Skip to main content

On my home before I go off again.

I’m sat on the train home from Grimerud. We’ve reached Kristiansand and so finally I’m sat facing the right way and can actually write a little blog update. It’s been a good week!

I led a couple of prayer times with a Human Trafficking focus, one focusing on the victims, the other on the perpetrators. It was so good to see people join with this heart which is also God’s heart and pray to see it ended and for God to break in. It also made me even more excited to do the 6 week seminar I’m starting end of next week because I expect to learn more!

The weekend was wonderfully calm. I went for walks in the snow (I did have the offer of skiing, but didn’t quite get to that point), and hung out with friends. I also took a few shifts in the prayer room as “doorkeeper” which is basically the one who is responsible and decides what is done in the prayer room in terms of if the prayer room webstream is on (and chooses what set if so) or puts on some music, or reads the Bible out loud. On Sunday it was just me so I put on an archive from the webstream with intercession for the ending of human trafficking in Juarez, Mexico. It was really good and I could lift up my prayers with them and be a part of what God desires to do in that city! It was a special feeling being the “doorkeeper” because I realized that I was the one keeping it going and that if I left then the 24/7 cycle that has been going since they started in September would be broken.

Then Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I got to share with the prayer room team from my journey and some of what I’ve learnt the past two years and a bit at IHOP-KC. They were so lovely and responsive, and even if I felt quite nervous standing in front of them at first, it was nice to have an opportunity to share my heart. I also loved seeing them take some of what I shared and put it into practice. What a wonderful team they are! I really have such respect for them. I mean at IHOP-KC I was one of a thousand staff sharing the 24/7 load, here they are a small team of maybe 20-25 total who are keeping the prayer room open and running non-stop.

So now I’m on my way home... I am looking forward to some good quality time with family this next week. It’s almost too soon to be leaving again next Thursday, but I don’t think they’d postpone the seminar so I can have a bit more time at home . It’s going to be good. Good to continue on the journey with God and good to see what Amsterdam is all about. And a few of my friends from IHOP-KC will be coming there in the weeks I’m there, which is also really lovely. The world isn’t that big at all!

Popular posts from this blog

Small moments that mean a lot

Walking home on the crunchy snow that lights up a December evening,  I felt so thankful. The revelation that fellowship and being together is the best gift you can give someone, and realising that although it might seem small, it can turn into something big when a person feels seen and valued.  Yesterday I helped out with a crafts workshop for a group of lovely women volunteering for Crux where I worked before (well, in all honesty: they were making angels while I ate Christmas cookies, Quality Street chocolate, and chatted). I love walking alongside people in conversation, and realise sharing life for 2 hours can last so much longer in value and experience.  This evening we had our Christmas dinner for volunteers and people who are part of my current job. It was a delightful evening with many nations gathered around the same table…. eating the same food… and for a few hours creating a small fellowship moment that will become a good memory for the future. Often in my job ...
Read more

Taking in the familiar and a heart connected.

Amsterdam. It still has that muggy feeling in Summer, and a constant flow of people which if you stop to think about it, it's quite amazing that there would even be space to accommodate them all. But then I guess they are not all staying. Just passing through on their way to or from somewhere. It's always good for the heart to visit somewhere that was once home. The familiarity of streets and customs makes it easier to embrace what might be new as well as the joy of being reacquainted with old friends. Friends. So many of them to be found in this city, ready with hugs and good words that are uttered when seeing someone who was away again. Friendship. A treasure that cannot be bought. Cobblestones trodden by many, including myself. Sitting on a bench. Praying. Remembering the first time I stumbled upon this area lined with windows with red lights and curtains. An area which has come to represent no longer windows, but people to me. Some still behind a window. Others who have ...
Read more

So what is new in Kansas City?

“Not much”, I think is the answer. Although, that’s not quite correct, I’ve had quite an adventurous weekend (in the mildest sense of the word). Let me see, where do I start? Well, Thursday when I last wrote was really good. I got to join with a team for a bit in the evening, which was really good fun and it lifted my spirits as I am totally a team person! The whole week had been quite tense because of adjustments with our household and people coming and going. On Saturday two of the girls I shared with were moving out and since Friday night they were packing, my other housemate and I went shopping. We figured it was easier to not get caught up in the chaos that packing to move houses is. It was fun to go shopping, even if we only went to Wall-Mart and HyVee (big grocery and other thing shops). We got a few bits and pieces for the house to make it more homely and generally just had fun looking at all the stuff they have. We’d decided that when the other girls had moved we’d do a big cl...
Read more