Something I wrote last week:

Sometimes when I train in the morning, I hear the loud roar of the sea as she greedily sucks the tide into her abyss against her will, groaning with the knowledge that she will have to release it again in a few short hours, and I stop. I wonder why I’m actually here on a tiny tropical island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, drowning in the aromatic scent of guava and tiare, watching the sun rise pink over the lagoon.

I remind myself that I’m here to train, not just physically, although some mornings my body aches and I can hardly muster the strength to rise. The truth is, my spirit aches more. I’m training for a vision that doesn’t come from myself, for a goal that comes directly from the Father, a goal that I might never see accomplished on this side of heaven, a vision that isn’t just for me, but that many hands have toiled for throughout the years.

Paul writes, I press on toward the goal that is set before me. Sometimes it is a constant pressing. We can get so lost in the day to day we have to stop and physically remove ourselves from what we are doing and ask God to once again give us His heart.

God is pressing for this, the salvation of the world. It is His passion, His heartbeat. He lives for the lost, literally, He died so He could rise again and offer true life. God is training me so I can accomplish His purposes.

It makes the soul ache worth it!

8 April 2013

We’ve been having girls and guys groups on Friday mornings. This past Friday we looked at Anna, the woman who prophesied at Jesus’ dedication in the temple. (Luke 2). There are only three verses on Anna in the whole Bible, but we learned so much from her life. Firstly, she made worship and prayer her life-long passion. The Bible says she lived in the temple, offering up prayers and fasting. She made God her only focus. She must have had a very intimate relationship with God.

Secondly, she chose to trust God for everything. In a culture where women had very little value and no way of providing for themselves without a man in their lives, she chose to pursue a path that would lead her directly to the Messiah. There is no way she would have known that when she set out but she chose to live by faith.

Thirdly, she was aware of what was going on around her. She didn’t live with her head buried in the sand. She didn’t let hard circumstances define her life, instead she watched and waited, and prayed and hoped for the future. God honoured her choices and He allowed her to see the redemption of Israel. It says that when she saw the baby she offered thanksgiving to God and told everyone she knew that the redemption of Israel had arrived.

Lastly, she never quit. Some commentaries say she was probably around a hundred years old when she saw the Messiah. At a hundred most people are dead or dying, but she still lived in the temple, serving God. I was especially challenged in this. There are days when I just live for my breaks. There are days that I get through by thinking of how I can just relax in the evening or the weekend. Not saying that it’s wrong to take breaks, because it’s not, it’s vital and important to have rest. God ordained it in fact. However, God calls us to battle daily, He calls us to pick up our crosses and follow Him daily, not just once, or until a certain age, but always. We are to be on guard always. We are to live radically. We are to be content in our service of Him.

That’s one of things God has really been challenging me with lately. I’ve been spending a lot more time in the Word and I’ve been challenged in prayer. God only breaks through barriers and walls in a nation through prayer and obedience to His Word.

God has been speaking to me this week of how even the smallest things I do, I need to see as furthering His kingdom. Everything can be covered in prayer and when I have some free time, I can always go to the prayer room or go for a prayer walk or pull out my Bible and begin to pray for the nations.

This past week, I’ve been learning accounts and communication for the base, as I’m filling in for the base director’s wife when she leaves for Australia to have her baby. I also spent Easter weekend visiting some friends and helping out with some church outreaches. I’ve slowly been making friends with people off base, and I’m hoping that these relationships will begin to make a positive impact in the community.

Some prayer requests:

·         I’m going to a Missions Conference and then a YWAM Asia-Pacific Gathering in Thailand at the end of May, and then home to see family for a few weeks before coming back to the Cook Islands. Please pray for God’s provision for my airfares, etc, as well as for safety and the opportunity to learn from missionaries from around the world.

·         Pray for continued strength and wisdom as I take on more responsibility here at the base.

·         Pray that I would continue to build relationships with the people around me and see them come to Christ, especially the youth.

Well, the weeks have been flying by since the last time I updated this blog. As a base, we’ve been pushing hard into a new season. Inventory has been done, new schedules are in place, rooms are being plastered, cassava has been planted, new guidelines are in place. It’s a season of finishing the old and bringing in the new.

I’m feeling very accomplished this afternoon. The library for the base is officially finished. It was a month long project, and I spent many hours sitting in the office cataloguing and recording books. I spent many evenings in the library area, but now I am finished. It’s a good feeling to have.

I spent the better part of last week in Aitutaki, meeting up with old friends and starting new friendships. God has been giving me a larger heart for reaching into the outer islands of the Cook Islands, especially for building relationships with the youth.

I’ve been attending a women’s cell group (more infrequently than I’d like) on Tuesday evenings, and I’m hoping to build some friendships with girls my age.

I’m tackling some art projects for the prayer room, as well as for the Lecture Room upstairs. So I’m staying pretty busy.

However, mostly, God is growing in me a heart for prayer. Since I’ve taken on leading our Intercession times, God has been speaking to me about how I need to develop a heart for prayer. I’ve been reading and prepping my heart, and I’m looking at ways that I can do my part to lead the base into a lifestyle of world-transforming prayer.

This morning during intercession we prayed into various nations around the world. We looked at 2 Kings 4:8-37 where we see that we need to have a heart for the people we are praying for. We need to identify with them and feel with them in order to effectively pray for them. The bible says to “Weep with those who weep, and rejoice with those who rejoice.” I believe that this is a vital part to prayer.

Anyway, until next time…Ka kite and kia manuia.