A beautiful world...

We live in an incredibly beautiful world!

Our purpose on this missions road trip is to enjoy Jesus, enjoy people and enjoy nature. We are doing our best. We are learning that we do not have to do anything, HE fills in the schedule. 

Things change  A LOT! BUT it is fun, it keeps us on our toes. We only often have the next 24 hours planned... we have some things next week tentatively planned but really ALL things are subject to change!

We left 2 days ago from DC area and drive to North Carolina. We spent the night in the smokey mountains. A beautiful drive and the mountains are so different then others I have seen but are incredible!! The people are amazing as well. We went out to dinner and everyone was so friendly and wanting to chat and here all about our journey so far. It was a great night of good laughs!!

In DC area we saw God show up in good ways. We had many opportunities to pray for people are still waiting to hear back from people about what exactly happened. The stories we do know is that we had the privilege of opening the doors for people to meet with God in very special ways and receive inner healing in pianful areas of there lives. 

Another highlight of our time there was going out on the streets and ministering to homeless people. We had a great time just connecting and building relationships as we shared about God's incredible love for them. We saw 6 people pray for the first time and we prayed for about 20 people altogether. 

Byes for now

Just keep driving...

We have been on the road for just over 2 weeks now. We have done over 6000km's of driving... with many more to go! We are in Washington DC at the moment, here we will be a week. It has been our longest stop and we are all looking forward to be in one place for a while. 

We have had an incredible time. So many special moments... whether it is seeing an animal for the first time like a squirrels or deer... or sharing with someone about God's heart for them. We have laughed with people and cried with them. It is only going to continue... that we know for sure! We have at least another month and a half on the road. 

A few highlights...

Montreal we met a man sharing about his property in France. He was sharing about how he wanted missionaries to come and use it. He looks at us and asks, do you want to come? We smile knowingly at each other and remember how God spoke a few months ago about a group going to France to minister... SURE we want to come! We wonder what God has in store for us there!

We drove for 4 days from Seattle to Montreal. We stopped at Lake Superior (one of the great lakes)  it was so fun to take a break from driving. We had a wonderful time there laughing with one another, being on the beach and playing on the children's play equipment!

While here in DC we will picking up our Russian team members. We are trusting that 4 of them will be joining us for the rest of the tour. Please keep them in your prayers as they finish the final preparations to come!

Byes for now

A Road Trip Mission Trip!

So... a few months back I was in a country with my team and we were praying about the upcoming year. We were praying as individulas about what God was speaking to us and also about what God was speaking to our whole group. He started talking about America!
America... we were all in a little bit of shock. None of us really wanted to go to America for a trip! It is not that we do not like America... but we w ould prefer climbing mountains in Nepal to visit that remote group of people. Or we love to play in the dirt with children in Africa and we love trying all the different foods in Asia! Basically we thought there were more exciting places to go... but we listened and started preparing.

WELL... the preparation part is over and we have started!
That is right... 2 days ago from Alberta Canada we headed out in my parents 15 passenger van and drove to Seattle, Washington. Here we are visiting friends and soon we will be heading out again (24 hours) and starting our longest drive to Quebec, Canada - a full 48 hours of driving!

WHY ARE WE HERE? That was a big question we had to tackle before we arrived here. We did not want to come just for the fun of it. We are not very good at doing the touristy thing... sure its fun for a little while but we get bored! We are here to listen and obey! We want to first and foremost be available to God so he can mess up our plans and turn them into his! We already have some fun stories about that are waiting for more!! (I'll share that story in a bit)
Second God has talked to us about being a blessing to people we meet old friends and new ones. We want to listen to, encourage and pray with those we meet along the way.
Thirdly, we want to share about the work we do in Russia. We want people to see some of the fruit and hear the testimonies of these people for they are is the result of many prayers for the Russian people (that is right, we are picking up some Russians on the East Coast, they will be joining us soon!)
We want to encourage others into action! IT does not mean you come to Russia but that you are going to where your mission field is, whether across the street, in your office, in Africa or somewhere else, we want you to be encouraged to go!

Thats all for now!

My list of countries is rising, that is cool... I have a competition with one friend and we have a good laugh over it!

BUT then I start thinking about those countries

India … those with HIV/AIDS that we served, who now - 6 yrs later, are probably dead.

Cambodia and the fight against poverty and keeping families from selling their children into slavery.

Mexico and the slave labour camps

Romania and the abandoned gypsy babies

to name a few...

I love my life. I love to travel. I love working on being obedient and being apart of God's plan for the nations in the little ways I can.

Sometimes it is a little overwhelming.

There is so much need around the world, so many opportunities and so many incredible people!

I feel like I am trapped in a corner and I yell to God “help please, I need to know what you are thinking! I need to know your purpose for me!”

Without knowing that I can be doing a lot of good things in a lot of amazing places but it would be worth nothing. Knowing Gods purpose and goals for me and my life... purpose in why I am going to a particular place...

Taking the time to get the why and when and for what can be challenging. We can get busy!! 
 Or we get apart of the picture and don't wait around for the whole... if he gives the whole...  because often though with God in the equation things do not go as neatly as I would like them too(most times they are much more exciting :)  )... Things can change last minute or He says “Go to Mozambique!” and I am just like WHAT?! That makes no sense... and He just laughs at me as I fumble over the reasoning in my small human brain... trying desperately to understand... then I give up and I just go with the peace and the small pieces I do know... knowing first and foremost that He is going with me. He is my helper! My job is to go!

Yura

I had only been in my new home for one week! I was in the city going to get my hair cut with some other people. We were early, so we first went out and enjoyed a Hamburger. As we were walking back... it was just starting to rain... we saw a man, crouching right in the middle of the sidewalk. We stopped and asked him if he needed help and he looked up with his blue eyes and said "yes!". We both took an arm and started walking toward the post office which is what he wanted. He was so very thankful and we kept sharing about God's love for him! We finished helping him after getting him some tea and went and got our hair cut. As we walked back toward the bus to go home we were surprised to see Yura sitting on the side of the wall. We went over and found out that things were not working out like he had hoped. So, we took him home! At the centre he got cleaned up and well fed for what we all thought would only be one night!
He had accepted Christ that day and two days later we had the privilege of baptizing him! He turned into a long term guest as worked hard to see him get into a hospital to get the medical attention he needed. He had cancer. He had been having treatment at a TB hospital but when they found out that he had cancer he was kicked out onto the streets. Yura was in a lot of pain for most of his stay with us. We often called the doctors to come. BUT Yura was also very sweet and gentle and we enjoyed having him around. We often prayed for his healing. He heard one testimony about God healing someone from cancer and it would build up his faith. He got better and better!! In the end though he was not able to eat. In order to find him better care and also because the school was finishing we contacted a near by home of Mercy (Mother Thersea home) so they could give him the long term care he needed. Not being able to eat and not being able to get the medical attention he needed, he got worse very quickly. About 6 of us just visited him there in the home the other day... and just yesterday did we get the call that he had passed on. We know that he is healthy and has no more pain with Jesus!