Purple Royal Flip-Flops

Today was one of my best days ever. Well actually, it was just one of those days that had so many special moments...

It started out at 6am as I pressed the snooze alarm many times, finally getting out of bed about 20 mins before I had to leave... As I was pressing the snooze alarm I could hear Christina, our cleaning lady coming in the door and greeting my room mate in makua, the local tribal language 

(side note- my room mate is one of the most incredible women in the world. She truly and genuinely loves the makuan community who we are privileged to live and do life with, and not only does she love them but she is crazy amazing and gifted at picking up the language... Honestly she can have whole conversations in makua when most of us are still trying to improve our Portuguese. She's even starting to write new worship songs in makua (because translating some of the songs that already exist just don't even work with all the syllables that can be in even just one word!) my room mate is amazing. Side note ended).

So, we walked out the door at about quarter past seven along with a couple of other friends on my base. One, an American who did the harvest school in October 2011 and has come to teach preschool and art lessons. The other, a Mozambican friend from Maputo who is a teacher in the bible school and also a worship leader here in Pemba. The 20 min walk by the ocean was interrupted by rain and all the Moz bible students walking near us started running for the other base! We broke out in "let it rain" in Portuguese, then as it started to get heavier changed it to "espera! Espera deis minutos por favor! Espera Señor!" (wait! Wait 10 minutes please! Wait lord!" God slowed down the rain enough so that we didn't get soaked and the dirt didn't turn to full on mud, yet. 

I was aiming to get to the prayer house early for our 8am set with the Iris older girls. Someone else had already opened it up as some boys had one of the prayer room guitars and was playing it outside. A couple of older Iris girls were also in the prayer hut early reading their bibles and journaling, along with some mission school students visiting from around the world. It was so precious to see them really wanting to read His word and know His love... I decided that even though it was supposed to be a time for the older girls, I couldn't just close the door to the iris boys who were hanging around! So after hanging out with them for a few minutes, we all went inside the prayer house to worship and seek His face together. I was originally supposed to be teaching on some principles to worship, but we ended up just praying and worshipping, passing the lead to each other... Today was one of the most flowing, amazing prayer times I've been in with the kids yet... The kids would just break out in spontaneous prayer and songs as myself and an iris boy played the guitar. They were passionate, they were genuine, and it blessed my heart so incredibly... It is on my heart to start spending more time with them even outside the prayer house, training them a bit more in music and learning more Portuguese!

All of this was before 9am... I could go on about all the amazing stuff that happened, but will condense it for you. 

Myself and the other missionary who was there then cleaned out the prayers house completely, taking everything out and sweeping, mopping... (this of course drew a small crowd of children- some iris kids and some village kids, who promptly proceeded to grab the guitars and strum chords that aren't in existence, and when they started to get a bit rowdy and we started to ask them to be a bit more careful, one of my village friends (Fogas) proceeded to promptly grab a broom and sweep everything in sight to help us, and the other one grabbed a baby wipe we had used to wipe the whiteboard, and used it to wipe everything in sight! The keyboard, my guitar case, everything! Once all was done and dried and locked away, Fogas asked to try on my flip flops and I would try on his. Then he said that I can borrow his til tomorrow! He insisted that we do this as he leapt in the air and laughed with my (slightly too small) brown $2 Walmart over-a-year-old worn-almost-every-day-in-15-different-countries-moulded-to-fit-even-my-toes-and-worn-almost-all-the-way-through flip flops on his feet... I looked down at his definitely-too-large-purple-flip-flops-with-pretty-flowers-on-them that felt like thick mattresses after wearing mine... And worried about him walking on the road and feeling every bump and getting thorns stuck in his feet... And worried that mine might break while he was borrowing them and then he might feel bad! I asked if he was sure? "Yes!!! Amanya!Amanya! (tomorrow, tomorrow)" well... Okay then!

So for the rest of the day, while working on organising practical missions for the harvest school; tutoring my friends fun, energetic 5year old and attending a baby shower for the base director with most of the female part of our base staff family... I would randomly look down and notice my friends purple flowery too large flip flops adorning my feet... And I would laugh. At the personality of my friend Fogas that he would convince me to swop for a day. At the fact that a teenage boy has purple flowery flip flops (TIA- this is Africa!). And my heart would get slightly melted at the thought that he would wear my almost broken, brown so worn flip flops and God would decide to have me wear purple (color of royalty! and my fav colour) flowery (makes me feel special!) flip flops that belong to a village boy who is from a very poor village family... Our God is so upside down... I love Him so much!

Now it is 1am and I am typing this from the safety of my mosquito net, with the familiar sounds of barraca (streetside shops) music coming through my glass less windows... (which I am so thankful for as it keeps the houses so much cooler!) I can feel each of the slats through my mattress, and frequently sink down in places where the slats have shifted all to one side or the slats themselves are just not flat! But I have a bed and I have a pillow. I have freshly washed sheets and a net and an amazing roommate. I have a family here in Pemba who loves to do life together, not just work. And I have my village friend's purple flowery flip flops to remind me who I am. Loved. Royalty. Trusted (enough to borrow his flip flops!). Most of all they remind me of my God who is the one who loves to give me these precious moments!

Love to you all, and thank you for sharing in some moments from one of the days from my life here in Mozambique!

A New Season...

Last time I wrote I talked just a little about outreach. We went to a place in South East Asia where a local family in partnership with an Iris graduate from Tennessee has been rescuing children from slavery in the granite mines. We stayed with our friend who is about 26 years old. He lives in and runs one children’s home – the kids there are not from the mines but are from other circumstances. There were meant to be 60 children in the home, but by the time we got there, there were over a hundred and by the time we left it had increased to almost 200! This was in part because while we were there, they had to close down one of their other homes so they had to move those children into the house. Also while we were there a few local Mums came and dropped their children off to the home, as they had AIDS and had only a couple of days left to live… Our friend who runs the home is from a family who has been pastors for a few generations now. His Dad runs another home, his Mum another home for older teenage girls and his sister yet another home!

We were the first team that they had ever had visit, they had only ever had maybe 3 or 4 different westerners come at different times before. So it was very much a spearheading team and we went mainly to love, to go low and to go slow! It was such a privilege to be a part of the very first team they had ever had :) We all immediately fell in love with the kids. Although there are sooo many children living in the home and what seems like only a few adults, they all are full of joy and and laughter! They all mainly sleep on the roof, on blankets on the concrete, two or three children to a blanket so they are literally shoulder to shoulder.

You can find out more at www.mercy29.org and on the mercy29 user channel on youtube.

"Rest Time"

God gave me an awesome gift in getting to visit the family in Nepal that I got to know last year with Jesse and Tanya! Myself and the other team leader arrived there and realised that we only had about 10 days before we arrived back in Pemba and were full on into the middle of a hectic schedule again! So we made sure that we stayed home a lot, just mainly hanging out with the family, going to Jordan (15 yr olds)’s basketball games and watching Step up with their youngest daughters :) We were so blessed by our time in Nepal..!

Passports and Visas

My passport is now completely full!! No blank pages left!! I got to apply for a new one while in Joberg, and now have to juggle how I’m going to get it sent up here, and also get my current one cancelled and back up to me in Pemba. When the courier system isn’t reliable and the postal system even less so, it requires God to do a few miracles to get things like that done! Also the Moz embassy only gives out 30 day renewable visas, so I have to juggle getting that renewed every 30 days (probably by getting someone to take it out of the country to Tanzania a couple of times) as well as sending it down to Joberg or Maputo… My last passport page is taken up by my visa to Zimbabwe which was used for one day while driving through from South Africa to Mozambique... SUCH a fun experience and it felt like a birthday present from God :) We had a flat tyre on the first day and had to get it fixed the next, which took up a lot of time but GOD still happened and we got to Moz in record time! We stayed the first night in Zimbabwe at some lodge, and the second night in the front yard of a couple missionaries who used to live in this house on the main road, and it's still guarded but they have moved to be involved on another base in Moz. So the house was all locked but we got to park and set up camp in their front yard, and use their latrines :) :) They actually had had a couple armed robberies while living there but we were totally fine the whole night and next morning! 

A New Season

Today I moved house - from the Village of Joy - where the student compound is, to the Glory Base!! I have transitioned from being a Harvest School staff member into being Base staff, up until December.

I will still be co-ordinating Practical Missions and am still taking care of the general emails for the school, however my main focus will now be my involvement with the House of Prayer here on the base. I am also going to be involved in training up some of the Iris kids into the House of Prayer. My heart is to see the kids trained up not just in music, but in worship. Today I had my first HOP session with a couple of other missionaries here and two of the older Iris girls who live in the children's home. It was meant to be a set from 8-9am. However we actually started around 20 minutes late and then when I left at about 10:15 they were still going! God really showed up and you could feel his presence so strong...

I am also going to be very involved with helping with some of the missionary kids. Their Mum is due REALLY really soon to have their 4th child. So I'll be helping out with the first 3 children (mostly tutoring, and some hanging out, maybe teaching music) and also tutoring/babysitting another 5yr old daughter of another missionary (who I worked with on my visit in 2011!).

In December I am also still going to be leading the Harvest School outreach team to Uganda and Sudan. So far my team is a group of 9 from the UK, Canada, the USA and New Zealand plus myself (Australia!). It will be Christmas in Sudan with the least of these!! 

PRAYER points:

- Intimacy with Jesus. Knowing who I am as Daddy's girl!! 

- Health and strength for my body - today especially was so hot and hopefully not an indication of the next few months! Sudan I know will be even hotter! Yay! So, my body has to adjust in Jesus' Name!

- Provision - for the rest of my time here, and also for Uganda/Sudan and beyond...

- That I would recognise which Iris kids the Holy Spirit would be highlighting for me to train up a bit more in music/worship/intercession

- Relationships with other missionaries on the base!

- That myself and the kids would bond well and have well established boundaries and relationship.

- Keep my eyes, time and strength focused on HOLY SPIRIT's plan for the HOP times and every bit of my time here!

- Good sleep!

- That the Uganda/Sudan outreach team will be fully prepared and ready in their hearts for this outreach! Unity and honour being key!

- More intercessors for myself to be raised up. We as missionaries are on the frontlines here of a war zone here and I know that you hear us say that, but it is so true and there is a lot - not just physical, that we have to deal with.

- Provision of more instruments for the kids to learn/worship on! Even for after I am gone.

Lots and lots of love to you!!!

Serena xoxoxoxox

Paypal: Go to www.paypal.com and click on "Personal", "Send money internationally". Fill out all your details. My email address registered with paypal is serenaxh @ gmail.com (without the spaces)

Bom Dia!!

Couldn't sleep last night til past midnight... Got woken up just after 6 by someone sweeping?? (sweeping the dirt?!?) outside my window this morning... and now am on my computer trying to get some things sorted... After finding myself stuck in not being able to get a certain situation moving forward, I was sitting in what I call my "office" (an open front porch haha which gets VERY windy at times, next to the big baobab tree with views to the family houses (kids playing!) and the clinic) feeling almost like giving up when I hear: "Bom Dia!! (good morning!) Bom Dia!! Bom dia bom dia!!! One of our Mozambican gardeners comes running up to me and holds out his hands to grab mine - hand shaking is a greeting that happens pretty much every time you see someone here. So I grab his hands, and find something pushed into mine - I look down and it's an orange flavoured "Bobo Pop"! (lollipop/sucker). He bounds off up the dirt pathway chuckling and I find myself immediately beaming and so happy that Daddy God just gave me a lollipop - and from a mozambican brother obviously overflowing with JOY! - haha!! He SO knew how to cheer me up! I love you so much God :) :) :)

Thoughts

Dear Friends,

Just felt to share some thoughts which have been stirring in me from recent events in the past week... and then were provoked into verbalisation from a question yesterday :)

I just had someone come up to me and ask where I'm from. I said,
"Well, originally Australia." :)
This person said,
"What about now?"
I said,
"Everywhere." :)  I then proceeded to explain in a very small nutshell where I've been in the last year or so. This person then said, "Well, that's nice! I'd love to do that! How did that work practically? I would like to do that. I love to travel!" 

Well. How DOES that happen? (my heart screaming inside of me: it's NOT ABOUT TRAVEL!! IT'S ABOUT THE FATHER'S HEARTBEAT!!!)

You cannot plan this kind of adventure. The best adventures are not planned but are rather, fallen into. Or in this case, the best adventures come out of leaning into the Father's heartbeat. They come from desiring His presence, seeking His face.  

Why are you seeking His face? Because you want Him. No other reason. You want to know Him. To know Who He is. Why He is. You desire His heart. His fire. His glory. None other. 

Then He gives you a dream, or a directive. Whichever it is, or whether it's both. He gives it to you. This might be in a moment. It might be in a year. It might be over a number of years. It might be for -- NOW. It might be for the next season. It might be for a few seasons time... Whichever it is, the adventures comes out of the obedience. We seek His heart and His face, and we get consumed by His Holy Fire. By His radical love. 

The radical love and obedience of the Son to a Holy and All Consuming Fiery Loving Father,
The obedience of this Son to suffering and death resulted in our Freedom and His Joy. 

It resulted in our freedom to become Sons and Daughters to that same, Holy, All Consuming Fiery Loving Father... it resulted in our enablement (grace: the empowerment and enablement of God) to become obedient to that Loving Father who desires that ALL men be saved, not just one. Who desires that ALL of Israel be joined to Him, not just some. Our obedience to His LOVE in this age... (which is a very small, very fleeting age by the way) results in eternal relationship with Him in the next... (which, is a very long, very continual age by the way)... It results in eternal blessings. Eternal favour. Eternal Mercy. Eternal rewards. Would you rather have riches and blessings and favour and comfort in this age or the next?

Let's join in the Son's intimacy with the Father, let's join in His grace and enablement for what we're called to, let's join in the calling of the Heavenly invasion down to earth (seeing His ways and His heart manifest on earth), let's join in the Son's obedience, and the Son's suffering, together with the Son's joy! 

One more thing. Without Holy Spirit, we can't even know the Son and the Father to the fullness of what He is to be known. Do you know the Holy Spirit? Do you know Him as a friend? Do you know Him as a person...? Do you treat Holy Spirit as a person, or as a force? We are sooo blessed because Jesus left earth to go to heaven. If Jesus did not leave us, we would never have the Holy Spirit. Jesus could only be in one place at one time. Holy Spirit is with me at the same time as He is with you! He knows our hearts and our spirits more than we could ever know ourselves! He is with me. He is with you. We are connected through the Holy Spirit. And He is with the Father. He intercedes for us. He is our COUNSELLOR. Our help in time of need. He is a person. He can manifest Himself, His presence as a person and sometimes I can tell when He's standing on one side of me and when we walks into the middle of a group... but, funny... most often when I feel or see Him (with spiritual eyes) He doesn't go in the middle of a group... He tends to be alongside me... or joining in the circle... He really IS the helper, the one who comes alongside! 

I pray you get released into the adventure today... by Leaning into the Father's heartbeat... by joining in the obedience, the suffering and the joy of the Son... by coming to KNOW and fellowship with the person of the Holy Spirit... :) He is always with us, but He makes Himself known when you talk to Him and talk about Him. Just sayin' :)

Major love and blessings to you today. I pray you flow in the Father's Love and the leading of the Holy Spirit. May JESUS be glorified and lifted HIGH!  Email me with how you are :)

"Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to Your name give glory, for Your mercy and loving-kindness and for the sake of Your truth and faithfulness!" - Psalm 115:1 AMP

Serena xo
Adventurer and Lover of Jesus

Iris Harvest School of Missions, Mozambique

For those of you would like to know more about what exactly the school is about that I am going to volunteer-staff at:

Check out these videos :)






And these links!

http://www.irismin.org/missions/harvest/

http://www.irismin.org/about

http://www.irismin.org/about/mission

http://www.irismin.org/about/history

Dear Friends!

Well, it's happening! 2 days 'til I leave the country again for who knows how long (God does I know!)

My passport had a couple of delays but arrived this morning with the courier, Praise Jesus!! Now I can leave the country legally, and not only that but go to Mozambique for 90 days legally!! Once the June school and 10 day bush outreach is over, I will leave Mozambique for approximately 3 weeks, having obtained another 90 day visa in time for the 2nd school from October to December. In December I will have the privilege of co-leading an extended outreach into Sudan! Christmas in Sudan with the least of these who know where their true riches are! It will be a time to remember!

Right now my parent's living room is strewn with all my things, and I'm having to decide what is the most needed out of all the necessary things I'm meant to take. 20kg is the weight limit for my last leg of flights to Pemba, so I have to fit everything down to that. Some of the random items I'm taking: 

- sticky notes and sharpies - it always helps to be organised and to be able to label your waterbottle!

- loong board shorts - so as not to show my knees while in the water! Some men in mozambique have never even seen their mother's knees. So it's quite important I don't show mine!

- Masterfoods mixed herbs - to add some flavour to my rice and beans ;) Or rice and matapa. Or rice and cabbage.

- swim shoes - so I don't get nasty coral cuts or sea urchin spikes

- bed sheets - Take all your own bedding! 

So, Onward and upward! Inward and deepward! I will be spending 5 days in Malaysia visiting my mum, relatives and friends before hopping on a Qatar airways flight to Qatar - 10 hr airport sleepover! Then an overnight in Johannesburg, before arriving in Pemba for the last of house prep and staff meetings before the approx 300 students start to arrive... I'm ready for chaos!! Not to be chaotic for very long!

Please pray:

- Long, long story but basically I don't have a working debit/atm card so had to have one expressed to me by the bank. They said it MAY arrive tomorrow but could also arrive Friday... Friday I am leaving early in the morning!! Basically, I need it to arrive tomorrow.

- Finance. For all staff members in need of it and all students too who are in need of it!! Some families are coming to do the school with up to 5 or more kids... it means plane fares x 7, at least! God is in the business of miracles and I have seen him do it before! He provides where He guides! Also for myself as I am still needing more :) My Daddy is Jehovah Jireh, my provider! 

- Construction of the student houses! Again, this school is bigger than any of the previous ones so again, they are having to construct more moz style student housing for the students to arrive.

- JOY! and favour with luggage, protection over luggage, divine health, anything else you can think of :) :) :) 

I am SO excited to have you be a part of this with me!! Many, many blessings to you and to all your families!! You are the beloved of His heart and therefore favoured and held close, safe and secure :) I pray that you receive everything you need today, whether it be comfort, joy, safety, finance, direction, wisdom, peace...

Lots of love and hugs, in JESUS because He is ALWAYS Worth it ALL!!

Serena x

Towards the next Season!

Dear amazing, world-changing Beloved ones,

Just the latest quick news this time :) Keeping it short and sweet.

Internship in Kansas City:

It has gone by so fast! We had our last PHD class on Wednesday (Prophecy, Healing and Deliverance) with a time of impartation from all the PHD leaders including a couple who are staff here in KC but are originally Kiwis! (New Zealanders). We officially finish up on Friday 30^th March, with graduation and our last 2 hours in the prayer room from 4am-6am – what other school do you know that has graduation in the middle of the night?! I have loved my time here and will be definitely coming back some time!

Whats Next:

I am excited to be staffing the next Harvest School in Pemba, Mozambique with Iris Ministries (Rolland and Heidi Baker). Among other responsibilites I will be a house mum for up to 12 girls (international students), as well as leading a 10-day extended bush outreach in the bush-bush of Mozambique. This is an amazing honour and privilege and I am so excited to be a part of serving, raising up and pouring into the next group of laid-down Jesus lovers who will be going out and impacting the nations with His heart! Already there are students coming in from many different nations!

I am hoping to be back in Australia (Brisbane and Melbourne) by mid-late April in order to catch up with family and friends (first time in over a year now!), as well as get some of my things in order. Then I will be arriving in Pemba mid-May to staff the school!

Thank you all of you who have been on this journey with me so far – whether it has been right from the start of 2011 or more recently, you are each one of you so beautiful and appreciated, and I really value your encouragement, emails, facebook messages, prayers and giving :) You have such a big part in the harvest and in the reward.

Bless you so much as you go about your day/night – you are treasured and dear to the Father’s heart – He wants to hear your voice today and loves when you set your gaze upon Him!

In Jesus – who is worth everything!!!

Love Serena

P.S. For those who have been impacted or moved by the recent Kony2012 campaign, see this link for some thoughts from Michele Perry in Sth Sudan: http://fromtheunpavedroad.com/2012/03/09/live-free/

If you feel stirred to GIVE towards this next season, you can go to www.paypal.com and click on “Personal”, “Send money internationally”. Fill out all your details. My email address registered with paypal is serenaxh@gmail.com

For Direct deposit (Australian) details, please email me

Help Iris get a new plane - to reach more of the ones who are dear to God's heart!

Iris Ministries 680 Club from Kris Vallotton Ministries on Vimeo.

Mozambique, 2010

Sorry it took so long! I actually made this video in Malaysia earlier this year, to share at a church. Windows Movie Maker... Didn't have a whole lot of my photos/videos with me to use, but I still think it communicates what happened pretty well! Enjoy.

Stateside

So, here I am at the International House of Prayer, Kansas City, Missouri! It has been an interesting journey getting here for sure - and Jesus has been so in it, every part of the way :)

It was in Nepal in April earlier this year, that I was praying about direction for where the Lord wanted me during June-August. I knew that I would be in Asia until May, and I knew that I would most probably be in Latin America starting from September. So I had this 3 month period of time free for I didn't know what!

As I was praying, the Lord gave me a scripture reference of Isaiah 56:7. I opened my bible thinking it may end up being one of those random scriptures about war and bloodshed, as often seems to happen when asking God for a particular scripture (its often just me, not actually him!) but it was actually a legit scripture and not only that, but it leapt out and grabbed me so I knew it was for real!

"These I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”

 The Lord had also been speaking to me about a period of 3 months and also about a season set apart for intimacy with Him. Through this scripture and other confirmations, I felt led to apply for the Fire in the Night internship here in IHOP Kansas City.

To cut a long story short, I ended up staying longer in Mozambique in order to apply for a student visa with the US embassy. This meant I had to apply for my Mozambican visa to then be extended. However to apply for that visa extension I had to leave my passport with the office. I realised after dropping it off that they wanted me to pick up my passport again on a Friday, when my visa interview with the US embassy was on the Thursday! I went back to the office on the Monday before the interview to ask for my passport back early. They said that maybe I might be able to pick it up on the Wednesday. So on the Wednesday, I went to the office planning to stay there all day if I had to, as I knew I had to get that passport back! I waited 4 hours and Jesus caused them to give it back! The breakthrough came when my mind stopped thinking like "if it doesn't happen then I can just stay in Pemba longer" and instead, started thinking like "I know without a doubt that my God has called me and therefore I AM going to walk out of here with my passport." I entered a rest, not of "whatever happens happens" but rather a rest filled with expectancy and knowing that something was going to shift. Other people were lining up and being refused their passports, being told they weren't ready yet even though they had been waiting since May (the receipt you are given has a pick up date written on it). So it really is a miracle that I got mine back! They had been telling me "no" all day but who knows that a human "no" is powerless when God has decreed otherwise!

The reason why it was so important I get it back is that my visa appointment with the US was the next day, and if I had to reschedule it would be another 2 weeks. Meaning it would be too late for school and I wouldn't even be allowed in the border.

So praise Jesus - He knows exactly where He wants me and has the power to get me there! My visa was approved on the Thursday, I booked my flights that same day, picked up my passport from the embassy on Friday, and flew out Saturday to arrive Sunday at school - just in time for the end of orientation!

I slept 3 hours over 3 plane flights and 2 layovers, arrived Sunday morning and went straight into the Night Watch that night... Thank you Jesus He has helped my body to adjust not only to a completely different time zone but a completely different schedule.

What does the Fire in the Night Internship look like?
Breakfast is from 2:30-4pm every day, and our first class is normally at 6pm. Sometimes we have another class after lunch (lunch is 7.30pm) at 9-10.30pm or a Night Watch staff meeting. On Fridays and Saturdays we go to Forerunner Christian Fellowship instead of having classes. We finish at the FCF meetings at 11pm and leave back to the main campus in time for Dinner. Dinner is 12am and we are to be in the prayer room by 12:45am, where we stay on the NightWatch until 6am. Curfew is 6.30am and Lights off at 7am. Our Sabbath is Thursdays, where we only have a 6pm class and then have time off until 4am where we go into the prayer room for the last 2-hour watch of the Night.

It is different missing out on mornings but it is so worth it as we get to stand our watch in the Night Season, worshipping the Lord and interceding for the nations.

We also have outreaches at Hope City - the inner city prayer room/outreach centre. At church services I will be serving from time to time as an usher. Classes cover topics such as Intimacy with God, the book of Revelation, Tools for the Prayer Room, the Existence and Majesty of God and the Forerunner Curriculum. I am loving the classes here as they do go so deep into the Word of God!! I have always had a passion for scripture and wanted to study at Bible school, and now God is giving me the chance without me even knowing it was coming! All the time in the Prayer Room too is all based out of scripture.

It is so fun because I did not know much about IHOP at all before coming. I just came because God said go - yet as soon as I got here it felt like home (notice how I say that a lot - it changes everything when your home can be wherever the Lord is)! All the content here and the way that they run everything directly relates to the desires the Lord has been giving me since the early years of my relationship with Him. It is like He is picking up a lot of the desires and things I had forgotten about and just handing them to me all at once... It is hard to explain and I don't have the time to go into it properly - but just be encouraged that it is in the place of obedience to the Lord that you will find all your desires fulfilled and you will be brought into the place of His dreams for you... old dreams once forgotten that you had as a child, and new dreams which He gives us and delights in seeing them come to pass! Obedience to the Lord, even when you do not understand it or like it, praise in the place of despair... I could go on... God is good and desires the BEST for us!! Most of all He desires intimacy....

More later

Just a few pics... More coming later

 

Lunar eclipse!! Pemba is the perfect place to view it from!

A couple of our amazing guards :)

Breakfast time with the boys - one of my favourite parts of the day

The Greatest Commandment

Visiting the "Baby House"

Such cuties!

These beautiful ladies became my friends last year during school. They are still here and their kids are growing!

Hugs are huge part of life here in Pemba!

Sweet, sweet presence of God... My last Sunday for this visit

Goodbye Pemba!

Snapshots of Pemba

Thought I would share... :)

Church: at least 1000 people made up of local mozambicans, mozambican bible students, international students and visitors. We sit on wooden benches or grass mats on the floor... energetic, sweaty praise and then time spent
saturated in God's glorious presence... Picture beautiful mozambican children lost in the presence of God, just wanting more of Him and so thankful for all He is and has done in their lives. Picture international students from many different nations including the states, Brazil, Australia, Nepal, Madagascar, Holland, the UK, Germany
and many others just pressing into all God has for them as many of them have given up everything just to see what He has for them here... Picture mozambican bible students, both young and old some of whom have walked days just to get here for 3 months and have left their families behind for the sweet privilege of learning the bible, learning to read the bible and growing in the ways of God...

We had a guest speaker from Texas a couple weeks ago, she was talking about Love. About the incomprehensible love of God.

So she did an altar call at the end for everyone who wanted more of God and who needed his LOVE and his STRENGTH.

So I was up there, on my knees and my face was just like blergh, wet. I opened my eyes and there was a little moz girl (about 6 or 7) in front of me holding a little moz boy (under 2 years) and they were both staring at me like they were concerned. Then this little boy starts trying to gently take my glasses off my face. I didn't want to
lose my glasses because I only just got them in Malaysia, to replace the frames that broke in Nepal. So I put my face on the floor instead. Then I feel a little hand just gently patting my shoulder... ohhhh Jesus loves me! After a while I had to sit up a bit because my nose was trying to empty just like my eyes and I didn't want it to. So I sat up, opened my eyes and there are these two boys (around 7 yrs old) on their faces before God. hehe one had his pants falling down so I could see his obama undies, and the other one had this rip in his pants right in the middle (not too big so you could see anything)... soo cute. Only in africa...

Village outreach. I spent a few days in the bush bush with a team of Mozambican students and mission school students. We visited the village of the Mozambican pastor in charge of our team. He had lived there as a boy. God also organised it so that I was on outreach with another Australian girl who is here to help out, and 2 other people
from my school last year! One of them was on staff at my school and now she works long term here with Iris. The other was a student on my school and is now staffing. It was so great to hang out with them and catch up! The Mozambican bible students on our team were also a lot of fun and we all got along great :)

It was the most peaceful outreach I had ever been on. It seriously felt like a holiday. It's like that - the dirt feels better than a nice comfortable home with everything I could need and a lot of stuff I actually don't! Not that I don't appreciate those things too, but there's always something about going out to a village that I love.

The first night, I stayed with the tents to help keep an eye on our stuff (we didn't stay in a yard this time, we stayed out in the open but I felt safer than on previous outreaches). There were around 1000 people at the Jesus film that night. We were told that because we only arrived after it was dark, most people didn't know it was on and so to expect a lot more people from surround areas later. The second night, I spent mostly just loving on this one teenage village girl while the Jesus film was showing. Her friends came around as well and braided each others hair. We were also joined at different points by some more friends who smelled strongly of alcohol and kept asking the girls to go with them. Eventually the girl's friends left, but she stayed and ended up accepting Jesus that night! She also came to find me the next morning, just to hang out and be loved on some more :)

We went house to house praying for people during the day. There was one lady with a racing heart who was 6 months pregnant and her husband and whole family of another religion came to Jesus. Her heart rate also went back to normal. We prayed for a lady with a migraine who got better. We also took part in a church inauguration (made of mud bricks, wooden posts and mecuti roof with dirt floor) where all of us - pastors, students, villagers - got to walk around the church anointing the outside with oil and praying over it - we got a joy party on! That is something so great about this particular village - during our whole outreach they would randomly get the drums out and start going all out - voices raised, dust rising as feet pounded in the dirt in energetic praise to our king! There were a few hundred people hanging around us and our tents constantly. We bought a pig for lunch and shared it with the people.

We walked 1/2 hour to the river on our last morning there, meeting many women on the way with water pots on their heads. We walked through stalks of corn at least twice my height, with thick morning mist all around us. This river is where the villagers get all their water. One of the guys said he prayed for someone who had gotten bitten by a crocodile and that was why he needed prayer! We sat on the bank and just rested in the peace of God...

My time in Pemba so far has felt like a gift that God gave me, where I'm getting to process a lot of things and just be saturated in his presence... This place is just such a place of his Love and His presence... I think I've mentioned that word "presence" a lot already in this email but it's just so true. The night before outreach we had
a complete lunar eclipse where the moon turned red... the ocean is just, there. All the time and so blue and sparkling and it feels like you could just lose yourself in it and in God. I keep catching myself thinking, how did I get here? and thinking how much of a privilege it is to be here! On Saturday we had a wedding! We had it at the beach about 20 minutes by cameon away from the base. Anyone who wanted to could come! So we had over a thousand people - Iris kids, Iris workers, Iris missionaries, Mission school students, bible students, visitors, villagers who wanted to come, village kids from the area around the beach, the groom's family from the states and the bride's family from down in southern Mozambique. It was an absolutely GORGEOUS wedding with the waves rolling in from the ocean being the backdrop. God's presence rained down as we prayed for Him to come. His Love was so there!


The database went well - there is so much more that I could do with it than I originally thought! I think I got more done that what I thought I would, but not as much done as what I wanted to and what the base would have liked me to. I ran out of time, basically. If I had made Pemba completely about the database and nothing else, I may have gotten more done... but the Lord had other things for me there as well. Connections with people, friends old and new, a lot of heart surgery and processing... Pemba was truly a gift!


This visit has been so peaceful. I am staying in the visitors centre and so many groups and people have come through while I've been here. There was a team from Holland, a team from Scotland, a team from Virginia, a couple from England and a family from South Africa on sabbatical from their ministry :) Now there is a team from Prince
Edward Island (Anne of Green Gables!!) and a team from Texas, as well as a brother and sister from texas - one of whom is a missionary in Burkina Faso and a few people from Australia - so if you notice me coming out with any Aussie-isms its because my roommate was from Queensland!

Just another story to share and then I'll end this "newsletter". Our outreach team went out for lunch after outreach, to "Frango Assada" for chicken and fries. As we were waiting for our food to come, I noticed a young girl probably in her teens come in with an older man. He could have been her dad but she didn't look like she was having much fun. He sat her down in the corner on a crate and bought her some food, then went and started playing pool. She looked unhappy and I felt to go over to her. Me and another girl who spoke spanish (close to portugese) talked to her for a bit. She told us her name and said she was okay, but then the man came back. So we introduced ourselves to him as well, then our team had to leave... I asked one of the Moz pastors about it and if there was a chance it was a bad situation. He said yes it probably is. A lot of girls here have not many prospects or ability to provide for themselves so a man who wants her can just come and take her. I asked if he would marry her or just use her and he said he would just use her...

Please pray for people of Mozambique! If God wanted me to stay in Pemba, I would do it in a heartbeat. My heart is so there and so for the kids there and the people there. I feel like I have some great friends there who are long-termers... This time has been both a gift and also a re-surrendering and re-laying down of everything. It sounds
adventurous and fun to travel the world for Jesus and that is so exactly what it is! But it is also not without it's sacrifices. I want my life to be a continual "yes" to God no matter what he asks me to do, or when or where he wants me to go. He is my constant, my only one who is always with me :) He is everything I need and more! 

Back to Mozambique!

In just less than 3 weeks time, I will be heading back to Mozambique! This time will not be as a student at the mission school, although the next school will be in session. This time I have the privilege of helping out the children's centre director with setting up a new database, to store all of the children's records. There are at least 170 children currently living on the base. They are all either full orphans (both parents gone) or half orphans, or it is just not feasible that they live at home.

Last year during my time at the Iris Harvest Missions School each dorm had the opportunity to really get to know a specific dorm of children, and my house was paired with a dorm of 8-11 year old boys. There were 10 precious boys in the dorm, all with their individual, precious personalities! About 3 weeks before the end of school we invited the boys over for a movie night (or rather one of the more outgoing boys begged to be invited). As they all trooped into the house we noticed a new boy who hadn't been there before. We questioned the boys and they insisted he was new, he had just arrived the day before. So we had them all in, put on A Muppet Christmas Carol (one of the few movies we were able to scrounge from what was available!) and most of them promptly fell asleep within 1/2 hour! (we were happy about that later because a scary part came in the movie). We ended up carrying some of the boys back to bed... a very precious Mozambique memory! We found out later that the guards had found this new boy sleeping in the latrines, so Iris investigated his background and took him in.

I am so excited to have the privilege of going back to Mozambique, to serve there for a few weeks, possibly go on outreach to the bush bush and to love on the boys again! I am going in faith expecting the Lord to provide, expecting to see miracles as He loves on the least of these in the dirt, pouring out the best He has for the forgotten of the world. He is a good Daddy :)

Kids in church on a Sunday

JOY!

Beautiful village children

Some of "our" boys

Family, in Jesus!

Please pray for more of Jesus - like seriously crazy Holy Spirit filled precious times with Jesus!

That I would walk in the presence of Jesus all day long (and sleep in his presence all night long, visitations!)

Provision - that the Lord would stir the hearts of those who are to partner with what he is doing,and just crazy testimonies of provision!

That I would not hold back from loving people fully - especially as I know that I am always to leave people soon after meeting them. I do not want this to stop me from loving and giving of myself fully!

That he would move in the hearts and lives of my family here in Malaysia - I have 3 weeks left

Connections with the right people and divine appointments!

Restful sleep!! No interruptions unless it is the Lord!

Jesus' words

Jesus' HEART

Jesus' thoughts

JOY!

Hunger always for more! 

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Latin America - September 2011!
Things are also gearing up for Latin America! We as an Iris Ministries Missions Team (Rolland and Heidi Baker) to the Latin Americas will be leaving in September from California, bringing revival fire to the nations of Mexico, Central America, South America and the Carribean! This is a trip expected to take around a year but may change depending on the Holy Spirit! We are focussing on the unreached people groups and will go wherever He sends us, however He sends us, no matter how hard to get to or how trecherous the way. The initial costs are to buy motorhomes and RVs, as we will be 4WDing it through the nations! The main costs throughout the trip will be just gas/fuel. We are excited as we were originally given the vision for this during the last missions school in Mozambique (Oct 2010) and we have been preparing since then. Learning Spanish, researching the people and the lands we are going to, praying and meeting together, speaking words over the trip as the Lord has been guiding us. The team is coming together from all over the world, from The United States, the Americas, Australia, Africa and others! Lord use us to bring revival fire to the Nations!! We are laying down everything and giving up everything that the world would know His LOVE!

Always remember that we are all each one of us missionaries in our own sphere of life. Wherever you are, whatever you do. Stop for the One. Go lower still. Let Him Love on you! Love on the one... and... Love LOOKS like something. What does it look like for the ones He has laid on YOUR heart? It looks like smiling at that stranger, it looks like wiping away tears. It looks like praying for the sick. It looks like sitting in the dirt or on the sidewalk with the one. Having them over for dinner. Visiting them in their houses or front yards. What does Love look like? Lets be Jesus' hands and feet in the nations! Lets be Jesus' hands and feet in our own backyard! The harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few - so pray that the Lord would send Labourers! Who will go? Will you?

Love, blessings, Joy, and MORE of Him!! I pray Papa's love over you!

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.Therefore GO and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20

As you GO, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give. Matthew 10:7-8

Week 0, Harvest School... before it started!

 Psalm 42:

  ⁷ Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls;
         All Your waves and billows have gone over me.
 ⁸ The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime,
         And in the night His song shall be with me—
         A prayer to the God of my life.

I realised I wrote about week 1, but didn't write about what happened even before the first full week of school!

I arrived in Pemba, Mozambique on the Wednesday before school started. I still remember my first meal of beans and rice... for some reason beans tasted best on wednesdays - maybe it was the sauce??

So we arrived at the airport and were greeted by some Iris Harvest staff with much joy! It felt like love just oozed out of them. I remember squeezing out of the airport finally after collecting my baggage (we could almost not move in there, packed in like sardines as we were) and just being enveloped in this great big warm hug by Mama Pamela. We then proceeded to load our gear on a truck, and squish into another cameon which was waiting for us.

At the base, we found out which houses we were to stay in for the week and I met my housemates - a couple from England, 2 beautiful ladies from the states and our youngest housemate who was from Canada :) (throughout the next weeks this youngest housemate and I often ended up on the floor together in the doorway of our house, carried in and left there by our loving and beautiful hearted friends... yes, and our situation was taken advantage of by the others who took photos and videos). The next night our house parents arrived from the early bird outreach in Beira, where they had just helped out with and ministered at a conference there.

Thursday night - we had worship under the stars in the dirt outside the house next to us. Everyone got brought their plastic chairs - or not - and as the staff blew the shofar, played guitar and led worship, God crashed in... can I just say, that some of the most powerful and intimate experiences I have had with God in a corporate setting have been under the African stars, in the dirt (literally. my clothes, face, arms, legs were proof of it later), breezes from the Indian ocean caressing us gently... Jesus brought joy, he brought tears, he brought freedom, he brought funny random moments like Nicky the dog deciding to lay down right behind some students abandoned in worship... a few moments later there was a yelp as he got stepped on and ran off... he's a good dog, doesn't bite when he gets hurt :) Another funny random moment was when I recovered enough from rolling around in the dirt to sit up. I turned around, caught another students eye and we were so filled with the love and joy of the Holy Spirit that we just laughed and fell into each others arms... literally fell. Back into the dirt... Later I realised it was actually Miriam, one of my housemates :) - it was dark!


The first day of school was Friday - therefore technically not week 1, yet! I will let you in to one of my journal excerpts.

"Yesterday was orientation. We had practical stuff in the morning, then Heidi and Rolland spoke. Heidi spoke about this school being a school of 10x. 10x miracles, which reminded me of the start of this year when my pastor got the word 10x anointing over our church! This was also when Heidi said "Your vision's too small..."

Then we had baptisms in the Indian Ocean.

I felt like God had been leading me to this moment. The theme and the idea of being ready to lay down and die had been in my heart and my thoughts during the preparation time leading up to Mozambique, so much so that I even mentioned it to the intercessors at my church before leaving. I really really felt that I was going to Mozambique, going to Mission school for LOVE. Going there to lay down and die, and to learn about LOVE and go deeper into HIS heart. 
I was also sick of having a divided heart. I was ready to let Him into every part of me.

This is the start of the rest of my life."

Another journal excerpt, from 8th October - I realise this is the day before the last entry, however it works out well in telling the story.

8th Oct 2010 
Baptised into my new life in Jesus!!!

In the Indian Ocean in Pemba with all the Mozambican Pastors and Harvest School staff and students. Oh how I love You... You just got me with your joy and I had to be pulled, floating, up the line as they were soaking me, up to the shallow water.

Wholly given.
Wholly yielded.
I am Yours.
You are mine.

You are so loving and huge and loving.

Deep, deeper, deeper.

Reach down deep into me and I will go deep into you!

Take me deeper into Your heart, and claim me as Your own. Fully possessed by You. I love you...

What Happens When You Go To Africa - by Danny Randall

One of my fellow mission students at school in Pemba with me posted a note on his Facebook page... it moved me so much I just had to share it. With his permission, here it is... bless you!

Hey there friends! I have been thinking about africa a little and what I gained out of it.  So much good was accomplished in me. So much God did through me and so many others.  The blind saw, the deaf heard, and the lame walked.  And that wasn't even the best part!  God took me into His heart and showed me around more than He ever had before.  Or maybe I was just finally focused fully on Him without distraction.  Either way,  He gave me a glimpse of eternity.  There is a bigger picture you know. Bigger than just living day today with no end in mind.  There is another world coming. Another kingdom. And God showed it to me.

 It is a kingdom where the least of these our brothers are honored above everyone. Where those trying so hard to be first and best are last.   we are one big family. God showed me that once I really begin to see all people as family, it will be impossible to give up on them or write them off.  I learned that loving others deeply from the heart is a miracle greater than raising the dead.  I learned that humility and preferring others to ourselves brings the kingdom here to earth quicker than anything. Perhaps the most beautiful truth my heart grasped was that however I treat the least of these my brothers, that is exactly how I treat Jesus. God wants me to look in their eyes and see my Jesus.

 It wasn't (and still isn't) easy to really live these truths out, but it is the only life worth living.  It's the only way to keep our souls intact.  Taking care of the poor and the oppressed is not negotiable.  It's not for those with a special calling.  It is for believers period.  Nothing upsets the heart of our Father more than when people are oppressed, mistreated, or ignored while we look the other way and stay in our bubble.  If you don't believe me, then read the prophets.  God is passionate about bringing His world into ours.  He is looking for laid-down lovers who will search His heart and find out what they can do to bring heaven to earth. Ok, I am off my soapbox(for now) concerning taking care of the poor.

One last thing. this was much more personal.  Most of you know that my wonderful mother passed away last year in august.  My heart still feels the glaring absence of her presence.  Everyone who knew her loved her.  However, in Africa on my birthday, God did something very special for me.  He brought my mom to me in a vision.  My eyes were closed but I saw it as clear as when my eyes are open.  Her and Jesus were talking about me. Telling each other how proud they were of me  and how precious I was to them both.  I saw my mom fully resurrected and in glory. She was pure light and it took my eyes some adjusting before I could look directly at her.  She told me that I was pure light also but that I just couldn't see it yet.  She had all her dark brown hair back and her face was smooth and wrinkle free.  All her muscle mass had returned to her and her contagious joy and laughter were in full force.  Cancer will never touch her again.  It holds no weight in God's world. It is powerless.  There was much that was said between us, some with words.  But it was so beautiful.  Only our Father in heaven could think of such a perfect gift for His son having His first birthday without his mom.

So this is a short synopsis of what I learned and what happened in Africa.  God is amazing and He is breathing new life into everything and everyone.  I want to thank everyone who prayed for me, gave me finances, and offered me their friendship and support.  You guys are truly amazing.  I leave you with one last thought.  Jesus is not reserving the miraculous for overseas.  He is just as able and ready to do the miraculous here in America.  The question is are we willing to give up our agendas, our control of our life, and our wonderful image, and depend fully on the Holy Spirit for everything?  God searches the whole earth looking for those whose heart will be loyal to Him alone.  Be blessed!

 Danny Randall, Iris Harvest School of Missions Student, 2010

Week 1, Pemba, Mozambique

I feel on my heart to share some of my journey in Pemba, Oct-Dec 2010 with you all, so here are some excerpts from week one, Iris Harvest School of Missions, Pemba, Cabo Delgado Province, Republica de Mocambique!

“Your vision’s too small” - Mama Heidi

No matter what dreams or visions God’s given me,

there is SO way more than I could ever imagine!

“The devil simply doesn’t have the ability to blackmail us." - Papa Rolland

“If you have any desire at all for God, it’s from Him. He has the ability to finish what he started."

“The foundation of Iris Ministries is to actually believe the bible!”

“Zero compulsion except love” - Papa Rolland

“Iris is a vehicle to new places. Just relax and let Him be in control. Keep your eyes not on the vehicle but on the driver."

This is the way to avoid crashing and burning and becoming stressed out! All of every day is all about Jesus! If it becomes about the future, then that is an idol. Keep it about my Jesus.

“You can’t make yourself love people if you don’t know what love is.
                    LET HIM LOVE ON YOU!”  
                                       - Mama Heidi

“The only way you can be a radical lover and give radical love is to receive radical love. Unless you LOVE you run out of steam. It’s whipping yourself to do it. Stop Every Day of your whole life for Him, before you stop for the one. So long as you are in the centre of His heart.”

“Your good works need to proceed from faith. If it’s not done out of affection for God, then it’s sin.”

“He meant all these good things to INCREASE your affection for Him.”

“Don’t complicate love. Keep it simple :)”

Ministry time after one of the sessions:

I saw a single long stemmed rose, and I was like that to God. He wanted me. There were thorns on it and now I know why. Because my thorns hurt Him. My defenses are still up a bit. “God loves you so much it HURTS!”

Sunday 10^th 10^th 2010! My first Sunday in Pemba.

One Samuel Two

 ⁶ “The LORD kills and makes alive;
      He brings down to the grave and brings up.

 ⁷ The LORD makes poor and makes rich;
      He brings low and lifts up.

 ⁸ He raises the poor from the dust
      And lifts the beggar from the ash heap,
      To set them among princes
      And make them inherit the throne of glory.

      “For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s,
      And He has set the world upon them.

 ⁹ He will guard the feet of His saints,
      But the wicked shall be silent in darkness.

      “For by strength no man shall prevail.

He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the beggar from the ash heap, to set them among princes and make them inherit the throne of glory! This is so God’s heart. God is an upside down God. Most of my visions and pictures from God since August 2010 had been upside down and I really felt that He was making a point, in saying how upside down His kingdom is! We go to the least of these and God changes a nation. His heart is the least of these. Yet his heart is the rich as well. His heart is all who are hungry, whether we are hungry in the natural or the spiritual… It is a good thing to be hungry, as God loves to fill those who are hungry!

I just found a journal entry from week 2… but it applies to this

“I love that God is an upside down God! I’ve been seeing all my visions since August from underneath or upside down, and it’s been driving me crazy!

I think God is going to rearrange everything upside down here in the way I think and the way I SEE.”

Journal excerpt from 10.10.10 (again)

Apparently I woke up my bunkmate last night with shaking because God was being funny in my dreams. He was literally making me laugh! So I woke at 4am with her saying “Serena”? and the muslim call to prayer going on outside.

Today church was incredible – reminds me of my home church, with all the dancing and even action songs! And also the immediate presence of God (there is one song especially which I cannot seem to find on a recording although it is partly on the Finger of God DVD… It is slow and is about Yesu – Jesus. It brings the tangible presence of God straight away and I miss church so much… as much as I can when it is mostly in portugese and the makua tribal language!).

After church I ended up sitting on the floor with this whole group of Makuan kids. Junita, Anna, Aida, Owlla and two others. I also met their Dad Manuel who was in a wheelchair/bike. None of them spoke English. The baby played in my lap… The Mozambicans are Beautiful, Beautiful people!

 

We went to the beach after lunch and there were hundreds of makuan kids everywhere. At least three hundred of them and mostly without parents!

They smiled, hugged, laughed and grabbed us and pulled our white skin and rubbed our faces and rubbed our hair. And splashed us and jumped on us in the water – many at one time so that it was really hard to stay standing!!! And some of the older boys got a bit too touchy. We learned that Sundays on the beach are pretty much not a good idea. Most of the kids though are really nice and are just so excited that we would come and play with them on the beach. One girl followed us halfway back to the base and kept running up, grabbing my hand and saying “Ciao” with a beautiful smile at least six or seven times :)

Photo credits: Esther Brueckner-Leech, Angel Huang, Betsy Graton