Saturday, August 23, 2008

at the beach

On The Twelfth Week Of DTS. . .

So, here we are about to begin the last week of the Lecture phase of our DTS. This past week we had a speaker describing to us what it means to minister cross-culturally. It seems like there was barely any room left in any of our brains, but we squeezed in what information we could.
This past Thursday morning at all-base intercession time our group was leading. We split up the seven spheres of influence amongst us(education, arts and media, government, family life, etc) and found prayer points for Thailand and Myanmar. During prayer time one person prayed that we (the team) would be heard and remembered for the message that we bring, not because we are white people. That is my prayer, too. I wonder how many white people have entered Thailand with a message other than the gospel and have left a lasting impression on the Thai people. Especially in the area of the sex-trade, which was brought to Thailand during the vietnam war, mainly by american soldiers. There are a lot of forces that we as Believers are going to have to work against in order to be effective on this trip. One challenge (and I won't give weight to it because I wouldn't know what to weigh it) is how to pull out aspects of Thai culture that are already in-line with Jesus' teachings. We can't simply sit back and say,"They're buddhists, so that's incredibly difficult to deal with." One of our speakers compared Mennonites with buddhists and muslims, because Mennonites understand what it is like to live out your faith in your everyday life. How our faith is not just expressed on a Sunday, but an integral part of how we live our lives everyday. This is what he said, "In my travels I have found that of the Christian denomination, Mennonites have an easier time adapting and relating to people of other religions, such as buddhists or muslims, and are able to see how their religion is woven throughout their entire life. I see that very much in the Mennonite denomination; that living out of their faith everyday, not just once a week and on holidays." So, in that way we can understand how buddhists are affected by their beliefs in a daily way. Please pray that God will give our team insights and initiative to seize opportunities for sharing Jesus' love and life as they are shown to us.
Okay, another question that some of you might have is,"What other country may Carson possibly be visiting?" Well, after our Outreach, we as a family will go to Beijing for a little while. Once there, I, Carson, would like to take an exploratory trip to Perm, Russia. There is a YWAM base there that is in need of staff to help operate their King's Kids ministry, which is a ministry that is growing rapidly and they are looking to expand their locations in the city. Also, the city of Perm, Russia has hundereds of thousands of orphans and Kathy and I would like to get involved in orphan ministry somehow and this particular YWAM base has a huge orphan ministry focus. I've called the base through Skype twice and they are hoping I can make it there from China. The only question is how to get the entry visa. From what we understand I can get a tourist visa from the Russian embassy in Beijing once we get there. That is another prayer request that we have: that receiving a tourist visa will be easy.
If any of you have tried to call us for the past two weeks, then you know our cell phone has been turned off and we now make all of our calls through Skype. So, if we call you and a number doesn't show up on your caller ID, it might be us. We will always get your emails. We check email regularly everyday and hopefully will continue to while in Thailand and China.
Well, hopefully we will update this again before we leave for Thailand. If not, then we'll do it once we get there. Thank you for logging on and praying for us. God bless you all.

Carson, Kathy, Dakota

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

On The Ropes

Greetings To All,
How are you? Please feel free to contact us and let us know how you are. This week is slightly different for us. Monday and Tuesday we were in the classroom, but Wednesday and Thursday we are on the Ropes Course that is here on base. The purpose and design for the course is team building, trust, and leadership developement. It is very unique and extremely exciting. From an 800 ft. zipline to a 100 ft. pine tree to climb, you can push yourself, encourage some one else, and place your trust in others as well. Through trust, your faith is also affected. Many parallels are made between what we do in the physical sense and how that relates to our relationship with God. The leadership team for the course is phenomenal.
Kathy and I shared a moment today on the Giant Swing, which is a twenty foot steel cable that is attached to another steel cable stretched between two pine trees. (It really is thrilling!) To "ride" it you have to climb a twenty foot tower and then jump off when you are attached to the swing. Kathy and I did it together! While sitting on the platform Kathy got a little nervous. As great as our team is they all started yelling encouraging things to her. Even though they were well intending, what she need most was a single voice to focus on. I was privileged to be sitting right beside her. I said, "Just listen to me. You can do this. When you're ready, we'll go. Don't worry about them, just listen to me." Then we went! I'm glad we did that together.
How many times are we wanting to do something to advance God's Kingdom and there are well-intended voices all around us all shouting at the same time? They're all supporting us, right? Well, then why is the decision that WE ALONE can make so difficult? My theory: because we don't listen to the One Voice that truly matters. The One Voice that we should let be closest to us. It's awesome to be encouraged and supported, but if you only act on those words alone and not on God's words, you may act prematurely. God can still use what you do, but He will do wonders with those who listen to His voice above all.
I want to explain a little bit more about what I mentioned in the last update. (No, I'm not revealing the mystery country.) I love it when I hear a thought of mine put into words by some one else. We had a treat in class last week: we watched a movie. In it a man was leading a choir and trying to bring out the best in people. He wrote a song that contained the line "I want to live my life knowing I was good enough." It really explained what I want to help instill in people. I want to show them that they are good enough, but I don't want to wait until they have MANY obstacles to overcome. We feel that working with young children has been laid upon our hearts. Tell them that they are loved, not just by us, but by Some One who loves them even more than we do.
Well, good night. As you tuck your children in tonight, if you have them and they are tuckable, tell them how much they are loved and how they are exactly who Father created them to be. And that they are valued for who they are.
God's Love To You,

Carson, Kathy, Dakota