Good morning! Thanks for praying (and telling me you are doing so!) even when I forget to ask you to. That was much needed encouragement last week. For better or (and) for worse, adjusting back to life at home was a little too easy.

This week, could you please pray:

• for more detailed vision for next year’s plans. Have the big picture, now need the steps to get it done.
• for next year’s teams. May have to re-adjust our recruiting plans, but if that’s according to God’s original plan, we can expect good things!
• for next year’s hosts. Praise God for 5 confirmed hosts in 5 countries! Please pray the on-going process of working out specifics will be led by the Spirit and encouraging to everyone involved. And that I’ll be gracious when I’d rather be impatient.
• quality time with the Lord. How easily I’ve let that go since returning from India! Pray I’ll find my deepest desires satisfied in Him alone, that I’d meet Him each morning hungry for Him and leave those times even hungrier.

Thanks so much! Have a great week!

Reflections of Praise

September was definitely an interesting month! Actually, end of Sept to beginning of Oct was the interesting part. Leaving the country has that effect. Besides allowing me to visit a ministry in India, I had two weeks to try to meet up with new hosts for teams to India in 2010. Before leaving, the task looked a little daunting because it pushed me way out of my comfort zone. But God, in His perfect wisdom, knew it was exactly what WFI and I needed. It was so encouraging to meet and talk face to face (as opposed to long, drawn-out communications via email), to ask and answer questions, and to get a feel for what God is doing through music ministry in that country. Not only did He help establish friendships that can fuel several partnerships in the coming years, He ministered to me personally so I would return spiritually refreshed and refueled for the work ahead. Rather than taking up space here, I’ve posted my personal take on the trip here. Thank you so much for praying for me while I was out there. God truly did an amazing work through you to me.

Please pray

• for our 2010 hosts. We are aiming to send teams to at least 4 countries next summer. Please pray God will continue to speak to them about how He wants to use music in their ministries to expand the borders of His Kingdom where they are.
• for our 2010 teams. We are not as actively recruiting as we could be because I have been occupied with india over the last few weeks. Please pray I will get back into the swing of things quickly and have many opportunities to share our vision and mission with those whom God wants to use internationally next summer.
• for the development and planning of our domestic programs. Again, slightly distracted over the last few weeks. Pray I can re-focus and listen well to the Lord’s directions.
• for a peaceful re-entry period. The Lord was so good, not only to WFI but also to me, personally. Please pray I will continue to receive all He has for me and for this ministry through this trip. Pray also for re-adjustment. Physically, it was a little bit more challenging this time, and my body is definitely feeling it.

Looking Ahead

We all have our trust issues with God. So often, I fear what God has in store, but the truth is that fear is really rooted in my pride more than anything else. Through a long convoluted path, I sometimes end up serving Him out of a deeply hidden fear rather than joyful adoration. By that point, I am no longer His servant; I’m just doing stuff, as if He needed my favor to help Him out. It’s ugly, but I’m willing to bet it’s true for more of us than we’d like to admit.

But God, in His grace and mercy, takes us as we come and even humors us, all the while trying to teach us to find delight in our truest (though sometimes unrecognized) desire: living out His best plans for us, including growing more in love with Him with each step of faith and act of obedience. It took two weeks in India and the wisdom of the One who knows me better than I know myself to be reminded of the truth in Psalm 37.3-6. For whatever reason, I didn’t fully trust God was behind me in the small task of going to India, but that very trip turned out to be exactly the refreshment I needed to restore passion for what He has created me to do. What a delightful way to learn again that our limited lives here, when spent for His purposes, will prepare us for a far greater joy in Heaven.

Please pray we will continue to grow in understanding what it means to find our delight in Him so we can better enjoy the truest desires of our hearts.

Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.  Psalm 37.3-6

Amsterdam airport

During the 6 hour layover in Amsterdam on my way home from India, I had plenty of time to “process.” Although I had journaled during the time there, I still needed to use the list of questions I hand out to summer teams to really think through what happened. One of the exercises we encourage team members to do in preparation for re-entry into life at home is to come up with several answers to the inevitable question, “So, how was your trip?” There’s the lengthy-presentation answer, complete with a multimedia extravaganza and, in the case of my church, lunch. (This post is the virtual version of the lengthy-presentation answer, minus the extravaganza — just a few pictures. Lunch is on your own, and you might consider getting some as this is going to get long.) Then there’s the top-highlights answer for times when the asker is really interested but time is limited. The most difficult one to come up with is the short answer: the one word or phrase that will satisfy the asker who is making small talk and doesn’t really want to hear about it, but will also give a descriptive hook that opens the door for further conversation as the Lord may lead. Continue reading…

Hello! Thank you so much for partnering with me in Global Impact. I think of all people on the globe, I’m the one that is most impacted right now by all of this. Your prayers for a deeper relationship with God have definitely been fulfilled. As a bonus, God has been setting up connections that I had pretty much given up on. Sharing time with one of the classes also went as well as can be expected for a language barrier. Thank you again for being a part of what God is doing in me, WFI, and India!

I’m going to switch things up a little and just send out prayer requests this week, even though it is the first Monday of the month. A full ministry update will be sent next week, after I’ve had time to process through what God has been revealing. In the mean time, could you please pray this week for:

• a strong finish: 4 days to go with lots of opportunities in store. Need to stay focused on where I am and what I need to do here, even though I am also looking forward to family and friends at home.
• the last two hosts I hope to meet this week (one is actually a friend from last year’s trip, so the time will be more friendly than business): wisdom and discernment as we meet to see His vision for their ministries and how WFI might partner with them
• ministry opportunities: working on keyboard/piano skills with students, sharing about Global Impact with the School of Worship. Want to be a blessing to them, not just as a “teacher” but as a fellow traveler on the road toward Heaven.
• responses from potential hosts in other countries: enough said?
• safe journey home: flying through Europe, so it will take some time. Pray for calm air (none of that tower-of-terror turbulence, please), smooth connections/layovers, and everything to come home in one piece (like my mind–haha).
• boldness to share Christ with people I might meet on the way home: in airports, sitting next to me on the plane, wherever…just to be aware of whom God might be pointing out to me as His appointment.

Thanks again! It never ceases to amaze me how much I can sense the power of your prayers even when we’re on opposite sides of the world. Our God is pretty amazing, isn’t He?

Hello from India! It’s been so encouraging to receive your fb posts and other messages. I have a love-hate relationship with new traveling adventures: love encountering God all over the world in all kinds of people and cultures, but hate not having family and friends to share it with. Thanks for helping me stay connected and encouraged! We arrived safely (obviously) at our ministry base, and classes have started.Thanks so much for all of your prayers for safe travels…I especially appreciate it since flying is not my favorite mode of transportation.

Along with trying to meet up with hosts for future teams in India, I get to help out as a guest teacher (interpret that lightly, please ), with tentative plans to be a kind of TA for the real guest School of Worship teacher (Sandy, one of the people with whom I’m traveling), a keyboard tutor, and a one-time sharing on worship with Janey and Sandy (my traveling buddies) at their Discipleship Training School. Might also co-lead a worship time next Monday morning with Sandy. A lot of this depends on whether or not they can get their keyboard up and running.

This week, could you please be praying for:

• overcoming jetlag! Usually takes about 2 weeks for me, so at least I can enjoy the early mornings without setting the alarm clock. Still, it would be nice if I could coherently engage in dinner conversations with our hosts.
• God’s provision. As with any ministry, but especially with short-term international stints, we can expect to (and already have) run into unexpected opportunities and challenges.
• appointments with other Indian hosts. I’ve been able to connect with a few over email and phone (thanks for praying for that), but no set dates, times, and locations for meetings yet. Partly because of culture and partly because of an unreliable internet server.
• sharing on worship with Janey and Sandy this Friday morning. It’s always a little bit of a challenge to team teach with people you don’t know very well. Please pray the Spirit will unite us as we each prepare our different angles and approaches to the topic. Pray also for the students, several of whom are fairly new Christians.
• wrapping up plans with hosts from other countries. Please pray they will send in their forms soon! I just sent them a reminder two days ago, and one has responded…hooray! Now, just waiting for two more (not counting the Indian ones I hope to meet).
• last but most importantly, intimacy with God. Doing all of this doesn’t mean much if I don’t grow more in love with Him on a daily basis, and it is so easy to overshadow that relationship with Him with doing stuff “for Him.” Please pray for that…I can’t even express how much I need to know His presence closely and deeply.

That’s it! Well, probably not, but that’s it for now! Thanks so much for supporting me in your prayers. I’ll post updates on facebook/twitter so you can pray along as things happen, if you want to. Thanks!