...Banter

So, sittin' here watching Seinfeld...ahh, haven't gotten to enjoy and savor my favourite show in too long...so i thought i'd blah blah blah on our blog.  So, time's moving fast and we're getting closer and closer to making the transition from cold to hot, from walking to running and other changes that my brain can't think of or even make up right now.  In the meantime, we're enjoying connecting with our friends and family and just enjoying the luxuries of sitting back and watching TV or enjoying Indian, Chinese and Meditteranean food all in one day!! Mmmmm....

Thank you so much to those who've taken the time to hang with us, share wisdom and enjoy some good laughs with us, we're hoping to keep in touch in more creative ways. And hey, a special shoutout to Rick & Nancy for taking the time to pour into our marriage, teaching us invaluable insights that...well, we can't express enough here how appreciative we are!!

Aright, hope you enjoyed these random thoughts, I'mma go hit my nighttime routine..."brush your teeth, woo!!"...haha, I guess only Adventure Camp leaders from OPC will get this!!

Sweet dreams,

tired tami

Next Steps - January 2011 - And How You Can Partner With Us

Some of you may've already gotten an email about this, but maybe not! Hence, why it's here on our blog!  So alas, God is directing us to return to YWAM Kona, Hawaii to be leaders in a superfantastic Discipleship Training School (DTS) called Fire and Fragrance.  Now people may jest at the name of this school, but they wouldn't jest if they could see the rippling effect it's having not only in the student's lives but in the nations of this world!!! So what's the school about? Read on to the next blog or visit http://www.fireandfragrance.com/

As leaders in this school, we have the exciting privilege of discipling a group of students who we will then lead on a missions trip somewhere in the world.  We'll know where we're going hopefully during our training week in December! We'll also be helping with the daily running of the school and anything else God calls us to do there!!  So again, we're really excited to partner with God in the unfolding of His plans for the nations of this world.

As for how long, we're currently getting ready to leave for what may be a year...or more! Our lives are God's and we know He'll guide us wherever we're meant to be.  He hasn't failed us yet! It may seem crazy, but it's actually so freeing to just sit at the feet of Jesus, relying on Him and trusting Him to lead us through every step of life. 

So if this past year (Jan-June) was any indication of what this upcoming year will be like, we can't wait. And as we embark on this new 'adventure,' we invite you to run alongside us any way you can.  There's many ways you can do this; prayer, keeping in touch with us, financially or however else you feel led to run with us in this.  Quite honestly, and please don't feel obligated to, but we're really praying into our finances because it will cost a lot for the whole year, so if you are interested or feel led to help in this way, please see our budget below and prayerfully consider how God would want you to partner with us.

KEEPING IN TOUCH!! 
Email: jonandtami@gmail.com
Facebook: jonandtami masson
Skype: jonandtami73

FINANCIAL BUDGET:
We are hoping to raise around $3000CAD/month to cover costs of Jon's diabetic supplies, insurance coverage, housing, food and other general living expenses.  Funds will also go towards outreach costs, which is like the practicum of the school, it's a short term missions trip overseas (ie: our trip to Haiti).  Heck, we pray God's blessing over all of our finances for the advancement of His kingdom!! And we pray that in the midst of the world's economic uncertainty, we can all find security and comfort in knowing we can lean on God and not be moved.
Thank you again so much for caring about what's going on in our lives, it means more than you know!

- tami & jon
http://www.uofnkona.edu/ - info on YWAM (Youth With A Mission) Kona, Hawaii

FIRE & FRAGRANCE DTS

The Fire and Fragrance Discipleship Training School (DTS), simply put, is focused on the powerful marriage of worship, prayer and missions. Over the past couple of years, God's been bringing together large prayer organizations with large missional organizations (ie: International House of Prayer, Burn 24/7, The Call and YWAM) and placing a vision on their hearts to prepare His people for a new missions movement. This movement is about equipping and releasing people (young and old) into the nations of the earth who will prioritize worship  and prayer, and allowing it to flow into powerful outreaches fueled by the Spirit of God. 

We desire to see a whole generation raised up across the earth who would walk in an unapologetic fiery passion for the Presence of God (like King David!), worship, and prayer that automatically flows into becoming the very fragrance of Christ everywhere we go - "For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing," 2 Corinthians 2:15.  God is searching for a people who would give themselves wholeheartedly to the place of intimate communion with Him and zealous passion to reach the lost, leading to powerful, faith-filled evangelism.  Who, like Daniel in his time, will "know their God, shall be strong and carry out great exploits." Daniel 11:32 NKJV

IN-CLASS PHASE

Students will be taught by mothers and fathers in the prayer/worship and missions movements that God has been using in tremendous ways to release His kingdom all over the earth. In addition to incredible teaching and ministry sessions, part of the curriculum of the course will be extended time in worship/prayer in the pioneer house of worship that is being planted at the University of the Nations campus. We will couple this with focused time on the streets allowing the gifts of the Spirit and the love of God to flow into practical evangelism.

MISSIONS/OUTREACH PHASE

After the in-class training (which a lot are radically transformed by), students will be sent on an outreach to put into practice all they've learned and received. During this time we will be connecting with localministries and churches to walk out this marriage of prayer and mission. The context and expression of both prayer and mission will be unique to the location though the values and principles will remain the same. All of the teams, together with local believers, will seek to walk out community centered around the presence of God flowing into a lifestyle that releases revival in every sphere of society!

click here for the website - 2 schools now! Harrisburg, PA and Kona, HI

Why Youth?

C'mon, youth keep us youthful!! We love just hanging out with them, picking their brains and allowing them to pick ours. And I guess for us, we're really wanting to build cross-generational relationships, we don't wanna just stick to one age group, one ethnicity, we love knowing people of all ages, races and even beliefs, makes life more fun! And minus the beliefs part, I think that's what Heaven's gonna be, one epic "all ages" party!!

But why youth, why is God so desperate to reach our youth? As we've been ministering to youth for a few years now, we see the below (read on) happening everywhere we go.  There's an increase in hunger amongst the youth to know God for real; they're not interested in plain rhetoric, or just sitting in church pews, but they have the attitude of, "If I'm gonna wholeheartedly give my life for something, I gotta know it's real." And once they experience God for real, they're so courageous in boldly walking in what they believe in!! Heck, way more courageous than I ever was!!

For example, one of the high school girls we met at camp this summer, she's kicking butt in her evolution class.  Throwing scripture at them, posing tough questions back at them, and not in a condeming, "know it all" sorta way, she's doing it totally in the fruit of the Spirit and because she wants them to come to a knowledge of the truth. And what's amazing is even the teacher's asked her to meet with her so she could learn more about God!!! WHAT?!?!

What about our buddy Curtis, shoutout to Curtis!! Grown up in a metro housing community, he had a hard attitude like anyone else, couldn't care less about respecting leaders, he was a ring leader and had no problem leading others down his path.  But he still had the sense to come out to a youth program run by a Christian organization, so with that good influence and a bad run-in with cops, he started making changes for the better and over a year, totally transformed. Everyone in his neighbourhood couldn't believe it, people still talk about it. He didn't care about who or what he had to leave behind, he went after a better education, growing in athletics and a better relationship with God.  During the summer, he was voted valedictorian of the CEO program at Muskoka Woods, preaching the word in his speech!! C'mon!!!  Recently, the esteemed University of Toronto gave him a tour of their facilities, hoping to recruit him for their football team and this week, we're helping him put together an application for a scholarship for University. 

These are just TWO of several, countless youth that are taking their worlds by storm. Yes, youth are reckless, dangerous and too adventerous...haha, and that's why God loves to use them for His purposes. Because they can take risks of faith that the older generations are sometimes afraid to take.  

So you can understand why we're very passionate about discipling this generation, they just need love and guidance. We also see how just as much as God is after them, Satan's after these younger generations and we've seen too many fall prey to his evil schemes and that's why we have such deep hearts to disciple youth and young adults in their walk with God, we just want to help point them to Jesus in any way we can.

And the following is some more insight as to why our youth are important to God, on why part of God's calling for us is to spend out lives caring for them.  From a well-known teacher, minister, prophet and just one whom we've heard speak many times and brings accurate words from the Lord...James Goll, http://www.encountersnetwork.com/

     "And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.  Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out My Spirit in those days."  Joel 2:28-29 NIV

In 1967, a youth revival known as the Jesus Movement broke out, sweeping across the country, exploding on college campuses and in coffee houses.  The Catholic charismatic renewal, one of the largest movements in neo-pentecostal history, started the same year and ushered thousands of Catholics and Protestants into fresh encounters with Jesus, including the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

All of this has significance for us today, more than 40 years later, because we need another great awakening, specifically a youth awakening, in order to see God's plans come to fruition in this earth.

Revolutions always start on campuses. Almost every revolution—bad or good—has started with students on college and university campuses. From Marxism, communism, and Nazism to the Moravians, the Azusa Street revival, and the Jesus People movement, every one has started with students or has had a great influence on students, who are hungry for change and willing to lay down their lives for a cause.

1. The campuses are where the future leaders are living and being trained.

2. More than 550,000 international students attend American universities and 600,000 more attend foreign universities.

3. Statistics show that more than 77 percent of all Christians make a decision for Christ before the age of 21.

The First and Second Great Awakenings: The First Great Awakening in North America and Europe was ignited by a Yale University graduate named Jonathan Edwards and by Oxford students John Wesley and George Whitefield. The Second Great Awakening was sparked by Timothy Dwight, the grandson of Jonathan Edwards, at Yale University. After his 1797 message to Yale students, nearly half of Yale's student body came to Christ in a few short months.

The "Haystack Five": Samuel Mills was a freshman at Williams College in Massachusetts in 1806, when he met with four friends for prayer about revival and world missions. When a rainstorm hit, they took refuge under a haystack and continued to pray (thus becoming known as the "Haystack Five"). "When the rain subsided, Mills stood up, slammed his fist into his hand, and announced, 'We can do this, if we will!'" These five young collegians stepped out in faith and not only initiated the first nationwide student movement, but also began the first six mission agencies from North America.

Student Volunteer Movement: In 1886, a 20-something young man named Luther Wishard, newly appointed leader in the YMCA, heard the story of the Haystack Five. Inspired by the story, he committed himself to a revival of the same vision and went on to found the Student Volunteer Movement, which became the largest missions movement of all time.

Over the next generation, students on every campus in the U.S. committed themselves to the "evangelization of the world in this generation." Over 20,000 of them sailed to the foreign mission field, and over 80,000 others had personally committed themselves to prayer and to financially support those being sent out.

When prophecy (Biblical or personal) is neglected, the prayer movement is weakened. Prophetic utterances strengthen our resolve in prayer and obedience, providing significant focus.

      In 1975, the prophet Bob Jones had the first of a series of encounters with angels who spoke about an outpouring of the Spirit that would be characterized by prophetic intercession. In 1984, the Lord showed Bob that prophetic intercession would need to be joined by "compassion and worship" to be complete. The combination of these anointings would results in several things: revival in the Church, power evangelism in world missions, justice in society, pockets of mercy ("cities of refuge"), and worldwide intercession for Israel.  Between 1975 and 1983, Bob was given over 100 prophetic revelations about a worldwide youth movement.

     In 1995, I had an intense dream and visionary experience in which I saw stadiums filled with young people praising God. I heard this piercing word, "The stadiums will be filled as out of the belly of the Promise Keepers movement shall come forth a Youth Extravaganza that will rock the nations." I'm expecting to see the fulfillment of this word.

Maturity and Strength

Young people in this "fatherless generation" need to look for spiritual parents who encourage them and intercede for them, helping them find their God-given passions and destinies.

Elders must bless young people with their time, knowledge, wisdom, strength, vision, and every good thing, treating them like full-grown plants and like "corner pillars," bestowing on them a high appraisal of their value and helping them to envision their future in the family of God. They must help them in practical ways by providing necessary resources and releasing authority to them to accomplish their God-given commissions. "Let our sons in their youth be as grown-up plants, and our daughters as corner pillars fashioned as for a palace" (Psalm 144:12).

Moves of God always involve the younger generation. Every one of us must pray for awakening and renewal among young people!

With a Heart for this Generation,

James W. Goll

Encounters Network • PrayerStorm • Compassion Acts

Email: info@encountersnetwork.com

Thanksgiving Is A Key to Life...

We really want this blog to be of encouragement to ourselves and others, so here's another bite to chew on....

I don't care how cheesy that title is, it's the truth!! Lately, I've been hearing it over and over throughout the day, God reminding me, "thanksgiving is a key to life...in me!!"

Gotta say, when I first heard Him say this to me, I was like, "duh!!! Of course it is!" I mean, the countless verses in the bible about being thankful and praising God, they're obviously there for a reason!! I've also personally seen the effects thanksgiving, gratitude, praise and worship can have. Take for example, a week before we were leaving for Haiti, I had a freak accident in our room where my ankle did a twist and practically sprained. Any move I made, it was painful beyond words.  There I was, freaking out, wondering how I'd go to Haiti on crutches...just the thought of that made me angry, so angry that I refused to put up with it. So after some prayer, God showed me how it was an attack from Satan and encouraged me to worship Him and just see what happens. So I did.  For the rest of the day, I just laid on my bed and worshipped Him...not even praying much, just straight worship.  It was as simple as that.  And as I worshipped Him, I slowly felt the pain leave until it was completely gone!! I couldn't believe it, even though I should be able to believe that God can do that, I was in shock and awe....still am just thinking back to it.

Aright, so I told God, "heck ya, being thankful can change your life, it did mine!" I remembered how negative and complainy I used to be...and that I still struggle with it.  But Haiti definitely straightened a lot of that outta me.  When your surrounded by devastation, poverty at its worth and just plain sadness, you can either get swallowed up in it or lift your eyes and remember there's a God who sees His beauty in all of it. It forced the complaining and negativity right out...well, almost!! But I woke up every day making a conscious choice to be thankful for everything, to see His beauty in everything and everyone and that allowed me to fall in love with Haiti through His eyes.  Even thankful for the food we were served sometimes...Monday mush...urgh...

So as I was thinking about all that thanksgiving's done in my life, it's like God wanted to take me to a deeper level of understanding of why we should be thankful. He explained how we, as finite humans, can't even fathom how GOOD He is to us, we can't even measure it, it's impossible to try and measure it by our pidly standards. We just don't know how Heaven works on our behalf, the army and network of angels behind the scenes of our lives keeping us safe, orchestrating "coincidences," giving us wisdom for that meeting at work...God said if we could see the record, log or journal of our lives to see His acts of sovreignty...that's such a big word, I don't even know what it means, but I think it means His bigness, haha, whatever, He knows!!

But it's like if we can wrap our minds around how good He is to us on a daily basis, it would radically changed our hearts towards Him. In fact, we just might look to our left and right wondering what's going on around us in the unseen realm of His kingdom.

And He's not even just talking about Christians. To God, Christian or non-Christian, it's not about this comptetition between "us and them". He cares infinitely about every single person in this earth! He went on to explain the biblical principal of giving and receiving, that when people give (christians or not), he honours their giving hearts and lavishly gives back to them...and in ways they can't even count. We may give someone money and He'll return that investment back to us in more ways than just money!! His blessings are immeasureable!!

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Luke 6:38

Then Holy Spirit went on to further explain how He doesn't give like the world does, I'm pretty sure this is in the gospels somewhere...John? Anyway, in this world, people gotta get something before they give and then when they do give, they sometimes give the bare minimum, giving in proportion to what they've been given. He longs to teach us how to be thankful, because when we can make an effort to be thankful in all circumstances (1 Thess 5:18), no matter how it meets or doesn't meet our standards or expectations, it's like mud gets washed off our eyes and we begin to see life with His perspective. True thanksgiving like this will bring life like never before, where we're guaranteed to experience His life, filled with true love, joy, peace and everything that's Him!! Where we can treasure and cherish the beauty of His goodness in our lives, however it looks, where He can give and take away and we're truly able to say, "blessed be your name!!" That yes, even in the precise moment of suffering, thanksgiving will save us, it'll bubble up from our hearts and we'll be able to praise Him no matter what we're facing...we saw it in so many lives of Haitians.  They changed my life more than they'll ever know.

But must we wait until we're in a third world country to learn how to be thankful?  I don't think so, I mean it says in 2 Peter 1:3 that He's already given us all we need for life and godliness so technically, it's there for the taking. We just need to be willing.  I think as God's children, we're meant and created to be thankful beings, we just need to allow Him to shake off the things that've stolen this from us.  

Practically, when I discovered what my negative attitude was causing in my life, I began to ask God to change my heart, to rid me of all negativity, criticalness and complaining. I forgave who I needed to forgive that influenced me to be like this, I repented for my choices in following them and there was God, seeing the willingness of my heart and was like, "yes!! She's ready!!" And it's not like it was an overnight job, it was a process and is still a process and again, to the measure we're willing to surrender is the measure we allow Him to move in our lives.  

So I continuously invite Holy Spirit into my heart to change me and I actively choose to react to life situations in the opposite spirit, the overcoming evil with good tactic.  Like every time I'm yearning to complain or be negative, I fight with thankfulness.  Sometimes I win, sometimes I don't, but thankfully God's grace is sufficient and He's moulding my heart to become more thankful and thus, living in the abundant life that is Him.  Hey, speaking of thankfulness, thanks for hanging out here and taking the time to read my thoughts, hope God's will is done in your life in the area of thanksgiving!! 


PS - my friend and I were just talking about this subject and how our cultural background had a lot to do with the habits we formed, like complaining and negativity and criticalness...me being chimaican, chinese and jamaican, there's no surprise there!! As I was trying to break free of those attitudes, God taught me that just because we're born into certain cultural traditions or habits, it doesn't make them right.  At the end of the day I don't answer to my ancestors, I answer to God.  So with a longing for a worshipful and thankful heart, God's had to do a lot of renewing of my mind (Romans 12), transforming my way of thinking!! Still is, dangit!! 

- tami

A Bit of Me...

**this is obviously not a comprehensive, theological summary of what christianity is, I write it to share what my journey with God has been, has meant to me and I write it praying that I can look back and be reminded of God's goodness and that your somehow encouraged by it...**

        
     "Intimacy void of surrender will always lead to adultery."  Our school leader, Andy Byrd, made this powerful statement when he taught on God's love.  Now while this isn't a bible verse that you'd find on a fancy plaque, it's a truth we see throughout the bible...best example is the Israelites. Simply put, if we want to really get closer to God, we've gotta be willing to surrender everything or else face the reality and consequence of being tempted by those same things we couldn't surrender (like idols in our hearts like people or things).  To the measure we're willing to surrender is the measure in which Jesus can dwell in us. This was a huge truth that took me a while to chew on and digest but once I got it, it made my whole walk with God up till then make sense and pretty much made the whole meaning of Christianity make sense.

So the definition of Christian is Christ in us, as in we're meant to be in a process of allowing more and more of Jesus into our lives until He completely takes over and we're one with Him (John 17:20-24).  Connect the dots with me...the more we surrender is the more we're closer to God and is the more we can be the victorious, overcoming, more than conquerors Christians that we're supposed to be!! Life abundantly in Him as He intended from the beginning (John 10:10). Instead of being worried about so many things and overcome by the things of this world, being able to live in such a place of freedom, joy, peace and love unimaginable.

So for about a year now, I've been learning what it really means to be a Christian, a way where the Great Commission and Greatest Commandment can be powerfully fulfilled in our lives. 


And we gotta remember He loves us unconditionally already, so He won't love us more or less depending on where we're at with Him in all of this...we're all walking this journey imperfectly and can be at rest in knowing His grace and love covers it all.  It's simply that He wants us more free to receive more of His love and life to be able to give it away! God give us the grace to understand your desires for us, help us to lean into your grace to see all you want for our lives accomplished...


So growing up, I saw being a Christian as having God 'in my life,' kinda there on the sidelines as an accessory to life but not really being my life.  He was there to help me get out of sticky situations, there to help me make big decisions, there to help me get the job I wanted and even there to show me when I messed up in life, but outside of this, I saw Him as distant.  He did His thing and I did mine and every once in a while, I'd let him into my life...when I needed Him.  Not realizing it, I was still living in the old testament where I was striving to earn God's approval, serving to be known as a great 'servant,' all the while, not actually seeing God as relationship but as dictatorship.  Kinda like the older son in the parable of the prodigal son. And come to think of it, I always thought, "how could I spend an eternity with someone I don't even know if I love more than my own mother!?!" So by my late teens, I hadn't experienced a whole lot of God in my life so I began to turn away because I was too lazy, too hurt and too satistfied in the things of this world to really care about God.  


Fastforward after many years of downward spiraling, when I finally chose to walk with God, I told Him I didn't want one of those mediocre Christian lives that I saw all around me growing up, I wanted to really experience and know Him for real and see His power at work in my life.  Along the way of trying to figure this all out, I'd also met Jon, who was the first person I'd really seen living out true Christianity. He was so at peace in life, just so grounded, I don't even know how to describe it but his life caught my attention, and even the stories he shared about who God was in his life! We were obviously serving two different Gods!! But I was so intrigued that it made me hungry to pursue what he had - Jesus.  I realized that being a Christian isn't about trying to be a better person or striving to please God in every way, it's about being willing to give up your independence and learning how to be dependent on Him in every way. It's about finding our identity, security, need for love, everything in Him and Him alone.

       "Seriously, my life was not meant to be an example to copy. Being my follower is not trying to 'be like Jesus,' it means for your independence to be killed. I came to give you life, real life, my life. We will come and live our life inside of you, so that you can begin to see with our eyes, and hear with our ears, and touch with our hands, and think like we do. But we will never force that union on you. If you want to do  your thing, have at it."   - Jesus in 'The Shack'  

  

"IT'S NOT YOU BETTER, IT'S YOU GONE!" 

                                          - MUSICIAN, JASON UPTON "FATHER IN HEAVEN

Thus began the process of surrendering and dying and I didn't even know it was happening or even have the words for it like I do now.  I mean it's really the whole process of sanctification that Paul talks about in Romans, where it becomes less about ourselves and more about Jesus, where Jesus begins to fill us and lead us not just for when we're making big decisions in our lives but leading us moment to moment. And it doesn't mean dying to who I am as a person, obviously God created us with the personalities and gift-settings that we have for His purposes and glory, it means letting go of the things He didn't create us with or for.  

I began to learn who He created me to be and as I allowed Him to, He slowly stripped away the things that held me back from this, like just being plain mean and sarcastic! I didn't realize it but He was refining my character while also helping me get rid of things that were holding our relationship back. And it was real easy at first,  giving up things like the crazy music I listened to or the partying lifestyle.  But then it got harder, having to give up certain friendships, give up my zany driving skills (haha, I'm sure your all thankful for that), give up my addiction to Seinfeld, giving up my need for male companionship, to giving up control of how my day goes.  And after a while, I didn't even care cause it was worth it!!  Every time I surrendered and allowed Him put to death those things that weren't of Him, thus turning more and more towards Him, I sensed more freedom in my life (2 Corinthians 3:16-18).  


Mind you, also during all of this, I started attending a new church where I received lots of healing, learned powerful truths that unlocked bondages, I went to every conference and every meeting, I was so hungry for not just learning about God but experiencing His presence in tangible ways!!  I began to fall in love with all of God, embracing the trinity each for their distinctive roles in my life. I learned about His grace, mercy, just so much stuff all packed in a year or so!!  God was obviously excited cause its like He put me on a fast track!! Within such a short amount of time, I was being so drastically transformed so quickly that everyone who knew me began to take notice and question what, how, why, WHAT?? I was learning how to give up my own independence and be dependent on Him living in and through  me that I was becoming satisfied in Him and finally at peace in life.

And of course, I couldn't do any of this, even loving God without God (John 15:5)!! I think even as Christians, we're prone to try and fix ourselves or just do things ourselves instead of relying on the Holy Spirit and living out the truth of Proverbs 3:5-6.  I think we're even sometimes afraid to let people see our weaknesses, much less God!  But when I realized He's already given us everything we need to do life with Him (2 Peter 1:3), I knew I couldn't transform myself in my own power...we can however, make choices that allow Him to transform us like my life examples above. We, need to seriously allow the Holy Spirit room to do what He wants in our lives, He'll do a better job anyways!! We've been given the privilege of being alive in these exciting times of the new testament where the Holy Spirit is available to us all the time and without measure, where He is moving in this earth in unprecedented ways and wants us to be a part of it. In fact, right now I'm reading the book, "Forgotten God," by Francis Chan and I highly recommend it for anyone who's sick of cookie-cutter Christianity.

LET'S TURN OURSELVES IN TO THE HANDS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT FOR 

THE REWARD OF JESUS....

Whew, if your still reading this, wow, your a trooper. Some teacher, preacher guy said this, "God and Satan are both trying to kill us, but for two different reasons! Christians have one duty: die, die, DIE!! The reason why the church is so powerless today is because of their unwillingness to die!!"

Alas, till this day and till the day I die, I'll continuously be surrendering things and dying to things.  Haiti was a beautiful time of suffering, where I learned to die in areas of my life I never knew were there. So how does one surrender and die to themselves? Allow God to show you the things you need to surrender, He's faithful to do it. In my life, either God shows me what I need to surrender or sometimes I can tell when I need to by the amount of stress it causes me, a popular one is our finances or our future.  And I love the freedom of not having to control everything like I used to and the freedom of trusting God to guide me in life (Proverbs 3:5-6)!! As far as dying, allow the Holy Spirit to put to death what needs to and in His timing and ask Him to soften your heart so your sensitive to His leading. The process of dying is also being willing to endure pain...but it only lasts so long and the benefits outweigh it all. For example, when Jon and I get into an argument, everything in me wants to stomp and storm out of the place, but in these moments of intense anger, I can feel the Spirit tugging at me, knowing what I need to do. Staying and making an effort to work it out through forgiveness/repentance is painful at first, but I know as I do it, I'm laying down my pride and allowing His humility to rule and reign.  Or instead of judging a person, choosing to have mercy.  And by no means am perfect at any of this, but I'm just trying to moment by moment in life, consciously choose God's ways instead of what I wanna do, knowing He is the reward (Romans 8, Galatians 6:8-9). 

 "WHAT YOU FOCUS ON YOU MAKE ROOM FOR IN YOUR LIFE. FOCUS ON GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS AND SEE HOW YOUR LIFE CHANGES." 

- JOHN PAUL JACKSON

And the final course of this hopefully nourishing meal is I woke up from a nap today and Holy Spirit said to me, in the most loving and nurturing way, "there are tough times ahead (in this world) and I'm trying to prepare the bride of Christ, I want to raise up a people who will live out of Christ instead of living out of themselves." Yup.  God cares more about us walking in our full inheritance (which is Christ in us) than we do!!  Thee God of all creation really does care about us, He cares about His children maturing into powerful people like Daniel in his day and He just wants so much more for us like any parent would.  He explained this truth to me, "to live is Christ, to die is gain," and that it means more  than we think. That yes, on one hand to die is better because we'll be in Heaven and completely one with Christ, enjoying the fullness of Him without hindrance. But He also explained that it's also the key to how we can live victorious, Christ-like lives where we won't be moved or shaken by the things that are going to unravel in this world.  That dying to ourselves is gain when we know that our inheritance will be living out of Christ (His strength, wisdom, everything) and not out of ourselves (our own wisdom, agendas, etc.)...John 16:24-25. Where we're not struggling trying to live a godly life with God as an accessory to life, but learning to trust Him with every ounce of our life, giving Him our all, allowing Him to not just be on the sidelines of our lives but to totally consume every part of our life....knowing He's got a better life for us (John 10:10).   

ABUNDANT LIFE, GREEK 'ZOE' - THE HIGHEST AND BEST OF WHO CHRIST IS AND WHICH HE GIVES TO THE SAINTS...THE HIGHEST FORM OF BLESSEDNESS

                                                                        - Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible

I pray that you've somehow been blessed by this, I pray the testimonies of my life could bring life and encouragement to others and I pray even as you've been reading it, that He's spoken to your heart about His desires for your life in Him. I pray Holy Spirit will strengthen you with the perseverance to get through the growing pains of living more surrendered to Him and that He just reveals more of this to you.  I also pray this over Jon and I and for all our brothers and sisters in Christ, I know it's a lot to take in and if you have any questions, concerns, complaints, or want resources to help you in your journey or just anything, don't hesitate to write us....jonandtami@gmail.com

GOD IS MORE COMMITTED TO US COMING INTO THE FULLNESS OF OUR DESTINY

THAN WE ARE OR CAN EVER BE!!

  

- tami

The Nations Are His Inheritance...

I’m so thankful to have been a part of the community of YWAM Kona, also where the University of the Nations because its opened my eyes in so many ways. Jon and I have grown to understand that God’s calling on our lives is to go to the nations and bring the fullness of His gospel. I’ve never really understood how that would work, how I’d grow a desire for it, especially since I almost failed geography!!

But being immersed in such an international community, I realized I don’t have to exactly know where every nation in the world is geographically, I realized it’s not my responsibility to figure out all the details of our destiny, I realized all we’re responsible for is loving God and we’ll inherently care about what He cares about – which is the nations; every tribe, tongue and nation. “Ask of me, and I will give You the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession.” Psalms 2:8 NKJV

Like in our marriage, Jon and I love each other so much that we naturally care about and support each other’s desires, hopes and dreams. So in the weeks and days leading up to Haiti, we spent a lot of time praying about what God wanted for us as a team and for this nation.

And it’s not like I fell in love with Haiti in a moment like love at first sight, but as I spent time with its people, I could feel God’s unconditional, overwhelming love for them. I saw God touch people’s lives in ways I wouldn’t have imagined, healing them in every way; emotionally, spiritually and physically. The night before we left, Jon and I were able to pray for a teenage girl who’d been tossed aside, rejected and abused for most of her life until some missionaries took her under their wings. She’d been experiencing pain in her back and after praying with her through some of the trauma she experienced in life, she felt a lot of the pain leave!!

We’re not health experts or anything, we just have a passionate love for God and a passion to see people set free and walking in the fullness of who God created them to be…because that’s His passion!! We just pray, follow His leading and He does the rest. There were countless stories just like this, where we saw God break through in ways He wouldn’t have been able to if we weren’t there. Like it says in Romans, “How can they believe in the one of whom they haven’t heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent?” We’d walk into tiny villages of Haiti where ‘foreigners’ had never been before and be able to bring the hope and love of Jesus in so many creative ways and there’s just nothing like it.

As we were taking off from Haiti, I took one last look out the plane's window, watching the island become smaller and smaller and for a moment, I saw through God's eyes, that Haiti is like His prodigal daughter who is on her way back to His loving embrace. We're continuing to pray for the restoration of Haiti and praying God will continue to break our heart for the nations of this world, every tribe and tongue, knowing it really is His son’s inheritance. To see them with His eyes...

- tami

Food to La Grange

Hungry & Thirsty

On our drive into La Grange, the poorest area in Haiti, there were lush fields full of rice. Goats and bulls gnawing on stalks of rice, children playing in the canal, vendors on the side of the road selling whatever they can to earn some money. 

Then we turned a corner and the lush fields slowly turned into dry, barren ground. There wasn't a goat or animal in sight. Nothing but dirt. Nothing but rows and rows of mud huts with a few trees here and there. I quickly understood why the area was called La Grange, which means "The Dirt." Even our translators, grown up in Haiti and everything, all said they'd never seen poverty like that. As I saw children running to our truck, I began to tear up, knowing they were excited to see that someone had come to visit them, someone had come to care.

After a time of prayer, our team split up to go house to house to mainly pray for families but also to get some information needed for statistics. YWAM is hoping to start Homes of Hope in the area to give each family a home and basically restore the community to liveable standards. So we were there to do the foundational work, for example, this community is known to have the highest infant mortality rate, like 70%, so we were there to find out if this was true. It's all numbers...until you actually come face to face with the lives behind the numbers.

The first house we visited, we met a mother who had a miscarriage and has been carrying the dead baby in her womb for approx. four months. We prayed the Lord would revive that child with His resurrection power and breath life into that child. Nothing happened....yet!

Home after home, we met mothers whose husbands were committing adultery, mothers who had lost at least two children, mothers with at least four or more children with barely enough food to feed even one. One mother said she came home from the market to find her child dead. In another, a child had been suffering from severe scabies and some sort of fungi infection since he was like a month old and hasn't been able to be treated for it because they can't afford to even get to a medical clinic. After a few homes, I couldn't take it. I had to stop, pray and cry out to God and just allow my heart to be pieced back together, my heart was hurting for them.

The stories of suffering and despair continued as we visited home to home, but thankfully, we found out a lot of them know Jesus and are followers...although according to the long term staffers here on the base, there's a lot of confusion where they mix Christianity and voodoo up, they think they're the same thing! A lot of people said we were an answer to their prayer, and many called out to us asking us to pray for them to either be healed or saved!!

On top of this, we ran a kids program for the hundreds of children in this village (see Jon's blog below). At the end of the day as we debriefed as a team, we couldn't believe how hungry and thirsty people are, spiritually and physically. A lot of them had become Christians before, but because they can't get to church for fellowship and aren't being discipled, their zeal and hunger dries up and they fall away...kinda like the parable of the sower! We're excited to have brought hope and joy to this community and are excited to head back there this week to distribute food to them.

During the debriefing, we had to just laugh over the hysterical things that happened. Animals are so starving in this section of Haiti (St.Marc is broken up into different sections and La Grange is in the 5th section), that one of our guys saw a baby pig trying to suck on the nipple of a goat! And as Jon hung out with the kids, he taught them the street slang, "what's poppin'?" It's like, "what's going on?" So all the kids were going around awkwardly saying, "what's popping?" Cause they didn't even really know what they were saying. To be continued...

tami

Light Shines in La Grange

Hello all, this is Jon.  On Thursday and Friday of this week our team ventured into one of the poorest villages in Haiti.  It's name is La Grange which means 'The Dirt.'  Many of the children and women were malnourished.  They had malnourished bellies, so their hair was orange and they kept patting their bellies asking us for food.  I don't know if I have ever seen people so in need of fresh bread and water.  And as I walked around the village I began to pray 'Lord these people need Fresh Bread and Fresh Water.  You are the bread of life, would you bring them sustinance and pure water Lord.'  I was asking the Lord to manifest food because I have never seen a people so in need of it. 

Our team was there doing kids programs and home to home getting to know the people and gathering information.  One of the things that was heart breaking is that they make dirt cookies,which is basically dirt and butter mixed together.  There's a rumour amongst them that this gives minerals they would not normally get, but it mainly gives the children stomach aches and other health problems.  As Tami and Andrea, another team member, went around, they met a grandmother whose 2mth old grandaughter is severely malnourished because her mother can't produce milk. After they prayed over the baby girl, the mother walked in with 1/4 bottle filled with cow's milk...probably unpasteurized.   I was so proud today, while we were at the grocery store in St. Marc, Andrea bought milk to give the baby. 

At the kids program the first day there was roughly 100 kids.  The second day there were 200 and only 8 of us leaders with two translators so normally in Toronto, this would be illegal!  However as we did a play about Jesus ("Jezi" in Creole) all of the kids laughed and loved it.  We then prayed over each child individually, praying and propheysing over them...they also got animal balloons and their faces painted. I kept thinking that is was an amazing privilege to be doing pure religion.  As Jesus said, "Pure religion is this: that you take care of the orphans and widows."  One thing that was sad at the kids program was that many of the children didn't have clothes to come so were naked, and many had embillical cords still hanging off there tummies because they were not cut off properly.  There are so many needs in this community: food, water, clothes, medical and cleanliness just to name a few.  All of which as I said before I prayed that the Lord would bring into the community.  And I am happy to say from tomorrow to Wednesday we are doing food distribution in La Grange and I am going to pray that as Jesus fed the four and five thousand that the food we hand out will be miraculously multiplied to sustain them until their rice crops can be harvested.  I am also praying that some way fresh water can get there because the ground is too salty to dig a well.  As soon as you throw a bit of water on the ground salt crystals form. Pray for this community, pray that the light of Jesus would shine forth brighter than ever and pray that the basic necessities would come in for the people.  He is moving here and will continue to. Peace,

Jon

Worship Breaks Open the Heavens

Sorry for the delay, but thanks for caring enough to catch up on what's going on with us here in Haiti. Last week was incredible, a Burn 24/7 crew came in for a week and brought some fresh fire into our team and on this base.

Lemme e'splain what Burn 24/7 is, they're basically all about starting up houses of prayer around the world that are centred around releasing the Kingdom of God through worship and intercession all day and all night (Matthew 18:7). Here's how powerful worship is...a friend of ours here on the base had a chronic fever and Jasen, a Fire & Fragrance staff member who's been in Haiti for 2 months now, just grabbed his guitar and worshipped outside the guy's room for an hour and a half. When Jasen went back in to check up on our friend, his fever was gone and he felt 100% better!!

So having the "Burn crew" with us was refreshing. A lot of our team has fought through sickness, getting things stolen, it's just been exhausting in every way...and then the heat! My God, the heat!! So last week, we were able to get refreshed, re-energized and re-focused. We held a 24hr worship session for all the tent communities and did 12hrs of worship and prayer in the medical clinic tent community we've been ministering in.  

Various teams rotated through, releasing worship into the atmosphere over that community and praying for the several tent communities across Haiti. Several people from the community heard and started congregating in and around the medical clinic where we were worshipping...a lot of the children even fell asleep from the presence of God's peace. The last 12hrs of worship was finished here on the base and in the end, we all sensed that God's presence swept through the nation in a powerful way. We don't know exactly what God did through this, but the day after, we got a taste of it. We found out YWAM Haiti got a grant to help rebuild the medical clinic tent community we've been in and even enough to get it up and running!! We were freaking ecstatic cause we'd been praying for that exact thing! And as if that wasn't enough, YWAM Haiti's been trying to acquire an abandoned hotel down the street and we found out that someone called Terry, Director of YWAM Haiti, letting them know the hotel was ready to sell!! 

I get goosebumps just thinking about it all...we went straight to the prayer room to just worship God for all He'd done and is still doing. We're waiting and anticipating for the many stories that will come in about how God's transforming this nation through the power of His Spirit. I pray God will give us all burning hearts to see our homes, our communities, our cities and our nations changed through the power of worship and prayer!  

Love,

tami

"Intents" Experience

How could I describe in words our experience so far in Haiti. It’s taken me so long to blog because there’s just so much to say that when I go to blog, I just don’t even know where to start! I know, me, speechless!

 

As my first missions experience outside of North America, it’s pretty intense. In the first week, I’d come back to my tent crying cause it was just so tight, hot and dusty in there, frustrated not knowing if I’d be able to bear it for the next two months!! Then trying to get proper sleep while dogs are viciously barking, roosters crowing, people singing at all hours of the night and other weird noises.

 

Obviously I’ve had to get over these frustrations, even though every once in a while, I crack, have a good cry and then get back to it! There’s so many stories to tell, everyday holds new adventures, but I’ll tell a few.

YWAM has built several tent communities here in St.Marc (2hrs north of PAP) for refugees from Port Au Prince hoping to help people get back onto their feet and find a permanent home. Meanwhile, discipling them in the things of God so that they’re restored and transformed in their hearts, not just physically, socially and economically. So while staying in a tent community down the street from our base, we were able to meet some great people.

 

One guy was Junior, who’d lost his mom when he was young and his dad is living in the States so he basically lives by himself and he’s like 19. We prayed for him and encouraged him that God wants to care for him and nurture him in ways that his parents can’t, he left being filled with so much hope. The other day we saw him again the other day and it’s so cute, he said (in creole of course), “out of all the foreigners, I feel the most comfortable with you guys.”

 

Another guy was Fekier, who was a student in Port Au Prince and was looking forward to so much in life, then the earthquake hit. After our week of teaching them about God’s sincere love for them, he was so comforted and changed by it that he said the spirit of dignity had returned to his home. He came to the Sunday service here on the base and even though we were worshipping in English, he stood there with arms wide open praising God…happy he’d finally found a place where he was accepted and loved, no matter what he wore or looked like. Sadly, a lot of churches around here don’t allow people to come in unless they’re dressed up and that’s just not God’s heart!!

 

Another cool story is about Nadine, a student in the DTS (discipleship training school, like what we did in Kona). She lost most of her family in the earthquake and when I met her, her foot was badly crushed and in a cast. Everyone’s been praying for her, taking care of her and recently, her cast was taken off but then she was in extreme pain from an infection in her foot. A friend and I went to pray for her a few days ago and as I prayed, I could feel God’s love for her so intensly, I knew He was doing something in her…even though she couldn’t understand what I was saying, I was hoping she’d feel at least something!! Then the next day, people ran up to me saying she was feeling totally better and when I saw her, she hugged me so hard with so much joy, joy that I’d never seen in her before. My heart breaks just remembering it. I couldn’t even believe it myself, I was so overwhelmed cause I thought God was just ministering to her heart! I was so thankful to hear (through a translator of course) that she was feeling 100% better!! And today she showed me an x-ray of her foot and it’s totally healed up, bones are back in their place and everything!!

 

And to think, there’s hundreds, thousands of stories just like this all across this country, God is redeeming this tragedy, one life, one family at a time. It’s His opportunity to take back this nation and turn things around for good! Even though all the comforts of life have been taken away and I’m always tempted to just live for what I see right in front of me, I remember why God brought us here and am honoured to be a part of changing history in this nation. Lift our vision higher Jesus, so we’ll constantly see your purposes and plans for this nation!!

- tami

Who Would'a Thought

A few days before we left the base in Kona, Hawaii, staff like Loren Cunningham (founder of YWAM) prayed for teams heading out all over the world for outreach for the next two-three months. As I stood there in this powerful moment, the Lord reminded me of how when I was like around 8, I won this contest at my church because I wrote this beautiful letter about how I wanted to be a missionary and I remember my heart being so into it...then I grew up, things happened and I fell away. And flash forward nearly 20 years later now, being commissioned to go to the most devastated place on earth right now and I heard the Lord said, "and here you are, I know the deepest desires of your heart even when you forget." He showed me glimpses of how He fought for my life, was always there even when I turned my back on Him, He was there chasing me, wanting to show me who I was meant to be. So I thought about how He brought me out of the dark and into His glorious light and I’m so grateful…like who knows where I could be right now if I chose not to follow Him!! Jesus, thanks for being my friend and trusting me with your love.

- tami

Prayer 4 Haiti

Dear Faithful Follower,

haha, I sound like Jesus or something! But seriously, thanks for faithfully following our journey here at YWAM and heck, our journey of life cause it's not gonna end at YWAM. So we head to Haiti in 7 days and we're super "stoked" to love on everyone we come in contact with, whether it's the staff (who are at this point, utterly exhausted) or the people of Haiti. We're hoping to help build tents, build relationships with people, hold day camps for kids, establish a prayer room, assist with IT and just anything else that's needed in restoring this nation. In all we do, we just want God's heart for everyone, we're not going with fancy equipment or anything, all we can offer is love. More than reading news reports or governmental documents, we've been seeking His heart for this nation. Because ultimately, love in all its forms is the greatest need right now - orphans to be held, mothers to be embraced, the lame to be comforted, the list goes on.

So hopefully your still reading this so you can know how to help pray for us, and we're so grateful cause we need you! We're delighted that your able to commit to praying the following as often as you can because the more people praying, the more ammo against the "bad guys"!! Job 22:28 (NKJV) says "decree a thing and it will be established." So every time you pray this, as you declare it, it's moving Heaven and earth...and shaking Hell!! Jon and I have seen incredible miracles happen in our lives because we prayed certain specific things daily, so we pray you'll know the power of speaking this out!!

PRINT THIS & STICK IT SOMEWHERE IN CLEAR VIEW SO YOU CAN PRAY IT AS OFTEN AS YOU CAN (it takes roughly 2 mins to pray this..and you can add to it if you'd like!):

 

"God, thank you for restoring the nation of Haiti, not just its building structures, but hearts and lives! We bless every sphere of society to be brought into alignment with your truths, values and principals, bringing forth abundant life and fruitfulness (Is. 61). We bless every person in Haiti to know there's a God who loves them no matter what they've done and wants to turn this tragedy into a trophy of His grace and love.

I bless the Haiti team to be in perfect unity with you first, then with each other so that your love and power may flow through them unhindered. Protect their unity Lord! I bless them with favor, that wherever they go and whatever they do, they’ll be blessed and be victorious. And I bless them to walk in the truth of Colossians 3:12 to 17. I bless them to go filled with the spirit of wisdom, revelation and discernment, that they’d be your eyes, ears, hands and feet to those they serve. I pray they’d serve out of a place of resting in your love, that they would have wisdom to know what they’re called to do and stay within those healthy boundaries.

Finally, I pray you’ll guard their hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, that they’d go forth standing firm in truth and love. I pray Ephesians 6:10 to 19 over them. Heavenly Father, I pray you’ll protect their body, soul and spirit from anything that’s not of you, I specifically come against sickness, harm, disease, accident and death. And I bless them to make the most of every opportunity, having fun bringing God’s kingdom to the beautiful nation of Haiti. May your kingdom come, your will be done in their lives and in Haiti...and I pray all of this in Jesus' name, amen!! Let it be done!!"

Love you and thank you so much,

tami & jon and the Fire & Fragrance Haiti Team

Nothing is Impossible with God

Hey Everyone,
            We love you all so much and are so thankful for all the ways you support us.  I just wanted to write and share some things that get me so excited that we serve and love a God that can turn impossible things or situations into something that is incredibly possibly.  "For with God nothing will be impossible."  Luke 1:37.  Tami and I are getting really excited about our outreach coming up to Haiti.  We leave April 1st and we are mostly ready to go we just need to pack.  We know that this will probably be one of the most stretching things in our lives to this point but we have an assurance in our Father that He will be with us every step of the way. 

This week, a couple leaders from this base (YWAM Kona) just returned from helping in Haiti.  While there, they met this little girl completely paralyzed from the earthquake.  They were able to get her an appointment at the best healthcare institute in Haiti so they could get an x-ray to see what was going on.  Her family was so excited that she was going to be seeing a doctor that they all traveled on the bus to see it.  So the YWAM leaders and the girl and her family all headed 2hrs away to get to this place.  But when they got there, there was some sort of mixup and was told they'd have to pay lots of money to get it done.  "Sorry but we can't do anything to help," is what they said to the guys.  It was a completely impossible situation. They couldn't even bear to tell the family and told the doctor to deliver the sad news to the family. Once the doctor left, one of the YWAM leaders felt faith rise up in his heart and said, "This is an impossible situation, but lets just pray and ask God to intervene."  They began to pray for this little girl and as they prayed, feeling came back in her legs and someone felt something like a bone pop in her leg and the little girl got up and began taking a few steps...soon, she was able to fully walk!!  She hadn't walked since the earthquake. 

This is the God we love serving, He wants to turn this horrible situation in Haiti into an opportunity where He can shine His love. And this is the kindness of God that amazes me, that when we have things standing in our way that seem totally impossible that he makes it possible.  I hope everyone is doing well and that this story comes as an incredible encouragement to you with things you might be facing right now, we're praying He reveals His mighty power and love to you through them and that your encouraged to believe He can do anything...past what you can see in front of you. 

And we pray this over ourselves and you, "...that (in the midst of trials your facing), you would be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you could live a life worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, being fruitful in everything you do and growing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, so you could have great endurance and patience, joyfully giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to be share in the inheritance of the saints in His kingdom." Colossians 1:9-12...speaking of knowing His will and desires, it's powerful when we know what He wants to do as we're praying for a miracle...see 1 John 5:14-15.

Peace,

Jon

Prayer = Change

lHey Everyone,

This week Tami is taking a vacation from journaling everyone and I thought I would give blogging a try. God is amazing. Everyday we are more excited by what God is doing in our generation. Even this past 24 hours we had non-stop prayer and worship from Friday night Saturday night. It was amazing to see people passionately running after God through different styles of worship, praying for our nations, praying for our outreach locations, praying for one another and just plain enjoying

Now there were certain times we needed to be in the prayer room because each outreach team covered an hour, but many spent hours crying out to God. One guy stayed in the room for the whole 24 hours. But it isn’t just about the prayer, it is about having relationship with Jesus. It amazes me so much that the one far above all rule, power, authority and dominion (Eph. 1:20-21) wants to have deep friendship with us. It amazes me that this God who laid the foundations of the earth intimately knows us. He has numbered the hair on our heads. He is not one who is far off but one who is longing to show is goodness. Many of the students, after having a day of prayer, noticed the difference in each other’s faces and stature. Just as a quick story cause I love amazing stories. There was a man in the early 19th century in New York city who sought God on how to reach people. The Lord told him to send out invitations to people and tell them he is having a praying meeting once a week over lunch for an hour. In this time in the United States the church was on a downward turn and many were turning away from God. I believe if I remember correctly that someone even declared in the next generation there would be no one following Christ. So he sent out thousands of invites and only 20 people showed. Then the next week 40 and it is said it almost doubled on a weekly basis. Then even started making the lunch bell 5 minutes early and 5 minutes late so that people would have time to get to the nearest church and pray for the lunch hour. That year in the United States of America 1,000,000 people were added to the church, in today's terms, that would be like 6 million people (The Layman's Prayer Revival)! It is absolutely amazing that when we pray, God moves in a way that draws people to himself. Everyday we get to pray together as a school for nations, people, spheres of society and get to hear testimonies of how our prayers are making a difference. Tami’s friend Emma goes to the famous St.Andrews University in Scotland and she led a 24/7 prayer week with her friends in the same week. They put together a really good video that shows what we’re all going after through prayer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRekujFQm1U). See you next time! Peace,

Jon

Tsunami Day

This is what we sent in an email so sorry if you get this in your email, I guess just delete it or stop reading this! But thanks to all those who sent us texts, emails and called us to make sure we were ok!! We were woken up around 5am by some texts coming in on our Canadian phone. We didn’t even bother checking them and just rolled over back to bed. Then the tsunami alarm went off, and being incoherent, I thought it was weird that they were doing a drill at such a random time of day. That didn’t hinder my sleep though! It wasn’t until it kept going off that we decided to wake up and find out what was going on. That’s when we checked our phone and found out a tsunami was headed our way in just a few hours!

Commotion picked up outside as everyone came out to find out what happened. We were shocked to find out that another earthquake had hit another small country and that it was even more powerful than the one that hit Haiti. But before we could process that, we had to grab breakfast and head to the Ohana Court where everyone on the base met for instructions. Thankfully the base is just above the evacuation area and the dorms are even higher than that, so we were pretty safe (and you’ll see in our photos the long, steep set of stairs we have to walk up to get to the main area of the base). Loren Cunningham, founder of YWAM and who also lives on the island, took the mic and shared some encouraging stories of how God had protected other missionaries from impending natural disasters through dreams and stuff. He also told us to not get prideful and do anything crazy! Haha and some boys actually tried to head into town…and were stopped by security.


We were told to stay within a certain area of the base to be safe, so everyone camped at the top to watch and wait for the tsunami. A lot of us were praying though and felt at peace, that nothing was gonna happen. And as we waited for the tsunami that never came, we watched a news report that showed how the tsunami was heading in our direction but then all of a sudden split and went in different directions. We’re so thankful God spared Hawaii from the impending wave…even though the kid in me wanted the once-in-a lifetime opportunity of seeing a tsunami…we’re really grateful for Him intervening.


So a few hours later, the Kona county lifted the ban and everyone was free to hit the beaches again. But by this time, people were either napping from the exhaustion of it all, families were playing or people were just hanging out. And turns out I had the longest nap of my life, guess I was more exhausted than I knew! We were all joking that it turned into a holiday, Tsunami Day, where we could do nothing but enjoy the company of each other so it was beautiful. Point is, God is mighty to save (Zephaniah 3:17) and is always wanting to take us into a deeper place of trusting Him. Faith, Hope, Love…

tami

GIVING TO HAITI OUTREACH

Mahalo (thank you) for your desires to give towards our outreach to Haiti - which is coming very soon!  People from our base are constantly going back and forth so meetings are underway about what we're heading into and there's lots of expectation for what God wants to do through our team.  Your gift will help us get there, get around to places, and do the things we want to do like bulid houses, possibly run daycamps for kids, offer support in the refugee camps and be of help to the YWAM bases in Haiti. We receive miraculous stories of how God is saving people, one story was about a man who was pulled out of the rubble after 4 weeks and when the news asked him about how he survived, he said, "a man in a white coat kept bringing me water." Of course the news would never attribute this miracle to God, but for this story, see: http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/02/08/haiti.rescue/index.html  God hasn't given up on Haiti and we're going to let them know that! So whether through prayer or finances or both, thank you for partnering with us in this...we'll have pictures of our team up shortly. We miss you and value your friendship so much!

- WAYS TO GIVE -

ONLINE

Go to http://www.canadahelps.org/, type "YWAM BC" in the 'I want to give' box. It should say Youth With A Mission BC Society, click this option. Hit "Donate Now" and fill out the rest. For the Fund/Designation, your giving to the 'General Funds to Individual - Missionary Ministry' which should already be the option. In the box below this, the message/instruction box, write that the donation is for Jonathan Masson (MJ22). It is important to give them this instruction so that the donation actually goes to us!

SEND A CHEQUE

You can write cheques to YWAM and put 'Jonathan Masson' somewhere on it (in note area). Send the cheque to:

YWAM Project Funding

Box 57100

2480 E. Hastings

Vancouver, BC

V5K 5G6