Hi, and thanks for praying last week! Lots of people, lots of learning, lots of God…good times. Thankful for the ways He ministered to my heart and encouraged me. On top of that, discovered some more (and better) possible options for stuff we’re working on. Sometimes it feels like such a slow process, but it makes me extra grateful for any steps we can take.

This week, please

• thank God for the confirmation He has been speaking to me through the past two conferences and pray I will walk in faith and confidence in Him as WFI tries to follow Him in growth
• thank God for the opportunity to meet some worship mentors this coming Sunday-Tuesday (May 2-4) in New Jersey (and to sit under Brennan Manning’s teaching and to room with Karen Lafferty!) and pray for solid beginnings of Kingdom friendships and partnerships
• thank God for providing sufficiently for the past two months and ask Him for His favor this month
• thank God for a “normal” week before flying to the East Coast on Saturday and pray for His ideas and wording as I work on written materials for Global Impact

Thanks! Have a great week!

Hello! Thanks for encouraging me each week with your prayers! As a friend once told me, “these are exciting times to serve the Lord!” It’s actually been a pretty awesome week of faith-building. Totally experienced His presence in the little things, and got to see Him work in some big things, too! I’m sure it has everything to do with your spiritual support.

Because of a conference last weekend and this weekend (both from which I expect to receive and learn so much), could you please declare in faith before our Father:

• His peace to reign as I let go of things I think I have to do but can’t because He has these conferences instead
• His favor on “my” hours and days so I can still move forward with building key WFI logistical stuff during limited hours
• His purposes accomplished not only during these conferences, but as I grow in obedient faith and courage to apply what I’m learning and receiving
• His strategic alliances formed as He introduces me to more of His people
• His clear presence and voice as I try to process everything during the post-conference hours and days

Thanks so much! Have a great week!

Hello! Thanks for praying along with us so far this year! This past week was actually a little logistically difficult (logistics have never been my strong suit, anyway), but God has been faithful to show me how to work out every little puzzle that popped up! Praise Him for that!

This week, could you join me in faith by:

• thanking God for the small signs of growth to come — Deuteronomy 7.22
• petitioning Him relentlessly on our behalf for breakthrough in foundational areas that have been challenging (creating flexible/sustainable organizational systems, basic provision, strategic partner networks) — Mark 7.24-30¹
• declaring the “forceful advancement of His Kingdom” through us and asking for fearlessness to follow our Commander into new areas, however slowly we proceed — Matthew 11.12

1. by the way, not saying we’re possessed! but we need you to pray as this woman did, even when the initial response is not what we hoped for [↩]

Reflections of Praise

Happy Easter! I know, according to our calendars, Easter has passed, but a part of me feels like Easter is for every day. Over the weekend, I heard “The Power of the Cross” (Keith and Kristyn Getty) 5 times at my home church, and the line that sticks with me is:

What a love! What a cost!
We stand forgiven at the cross.

That truth isn’t just for Easter; it’s for eternity!

It is also such an encouragement as I reflect on this past month. Whether it is sin, a mistake, or simply uncontrollable circumstances; whether things go according to plan, take an unexpected detour, or feel like failure; we stand forgiven at the cross because of the enormous price Jesus paid for loving us as He does. Our deadline for summer teams came and went without any actual applications. Many people I’ve communicated with have expressed interest and excitement about using music as a tool for fulfilling the Great Commission, but because of personal situations, everyone has had to put their plans to go with us on hold.

While a little discouraging to realize this, God has been faithful to meet me and redeem what I cannot by reminding me my plans are not the only way to go. By closing this particular door, He has re-focused my attention on other possibilities and opened time for other strategic partnerships that simply operate on a different schedule (i.e. not just summer trips) or in a different part of the globe (i.e. in the United States). In His usual unpredictable way, God has been answering my prayers for growing Global Impact to be more than a short-term summer missions program.

Please continue praying this month

• for wisdom as I begin to knock on doors with a few key ministries to explore what we can do together in this area of Kingdom advancement
• for clear organization and next steps as we make plans to test-run a domestic worship mission program
• for finely-tuned spiritual ears to hear the Lord’s direction as I venture into “new” (for me) territory…and that I would make praise my first steps!
• for God to continue connecting me with people who serve as channels and messengers for His ways and ideas

Looking Ahead

I finally finished Ruth Haley Barton’s Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership, over a year after I started it! (I think I’m going to have to read it again, just to be able to put all the ideas together in my mind. If you’d like to join me, let me know! I’ll be starting it again in May.) In the book, Barton follows the life of Moses and pulls out leadership lessons to help us serve more from a deep inner life with God rather than our own limited strength and skill.

If you know his story, you’ll remember Moses died before entering the Promised Land. I never liked that part, even though I understood the justice of it. After all Moses went through and put up with, on a purely emotional level it still felt unfair for God to deny Moses entrance into the Promised Land. It has always left me with a nagging fear beneath the surface of my consciousness: what if I have done something to disqualify me from enjoying what I am working for? What if I have offended God and lost His favor? He doesn’t owe me an explanation, and He is not obligated to give me a second chance. While this is true, it only reveals how much I have bought in to traditional Asian relational dynamics and how little I have made room in my worldview for the grace and mercy of God to rule alongside the justice of God.

Barton focuses the end of her study on learning to surrender our desires for something greater than our original goal:

For Moses, the presence of God was the Promised land. Next to that, everything else had already paled in comparison.¹

Among other lessons, the immediate issue I realized I need to deal with is my willingness to be satisfied in God and only God. It isn’t a question of whether or not He can, but whether or not I will.

I’ve never been there, nor have I heard any firsthand testimony , but from everything I read in the Bible about Heaven, that’s how it’s going to be: as glorious as our surroundings are, our focus and our delight will be found in the presence of God. The glory of God will be so bright, there will be no need for any other light source. In comparison, everything else probably will seem a little pale and less enticing.

Where I live, it isn’t difficult to experience a variety of cultures simply by driving for half an hour or so. It’s one of the best ways to get to know a culture I hope to enter in order to share Christ. I can taste the food, experience the relational dynamics, and observe the customs and values. Much like the cross-cultural preparation we ask missionaries to go through, learning to find deep satisfaction in God alone now prepares us for the culture of Heaven we’ll enter into one day. And in doing so, we can bring a little of Heaven’s culture to Earth.

Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.Psalm 73.25-26

1. Ruth Haley Barton, Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership, (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2008) p.214. [↩]

Hello! Thanks for praying so faithfully so far this year! Praise God for meeting me in ways I didn’t expect last week as He opened up time to reflect not only on WFI, but also on my personal journey with Him.

This week, could you please pray:

• I would intentionally continue to set aside time to cultivate my relationship with Him (it’s so easy to do stuff “for Him” but forget to just love Him…you know how it is)
• for growing discernment as I try to practically live out what He has been revealing to me
• for boldness and resources to be able to follow through on what we are envisioning

Thanks! Have a wonderful Passion Week as we celebrate His unfathomable love for us! Regardless of how things are going, isn’t it encouraging and exciting to know He has already proven He is so much bigger than it all?