Finland Tour - Kuopio

Finland Tour - Jyvaskyla

Finland Tour - Porvoo Outreach

Finland Tour - Helsinki Part I

Last Days of April

April is behind us and I still can't believe how quickly the time has passed. We feel so at home here already - I hate the thought of leaving.
We are traveling to Finland today to visit the churches there and enjoy the amazing Finns in the Body! Please pray that we would have a safe, blessed and fruitful trip.

Roger gave the introduction last night and I just wanted to share the 5 points he gave because they really encouraged us.
1. Don't get stuck in the mud. Phil.3:14
2. Don't stop living by faith. Hebrews 11
3. Don't stop walking by faith just because you sinned. Ps. 119:9
4. Don't stop just because your friends do.
5. Don't condemn yourself! Rom. 8:1
When you are having "one of those days" where it seems like everything is going wrong, all your faith is gone and you feel so weak you don't even want to move - encourage yourself in these things and in the Word of God. Shake the dust off your feet and keep going! God WILL be faithful.

Creative and Living Church

Is the church living or is the church mechanical? I believe the church is living - living with God's word, God's Spirit and God's heart for the lost. When a church becomes mechanical, it loses that Living Power. When the church becomes just an organization, we lost the power of the organism. Did any part of Jesus' ministry seems "organized" or structured? He walked in the will of the Father, and spoke to people in different creative ways, without a canned answer or a schedule. He was totally and completely led by the Spirit of God.
There is nothing wrong with having a plan and a vision - but to limit God through strict inflexible schedules is man's way of making things easier for the flesh. Its natural to want to have a plan and its supernatural to hear from God and let Him lead you.
In Turkey especially, the need for creativity is clear. We are learning from Pastor Matti all the time in this area. Most of the people we have met and are ministering to, we did not meet while on "evangelism." We have to be open to meeting people at all hours of the day, at all kinds of different settings. Its a challenge to always be ready to show Christ to people in any setting and in creative ways. And God is the only One who can lead you in the right words to say and at the right time - He is the God of the individual and He knows exactly what each individual soul needs. God can lead us in so many different ways - and He is!
I wanted to write this to encourage everyone - because this is what is so amazing (and unique) about our church! We have theology and methods of evangelism - but we have been taught that is MUST be by the Spirit of God, or else it is dead. I am SO proud and thankful for my church, Greater Grace.

Psalm 127:1 "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchmen walk in vain."

Roger & Liz

My own Calling

I just read the devotional for today from Pastor Stevens' The Bible Speaks from the Throne. It just broke my heart. The first sentence is "Never consider quitting God's business...Abide in your calling."
Sometimes its too much for my small mind to comprehend - that the God of the universe has a specific plan for the people living in this city, and that that same God has called us to be a part of that plan. I mean, I'm still in shock that I'm an adult... with a husband! much less being used by God in His unfathomable plan for the lost people that He loves so much. He is the One who has made it possible for Roger and I to be here right now, and as I sit here in our little apartment, waiting for Roger to get home from playing soccer, I let my mind look into the future - into what God is going to do in this country. I can't imagine anything greater, anything more humbling than to be able to be even the smallest part of it!
God has a plan for Istanbul, and WE are a part of it!! I never want to avoid my calling. I never want to get passive about lost souls. I never want to stop seeing Turkish people through the eyes of Christ. I never want to shirk my responsibility to abide in the calling by which I have been so clearly called.
I hope this doesn't seem like a heavy condemning post! Its really not! But it is convicting for me and I think that's so important. Its not enough just to be physically present in Turkey - I need to be available DAILY to be used by God in ways that I can't even begin to figure out. If I could save just ONE soul here - it would be the single most epic achievement of my life. Sorry if that sounds a little melodramatic... but if you think about it, what else could be greater?
I'm so grateful God keeps giving me opportunities, when I have probably just missed the last 50 He put right infront of me! :-)