Please ask that:

1. Permission is granted
2. Everything would go according to God’s perfect plan
3. He shows us the right place to create this work
4. That the right people would take part and the right supplies could be found
5. That this would glorify our Creator for a long time to come!

Thank you and may He be your inspiration!

Clive ><>

What I love about meeting with Ivy is that she is genuinely hungry for God! Each week she comes prepared with questions that she wants to ask me. I try to answer to the best of my ability and after I give my answer, her reply is “Show me where it says that in the Bible”. I LOVE that she is going straight to God’s Word and not simply trusting in what comes out of my mouth.

On top of meeting with me for our Bible Study, she also comes to our Art Club that meets later that night.  During the club, activities range from painting and drawing to playing the guitar and reading the Bible. It’s all worship! It’s glorifying God through the creativity that He has given us!

Last week as she left the club, she told me, “You don’t need to ask me if I will study with you every week. We’ll meet every week at the same time and the same place”. I know that God wants her heart. I know God’s promise of salvation is near! This Thursday, we will be meeting to discuss the Apostle Paul and his conversion (by her own recommendation).  With Easter this upcoming weekend, I know that there will be a lot of opportunity to share with her. Please pray for Ivy.  Pray that God captures her heart! Not only am I believing that she will quickly turn her life to God, I’m believing that she’ll be a true disciple of Christ. And pray for me, that as I meet with her, that I would 100% be led by the Holy Spirit!

~Amilah

It was the first day of school. Part of me was like “McDoogle, don’t worry, you got this. You’ve done this before, it’s just like last semester. No worries.” The other part of me was like, “Advanced Level 1! What are you doing here!? This is going to be way too intense and you are not ready for this! Leave now while you still can!!!”

Needless to say, it was a little intimidating.
But the grace of God was present the entire way! After spending two weeks in my new class (everyone goes up a level after one semester), with new teachers and new teachers, I can truly say that I am having a great time. It was wonderful to see old friends again and to laugh and joke in this language I’m learning. Despite my fears, my classes are not as daunting as I thought they would be, but they certainly are a lot of work. I have even been elected the class leader! An important job (haha) with such responsibilities as erasing the chalkboard and organizing activities for the class to do…you know me, I love being social! It will be a difficult semester, but I know God will show up in awesome ways and I can’t wait to tell you all about it!

*Thank you so much for your prayers concerning the recent devastating earthquake in Japan. My city was not affected by the quake at all. Please continue to keep Japan in your prayers. Many students who attend my school are Japanese and it is obviously a very difficult situation for them to not be with their families during this time. Please keep two in your mind in particular: Fuxi and JuJu. Fuxi was in my class last semester and JuJu was someone I met at our Christmas party. Both returned home during the winter holiday and as I really have no way of contacting them, I ask that you would pray for their safety and their salvations.

McDoogle

   I felt a small hand on my back but didn’t move. I was on the ground, completely captivated by the Lord’s presence while worshipping at the International Fellowship here in K-twon. I didn’t need to look. I didn’t want to move. All I could do was something between laughing and crying as Heidi Baker, who was the guest speaker this week, asked the children to lay hands on us “big kids” and pray for us. It was truly one of the most powerful experiences in my life, and I hope every one of you is b1essed with opportunities to drink in this way, simply and purely, of His strong love.

   Heidi’s husband Rolland has roots in K-town, but they have worked for many years and have an awesome ministry in Mozambique, Africa, where they have seen around 2000 churches planted! Maybe you’ve heard of them, but if not, I recommend looking them up at irismin.org

She is an anointed speaker who shares straight from her heart (and not her PhD level theological education;) with humility and great joy.

   Through our recent leadership meetings, our current internship training involving Asian history as well as TM/CT history, and this morning being in the midst of many who have answered the call to come to this nation, my eyes have been lifted up again to the big, really BIG, beautiful picture of what our God is doing here and around the world. I’m believing that the Lord is beyond capable of raising up 2000 churches through us here in Asia – will you stand and believe with me? The need is great. Will you ask with me? Our words will not fall on deaf ears or return void…….

Faithfully yours,

Clive

1) Speaking all in Chinese all the time is more tiring than I thought it would be.

This past week the Ice Team had its first ever “All Language Week” where we promised to not speak any English from Monday morning to Saturday night.  That included not watching any English movies, reading any English books, or listening to any English music.  I knew this week would be intense, but I didn’t think it would be quite so tiring! Haha!  I would literally get home and be in bed by 7:30 or 8:00 just because I didn’t have the mental energy to do anything else. Even though this week was really challenging, it was a really good way of measuring my language progress so far and seeing what areas I still need to work on.  The Sunday we all
started speaking English again it was my turn to share at our “party” and I actually had a really hard time putting English sentences together!  God’s grace is amazing, and we are all making
great progress!

2) It IS possible to wear 3 pairs of pants at the same time

Even though I am a ME girl, I almost never had to wear long-underwear, but in HB it is pretty much a requirement.  And actually, I find wearing long-underwear much more comfortable than
just jeans-especially in a country that doesn’t have much in the way of quality fabric softener.  It is actually a good thing I don’t have a drier because that means my pants are a little big on
me, meaning that I can fit more layers underneath!

3) I now know what -22 F feels like

After hovering around a low of zero for a couple of weeks the temperature here in H-town PLUNGED this weekend.  This morning on my walk to school the temperature registered a frigid -22 F.  But I am prepared! The only part of my skin that is showing is my eyes. Hahaha! Although, after walking for a half hour, my face is basically covered in ice-eyebrows, eyelashes, scarf, and there are even small icicles hanging from my hat.  If I poke my head out of
my scarf/coat to get a breath of fresh air, ice starts to form in my nose (which, is an incredibly weird sensation).  I feel like a turtle poking my head out of my shell.  Despite the temperature, I
have discovered you can always stay warm; you just need more clothes!

I hope you have enjoyed these observations, and that in the future I will have more insights to share with you!

McDoogle

“Winter has indeed arrived in H-Town.  Temperatures reaching -6 in
the morning hours have prompted reports of eyelashes developing a
small layer of ice during the walk to school.  The local residents
seem unfazed by the recent weather patterns.  However, some
American foreign exchange students are slightly ‘concerned.’”

“Frosty temperatures have not hindered ice cream sales in H-Town,
in fact, the winter weather has allowed people to sell the icy
dessert out of boxes by the side of the road at night.  This
correspondent has even spotted locals wearing only a light fall
jacket, carrying cartons of ice cream in their bare hands.  Welcome
to H-Town!”

“With Christmas fast approaching, CT workers are getting very
excited about the opportunity to share the REAL meaning of
Christmas with their friends!”

That’s all for this edition of “The H-Town Times.” This is
McDoogle, signing off.

On Friday, the 5 of us got together and celebrated Thanksgiving.  We had an amazing meal that included a chicken, a goose, and two delicious turkey legs. On top of this, we had potatoes, stuffing, pie, and so much more.  Somehow, despite there being only 5 of us, we managed to eat almost everything – with minimal amounts of leftovers.  Our afternoon consisted of watching a football game (which was actually enjoyable), playing an ice and stick version of baseball, eating more food, and so much more.  And, as the guitar got pulled out, the 5 of us sat together and sang songs of worship to our Father and spend time thanking Him for His abundant provision.  Without Him, this holiday would mean nothing to me.  It’s a reminder for me to live each day with a heart of thankfulness…each day, every day!

The last couple of blogs that I send out have been focused on Asian friends.  So, I wanted to give a quick update on my team and language study.  The team is doing great! I absolutely love them all.  God has been blessing me so much through the other four! I love that I get to work alongside each of them. 

In regards to language study, all 5 of us have been faithfully working towards the mastering of this language.  While we have only been here for 3 months, everyone’s language ability has increased dramatically!  We’ve all had opportunities to testify about God in our classes and with our teachers.  Some of us are going through the Chinese Bible and learning key vocabulary to share the Gospel. And all of us have already been able to go out and testify through the use of this new vocabulary.

From Monday through Saturday, we speak nothing but Chinese, with an exception of 30 minutes a day for English.  This was definitely a challenge for me in the beginning, but as we continue to commit to our language covenant, it’s getting a lot easier and a lot more fun!  What I thought would be impossible is becoming a reality.  As we study this language, God is doing so much more than I can imagine.  I’m actually able to carry on conversations fully in Chinese!  That’s pretty crazy stuff.

From December 6-11 (a week from now), the 5 of us will be doing a completely English free week!  This means that all communication with everyone will be 100% in Chinese.  I am expectant that this will be another week of breakthrough for each of us individually.  For me, specifically, I am praying that God would give me a complete breakthrough in my ability to take all the knowledge and comprehension that I have stored somewhere inside my brain, and let it out in words. He is faithful and He will do it! 

So, as next week rolls around, please remember to lift all 5 of us up to God.  That He would give us the grace we need to go an entire week without English, grace for each other when we try to express ourselves, and grace for ourselves when it gets a little frustrating.

Thanks so much for all your thoughts and prayers!

Love,

Amilah

Pr@ises!:

    * My niece, Jeanne Ann Marie Fincel, was born on Nov 15th! She’s beautiful!

    * I had an amazing Thanksgiving with the team

But now there are 35 missionaries in Asia! Living 4 different cities, with 13 people focused on becoming fluent this year in the language so they can reach people in their heart language. I was able to help them make it, and it was all so worth it!

This weekend I get to travel with my Mom and sister to meet my brand-new nephew, Miles Dylan! He was born just two days before training started. I’m praying that this weekend away will help to finalize recovery and closure for me at the end of the busy summer and training.

Then it’s right into support raising for me! You may not know that in order to see Campus Target succeed this summer I set aside my personal support raising until the teams left the country. Now I need to work hard to about triple my current monthly support in order to be financially healthy living here in America. It’s a big goal, but I feel completely peaceful that with God as my provider (literally), the way to reaching the end is prepared for me.

Some highlights of TrainingCamp ’10:
The pre-Training RETREAT: Turns out after weeks on end of pushing myself, I needed a little down time to relax with 35 of my most-wonderful co-workers and friends. This was a special retreat for only those who have committed to at least 3 years of working with Campus Target, which allowed for powerful times of re-focusing on our mission.

Getting to Teach: I had the privilege of teach a session on Flexibility (no, not like yoga), to the new incoming workers. I shared with them about making a choice in advance of hard situations to trust people and God, and remain flexible. I had a lot of great feedback, and I really feel like it upped my confidence to speak more in the future.

Building Closer Relationships: In an organization that’s constantly growing, changing, and lives around the world, it can be tough to feel like you really know everyone. So in the midst of managing training I tried to purposely build closer friendships with people that I didn’t know that well. It was so rewarding becoming good friends with them!

Right Now in Asia:
Currently about 60% of the team in Asia has their apartments. On Monday the newest city team, H-town, is starting full-time University language study. So it is especially pressing for them to find good housing fast. Please keep them and K-town teams in your prayers, as neither of them have any apartments yet.

Right now I’m attending the EF Leadership Conference, which is one of my favorite conferences of the year. Its been a bit wild going from my small “parties” in Asia of about 15 people to the 1000+ here at the conference, but I’ve been learning a lot.

I wanted to share some amazing news. Do you remember way back in the fall I wrote an email about my Asian friend Ling who’s brother had cancer? I mentioned her again more recently too, how she’s stepped up as one of the leaders of the fellowship we planted this year. Well, right before I left Asia she had to unexpectedly return home because her brother’s health was declining. In addition to the cancer, Ling’s brother is also mentally handicapped, and she had worried all year that even if she tried to share the gospel with him he wouldn’t understand it.

I was with her when she found out she needed to go home, and we had an awesome time saying our final (unexpected) goodbyes. I was able to encourage her that the gospel is simple, and if she was faithful to share it with him God would be faithful to help him understand it and work in his heart to help him believe. As we said our teary goodbyes she assured me, “I know now I can tell my brother the truth. Dad will help me, and Dad will help my brother understand. I’m not afraid to tell him about Dad now.”

Early Sunday morning I got the email letting me know that Ling’s brother is now my brother too! He became a Christian!

This is why I do what I do. This is why I’m proud, happy and honored to be a missionary. Because haven’t been able to just impact Ling’s life, but also her whole family and all the students she’s going to reach at the campus I served on. Wow, I am so blessed!

Please pray for her brother that he would grow closer to God, and that he would be healed. Also pray for Ling’s parents, grandparents, oldest brother and sister-in-law and their baby to be born at the end of June. I know God desires that all of them would be part of the family as well.

Both Ling and I thank you!