Vanuatu - Outreach Stories: Leno and Praying for Freedom

One of the common activities we do on outreach is "Treasure Hunting."

We've all been taught on the subject of "Hearing God's Voice" - obviously, the Lord communicates with us through his written word (the Bible), and that source of gaining communication from God is what reveals to us the foundations of the character and nature of God.  However, we also have the Holy Spirit - God's Spirit, 1/3 of the God-head - living inside of us, and Jesus called him "the comforter" and "the counselor."  During lecture phase, we're taught to practice "tuning in" to the constant communication that the Holy Spirit is directing toward our internal ears.  In truth, we've learned hearing God's voice is a lot more about silencing all the OTHER voices and listening to his "still, small voice."

Anyhow, when we Treasure Hunt, we essentially set aside some time to go out in twos or threes and meet people and pray for them, but first, we spend a few minutes asking the Holy Spirit to give us some clues or provide guidance and direction during our ministry time.

Often times, in our pairs or trios, one person will get a picture of someone wearing a certain color, or they'll get a sense for a particular place we should go to, or they might even hear a word that is some form of description for someone.  It's always fun to share back what each of us got from the Holy Spirit and then head out in search of these clues to locate our "treasures."

Gabe and I were doing an afternoon treasure hunt one day in the second village that our team visited. The day before we had gone out to treasure hunt and honestly had a pretty discouraging day - not many people were around the village, and the few that were didn't seem interested in engaging (one guy saw us coming, responded "Hi" to our hello, and then turned and took off in the other direction... awkward!)

So we had a couple clues from the day before we were still holding on to - I'd gotten a picture of a big banyan tree, and I felt like we supposed to look for people under trees, and Gabe had a picture of a guy in a blue shirt.

We headed out and greeted some people, played with some kids, prayed for a woman with mastitis and prayed a blessing over her newborn daughter.  But it was about an hour into our time that we finally saw someone under a big banyan tree - it was a guy named Leno that Gabe had met a few days prior, and he was limping slowly under the tree.

I greeted him and asked why he was limping.  He relayed that he had twisted his ankle the day before and it was painful to walk on. We asked if we could pray for him, so we sat down on a rough bench under the tree and laid hands on his swollen ankle and prayed.

After we finished praying, I asked him to move his foot around and see if the ankle felt better.  He said it did, so I asked if he could stand on it for me.  He did, and the look of surprise on his face was super fun to see.  I asked if it was better, and he said, "Yes."  Then Gabe asked, "Is it a little better or a lot better?"  And he grinned and said, "It's a lot better!"  He was putting weight on it and not needing to wince or limp from the pain.

He told us, "I want to come to your youth meeting tomorrow night.  I am very interested to hear what you say.  I would like to come!"  So we invited him, conversed a little more, and then headed on our way.

We were running out of time, and we decided to do one final walk up and down a street - prayer walking, while also looking for a guy in a blue shirt - before we headed back to our camp.

As we came around a corner, we saw a group of guys sitting under a big banyan tree, and one of them was wearing a blue shirt.

"Let's go!" I told Gabe, and we approached the guys and greeted them.  The man in the blue shirt was named Romeo, and we shared how we were out walking around the village and praying for people and looking for him, because we felt God had said we were to pray for a man in a blue shirt, and he was the first man in a blue shirt we'd seen that day.  So we asked if there was anything we could pray for.

He turned to his friends and talked for a few minutes, and then turned back to us.

"Yes," he said seriously.  "I need prayer.  We need prayer.  This is my father, this is my father-in-law, this is my brother, this is my nephew, " - he introduced the guys around him - "and our grandfathers lived in this village and put a curse on us.  They cursed us to not have hearts that are toward our families, good hearts for our families.  So we want to have good hearts, but we are under this curse and cannot have good hearts.  Can you pray for this?"

I was touched by his sincerity and his desire to experience freedom with his family members, so Gabe and I assured him that yes, indeed, we could pray for that.

I reminded him - this is a Catholic village and most people go to mass regularly - that the Bible says Jesus became a curse FOR us, so the work that Jesus did on the cross, dying for our sins and for the penalty of our sins, also means that Jesus's resurrection is an indication that all curses can be broken by the power that Jesus has.  Since we, as God's children, have free access into the throne room of God, we can ask him to break this curse.

So we prayed and did that, and as we finished and I opened my eyes, Leno was sitting on the end of the bench.  He had come up while we were praying.

Gabe and I said goodbye because we were going to be late back to our camp, but we were so excited as we left because we knew that if Leno started talking to these guys and shared what had happened to his ankle, it would be an encouragement to the guys that praying in Jesus's name has real power, and just as Leno was healed in the physical realm, perhaps it would inspire their faith that something had truly just happened in the spiritual realm as well.

Vanuatu - Outreach Stories: Samson

Before my team left for Vanuatu, we spent time praying together and asking the Lord for pictures of people He wanted us to be looking for on Aneityum.

During our prayer time, I saw a picture of a man with his back to me, looking out over the ocean, next to a wooden structure with a thatched roof. He was wearing a fedora hat.

I told my team about the picture, and when we landed on Aneityum, I started looking for fedora hats. I hadn't spotted any until midway through our first medical clinic day in Port Patrick.

After lunch, I saw a young man approach several other guys at the clinic, which was being held under a mango tree on the beach. He sat down with his back to me, next to a community board with a thatched roof, looking out over the ocean.

He was not only wearing a fedora hat, but it was a hot pink one with a feather in it for good visibility measures!

I alerted my team, and we approached him and asked him if we could pray for him. We had a conversation with him, and learned his name was Samson. He ended up telling us he wanted to dedicate his life to the Lord that day.

Since we were staying on in Port Patrick for another week and a half, the guys on our team were able to hang out with him and encourage and disciple him in his walk with the Lord before we left.

It was so encouraging for my whole team to see the results of the picture the Lord gave us before leaving NZ.


- Dani

New Zealand - The Fattened Calf

Well it's been a mind-blowing week here at Marine Reach YWAM:

Last Friday we gathered to pray for our upcoming outreach. Several members of various teams were in need of funds, trusting the Lord to provide. We came together for a time of worship and prayed for miraculous provision for the ones still needing money.

God has been putting the story of the Prodigal son on my (Gabe's) heart this week - showing me that neither of the sons understood the Father's heart for them. The younger selfishly took from the Father and, after waste and rejection, crawled back convinced that the Father would reject him as a son asking, "Just treat me like a servant..." But the Father would hear none of that. Not for a moment does He even consider using the suggested the title of of "servant", but instead proclaims "My SON who was dead is now alive, he was lost, but now is found!" And he punctuates that title by pouring out his unrestrained generosity on his broken, unworthy son.

The older brother comes home from working his butt off in the fields to find the celebration in full swing, and he is irritated. He too, cannot fathom that the younger son has been accepted with open arms. He complains to the Father " but I never even asked you for a young goat!" He was such a hard-working, independent son - so low maintenance, never a burden. The problem is that by his words he reveals that he too is trying to be a "servant" to the Father, working hard to earn his approval.

And what does the Father say to this one? The hard worker, the go-getter...

Well he does not say "Good job, you saved me such burdens, and that's what I wanted: I don't want you to ask me for anything not even a young goat!"

NO, in his grace the Father affirms him with the same title "My SON, I am always with you, and ALL that I have is yours!"

Why not? Because the Father is not intimidated when you are high-maintenance, and He is not impressed when you are low-maintenance. His banner over you is love, regardless of performance or lack thereof.

During Friday's worship time it hit me... "Son, all that I have is yours." That means that if the older son had asked for a fattened calf, the Father would have given it without hesitation. In James it says "You do not have because you do not ask." And what is the fattened calf? It's extravagance, it's above and beyond what we need, it is an act of absolutely generous love.

Fast forward to Monday morning. At the (wise) encouragement of my wife, I went forward to share this word with everyone during our worship time. I challenged them to believe in the Father's heart for us as his sons and daughters, and to resist the attitude of the older son (sheepishly requesting the bare minimum) trusting, instead, that His heart for us is generous.

That's when things got a little crazy!

Cheyne, our base leader, led us in a prayer that God would release the "fattened calf" for us, the above-and-beyond.

We proceeded to count up how much money we still needed to send everyone on outreach and it totaled just under 6,000 New Zealand dollars. Since all outreach fees were due by 4pm that day (and we'd have to reschedule tickets for those lacking if the full sum was not paid) he asked us to take an offering. Many of the 50 (dirt-poor) YWAM students and staff came up tossing in a few 5 dollar bills, some tens, some twenties and fifties.

When everyone who could give something had done so, we all prayed over the little basket of money asking God to miraculously multiply the money (which we all assumed to be a pretty small amount). As we continued to worship our accountant counted up the money, and then announced...

"It's eight thousand dollars. It's EIGHT thousand DOLLARS." As the news registered, Cheyne shouted "Well, if you missed it, those of you who owed money... You're GOING ON OUTREACH!" And the room spontaneously erupted in applause.

And then, it got even crazier!

About this time, our friend Vanessa from Germany who sprained her ankle 2 weeks ago (and has hobbling around painfully with her foot in an ACE bandage) stood up and said "Wait, my ankle, it doesn't hurt any more. It doesn't HURT any more!" She then proceeded to jump up and down with tears streaming down her face until she got mob-hugged by 5 or 6 of her nearby girl-friends in excitement.

Also during this time, another girl (who had accidentally dropped her phone in the toilet 2 days ago and completely broken its speakers) received a text message, and to her astonishment, the phone's speakers rang out clearly. Astonished, she exclaimed "Um, that's not possible! Guys, guys, I think God just healed my phone!?!"

As the day went on, story after story kept coming in, with 2 students who called home to friends and family to find that people they had been praying for for years had begun a relationship with Jesus and asked the students to help them learn more about Him!

This is the fattened calf. This is above and beyond what we asked for or imagined, and we feel so humbled and privileged to be loved by such a kind and generous Father!

New Zealand - Outreach Prep Week

Weekly Update:

This week at DTS we are completing Outreach Prep week. What that means is, essentially, we're packing for a 7-week camping trip, during which we might be preaching sermons, performing skits or musical presentations, teaching health education classes, entertaining children, giving testimonies, leading worship, and doing basic medical clinics, along with (of course!) doing lots of relationship building and praying for people.

We're excited!!!

If you've ever gone on a bit of an extended trip, you'll have an idea of what this week looks like – multiply that by 60 people and put them all in one large base, and you might picture about what's happening here!

I (Dani) am working with another girl on our team to FEED our crew of 9 people (plus an extra, honorary team member who will be joining us in Port Vila). We've developed a 7-day meal plan, found/developed recipes for all 21 meals, compiled a master list of all the ingredients we'll need, and calculated the quantities of what we'll need for the 5 weeks we'll be feeding ourselves (on the first 2 islands – once we head back to Port Vila, food is provided). We shopped for spices and more difficult-to-get items here in NZ, and packed them into a box, which will be part of our checked luggage. The rest of the non-perishable shopping we'll do in Port Vila once we arrive (perishables are all kind of up-in-the-air regarding what we'll be able to actually get on the specific islands – we'll be playing it by ear!)

Gabe is in charge of worship music for our team, so he's restrung an old guitar that one of our teammates' family loaned to us, and he's also printed out chord charts for a good selection of worship songs, and transposed them into manageable keys.

On top of our responsibilities for our team, we're also packing, of course. We'll be sleeping in our hammocks, so we both have a hammock, a mosquito net, a sheet, and a fleece blanket. Bedding plus a couple changes of clothes, a couple warmer layers to put on at night, toiletries, insect repellant, and a good supply of granola bars also round out our packs.

Everything that we're leaving here will go into garbage bags, have our names attached to it, and it will be put into storage early tomorrow morning. For the first half of tomorrow, all 60 students and staff will participate in a base-wide deep clean, leaving all the dorms and smaller rooms spic and span, ready for the new batch of students for the October school to arrive in about a week and a half.

So, it's a little busy around here! But currently the weather is cooperating with clouds and sunshine and a nice brisk wind, so everyone's laundry that they're trying to finish before the final pack is drying rapidly!

We'll be sending out our October newsletter before we leave, so keep an eye in your inboxes/spam inboxes for that.

We'll be disconnected from the internet until we arrive back in NZ the first week of December, so although we won't be posting updates, we'd love to continue to have your prayers for us and our team!

New Zealand - Ready... Set...

It's funny how sneaky time can be.

Outreach, which has felt miles away, is now right around the corner!

Dani and I have been excited as we gather the last few supplies needed.  I will be coordinating worship for our team during outreach, and Dani will be helping to coordinate meals!

We are excited as we pray and intercede for the people of Vanuatu, and our time among them - and we'd love to invite you to feel free to partner with us in prayer!  A quick snapshot of what He's put on our hearts is this:

That God would prepare His heart of love for the people Vanuatu inside of us.

That He would go before us, stirring up a hunger for Him among the islanders we live with.

That we would be ready in every place and every context to share His love (grocery store, hospital, church, home etc...)

That sincere worship would rise from our team, leading to increased (and lasting) worship among the nations!

That we would honor our fellow team members and build each other up in love through all circumstances.

That we would have creativity, energy, and direction to be a genuine blessing to the local people.

That God would glorify Himself through healing, miracles, and outpourings of His Spirit.

But more than any other thing (and encapsulating every other facet), that the GOOD NEWS of the gospel of reconciliation (God not counting men's sins against them) would be taught, preached, portrayed clearly, and represented well through our actions!

Jesus is ever and always the only thing that truly changes anything in the hearts of men.  May His bride listen to His voice carefully before a world that is crying out for His gracious love.

New Zealand - Halfway There

Here's a quick update on some more practical details this week.

In the last few weeks we've been getting more practically equipped for our outreach to Vanuatu:

Delving into practical medical skills - taking vital signs, learning about wound cleaning/wound care, resuscitation/CPR, performing simple vision tests, and conducting simplified physical therapy classes.

We've also studied how to do health education, taking into account cultural differences and varying world-views.  Through all these things, we are endeavoring to not just make a difference for a few weeks or months, but to create lasting practices that lead the people of Vanuatu to rich, full, healthy lives!

Our Outreach Teams have been chosen, and Dani and I are on a team of 9 fantastic people (each one passionate about following Jesus) going to the southernmost island of Vanuatu (called Anatom - pronounced "An - eye - tchom").  

We decided to be called "Team Hobbit" since we are a group of 9, leaving from Middle Earth (aka New Zealand), to go to a volcano, and our average height on the team is about 5' 5" (I am the tallest person on the team... that's a first!).  Today we had our first team prayer time, and our excitement continues to grow as we understand God's love for the people we are traveling to minister to and help!

As of this week we are about halfway through preparations, and we'll be leaving for Vanuatu in less than 6 weeks!

New Zealand - Good News

"Who was the first person to receive the gospel?"

This thought came crashing through my mind in the middle of our worship time this morning.  We've been practicing hearing God's voice this week, and (sensing that He may want to speak something to  me) I followed the train of thought.

"I don't know God, what do you want to show me?"

We as sincere followers of Jesus Christ enjoy the benefits of the new covenant He payed for with His life; it's accessible to us any time we choose to focus on (and receive) the truth.  Forgiveness, release of shame and guilt, loving adoption as sons, fellowship with His spirit, and grace that empowers us to change all lie at the fingertips of our hearts and minds.  His gospel stops us from running in circles in the dark, gratifying our own desires, yet never being satisfied.  It gives us an anchor, a light, and a hope to walk toward.

As an admission, I often focus instead on trying to manage my bad behaviors, sin, and selfishness in an effort to be worthy of this blessing, but how do we really receive this covenant?
Romans 10:9 says that all we do is declare Jesus to be Lord, and we believe that God raised him from the dead.

Who was the first participant to drink of this beautiful new covenant?  As I considered this a picture of the thief on the cross next to Jesus sprang to my mind.  This man accepted that he had lived a life apart from God, and deserved his sentence of death.  This man expressed that he believed Jesus would live to "come into" his kingdom.  This man died shortly after Jesus (they broke his legs to speed up the process, but found that Jesus had already died).


And I thought of the beauty of it all...

If you are a God who wants to put an exclamation point on the fact that salvation is 100% a gift of grace that no man can earn, who do you pick as the first child of your new covenant: A thief, a man who squandered his inheritance, condemned to death by the world, unable to do anything whatsoever to serve you or earn your love, with just hours to live.  Broken.  Beaten.  Hopeless.

A heart that cries "We deserve this condemnation and death but you do not...  Jesus, remember me when you enter into your kingdom."

And the Son of God, who leaves the 99 sheep to find the one who is lost replies "I'll do more than that... I will see you there today."


This is the power of the gospel, this is why it's called "good news", because the moment at which we have nothing to offer him is the moment when He offers us everything.  The day we realize that we have no strength to change our sin and darkness, and come to Him in humble faith...  This is the day that everything changes.


God, may I spend less time trying to deserve your mercy, and more time standing in AWE that you give us mercy at all!  Restore to us, your people, the joy of your salvation!

New Zealand - Provision: God's been speaking our Language

I think Gabe has mentioned in one (or more) of his weekly update blogs about how God has been providing, but I'll chime in as well for this week's update.

I've been reading in Isaiah with the angle of looking at what God is revealing about his character and who he is.  So far I'm about 10 verses into chapter two and this is what I've been picking up from what I've been reading:

God: is the creator, the Father, emotional/feeling oriented, caring, sees our need for a savior, compassionate, allows us choice, gives mercy, sees accurately, has preferences, knows and judges the value of the gifts we give, personal, vulnerable, perceptive, inviting, conversational, rewarding, unchanging, unwavering, warrior, worker, finisher, purposeful, intentional, patient, restorer, cleanser, hope, supreme above all others, security, worthy of exaltation.

In addition, Gabe and I and some other students and staff have been studying the book of James twice a week, and we've been going back to James 1:17 - talking about how God is the giver of good and perfect gifts.

One principle in our marriage that Gabe and I have always tried to live by is generosity.  Jesus said a lot of things about giving, but two of them that sticks is that it is better to give than it is to receive, and that the measure to which we give it will be given back to us - pushed down, shaken together, and pouring over.

We have been the recipients of SO much giving over the past few years - really, from the onset of our marriage.  We've been met with generosity everywhere we turn.  We've tried to steward what God entrusts to us and, in turn, give generously to others, of course, but you know how people say, "You can't out-give God?"  I think that's ringing true in our life!

We sent a box to New Zealand from Thailand with our warmer clothes - I don't remember all that was in there, but a couple pair of shoes, some sweaters, long pants, long sleeve shirts, socks, dresses, and other practical stuff for life in a winter climate.  Our box hasn't shown up yet, so for the last 4 weeks, we've been making do with what we packed with us through Europe (i.e.: spring/summer appropriate clothes, which are also beginning to wear thin and/or break from a lot of use!).  We've had the opportunity to go shopping, and even found some good sales, but each time we've thought about biting the bullet (financially) and purchasing something to make the strain of laundry/inconvenience of being frequently chilly a little less, we've felt like the Lord was challenging us to trust him, so each time we've walked away and said, "OK, Lord, we think this would be more convenient, but we're trusting you to provide what we need!"

So far, to date, since arriving in New Zealand we've acquired the following pieces of clothing without it costing us a dime:
A big, cozy, wrap sweater (for me)
boots (for me)
2 t-shirts (for me)
2 t-shirts (for Gabe)
a sweatshirt (for Gabe)
a vest (for Gabe)
ballet flat shoes (for me)
Mary Jane style shoes (for me)
a wool performance/athletic shirt (for me)
2 pair of socks (for both of us - we share!)
a towel

This is in addition to a pair of jeans and a long-sleeve thermal shirt I purchased for less than $10 US at a 2nd hand store in the Solomon Islands when I went shopping with Megan, and a free sweater, another wool long sleeve shirt, and a pair of leggings that I acquired for free in Greece.  In addition, we've been loaned a set of sheets to use for the duration of our time here, so we didn't need to go purchase a new set.

Is it obvious that God is taking care of us?  It is to us!  In fact, it feels like every day bring some new sweet gift from someone (some of which we've even been able to pass on to others, which is super fun!) that tells us, "I think the Lord is prompting me to give this to you."

Last week we learned about hearing God's voice, and there were some awesome things that came out of it for us, but one of the biggest lessons we're learning has been ongoing throughout the school so far:

1 - we have tendencies toward pride, but as we are learning to recognize when we're walking in pride, stop, repent, and choose to be humble (for me, that has been a relatively intense process of learning to graciously accept all these gifts!  I'm much, MUCH better at giving gifts than receiving them - and I'd much RATHER give them than receive them! So it's a challenge for me to realize that someone is offering something I do, in fact, kind of need and I have nothing to give back to them), God pours out blessing.

2 - God provides - really, truly.  He knows what we need (often even better than WE know what we need!) and he has faithfully been providing for those needs - but he hasn't stopped yet, he's provided over and above what we need.  We've gotten to the point where we don't really care what we look like, being warm and dry is far more important.  But God knows what we like and he's been meeting our needs in ways that not only take care of the actual physical need but also encourage and bless our hearts.  My new boots?  Adorable!  A merino wool shirt? Exactly what I've been looking forward to getting for 2 years in New Zealand.  Gabe's sweatshirt?  Totally what he'd been dreaming about.  Gabe's vest?  Totally a style/color/size he's wanted. And on and on! It's been so, so, SO much more than we imagined, and God's blown us away with his provision.

This week we're learning about submission to authority from God's perspective.  It's contained many little nuggets to ponder.  Maybe we'll be able to share more about what we're getting from it later, but for now, it's reinforcing things we've already learned or casting new light and new perspective on ideas we've had.  As always, we're so privileged to be here and we're wanting to just soak up as much as we can from this atmosphere and the teachings and the life-lessons we're learning.

New Zealand - The Big "Who?"

Who is God?

The weight of this simple (often unseen) question propels us through life.

Is He angry? Sad? Powerful? Involved? Filled with hate? Does He see me? Know me? Is He alive? Is He actually present in my life at this moment? Could He be here with me?

The simple answers to this question that we observe, are told, fall into, and eventually decide to agree with can literally push us into a world of darkness or a kingdom of light.

So, this week we are learning who God is, in teaching times and throughout our days. As Dani helps the media team create communication, she is learning that Jesus is the Word, and He loves to communicate. As I do grounds-keeping I am reminded that I work and serve and clean because I believe in a God demonstrates His love by being the servant of ALL. As we worship and try to hear his voice in new ways we are reminded that His heart toward us is like a dad with His hands stretched out, excitedly watching His toddler take their first steps. He loves our progress toward Him, no matter how small, and he's not discouraged by our weakness and clumsiness.

Two days ago, I filled out my weekly journal entry for my one-on-one leader. We were challenged to write down some things we're believing God for in the coming week. I started the entry with “I want to become a real worshipper” but felt God challenging me to also write something that was an actual physical need. I continued “AND I trust God to provide new shoes for Dani because her last good pair is breaking.” Once I was finished I simply closed the journal and went to bed.

In the morning Dani went on a morning run with Anna (one of our staff members). They were talking and Dani shared that the Lord has been humbling her because many of her clothes have worn out or been lost on our trip and she can't always look exactly how way she'd like to.

Anna went back to her room after their run and returned with some of the most beautiful LEATHER boots either of us has ever seen and said “Dani, I'd like you to have these, oh and this sweater too!” Less than twelve hours later I found myself checking that need off the list, because God pays attention when I talk to Him, knows our needs, and is more generous than I often give Him credit for.

Who is God?

There are more answers to that question than I could ever write.
But today I know this: He's a good father. A father knows what we need even before we ask, and is willing (excited, even) to show us His faithfulness in this life.

New Zealand - Redemption

Have you ever been encouraged by another person's brokenness?

This week we shared our life-stories with our fellow DTS students and staff, and I don't just mean the nice bits. Everything that brought each of us to this place was laid out; good, bad, honorable, sinful, wonderful, and terrible, as each person shared their greatest dreams, deepest failings, and strongest fears.

We realized as stories unfolded that we were all broken in some way. We've all seen tragedies, and each person has chosen at times to walk paths that betrayed God's friendship of trust with us.

It would seem that hearing story after story of pain and struggle would leave us with heavy hearts, but the great surprise is that God meets with broken people. As each person took ownership for their mistakes, called out to God for forgiveness, rebuked the enemy's power in their life, and asked God to fill our minds and hearts with His thoughts, the atmosphere of the room changed.

It was no longer a room filled with tragic stories and broken people, it was a room filled with the presence of God and his sweet forgiveness. We looked around and saw brothers and sisters experiencing the redemption of God.

This morning our speaker challenged us to speak out the truth over ourselves, declaring God's word into our lives. I spoke out verses and promises of the Lord until I couldn't think of any more, and when I fell silent for a moment I felt God say to me “Gabe, you were bought with a price, and I don't want my money back.”

Thank you Father for your kind heart.
Thank you for taking broken people and giving them Good News.
Thank you for never withholding your wholehearted forgiveness and love from us.

Clarity

Hi All!  We are loving it here in New Zealand, although FREEZING in the winter weather. We've already been really challenged and encouraged by the leadership and the staff and what's come up, even during this orientation week.

For example: our leader felt led to talk to the school as a whole about independence, what values independence is based on (I'll give you a hint - dependence on God is a biblical thing!). He challenged us all to intentionally seek vulnerability and transparency with each other and dependence on God.

That was a pretty big challenge for us, especially as we applied that to the issue of our finances and how we were leaning toward leaving the DTS, heading home early, and starting to pursue education in the areas God has brought to our attention in the Solomon's with the money we'd budgeted for our DTS fees. Long story short, though, we've chosen to take what we perceive to be the most extreme route of faith, trusting that the Lord has significant things for us here, and even though the DTS is more than we budgeted, and our long-awaited news on our tax payment is more than we hoped, and all of this is taking hits out of our emergency fund, meaning we will likely come home with about half (or less!!) of the money we'd planned for our "stateside relaunch" and we'll be broke and jobless and carless and homeless and needing to pursue about $40,000 of schooling (insert me trying to not panic here and thinking about how long it took us to save up for this trip!!!), we are desiring to trust God. Full stop.

We trust that if he wants us to pursue the educations, he'll supply the resources. We trust that this season won't be a "waste of money" like we're tempted to wonder. We trust that Proverbs 9:10 means what it says, "Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgement" and the knowledge we gain of God in this season will provide us with good judgement for all our future seasons. We trust that when God says, "I will supply all your needs" it means just that. And we trust that when he commands, "Don't worry about tomorrow" he means that too!!! Well, we're working on it, at least 😉

As for our education desires: Gabe feels like the Lord has led him to become a Bible Translator. We'll be exploring exactly what education will be needed, but most likely a bachelor's degree with some focus in linguistics. I, meanwhile, feel like midwifery is my calling. So I'm researching what my options are for training and certification in that. And we still both feel strongly that the Lord has directed us to work among unreached people groups, so we'll be keeping our ears and eyes open for opportunities where those three different things intersect.

We just want to keep you posted on what's happening in our lives and our hearts, thanks!

New Zealand - Dances at Spear-point

We’ve arrived at the Shire!  

New Zealand is really some of the most idyllic farming countryside we have ever seen, with gorgeous (but steep) green hills, winding rivers, rolling waterfalls, and sheep, sheep, & more sheep!

We both feel at home in the YWAM environment here in New Zealand and are really excited about the friendships that we are forming, the valuable training we are receiving, the insight the Lord is giving us, and the work we are going to do!

Today we did a traditional Maori tribal welcome to the land.  Gabe was selected as the representative of the delegation of new visitors was told to stand at the front of the group of DTS students during the ceremony.  

Suddenly, a massive, tattoo-laden Maori warrior in traditional dress began to approach the group, waving a spear, shouting, and doing the dance that the Maori have traditionally used to intimidate messengers to ensure that they truly came in peace.

"Maintain eye contact with the warrior, no matter what!!!" were the last words Gabe heard before the ceremony began, so he glued his eyes to the intense face approaching.  The warrior dropped a fern leaf as a symbol of invitation, which Gabe came forward to retrieve and we were welcomed into the ceremony with traditional Maori chants and songs.

Later on, we sang worship in Maori and the chief of this area welcomed us onto their land, and granted us a place in their family as he prayed God's purposes over us.  Both our DTS leader and Gabe shared that we were honored by this opportunity, and that all the new students have come desiring peace and unity, honoring the lives of our fathers who have pursued God before us, and thanking the Maori for the privilege of being given a place in their land and family.

It was a beautiful example of God redeeming culture to give honor and love to his sons and daughters.

Solomon Islands - The Old and The New

Nothing was visible but ocean as far as my eyes could see as we approached the Solomon Islands.

As we began our descent, I waited (and hoped) that a slice of land would appear before we hit sea level! Suddenly we were surrounded by green as we touched down on Henderson Field (the tiny airstrip that turned the tide of World War II; whose construction began at the hands of Japanese Engineers, but was soon finished and tenaciously defended by US Marines).

Later we would discover more about that great battle as we visited the rusty remains of amphibious tanks left behind by the American Navy and went to the memorial commemorating the great sacrifices of those who fought here.

Dani and I kicked off our trip to the Solomon Islands by grabbing a couple of paint brushes and attacking Megan and Andrew's dirty 15-year-old-pink living room walls. Megan's relief was great as she was able to watch the dismal shade disappear under a new coat (or five!) of fresh white!

We arrived halfway through a Bible-Training workshop here at the SITAG (Solomon Islands Translation Advisory Group) facilities, and had the privilege of attending several sessions. Pastors and local leaders shared their cultures' traditions and problems, examining their culture in light of the gospel. Later they discussed how to apply biblical principals to those traditions, transforming their culture with the truth.

This leg of the trip has been very exciting as God seems to be putting some of the puzzle pieces of His guidance together for Dani and me. As insight we have gained from our various ministry experiences becomes clearer, and we weigh possible directions for our future, we greatly value your prayers over us.

Solomon Islands - Nicola and Anthony

We are currently in the Solomon Islands (if you're wondering, that's an island country in the South Pacific - about halfway between Papua New Guinea and Fiji) and soaking up time with my sister, brother-in-law, and our niece and nephew.

Since, we have to admit, the niece and nephew were a major draw to coming through the Solomons (although we definitely wanted to see Megan and Andrew, the kids' parents, as well!), I thought it would be fitting to share what we've learned about this two kiddos.

First, though, some background:

Nicola was 3 months old the first time we met her, and she and her parents visited us on the West Coast for about 3 weeks before they left for their first term in the Solomons.  She was a pretty easy going and interactive infant, then, but she was also still a baby, so we didn't really get to know her that well!

The second time we got to interact with Nicola was when Megan and Andrew came back to the US for the birth of their second child, Anthony, and to attend our younger sister's wedding.  Nicola was just past her 2nd birthday and Anthony was still in utero, so we got to know Nic as a toddler.  She was spunky, talkative, had a huge vocabulary, and loved getting read to and having her nails painted.

We had a third visit with Nicola 6 months later (Anthony was about 3 months old this time) when Megan and Andrew came back through the West Coast heading back to the Solomons.  Anthony was a pretty chilled out little guy (he slept a lot), and Nicola was a bit more talkative and had an even bigger vocabulary.

That was a year and a half ago, so this has been our fourth period of interaction with Nicola and our first time really getting to know Anthony's personality.

Nicola (who turned four in May) is still very interactive, talkative, and quite capable of carrying on long conversations and repeating various Bible stories. I'm amazed at how much theology she already knows! Every evening after dinner, her Dad reads a passage from their "Family Bible" and then asks Nicola a few questions about the reading.  As they progress through the Bible, they periodically review what they've recently read and it's really amazing what she has retained.  And oh, does that little girl love to be read to!  We read books for HOURS.  Books are followed in popularity by dress up and painting her nails and getting her hair done in french braids and tea parties and jumping on the trampoline.  She so badly wants to be the "big girl" but is still just barely four, and as such, definitely still needs her daily nap most of the time!  

Nicola has sparkling blue eyes and wispy blonde hair and a laughter that just bubbles out from her gut. She is very polite (she always says "please") and usually quite agreeable, although getting her to actually finish her food in a semi-timely manner is a bit of a challenge.  She LOVES fruits and vegetables - today she had 2 pieces of watermelon and 4 pieces of cantaloupe as part of her lunch.  I think she would have had more if we'd let her!

Nic has decided that it would be nice if we had a baby soon so she could "have a REAL cousin!  Aunt Dani, all I have is second cousins, and I think I need a real cousin now." I told her I'd consider it, but I didn't give her any timelines!

Anthony (who will be 2 in October) is into food and trucks and boats and trains - pretty much anything that moves. Last night he was feeding himself his pasta and he would hold up a fork full of pasta and make engine noises while "driving" the food toward his open mouth.  It was pretty humorous.  He's not very talkative (He uses two clicks to indicate "Nicola," - he doesn't actually say her name at all. He's like a little African bush baby!), but he has recently learned the word "No," so we get a lot of that, even when we ask him something that he really means "Yes" for in response.  The other day he was reaching for a banana and his Dad asked him, "Anthony, do you want a banana?"  He scowled and said, "No," but continued to reach for it anyhow.  He clearly DID want the banana - but he also wanted to get it HIS way, not have his Dad peel it for him and hand it to him.  So, I guess in all fairness, "no" was partially accurate!

He's also a tough little guy - bumps, bruises, hot sauce, and pretty much anything else doesn't phase him too much. Today he smashed his little finger in a drawer and barely cried.  He's also fallen and bonked his head and again, other than an initial outcry to indicate he's had an accident, he stopped crying and moved on to something else.  This evening he wanted to try to Sriracha sauce that Gabe was using, so I put a TINY amount on his food and warned him it was spicy.  He took a bite and immediately pulled it out of his mouth, reached for his water, and guzzled a whole cup - all without saying a word!  He loves to laugh and communicates a lot through his eyes - they're usually looking a little mischievous.  He knows a lot of his body parts (he'll point or show you the body part when you ask where it is), and he usually doesn't have his sister's problem of getting distracted from his food - although he does have clear opinions about what kinds of food he wants.  When you say the word "lunch," he'll go to the cupboard, pull out the peanut butter and nutella, and bring it to the counter (and then he'll usually bring the several jars of peanut butter from the stash just in case you need it too!) He says "Whoa" with his whole body - eyes wide, mouth in a big O form, and posture held at ready whenever something particularly impresses him.  

And he's SO excited to help with things - washing dishes, tearing up lettuce for salad, setting the table, and anything else we'll let him help with. A few days ago, he tore the lettuce for the entire salad while sitting on the counter as I made dinner around him.  Gabe has been very patient with him "helping" with dishes - Anthony wants to put his red stool RIGHT in front of the sink and he wants to touch the water and the dishes.  Sometimes this slows down the dishes by a good 15 minutes, but Gabe lets him put the dishes in the dish rack anyhow.

Overall, these two kids provide a lot of entertainment and fun. We do have to break up fights every so often, and there's been at least one day that we locked them out on the porch while we were trying to finish up painting a second of wall, but they're very pleasant, enjoyable children the vast majority of the time!  And nothing is quite as sweet as when they're showered, pajama'd, and they run out of their room to come hug us goodnight before being tucked into bed.  It's really a blessing to be an aunt and uncle!

Europe - Northern Ireland

Our final stop in Europe was a very short, 2-night Northern Ireland.

We have friends there that have been very involved in missions for the past 35 years, and when our friends read in one of our newsletters that our flight out of Europe was from Dublin, they offered to find housing for us to stay if we'd make the bus trip up from Dublin to their home in Belfast.

Due to a crazy development of circumstances in their life at the last minute, they realized that housing us in their home wasn't going to be ideal, but they have connections with a guesthouse along the coast outside of Belfast and they thought we might appreciate 2 days of R&R and not needing to be guests in someone's house.

Our little guesthouse flat was a bungalow off a larger home where another family was staying when we arrived. It had a backyard, overlooking a wheat field, and there was a little creek that ran along the back boarder of the yard. We were five minutes walk from the harbor of the little village, and 2 miles from a larger town with things Iike large grocery stores and photo developing shops so we could accomplish the last bit of our to-do list for Megan and Andrew before we left Europe.

Ireland is SO green! And that felt peaceful and soothing for our Pacific Northwest eyes! It was such a restful few days.

We slept one morning without setting our alarm clocks, and walked along the water front trails in the little fishing village. We joined the locals in the nearby pub for a pint and the Northern Ireland soccer match against Germany in the Euro Cup (they thought maybe we were Germans because we weren't part of the local crowd - we assured them that we were happy to cheer for Northern Ireland!). We made some interesting lentil and barley soup that we kept trying to improve the flavor of as we ate it for each meal, and we spent several hours one morning spending time reading our Bibles and seeking the Lord's leading on some questions that had come up during our time in Paris.

Our friend came and picked us up to take us to our bus back to Dublin and we had a nice coffee time with him as we caught him up on our travels and recapping some of the things we've learned over this trip so far.

It was a lovely conclusion to this travel-intensive stage in Europe, and we feel like, as we're leaving Europe, we have some clarity about at least a few things we've out before the Lord or that we've realized in hindsight as we process our experiences on this trip.

Now we're headed to the Solomon Islands, which is our last visiting-stop before we head to New Zealand for our DTS next month. We're excited to spend time with our family in the Solomons and be available to work on some projects with them and be a blessing to the Wycliffe base there.


- Dani

Europe - Paris

After a week in Marseille, we caught the train North to Paris. We had seats on the upper level of the very fast moving train, and we both enjoyed getting to see the French countryside pass by - from the Mediterranean, rocky, kind of scrubby vegetation around Marseille up through the Loire valley past farms and fields of brilliantly purple lavender and orchards to the green trees and grass as we got closer to Paris.

Our first task in Paris was lunch with our friend Alexis. Alexis had been part of our Bible Study group in Chiang Mai over last summer. He's from Normandy area and is now living and working north of Paris. We walked about 4 miles with our backpacks to get to the Alice-in-Wonderland themed cafe that he'd appointed as our meeting point. We had some delicious food and tea there with him before catching the metro to where Edouard, Gabe's friend from YWAM, and Ellie lived.

It had started to rain, which is what it did for most of the weekend, but Edouard came with his car and fetched us from the metro stop. It was a delight to meet Ellie and we both felt very at-home from the second we walked in the door.

Edouard and Ellie had hoped to get the keys to their new at we arrived, with the plan that we'd help them with moving over the weekend, but unfortunately, the apartment wasn't finished being cleaned. So instead, we were able to help them with some get-ready-to-move stuff - removing make-shift insulation from their toddler's room and then scrubbing the adhesive off the walls. Ellie and I went shopping, also, and got ingredients for making several dishes to freeze for when their little girl is born sometime in the next week or two.

Our weekend was busy with accomplishing the to-do lists and sneaking in some food adventures - a meal at a creperia absolutely bursting-with-flavor fruit ice cream, along with church on Sunday night and some watching of the Euro Cup football matches.

On Monday Edouard had to work and Ellie had some other things planned, so that was the day we headed out to see the sights of Paris, the rain mostly held off for the first few hours, but we got drenched in the afternoon. However, we still got to walk past the Louvre, walk around the base of the Eiffel Tower, walk around Notre Dame, see the Arch de Triumph and wander the old streets of Paris and admire the elegant iron work. We also stopped at a restaurant and splurged on escargot, French onion soup, and creme brûlée. And we found some macarons that were simply divine (olive oil with vanilla was my favorite!).

Our conversations with Edouard and Ellie were the best part of our time there, though. They, also, are pursuing heading to the mission field in the near future (Africa for them), and it is always so encouraging and inspiring to see other people trying to live out their faith - sometimes even struggling with things we've struggled with or conquering things we're still struggling with - and Gabe and I both felt that there were some things brought up in our conversations that we were challenged to seek the Lord about and pray about together regarding our future.

We are truly thankful to have friends like Edouard and Ellie, and we felt like our time with them was such a sweet blessing!


- Dani

Europe - Marseille, France

After Greece, we caught a flight to Marseille, France.

Those of you reading this that have been keeping up with our life over the past few years know that we had a teenager from France, Abigael, live with us for about 8 months just before we left for Thailand.

Abigael is the younger sister of Gabe's friend Edouard. They met when they were in Panama together on DTS in 2007.

Abigael's parents live in Marseille. Her father trained to be a pastor and has helped pastor the local church there for about 23 years. Her mom works to help cultures learn to understand each other and also as a mediator.

Abigael is interested in law and mediation, so she's one year into a very intensive 2-year program to prepare her for getting into one of France's to law programs.

We arrived just before the end of her term, so it wasn't ideal timing for her to have guests, but Abigael and her parents were great about giving us time when they could and letting us come and go when they needed to be doing their normal life.

Abigael lives in this awesome, ramshackle apartment in the middle of Marseille. We loved the apartment - it's got these awesome tucked away rooms, twisting hallways, clever little quirky storage spots, and extremely comfortable furniture. Like our apartment that Abigael came to live in, it hails from a different (and antique) era, but it is charming. And I personally loved the books! Abigael's parents have such a wonderful book collection for a book-lover like myself. I read a book on organization tactics while I was there, and I learned several really clever things!

While we were there we were able to do some walking/easy hiking around Marseille, drive out into the countryside and see birds and villages. We went and got some really fun flavors of ice cream one day (olive oil, lavender-honey, thyme, rosemary-honey, etc... So delicious!), and we ate such wonderful, in-season produce: eggplant, apricots, tomatoes, nectarines, peaches, melon, etc. Abigael and her moth had planned a list of foods for us and every meal was a French-family experience!

On our own, we also walked to some of the sights to see in Marseille - which was actually a port for the Greeks 3,000-ish years ago! We went to the church on top of a rock outcropping with fabulous views of the city, we walked through the old town, and popped into shops and wandered through markets and practiced our little bit of French one day, and each night we'd come home to conversations about cultural values, faith, missions, and family.

It was such a blessing to be with Abigael and her parents for a week. We are so proud of how our visiting teenager has continued to grow and seek the Lord's guidance and see Him at work in her life. It was hard to say goodbye, because we never seem to know when we'll see these wonderful people we spend time with again, but it's special to know that when we do meet again, we'll have all kinds of new things to share and new ways to marvel at God's goodness it us!


- Dani

Europe - Molyvos and Starfish

We're currently on our flight to the South Pacific, so it seems appropriate that I should try to catch up on the last month or so of our life and our travels throughout Europe. I'll start with this post about our time working with Starfish for a month on the island of Lesvos in Greece.

We jumped right into volunteer life the days father we arrived with orientation and getting our legal paperwork settled with the local authorities.

Starfish is a non-profit that was established by locals on the Northern Coast of Lesvos last year. However, the people who initially established the organization (locals living in and around the village of Molyvos on Lesvos) have been doing the work of Starfish for a while longer than just the past year.

When refugees came from Turkey and landed along the North Coast (at beaches or struggling up rocky coasts from coves), they often made their way to Molyvos or nearby. Initially, the locals would provide a meal - for Starfish, that was out of a local restaurant - and maybe some dry clothes before the refugees started their journey by foot to the south east part of the island where they had to register with the local authorities and they would then journey onward in Greece or Europe.

The arrivals were manageable - maybe one or two boats a week sometimes, or maybe weeks of nothing. But things began to pick up last year. More and more boats started to arrive, and the locals of the North Coast realized that they wanted to get organized to better be able to extend a welcome to Greece.

You see, Lesvos has been a refugee point for a long time. Situated ao lay about 6 miles from mainland Turkey, over the past 3,000 years, many people have arrived on Lesvos when they were seeking a new life. Some of the people who live on Lesvos have parents or grandparents or great grandparents who were refugees from Turkey to Lesvos in their time.

As more people came, people who were visiting Lesvos on holiday would help out if needed in the efforts to feed and clothe the arrivals, and what was happening on Lesvos began to get out in the media and news, tourist-volunteers began to show up wanting to help do the things the locals of Molyvos were doing already: helping direct boats landing on the coastline, helping people off the boats, handing out clothes, meals, tea, and other provisions.

Over last year, these events just picked up an incredible amount of momentum - during the midst of this, Starfish became an official NGO so it could receive funding to help provide for the needs of people - cars to transport goods, storage facilities to get clothing donations organized, counter space to put together simple cheese sandwiches and fruit. And the volunteers - they were coming in larger and larger numbers, sometimes to the point that Starfish would be running orientation meetings for 20 or 30 people and the would be up to 80 or even more people on shift at a time (Starfish organized the volunteers into shifts to provide around-the-clock coverage of needs). A camp was erected in a parking lot of a night club, buses were arranged to transport arrivals to the registration center - upward of 6,000 refugees were arriving sometimes per day.

Sometimes people died - of exposure to the elements, in the water, or from being crushed by their fellow passengers on the boat. Dead bodies washed up on shore. For different time periods, people were camping in the streets of this picturesque little village because they had no where to go (before the camp that Starfish built and maintained went into operation last fall).

The sheer mass of people coming to, working in, and passing through the small fishing village of Molyvos is almost impossible for me to wrap my mind around as I heard about these events of last year.

When we arrived on May 10th, the scene that greeted us was not this chaotic - refugee arrivals had slowed down considerably since the EU-Turkey deal. Starfish had transitioned to a role of providing supplies to camps on mainland Greece and helping at a camp for underage immigrant boys that had recently be established before we arrived.

Our day-to-day tasks involved working in the store facilities sorting clothes (by winter or summer use, size, gender, etc), or working in the clothing distribution center for the locals keeping everything tidy and organized, or teaching English at the camp, or working with the Starfish Administration staff to update the website and social media accounts.

We were on 8 hour shifts six days per week, and that allowed us time to build relationships with some of the local support staff, our fellow volunteers, as well as the boys at the camp.

We had arrived in Lesvos not sure of what we would be doing and essentially trusting that since we believed God had laid on our hearts to go to Lesvos, he was in control of the circumstances and he would allow us to be used in some way.

Our month there was perhaps the most ministry-oriented single month we've experienced so far since leaving the US! Starfish is not religiously affiliated, but we found that our fellow volunteers (hailing from the US, the U.K., and a few other European countries), as they got to know us and we shared openly about our faith as God provided opportunity, asked us questions and were very keen to listen to our answers. We, in turn, realized just how encouraging we could be by doing everything we could to just show love and acceptance in the name of Jesus.

It was also good for us to engage in some of the conversations we had - it is challenging and exciting to listen to other perspectives on truth and absolutes and moral right and wrong and be able to articulate where your perspective on these subjects align with someone else, as well as clearly explaining where our views differ - and most importantly, WHY they differ.

I had a conversation one day with one of the volunteers about communication styles and the use of apologies, and how (as he advocated) when there has been a break in a relationship, it is always good to ask someone the motive of why they did whatever action they did that hurt you (I agree!). He claimed he felt that apologizing was actually a waste of time because nobody wants to intentionally hurt other people, and when you ask someone to apologize for something, it's because you the they were wrong, but maybe they don't think they were wrong after all, so it's pointless. The better way, in his mind, was to seek motive so you could better understand.

I agreed with him about some of it - seeking motive and understanding is really helpful for a relationship to be restored, however, I explained that I differed from his perspective because I did believe in an absolute right and wrong that were established by someone outside of myself - namely, God's outline of wright and wrong provided for me to follow in the Bible. I explained that because I claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ, I must do as he says and interpret my actions as right or wrong based on his definition provided in the Bible. So, for example, Jesus says to love your fellow Christians and to love your enemies - to love like he loves - and in 1 Corinthians 13 is tells us what that love looks like. Therefore, if I do something selfish or impatient or unkind, I have NOT acted in accord with Jesus's outline of right actions, and therefore I do need to apologize and admit that I was wrong and ask forgiveness.

Anyhow, that's just one example. We were also asked why we had so much peace and calm, and we were asked about our marriage and why we got along so well and how being married differed from dating for us, and also if we felt like our Christian Faith actually impacted our day-to-day life and choices. In responding to EACH of these questions, we felt God's presence giving us words and examples and sensitivity to how we responded to them as we tried to share our faith clearly and explain why our relationship with the Lord is the source of all that is good and beautiful in our lives.

All that to say, we really enjoyed our time on Lesvos. It was unlike anything else we've experienced as a couple in terms of the spiritual and physical setting, as well as the work, and we were so excited to witness how God used us to do things that were pretty vastly different than we'd originally thought we'd be doing but still so worth doing: serving and loving on the volunteers and the local staff.

We were so honored to be able to go and work on Lesvos!


- Dani