So, the past few weeks have been CRAZY! So, here's a past 3 week overview.
Week5
Our special speaker was Morgan Perry, producer of the documentary "Sex & Money". Her subject was Intimacy To Advocacy. It was a great reminder to "love the Lord your God" before you start your advocacy in your calling. When you passionately love the Lord and run after a deeper intimacy with Him, then your compassionate and activist heart will flow out of that vertical relationship. If we're just helping to help, without loving Jesus first... we're harming the cause of the Kingdom. The documentary "Sex & Money" is an educational film about human trafficking in the United States. I don't thin people realize how big the problem is here. We like to innocently believe that it's a problem elsewhere and not terrible here, but it is! The film pulls out the truth about victims, pimps and pornography. There is always so much to learn about this problem here! I found this week so educational and encouraging. It's okay to focus on my relationship with Jesus before I act on my call. If I just act without Jesus being first, I'm doing it wrong. Not many people here encourage that mindset. We live in a country of work, work, work and work some more. I know that I had been pulled into that atmosphere and I had forgotten to keep the first commandment first!
This week's outreach was "Viva La Worship!" We went out to the strip with a battery powered amp, a microphone, an acoustic guitar and our hearts turned towards Jesus.We set up and started worshiping, telling testimonies, telling Jesus' story of redemption for us. People would approach to listen to the music and we'd start conversations. As always, I seem to get the crazy people. I had a guy who was not... filled with Jesus, who was trying to convince me that my conscience is God, therefore my own fleshly decisions are acceptable before the Lord. It was an... interesting view. But for others the night went well. We were able to encourage and pray for people.
Friday night we had friends come to stay with us: The WISE team from YWAM, Denver. WISE stands for school of Worship, Intercession Spiritual warfare and Evangelism. They came to pray for our base and this city and they definitely brought a new life here. They were here Friday - Wednesday and it was an awesome time. We were able to join them for outreaches and they took time to get to know some of us and speak over us. They lead some worship here on base and it was an awesome time of fellowship and growth. I loved it.
Week 6
Pat Caven. Such a wonderful woman! Her subject was Sex & Relationships. She focused allot on group relationships, dealing with confrontation, etc. She did touch on "Romantic Relationships" a little bit... but the main focus was realizing why we believe the things we do and confronting the issue within ourselves, with the Lord or with another believer. I was able to speak with her privately one night and just to soak up her knowledge was just incredibly great! She is such a wise woman of God and I'm excited to keep in contact with her!
This week we didn't do a separate outreach since we were doing it almost every night the WISE team was visiting.
Week 7
Hmmnn... what to say about this last week?! Absolutely my FAVORITE! Our speaker was Kenny Peavy and his subject was Spiritual Warfare. We spent allot of the week learning about how the kingdom of hell fights for us and how the Kingdom of heaven defends us. Learning about lies and beliefs that we've taken up as our own that are truly just lies of the enemy spoken over us. We spent time lifting it up to the Lord, breaking lies and becoming new, without those lies and fears. I was truly set free of the fear of man. Kenny spent allot of time with me the first day, asking questions, speaking into my life, etc. It was so evident that the Holy Spirit was moving this past week. It's so wonderful. Then we spent time lifting each other up. Taking time to tell each individual what you love about them, then asking what the Lord has to say about them. It was really bonding for our team and I feel like we're living a better unity than we were talking about before this week. I learned allot about the warfare that goes on for my mind. I learned allot about how take thoughts captive. SO GOOD! I have been so hungry for this type of material for SO LONG and it is so freeing to no longer be held by lies, fear and religion. I am a free soul, seeing things like a child see's for the first time. I really enjoyed having Kenny as a speaker and I'm excited to get to see him when we go on our mobile tour in October. :)
Our outreach this week was just worship. We just went to the strip and worshiped, some went out to evangelize, I just stayed and worshiped. I saw the strip in a whole new way and it felt so small, unlike the largeness of it before. It was a great experience.
So, next week we have our Base Director, Richard Thompson teaching on Evangelism. I'm excited for it.
Now is the time I remind you of the importance of giving to Missions. :D
I still have around $1,100 to raise! If you are willing and able, donations are much appreciated. I have teammates who still have much more to raise, so if you'd like information on how to donate for me OR them, just let me know and I'll get you the information.
May God bless you all and rest His Divine favor on your home,
-Jackie
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Saturday, September 01, 2012
Week 4: Update
Definition:
las ve·gas/läs ˈvāgəs/
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Hello everyone! How are y'all? This past week has been fantastic for me! So full of the Lord and His movements in my life and the lives of the people around me. It's fantastic to be witness to all that is going on.
Week 4: Jeff Pratt.
There is so much here to try to explain. He focused on speaking on the father heart of God. Expressing the Father's deep, passionate and longing love for us and the bricks of all sorts we allow to rest between us. It was a very stretching week of dealing with the different problems I had allowed to go unnoticed. It's like I've been soaking my life in a tub of water and tieing little weights to certain problems and parts of my life that I wanted to drown out and forget. Not to "Ignore the problem" but I thought I had it handled. Obviously, the Lord had so much more for me! Against my every fleshly will we were offered a chance to confess to the group the things the Lord was bringing up to us and to lay it before His thrown. Did I say in front of the group?! Jeff took the time to pray for each of us (he has the annointing of evoking tears) and our classmates took time to pray for us as we became desperate for the love and freedom that the Lord has to offer us. Honestly, I feel such a relief in it all. It wasn't just an "Emotional" week, where because of our situation and a good speaker we were all crying and acting like fools. It was the honest and true movement of the Lord in our hearts, cutting strings and releasing us from hidden weights and closed doors. For me, this past week has been a turning point! Not to say I won't struggle or that I won't go through times of captivity (which he also talked about). But just to say I've started the long and laborious process of renewing my mind for the purposes of my Holy God to come and renew!
This weeks ministry night was something we call "2X2's!" We went out to a certain street just a block or so away from the main strip, where allot of "Adult" focused stores, masage parlors and people lurk around. We went in groups of 2 to walk the streets and offer conversation, prayer and encouragement to anyone who would take a moment to listen. It was after the sun had gone down and we were expecting movement. I had a sour attitude all day. I don't know why, I had prayed that the Lord relieve my numbness to the situations around me... but I was just in too fowl of a mood to even wait for His blessings. We walked around and there was almost no one. So, as we walked we prayed for whatever came to mind. Las Vegas was originally a watering hole. A place where weary travelers would stop to rest and be refreshed. God is longing for this city to not be known as "Sin City" but for His people to flood these streets and bring back the original purpose of Vegas. To refresh the spirit. To bring rest and re-cooperation. No one is going to bring the pendulum swing back to restoration if God's people won't! And best part is, it's not just Las Vegas. God wants to celebrate in every city and country road! He wants His children to feel His passionate longing for their hearts and have a relationship with them.
So, in evaluating this past week, it has been exhausting! Realizing that i had so much pent up that was creating a wall between my Father's passion and myself. I cannot wait to see what the Lord will do next.
It's been almost a month that I've been here! Wow. A month. Just two more months and I'll be in India! Wow. India. Dream so close to being accomplished.
Prayer requests:
1. That the rest of my outreach fee's will be provided ($1,200 to go)
2. That the Lord would continue to minister to my soul through fellow students, staff members, Speakers and His own glorious word.
3. Energy! It's so easy to doze off when you're sitting in a florensant lit conference room for most of the day, I need energy to stay awake and absorb as much information as I can!!
4. Opportunities to pour out into the Locals while we are here in Las Vegas.
5. To find a chuch; we are required to attend a church while here in town, so I would like to find a temporary home.
I hope y'all have a great week and I hope to blog again soon!
-Jackie
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