Our first LightHouse missionary with friends at Chiba UniversityToday was a really sweet day at church. We had a visiting missionary from Japan, and were commissioning Sam, who will be heading to Burkina Faso next week.
We also had updates on Adam, who has been serving in Japan all Summer, and Sean, who will be leaving for Iraq soon.
This afternoon I went back in my blog archive and pulled out this paragraph from a previous post. It was written in July last year, during one of those points where my heart just cried out for MORE. I had been on my face, pleading with God to show us the next step.
We also had updates on Adam, who has been serving in Japan all Summer, and Sean, who will be leaving for Iraq soon.
This afternoon I went back in my blog archive and pulled out this paragraph from a previous post. It was written in July last year, during one of those points where my heart just cried out for MORE. I had been on my face, pleading with God to show us the next step.
"I would love to find a group of believers who just want to come together, read straight Scripture, and discuss what it says. I want to pray and worship together for as long as the Holy Spirit leads. I want to hear testimonies of God's amazing power, and talk about our wonderful, magnificent, indescribable GOD!!!! I want to pour our hearts out on behalf of the nations, and intercede with tears and pleading for the unreached. I want to see the Holy Spirit move in power, and rejoice as lost souls come to Christ."
It is strange to read that now, and realize those words were written three months before LightHouse Church even existed. And yet that prayer has become a reality.
In the past nine months, we have seen every one of those things come to pass. We have experienced that level of fellowship, hunger for God's Word, and worship. Three people have come to Christ, and we have experienced the joy of baptizing new believers. We sent out our first missionary and are preparing to send two more. We've prayed for hours, studies for hours, wept for the lost, and rejoiced together in what God is doing. We've watched one house church grow into two--and God raise up amazing young leaders in John and Seth to head up those groups.
And now we are witnessing a whole new stage in the church, which goes above and beyond what we had dreamed of.
A few weeks ago, Adam had asked the church to get up and pray at 5:30 a.m.--covering him and praying for his Japanese friends by name as he finally got the opportunity to share Christ with them.
God heard our prayers! Two of those girls have accepted Christ(including the shorter girl in the picture above), and one has even been baptized. I can't explain the joy of seeing the "next generation." I remember when Adam became a believer, and what an amazing journey it has been to watch God radically transform his life. Now we are seeing the fruit of Adam's life and ministry.
Sean, who will be leaving soon for Iraq, also came to a personal relationship with Christ just a couple of years ago. We have seen God grow him into a strong, faithful leader, with a heart for the Middle East. Already we have seen the fruit of Sean's life as well, and are excited about what the future holds for him.
Adam told us this weekend that he believes that he is being called to Japan permanently. We'll miss him, but are excited to watch God's plan for him unfold.
We get him back for at least a semester before he goes career. He's already told us that he wants to challenge the church with fervent, active, gut-wrenching intercessory prayer. I can't wait. Bring it on, Adam. : )
In the past nine months, we have seen every one of those things come to pass. We have experienced that level of fellowship, hunger for God's Word, and worship. Three people have come to Christ, and we have experienced the joy of baptizing new believers. We sent out our first missionary and are preparing to send two more. We've prayed for hours, studies for hours, wept for the lost, and rejoiced together in what God is doing. We've watched one house church grow into two--and God raise up amazing young leaders in John and Seth to head up those groups.
And now we are witnessing a whole new stage in the church, which goes above and beyond what we had dreamed of.
A few weeks ago, Adam had asked the church to get up and pray at 5:30 a.m.--covering him and praying for his Japanese friends by name as he finally got the opportunity to share Christ with them.
God heard our prayers! Two of those girls have accepted Christ(including the shorter girl in the picture above), and one has even been baptized. I can't explain the joy of seeing the "next generation." I remember when Adam became a believer, and what an amazing journey it has been to watch God radically transform his life. Now we are seeing the fruit of Adam's life and ministry.
Sean, who will be leaving soon for Iraq, also came to a personal relationship with Christ just a couple of years ago. We have seen God grow him into a strong, faithful leader, with a heart for the Middle East. Already we have seen the fruit of Sean's life as well, and are excited about what the future holds for him.
Adam told us this weekend that he believes that he is being called to Japan permanently. We'll miss him, but are excited to watch God's plan for him unfold.
We get him back for at least a semester before he goes career. He's already told us that he wants to challenge the church with fervent, active, gut-wrenching intercessory prayer. I can't wait. Bring it on, Adam. : )
8 comments:
How exciting to read how God has fulfilled a promise in your lives! One of the things we are talking about as a team is our need to persevere in prayer for those things that are really important. The enemy has a way of distracting us from 'praying through' things. We jump around from one thing to another and never pray something through to fruition. "Pray without ceasing..." has taken on a whole new meaning for us as understanding this to mean don't stop praying for something once you bring it before the Lord until He answers. God wants to give us these good things. He wants to bless. He wants to see souls saved, etc. But He is waiting to see how badly we want them too! Anyway, your post reconfirms the above for me and am excited about seeing the Lord answer our own Kingdom requests in the days ahead.
This is one of the most exciting things I have read in quite some time! I pray that God will continually renew your passion for Him and for the nations, and may He preserve your new church and especially the new believers in your group from falling into the trap of "church/Christianity as usual" that most of us feel stuck in.
Kiki,
This is so exciting. I can't wait to hear more. I did not know that your first house church has now become two house churches. When did that happen and was it do to numbers or proximity?
--Angie (sis-n-law)
May the Spirit greatly empower this ministry and those within it.
cb
I love that prayer.
How great is our God to answer us.
Thanks for sharing this.
Blessings
Alycelee
Kiki -
Your reminder of the power of prayer, and also the need to continue fervently therein was much needed by me today. Thank you for your dedication to the Lord and his calling on your life and ministry.
Dorcas
do you know the history of christianity at all?
do you know how christianity got invented in the place? what it was used for originally?
do you know how many centuries had passed before the concept of trinity took place?
do you know that jesus never said that he was the son of god?
faith does save, but intelligence also is part of faith, as intelligence is a property of god. dont separate that from Him.
Line upon line, precept upon precept God teaches us, directs us if we will but listen. I too am grateful for the power of prayer, and appreciate reading of your experiences. I am thankful for the word of God, scripture. I am grateful for God's direction in my life.
I believe "the Glory of God is Intelligence" and "whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come." (D&C 130:18-19)
As we spend time reading, pondering, studying, and praying about the word of God, I believe that he will help our understanding. I believe as our understanding increases, so does our relationship with God the Father an his son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. I am grateful for my relationship with them.
Thanks for sharing, and allowing me to share too.
Post a Comment