Commissioned to Go

One of our partners and the place of worship for one of the college students serving with HSI, commissioned 4 groups of servants heading out into the harvest fields. One of those teams is already in the field serving among the S@mogho. Please call out to Father on their behalf as they build relationships and share Father's stories with their S@mogho friends and family.

Three of the college team members, those from Texas, were able to be together for the commissioning. It was great time to celebrate what Father has done to make the way possible for each person and each team to fulfill His plan for them. It was also a sweet time of humbling ourselves before Him in pr@yer--seeking Him and surrendering our will to His.

Becoming Harvest Seekers

While in SC, members of two upcoming teams joined together for training. Two of the four college students who will be leaving for Mali this month met for the first time to spend some face to face time together in training.  Two members of a new partnering church joined these students to begin their training and preparation for the vision trip they will be taking in January 2011. The time of training focuses on team building, spiritual preparation, spiritual warfare, and understanding cultural differences and worldviews. We learned about bathing with  a bucket as well as how to effectively serve in a different culture. We had an African dish for lunch and practiced using our hands to eat...always a fun but necessary adventure!

Unexpected Happenings

An unexpected opportunity came Tuesday night. I received a call and was asked to speak to a group of Gideons. I was able to share with them about the work Father is doing among the peoples of Mali. I was able to share with them how Father is calling out churches and individuals to join Him in that work. Since my father is a Gideon, I always look in the hotel rooms to see if the Gideon have been there and left Father's Word. Several hotels in Mali have received a visit from the Gideons. On one of my early visits to Mali among the P@n@ people. I was amazed as I looked around at those gathered for worship and a young man was holding a blue book. It was a triple translation Gideon New Testament. Over the last couple of years, I have gotten to know the 2 men who were sharing that book. On one of our visits, the young man gave the blue book to his brother. When we went to visit the P@n@ recently, one of these Gideon's had given me another blue book to take to replace the one the P@n@ man gave away. Please pray for Father's Words to impact the the young men in Mali. Please pray for this group of Gideons as they continue to make Father's Word available all over the world!

Pursuit for the Future

On Tuesday, I had lunch with Catherine and her parents. Catherine is a new college graduate and she will be going with the college team in just a few weeks. She has heard Father speaking to her about serving overseas for one year. Her time in Mali with the college team will be part of her preparation for returning in January to begin her year long mission adventure. We enjoyed a great lunch together as we talked about the many aspects and questions that come up as you prepare to take such a step of faith. Father's presence was with us and a sense of His direction was evident to each of us. Please continue to pr@y for Catherine, her parents, her family, and HSI as she seeks Father and as He fulfills His plans and purposes for her.

From Heirloom to Heirloom

"Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart's desires." 

Psalm 37:4

In 1988, I responded to Father's invitation to join Him in Taejon, South Korea as a teacher at Korea Christian Academy. It would be a year of learning to delight in the Lord, learning to walk in an intimate relationship with J.s.s, and learning to live in complete dependence on Him. It would prove to be a year that completely changed my understanding of living and walking with J.s.s as well as completely changed my life's direction. He began changing my focus from being a married stay at home mom, to being a single missionary serving Him wherever He would send me.

I not only brought home with me a changed heart, mind, and spirit, but I brought home with me some treasures. In my heart, each treasure was intended to serve as an heirloom to my children as a testimony to the difference the time in Korea had made in my life.Each one would carry with it a story that would declare the glory the One who pursues, calls, and uses broken and hurting people to accomplish His purposes.

Over the last month, Father has been initiating new directions and new invitations for me to follow. With those invitations come major adjustments. One of those adjustments has been the surrender of stuff, the surrender of treasures that represent special times or special people in my life. Father has been so gentle and has walked side by side with me through each step of the emotional adjustments. 

Through this time I have experienced one of the most tender demonstrations of Father fulfilling the heart's desires of those who delight in Him. As I began preparing to sell as much as possible, I asked Father to send specific people to purchase those things that held significant places in my heart. I asked Him to use those treasures to bring joy to the lives of those He sent to buy them. He did just that! A young woman with 2 children came to look at the treasures I had brought home from Korea. Her husband works in Korea, so she had an immediate attachment to and love for those treasures. They fit perfectly into the things she was doing to create a special place in her home. After setting up the special place, she came by to express her joy and excitement about how the treasures were perfect. She said, "These are heirlooms." My heart exploded with joy as I saw how Father had taken my heart's desires and made them a reality. I never really knew how He would do it and it certainly was not how I expected...it was better than I could have ever imagined!

Traveling, Training, and Team Development

Greetings from Texas! Tomorrow it will be greetings from South Carolina! I will be leaving Saturday evening to make my way to South Carolina for a host of reasons. I will be mixing work with a little family time. Two of the college students traveling with us live in NC/SC. We will come together for a time of training and team development. Also joining us for that training is a new church who is partnering with HSI. Oakbrook will be taking a vision trip with HSI in January 2011. They will begin the process of training, team development, and preparation for all that Father has planned for them. I will also be meeting with a young woman who has surrendered to serve for one year in Mali with HSI. I will be meeting with her parents as we seek to understand all the Father is asking and planning for their daughter.
During my time in SC, I will also be celebrating with my family the graduation of my youngest niece. We will celebrate her and her accomplishments. Please pr@y for this time in SC. I will be there from May 22-31. Upon my return, we will sign the closing papers on the sale of my house. Lift up the final details of that as well!

Who wouldn't want to live THIS LIFE?

"My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Galatians 2:20

Since my return from Mali at the beginning of March, I have experienced more of our Father than ever before! Daily I find myself asking the question, "Who wouldn't want to live THIS LIFE?" By "THIS LIFE" I don't mean MY life, I mean the life Christ lives through those who seek Him, know Him, surrender to Him, adjust to Him, and choose to obey Him! I mean the life of daily crucifying the old self, trusting in the Son of God in such a way that He--Christ lives in and through you.
Many of you have followed my journey with Father over the last 4 years as I surrendered to His invitation to join Him in the development of Harvest Seekers International. Some of you have just joined in the journey as a pr@yer partner in the Harvest Pr@yer Network. I want to thank each one of you for your pr@yers, your support, and your partnership in this work. This journey didn't just begin 4 years ago, it begin the day I chose to be a follower of J.s.s, it continued as I surrendered my life at 16 to be whoever He wanted, to do whatever He asked, and to go wherever He sent me. It continues even now as I daily seek to know Him, understand Him, and live out THIS LIFE.
Over the last 2 months, our Father has put into motion the next steps of this journey. He continued His process of reducing me and the responsibilities I have on this side of the ocean. He began the work of selling my house, the 9 acres I have enjoyed and called home for 8 years as well as many of the treasures I have surrounded myself with over the years. These steps have required many adjustments to my heart, my spirit, and even my body...moving is a JOB!! One of the things He has shown me is that "things" no matter how sentimental still have no eternal value. They represent moments, events, or people in our lives that have eternal value, but they themselves do not. When surrendered to Him, He will do with them an even greater thing than what they could have ever done for you and you alone. When surrendered to Him, they still hold eternal value in your heart even though you do not hold them in your hands. He has shown me that there is no end to the joy of relationships He brings into your life as you follow Him, share Him, and allow Him to live in you! Through this move, He has increased the eternal value of the neighbors I have enjoyed for 8 years. By His grace, He has even given me new eternal relationships with neighbors I have had but didn't know until He began moving me. Now He will continue to increase the eternal relationships as I begin the process of knowing and doing life in my new home.
As the foundation for my work and ministry, I share all of this with you so that you can pr@y for ALL that God has for Harvest Seekers International and this life He lives through me. I do not know the full extent of what God is doing or what all of this activity means for this life. One thing I am certain...He is not just doing it for fun. He has a plan and a purpose for every detail of it. It is my desire to follow Him, His plan, and His purpose. Since the beginning of the year, He has placed a deeper sense of dependency, a strong desire to be faithful to whatever He asks of me, and a longing to fulfill ALL that He has for this life and this ministry. I come to you to ask you to pray specifically for the following things:

• A heart to surrender, adjust, and OBEY daily
• Ears wide open to hear and listen to God
• Eyes to see what God sees for Harvest Seekers International
• Feet that will walk wherever He leaves His footprints
  
• Wisdom and Discernment for the Board of HSI to know how to follow God as He develops this ministry
• Clear understanding of what every detail of His invitation and His movement means
• Discernment of His timing and the readiness to move when He says move

My declaration to our Father and to you...I WANT to live the crucified life...Then HE can live THIS LIFE!!
Thank you for your faithfulness to take this journey with us!
lori