Well, welcome to 2010! I know, delayed entry, but still... I AM happy that 2010 is here!
2010 has so many promises of hope and blessing. This is a great year and the Lord has ALREADY done so much! 2010 is a year of double portion (2) and righteousness (10)!! How exciting is that?
Coming into this year, I was challenged by some local friends/missionaries to ask God for some goals for 2010. I'm NOT a "resolution" maker, but I can set goals. Especially when it means setting goals with a LIMITLESS God! Every goal that passed through my mind or I jotted down didn't seem big enough. I felt like they were good starting points, as if the Holy Spirit were to say, "okay, yeah, that's a good topic that I LOVE, but let's get a bigger goal for it, okay?" Uhh... *gulp* SURE THING!!
I'm not intending to share my goals with you, yet. Not all of them, anyway. A basic goal is communication. 2010 is going to be a year of communication changes.
I've been spending more time communicating with my loved ones in the last weeks, than I have in the last year and a half. I think my loved ones appreciate it as I've been keeping up with it pretty well, so far. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. On one hand, it does a great deal of good to talk with my family and friends, but the more I talk to them, the more I miss them. So, I think I'd rather just be "out of sight, out of mind" than reminding myself over and over again that I just don't know when I will be in America next. It truly has been refreshing to share life so regularly with you all again. Be patient with me, as you await your time for my phone call. I'll get around to you, eventually. ;-)
Right now, I've been hittin' the books big time. A quick review- I am here on a Student Visa and through the University, all Non-native German Speakers are required to pass a proficiency exam (similar to TOEFL) within the first 3 semesters of study. During my last 3 semesters, I've been enrolled in an intensive German language course. I will be taking this proficiency exam beginning on Feb. 1st. Provided I pass the first portion (written), I will then go on to take the oral exam a week later. My future in the Austrian University system is riding on this exam, which means my current and future visas are riding on this exam, as well as my insurance. I have to say, in personal evaluation, I have grown exponentially in my German skills. I went from a few cute phrases at the beginning, to being able to understand nearly everything and to be able to respond in German. I cannot watch everything, but I can watch a handful of movies in German, and I am able to translate decently between the two languages for conversations. My recent translation challenges have, indeed, been challenging- translating entire church services into English. My goal is NOT to be able to translate, but translating does mark a certain skill level. The day I can translate an entire service into German will be worth celebrating! I'll let you know when the day comes. Again, in self-reflection, I am proud of myself and am grateful that the Lord has helped me adopt the language so well in such a short amount of time. This exam next week is a bit more particular than speaking with friends and teenagers, so we'll see how it goes. My confidence isn't necessarily building as I study, but my courage is. It will be good to have this exam over with and be able to move on.
WHAT will I move on to? I'm not sure yet. I am looking into some different course options that are potentially transferable back to an American University. In other words, I plan to take some classes that are effective toward my intended Masters Program. Which, I am not at this time disclosing publicly. But, I bet that some of you could probably guess!! Yeah, guess- go for it; this will be a fun game!!
What's going on within ministry? SO MUCH! Every time I turn around, the Lord is doing another great work. I am constantly overtaken by His ability to Love something... someone... to redemption. It's all about relationship.
My interactions in Graz are most consistently with the other international students at my school. I LOVE these people. I love that the one thing we have in common is that we are all foreigners here. I've had the awesome blessing of sharing the Gospel with a number of my classmates throughout the last 3 semesters.
One in particular, from China, borrowed my copy of Brother Yun's, "The Heavenly Man." This classmate saw me reading it in the hallway while I was waiting for our class to begin. He asked me what it was about and I explained that it is the testimony of a Chinese man who loves Jesus. My classmate was perplexed by even the idea o a Chinese many loving Jesus, so he asked if he could borrow the book. UH! YEAH! A couple weeks later, he returned the book and asked how much of it is true. I was able to explain to him that the entire story is true and that God really is just that worth loving. He didn't really want to hear much more, but he was touched deeply by the devotion. I've not given up on this classmate.
Another girl cannot believe that I am a Christian. When we first met, I still wore my eye brow piercing and she could see the tattoo on my foot. One afternoon, we went for lunch together with a couple of others. When I ordered a beer, she was in even more shock. She asked me, almost every day for the entire first semester, "Are you SURE you're a Christian?" In time, she grew to trust me and began to share her needs, very real needs, with me. It used to be that she would tell me AFTER a major circumstance went poorly in her life. Now, she tells me BEFORE the circumstance has time to play out, because she knows that I will pray for her and that my God will respond. Seeing the Lord's faithful touch in her life assures me that He is faithful to my life, as well. She brings me to tears on a regular basis. She hasn't chosen the Truth for herself, yet, but I've also not given up on her.
As I said, the absolute most obvious factor that my classmates and I have in common is that we are all foreign to this place. Grasping the notion that I am an alien to this world, this is a wide open door for me to share with my classmates. Some of them think I am crazy, and I am a little bit, but they all have grown to like and trust me. This isn't because of me, but because of the Spirit I can share with them. These are people coming from strong religious backgrounds- some Muslim, some Hindu, some Catholic, and some very much involved in new age esoteric beliefs. They all, however, have seen God... my God... respond in love and grace in my life. I've been asked where my energy and life comes from... they wonder why I have courage and enthusiasm even in the worst of days. They ask me how I dare to smile when everything around me tells me I shouldn't.
It's a testimony of who the I AM is and what it means to know that I am I AM's. The Kingdom in me is life altering. The Spirit gives without measure. God is Love, Life, and Truth.
What more do I need in order to change a city? Love smothered faith and obedience.
And THAT is why I have enormous goals for 2010.
Mark 12:29-31 (New King James)
29 Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. 30 And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’This is the first commandment. 31 And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Those were only two small glances into what's happening here. Revival IS coming to Austria! Kids are being healed and coming to know Jesus. Hearts and homes are being restored. It's not an easy endeavor for us, but it is an easy pleasure for God, who is doing it! More testimonies will come.
The Exousia worship CD is well underway. We've still got some tracking work to do and within a few weeks, everything will be sent off to be mastered and produced. I'm very pleased with how the project is working out at this point. A great purpose of this CD is to get more German worship music out there. Everything on the CD is original and is about 60:40, German:English. I'll let you know as soon as it is available.
There are also some big events/meetings mixed in with the normal stuff coming up in the next 2 months.
Here's a run down for you...please be praying!
February- (technically a month off)
1 & 8: Proficiency Exams
12: Vinex meeting
19-22: Worship Rehearsal for Balkan Women's Conference
March-
5: Vinex Meeting
9-15: Women's Conference in Sarajevo
18-21: Blast Advanced School with the topic of Worship
26-28: Youth Retreat- Vinex + Up with Bryan Leach and other LCMI guests (www.lcmi.org)
