“Today we went to Hua Xi. We probably said hello/ tried to talk to 15 people before these two girls came along.  Amanda said “They don’t look like they’re in a hurry, we should say hello.” And then I met Lisi. Rather quickly I was off walking with Lisi and Amanda with the other friend.  Lisi is in her 5th year and final semester for preventative medicine. She explained that she’s been very confused and worried about the future, finding a job, and just the life changes that will come with not being a student any longer.  I told her that when I was a senior in college I had similar feelings and the thing that got me through it was being able to talk to dad and J and get comfort and guidance from them. I asked if she knew about J or if she believed anything, and then I started to share. From beginning to end she was practically clinging to ever truth that was spoken and she was so cute!  Here are just a few of the awesome things she said throughout our conversation.  “So he forgives us, and we are given a second chance.” I said well he forgives us more than 100 times, he will never stop forgiving us. When I asked if she wanted to follow and be his friend, she said “Yes I do, but you mean it is okay even though I am Chin… oh yeah you said he created you and me too!” After we yarped it out I asked how she felt. She said, “Just before I met you I was talking crazy to my friend and feeling so nervous and confused, but now I feel calm in my heart.”  At a later time she also said, “I always felt like no one can completely understand me, or give me the advice I need, but now I know that J is always listening and he knows me.”

When I realized she wasn’t in a rush, we started to go over the 2 things we do as C’s: follow J (personal relationship) and share about Him with others.  Before I even finished the sentence, she was saying, “Yeah we need to tell people this, I am going to tell my friends.”  I encouraged her and read the famous verse from Matt…. And once again “ Yeah we need to tell everyone.”  I told her that sometimes our friends or people we share with will not understand, or not want to believe, but it is okay because it is just our job to give them the opportunity to know him but then it is between Dad and their heart to decide. She stopped me mid sentence and just blurted out a big WHY, like what do you mean people wouldn’t want this. It was awesome! I was like I know I don’t understand either (haha), but Dad moves on our hearts and he prepares us to learn about him and follow him, and he prepared you for today, and some friends just aren’t ready yet. “So we don’t have to persuade, just give them the chance,” she said.  I told her something I like to do is meet with friends to talk about Dad and the good book, and asked her if she had one and if she’d be interested in meeting every week. She didn’t have a book and said she’d like one in English because she thought it could make her closer to him since J speaks English. And I told her J speaks Chin too!! And every language in the world!! When we got to her dorm gate to say farewell, she said “I’m going to share this with my roommates, and I’ll see you next week Karen?” Yes yes yesssss indeed you will Lisi!!! NEMA(Amen) Papa you are soooo good!! I yarp that her heart, mind, spirit will be protected as she shares, and declare that she is good soil!!”

This is just one of the stories from the ten people that has come to know Dad in the last 2 weeks. Super exciting things are happening here and Dad has been really moving. Hope this encourages your heart and spirit today:)

Please con’t to lift up…
* Finding open and good soil people
* Strength and rest throughout the week for us and our people
* Continued strength in our language study

God has really been growing our peoples faith and turning that into action! Here is a really cool story from one of our girls.

‘Tuesday afternoon we set out with our goal to make  friends that day.  We met a group of three girls, Amy, Ariel, and  Alice. They are all grad students with a journalism major. We  exchanged numbers and went on our way. Later, we made plans to meet  them the next day for lunch. We met them at noon and sat down at  one of our favorite cheap dishes places. We asked if we could pray  over the food before we started to eat. Right after we broke the  ice and asked what they believed. They said because they were from Asia and they did not really believe in anything. The topic was  changed but later it came back up and led into us sharing the  story. Two of them seemed very interested. One of the girls knew  quite a bit and asked us some really good questions. After lunch we  went and sat down on the grass where they asked us more questions  about different stories in the Bible. We explained the difference  between us the Catholics, as well as talking a lot about what the  life of a Christian looks like. They seemed to be hanging on every word we  said. After I asked again if they thought they would ever believe  in Jesus, one girl replied, “We have never believed in anything but I  think maybe Jesus is our choice.” After running into a tea house near  by because it started raining, we answered more of their questions.  About three and a half hours after meeting them and explaining to  them what seemed to be half the Bible, two of the girls, Amy and  Ariel, talked to God and accepted him into their lives. We made a  plan to meet with them every Wednesday as a church. It was really  exciting to see God move so powerfully only the second day back to  work, as well as it being our first time sharing on SU since January. I cannot wait to meet with them again and get them baptized! This is only the beginning!’

I hope that gets you as excited as it gets me!!! God is softening students hearts and they are coming into relationship with Him! He is going to see the visions and goals through that He has given each of us. He is so faithful!

Thanks for being behind us in prayer and finances. We couldn’t do it without partners like you!

Seeking the lost for the the King,

Hoagie and Hero
* Please pray against spiritual attacks that have been taking place on us
and our people as we step up our game in reaching people. Like our
friend Al always says, ‘New levels, new devils’.
* Students hearts to be open and ready
* Wisdom/provision currently weighing the option of Kels attending
University (March-July) for her language study

So this is just the beginning of what we call our “training group”. Now that they believe and follow God with their lives, we will get together and have fellowship with them every week. We share how we are doing, sing songs to God, Cast Vision of God wanting to know everyone, teach them 1 lesson each time like Holy Spirit, Jesus first, time w/ God, Grace and so on and practice then set goals for our week (who we will share with and train) and pray together for the week to commission each other out. They will be simple and straight from the word so that as they are sharing (and already have been) with their friends and family and when they come into the family they can pass on the same simple lessons and have church:)
Hoagie and I are very excited for how God will use this group and them to multiply and reach thousands for Him! Please keep this time and these 2 brothers in your thoughts and ask God to have His way in them.

We love you so much and thanks for being a great support to us. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, but didn’t eat too much turkey. We
definitely ate too much pumpkin pie this year…..;)

So our 2 guy friends, Dahong and Mike, came over tonight to have us show them how to make mashed potatoes and gravy. They had come to our Turkey day party this Sunday and were so intrigued with the mashed potatoes and gravy, so we jumped at the opportunity to teach them American food and invited them over. We got to walk them through making mashed potatoes and let them do each step because they wanted to remember and share it with their families. It was so funny to watch the excitement they had in learning this simple dish. We were having such a blast hanging out with them, eating potatoes (so yummy) and teaching them uno. They have a huge sense of humor and had us cracking up the whole night.
Hoagie started asking them questions about the story we shared of Jesus at our turkey party and what they believed. Right away their eyes light up as if they were waiting for us to ask and so excited that we finally did. They each took a turn and explained to us why they wanted to believe, trust and follow God with their lives. We talked for a little while answering questions to make sure they really understood what He did for them and what it meant to follow Him. It was then that the HS completely took control and fell over all of us! I have never seen two guys so moved & touched by the HS that they were speechless as He moved in their hearts that no words could express. We took advantage of what God was doing and asked them just to pray about whatever they felt was in their heart that they wanted to say to Him. It was so precious as Hoagie and I just got to witness them talk to God for the first time, “Hey, God how are you doing?! I just want you to know I believe I really believe in you and know you took all my bad things away and give me joy to follow you!”  ”I want to know you more.” These were just some of the phrases I can remember that they spoke. GOD IS GOOD! He is calling His children back to himself.

The Lord is really being so faithful to lead us to the right people and pouring His HS over us! We have seen at least 6 people in the the city this last week come to Know God personally! Praise Him! There is nothing better or more exciting then seeing people come into relationship with Him.

It was such an awesome night. Will you commit in talking to God with us for Dahong and Mike? That He would continue to fill them with His spirit as they grow in who He is and share with boldness what He did for their friends and Family. They were so excited and wouldn’t have it any other way then to meet every week to praise God and learn more from the Bible to obey. Little did they know they just asked to start having church!!!

We love you all and so glad we have you to share everything God is doing! Hope you have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING! There is always SO much to be thankful for. What are you thankful for this year?

This has been an exciting week for us as well.  Hoagie started school on Tuesday from 8:30 to 12 four days a week. He is really loving it and diving right in not wasting any time. And I (Hero) have been settling us into our new apartment which is feeling more and more like home. It feels amazing to finally be settled and getting back on more of a routine. God gave us amazing place close to our people, a huge kitchen that I can cook for everyone and at an amazing price. And so far BUG FREE! This is a pure miracle from God and I am so blessed. He knows what we can and can not handle, right? This week I have also been on the hunt for a good, inexpensive, close by tutor for my schooling. So if you could be thinking of that and that God would con’t to provide in the language area.

We love working with this group of young people! They are so eager to get out and get what God has for this year, but yet so steadfast. “Not by power, nor by might, but by My spirit says the Lord.” They get it and are just so fun and precious. We have been super blessed by them as a whole and look forward to continue getting to know them.

We love you. Thanks for celebrating and being excited with us about all that God is doing. I can’t say it enough, without you it just wouldn’t be a reality.

It has been amazing to continue to get to know our team of new people that are with us this year. They have been diving into the language,the food and what life is like here. Whether it is dirty apartments, friendly insect visitors or eating strange food, they have bone at it with gusto knowing that Dad has called them here for this year.

They also have been hitting the campus and making friends like madmen already. Most of them have 5 or 6 friends that they have hung out with and even talked about Dad with. And the best news is that yesterday, one of our team members led someone into the family!!!! Dad is moving on peoples hearts here!! Leading up to this year, we have felt like our work will be more fruitful than it has been in the past. Would you be talking to Dad that He would continue to bring the right people to us?

We have something else exciting that is happening tomorrow. We are training them with the good news we need to be sharing with people; teaching them how to specifically share it so that once people come into the family, we can easily pass it on to them in order that they can immediately share it with people around them. We want to be giving the new believers the tools to participate in the great commission rightfrom the get go. We want them to not just be hearers but doers!

Hoagie and Hero

God was doing so much more in her heart during that time that we couldn’t see and now we know she is really all in and wants Jesus to invade her life. Please keep her in your thoughts as she begins this journey with God. She still has many fears about how God wants to use her in her family and friends life due to them not being excited that she believes in Him. But I know God has so much for her in His adventure with her:) Praise Him for my dear sister, Fiona, she has a special place in my heart.

Thanks for all your prayers and being apart of all of this! He’s got so much more.

It has definitely been an experience these past 5 days. Stories I’m going to remember for a long time have happen: like seeing 30,000 students camping out on a soccer and all around campus in tents and under tarps because they are to afraid to sleep in there dorms, watching every single store sell out of everything drinkable cause there was a rumor that there wasn’t going to be water on in the city for a week (turned out to be only a few hours), or waking up in the middle of the night when one of the hundreds of aftershocks gently shook my room.

Besides all the stories I have had a growing sense of sadness about everything that has happened. I remember a few years ago with the tsunami in Indonesia that although I felt sad it didn’t really affect me. But this kind of reminds me of Sept. 11. Even though I didn’t know anyone that was hurt it still hurt me and touched something inside of me that I didn’t know was there. That’s the way I feel when I see the pictures on the web of families weeping over their kids that all died less than 60 miles from where I sit right now. I realize that it’s not only there child but also everything that they stand for: hope, stability, a better life…. and all of this happened right outside of MY city.

Feeling this way I know that this has not only affected the families that live in the hills where the earthquakes have hit the worst but every single person that walks the street. As my time here comes to an end I realize that people’s hearts are opened. I feel like even though too many people are dead that good things always come out of bad situations. The good in this situation is that the seeds that have been planted or are going to be planted in the next week are going to hit a little nicer soil. People are always searching but when the questions of fear and death look them in the face they often look a little harder.

I know that God has let this all happen for a reason and because I know who He is I also know that He can turn any situation or person from death to life in a second. That is why I am excited to be here now. God is doing greater things then I can ever imagine and I am just happy that He let’s me be a part of it.

My 2 friends and i were praying that God would send us men and women of peace that would help us on these campuses. Like always, God is so faithful. 5 of the 6 campuses that we went to we found someone to show us around and tell us everything that we needed to know. And the only reason that we didn’t find anyone on the 6th campus was because there was a typhoon that had sent a downpour on the city for the afternoon, that sure was fun. Even better than finding out all that practical information God spoke to us at every stop. We usually spent about 1-1.5 hours praying for each campus in order that we would hear what God had to say about the place. We were constantly getting words from God about what were the spiritual strongholds on these campuses. God was also letting us know how spiritually open these places were. In one case we got to pray with a Christian as she waited for a bus and she told us how there was already a group that was meeting on one of the campuses. We heard so many encouraging things about these campuses and how God is working on every single one of them.

It is so awesome to see how God’s kingdom is always stretching farther into the earth. As i was walking and praying on one of the campuses, I felt like God told me to pray some of the psalms over the campus. As i was praying these they all were declaring the kingdom of God and His praises on the earth. We know that one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess, and it’s great to see the process of it happening.

Even more amazing than that though is all the work that God has been doing. Just this last week Al and I were able to sit down with three guys and teach them about what being dunked means. Two guys, Roy and Ksun, have been in the family for about five months and another guy Kevin had just came into the family two weeks before. It was great to walk them through what all the symbolism meant and what it meant for there live, how it was the next step in their Christian walk. They hooked onto the subject so well and were so excited to have it happen. My friend Ksun started the conversation “Yeah I have heard about it and wanted to do it but I’m not entirely sure what it was.” It was just so cool to see again how God is using us to help these guys along in there walk.

So Easter Sunday came along, (which I think it’s an awesome idea to do it on Easter cause it is even more of a connection of our sins going to the grave as we start our new lives as slaves to righteousness Rom. 6) and three guys were dunked and two girls. It was such a great time and to talk to them afterwards to hear how they felt. Words like new, excited and free were some of the words that they used. I have said it before and I’m sure that I’m going to say it again that it is so fulfilling to see how fast and much that these new family members are growing. I know that God is going to do amazing things through there lives that is going to extend for a lifetime after I leave this place. Thanks for all your support financially and in your prayers. I would never be able to do this without you.