week as we have been able to make dinner, watch Shekina, wash her feet and pray over her and bless her even financially for she longs to be back in Africa but she has been back here for stability for Shekina. We spent a couple days in an indigineous village working with a doctor. We got to follow him around the hospital and help with whatever, pray for the sick as well as do rounds in surrounding villages. We went out to a call one night with him to a kid who was bitten by a blackwidow. I was able to start an IV on the kid and help get him back to the hospital. It was a great couple days learning how bush medicine works. I am excited to see what kind of doors the Lord opens down the road with more training for this sort of thing.
We also go to minister at a completely indigineous highschool and pray over one hundred or so students. It was a really precious time. They Lord has just flung open the doors right at the right time as we have taken each day in faith for it is hard being away from the team and not knowing when we will back together with them for sure. We also got to speak life into a group of maybe 80 more students at a camp we volunteered at for a couple days to help Hedy out.  The speaker didn´t show up so I got to speak on dreams and pray into the dreams of all the students. It was so wonderful!
Last night Melissa was able to do a spontaneous class on the prophetic with some of the women here. It was such a great time of activation and encouragement. Tomorrow we head back to Asuncion where we feel to rest and soak in the presence of God for a week or so before heading to Foz do Iguacu to meet the team again at our cars. We plan to do no ministry for several days. We may end up visiting a Lepor Hospital but that is still up in the air.
 I am so hungry for more encounters with Him. I long to see His face and dwell in greater realms of peace and revelation of His love. I want to be more like John who took time to lay on Jesus´chest and hear his whispers and his heartbeat. I don´t ever want to miss a beat or ever be numb to the things that are on His heart everywhere I go. The quote lingers in my heart,
YOU CANT WIN WHAT YOU DON´T LOVE.
I never want to serve out of religion or fear of man. I only want my actions to be an overflow of what is on the Father´s heart.
I love and miss you all dearly and pray that  you can freely dance to His heartbeat.
Undone in His love,

www.irislatinamerica.blogspot.com

Trading in these desires

I am going to try and give more frequent quick updates so here is a bit on our time in Uruguay so far. Here is from the last week or so......

After being able to lead the border policeman to Jesus after he had us pay a $600 fine for insurance that we were told that we didn't need to have, we continued to drive into more favor. We were driving on the last leg into Montevideo, Uruguay when some strange noises escalated in one of our RV's and we decided to pull over and check it out. One of our team members was going to get under the car and check it out but as we pulled over praying the front left axel broke completely in half. We jumped out celebrating (after an initial shock) that we were still alive! We were going 70mph moments before and we could have easily flipped and died! Also, Ted was seconds from crawling under the rig and could have easily been under there when it broke. We had nothing to do but be full of joy and celebrate that we were alive. We jumped around and danced in the road and took videos as we made the best of the moment. Praise the Lord!

We all 13 loaded up into the other RV called “Open Heaven” and took off into town but it started making strange sounds as well and ended up breaking down too. We stopped at a gas station for a few hours to figure out what to do. We ended up staying in a hotel that was just up the road that...well...I will just say that most people rent this place for a few hours if you know what I mean. We made the most of it for it wasn't the first time the team has stayed in a hotel like this. We ended up having a great time of prayer where the presence of God really showed up as we blessed those who were leaving us for a couple of weeks to go home for a little break. We redeemed that place and I actually had such a great night of sleep there, the best that I had in awhile. We really felt the opposition of the enemy getting to Uruguay and specifically into Montevideo to say the least :) We were excited though for we pressed in and know that the Lord was going to do great things here. We met a contact who is one of the few missionaries here in Uruguay for this country is 4% Christian and 40% atheist. This is super rare for there is no declared religion. This has created a “graveyard of missionaries” they say. We are excited to see this change around in Jesus name. Our contact got us set up at a Christian camp in a house where we can all be together for the next week to two weeks. Our time here is contingent on how fast our cars can be fixed and on what kind of ministry we can be apart of here.

A few of us have been able to do some ministry with the youth who are extremely hungry for relationship with God and no more religion. The presence of God showed up and touched many hearts last night as most of the young people were responsive to receiving more from Papa God. We also were able to share and minister at the church service here. We showed up and the preacher had already planned to share on missions and was extremely surprised and excited to meet us and have us share some testimonies. He is also the president of a evangelism school and he wants us to come and share at his school tonight. One of the words our team has received was bringing refreshment to missionaries that are already working and sowing into lands.The family that is hosting us has been extremely hospitable and hungry to know more about the Holy Spirit. They have been here for four years and are due for a bit of a break. The father and son both have been filled with the Holy Spirit and received a lot of encouraging words the last couple days. God is so good!

We have yet to know what the next couple weeks look like. We plan to stay at this home for several more days and enjoy being in a house together with a coffee pot and stove and home cooked meals. We may move more into the center of the city where we can easily do more street ministry for there are many poor neighborhoods around. We have the opportunity to go minister this next weekend at a city-wide market where we plan to do our first drama and dance ministry as well as sharing the gospel and praying for sick. I am in charge of coordinating our first team dance and am pretty dang excited about that. This country really emphasizes music and art and gets really excited about it so we want to take advantage of it and see Jesus move through it.

Seven people have gone home (or heading home) for a little break so there is a different intimate feel to the team right now. We sure miss our missing members but are excited for them to get a bit of break for awhile. We are taking advantage of getting to know each other better with a smaller crowd. Please pray for there has been much opposition but we are excited to see God refresh the few missionaries here and see him stir the precious hearts of those in this somewhat forgotten country.

I heard word from home that one of my aunt's has passed away. That makes the second death since I have been gone these last two months. It is extremely hard to not be able to comfort the family but I trust that my prayers are bringing comfort and peace to those back home. I had a melt down last night missing home but I know that I know i am right where I am suppose to be. I consider it a honor and joy to be able to offer him my desires to see His breathe spread this fire. I know that He is in control.

Love you all dearly and I encourage you to check out our team website and click on some of the others blog and read about what the Lord is doing through them. There is so much happening just in our hearts that it really is encouraging to read about others. 

www.irislatinamerica.blogspot.com

Hands wide open

Well, we have been in Buenas Aires for a week or so now. We travelled two days from Santiago, Chile across the Andes mountains to get to Buenas Aires. We left with high expectations and excitement. We had a contact all lined up that was going to host us and set us up to share in several churches. Some how this fell through but we felt much excitement about getting to Claudio Freizdon's church Rey de Reys. We rolled into town later in the evening and decided to stop and get something to eat and meet the pastor that was going to host us. It turns out we missed the pastor and we didn't have a place to stay. We were driving around until 1am looking for a hostile or a campground and couldn't find anything. We decided to turn down an alley and camp out. We asked permission from one of the guys that lived there to camp out in the field in the middle of the city across from his house. We had several people sleeping on a tarp, two of us slept on top of one of the RV's and everyone else in the other vehicles. We got some sleep but we were awakened by the police standing over the guys who were sleeping out on the tarp. The police could not believe what they were seeing. Several white men shirtless sleeping on a tarp, two white girls sleeping on top of a RV and two RV's and an SUV parked in this back alley. They were so surprised that we were still alive. They were scared for us and wanted us to get out of there so we wouldn't be apart of any bad stuff that might go down in that alley. They couldn't believe we were still alive. We all felt such peace and actually laughed at how we must look to these people. We got to pray with the man who gave us permission to stay there as well as we realized we had a flat and were able to fix it there off the road before we headed into downtown. We decided we really wanted to receive at this church that we had a contact. We didn't have a place to go but we trusted that we were suppose to be at that meeting. We rolled in all dirty and smelly from camping out in an alley. This church is 30,000 people with 5 services on the weekends and we witnessed lines of people waiting to get in that wrapped around the block. We were able to to walk up and get front row seats that had headsets for interpretation! God is so faithful and good. This was the first service that our team has been able to be apart of without doing some sort of ministry. We worshipped with several hundred people and got called up to the front to receive prayer from Him. He gave us all that he has received 20 years ago for the nations and full authority to go the nations. He laid his hands on us up at the front of his church. We felt so honored and blessed by this for this doesn't happen every day. There are thousands of people that come in and out of that place and we got to receive this man's mantle and ministry. They blessed us by setting us up in a hotel for two nights. We were so honored to sow into their ministry as they blessed us. With this ministry, we were able to serve and minister to the homeless. I ate lunch and sat with just a couple homeless people for an hour or so but the Lord used that time and these amazing people to show me a piece of Jesus' heart that I don't see in many people. There was a mother and her daughter there who were believers but the daughter was kidnapped when she was 16 years old and they abused her so badly that she now is handicapped and unable to speak. We prayed over her and I just broke down and had to leave and go weep in the bathroom for the Lord just humbled me and revealed to me how good I have it. I walked away thinking that girl could have been me. The Lord began to break my heart even more as he overwhelmed me with compassion for her. He showed me a glimpse of himself in this girl and her mother as well as another woman named Flores. Flores was a precious Jesus-loving prayer warrior Peruvian. She was homeless yet she consistently prays for America and Israel. Right after she met me she committed to praying for me. I was overwhelmed with this woman's heart. She had little to nothing yet she was praying for the rest of us. She has it figured out. She knows what love truly is. I saw her on the street right before we were about to leave town. I ran up and hugged her as her eyes lit up. She was so excited to tell me that she had prayed for me that morning and she wanted to continue to pray for me. She committed to praying for my husband and wanted to pray over the group. She was extremely humble and given to a life of prayer. Her gift to us was pouring out her heart to see God move in our lives. That to me is what Jesus' heart really looks like. I have been praying for the Lord to break my heart for the things that break His for the last several years and I have had moments where the Lord has broken me down and shown me a glimpse into His heart of raw compassion for people. This was definitely one of those moments but I long for it to be a lifestyle. It is so easy to “love” people when it is convenient on our own time. I am being convicted and called out to love even when “I don't feel it”. Even being here out of my comforts of home and many distractions in the western world I can still cling to our comforts and conveniences and hide away. With that we aren't stepping out and dying to our own desires. The Lord has awakened myself to my selfish motives and actions. I have been crying out to see God soften the parts of me that are still numb. I crave His raw vulnerable heart of compassion for every individual and don't want to hide in the pit of self denial any longer. I have been praying that the Lord would open my eyes and unravel me of myself. Our flesh wants results and something in return when we love. We want to look good and receive something back when we do something for someone else. Selfless true love challenges us to love for the sake of love without looking good, being noticed, or expecting anything back from anyone. Being selfless is truly the same as understanding love. Love is giving up your life for the sake of others just as Jesus did. We may all hear we need to be Christ-like but we don't always make the connection that we must waste our lives and give our lives every day for the sake of others. Jesus didn't come with any entitlement or selfish ambitions. I long for this humility and this attitude that very few people actually walk in. How does this look practically in my life right now? Welp, I live with 23 other people and our lives are always changing. Our beds, our meals, our money currency, the people we minister to, the sites around us are constantly changing, sometimes daily. We are a community of people that are crying out for the community of Acts 4 that lives for each other. With this lifestyle there are many opportunities to help each other out whether it is financially, with prayer, cleaning, a hug, encouraging word, or many many other things. The Lord has been speaking to me about servant leadership and I have been praying into what that really looks like. It is easy for me to get works oriented here since there isn't a set schedule to our lives. It is easy to slip into the mentality that I have to always be ministering out on the streets and sharing the gospel but I am realizing that servant leadership is a life style that requires me to serve and give of myself everyday to everyone around me. It requires me to be so full of Jesus that even the most dramatic, boring, over -exaggerated moment is bearable because I chose to depend on His strength. I am advancing the kingdom just as much when I chose to give up my afternoon to walk with someone into town that really wants to go make a phone call or even giving my money to someone who doesn't have a cent in their account. What I long to do is to purposefully seek out those moments each day who need encouragement whether it is someone on the street or someone on the team.

I am realizing that I can sail through these next few months getting to give and give out on the streets and see hundreds come to know Christ or I can use this time to see the Lord unravel me and cleanse me. In situations like this there is nowhere to run and hide and the Lord quickly brings stuff to the surface in our lives that aren't Christ. I have seen such pride, jealousy, self- righteousness, rejection and fear come up in me these last few weeks that I so easily hid behind and forgot about when I was busy back home. To me it is an honor to be in this spot of refining purification. Why would I want to be blinded to my self? Why would I want to think that I am righteous in my own strength or that I have it all figured out? I am crying out to be removed from the pit of self denial that looks to myself as “queen of the right” and argues her way out of every rebuke or sinful situation from her throne of selfishness. I long to take every thought captive and only see words of life come out of my mouth. I am learning to live each day one at a time but also learning how to discipline myself for what tomorrow might bring. As I have mentioned in earlier blogs, I feel such a stirring for song writing and learning the uke and the guitar. I have such a burden for worship and desire to be walking in this all the time. I have received words of having the heart of David and I really want to walk in that so I have decided to study the life of David and read through the Psalms and glean all that I can.

I am also realizing how much power our words have and as I am trying to take every thought captive that doesn't align with the Word. I am also trying to make my words be more few. I don't want my words to ever be a gateway for pride or even death. I want to walk in wisdom and understanding and see my words change the atmosphere and bring life.

There is a song that says, “ I will climb this mountain with my hands wide open. There is nothing I hold onto” by United Pursuit. I feel that this song is my theme song on this trip. The Lord is bringing up things that I didn't even know where hiding out. It is good for I have few places to take it but to the foot of the cross and see it dealt with and gone forever. I have asked the Lord to remove all that I have held onto tightly for I don't want to cling to anything but Him. I have been able to let go of the value of my stuff for it quickly loses value in this kind of community as it gets broken and dirty or emptied really fast. There is always a need and always a window for me to die to my self and give something up for someone else. It is a beautiful thing really. In regards to finances, there are many on the team who really don't have much or any money in their account and they are praying for breakthough. The other night we gathered as a team around those that need financial provision and we cried out together for breakthrough.We truly want to function as a family that gives us and helps all so we called people to step up that have money to give for those that don't. This really messes with our flesh because we quickly are entitled to our money for many reasons but I felt the conviction of the Lord for holding out and thinking that I had to “save” some money for later. He reminded me of the promises that he has made with me that He will always provide and that I will never have to worry about finances. He challenged me to give abundantly from my funds to help those that really need it. It screwed with my mind that wants to have enough money in my account for the rest of the trip but I realized, where is the fun in that? That doesn't create an opportunity for faith to reach out and for reason to kneel aside in reverence. The Lord told me that He will always out-give me and multiply what I gave times five or more. I got really excited for I can't wait to see Him multiply my money as He has been doing for so many others on the team. Creating opportunities in faith to see the impossible happen is what we are called to do on a daily basis. Faith is spelled “r.i.s.k” and it requires action to it. We just have to remember that we are sons and daughters of the Creator of the universe and we can access our banks in heaven that have no limits by faith. We can call down and even reach up and grab the inheritance that is ours now!

God is good and I am so excited and honored to be on this journey. I know this is just the beginning and the best truly has yet to come. I feel that this is such a time of pressing in and disciplining ourselves to cry out and be purified by the love of Christ and it is hard a lot of times but there is such fruit that is going to come out of this. I know that each little thing that happens here is a natural act of something that is happening in the spirit on a greater scale and I am excited about that. I want the more! I want to be found faithful with the little so that when God asks me to preach to a few hundred, lead worship at a meeting, or go raise the dead, or even multiply food to feed several thousand people, I will be ready because I was found faithful in the preparation season.

One last neat testimony that happened in the last couple days. We were near the border to Uruguay from Argentina and we were stopped by the police. They decided to fine us for not having insurance on the cars but we were told that we didn't need insurance when we entered the country. They fined us $600 that we really didn't have. In the process of praying and interceding for breakthrough and favor and trying to not be discouraged, one of the policemen gave their lives to the Lord and received the Holy Spirit! Not only that, but we got to the border and they required us to get insurance so several people went ahead to the next town to get it at a local bank. By the end of the deal they asked if they could pray for the bank since they had been so kind to us. The WHOLE bank decided to gather and hold hands to pray...all the employees and even some of the costumers that were there too! They helped find us a place to stay that was cheap and great. God is so good and redeems situations better than we can ever imagine.

More to come, but that is enough for now. Thank you all for your prayers and support. If you feel led to send any funds please send them to:

Journey Church

1491 W Rose Street 

Walla Walla WA 99362 

Any funds are tax deductable.

 I truly appreciate it! I miss you all back home and am with you in spirit,

Worshipping on the ferry

Worshipping with a precious church in Santiago that receives much persecution

Some fun times our last night in Punta Arenas at a wonderful party they through for us

Here is some of our beautiful family in Punta Arenas that treated us like queens and kings

Melissa and I rocking out outside one of our hostels

Taylor and Natalie sharing at one of the churches in Santiago, Chile

www.irislatinamerica.blogspot.com

some pics

some of us ladies in Ushuaia

Most of the group while hiking in Ushuaia

drinking the popular mate tea by a lake in Ushuaia

www.irislatinamerica.blogspot.com

worshipping on the go- learning some uke

To the end of the world

Worshipping in Punta Arenas 

Wow, where to being.So I apologize in advance for not posting sooner. I havent had my computer so it has been harder to write lengthy posts from my iphone.

We have travelled to over 10 different cities, been on buses and ferries, crossing the Chilean and Argentinian border 4 times, crossed hundreds of miles in the last month and have spoken at 6 or 7 different churches. We left our cars and most of our stuff in Santiago, Chile. We packed our sleeping bags, mats and a few days worth of warm clothes and headed south. We travelled mostly by buses and a couple of ferries. One ferry was 41 hours taking us through Patagonia with gorgeous mountains and leaping dolphins. it was truly breath-taking. We only had a couple contacts down south but the Lord had it already arranged. We stayed in hostels and ministered on the streets on the way down. We saw people healed on the streets of various things but one city in particular we saw many people with crutches and canes that were healed of their pain and one lady even felt feeling and strength come back into her left side that was partially paralyzed. In one city we were out on the streets looking for a laundry mat and decided to stop and ask the Lord to direct us to some people that needed healing or just simply a hug from Papa. Someone saw a particular color of blue house so we looked across the street and saw a house with that color. We decided to knock on the door and see if anyone inside needed prayer for we also saw a picture of an older woman with neck problems. The woman that opened  the door sure enough was older and needed healing in her neck and arm for her arm was in a sling. We were able to tell her that the Lord led us to her and she was so touched as she broke down in tears. Her husband had left her several years before and was still in such pain from that. She received some physical healing but more important she heard for the first time in a long time that she is a beautiful woman who is a great mother and wife. There is no person that is hidden from the eye of God. He longs to touch and heal every person even if it involves people coming to your house.

We got to the city of Punta Arenas where a few of us took off to find a hostel for all 21 of us. We prayed for the perfect place and sure enough the Lord provided the best place. We didnt have any contacts here  but we felt led here as we could have easily bypassed this city and saved money. But we prayed as team and felt that we wouldnt let our financial situation decide where we go. Little did we know we were about to step into our biggest divine encounter yet on this leg of the trip. One of our teammates, Taylor decided to walk over and check out this little church that was playing some familiar worship music. He was quickly blown away by the presence of God and the freedom that was in the air. They welcomed him, blessed him with an offering that was much needed and wanted to meet the rest of us. We ended up being 10 steps from a church that has been praying into missions and awaiting a great move of God to start here. These precious people quickly took us in and we stayed another 5 days with them. We had some incredible time of prayer where the presence of God was so strong that a lot of us were laid out on the floor for several hours just taking it all in. We hit the street with a lot of the young people and the Lord led us to many people that decided to commit their lives to this Jesus that chased them down on the streets. In just a few hours more than 50 people were either healed, saved or

Bringing the love to the end of the world- Ushuaia

at least heard that God loves them and has a plan for their lives. These people are so hungry and ready to receive more of Jesus and give Him away.

The day we discovered the church, I was just praying for a piano or keyboard to play for at this point it has been about a month since I had played one. I was craving some time for this was a long time for me to go without. In less than an hour after praying this I was in the church playing their keyboard. I was also asked to stay at the pastors house where I was able to play more piano, uke and jam out with their daughter Liz who is the worship leader at their church. We got to lead some times of worship together at the church as well.  

 We heard that there was a church and a YWAM base in Ushuaua that we could possibly connect with once we got there but we hadn´t made any arrangements. After our 12 hour bus ride we prayed and asked the Holy Spirit to direct us as we usually do. We were going to just find a hostel and maybe some food that night and look for some contact the next morning. Before we could even leave the drop -off site a man greets us and says he was waiting for us and that his church has sleeping arrangements and food prepared for us! We just had to laugh and thank the Lord. We stayed here for almost a week as the church received us. We stayed in homes and spoke at three different churches and  the YWAM base here. We did some street outreach, hiked up into the snow-covered mountains in search of  glacier, took a boat out to see some sea lions, and even drove to the end of the end where the Pacific and Atlanticmeet, where Chile and Argentina meet and where the few men have been. It was an incredible adventure even though we didnt get to Antartica which was a big desire. I guess we will just have to come back.

Laid out in His presence enjoying a taste of Heaven

This time of the year there are very very few boats that are going that way. I truly believe that this is just the beginning to a fierce fire that is breaking out down here in the ´land of the fire´ Tierra del Fuego. The Lord has many plans here and I feel it is such an honor to be a part of it and help blow on the flames and see them spread. We got to stamp our passports with stamps that say ´´end of the world´´ which is so exciting for someone on the team brought up the revelation that we (most of the team) have been travelling south for 8 months and we are truly coming to the end of the world..the end of us...the end of the possible... the end of our strength and our abilities and from here we can only go up! When we are weak...He is strong! Paul says to boast about our weaknesses for it is in our weakness that we finally let the Lord in to do the real work, to take us out of our mindsets, ideas, religion and limits and take us up up and away with His strength to see His will be done.

Sea lions in Ushuaia

We came back up to Punta  Arenas to find some cheap tickets to fly back up to Santiago where we will get our cars and do some work on them before heading east to Buenas Aires.We are once again with the families we met and became apart of here in Punta Arenas which is such a blessing and a treat. Hot showers, beds, cozy homes and lots and lots of food. Some people on the team haven’t stayed in a house for eight months so this is really a treat for many. We have been able to just rest this week and be with our families which was been really great. We leave tomorrow the 17ths to bus back up to Santiago. It will be a 3 day journey of 60 plus hours in the bus but God is good and always provide enough grace and strength to make it. We were giong to fly but with the help of our families here, they found us tickets for one third the price to bus so we were extremely grateful.

Man, I feel tht i just scratched the surface here and didn´t even do God justice with testifying of his goodness and provision. It is so encouraging living with people that truly live in faith each day financially. No one focuses or voices their worries about money and there is always enough! There are many stories of bank accounts being miraculously blessed by anonymous donors just at the right time. Several people have received many financial miracles even just in the last couple weeks. This team is incredible and has welcomed me in so graciously and has made me apart of the fam so quick. I feel such deep connections already and feel so honored to run with these amazing laid-down, faith-filled, bold lovers of Jesus!

For me personally, there has been such grace to jump in and step into the breakthrough that the team has already walked in and fought for. I feel such a desire and grace for worship. Around week two of joining the team, I started craving a music outlet. I didnt realize how much that is a part of me and how much it brings life to me. I bought a ukulele and have been enjoying that as a means of worship. The Lord is really stretching me and releasing me to sing and lead more and more even though I am just learning the ukulele. I feel like the worshipping heart of David is being awakened in me. I have been writing songs as lyrics have been coming with such ease. It  is actually a bit overwhelming trying to wrap my mind around what the Lord is doing but I really feel like Im walking in the fruit of my labor the last couple of years. It is hard to explain but I feel like the quiet times  of worship and adoration of this last year and beyond are coming to life publicly .I m praying into how I can be faithful with this and press in for more. For now I will be writing songs and  I feel such a weight ad responsibility to bring our team together with worship. I am excited and honored to contribute this to the team and I am so excited to see how  the Lord is going to continue to use it. There is much to be learned about servant leadership especially with a family this size. I want to continually press into understanding what going lower still really looks like. In some ways it happens naturally trying to live in a community this size but other ways require stepping out or even back depending on the situation. I am pressing in to understand what that really means and I m inspired for I see several people on the team walk in that. It is a beautiful thing.

 There is much more that could be said but for now I will leave you with a song I wrote about our team.

  So here it is...

THIS WE BE.

Glaciers, whales and miracles

Hardly anything more beautiful

White belly dolphins leap to greet

4 dollar llama socks keeping warm our feet

I  stepped into a pod of life-breathing lovers

Who lay it down each day bringing joy to their mothers

We are from England, Russia, South Africa, America, New Zealnad, South America and a FULL ON Aussie

We are a tight-knit travelling family possie

From busses to ferries and many large statues of mary

We see new sites each day making time to party and pray

Who are we?

Some say gypsies, missionaries or heaven-bound refugees

We are simple, cageless, limitless royalty

We are presence-driven and radically given

Numb-to-self generals on a mission

We take our orders to go

For in his winds we do flow

Our bed is in His arms

So with change we see no alarm

Trusting him is the most freeing thing

Heads held high as sons and daughters of the king

We travel as a herd

Ready to bring the good Word

Time and consistency are irrelevant

For we are anchored in the omnipotent

A searching crowd not afraid to whisper ´mystery´

But yet addicted to knowing him intimately 

Explorers in search of hidden gold

Never settling to just hear the stories of old

This we be.

I love and miss you all back home and greatly appreciate all your prayers and support. I will try to post some pictures and videos or links on a more regular basis for I understand that you all don’t have Facebook.  There is a video or two of our time here in Patagonia that I will post the link to. Love you all!!

patagonia2.wmv

www.irislatinamerica.blogspot.com

A start

Well I have been in Santiago, Chile for the last week or so and it has been such an incredible experience. I flew into Santiago and met up with two of the team members. We didn´t have a place to stay and they didn´t have any money but the Lord once again was a step ahead of us. He provided a house for us to stay that was a friend of a friend of David from our team.  She took us in as her own as she fed us soo much and gave us much love. We were able to pray for her and her family and see God just touch her with various pictures, scriptures and words we felt for her. I love how the Lord makes it work out so that we were all eachother´s answers to prayer in a way. God used us all to reveal himself.
We then went to the YWAM base to meet the rest of the crazy 20 plus team members. I was so excited to finally be with everyone. We stayed there for a couple of days until we found out that we can share at a church across town. It was in these couple of days that I felt it all hit me that I has actually left everything behind. It was a beautiful place though for I had no doubt that I was in the right place and with the right people at exactly the right time but I was  being hit with the reality of it all. I had to sneak away though and really worship the Lord and call out to him because he truly was the only thing I didn´t leave behind.. I wouldn´t trade that feeling for the world though because it creates such a strong connection and trust that I could never gain otherwise. To say that I left it all but feel peace and the Lord right by my side is a miracle in itself. It fuels me for I know that there are such great plans ahead. I have such high expectations. I am excited to continue to learn spanish as I have been asked to translate alot already for some team members. I  want to continue to be stretched with preaching as I was able to preach last night for the first time with the group at a church. I want to grow in my faith to see the dead raised and every sickness healed. I want to continue to make this a life style and not just a long mission trip. These are just a few of my desires for I know that there ares so many more.
I have been really missing some good worship times with the piano. That has been such an outlet for me and I am working on creating other outlets such as songwriting as well as praying for opportunities to open to play more. I have started a journal for just songwriting.
We went out on the streets and prayed for people and I saw a women partially healed of a cataract on her eyes. I saw some of the cloudiness leave and she said she could see better. Praise the Lord! We also ministered at three different church services this last few days and saw many healed and touched with the love of God.
It is such an honor to be with these crazy incredible lovers of Jesus. This team is so diverse yet so compassionate and fearless and walk in such freedom. They have such a desire to see Heaven invade all of South America. Please be praying for more open doors as we head down south for the next couple weeks- We hope to minister in the farthest city south and continue on to see Antartica.
I will post pictures hopefully within the next week or so and more about what the Lord is doing, but for now this is a summary. Thank you all for your prayers and support. I miss you all back home but am so excited for to be in the center of His will.
With you in Spirit,
www.irislatinamerica.blogspot.com

Saddle up, dreamers.

Things are wrapping up quickly here as I prepare to head out in less than two weeks. I bought my ticket and I leave April 6^th out of Seattle. It will definitely be bitter sweet saying good bye but I know it is the Lord's will and for that I am very excited.

My dear friend Nathalia was here with me this last week and boy was that a treat! It had been well over a year since we met and saw each other in Africa. We were able to have a quality week together and she was able to rest before heading back to Africa for another year to serve with Iris Ministries. She blessed our body soooo much with her testimony and actions that speak louder than any sermon.

I was able to go down to Bethel Church in Redding, CA for a dream culture conference. This conference was extremely practical and impacting. They encouraged us to write down 100 dreams no matter how big or small. A part of me came to life when I did this. I didn't make it to 100 yet but I was able to write out 82 before I even knew it. I felt the Lord's excitement as well as a release when I wrote them down. Hab 2:2 says, “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it.”

This really spoke to me for I can picture angels standing around in excitement wondering what is inside of us. I can picture them huddling around full of assurance as we write out our dreams on paper. I can picture them running off to the Father with haste and paper in hand to see that Papa God can set his plans into action. Its as if when we write out we are sealing the deal with God. We are stepping out in faith and declaring that God can make it happen and that no dream is too small to see God fulfill. I was also very encouraged to take steps each day to see some of these come true.We also prayed and asked God to show us the lies that we have believed about ourselves that have prevented us from dreaming. One of the lies I heard was that I am not worthy to dream to too big. The Lord just came, as I asked him to show me the truth, in such a sweet confirming way that swayed my heart into remembering that, “Oh yeah, I AM(insert your name here) a daughter of the cheerful generous King and I have access to the resources of heaven that are innumerable.” I also have been living in the servant mindset of “Ill wait for you to just give it me.” I think I walked in a false humility that I will just take whatever the Lord gives out. Part of it comes from wanting his will for my life, but this mindset also negates the active relationship of taking ownership and going after my dreams as a daughter. I was able to surrender that to the Lord and feel alive and worthy to walk out my dreams. I just pray over everyone who reads this that you would feel stirred, awakened and released to dream with your Creator. I break off any hinderances such as others opinions, finances, physical ailments, and anything else that would quench the flame inside of you.. Begin to ask for the impossible and take daily steps towards seeing that come to pass. TIME TO GET YOUR DREAM ON. YEHAW.

I had also prayed that the Lord would give me specific words for my trip to South America. There were three different people that came up to me and gave me extensive words of encouragement that spoke so deeply to my heart. A lady that I met there also gave me a generous gift towards my trip! Yes Lord!

Dreaming for the next adventure was something that I initially had a hard time with. It hasn't fully sunk in that I am about to live out some of my craziest dreams of going into the Amazon jungle to share Jesus with people that have never heard of Him. It took me a bit to really think of specific things that I want instead of walking in the mindset of “Whatever you want, Lord” I was able to write out some specific goals and desires for this trip. A couple of these dreams include preaching, seeing God heal hundreds of people, becoming fluent in Spanish, proficient at the guitar, write songs and welcomed into many unreached areas to share Jesus to whole villages. I can't wait to see God do these impossible dreams!

Trek Prep

Wow-  40 days or so until I leave for Chille.
The days are sneaking by... I have 6 more days of work. My last one is next Friday the 8th.  Then it is back to norman sleep schedule!!!!!! I can't imagine what that is going to feel like. I have grown to become quite familiar with running on fumes. Praise the Lord that when I am weak He is strong.

March 10th my dear friend Nathalia Diaz is coming my way for a whole week!!!!! I am so excited to have her here. She is Columbian who is currently living in Pemba, Mozambique working with the women creating sustainable jobs for over 400 men and women with bead work and various other jobs. We are her last stop before returning after a few month break here in the states with some of her family.
Here is a link to a short informative video of what she does:


Nathalia Diaz

I have been trekking around on foot here and there without a car. I wasn't sure how it was going to affect my spontaneous personality but so far it has been great! (Partially thanks to the generous house mates and family who have been giving me rides here and there as well..insert hand-crafted Good Samaritan certificates here). I love the fresh air and extra exercise as well.

I have been tackling some details with my trip that have been coming together rather smoothly. I was just surprised to see that it cost 80 dollars to get some extra visa pages put into your passport! I look on the bright side though and am so thankful that I have been able to travel so much to need the extra pages. The glass is more than half full ;)

I am also starting to think that I need to play the piano as much as I can before I leave for I feel there aren't going to be a whole lot of opportunities to play being on the road a lot for 6 months. I have also been taking up more guitar to be able to have that as a needed musical outlet. Also hoping and assuming that some songs are inspired on this adventure as I am bringing a journal just for song writing.

Hoping to see as many people as I can before heading out, so if you are in the area or would like to meet up I would love to see whoever I can.
Bless you all heaps and stay tuned....

A Good Heart is a Weak Willing One

Wow- I'm realizing how soon my trip is coming up! It is less than two months away.
 I came home from IHOP with the itch to get going on selling my car. As I was thinking about the process of it, I hear the Lord say, "I can sell it within a week". I had also been praying about keeping the car in the family some how or at least with someone that I knew since the car had much sentimental value to me and such a great story to pass along. I just kind of disregarded it. I put my car up for sale on Monday night the 5th and by Wednesday morning the 7th, I get a voicemail and a Facebook message from some relatives that had just totaled their car and wanted to buy mine!  Praise the Lord! So, we got to see them on Saturday (which was a treat in itself since we don't see them often) and I sold my car to them! TO FAMILY. WITHIN A WEEK. God is so good. This was incredibly encouraging and confirming that I am on the right track.

I also put in my notice as work which went super smooth and my last day there will be March 8th. The staff is very supportive and encouraging with this change. It will be a bitter sweet time leaving there for that job has been full of many trials and tests for me but also so many great people that I will miss.

 It is bitter sweet thinking of saying goodbye to my family and dear friends. The Lord is so faithful to swoop in and encourage me. As my eyes swell with tears, I consider it a privledge to lay it all down for Him who did it for me. It is an honor to be able to have money,a job, great relationships, a home, and any other thing to lay down for him as a sacrifice. I think of Jesus who came to bring life to all by becoming a sacrifice and we are called to the same. By choosing to sacrifice, I am opening the door for God to come and bring eternal life through my temporal life. That to me is the biggest honor ever. I, as an individual have the ability and the power to act in faith and trust in order to see the impossible happen. As I step aside and trust him, I know that things are going to start happening that are out of my reach and out of my ability. That is where I want to live all the time.

It is opportunities like this that cause us to really ponder what it is we really want in life. We aren't all called to remote villages and tribes but we are all called to someone. That someone is the best thing that could ever happen to us because it is there with that person or group of people that we are forced to trust Him and get to know His character and see God do the impossible. It is all about relationship. Everything God does for us, around us, against us is all used to bring us into relationship with Him. It doesn't always look easy but I can tell you that being in the center of His will for your life is the best feeling every. You feel your own desires die off, you feel the raw flesh exposed and then you feel the Lord wash over those places with His love molding your heart to look like His. He knows what is best for us and we don't.
I have come to this place where I desperately want to see how weak I am without Him. This last year at my job I began to see a glimpse of that. They Lord gave me some impossibly situations that taught me to really pray and believe Paul's prayer, " When I am weak then I am strong." I realized that I went into the year praying for faith, patience and a good heart. Looking back on the year at my job, I can see how God answered my prayers. I began to understand that a good heart is a weak willing one. I learned that if I really want to see the depths of His love, I need to understand the depth of sin and weakness in my life that He has covered and wiped clean. I want to be clean and clear of all the selfish ambition and the little thoughts that think I know what is best. It's a lie! We have seen it over and over again in the Bible of God's people thinking they have got it right as they pursue the temporal satisfaction and lose sight of his plan for their lives. I think of the story of Achan in Joshua 7 that paints a beautiful picture of God's heart and jealousy over us. Here is a man who decides to steal some of the gold that the Israelites have won while in battle with a people group that are between them and the Promised Land. The Lord stops Joshua in his tracks and tells him who stole some gold and hid it in his tent. The battle stops and all the tribes of Israel come to a halt to find this hidden bit of gold. The battle couldn't be won until they got rid of him and all that he considered his. There was no way that the Israelites could enter the Promised Land and win the battles they were in until they all had their eyes on the end goal, the Promised Land which is ultimately Jesus. This to me, tells a beautiful story of how God pursues us. He brings us into battles that cannot be won unless we look to Him and keep our focus on the prize, Him. We are then tempted to make our own plans and hord some gold that we think we deserve. It is here in the battle we determine that we are weak and we need Him, but it is also here in the battle the Lord brings hope, relationship, blessing and promise of the eternal life with Him. We are all tempted to stop and settle for the temporal things that we know don't bring full satisfaction but bring comfort and are able to be controlled by us. Since we cannot escape the battles and nowhere in the Bible says that the Christian life is a walk in the park, lets embrace the fact that we are weak and we are nothing without Him! Let's look at every obstacle and battle as a chance to dance with Him. Let's find him in every circumstance. Let's consider it an honor to serve and work and battle now for the promise of eternal treasures and enjoyment with Jesus. With all this said, I want to encourage you all to hang in there and don't give up with whatever you are battling now. Find him and embrace your weakness for then we can see through the blinders of pride and selfish ambition to the one who can carry us through anything.There will be more coming soon, but bless you all as you find Him today. I appreciate any prayers too as I prepare to leave for South America within the next couple months.
Given for love,

Given to the Wind

I am extremely excited for what this year holds. As I have been seeking direction from the Lord, I can confidently say that the Lord is calling me somewhere this year. I have been going through all my journals and putting all the words I have gotten through the years together into one document on my computer. This process was such an encouragement and made me realize that God has spoken so much over my life from people all over the world. I strongly recommend revisiting your old journals! I feel extremely blessed and convicted that I ever doubt that God speaks. He is so faithful to provide encouragement and direction when we ask. As I was revisiting all this the last couple weeks, it was confirmed 5 different times that the Lord is calling me somewhere. The Lord led me to Gen 12:1. To paraphrase, basically God calls Abraham up and out to another land.  I feel like the Lord is calling me into a season of going and coming. I don't fully know what that is going to look like or for how long but I say, "bring it on"!

 I am more than thrilled to be a dead leaf blowing in the wind resisting nothing, willing to blow anywhere the Holy Spirit is leading me.

 I also noted several tines in my journal that Latin America and specifically South America has been spoken over me or has showed up my dreams.  I guess I will start there!  I strongly feel I am to join up with my Iris friends/missionaries that are currently headed to Ecuador and continuing on into all of S. America. I don't know the exact timing yet, but I feel that if it works out, I will be joining them for the remainder of the trip starting within the next couple of months (time to be determined). This trip will tentatively end in August or September. They are doing a bit of everything from inner city ministry to jungle outreaches doing things like showing the Jesus film, blessing churches, any practical help they can provide and praying for the sick. They are just following the Holy Spirit as well as connecting with various other like-hearted organizations along the way.

Along with this, I feel a green light to sell my car. I also have been cleaning out my closet and getting rid of unused things and any excess that I have. I want to be ready to go when the Lord says to go. I get butterflies when I think of what this year could look like.  Woooohoooo!

I just spent the last week with one of my dear friends in Kansas City, Missouri at the International House of Prayer. She is apart of the missions school/ University there. I was able to sit in on some classes as well as be immersed in the prayer room that has has continual prayer and worship for 12 years now.  I also got to receive some prophetic ministry that just confirmed what the Lord has been saying about this year. The atmosphere there is so refreshing and thick with the presence of God.  I feel so refreshed. It warmed my heart to be able to spend that much quality time with her since it has been almost two years since we have had that. Thank you, friend :) It was such an honor to jump into the flow there of hundreds of young adults pressing into the word and pursuing the Lord with all that is within from all over the world. I soaked as much teaching and revelation in as I could. As well as the good spiritual food, I got to eat at some good restaurants. I got to enjoy some blues music, deep fried pickles and green beans, hot wings, meatloaf hamburger and truffle fries(that came in a little car as pictured below). I also go to enjoy some delicious Vietnamese food. Kansas City is a beautiful town with incredible art and restored brick buildings with a lot of wealth in its neighborhoods. Korynne is a great tour guide!

 I am headed back home with much anticipation of what the Father is going to do and release back home. Although I may be in and out for the next while, my roots are here in Walla Walla and I have such a deep deep yearning to see the saints of the valley arise and be the glorious shining church we were meant to be, leaning hard on our Beloved, willing to do whatever it takes to have more of Him. I feel a great awakening in my spirit over this valley and I wait and rejoice with much excitement for what is about to happen here. Its an honor to be apart of a family that has plowed and sowed many many hours and even years of prayer and work into seeing freedom and the Lord come and receive his reward here in Walla Walla. My parents are so inspiring as they have laid down their lives over and over again unrelenting to see God move over this land. Its an honor to walk into the heritage of parents that plowed so that I could reap...who walked out the hard years so that others can enjoy the freedom that His Spirit has brought and continues to bring. Thank you Ma and Pops, your reward will be great! More for Walla Walla Lord! Its coming, I know it.

I guess that is all for now. I will follow this with some other personal revelations/words the Lord has been giving me lately (this last week at IHOP as well as leading up to). Bless you heaps and may you be overwhelmed and stopped in your tracks today with the depths of His love over you.

Overwhelmed and undone in His love...