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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
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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.
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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.
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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!!
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