Revival

Something's breaking.  Something's on the verge of slamming into the reality that is lived and breathed and worshiped at this campus.

You make all things new; yes, You make all things new.  And I will follow You forward...

It's the call to revival...

     REVIVAL- (n) An improvement in the condition or strength of something;
               an instance of becoming active again

It's a call to live again, to become active again.  Again.  Again means that we've been something once but left it.  It's call to return, to rend, to repudiate.  It's a call to come back to the heart of the issue, to the heart of our worship, to the heart of our Lover.

I'm not going back, I'm moving ahead; I'm here to declare to you, my past is over in You.  All things are made new.  I surrender my life to Christ.  I'm moving, moving forward.

The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  Not only are the workers few-- they're also injured.  They're battered from the constant trials of living in a society that rapes their beliefs.  They're broken from the lukewarm complacency of the Church, who should really be the en-couragement for them, spurring them on to love and good deeds by speaking courage into their lives.  They're blinded by the images of war, destruction, pain, slavery, prostitution, greed that have proven to be a false sense of the condition of God's world.

And so we, as these battered, broken, blinded workers, stumble and crawl onto the field, praying for a revival and armed with the little strength we have-- and in our hearts, oftentimes, we are overwhelmed by the size of the field that spans in front of us.

What a moment, you have brought me to.  Such a freedom I have found in You.  You're a Healer-- You make all things new.

The good thing is that not only do we have a God who's power is made perfect in our weakness but who is also a Healer.  Lord, Love, my prayer is that You heal-- mend our hearts, remind the Body, and open our eyes to the reality of Your providence.

As I pray over this revival-- an anointing by God that has been specifically and, with much weight, placed on my heart in the past few days-- I pray not only over the workers but also over those who will receive the Word and grow!  You have said that the harvest is plentiful, and I can't help but to sit in that... To sit and ponder over this statement that the
harvest....
is....
plentiful!

I give myself away.  I give myself away, so You can use me.

Repeat.

Take my heart.  Take my life as a living sacrifice.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.  This is your spiritual act of worship.  Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-- His good, pleasing, and perfect will.

God, Your will is ever so clear.  As you prepare my life as a living sacrifice, an offering to You to be used in any way that You need, I pray that You spare no part of me.  Take it all.  Use it all.  Consume it all in the flames of Your refinement.  May my life bring glory and praise to You and You only, and may this desire for a revival to break out across this campus... Lord, may this desire for revival take over and consume my life, my thoughts, my actions.  May lives be changed and the hearts of your children be turned back to You.

My life is not my own; to You I belong.  I give myself, I give myself away.


**The two songs quoted from in italics are:
Israel Houghton's Moving Forward and
William McDowell's I Give Myself Away

The Final Hours

God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supply.  -Hudson Taylor

How true those words are, for as my time here in Bangkok has been quickly coming to an end, I am able to look at all the pictures and to remember each moment as a witness of God's provision, protection, and power.  I have met people, seen religions and traditions, and been immersed in a culture where the need for God is tremendous.  Although the name of Bangkok in Thai means "city of angels," the majority of the 9.8 million who live here do not represent the name properly.

Even amidst these people, who often I find just seeing as a crowd and not as individuals because they are as numerous as the sand on the shore, God is at work.  I know that He worked through us this summer in our ministries at Passport Cafe and Rainbow Pencil Group, with the missionaries' kids at Field Forum, for a family of Hmong refugees from Vietnam, and as we just lived life in Bangkok.  And as God sent us out each day to do His work, I was more than confident that when we obeyed Him and followed His way, we were blessed, and sometimes surprised, by the ways in which He supplied everything.

Here are a few pictures, one from some of the ministries/opportunities that we were able to be a part of. :)

This is a kindergarten class from GES (Global English School) where a friend of mine, Sarah Wigal, teaches.  We were able to observe an ESL classroom for an afternoon...and play with the kids some. :)

    Rainbow Pencil Group.... I couldn't write enough about this place even if I tried.

This is Passport Cafe, a ministry at Chula University where students can come, practice their English, and hang out with American students too.  We had a blast getting to know the manager, Bee; the owner of the restaurant next door, Nick; and the students who would stop by.

Here is a picture of the guy mks who were at field forum.  Tu and Caston did an amazing job loving on them, while Katharine and Karissa worked with the younger kids.  I believe that part of the success of the field forum in general was the love and attention that was shown to each mk, something that hasn't been stressed in the past.

Today has been a Thai day because, with it being our last day in Bangkok, we scheduled to meet with a friend at 10 and then do a few other things at different times, but the Thai sense of time won.  We didn't end up meeting the friend until 11, pushing back a number of things, and other specifics were cancelled after having been rescheduled for the past three days.  Haha.  God is still teaching me to live by time and not a watch. ;)

Speaking of watches and time, I leave for the airport in exactly 12 hours!  I am very excited to be home and can't wait to see my dad and family!!  It has been an adventure, and I will miss Bangkok, but I know that Pittsburgh and then Nyack are where God needs me.  As Jim Elliot said, "Wherever you are, be all there," and I am blessed to have God's peace and contentment with being in so many different places yet to call all of them home. :)