Peace. Rest. Chill. These are the words I hear over and over from God and my friends, regardless of the agenda for the day, or the lesson being taught. Why am I here? I ask God. He says, rest. And I say, Are you crazy?! You sent me here to do a job, to win some for the Kingdom!  I have so much to do!  I have to meet people, I have to know how to tell them about You, I have to lead a prayer meeting, I have to, I have to, I have to, I, I, I. Hmmmm…

So the other day me and my roomie, Xena, were out on campus. We were there with the rest of our group, Atlas, Enoch, and Dublin. We were prayer walking, asking God to give us many friends on campus. At this point, we had very few. We walked around for a while, and then Atlas started talking to a friend he’d known for a couple years. He was setting up drums near the cafeteria. We decided to walk around a little more and then come back. (Keep in mind that that morning, I had really decided to give this task to God. I started to trust Him with the whole thing, instead of depending on myself to make friends). So when we walked back to the cafeteria, there was a duo playing guitar and drums. They asked us to play!  Me and Dublin said sure, and we ended up playing the worship song, ‘Let it Rain,’ over the campus. That and another spontaneous tune.

And thats not all, friends. After we were done, me and Xena met two friends that we’ve been in contact with over the last couple weeks.  Not only did we get to effect the atmosphere of our campus with prayer and worship, we also made some new friends! God is good!

I guess the point to this story is that God really does do the work.  He set up the opportunities, and the connections.  He orchestrated everything, without me having to break a sweat! (Well, figuratively speaking. It was super hot that day ).

I think that through all this God is teaching me to trust Him more. With everything. With the mission, with the work, and with me. That last one is the most difficult, of course. He has already taken me through so much personal healing here, and growth, that I don’t think I’ll be the same person come May!

So I will continue  to focus on, and practice rest. And stepping aside to let God do the work. As I told a fellow worker, that way ‘He gets all the credit, and I get all His love.’ It’s a work in progress, but it certainly is worth it.

My friend decided, since he learned my English song, that we should learn his asian song. Which if I could somehow mind meld you into knowing how badly and poorly we pronounced and sang his song you would most likely want to throw on the catchiest most annoying power anthem you know, just to get us (butchering this beautiful sounding essence) out of your head.
When I pondered upon the humorous story, and got past laughing at “how the bad boy told me so.”  I realized that (here comes some major thought provoking statement) we don’t always get life, or our walk with God right, the first time, the 500th time or even the millionth time. We may all be messing up the lyrics of the song of life; but, God doesn’t look at what we do wrong or what we even do right. He looks at our hearts, he sees us as who we are going to be. We are going to be, the transformed by grace, people who run
with their God to light their world up with the 10 million candle power flashlight. We are all his kids. He is so proud of what we
do, even when we are messing songs up, or forgetting to read our bibles. He’s always there.

This was approximately my thought process at about 3am this morning, when, not having been shut off properly, our water faucet that fills our washing machine blasted water onto our apartment floor for who knows how long before our neighbor downstairs came to the rescue. I say it that way because I believe the Lord sent him at precisely the right time to save us from worse damage — AND he was the genius who thought of “bailing” the water out with our dust pan;) REALLY! The water had covered most of my bedroom floor and was inches from my computer power cord, as well as my roommate’s! We layed down clothes, towels, mopped, squiggied, whatever we could do for the next hour and a half until all the water was back where it should be. Our neighbor, who we hadn’t even met yet, exhibited a typical Asian helping hand and then left as quickly as he’d come. We were able to chit-chat with him a little bit, but the encounter reaffirmed to me how important it is that we learn this language. The L0rd has definitely put it on my heart to pour into these people all that I possibly can, and, as my Korean classmate told me a few days ago, “You need to do this in their language” – he even mentioned Hudson Taylor!

Learning the language is probably the hardest thing I have ever done. Our classes are intense, and all 5 of us feel like we are at the bottom and fighting for every word and character. It’s been a rocky ride here so far including registration for classes and VISA/residence permits, finding apts, getting fined by the police, sickness, business, discouragement, etc. But our L0rd Jesus is with us through it all, and has been speaking to me from Mark, about how we are the mustard seed that starts out the smallest of seeds, yet grows into something great and worthee to be compared to the Kingd0m! He is going to elevate us for His glory.

We are finally starting to settle in to a semblance of a routine here, and would really appreciate your prayers.

HIS love is strong in you!

Clive

 The first few days have been scavenger hunts, sending us into the city leaving us to survive till dinner time. I had to get a map of the city but I couldn’t read it. It was tough at first but a few days in and I have been learning the area very well. I’ve also got to see some pretty amazing sites.

The Food! The food is spicy, everything is spicy, I’ve already learned the spice they use in most cooking. Its called, “La Jiao”. Now everywhere I go, I say La Jiao, La Jiao! I fit right in, when ordering food.
This week I already have made 3 new friends and will be having lunch with them soon! I saw some guy doing bike tricks and jumping
on and off tables.  I went up to him and told him I love extreme stuff and I said I can do something cool, check this out! I started
breakdancing and that was it. Him and his friends loved it, one of his friends even knew classmates who breakdance and wants to link
me up with them. How crazy is that? Some kid from New York goes all the way to Asia and finds breakdancing!  Its only been 7 days and His plans move at a great pace. Im so grateful to be here!

Today I was finally able, after delays of trips home and final exams, to sit down with one of our friends who 3 weeks ago responded to the gospel at one of the Christmas parties we attended at a local fellowship. After a quick lunch of something similar to wonton soup, we walked down to the local mall and found a quite table in the food court.

At the Christmas party she had enthusiastically agreed to study the bible with me, but I was nervous that either her decision had not been genuine, or that time would weaken her resolve. I was delighted to hear her describe her new relationship with God.

“Many Asian believe in…. (Here was an extensive tangent to work out translating the belief she was trying to describe) the Buddha. But I never believe in this. I can be close to Yesu (their name for Jesus), but people who believe in Buddha cannot be close to him. I can talk to Yesu, and know about him from the Bible. People who tell the Buddha about their problems, he is not close to them. But Yesu is close to me and loves me.”

As she spoke the weight of her choice was evident on her face. She knows that she is choosing to be the ideological minority. But her heart is set.

She asked me, “What have you learned since you became a Christian?” After internally chuckling over the idea of summarizing all God has taught me, I shared some of the key truths that have changed my life. As she listened her face reflected her effort to understand both my words and their implication in her life. Then she said, “Maybe I should read the Bible more.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

God teaches me lessons twice too. One lesson that I’ve been relearning recently is the fact that when He is doing something I can’t really screw it up. This is a good thing!

Take the Christmas Party for example. I was worried. It was fast becoming a logistical nightmare. Up to 200 people. One 25ft. by 35ft. room. No sound system. A sketchy program schedule. It sounded like a recipe for disaster, and I could do nothing about it. It wasn’t my party to organize.

What I took for granted was that God’s grace was all over the day. Who cares if it was standing room only. Who cares if there were people scurrying around the stage during the program.

But I like to make a good impression. I wanted to wow all these college kids with our impressive program. Our excellence would make Jesus more appealing, right?

As it turns out Jesus didn’t need my help. Despite a crowded room and a distracted atmosphere, everyone had a blast! The college students were thrilled to be together and to learn about the real reason we celebrate Christmas. We laughed, did silly skits, sang songs, and talked about Jesus.

My Asian friend preached in his language and offered people the chance to accept the Lord. He had met Jesus in March 2005, about a week after I met him on the basketball court. Since then he has matured into a leader and powerful preacher. Listening to him share Jesus in his heart language with 150 college students brought tears to my eyes.

After he spoke we broke up into small groups and talked and prayed with one another. At least eight people made serious commitments to follow Jesus with their lives. Many others agreed to ask God to show himself to them in a personal way. There were hugs, and cheers, and glowing faces as our friends experienced the transforming power of Christ for the first time!

Since that unforgettable Saturday afternoon I’ve celebrated Christmas with the CT team, flown home to the United States, Stood in my friend Kevin’s wedding, Rang in the New Year with the small group I started last year, and am gearing up to do some final recruiting and vision casting for the 2007 Campus Target teams! Crazy, huh?

Love,

~ M

Prayer Bullets:

1. For 25-35 people to commit this month to come with CT in August 2007.
2. For local pastors to catch the vision and send us their young people.
3. For writing to begin on the new and improved CT handbook.
4. For us to hear from God on developing our in-country organizational structure.
5. For developing the right discipleship tools and techniques.
6. For me to be close to Jesus every day.

A couple times I was afraid Annie was getting too much info, but she kept asking to continue. I was so thankful for the lessons our mothers had taught us about the bodies our Maker has given us. We are all indeed “fearfully and wonderfully made!” (Ps.139)

Looking back on that night, it wasn’t the bio lesson itself that took me by surprise, but the depth of Annie’s desire to know more about our Lord’s plan for us. I felt like He had just placed into our hands the opportunity to “mother” her in an unexpected, precious way. I am amazed at the depths of her growth in such a short time!

Wasn’t it just about two weeks ago, Annie and I were sitting near one another with our eyes glued to the Book instead of making our way into the kitchen to bake cookies? She told me that she always wanted to do what she wanted to do even when she knew it was wrong. I opened up Romans 7 with her, and we lost track of time.

After curiously reading over some pages by herself, Annie turned and asked me, “What are God’s laws?” and “What happens to you if you break them?” I explained what I could to her. I could see the hunger in her eyes, and while I watched, I saw God simply drawing her. (And no one could have stopped it!) After explaining to her the incredible gift that God sent us in His Son, she wholeheartedly chose to follow Jesus. A choice I know she will never regret!

Annie is such a treasure. It was incredible to see her make that decision, but life does not change by the decision to follow Christ alone. It is the choices that follow it that lead to a life transformed. So lead on, Jesus! Please continue to transform my life and the lives of those around me.

Please pray for:

1. Annie as I begin to focus on discipling her.

2. Our friends who are also now a part of the family!!!

3. Our friends and others who do not yet have a relationship with Jesus.

4. Preparation of my heart and mind as I am getting ready to move to teach in a different province.

5. My decision over what to do next year.