A True Christmas.

Right now I’m looking out of my jungle hut window. I see youth building a new fence outside the church. They’re chopping and shaping bamboo amidst the kids wrestling on the ground. This village, Pongching, might be the purest place on earth. We’re above every city and town, just us (a community of about 1,000 people), and God. What a perfect place for Christmas.
These people amaze me perhaps more than anyone else ever has. Their lives are defined by work. From sunrise to well after sunset they are moving. Every meal has a huge amount of effort behind it. The water to boil the rice has to be hauled from either the well (which is sometimes empty), or the river, 10km down the mountain (Normally water comes closer but this year the pipe is broken). The pork or chicken has to first be raised to maturity, then butchered and prepared. Vegetables have to be dug up, pineapple has to be plucked from the top of tall trees. There isn’t really anything easy to cook. Laundry, a.k.a. my greatest foe, has to be done at the well, and hauled back up to the house to dry. If you have to use the “toilet”, you carry your own water. If you want internet, you go off- roading for about 30 minutes to the nearest town, and you might have a chance at connecting. A lot of the things that make my life comfortable are impossible to have in this village…

 Christmas in America gives me comfort. My mom makes my favorite chocolate crinkle cookies. My dad puts lights on the house and tree, I usually have a new warm peacoat and a scarf to go outside with. I can even take a hot shower in the morning. There’s a sink, a medicine cabinet that has everything to aid any ailment, hot cider or cocoa, a fluffy couch, 1,000 books to read, and no school. =]

Here there has certainly been comfort, but of a much different kind. I’ve never seen a 5 year old carry a 6 gallon bucket of water on their back while giggling. I haven’t heard 1 complaint since being here. Not one, except in my own heart. I’ve received more generosity than ever before. Villagers who have absolutely nothing and are almost too old to work, come and give us chickens to eat for dinner. Our host makes me chai every morning even though I’m hardly contributing to her day. I smile and listen to her, but she knows I can’t help her. I have no idea what she needs, and everything I try to do I usually do wrong or too slowly. So what am I celebrating when I feel stared at, out of place, and unable to contribute or repay? This Christmas I celebrate the day that true life was made possible for me; Life regardless of location, language, or lifestyle.
John 1:18- “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.”

THIS is Christmas. Today I celebrate the day that the God of the universe made himself known, to me. Wherever I go, he keeps me and speaks to me.

Thank you, Jesus, for walking on earth.

What a Merry Christmas!

Shrirampur

I cannot possibly describe to you how much I learned and experienced during these two weeks. But I’ll try to share something =]
My team, a group of 7 fine artists and a 2 year old, went for our “mini-outreach” in a fairly large city in the state of Maharastra. Shrirampur is primarily Hindu but has a huge Muslim population as well. It also has a strong network of Pentecostal churches. We had just been given the location, knowing that someone had arranged our ministry schedule ahead of time.
Our journey began with a 7 hour Indian train ride from, what has become our home away from home, Lonavala. We were picked up by a Marathi speaking Pastor who we would stay with and work with for the next 2 weeks. We immediately started ministry in a remote Hindu village outside the city. We visited 26 houses with prayer, and had a couple of opportunities to share the gospel with families. It was amazing.

But it definitely set the tone of our outreach: exhausted and unprepared =) The whole two weeks it was spur-of-the-moment ministry. That might have been the biggest blessing though. We didn’t have time to get nervous about preaching or running a children’s program. We were just asked on the spot, and God always provided words and activities. I experienced God as my provider on a whole new level. Even when we were broken, tired, and uninspired, God always quickened our spirits when we had good works prepared for us.

Here is just one out of a million highlights:

When we were at a pastor’s home having dinner, he brought a young woman to me who had previously poured me a glass of water. He led her by the arm and opened her hand so I could see her palm saying, “Pray for her.” I said, “Okay, but why?” not understanding what was wrong with her hand. She had very unique skin, white spots in the midst of a tan complexion. He wanted me to pray for her healing, just because her hand was different. But he said it in a very degrading way, like she wasn’t made before the foundations of the world. Instead of praying for her hand to magicly turn colors, I was able to speak God’s love and acceptance over her, and she started crying. This pastor, who might’ve been the Father I’m not sure, had planted so many lies in her head about being ugly. God definitely brought healing to that woman but of a much different kind.

TRUST in the Lord with all your heart. In all your ways acknowledge Him and lean not on your own understanding. For a large portion of our outreach, I felt very in the dark. It was chaotic and confusing, the fruit seemed far and few between. Communication became our team’s weakness. In language, personality, walks of life, and culture, our team is the most diverse. The enemy was trying sooo hard to rip us apart and there were definitely some close calls. We really had to not lean on our own understanding, because we had none=] It was so confusing! But God reminded me that even in the raging storm, he’s holding the boat. At the end of all the chaos, confusion, and offenses, I can really say God actually had a purpose in that. I’m so grateful for it now. It was a great outreach, although challenging. Good character on this trip was like a beautiful, ornately wrapped, sparkly Christmas present, but inside the box was flaming, refining fire. I had so many ungodly ways burned out of me!

Overall, amazing trip FULL of blessings and lessons I’ll keep for a lifetime. We were the light of the world, everywhere we went, and God used us to be a blessing to so many of his creation.

Thank you so much  for your prayers. And to my dad, who prayed on the phone with me when I was on the verge of a freak-out. =] Love you!

My God is not dead.

He is LIFE!

God is really into making things.

I'm tired of worrying about the product.
 Being apart of a prophetic school of painting can bring up alot of fears.
 My thoughts are often,"How will this painting speak to someone? Since I'm painting during worship I better have something to show for it. What if God doesn't speak through me? If its ugly, I look ugly and untalented."
These are such lies! God is gently comforting me by teaching me how valuable the PROCESS of art is. Why else would he take a whole lifetime to sanctify us? He's not in a hurry. And I know He wants my character to not be obsessive of end results or paths, but trust in every moment that I'm living in Him. Art is no different. Especially in worship, which is what these nine months are all about. Every color can bring inspiration and brushtroke bring more peace to the artist. Whenever I'm preoccupied with how a piece is going to look, instead of creating together with my Creator, I don't receive so much healing or blessing from that work. It's almost a waste of time, like painting in the flesh.
How can my art be worship if my speech isn't honoring to Him? How can I get up and paint on stage with a right heart when I'm not at peace with my roommates? Wow. Jesus let my heart be simple. Character comes first, humility is so imperative. I have to just cling to the Source with a sober mind. It's so easy to seek glory.
But I've also realized, just today, that this isn't fake.
I really am an artist because thats how God speaks to me. Instead of giving me words or sermons He gives me pictures. Or he makes a picture through my hands that I can stare at for 20 minutes and be a different person afterwards. It's all so new to me! Inviting the Holy Spirit to bring forth truth through your hands.
But this isn't old news for so many believers, and no news at all for God. But I really haven't seen this much in my culture. Art has so been taken by the enemy! But it hasn't always been his territory. 1 Chronicles 25 is all about King David appointing skilled musicians to prophesy with instruments. They were to prophesy in thanksgiving in praise, always working under supervision. Art in worship is also for other people, and God so uses it! However, you have to test it just like we test the words we hear. If it doesn't match God's character, or you don't have peace, or its just crazy and the Holy Spirit isn't using it in you, then you just leave it.
And because of our pride and comparisons, sometimes we can pretend to prophesy. (Eeeek that's so bad! God takes that extremely seriously...) If someone tells you something and claims its from God, but instead of encouraging you it messes you up, don't stumble over it! Remember you have a safe place in His word. Its the rock that you don't have to test. The ground that always stands.

Bhangar Wadi

Every Thursday, we spend the afternoon and evening in a slum area here in Lonavala. My slum is up on a hillside about 10 km away. The kids are so fun. We get to teach them for the next 3 months, but then after Christmas they'll unfortunately get new students from YWAM.  There's already around 4 Christian houses in this slum, and God is really changing people's hearts and lives here.

The journey here

I arrived in India four days ago safely! The trip here was alot of fun. After a teary goodbye I set off into the wild blue yonder! I was kind of struggling with fear of the unknown and worrying about the details, but God really showed me how able he is to take care of our needs whenever and whatever they are. Along the way he sent me many people to encourage me. I ended up having the attitude of, "Wow God is so huge." When I stopped in Denver, a random guy came up to me in the airport and told me he overheard me talking about where I was going in the Spokane airport, and he said he would pray for me and really confirmed that what I was doing would be a blessing and to follow my heart and take courage. Then when I got on the plane going to New York, I was seated next to two West African missionaries! It was a blast talking to them and they really encouraged me to enjoy this season of life and know God better than I ever have at home. Then when I arrived in New York, my taxi driver was from Calcutta, and he was so excited that I was going to his home country. He made it his mission to get me to the airport on time even though my flight was over an hour late. (I realize I'm writing really slopily and horrible grammar but I have like no time and the internet might go out at any second). So yeah. And since I've been here, we've done nothing but have fun and enjoy eachother. I have 4 roommates, and 12 girls in my hall total. They are all so sweet and welcoming. There are 30 people in my creative discipleship school and we had our first class this morning on hearing God's voice. It was really inspiring. I learned just to be sober minded and to never get caught up in seeking the voice and not the one behind the voice. I realize that makes no sense out of the context of the lesson but yeah it was about keeping Jesus at the center, especially during the prophetic expression. The program that I'm doing teaches that as artists, we have the capacity to be prophetic by listening to God and using our gift as a tool to share His heart with people. So that's what I mean by prophetic. It's kind of a word that makes me think of living in the clouds, but I'm learning that it's actually just normal and God desires to have everything in our lives reflect Him, especially things we create. blah blah blah okay so life here is basically the opposite of America. There are bugs in my bed and we bathe with buckets and flush the toilet with buckets. But its so liberating! I'm loving the simplicity of it. It's just like being at summer camp for 9 months. Also- its in the jungle. Very tropical and humid- so gorgeous. I wake up to the songs of very large crazy birdies in palm trees outside my window! yay!

A CraZy little thing called Love.

My last Sunday at church was a colossal blessing. I'm astounded that God has blessed me with being apart of his body. It's truly the most abundant life full of support (spiritual, practical, emotional, financial... etc. etc.) and love. You all blessed me so much with your kind words and encouragement. Thanks for living in the Spirit and choosing to invest yourselves in my spiritual growth! I'm so humbled. Hopefully I won't be so homesick being away from you that I miss out on what's happening right in front of me. :)

“[All Christians] Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude.” 1 Peter 3:8 NLT