Jessica & I BOTH sat in on two Board Meetings. It was a joy to do this TOGETHER! Serving together.
It was also a joy to have our kids and Lindsay (our Nanny/Teacher) with us as well. So much fun doing ministry as a team!!! FamilyWithAMission :-)
Some amazing highlights of what God is doing here and around the globe:
- Eric Russell, a fellow board member, talked about a "healing water" that could not only power a "food machine" to feed people where food can't grow, but also be medicine. It is in trials at the FDA and he claims someday could be an anti-inflammatory for topical use as well as used to cure things like MS dementia and Alzheimer's.
- We learned how there are currently over 150 million Christians in China. I look forward to seeing more confirming evidence of that. Peter Shu, an incredible 72 yr old Chinese missionary, discussed the vision of China's church leaders... To send out over 1 million Chinese missionaries in an effort to spread Jesus to the West from China to Jerusalem (Return the gospel to Jerusalem).
What was so crazy to me is that WE think we need to share Jesus inside China. However the Chinese feel the church is very strong there already. Their focus is sending out missionaries not bringing them in!!!
In the book of ask in the Bible we learn how Paul first try to go east and north with the Gospel but the Holy Spirit locked his way and sent him back west. Since that time the Gospel has been moving west around the globe. First to Europe then to America now wrapping around the globe to China.
If you look at man's standard of living and peacefulness it follows the same path that this message of Jesus is followed. The Chinese church feels that it is their role to now carry the torch and continue west fulfilling the great commission (sharing Jesus with all nations).
- We also discussed the cooperation and excitement of the Call2All Movement. All the mission organizations on the planet agreeing to join together to fulfill the great commission by 2020. Fulfilling it in seven specific quantifiable ways.
- Heard about a uniscript created by Chinese to transform the entire nation. The vision is for many more Chinese to be able to read and thus read the Bible. They believe that with this new script, they will be able to teach someone to read in just two weeks.
-Loren Cunningham talked about the need for a business DTS class. Even beyond a class there is a vision for a business college or university within YWAM. It was interesting because my friend David Stone shared the same vision with me the night before. However I do not believe David Stone has discussed this ever with Lauren. David Stone tells me he received it in a vision from God.
- Jessica and I are feeling called towards this business DTS and also toward the movement in China. We look forward to praying this week and asking the Lord to reveal more details. However we did step out in an act of faith this week and purchased a condo in building D on the YWAM base. Maybe Our family will use it as we teach a class? Maybe it will be used by family and friends to be a place to stay?
- A great joy we had this week was sitting with the entire advisory board and having the first meal ever served in the new cafeteria/Transmedia building. We & DEFENDER have helped build this bldg.
As David Cunningham said there's no other building like it in the world. Just imagine literally hundreds of thousands maybe 1 million meals being served every year in that building. Plus movies and illustrations and applications and recordings being made in the Transmedia portion of the building! This building will be the center of all of Ywam. I call it the crown jewel.
I know some of this stuff in this update seem crazy!!! But God is moving & the empowering theme here is God Centered excellence in every sphere of society. We are all called to missions.
In the past Christians have condemned technology. Then we tried to copy he worlds applications. Now our call is to LEAD in innovation!!!
I look forward to looking back on this journal 10 years from now and seeing God's fulfillment!
