Well, it’s been a while since last update and the week gone by has different things I want to write down so I don’t forget them, so here we go, a little “my diary” style update…
Friday 17th October- The edge of Hell
Friday evening I went with a friend on mine on the IHOP evangelistic outreach to the famous “Haunted Houses”. As far as I understood, this time of year (i.e. Halloween time) they set up haunted houses, like ghost houses, where people pay and ride through them and get scared (that’s it in a nutshell, and it’s good business too. Someone offered us tickets for 2 houses “a combo” for US$ 46!). One of the haunted houses is actually called “the edge of hell”, so what better place to go to talk to people the reality of heaven. It was quite hard to engage people in conversation. Not quite like Brazil I must say. But in spite of feeling like a fish out of water I did talk to a few people.
One was this homeless man I spotted (with my eyes that always notice street people, I guess it’s the heart God’s given me). I went and sat next to him on the hay bail (this really “interesting” and not necessarily very talented musically maybe band were doing a free whatever-you-want-to-call-it and hay bails were set out to serve as benches). When I told him I was from “the International House of Prayer” his response was so positive “they were the only ones who ever really helped us”, he said (IHOP-KC used to have a homeless ministry where they’d hand out food and clothes to the poor, but had to shut it down because of not being allowed to do it anymore). He proceeded to share a bit of his life with me. He’d given his life to Jesus last year and was really sick right now. That day he’d been to the doctors to get surgery in his legs, but they’d said his heart wasn’t strong enough to take surgery. “I was feeling really down”, he said. So we spoke a bit about hope, and about how that when this life ends, Heaven is our destination, and even if this life might be full of pain and hardship, in Heaven there is no pain and no tears. As our conversation ended I asked if I could pray for him and he said that of course I could. So I did. I prayed for healing and restoration of his life, that he would have that life in all its fullness Jesus came to give us. Then as I was about to leave I just felt the nudge to give him a hug, so I did. It was strange to hug this homeless man who probably hadn’t had a shower for a long time and whose life was very different from the other people in that place. But it felt like Jesus was reaching out to him and I remembered how when Jesus healed a leper, he didn’t just speak the words, he also touched him, knowing that the touch would heal something so much deeper then the mere physical sickness. It touched my heart to feel the heart of God for this man. I’ll probably never meet him again, but I pray that he can choose to walk into life with dignity.
Saturday 18th October- Spanish and horse therapy.
After meeting my friend and our ride (I am really having to get used to this getting lifts thing, it seems like it’s becoming a regular part of my life here) we drove off to this really old church where we joined with a group of people for Spanish class. Now, you might think it strange that I would learn Spanish since I already know Portuguese (or maybe like many people you get confused and thought I already knew Spanish, that’s ok, they are very similar), but for years now I’ve been wanting to learn Spanish, and now the opportunity was there. I had the time, there was a class happening, and best of all it is free.
It was great fun. I realise that I do know a lot already, but it’s the basic stuff of pronunciation and grammar that I need to get a hang of so that I can really make myself understood. It was a lovely gathering of people. The church are going on missions trips to South America, hence the initiative to learn Spanish. They are darling people (I suspect that’s a bit of an American expression- I’m almost learning a new language by picking up the Americanism too). One old man was so sweet. He’s 82 and a retired pastor, and still comes along to Spanish class. Bless him. I am excited to advance in my language skills, although I really do need a native speaker I can practise with.
After learning a bit of Spanish I was picked up by my good friend Leah (my housemate last time I was here) and we set off heading out of the city to a farm owned by some friends of hers, or rather their ministry. They used to head up the homeless ministry for IHOP-KC (which ministered to the man I met on Friday evening) and now God has led them to buy this farm where they want to be a refuge for orphans and widows. We drove for quite a while (which was great as we got to catch up), got a bit lost on the way, found a really nice old building to take photos of which we first thought was an old church, but might actually have been an old tomb…and eventually managed to arrive at the farm. It’s a lovely place! One of the things they do out of there at the moment is a ministry using horses for therapy, especially with women and children. We heard some stories of how interacting with horses has really healed deep wounds in children who have been abused. It really moved my heart. And as a side note, I was totally fine and didn’t get ill (I used to be very allergic to horses but got healed by God a year ago). Our time went far to quickly and we had to leave to get back for the EGS service and left before food even (so my quiche and my friends cupcakes were transferred onto some trays and we took our trays and left). Being quite famished we drove by McDonald’s and had the dollar menu (so burger, chips, and parfait for 3 dollars). I am no great fan of McDonald’s, but it was really tasty (probably because I was really hungry!).
Sunday 19th October- two times three deer.
Sunday was a lovely day. The weather was gorgeous, clear blue sky and quite warm. So, one of my housemates and I decided to head off on a walk. We walked to a park nearby called Shiloh and spent almost two hours just walking all the paths. It’s quite a small park really as if you sort of go the route it only takes 30 minutes, but it was so nice to just walk and talk and get some exercise, all at the same time. We saw some really weird fruit things on the ground which are round and green and look like a brain. Apparently they’re called “uglies”, and they were quite ugly. And we saw deer! At one point we were walking in kind of a tunnel made of trees and suddenly we see three deer on the path in front of us. They just stood there and we walked slowly close to them. I wish I’d had a camera because it was beautiful. Then as suddenly as they had appeared they went back into the bushes. A little later on we were walking next to a piece of lawn and three deer leapt across it. Beautiful animals.
When we got home after our walk we went and got hot chocolate and marshmallows which we enjoyed sitting on the porch.
Wednesday 22nd October- getting connected.
A very bonding day. I had brunch with Maria and Keera which was great! It’s so nice to just hang out with lovely people. I am so grateful for the friends God has given me here!
In the evening I went to home group. They have just started up a home group here with a focus on the area of human trafficking and I went. I didn’t know what to expect, but what I found was a group of people with huge hearts and amazing stories of how God has moved their hearts with His heart for this issue. It was so good to connect with them and I look forward to continuing to walk with them as we cry out for God’s justice in this area!
Thursday 23rd October- a tough day
Thursday I had a bad day. Everything just totally got to and I felt totally overwhelmed and just completely lost. As I went to bed at night I cried myself to sleep…missing Norway, Brazil, anything familiar. I think it was a Big wave of culture shock that came crashing in. I felt so totally helpless- not having a car here is really hard, although there are plenty of people who are very happy to help give me lifts to things. What got to me was just the weariness of always having to ask people for help and not being able to just head out and sort out little things like buying a stamp. I was wanting to give up. I was saying to God that I’d had enough that it was too hard. Good job it was the end of the day. And good job that God is God and that He is good and patient and doesn’t always agree with me and do what I feel like. It was good when I managed to fall asleep.
Friday 24th October- a better day
I woke up with swollen eyes from having fallen asleep crying, but it promised to become a better day. I set off to the prayer room at 6 am. Then decided to go to the “Women in the Prophetic” conference. It was great. This amazing woman of God called Julie Meyer spoke and spoke about being like Esther and being called for “such a time as this”. It was a very uplifting and encouraging word! Then I met up with my friend Maria and we went out to sort out different things I needed to sort out. It’s great to hang out with her and her wee son.
Then in the afternoon I went to a seminar on “Mary of Bethany”. Amazing! A real message of intimacy with Jesus, and how Mary had chosen “the one thing that is necessary”. I was really inspired and just encouraged that even if getting things organised here takes a while, it’s ok. Ok because it means I can really make sure I am rooted and grounded in the most important thing which is to love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength.
Sunday 25th October- day of relaxing
So then we get to today. (Yesterday I did Spanish class and then the conference, which were both great!) This morning I got up at 6:30 am to go for a walk. “Why?” you might ask, and I did ask myself the same question when I got out of bed, but I’d arranged with my housemate that we’d go for a walk before church and so 6:30 am seemed a good time to do so (don’t ask me about the logic in it as I don’t know that there is any logic to it). It was actually very refreshing to walk for 45 minutes while it was still dark, getting lighter, and start the day having given my body some much needed exercise. Church was very good, and then after chatting on Skype for a while I went to have dinner with some friends at one of my friend’s place. It was so lovely and encouraging. I am so blessed to be allowed to be in a place where I can not only spend hours with God on a daily basis, but also have fellowship with people who are seeking after God with their whole hearts.
Friday 17th October- The edge of Hell
Friday evening I went with a friend on mine on the IHOP evangelistic outreach to the famous “Haunted Houses”. As far as I understood, this time of year (i.e. Halloween time) they set up haunted houses, like ghost houses, where people pay and ride through them and get scared (that’s it in a nutshell, and it’s good business too. Someone offered us tickets for 2 houses “a combo” for US$ 46!). One of the haunted houses is actually called “the edge of hell”, so what better place to go to talk to people the reality of heaven. It was quite hard to engage people in conversation. Not quite like Brazil I must say. But in spite of feeling like a fish out of water I did talk to a few people.
One was this homeless man I spotted (with my eyes that always notice street people, I guess it’s the heart God’s given me). I went and sat next to him on the hay bail (this really “interesting” and not necessarily very talented musically maybe band were doing a free whatever-you-want-to-call-it and hay bails were set out to serve as benches). When I told him I was from “the International House of Prayer” his response was so positive “they were the only ones who ever really helped us”, he said (IHOP-KC used to have a homeless ministry where they’d hand out food and clothes to the poor, but had to shut it down because of not being allowed to do it anymore). He proceeded to share a bit of his life with me. He’d given his life to Jesus last year and was really sick right now. That day he’d been to the doctors to get surgery in his legs, but they’d said his heart wasn’t strong enough to take surgery. “I was feeling really down”, he said. So we spoke a bit about hope, and about how that when this life ends, Heaven is our destination, and even if this life might be full of pain and hardship, in Heaven there is no pain and no tears. As our conversation ended I asked if I could pray for him and he said that of course I could. So I did. I prayed for healing and restoration of his life, that he would have that life in all its fullness Jesus came to give us. Then as I was about to leave I just felt the nudge to give him a hug, so I did. It was strange to hug this homeless man who probably hadn’t had a shower for a long time and whose life was very different from the other people in that place. But it felt like Jesus was reaching out to him and I remembered how when Jesus healed a leper, he didn’t just speak the words, he also touched him, knowing that the touch would heal something so much deeper then the mere physical sickness. It touched my heart to feel the heart of God for this man. I’ll probably never meet him again, but I pray that he can choose to walk into life with dignity.
Saturday 18th October- Spanish and horse therapy.
After meeting my friend and our ride (I am really having to get used to this getting lifts thing, it seems like it’s becoming a regular part of my life here) we drove off to this really old church where we joined with a group of people for Spanish class. Now, you might think it strange that I would learn Spanish since I already know Portuguese (or maybe like many people you get confused and thought I already knew Spanish, that’s ok, they are very similar), but for years now I’ve been wanting to learn Spanish, and now the opportunity was there. I had the time, there was a class happening, and best of all it is free.
It was great fun. I realise that I do know a lot already, but it’s the basic stuff of pronunciation and grammar that I need to get a hang of so that I can really make myself understood. It was a lovely gathering of people. The church are going on missions trips to South America, hence the initiative to learn Spanish. They are darling people (I suspect that’s a bit of an American expression- I’m almost learning a new language by picking up the Americanism too). One old man was so sweet. He’s 82 and a retired pastor, and still comes along to Spanish class. Bless him. I am excited to advance in my language skills, although I really do need a native speaker I can practise with.
After learning a bit of Spanish I was picked up by my good friend Leah (my housemate last time I was here) and we set off heading out of the city to a farm owned by some friends of hers, or rather their ministry. They used to head up the homeless ministry for IHOP-KC (which ministered to the man I met on Friday evening) and now God has led them to buy this farm where they want to be a refuge for orphans and widows. We drove for quite a while (which was great as we got to catch up), got a bit lost on the way, found a really nice old building to take photos of which we first thought was an old church, but might actually have been an old tomb…and eventually managed to arrive at the farm. It’s a lovely place! One of the things they do out of there at the moment is a ministry using horses for therapy, especially with women and children. We heard some stories of how interacting with horses has really healed deep wounds in children who have been abused. It really moved my heart. And as a side note, I was totally fine and didn’t get ill (I used to be very allergic to horses but got healed by God a year ago). Our time went far to quickly and we had to leave to get back for the EGS service and left before food even (so my quiche and my friends cupcakes were transferred onto some trays and we took our trays and left). Being quite famished we drove by McDonald’s and had the dollar menu (so burger, chips, and parfait for 3 dollars). I am no great fan of McDonald’s, but it was really tasty (probably because I was really hungry!).
Sunday 19th October- two times three deer.
Sunday was a lovely day. The weather was gorgeous, clear blue sky and quite warm. So, one of my housemates and I decided to head off on a walk. We walked to a park nearby called Shiloh and spent almost two hours just walking all the paths. It’s quite a small park really as if you sort of go the route it only takes 30 minutes, but it was so nice to just walk and talk and get some exercise, all at the same time. We saw some really weird fruit things on the ground which are round and green and look like a brain. Apparently they’re called “uglies”, and they were quite ugly. And we saw deer! At one point we were walking in kind of a tunnel made of trees and suddenly we see three deer on the path in front of us. They just stood there and we walked slowly close to them. I wish I’d had a camera because it was beautiful. Then as suddenly as they had appeared they went back into the bushes. A little later on we were walking next to a piece of lawn and three deer leapt across it. Beautiful animals.
When we got home after our walk we went and got hot chocolate and marshmallows which we enjoyed sitting on the porch.
Wednesday 22nd October- getting connected.
A very bonding day. I had brunch with Maria and Keera which was great! It’s so nice to just hang out with lovely people. I am so grateful for the friends God has given me here!
In the evening I went to home group. They have just started up a home group here with a focus on the area of human trafficking and I went. I didn’t know what to expect, but what I found was a group of people with huge hearts and amazing stories of how God has moved their hearts with His heart for this issue. It was so good to connect with them and I look forward to continuing to walk with them as we cry out for God’s justice in this area!
Thursday 23rd October- a tough day
Thursday I had a bad day. Everything just totally got to and I felt totally overwhelmed and just completely lost. As I went to bed at night I cried myself to sleep…missing Norway, Brazil, anything familiar. I think it was a Big wave of culture shock that came crashing in. I felt so totally helpless- not having a car here is really hard, although there are plenty of people who are very happy to help give me lifts to things. What got to me was just the weariness of always having to ask people for help and not being able to just head out and sort out little things like buying a stamp. I was wanting to give up. I was saying to God that I’d had enough that it was too hard. Good job it was the end of the day. And good job that God is God and that He is good and patient and doesn’t always agree with me and do what I feel like. It was good when I managed to fall asleep.
Friday 24th October- a better day
I woke up with swollen eyes from having fallen asleep crying, but it promised to become a better day. I set off to the prayer room at 6 am. Then decided to go to the “Women in the Prophetic” conference. It was great. This amazing woman of God called Julie Meyer spoke and spoke about being like Esther and being called for “such a time as this”. It was a very uplifting and encouraging word! Then I met up with my friend Maria and we went out to sort out different things I needed to sort out. It’s great to hang out with her and her wee son.
Then in the afternoon I went to a seminar on “Mary of Bethany”. Amazing! A real message of intimacy with Jesus, and how Mary had chosen “the one thing that is necessary”. I was really inspired and just encouraged that even if getting things organised here takes a while, it’s ok. Ok because it means I can really make sure I am rooted and grounded in the most important thing which is to love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength.
Sunday 25th October- day of relaxing
So then we get to today. (Yesterday I did Spanish class and then the conference, which were both great!) This morning I got up at 6:30 am to go for a walk. “Why?” you might ask, and I did ask myself the same question when I got out of bed, but I’d arranged with my housemate that we’d go for a walk before church and so 6:30 am seemed a good time to do so (don’t ask me about the logic in it as I don’t know that there is any logic to it). It was actually very refreshing to walk for 45 minutes while it was still dark, getting lighter, and start the day having given my body some much needed exercise. Church was very good, and then after chatting on Skype for a while I went to have dinner with some friends at one of my friend’s place. It was so lovely and encouraging. I am so blessed to be allowed to be in a place where I can not only spend hours with God on a daily basis, but also have fellowship with people who are seeking after God with their whole hearts.
So there you go: my week in a few (or a bit more then a few) words. Now I’m going to make a plan for my time for this week, so hopefully I should be writing some more snippets for my blog from the prayer room in the course of the week.