Fall colors!

All of these trees are within one km. of my home! :-)

I must admit, one of the great things about being back in the U.S. is the fall colors! They have been quite stunning this year!

Did you know......?

Did you know that most of the Christian missions organizations in the world met in early 2009 and are now in agreement that the Gospel will reach every ethnic group by the year 2020? THAT is exciting because then the good times can roll even faster! Oh yea, there is that minor thing of darkness and evil increasing like never before that we'll have to deal with, but take heart, because at the same time, unprecedented light, signs and wonders orchestrated by God almighty will be present and increase! Ah, the blessing of living in this time!

A great quote

"More powerful than any anti-Christ system are the prayers of the saints, united with the nations' prayers according to God's will, combined with Jesus' intercession."

End of October update!

Below, you can read the letter I send out to folks who pray for me and to those who support me as well. Hoping some of what is in here encourages my blog readers as well! Blessings upon you!

Dear friends and partners in ministry!

Cool, fall greetings from Kansas City, Missouri, where leaves are turning, falling, morning air is crisp, and life continues to grow in ever-increasing blessing for me!

First, THANK YOU for your continued friendships and partnerships with me! I could not be here during this sabbatical year doing the things I believe God has called me to do without your prayers and your ongoing financial partnership with me! The seeds you are sowing in both arenas are bearing fruit, and I pray that you too are reaping the great rewards from our Father for your sacrifices!

As I was sitting in the prayer room last week during a worship set led by Misty Edwards, one of the main worship leaders here, I sensed the Lord putting a number of passages from the Bible on my heart. As I looked them up, I was amazed by how each one spoke to my heart in new and fresh ways…isn’t that fun when God does that? One of the passages was from Psalm 111:9 and says, “He has sent redemption to His people, He has commanded His covenant forever; Holy and awesome is His name.” What promises and what prophetic words the psalmist spoke regarding the coming of Jesus!

So, this letter will be two-fold: the condensed version (ha ha ha) at the beginning, and more specific details following the closing.

Praises:

I and some other missionaries have made an investment into the 24/7 prayer room in Budapest, Hungary with a $360 donation toward a projector for their worship school, which just began in September, 2009.

I am blessed beyond words to be able to take part in this internship called “Introduction to IHOP”. (You can read more details about it at www.ihop.org and click on ‘internships’.) We were told the first day: “The next 3 months is about you RECEIVING from the Lord, and while it may feel like you are drinking from a fire hydrant, drink up as much as you can!” HOW VERY TRUE!

My house is great, I have a fabulous young lady living in my basement for the next year, and my cats, Toby and Simon are peaceful, happy and loving the freedom they have both inside and outside!

I believe the heaviness and tiredness I sensed during my last months in Hungary are lifting and I know you are praying because I am hearing more and more from the Lord and it is both fun and exciting! Plus, there is much, much healing taking place in my heart, so keep on praying!

A student from Hungary wrote recently in some desperation wanting to know “what I have” that allows me to live in such peace and extend forgiveness like I do. So, via email, I have been in dialogue with her about Jesus and life in Him, and she is reading through the Gospel of John and recognizing her need to give her life to Him! Hallelujah!

I have gotten together with a former student from Hungary, Kitti Katona, twice now; she lives in Parkville, just north of Kansas City, so I continue to practice my Hungarian and I pray I can be an encouragement to her.

Prayer Requests:

Pray God would keep me physically healthy! I’ve gotten hit with 4 different things since starting Intro 4 weeks ago!

Pray for continued intimacy with Jesus, clarity in hearing God speak, and healing of my heart.

Finances: Currently, including my rental income and income from my part-time job as a writing coach online, I am at 67% of what I need monthly. If 35 people would partner with me at $20/month, I would be truly grateful! If you have questions regarding this, feel free to email me and we can set up a time for me to call you!

Pray for stamina: this internship is 50 hours a week (25 in the classroom and in service assignments, and 25 in the prayer room).

Pray for God’s wisdom regarding the next step with my book, Walking Forward. I finally heard from Navpress on Monday that they will not be publishing it. Do I self-publish or seek a publisher? This is the wisdom I need.


I would love to hear from you and to pray for you! Help me fill those 25 hours in the prayer room each week with YOUR prayer requests! As we partner together with God, His kingdom will indeed come and His will indeed be done on earth as it is in heaven!

May His peace and love rest upon you today! See below for more details about life and ministry here!

Arden

If you would like to begin partnering with me, a tax-deductible contribution can be made through my organization: Christian Educators Outreach P.O. Box 6578 Charlottesville, VA 22901. Include a separate note saying: Arden Campbell. If you don’t care about receiving a tax-deduction, you can mail a check to me, at 10700 College Ave. Kansas City, MO 64137. Blessings on you as you sow into His Kingdom as He leads you!

For those with more time…..

During this time of transition for me from ministry overseas to sabbatical back in the U.S., people have wondered and rightly asked, “Why are you going to Kansas City?” I’ve had the privilege of explaining it to some people in person, and I’ve given snippets in previous letters. Below, I borrowed part of a friend’s prayer letter in which she encapsulates some of the ‘heartbeat’ of this place called International House of Prayer, Kansas City, and for me, I can see God’s hand ALL over His call for me to be here for however long He desires, be it one year or longer. The wedding of 24/7 day and night prayers for justice with 24/7 acts of justice is the cry of my heart, and so many of the justice initiatives that are beginning here are near and dear to that which I believe God has put on my heart.

Does that mean I’m staying here? I truly don’t know. God is being silent with me regarding that because He already communicated that I am to be here for a time of rest and transition into what He has next. So, even if God calls me someplace else after this year, the training I am receiving, the filling up by God that I am getting, and the Lord’s vision that He is imparting to me for His glory is worth it all! For now, I learn, grow, serve, sit, wait, pray and know that He is God! Here’s is the excerpt from my friend’s letter:

Last month on Sept. 19th, IHOP celebrated their 10-year anniversary of 24-hour night and day prayer and worship! It was an exciting celebration and Mike Bickle, president of IHOP, retold the prophetic history of the whole journey and shared the vision for what is ahead. So, what is the agenda for the next 10 years?
IHOP is launching 24-hours acts of justice to go along with the 24 hours prayers of justice. These acts of justice have many faces to them, and include the following:

• Women’s Center of Justice - widows, orphans, and those rescued from human trafficking will be housed, educated, discipled, and ministered to emotionally, spiritually, and practically.

• Orphan Justice Center - works to adopt and restore orphaned children including undocumented refugee minors

• Zoe Foundation and Hannah’s Dream - helps fund adoption of children as an alternative to abortion and provides care for the adoptive mothers as well.

• Exodus Cry - works for the ending of human trafficking and rescuing those out of the sex industry.

Part of the prophetic history of IHOP is that when we reach 500 full-time intercessors, it will go to 5,000 overnight. In preparation for the 5,000 people that are coming, the Lord has given IHOP two new pieces of land. One is 125 acres right along I-71, just 4 miles from the prayer room. The other piece of property is an old strip mall on 12 acres just down the road on I-71 as well, which cost $3.3 million dollars. Miraculously, the latter was paid for by ONE man with one check! The 125 acres is also paid for in full, again by one gift from one person, so not only has the Lord provided these new pieces of land, but also He’s given them to IHOP DEBT FREE!

Plans are already drawn up for the new land for IHOP University, dorm rooms, office towers, and a new 5,000 seat conference center. God is moving!

To hear the whole prophetic history of IHOP, listen to the Encountering Jesus mp3 at www.ihop.org.

Budapest, Hungary prayer room!

It is so much fun to be connected, in both tangible and intangible ways, with the folks who started, a few years ago, a 24/7 prayer room in Budapest, Hungary. This fall, they started a worship school and have 20 students enrolled! I asked Laci Prazsak, the main leader there, what their needs are, and he said a projector to better teach in the worship school. So, the Lord has had a handful of us missionaries here in Kansas City and another missionary in Hungary provide some of the funding they need to buy this projector! This excites me because one of the heart-desires of many in the prayer movement across the globe is that God would raise up houses of prayer in cities all around the world, and it is happening!

Probably the most exciting thing for me is that across the globe, the prayer movement is joining with the missions movement in powerful unity to help usher in the second coming of Jesus! Hallelujah!

In conclusion……

Thanks for reading this far! I pray that your hearts along with mine will be ignited with the fire of God through the Holy Spirit to see the world filled with His glory! These are challenging times we are living in, and according to the Bible, times will grow increasingly difficult. We need the Lord to give us wisdom and strength to stand and stand firm when the onslaught comes; it is by grace alone, and my prayer is that God will strengthen you according to His perfect might in all Truth and give you His spirit of revelation that you may be discerning. (Ephesians 1)

Blessings upon you, in Jesus’ name, Amen!

Arden

Need some encouragement?

Go read the latest news from the Loux family...remember they adopted 3 special needs boys from Ukraine? Have a look:

http://louxfamilyblog.com/

Is this not disturbing to anyone out there?

I just came from a meeting. At that meeting, the over 1000 of us were pretty sobered by the latest news out of Washington. The appointed Regulatory Czar is adamantly and strongly recommending that marriage be completely abolished in the U.S. He compared marriage to someone belonging to a country club. The person joins that club because he wants to and he enjoys it; and if the enjoyment ends, then he can take his money and go find a different country club. He is pushing for civil unions instead of marriage. Have a look at this verse from 1 Timothy 4:1-3: "Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry....." Who would have thought that the U.S. would lead in this? Father, forgive us for we really don't know what we are doing.

Click on the link below to watch a great video

Hey, even though this is in Croatian, it's worth watching! What a kid!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paSHdAzPV4g&feature=player_embedded

1/3 of the way through Intro

It's hard to believe that we have finished four weeks of this internship. Only eight weeks to go! It is FLYING by and I'm loving every minute of it! Yes, it is demanding (50 hours a week is a demanding schedule!), and sometimes overwhelming with the amount of material we are learning, and yes, I'm kind of tired at times, but I am getting into a kind of rhythm, and enjoying life and people and all I'm learning!

I may have already said this, but the image bears repeating: This internship is like drinking from a fire hydrant! There's SOOOOOOO much great stuff to learn and so much time just sitting in the presence of the Lord with 24/7 prayer and worship going on that one cannot help but grow!

Right now, as I'm typing this blog, I have the live webstream on (you can get it too!) and the team is singing this chorus:

"It's all for You, here we are, here we are! Jesus shine through all the praises that we sing. For You are the One we want to meet!"

Two books of the Bible I have neglected the most are Song of Solomon and Revelation. Well, guess what? Those are the two books most emphasized here at IHOP, so I am really getting an education! Seeing God's passion for people is just blowing me away...we cannot but respond with what they are singing now:

"We love You, we love you, Lord, You're the one we came here for! You're the one our hearts adore!"

So, in spite of the bad sore throat, bad cold, stretched tendon in the arch of my foot, UTI, and touch of the flu that I've experienced throughout these 4 weeks, I am absolutely in awe that God would give me the grace to be here, now, experiencing Him in such amazing ways! He is good all the time!

A nation that needs Jesus!

I pulled the quotation below from a friend's newsletter:

In a recent issue of a Hungarian magazine, we read the results of a Gallup Poll in which 34% of Hungarians described their country’s future as "hopeless." Only Haiti, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe scored worse!

They've tried communism, socialism, atheism, agnosticism, democracy and materialism...and still....

Time to give Jesus a try!

Thought

"Joy is the serious business of heaven" - C.S. Lewis

Well................

During the first two weeks of Intro, I got a bad sore throat which developed into a bad cold. :-(

During the third week of Intro, the tendon in my arch went ballistic and I could hardly walk for about 2 days. :-(

This week started with a UTI! Oh what fun!

Last night I had a dream that I and a friend from VA were in my car and went sailing off an extremely high cliff, backwards....and we knew we were going home to be with Jesus.

Funny, I didn't face any "challenges" before starting Intro....hm, can you say spiritual battle? :-)))))))) I love it that I have a target on me because it simply heightens my resolve to face that enemy down!

Driving the shuttle

The International House of Prayer has a few different buildings which are a few miles from one another. Parking is always an issue, especially for major events, like this past weekends' Prayer and Prophetic Conference. So, in order to accomodate all those who want to come, IHOP provides free shuttle service from building to building.

As part of my internship, I get to serve in various ways, and this weekend, I got to drive one of the shuttles on Friday night! These hold about 14 people, and I must say, it was a BLAST! I had such a great time, especially when there was only one or two people in the shuttle because I was able to talk and get to know them while shuttling them from place to place!

So, I had a friend of mine take these pictures of me driving the shuttle! :-)

Interestingly, one of my favorite things about this particular season I am in right now is that I'm not the point person. I'm not the leader. I'm not "in charge". I am able to receive and give...there are others giving me my service assignments and it is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO wonderful! It's probably more wonderful because I know it is for a greater purpose than myself or my little world!

Fall colors

Here are the streets I drive on nearly every day here in Kansas City! Beautiful fall leaves! :-)

The positive and the negative

Here's a very positive, encouraging story I heard on Saturday. A soldier in Iraq reported that they were trying to tune in their internet with a satellite dish when suddenly, a girl in a baseball cap singing worship songs came on. They were all intrigued and very encouraged by the music and wondered, "What IS this?" They discovered it is the Prayer Room here in Kansas City, and the girl in the baseball cap leading worship is Misty Edwards. This soldier, who has lost 60% of his company in Iraq, leaves every morning not knowing if he will return. The prayer room music is now playing 24/7 in their barracks in Iraq and giving incredible encouragement to all of the soldiers!

Here is a negative, disturbing story: All public school students in California are going to be forced to celebrate a new holiday celebrating a famous gay man, and students must take part in all celebratory activities in school. Parents do not have the option to have their kids "opt out" of this celebration.

A rather disturbing thing has just been stated by the "Safe Schools" czar: The problem in our schools today is heterosexuality.

Lastly, in Houston Texas, a 7-story abortion clinic is being built with the 3rd floor set apart for late-term abortions.

As you can see, things in the U.S. are on a downward spiral, but there are glimpses of some positive things that are impacting people around the world!

Some Intro folks

I thought tonight I'd "introduce" you to some of the people in my small group who are in the Intro program. There are 80 people in Intro, so they have divided us up into small groups.

Intro is such a wonderfully diverse group of people from all over the U.S. In my small group we range in age from 60+ down to 18. We've got 5 married couples and 5 singles. One couple has served as pastors in a church in Colorado for years. Our 18 year old young man JUST gave his life to Jesus about 7 months ago, has no Bible knowledge whatsoever, but is a worshipper of God like I've not seen in a LONG time! He's so hungry for Jesus, is drinking in everything and is soooo open to all that God has for him! He's become like my younger brother, and I know the Lord has knit our hearts in a special way. Another couple has 8 children and are completely walking by faith to be here and be provided for! I could go on and on...

The stories of how the Lord led each person here are incredible. I am humbled to be here, and so thankful!

Whew what a week!

I turned the heat on in my house this week! Plus, it's been a CRAZY week for me. Not only have I had to hoof it and get some things corrected on my taxes, but also I've had a VERY sore arch on my left foot for two days which has me limping. Distractions. Distractions. Distractions. Distractions.

Am I distracting you by writing the word 'distractions' so many times? I'm learning about distractions a lot this week...those things which keep us from focusing on the things that are most important. Now, truth be told, if we truly stopped and asked ourselves the question: What ARE the things that are most important? I wonder what we would come up with? So, when you come up with that, hopefully, short list of the things which are important, I want to challenge you to ask yourself, "Why are those things important? What makes those things important? And stretch and ask THIS question:

Of what eternal value are the things that I consider to be most important?

I don't ask this to point any fingers...instead, this is the question that I am facing and I thought maybe some of you might want to face it as well and really spend some time grappling with it.

Well, some of you might say, "I don't have time to spend time grappling with that question...I have more important things to do!" Ok, then just stop for 15 seconds and ask yourself: "What is MORE important than asking yourself the question: OF WHAT ETERNAL VALUE ARE THE THINGS THAT I CONSIDER TO BE MOST IMPORTANT?

Now, I know I have some atheist and agnostic readers out there who are thinking that my question is completely irrelevant because either 1. maybe there is no God and thus no eternity and thus no eternal value, or 2. there is no God and therefore nothing has any eternal value. Ok, if you are one of those readers, then I challenge you, still, to ask the question: What are the most important things you spend your time doing? But follow it with the question: WHY? And my challenge to you is this: if it only has value for the moment, for the here and now, but for no other reason, then why value it? The moment passes, this time passes. You may say, "to make memories." Or "to enjoy the moment now." Great...I'm all for enjoyment and fun, etc., but then you die and it doesn't matter anyway, at all. That, to me, is futility and the epitome of emptiness.

Ok, didn't mean to get into sermonizing there...sorry.

Back to the "whew what a week!" Not only have I been hit with distractions of many different sorts, but I've been challenged to the hilt in my classes and in my dreams and personal times with the Lord. Life, for me, always has been such an incredible adventure with God, and that adventure is just accelerated here 10-fold! I love it!

There is a huge prophetic conference here at IHOP this weekend, and as part of my service during my internship, I get to drive the shuttle bus tonight from 7:30 - midnight! Whoo hoo!!! What a GREAT adventure this life is!

Reverse culture shock

Yes, reverse culture shock is a reality. The term 'culture-shock' is an interesting one, an experience that only people who have traveled or lived outside of their home country can relate to. It encompasses all of life from the simple to the complex. It includes 'struggling' with basic things like buying food or understanding currency exchange rates to more complex things like language barriers and navigating public transportation (or the lack thereof), eating unfamiliar foods and figuring out what is culturally acceptable when going to visit a person in their home. "Do I take off my shoes or not? Do I bring a gift or not? What kind of gift would be appropriate? How do I greet them...with a handshake, bow, kisses on the cheeks, a hug?"

I'm going through reverse culture shock a little bit at a time. Today's experience was realizing that I literally must drive everywhere to get anywhere "useful". Ok, I've already experienced this, but today, it was bugging me. We Americans basically spend our days in our houses, our cars or in the places we drive to, and the distances are simply downright far. I actually miss the 'crowdedness' of the city and the streets and sidewalks teeming with people, morning, noon and night. I feel like I'm in a vast expanse of openness...which in some ways can be nice, but today, it felt very lonely and distant. (Can you tell this is difficult to explain?)

Anyway, that's enough for this blog.....

The Milwaukee Stalker

I've not addressed Milwaukee for a while, but just checked my blog tracker and yep, you guessed it, Milwaukee, WI is stalking again. Get this: Milwaukee has checked my blog 45 times....that's FORTY-FIVE TIMES in 11 days!!!

That's more than 10 times per day!

What is WRONG with you, Milwaukee?

More specific randomness

End of week two of Intro has come and gone. Tomorrow is my sabbath day. I plan to go to the Y and work out and then grade essays for my 17 online students. Then I'm meeting friends again at Grinders downtown for dinner....Hungarian cuisine. Chicken paprikas!

Toby is sleeping peacefully next to me on the sofa. Simon is being the grand explorer tonight, making his way in and out the cat door. His new favorite place in the house is anywhere near a vent because I've turned the heat on...yes, it's cold here in Kansas City; cold enough to turn the heat on!

The sermon in church today was on extravagant giving. It's the most amazing sermon I've heard on giving ever in my life. The minister gave numerous personal examples of how God has honored him and his wife's decisions to give extravagantly into the work of God's kingdom. One story I loved was when he was still a teenager and bought a bunch of Bibles, in faith, for $301.24. He didn't have the money, but by faith put in the order. When the Bibles showed up, he got a call to come pick them up. He still didn't have the money, not even $1. As he was walking out the door to go and tell the people he'd ordered the Bibles from that he was sorry, but he didn't have the money, he got a call. "Hey, there's a check for you." He picked up the check on his way to where the Bibles were and the check was for $301.25! He had told NO ONE the cost of the Bibles and that he didn't have money to pay for them...he only told God. The challenge: are we willing to sow extravagantly into God's Kingdom and believe Him to provide for us?

I also received a very, very shall we say "challenging" letter?!? Those of you who are prayer warriors, please pray for me, that God would work EVERYTHING out according to truth, justice and His perfect will! Thanks!

Ok, Simon is back inside, it's late, and I'm tired. It's been a GREAT week.

Random thoughts....

Here are random thoughts in bullet points:

• It's cold here...frost warning tonight. Turned the heat on for the first time today.
• Happy: A wonderful young lady just moved into my basement apartment today!
• Sad: the wonderful family who was living in my basement apartment has moved out. :-(
• I'm doing laundry right now...waiting for the dryer to finish so I can go to bed.
• Had popcorn for dinner...oops, that's not on the "O" blood type diet!
• Actually, had a hamburger and two carrots for dinner...popcorn was after EGS snack.
• Toby got really upset today when I was in the basement moving my boxes from the storage area up to the garage...REALLY upset...wouldn't stop meowing. I'm pretty sure he thought we were moving again. Poor little guy.
• I am quite adept now at putting things in my attic.
• I missed the last day of the farmer's market...they are pretty wimpy here in the U.S....unlike the market in Szeged, Hungary, they don't sit outside all winter selling.
• I'm curious about the Nobel committee's selection of Obama for the prize given the others who were on the list who have actually accomplished something significant.
• I'm learning.
• I'm growing.
• I'm seeing how much more I need to learn and grow.
• I love my Honda Fit which continues to average 40 mpg, even in the city!
• I'm looking forward to Monday night and csirke paprikas at a downtown KC restaurant with my Hungarian friends!
• I love it that I was able to chat, in Hungarian, on skype today while in the prayer room!
• I love the YMCA.
• I miss my hairdresser, Bori...SO in need right now.
• I miss my Hungarian friends.
• I enjoy my new friends here.
• Life is good.

The past three days....

Have you ever been someplace where you hear three incredible testimonies from three different people and all three life-stories bring you to tears?



Tuesday, we heard from a gentleman who was BORN in a Nazi concentration camp right near the end of WWII! This messianic Jewish man has had a life NONE of us would ever want or even wish for anyone. The theme of his message was FORGIVENESS. As he told the story of his life and all the abuse and torture he endured, he would stop and ask: "Could you forgive these people?" "Could you forgive?" Over and over and over again: "Could you forgive?" This man KNOWS about forgiveness and the freedom it brings. By the time he finished, I don't think there was a dry eye in the room of 80+ people. A few people were rather audibly sobbing, and as he began to walk around and give people hugs, those sobs increased as the flood-gates of forgiveness began to be released in people's lives!

Yesterday we heard from a man who was delivered from homosexuality and healed from years and years and years of abuse and confusion. Today we heard from his wife of 21 years, who was delivered from her life of homosexuality and radically healed from more abuse than anyone should have to endure. Between them, they have 4 precious children and an amazing ministry of inner healing, where God's love and forgiveness is at the forefront!

I was telling a friend today, "you know, I didn't plan to spend most of these three months crying!" God is so touching my life and the deep parts of my heart, bringing healing and restoration to deeper and deeper "onion layer" levels. I would not trade this for anything!

Some first pix from Intro

Our group of 80 interns has been divided into smaller groups. During our large group session on the first day, they had each group stand and the leaders of Intro prayed over each person.

Corey Stark heads up the whole Intro to IHOP program. Engaging teacher, humble man of God.

Individuals receiving the laying on of hands and prayer!

A picture which cannot capture everyone in the Intro group.

These are all the small group leaders and teachers in Intro, introducing themselves.

As we begin the second week of Intro to IHOP, I want to post some pictures from the first week!

Pictures from last night's Hungarian meal

My former student, Kitti Katona, is second from the left. In this pic there are four Hungarians, one Brit and two Americans! I LOVE international gatherings!

As promised, some pix from last evening!

What a FUN evening!

Tonight was a first! I got to meet with a former student of mine from Hungary who goes to Park College here in Kansas City! Imagine that! Kitti Katona graduated from Deak in Szeged about 5 years ago and is on a soccer scholarship and working on her masters degree now here!

So, she found this restaurant in KC called Grinders which, on Monday nights, has Hungarian food!!! The "szakacs" is a 60+ something year old Hungarian man! Tonight's Hungarian menu was goulash! Next week, it is csirke paprikas! Kitti brought friends from her soccer team, 2 other Hungarian girls, a British girl and one American. Two other American girls came as well. There just happened to be another Hungarian woman at the restaurant as well, so I got to speak some Hungarian, although since it was an international group, we mostly spoke English!

WHAT A BLAST! I'm so happy to find this restaurant, these people, and have the chance to speak some Hungarian! For all my Hungarian buddies, I have NOT lost it yet! :-))))))

Pictures to come once I stop being lazy about downloading them from my camera to the computer....sorry.

Loux Family Blog

Please click on my TITLE above and read the blog entry there! For those of you who are following the Loux family and their adventure in adoption, you will know what a blessing this family is!

I've gotten to see all three boys a few times here at IHOP and they are THRIVING! Sasha and I have had a couple of short conversations as well! Precious lives!

End of first week of Intro

Wow, what a week! A great week...overwhelming, but wonderful all in the same breath! I thought I was walking out of the prayer room at 6 p.m. this evening and I sensed I needed to go back in and speak with a woman who was new to this place (like I'm not???). She is Jewish and I had to, during my service as an usher, tell her some "rules" about the prayer room. She left saying she felt very "unwelcome" there. I felt badly, but she was sitting outside the room when I came out. I walked past and started for my car...then I believe the Holy Spirit said, "Go back and talk with her."

So I did. It turned out really well! God used my newness and hers as well to help bring some clarity to things for her, and when I left, she was ready to go back into the prayer room for a while.

I'm learning to listen. A quality I really need to learn. I've had 5 amazing situations in the past week where I've sensed I've 'listened' well, and in all three situations, it has been confirmed to me that I have 'heard well'. This excites me because all of this is really new to me. The woman today was actually the fifth 'listening' test for me.

Anyway, I forgot to share something really amazing about the 10 year celebration of IHOP. Saturday night was the "Big night". That's when they announced and officially "launched" the various 'justice ministries' here. They also took up a special offering for those ministries. Now, you have to understand that EVERYONE here on staff as well as those of us who are interns and ALL STUDENTS are ALL on support...meaning everyone here is a missionary supported by wonderful churches and individuals. So, most of the folks there Saturday night are missionaries...some are visitors of course, and then there are guests and partners of IHOP. Anyway, the offering from all these people combined was ONE MILLION DOLLARS! Approximately $430,000 came JUST from those who are here at the IHOP missions base...yep, from missionaries themselves!

I'm floored...humbled...amazed...and all that money goes 100% into these new ministries they have started here! What a blessing!

First week of Intro

This blog entry is a bit premature since officially, my first week of Intro to IHOP doesn't end until Sunday afternoon. But I'll give the low-down so far!

Incredible. Long days. Short nights. Quick meals between sessions. Long hours in the prayer room soaking in the presence of the Lord and praying for the nations. Great times of worship. Sweet times of intimacy with the Lord in His Word and in prayer. Amazing group of 65 people all taking Intro together. Another amazing group of 15 folks from the "older generation" (50+) who are taking Simeon right alongside us. Overload of information. Incredibly humble leadership.

We've been told this is 3-months of RECEIVING time. That's tough to tell people who are in ministry or who love to minister to others. But that's the goal... that we would RECEIVE for 3-months. Oh, what a blessing and what JOY!

I got a sore throat on the second day which has developed into a full-blown cold, but I'm drinking tons of tea with honey and lemon and pressing through. I get to sleep in tomorrow morning....and I have MONDAY totally off! SLEEP will be in order for sure! Oh, and maybe grocery shopping!

Loving it...so thankful I can be here and get filled up, prepared, set-up...hee hee heee....for whatever God has for me! So, there you have it, blog readers....an update on how I'm doing. Now, can I hear from some of you via email, maybe, to know how YOU are doing?

Milwaukee

Did I tell you I've figured out who my Milwaukee reader is? It is some "automatic" blog tracker...oooo, maybe I've written some controversial stuff and I am now being watched by some big dogs. Anyway, just as SOON as I post this blog, Milwaukee "sees" it. Interesting....and we thought Big Brother didn't exist!

Sick...ill...not feeling well....

AARRRGGGHHHH!!! I don't like colds, and I am saddled with one right now. The worst part is I cannot stay home and in bed to get better. Alas, I'm heading to sleep now cuz that's the best medicine besides prayer...and lots of tea with honey.

Thought to ponder....

Here's a thought to ponder:

"Islam has a culture of prayer. Christianity, on the whole, has prayer meetings."

Maybe we as followers of Jesus need to inquire of God how we might impact our culture.....