Social Media, a Gift from God

Facebook.

Twitter.

Instagram.

Chances are, when you read those words, a thought popped into your mind. Was it a good thought? Was it a frustrated thought? 

I was asked to write a bit about how social media can be a tool of the enemy, or a tool used for God's glory. 

I am not a professional writer, and I do not have a degree in social media. I do have my own experience and the experiences that others so graciously shared with me. I will attempt to help you understand if you might be using Facebook, or the like, to foster sin, or to bring glory to the LORD.

Our family is in a unique situation. We are currently living in Germany and have been here for going on eight months. Back in Texas we were very involved in The Village Church and most of our family members lived in the same area that we did. Now, we are missionaries living on 100% support from family and friends back home. That said, social media has been a huge blessing to our family. It has kept us in almost daily contact with family, supporters, and friends in Texas as well as all over the world. 

The LORD has entrusted the gift of encouragement to me. I love this gift and really want to treat it well. I feel revived and joy-filled when I am allowing the Spirit to encourage others through me. I will admit that before we moved, I really wondered how I would be able to continue using this gift while being so far away from those who actually know me and have done life with me for many years. I will also admit that before we left I believed lies from the enemy that my time for encouragement was over and that gift was being taken away from me... along with all the other "material" possessions I had. You know, when you are moving to a new country, particularly for Kingdom work, the enemy will try everything he can to get you down. To steal your joy and replace it with discouragement. 

Thankfully, I have been trained in recognizing the voice of the enemy versus the voice of the LORD. I don't always "get it right". But since being trained, the Lord has been gracious to allow me to continue growing in this area. Part of the fruit of the growth is a fierce response to the enemy's lies. What does that mean? It means when the thought-caster (that is satan) sends something my way for the purpose of stealing, killing, or destroying something in me, I must and will take action. 

This is what I did with social media, specifically Facebook. 

I do not believe the Lord had plans to take the gift of encouragement from me when He called us to Berlin. No. In fact, I believe His plans were to grow this gift in me and I am so thankful for the opportunities He has given.

One of the things I love about Facebook is that it is a place for me to daily keep in touch with people I ALREADY had a relationship/friendship with. One of the ways that I am made in God's image is that I am relational. I love people. This was also one of the things I feared when we planned to move here. I was afraid that I would be alone and I couldn't grasp not having my friends here. I couldn't think of not being in daily/weekly contact with family members. In His grace and provision, I have dear friends here and I am able to have real conversations with friends and family members through social media. These are not "fake" relationships, but relationships that were deep before we left, and ones that are full of intention and commitment. 

Another way that Facebook has been a blessing is meeting people I didn't know. Before our class began training in Kona, classmates from all over the world introduced themselves in a private group on Facebook. We were able to pray for each other and encourage each other in a scary and unknown time before we had actually met in person. All of us were leaving our homes, family, friends, careers, and more in search of that "something more" that God might have for us. We had a lot in common and were able to empathize with each other before we met. There have been countless times here in Berlin when I have "met" someone on Facebook before actually having the pleasure of meeting them face to face. And I think that is key here;

My goal was, and never has been, to hide behind a screen.

It is a tool that can be used for Kingdom purposes and...I believe that any tool that can be used in this way threatens the enemy. He will try whatever he can to steal, kill, and destroy...

I recently asked via Facebook for some experiences or stories of ways that FB has been used as a tool by the enemy.

Sadly, I heard some devastating stories. I heard of marriages ending. Of friendships being destroyed. Anger and resentment taking over homes. Bitterness and jealousy sweeping through friendships. Disdain for family members and friends. 

I heard friends confess that they "purposefully do not 'like'" a post made by someone who is "bothering" them. Others confessed that they "roll their eyes" when they see a post by a certain friend. I heard of friends posting things will the full intent of being passive aggressive toward someone else. 

It is a common thing to "take a break" from Facebook when you feel that it is overtaking your mind in a negative way.

"I hate facebook."

"Facebook ends marriages."

"Everyone on FB is fake."

"There is no way that person is who he/she says they are on FB."

"So and so only posts the good things going on in their life like there is nothing bad or horrible that ever happens."

The list goes on, my friends.

Can I say something? Is social media really the problem? I mean, I know you know it isn't...but if it isn't, then why are so many still stuck in the muck and the mire? 

What is it in you that causes you to roll your eyes when you see a post by someone? What is it in you that gets a bit of power and delight by liking all comments except the one made by that person? What is it that makes you think, "What can I post on FB to 'get' to so and so without them really knowing what I am doing?" What is it that causes anger and resentment and bitterness to take root when you are sitting at your computer supposedly catching up with everyone?

Could it be that FB really isn't from the devil, but that there is some sin in your life that God is graciously revealing to you through Facebook?

Let's get real for a moment and let that question sink in a bit. 

The Father disciplines those whom He loves. When sin is brought to light, it is a good thing. When it is defeated, it is an awesome thing! Taking a break from FB or other social media outlets is a good and right thing if it is causing you to sin. BUT, it is important to not sin further and blame Facebook or those on FB for your "issues". Is that making sense?

Are y'all still my friend? :)

Maybe it is a good time to repent of the way that we think of social media. Repent here being defined as "completely changing the way that we think". Will others still use it as a tool of the enemy? Yep. Should followers of Jesus? I just don't think so. I think if followers of Jesus all over the world would put to death sin that He could be revealing to us through social media ...we would actually be freed up to use this tool for expansive Kingdom work! Can you catch a bit of that vision??

In parenting and giving examples of choices my kiddos could make, we didn't give the positive first...we left the "good choice" for last. :) Same here. Along with the negative and heartbreaking stories that were sent in regarding social media, I got some pretty amazing ones as well. I would love to share them with you!

*An amazing friend had t-shirts made to sell as a way to financially support our family. Through these shirts being pictured on fb, a pastor's wife in the US contacted me about a young man here in Berlin who had heard of Jesus and wanted more information. What?!?! Awesome. This story is still unfolding...;

*Another gifted friend started hand lettering Scripture and is selling them to financially support our family. Through finding these prints on social media, a couple who needed community joined their homegroup!

*One precious friend had taken a break from FB and upon coming back found out that a friend had cancer and that a family member had been in a horrible accident. This friend saw a renewed vision of how to lift up brothers and sisters in prayer through FB.

*Many friends mentioned being able to keep up with friends living all over the world.

*Raising money and awareness to support families in need.

*Many told stories of encouragement when they were going through a hard time. 

*One friend spoke of the blessing to far away family members. Through FB she is able to post photos of her children so that grandparents and other family living in other states can see what is going on and feel connected.

*A friend shared about a tragic event that happened in her home and she needed to be with her mother in the hospital. They had just moved and had not joined a new Homegroup yet. This mom posted her needs on FB and church body quickly volunteered to help her out and make sure her young children were well cared for as she was able to tend to her mother in the hospital.

*Countless thousands of dollars raised for adoptions, medical bills, missions, ministries, etc.

*Support groups for so very many precious people; adoption/foster families, YoungLife teen pregnancy families, Homeschool communities, Clean Eating communities, Bible study communities, etc.

A few personal experiences:

*Facebook is the way that our family learned of the Adams family when they went into labor with their twins at 19weeks. Not just reading this information, we left our home and went up to the hospital to pray over this family. When words were hard to come by, we could only offer the ministry of presence. 

*Through our experience with the Adams family, we started ministering in this way. When we would see on FB that someone had been in an accident, that a child or family member was being taken to the hospital...we packed our kids up and headed to the hospital. I know some might frown upon this, but the LORD blessed every single one of these situations. Every one of them. No one turned us away and afterward all of them thanked us. Did we know all of these people? No. Was it uncomfortable at times? Yes. Was God glorified? I believe He was!

*Every Thursday I would post a photo of our family serving the homeless ministry in Fort Worth. One week I asked via FB if anyone would like to join our family for an outreach night. Y'all, over 150 people responded! About 50 couldn't make it last minute, but we had 100 eager volunteers out on the streets of Fort Worth praying for and feeding the homeless. It.Was.Awesome.

I think you can easily conclude that social media can be a tool used by the enemy or a tool used for God's glory. Is it okay to get off Facebook if it is a means for sin to rise up and become a stronghold? Yes! But, I encourage you to not stop there. If you get off FB or any other social media for this purpose, take the steps needed to find true freedom from that which caused the frustration, anger, pride, bitterness, jealousy, disdain, etc. Don't allow the enemy to continue to be sneaky in what he makes you think is the problem. "If I just get off facebook I won't have to deal with feelings of ________." Deal with those feelings at their core. Then, with an unoffendable heart, you will be able to step into situations with new eyes. 

I hope that this post is read in the love that it is written in. I have prayed over these words. Asked the LORD to silence those which do not bring Him glory and to highlight those which do. He is all. He truly is. His view of you, His love for you, His delight in you, His saving you, His healing you, His plan of hope for you, His great desire for your good...He loves you so, so much.

My heart is to encourage. One of my greatest joys comes from people realizing who they really are in Christ. I have a confidence that these words are for some of you that long to be freed from a stronghold. These ideas are meant for someone who is holding on to a false belief and because of this grasp, unable to live out their God-given purpose. That God can and will use this means of social media to bless His children and bring glory to His name! 

Peace and Joy to each one of you. 

----Keri Campbell

*I am fully aware that social media can be very dangerous. I want to express condolences and love toward those who have been deeply hurt by others using social media incorrectly. Highlighting, once again, that it is sin and not the means that is the problem.

"Death and Life are in the Power of the Tongue..."

I am not a writer by nature. Like, sitting down to write is not really a way for me to "express myself". That is actually the reason why I do it.

See, writing is for me what speaking to Pharaoh was to Moses. Well, okay maybe not exactly like that. I don't really think the ruler of any nation sits and reads my blog posts. In fact, the thought of that actually makes me laugh.

But, it is a chance for me to sit back and let God say what He wants. I love Him and love to be used by Him. 

So, I am sitting at my desk in Berlin, Germany at 9:30 pm on a Thursday night. Our children have been sick all week and to be honest, I have felt blah all week too. I have felt blah for about two weeks.

I shared with David the other day that the LORD had revealed to me that there was some sort of curse spoken over me. Now, before we lose you as a reader or you think I am weird or voodoo-ish, please let me explain.

Our words are not neutral. They are not. They are either words of life or words of death. They are words that speak blessing over people or words that speak death over people. 

When I was sitting in my journaling time with the Lord, I was sad and down. I couldn't put my finger on why and I needed a word from Him. I needed some encouragement from the Encourager. I needed some comfort from the Comforter. I trust Him and I am thankful that He longs to teach me. 

I felt Him gently say that someone had spoken words of death over me to someone else. That can seem like a scary statement, but knowing it really set me free. Like, really set me free. Jesus has taught me how to break these things and how to find freedom from them. I was able to bless the one who spoke these things, although it was not revealed to me who said them. I was able to speak life over them and I trust that the Holy Spirit honored my request of blessing as He really longs to bless. 

Then it got me to thinking. How often is it that we just flippantly say something about someone else? Knowing that our words are not neutral, how often during the day are we speaking words of death over people and not even realizing it? Maybe not physical death, but chipping away at someone's character by slipping in a few digs here and there. Planting seeds in other people's minds concerning the intent of others. How often do we first go to a friend, acquaintance, family member who has kinda hurt us to seek reconciliation...I say "first" because it seems the more common thing is to go to another friend or family member and "get it off your chest" that way.

Friends, our words are powerful. Believer, this world we are living in is truly a spiritual battlefield. There is nothing the enemy wants more than to steal from me, kill me and destroy me. Words have a lot of power in that area.  Our Savior had many names and the Word was one of them. i think that is significant! How are we fighting the spiritual realm with our words? Do we speak words of life over each other? Do we speak words of life about our friends and family members in our homes, behind closed doors with our spouses? I know the enemy wants me to believe that this is silly and childish. I know he wants us to believe that our words really are not that powerful. I know that because he is the author of lies and he goes against what the bible says. The bible says that our words have power. The power of life and of death.

 I think this is an important topic to bring up. Not because I am an expert in writing on important topics, but because I sat down to write with nothing on my mind...and this is what the Lord directed me to say. I believe it is important to Him and to His heart. 

I want my mouth to speak nothing but words of life and blessing to all who hear. I want to constantly be aware of the state of my heart knowing out of the overflow of my heart my mouth will speak. I want my children to hear me speaking words of life and blessing over each of them. Setting this standard in our home, we do not want our children to get comfortable speaking words of death over each other...we don't want them to have to "unlearn" this later in life. May it always be what they know to do. That they know to speak blessing and life over those around them, and that they recognize when curses or death have been spoken over them or around them. Then, that they fight with sweet words of love and blessing.

How hard it is to learn that art of blessing those who wound us with our words. But, how very much like Jesus it is to do so. 

Jesus is our example. His heart was always pure and therefore, so were His words. We can ask Him for the ability to speak the way He spoke. We can trust that if the word of God tells us that we have the power of life and death in our tongue, that when we ask for wisdom in taming that tongue He will bless us with the power of the Spirit to do so. This life, this vapor of life that we have here on earth, is much too fleeting to waste on useless, hurtful, curses of words. Free your heart up to bless those around you. Forgive...with your mouth, those who have hurt you. Speaking forgiveness over and to someone is one of the most life-giving things! Allow the Spirit to use you in ways today that you never even imagined you could be used. Open your mouth with blessing and honor, Praise the LORD with that mouth and breath He gave you! Proclaim His glory in the street, at Target, on the playground, at Starbucks. Tell someone today about how you used to be stuck in chains of fear but Jesus in His goodness set you free! TELL your story of how you were before you met Jesus and then how He changed your life forever. Use your words today to speak life. Speak love. Speak forgiveness. Speak peace. Speak joy. Speak of the One who is all of these things and more. 

We love you all so much. We are thankful for each one of you. Seriously, each one of you. You are all significant and dear. You are all important in our lives and in this journey He has us on. Thank you for your willing hearts to love us forward. To help encourage us to keep on keeping on. It is of value and a true desire of our hearts. Thank you. 

May His blessing of life abound...

You Were Made to Thrive.

 Moving to a different continent with three children can have a lot of challenges. For the most part, the challenges have been fun as they push us to trust our Lord more and trust ourselves less. And, yes, it has taken a bit of a journey for me to consider the more of Him and less of me to be "fun".

But, "trust Him more and trust ourselves less"...Yea, that's not too popular in today's society.

I have come to the point in my walk with Jesus where I know that He is always right. His ways are always best. He is always faithful. He is provider. He is good. He knows what I am going through. He hears my prayers. He answers my prayers. He loves me. He cares about even the little things that are bothering me. He is my true comfort. He will never leave me. He does have a plan for me and it is a good, prosperous plan. 

Do I ALWAYS remember these truths? Nope. I am prone to wander. I tend to fall. I often accidentally take the wrong path in the following Him. Usually, it is because I am not following but leading...and, good night, hopefully one day I will learn that I was not meant to lead my Savior!

BUT, the Lord in His sweet grace has taught me the above truths in one way or another.

In our challenges we coukd cry out, "God, what are you doing??!!" But the truth is, whatever He is doing in my life is so that His works, the works of God, might be displayed in me. 

If my focus is inward, I will be discouraged and frustrated. If my focus is on my Savior, I can release whatever fears, anxieties, anger, bitterness, resentment, etc knowing that I will not be glorified in this situation...and reader, that is OKAY. God is the One who gets the glory and I am, and need to be, okay with that.

I have spent far too many minutes being a glory-thief. 

See, too often I look at a challenging situation and wonder what others might think of me. Sometimes it isn't as clearly thought out as that, but my thoughts and actions prove that I am concerned with how others might view my reactions, success, and even my failures.

But, the truth is, I am where I am so that I may seek God. Paul tells me this in Acts 17. I am where I am so that I may seek God. 

If a challenging situation comes my way, do I seek God? Or do I question Him and whine about how unfair it is that this was my chosen lot in life? See, I don't want to make this life about me. It's not why I was created. I want, in every situation, to make it about HIM. THAT is why I was created.

I have three children and there was a time in parenting where I constantly felt like the "No-Mom". I mean constantly! You know that stage between maybe age one year and 12 years where the child seems to just not know what is best for them? (Yes, I stretched that out to 12 years because I just realized it does in fact still happen!) They pick up tools that are not toys and play with them, not knowing the harm this can cause them. Sometimes, when they were really little, they didn't even play with the item...they simply picked it up and held it. As a good mom, knowing what is best for my children, I would take this item away from them. 

What have you "picked up" that maybe you shouldn't? And, has God taken something from your hands or asked you to hand it over knowing it is best for you? Does your response to His request or His taking leave you more like the 15month old child or the 12 year old pre-teen? Or does your response to your loving and all-knowing Father resemble that of Jesus, "...not my will, but Yours be done."

I titled this post "You Were Made to Thrive" and you were. Do you believe it? Do you believe that you are thriving in this life? Maybe the word "thrive" is not in your everyday language and you miss the point of the question. So, I will word it like this; Do you feel like you are growing vigorously? Do you feel like you are advancing? Do you feel like you are succeeding? Do you feel like you are flourishing?

Or do you feel like you are just trying to survive?

Jesus said He came so that we may have life and have it abundantly. He added the abundantly part and I am thankful for that! He could have left it off, but He didn't. Because we were not just made to survive. We were made to thrive! (Thank you, Casting Crowns, for this amazing song!)

I propose that if we are just surviving, there are some things that we might have picked up that we need to give back to the Lord or just simply put down. Because He knows what is best in order for us to actually live. For us to not get hurt or hurt someone else. What might they be? Oh, I don't know what your "things" might be, but here are some commons things: fear, control, comfort, divorce, death, bitterness, offenses, your house, your job, security, that boyfriend that didn't choose you, anything that you "need" everyday, the size that you wish you were, you get my point.

Perhaps today is the day that you put some stuff down. That you lay aside offenses because, gosh darn it, they just don't push you toward the abundant life that Jesus purchased for you on the cross. If you don't know what you are holding that you shouldn't, ask. Ask Him, and I am sure you will hear what they are. 

Be blessed, dear friends. Be encouraged. You are such a delight to our Father! You are so very loved and He wants the absolute best for you!!

Please enjoy this great song:

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SIX MONTH ANNIVERSARY!!!

Guess what??!! The Campbell Family has made it here in Berlin, Germany for SIX MONTHS!! Woohoo!!! At times, it seems that we have only been here about two months or so. Then we start to think of all the loved ones that we miss and it seems like an eternity!!

We want to give a 6month update, but only to the glory of God. We do not want to sing our praises or dwell on things that do not point to Him. So that being said, here we goooooo!

During the past six months the LORD has allowed our family to trust Him in so many new ways! He is so good and so faithful!! He has trusted us in situations and with people that He loves so very much. We have died a little more to self everyday and in that, He has poured out His great love on the people of this city and started a great work in many lives!! Praise His name!!

We have settled into our home, by the grace of God! We have all that we need and much that we don't need. In His great provisions for our family, He has overwhelmed us and grown our faith in the truth that He IS Provider!! We are so very thankful to all of you who have heard His invitation to be the vessel in which He provides much of our family's needs!! What a blessing you are to us! We pray His rich nearness over you and your loved ones daily!!

During our time here we are reminded over and over again that we have GREAT reason to rejoice!! We have HOPE! We have a SAVIOR!! We have LOVE! We have JOY! We have PEACE! We have a true IDENTITY! We have ALL that we need in Jesus!! He is so kind to remind us of this through the precious souls here who have yet to trust Him as Lord. It is our daily prayer that thousands in this city will come to know that Jesus is Lord and share in the same promises that we have!! We came to Berlin with a limited people group in mind for ministry. However, the Lord has opened up many opportunities for us here among a variety of people groups, including the Germans and Americans living here. What joy it is to follow HIS lead and not our own!! 

God has been gracious in placing persons of peace in our paths that know English. This is another beautiful example of His invitation to our family to join in the work that HE is doing! While we have not felt the language here to be a barrier, it HAS been super fun learning the language!  We don't really take ourselves too seriously, and honestly the language presents a TON of hilarious moments!! David and I take almost private lessons with our friends, Heather and Rob. It is a crazy time that we get to have at least twice a week and we are incredibly thankful for it. Our teacher is a German woman who loves the Lord and is amazingly gracious to us in teaching her language for FREE! 

At this time of the year, we are also celebrating our 1 year anniversary of starting with YWAM. In our five month Discipleship Training School we met many folks who love Jesus and His ways. These friendships have been priceless to our crew. We love these saints and trust that our work together for the LORD has just begun. God has benevolently allowed these sweet friendships to continue and graced us with visits from these friends. Our prayer is that they would be encouraged in the work that He is doing here and that His great name would be made known. We look forward to, Lord willing, many more visits from our DTS family this year!

God, in His grace, made us missionaries on a different continent from which we were born during a time when technology is zooming. We are thankful for that!! He has provided a way for our family to stay in touch, face to face and the ability to HEAR dear voices through FaceTime and Skype. We praise the LORD for these things!! At a time when many abuse social media or look negatively at it, we praise Jesus for it and rejoice that it EXISTS so that we can keep up with our family and friends all over the world. God is so good!!

Today was the first day back to school for the three kiddos. We are thrilled to say that Ben is doing well and walked in on his own today withOUT tears!! You may have to ask David what his manly bribe was for Ben this morning...but regardless, Ben went in and did not cry!! This is HUGE for a mommy~heart!! Praise Jesus with me!!

David and I both have felt that the Lord is doing a work in our lives, a work of building our faith and growing us more into His likeness. In the growing, an insatiable hunger is felt and a true knowledge of Jesus' words "my food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish His work." Oh, sweet King, please don't let this fade away!!

Thank you!! Thank you for encouraging us! Thank you for praying for us! Thank you for supporting us financially!! We are so very thankful that Jesus had our lives intertwined so that we could all be a part of His work in Germany together. If you are reading this, consider yourself a missionary in Berlin, Germany!! In one way or another you are on our team and we are humbled to have you!!

Happy SIX MONTH ANNIVERSARY, Team!!

Grace upon grace to you and yours.

The Campbell Five

David, Keri, Emma, Jacob, and Ben

Community

Community.

Most would say this is something that they want. Among friends and church goers, it is often voiced as a top priority in the realm of desires. 

For the past year, our family of five has been living in community. We have learned much about the LORD and about ourselves in this style of living. It is good. It is challenging. It is sanctifying. It makes me love Jesus so much more.

When we stepped onto the ground in Kona, Hawaii almost one year ago, this life of living in true community truly began. We got a small taste of it months before while living with my sweet Grandmother. But I will say that true community, "a group of people living in the same place", started on the campus of The University of the Nations.

At first, it was a bit of a challenge. I learned fairly quickly that I am prone to discipline my children out of fear. My own, and fear that I try to impart to them. The room that we were living in did not have windows that could be closed. So, everyone could hear everything that was going on in our room. EVERYthing. In turn, we could hear everything that was going on outside our room.

Beautifully, the LORD had us in a school that would teach us how to get rid of strongholds. How to recognize them and then make sure that they no longer existed. Blocking all obstacles that get in the way of our relationship with Jesus. I was surprised to find so many obstacles blocking the path of my gaze toward my Savior!

I learned that I had obstacles like fear, pride, anger, and worthlessness that were getting in the way of me truly seeing Jesus clearly. I had to deal with those feelings/wounds before I could clearly focus on my Lord.

You might be asking yourself, "Why on earth is she talking about this in relation to community??" I will attempt to tell you!

Holding onto strongholds can keep people from living in full community. It is an action from the enemy that keeps sin in the dark and believers from living a life truly known.

There are times when people think it would be fun or adventurous to have someone live with them. ESPECIALLY, if it happened to be a young single girl and you happen to have three young children. (*smile*) BUT, often the fear of being truly known overshadows that desire and it is never brought to fruition. 

Do you understand what I am saying?

I have had conversations like this,  "How can you have someone living with you? I mean, can you and David have a real argument while someone is living with you?" "What if this person sees what you do all day? What if they think that you are too busy or too lazy?" "What if this person sees the sin in your life?" "What if this person takes advantage of your family?"

I will say that a few years back, I would have had these same questions. Then Jesus freed me from those thoughts. I will also be honest and say that living in community has strengthened my marriage. See, I have a tendency to hurt my husband with my words and tone. Having someone live within our home has sanctified a bit more of that area of my heart. I know that if I have self control when someone is around, and I am talking 5 months to a year or longer, then I can have self control with the way I speak to the man I love for the rest my days. I can. By the power of the Holy Spirit, I will.

The Lord has also used this time in my parenting. Real people see how I mother these three children. Discipline is real in our home. It isn't always fun, but it is there and it is real. I am inconsistent at times. Sometimes I call out the wrong kid and blame him/her for something that someone else (often that someone is ME) did. I have to apologize to my children many times. I get lazy with them. I am not a perfect mother. 

Truth be told, I don't know a perfect mother and it is time we all stop trying to be her.

Seriously, stop looking for her. 

See, when we get over ourselves, we are free to live for Jesus and Him alone. If I look to Him for my worth, I am free to have anyone come into my home and I am freed up to be hospitable as Jesus was hospitable. I no longer fear that I will be found in sin, in fact I would desire that the sin that is seen in me be brought to light because I know what that freedom is like. And I want more of it.

One of our family's dearest friends has been staying with us since the first week of October. We met David Watson on January 1st of this year. He was in our class during training for three months, and was on the same team with us in Israel. In Hawaii, he and his roommates lived in the room below our family. David W worked alongside my David and basically spent over 8 hours a day together. We really got to know each other.

We have had the joy and privilege of having David in our home for the past two months. We have lived life together. We have worshiped, prayed, shared many meals, cleaned, chased children, laughed, shared Jesus with others, and walked about a thousand miles together. He is forever a part of our family and we are so thankful for him.

We could have missed this opportunity though. If we had not cleared all of those obstacles out of the way, the abundant life that Jesus promised me in His word would not have seemed so abundant with another person living in our home. Another person stepping in to see who we really are, and what we are really like. 

Why do I say these things? Well, I think because I just truly love Jesus and I truly love His people. I long to see others freed up from the junk the enemy has built up around their heart. I long to see others experience true community. The kind that goes beyond church on the weekends or maybe the casual sprinkling of homegroup/Sunday school too.

There is so much to offer when we get over ourselves!! Are you single? Ask a married couple that you know, trust and respect if you might come and live in their home for a while. Are you married? Consider inviting a single person to come in and see how you do life. If this seems frightening to you, I would encourage you to write down five words that express WHY this is intimidating. Ask the Lord for wisdom, and seek counsel to get rid of those strongholds. 

We were recently asked if having someone in our home, living in community for the past year has been draining or life giving. I can honestly say, the night before our friend David leaves to go home to the US, that it has been life giving. Jesus has been glorified in this time. We have seen a glimpse of Him in David that we would have missed out on if we didn't take the opportunity to invite him in. It has been a joy, and David's presence in our home will surely be missed.

Community. It is a good thing. It is challenging thing. It is a sanctifying thing. If you allow it, it can grow your love for Jesus so much.

Update From The Campbells

When God began to stir our hearts for the people living in Berlin we began to read and do as much research as we could on this place. Every person we spoke to told us of the spiritual darkness here.  It is a place of significant occultic activity.  It has been called the Atheist capital of the world.  We have been told that the people are cold and difficult to get to know.   We have been told that it takes a long time to get to know a person.  We were warned that it could take a very long time of 'plowing' before you see any sort of fruit at all.

When we arrived we spent the first little while getting settled and getting our bearings.  Then we began the work for which God has sent us.  At first we saw exactly what had been told to us.  Significant occultic activity, lot's of people who have no concept of God, difficult to engage people in conversation.  Speaking candidly, this was frustration and a little disheartening.  But then there is Jesus..........

Once Jesus was with 5000 men and maybe three times that amount of women and children.  He told his disciples to give them some food.  His disciples explained that the amount of food they had would only feed maybe one small person.  Jesus took it and gave thanks and it was enough for everyone.  Jesus and the disciples saw the EXACT same thing.  Yet Jesus saw what He had not what He lacked.  

We began to look at the city through the lens of what Jesus is already doing.  He is the one who said that the HARVEST is plentiful and that we need more workers for the HARVEST.  If we see our job as sowers we never look for the HARVEST. If we see our job as HARVESTERS then we see the HARVEST.   As we began to see the city from the perspective of Jesus absolutely everything changed.

 We, literally, are working with so many people right now we are running out of time in the day.   And it is not just immigrants.....we are seeing a significant spiritual hunger in Germans too.  The harvest is truly plentiful!

I was having a conversation with a man who works here in Berlin and he was noticing that there is a 'revival' (of sorts) in virtually every area of the city.  Architecture, arts, government, population, culture, ethnic groups, food, business, and yes even spiritually.  You cannot help but notice the massive amounts of Christian mission workers moving into this city. 

This week we saw a very influential man who is very devoted to his religion take some major steps toward Jesus.   This week we have seen a young girl tell our daughter and her friend she wants to follow Jesus.  This week we have seen a husband and wife from a very difficult country catch a vision for reaching their people in this city and in their home country.  This week we have seen German pastors catch a renewed vision and hope for the work that they are doing.  We got to see it.  We did not do it.  It was Jesus at work, we just got front row seats.

 We would like to challenge everyone who reads this blog to see your city or your context through the eyes of Jesus.  What is He doing?  Do you see the darkness?  That is good!  Because the light (Jesus) shines brightly in the darkness.  When you see darkness you will see Jesus shining.  We also want to challenge the way you pray for your city.  Instead of asking God to 'do something in your city' instead ask Him for eyes to see what He is already doing.  Look at the people God has placed all around you?  Are they believers or unbelievers?  If they are believers then encourage them and pray for them.  If they are unbelievers then tell them your personal faith story, share Jesus with them, and pray for them.

Jesus is the one moving. Jesus is the one working. We are just want to follow after Him.

The Purpose Of A Tree

I was having a discussion with a close friend and mentor of mine this weekend.  We were discussing the nature and activity of disciple making and church planting.  He told me a story that happened to him many many years ago in India.

He and his team had heard of this old Indian man who had planted over 60+ churches in a span of a few months.  It became known throughout the region and mission workers so they made a time to go and meet with this man.

After some pleasantries they got down to the business at hand - what was this man doing that was yielding so much fruit?  The man said that he did not focus on church planting or even try to plant churches but rather only focused on disciple making.  Making disciples was the activity and church planting was the result.  This response was not necessarily strange.  There is no command in the bible to plant churches but there is a clear command to make disciples.  Yet this statement leads to an obvious follow up question - "How do you make disciples?"

The man responded by asking a question of his own.  He said, "Sir do you know the purpose of a tree?"  My friend responded, "I suppose it is to clean the air and provide oxygen.  Perhaps to provide shade and refuge for certain types of wildlife.  Also the roots prevent landslides and mud slides.  The trunk can provide wood, etc."  The older man responded, "these are benefits of a tree, but do you know the purpose of a tree. Do you know what a tree's primary task is?"  My friend, knowing that this story was going in a direction he had not previously consider, said that he did not know the purpose of a tree.

The old man said, "The purpose and primary task of a tree is to reproduce.  To make other trees.  When you have more and more trees all of the benefits you have mentioned are suddenly possible.  The purpose and primary task of a disciple is to make other disciples.  From this the whole world receives benefit and the glory of God is spread to the ends of the earth."

I have been pondering this story all weekend and thinking through it's implications.  It seems like in modern western style discipleship we emphasize doctrine or teaching but seldom obedience.  If we do emphasize obedience we focus on doing good works and other noble activities.  Yet perhaps this is like trying to teach a tree to clean the air, hold the soil together, etc.  Simply benefits the world gets from having disciples in it.  Jesus said to follow Him and He would make us fishers of men.

This has been our conviction from since before we got to Berlin yet this story crystallized it in a way that I had not seen before.  We make disciples by teaching people how to teach people how to make disciples.  In short we teach them to reproduce.  We teach them to share their story and Jesus' story and we teach them how to  follow Jesus by listening to what He is telling them in the bible and to faithfully obey what they hear and read.  If they are in the hands of the savior they are in great hands.  

How many people will hear of Jesus today because of your story?  If you would like practical help in being able to tell your story and Jesus' story let us know, we are always glad to help.

Reflections From Family Discussions

In our family devotions we historically have done catechism questions.  We use a modified version of the Westminster Shorter Catechism.  Last week we began to review questions we have done in the past.  One that we spent the bulk of the week on was: 

50. What is meant by justification?  A.  It is God's forgiving sinners and treating them as if they had never sinned.

I find that whenever there is a truth that I am tending to emphasize more forcefully than other truths it is usually something that the Lord is wanting to drive home in me.  I should have paid attention a little more closely earlier this week.

This morning I was reading in Jeremiah 31:4 as God is speaking to His people and restoring them after a time of judgment.  Did you catch that?  He is restoring them after a time of judgment.  If you read in Jeremiah 2 and in other places God has called His people a whore for their spiritual wanderings, but in Jeremiah 31:4 He calls them a virgin.  Pure.  Undefiled.  Untouched.  Unknown by another.  Virtuous.  Clean.  Not just cleaned up.  Not just forgiven.  But restored all the way back to the like new state.  God was 'treating them as if they had never sinned.'

When Israel was crossing the Jordan to come into the promised land, God gave them a specific place and time of the year they were to cross.  The time of the year was when the flood waters were the greatest.  He could have taken them to a low spot in the river but God was painting a picture.  They passed at the highest point and God stopped the river 30 miles away!  Where did He stop it?  At a town called ADAM!! (Joshua 3:16 look it up people!)  God deals with our sin so finally, so conclusively that He rolls it all the way back to Adam!

Rest easy today friends. God has dealt with your sins and He has made you pure.  Walk in your new life....the old one is gone, finished, vorbei.  In Christ you are justified!

When You Have Nothing Left

We live in a city that is exciting and fun, but truthfully it is a city that will suck the life right out of you.  Especially if you are attempting to live for the glory of Jesus.  There is certainly a LOT of blatant, in-your-face, darkness and demonic activity in this city.  We have been far closer to this than we would care to ever do again.  But the darkness in this city is normally something different.  It is a weight and heaviness that just pulls the life out of you.  It is like a large Anaconda wrapped around you just steadily squeezing, waiting for you to let your breath out so that it can squeeze you a little more.

The result of this tends to be that we run into a lot of people who are discouraged and struggling.  Especially those who are here as part of a ministry.  What makes it worse is that we feel it too.  We feel the discouragement and difficulty as well and find ourselves crying out for the Lord to fill us again.  We are like everyone else in that sometimes we just want to sit and let others pour into us.

Yet the Lord, in His infinite wisdom, is teaching us one of the ways that He keeps us continually filled.  He started showing us this from the life of Elijah and the widow from Zarephath in 1 Kings chapter 17.  This widow was struggling through a difficult time.  She had a son to feed, no means, and only enough food left to feed herself and her son and then she would die.  All hope of sustenance would be lost at that point.

At this point, God sent Elijah to solicit the widow for the remaining provision that she had.  What a crazy bold request!  Elijah had been fed by God.  He had seen God come through and yet he was asking this woman to give the last she had.  For the woman, she had just enough faith to see that she could give this away and either God would come through or she would die just slightly ahead of her time table.  So despite what she herself needed.....she poured out.  The more she poured the more God filled.  She always had enough. The pouring out was actually physically and spiritually fulfilling. 

Currently here in Berlin, we are taking a cue from this courageous widow... allowing the Lord to instruct us through her actions. When we are in need and someone comes to us...we pour out.  And the Lord is sustaining us!  We see encouragement grow in us. We see hope grow in us.  We see joy return. And we get to keep going and do not grow weary!

In your life you may be  bombarded with demand after demand after demand.  You may get discouraged and burned out from time to time.  Others may come to you for encouragement or refreshment when you have nothing left to give.  We encourage you to pour out.  To do so tells your own heart that your Father loves you. The reason you can give away what little you have is because you trust Him to provide for you,  just like He is providing for those in need through you.

We love you all and are just so thankful for each one of you.  We hope that we can always be an encouragement to you, sharing what we are learning from our good and perfect Father!

Just Some Happenings In Berlin

Well a lot is happening in Berlin these days.  It is always a struggle to find time to sit and write about what's going on as things seem to happen so fast.  For me (David) it takes a while to pray about things and process them just to have something to post. 

To say that God is on the move here is an understatement.  We are seeing continuing evidence of God moving in great power. It is amazing the level of spiritual hunger in this place and at the same time so much darkness.  These "random"  meetings of people are beginning to move into us being invited into homes.  We are greatful for The Lord, but sometimes we get overwhelmed by the enormity of the task and the need for more workers.  Oh, please pray for these wonderful awesome people The Lord is bringing to us!  I had tried to video some of the amazing things The Lord is doing only to have my camera fail.  It is pretty awkward to ask to video things like this, so perhaps it is for the best.

A little over a month ago we began meeting for church as a team and The Lord has been so gracious to begin to bring other liked minded and like hearted people to join us. It has been a truly wonderful blessing for us and so encouraging.  

This month we have several friends from our DTS in Kona staying with us and spending some time getting their hands dirty with our team.  It has been a joy to see the bonding of teammates and friends together as we all walk through engaging this city together.  It is a sweet joy to introduce friend to friends! 

One of the things we are working on is helping start a new DTS (Discipleship Training School) that will be held here in Berlin this next spring.  We are so excited about how this is coming together and want to encourage you to think about spending 5 months doing your DTS with YWAM Berlin.  We believe this will be a life changing experience  as you learn how to Know God and Make Him Known!  If you and/or your family is interested in knowing more about this please let us know!

As some of you know and have been praying, Ben has been having challenges with anxiety at school.  Keri has been so patient and wonderful helping him slowly transition during this time.  She sits in on his kindergarten class all day with a couple of fifteen minute breaks. I am so honored and grateful to be married to such a wonderful woman of God! 

Our second visa appointment is coming up on the 23rd of this month. Please be in prayer with us that we have all they want and that we get these visas! 

We just wanted to give you a quick update and wish you all could be here with us! 

Talking To Michael

Two weeks ago we met Michael.  He claimed that he did not believe in God and called himself an atheist.  He grew up in the former East Germany.  He said he really liked Keri and I and called us 'really positive people.'  I am not sure if that is a compliment or not but I took it as one.

When he said he did not believe in God I told him, 'that is ok because God believes in you.'  This caught him off guard and caused him to laugh a little sheepishly.  Suddenly he began speaking of different things calling attention to times when he has taken the moral high ground on various matters.  

A week later (last week) we met again.  He asked me, "David are you sure you want to stay in the S**t country?  The only thing we have going for us is our healthcare system."  I said, "Michael, there are roughly 80 million people in this country who either do not believe God loves them of think He has forgotten about them. Yet that is not true because Jesus has sent us here to communicate this message to them.  In fact God sent His Son, Jesus, to convey this very message many years ago.  Because God loves these people so do I.  God has given me a job to do and I must do it."

He laughs a little at me and says again that he does not believe in God.  I told him again that God believes in him.  He sees how He created Michael to be.  God looks at the original design and says it is good.  What we see is the part that is damaged and broken by sin and pain and suffering and stuff.  My purpose in being in that chair having that conversation was to communicate that God has determined that He is aiming to reconcile Michael fully back to Himself and what He was originally intended to be.

Michael leans back in the chair and after a long pause says, "I do believe there is a God but I don't know what it is."  I told him, "Michael if you really want to know then the bible says 'you will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart."  If you want to know you must come to God on His terms and ask Him if what I am telling you is for real.  He said, "I want to do that."  Michael and I prayed and I left Michael with him telling me he wants to pray for me every day.

Next week we start to explore more of who Jesus is and start helping Michael walk out his faith.  Please be praying for this man.  We are eager to see what Jesus has in store for this man. 

An Interaction on a Train and How You Can Pray with Us

How's it going? I have been away from writing on this blog for a while, but don't let it fool you. I have had much to say. I think the gracious LORD we serve has held my tongue for a bit so that I might not cause any of my sweet brothers and sisters to stumble.

And I pray this post does not make any stumble.

If you saw my Facebook post, I mentioned that I needed to pray and repent and pray some more before writing this. I have done that and I think I am ready.

Last November our family moved from our home in Keller into my Granny's home. It was a step in this journey that the LORD has us on, and although the miles were short between the two homes, the gap that was felt was much grander. Because it was a step that symbolized a much larger step going on in our hearts. 

I am going to focus on my mommy heart and Ben. Ben was four years old when we took that step as a family. Constantly questioning, "Oh, now do we live at Granny's forever?" and craving the stability that most four year olds crave, he was working through what we were doing and called to as well as any child his age could.

He's doing a pretty good job if you ask me.

January 1, 2014 our family moved on to Kona, Hawaii for our training. Sounds magical and like paradise, right? Well, not so much for our newly turned five year old. He had not read all the travel brochures equating Hawaii with Heaven and didn't know that many people like to go there to get away. 

All this child wanted to do was get away to his "home" in Texas. 

But he worked through some things, by the help of the Helper and grew to make some friends and settle in.

Then we moved on to Israel. It was dark. It was tough. It was definitely a challenge. Ben wanted to go "home" just about everyday, and let's be honest, I did too.

But we were being trained, prepared, disciplined. And all of those things are good. I have to believe it for myself and for my children.

Then we moved back to Texas for a month. Back to "home" according to this, our youngest child.

I think he thought our "journey" was over. That we had reached our destination.

Just when he got settled, we hopped on a plane for Germany. The place we would stay for quite a while.

At first it seemed like a vacation. Really, the first two weeks in a new place can feel like that. A gracious family allowed our family to live in their home while they were in the States. We lived there for about a month while things got situated with the home that we are now in.

Here we are. Home. A settling started to take place. Ben got his own bedroom, for the first time in almost 10 months. He picked out his own bedding and began to understand that this is home. 

This past Monday school started. Our three children were accepted to an American School here in Berlin. It is a tuition free opportunity for our family, and the blessing is not lost on us. We are so thankful to be there.

But, I may be speaking too quickly for Ben. He has not been to American kindergarten, and cannot begin in the Entrance class here in Berlin as he turns six years old before the year is over. (December 17th, he barely makes it!) So this means he jumps right in to 1st grade. 

Somehow, the Lord saw fit to gift our family with an amazing teacher who knows Him and loves Him. 

The LORD loves Ben more than I could ever dream of loving him.

And I love him a lot.

Ben has cried and thrown a fit every single morning as I drop him off. A full on crying fit where he is so distraught that he cannot even make sense as he is so lost in his situation. See, he is required to walk into the school building (a HUGE school building!) without a parent and find his way to his classroom and get all set up for the day by himself.

All five years of him.

It was overwhelming and I walked him in on those mornings this first week, despite the desire of the other teachers in the hall. (On a side note, watch your facial expressions, friends. They are soooo telling of what you are thinking!) But, Ben's teacher never shamed me for walking him in and reassured me that we will "get this".

I called out for prayer on Facebook after day three. I need you all. I needed you to breathe for me as it was so hard to take breath in and exhale it out. This task seemed too much, and my instinct was to catch the first train to the airport and fly "home" to Texas.

Which brings me to the train situation. We don't have a vehicle here, so we take public transportation. This has been a source of frustration for the past two months for our family. Much of our time is wasted on just getting to a place. Ministry, school, language class, church, you name it. As our ministry is actually all over this city, just getting there is a huge challenge and can be extremely frustrating if we miss our train, subway, bus, or metro.

We began praying for a vehicle and were not quite ready to make that prayer request known. We don't want to look extravagant in our life here. We are able to do what we do because others have sacrificed and given to the God they love and serve. It is such a gift for our family to be supported by so many that love us and support us, but we know that the love and support is first and foremost to our King. We always want to be cautious and responsible with how we live including what we purchase.

Back to day four. The day after many of you spent our sleeping hours, your daylight hours, praying for our family. Praying specifically for our Ben and a good start to his day.

He started off strong. I was confident that this would be the day he successfully entered the school without tears!

The train can sometimes be very crowded. Especially in the mornings as folks are heading to work and school at the same time.

As we were on the train, Ben was in one seat and I was behind him. He turned around upon my request so that I could document this successful day with my phone. He smiled big! He was so excited! 

In his excitement, his little foot brushed the man in front of him twice.

This man took it upon himself to spank my son on the thigh.

I am just going to pause and let you take that in. A stranger who does not love my child, spanked him. Loud enough for me to hear and turn in disbelief. Hard enough to get a reaction from all in our train car.

A pop that would have landed this man in jail in the US. 

I wanted to slap him. I wanted to speak words of death over him. I wanted to kick him. I wanted to curse at him and tell him what a worthless piece of...

But God would not have me to do this. Instead, I took my crying, shocked son into my crying, shocked arms and tried to hug away that pain. David was in the same train car as me, but did not see what happened. He saw me crying and came over. I told him what happened and he said, "Who did that?!?!" I nodded with my head to the man. The man was nonchalantly playing on his phone with earbuds in. The man looked up at David and was kind of like, "What? You want a piece of me?" (He didn't say that with his mouth, just his body language.) Then German words came out of his mouth that I don't understand, but can only imagine to be "His foot touched MY knee TWICE!" When this man spoke those words, about seven Germans on the train went at him. Yelling at him, explaining that you cannot do that to a child. That Ben is JUST A CHILD. I am not sure what else they were saying, but I knew they were on my side. On Ben's side. It was loud. We had no place to go. We were on a moving train. When it stopped, the others were still going after this man and one followed him off the train and I am not sure what happened after that...but I know what I was hoping would happen.

I cried. I was angry. I was in shock. I couldn't stop crying. I needed the nearness of God, and thankfully I felt Him and asked for His nearness to surround Ben. To wipe from his memory what just happened, because I believe He can and I believe it's okay to ask that. This man had no clue if Ben had been abused before, or if his legs were healthy, or that he was on his way to his big first grade class where he was going to be brave and try for the first time to enter a giant building all on his own away from his mommy and daddy. This man knew nothing about my son, but still hit him in frustration of Ben's little foot touching his knee twice.

This event proved pretty traumatic not just for a mom and her little son, but also for Emma and Jacob. It was hard to shake, ya know? We had never encountered something like this, and never thought we would.

We all got along with our day. I walked Ben into his classroom and cried to his compassionate teacher whom I just adore. She was gentle, loving and encouraging. 

I know this is just how it is. I know that this behavior is not "typical" or really okay. I know all of this. I know this man probably does not know Jesus as Savior and will more than likely spend an eternity of being frustrated and hurt. I know this. I care about this. It is not lost on my heart to pray for this man. Not anymore at least. I had to work to get here. I had to pray. I had to ask the LORD for His eyes. I had to repent. I thought some really nasty things about this man and what I hoped would happen to him. 

This is why we packed our family up and moved here.

There are so many people here who have never in their whole life heard of a Savior. They have no clue who Jesus is and what He did for them. No clue. 

So, I forgive. Because that is what my God does when I lash out at Him for brushing against me, twice...sometimes even once. 

He showed me a picture that day of His great love for me. For you. He loves us so much that He left His perfect home. That He dwelt among sinners that had no clue who He was even though He told them constantly. He loved them and they spat in His face. He fed them, gave them drink, and they called him names, beat him. hung Him on a cross to die a gruesome death.

When we punch God in the face, figuratively speaking of course, when He brushes against us...He loves us. He is unshakable. Our little fit doesn't phase Him and I can only imagine He is pained to see us in such pain.

This man on the train has to be in pain to hit a five year old for touching his knee. He has to. So, confessing with my mouth, I want to speak blessing over this man. That when he saw tears from my mother's eyes, me comforting my son with an embrace and love, and NOT lashing out at him, he saw a glimpse at our Savior. I was paralyzed in that moment, and I think the Lord was doing a work. I think He held my tongue because it is not fitting for His daughter to physically abuse one who uses physical actions in anger. Does that make sense? The Lord could save this man. I pray He does. I ask for the Holy Spirit to bless him. For him to walk in peace and love and joy. For his hands to prosper. For his family to flourish and grow. For his needs to be met and even some of his desires. Lord, bless him for Your great glory!

So, here is how you can pray with us;  Will you join us in praying for a vehicle? Now, not only for the timely arrival to our ministry destinations and school, but also truly for the protection of our children. I do not think it is an extravagant thing anymore. And I am ready to share this prayer of my heart with you all now.

In His timing, we learned of a vehicle in Hamburg for sale that seats five. I learned of it last night from a friend. We are not sure it is the answer to our prayer, but we are sure willing to ask the Father. It costs 6,000 Euros ($7,900 USD) and we don't have that available right now. But, I know my God will supply our every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. He hears our prayers and He responds. This is not a desire for a more comfortable life. It is a mom's plea to her King for a tool to serve Him better and in turn, to serve and protect her children better. He knows that. He's got this.

This was a long post, and I am sorry for all the words. Thank you for reading through it and thank you for praying as the LORD leads. I am truly excited to see what He does. To give Him glory in all circumstances!

By the way, Ben walked into the school building on his own today. Not crying, not worrying, but chatting with his friend. Never looking back.

My God is Redeemer, Healer, Almighty, Provider!

What We Are Doing And How You Can Pray

Currently we are working through the details of acquiring Turkish/German Parallel New Testaments.  This project is in the works and details are being worked out.

How you can pray:

1. Funding for the project. It should (comparatively) small but please pray for more provision. 

2. Pray for a massive hunger among our people groups that they would crave the Word of God.

3. Pray for the smooth and effective distribution of these New Testaments and those who will receive them. 

Thank You For Your Many Prayers

Don't Let Me Miss This Lesson

 My friend, Doug, used to have a common phrase that he would use on me all the time; "don't miss the lesson."  The Lord is teaching me through this time and it is my prayer that I do not miss this lesson.

This week we were in a different city and doing a lot of walking.  The children were getting restless so we all decided to find a specific park and let the children play for a while.  We rode the tram-line (think light rail) in the direction of the park but the tram-line abruptly ended forcing us all to get off.  As we got off, the sign notified us that we must wait for 12 minutes before the next bus that would take us to our final destination.

As we settled into wait we could hear a voice being raised over a loud speaker.  I looked around to find where it was coming from and noticed a Muslim man speaking into a bull-horn while a man stood behind him filming him with a camera.  This appeared to be a GREAT opportunity to speak to this man and his colleagues about Jesus.  So my friend and I headed over choosing to take a different route to the park when we were finished.

To make a long story short we had a pretty significant discussion about the glories of Jesus with one of the most radical men (and his crew) in all of Europe.  In the end we prayed over him asking Holy Spirit to reveal truth and wished him well.

As a westerner, it is easy to look at people like this through the eyes of fear or hate as we see people as part of larger groupings.  We can make all of the political statements and threats we want but it does no good.  In the interaction with this man I began to get a glimpse of a man who is desperately trying to please God and making a mess at the same time, even at the cost of human life.  This has been the story of my life to some degree.  I want to please God but in my efforts to win His (already given) favor I make a mess and hurt people.

This week I began to get a first hand glimpse that perfect love truly does cast out all fear.  I know this man's name and he is now the subject of many of my prayers.  I want to see God touch him.  I do not want to see him harmed but I want him to know the true peace that is only found in Jesus.

I found myself telling this young man that it is not enough to know that God loves people in general we must know that He loves each of us, in specific.  Yet I had been so guilty of isolating myself from individuals and lumping people together as 'blocs' or 'groupings of people.'  The same thing I said he was guilty of was exactly what I was putting on him.  I, personally, did not see him as a person but as a part of a radical group with beliefs different from my own.

May the Lord Jesus grow me in the discipline of loving people specifically and not falling into the trap of generalization.

One of my favorites quotes is from Rees Howells:

"If you can love one, then you can love many, if you can love many, then you can love all."

New Teams Arriving Soon

We would love to ask you to be in prayer for a YWAM team coming to Berlin on August 12.  This will be a Photogenx team and will be assisting us in our research and foundation building for this ministry. 

While we are grateful for their willingness to come and assist with this work we want to remember that these are people made in the image of God.  We want to be a blessing to this team and lift them up in prayer and encouragement. 

A Quick Recap of a Really Busy Month

We are almost done with our first month in Berlin.   It has been a great time and really hard all at the same time.  We hope in this blog post is to give you a recap of what has happened this month and then we would like to follow up with a few future blog posts showing what the Lord has taught us in this time.  We hope that it is an encouragement to you.

First we learned that finding an apartment is not as easy as you may think.  Ability to pay and desire to rent have very little to do with actually finding a place.  You can be turned down because you have kids or because you have no kids.  You can be turned down because you have a pet or because you have no pet.  You can be turned down for any and every reason and it really depends on the owner of the building and/or landlord to determine what sort of community he/she wants to create in the property.

But we have landed on the place that we originally thought would be ours!  It turns out seeing the place in person was much better than pictures showed.  That made it much harder when it was all in jeopardy for a while.

We have gotten bank accounts set up and temporary cell phones.  We will likely change phone numbers soon because having a contract in place can be a lot more cost effective.  You trade flexibility for spendable cash.

We have all gotten bicycles, which is a marvelous way to get around the city.  Ben still needs to learn to ride his but we met a family selling an almost new second hand bike and we jumped on the deal.  The challenge is that there are virtually no training wheels in this land so Ben is still limited because of his lack of wanting to learn to ride.  We expect that will come soon and we can be even more mobile.

We move into our new place on August 1 and then what presented itself was the challenge of turning on utilities.  So I was planning on taking a lot of time to go and physically show up to these places hoping someone could help me with the language.  Then I would need to shop for the best prices and make the decisions.  BUT the family moving out of the apartment we are moving into was so kind as to spend several hours with us on the internet helping us get everything set up.  It may seem like such a trivial thing but that literally saved us about a weeks worth of non stop work!  We am so grateful to them.

So then it remains that we needed furnishings.  The Lord orchestrated our steps to various people moving and needing to liquidate items.  This has saved us so much money and we are so thankful!  Tomorrow we will have it all picked up and delivered to the new place.

We also have been set up to begin language classes in August.  This arrangement is such a blessing and I am still in awe of how it works but let's just say that this is a major blessing.

While this blog post can come across as though we have been sitting by watching the Lord take care of everything, that was not the case.  What really happened was that the Lord orchestrated everything and we fretted and stressed and prayed.  You would think that eventually we would default to trusting Him.  We are still growing in that area.

You are all wonderful and we are so thankful for you all!

A Resignation

Lots of things do not come easy for me. Like even that sentence. Should I have used the word "easily" or is "easy" the correct word?? Hmmm, I digress...

One thing that does come easy for me is comparing and contrasting. In the area of sitting and comparing my life to others around me, I am pretty much a pro. Too bad I don't get paid for that work because I might just be a millionaire. As mentioned, contrasting is also part of my game. See contrasting is much like comparing...but it involves comparing the things/ways that are unlike each other, the differences. Yep, I am pretty darn good at that!

For some reason, I like to sit and look at successful writers, speakers, singer/songwriters, neighbors, moms, bible teachers, friends, and contrast their lives with mine. By definition, that means that I sit and compare the unlikeness of their life to mine. 

May I give you some examples? Will you promise to still be my friend?

"Wow, I have no idea how she looks that great after having so many kids. Why do I look the way I do and I only have three?"

"Her house is much bigger than mine and our husbands must make the same amount of money. Why do I live in this small home and she lives in that spacious one?"

"She sings with ease and joy. I sing with joy, but there are time when it seems like work. Why did You not give me the same quality of ability as her, God?"

"She has it all together. If I just had a housekeeper and a little more monthly income, I would have it all together too. Why do I have to spend my days raising these three kids AND cooking AND cleaning?"

"She buys her clothes from boutiques and she always looks great. All my clothes come from Target and can only endure one season if that."

"She is filled with words of wisdom and truth. Why do I not have inspiring words to say and encouragement to offer to my friends?"

"She teaches in a way that is led by the Spirit, but when I teach I seem nervous and confused."

"Everyone wants to be around her and others just tolerate being around me."

"Everyone wants to hear what she has to say and my opinions or words really don't matter." 

"When I meet someone new, they really only pretend to want get to know me because they want to get to __________." (insert other woman's name in the blank)

I could go on...but I am beginning to laugh and see the ridiculousness...

I want a new job.

So today, I am going to resign. I am resigning from the position of looking at others and believing that when I was created I somehow slipped through the  "a plan and a purpose" section of the assembly line. . Have you ever thought that? Have you ever thought, "Wow, that person really KNOWS who they are and WHAT they were created for!" Only to follow that up with, "I wish I KNEW who I was and WHAT I was created for..." Doing this, and I am the first to admit that I do, gives the enemy a foothold. Allows lies to creep in our mind, in our heart, that we really do not matter or have any chance at all to glorify the LORD with our lives because we really don't have anything to offer.

Believer, that is a lie.

YOU were created with a plan and a purpose. A good plan and a good purpose. Plans for success and a prosperous future.

Here's the deal. God is perfect. He doesn't forget stuff. He surely doesn't leave things out that will bring Him glory, remember? He is jealous for His glory. Jealous because it is His.

So when God tells me in His word through the writer after His own heart that I am fearfully and wonderfully made; I have no other choice but to believe Him. When He tells me through His word that He has plans for me and that He knows what they are...that they are plans of hope and a future...Who am I to sit and think that the God of the universe, the One in charge of everything,  forgot to put that in me when He created me?

When I quit my job of assisting a retinal surgeon and serving those in need in a way that truly satisfied something in me, I had to get used to my new job. A job of being a mommy to a precious baby girl. It took some getting used to. It was a change in identity of sorts, but I grew to love it.

That is what I plan to do with this new phase of life. Grow to love it. I am sure there will be days, hours, when I will slip back into the role of comparing and contrasting. But, with the help and power of the Holy Spirit, I agree to stop the minute I recognize that I am comparing myself with the created and not the Creator. I resolve to believe that He created me with a plan and a purpose, and it is one that the created being that I am comparing myself with...just can't  do. A plan and a purpose unique to me. Yours, unique to you.

I know there are blogs and articles written about women comparing themselves with others. Women looking to Facebook and other social media outlets only to contrast that which seems perfect with that which is imperfect in their own lives.

I believe the enemy delights and throws a big fat party when he accomplishes this task.

So, let's stomp on his head with our strong and stable feet! No longer looking to others for our own life plan or God-given purpose. Looking only to our Father, and asking Him daily, "LORD, what can I do today to fulfill the purpose you created within me?" And then...walk that out. 

Friend, when you were being knit together the LORD placed within you something that no other person has. No other person ever will. There is a brilliance in a certain area of you that is unique and life giving. You were created for greatness and hope and success. Do not allow the evil one to steal that from you! And if you have let him take it, it is time to get back that which belongs to you....

So, who is with me on this resignation? Anyone else willing to give up a life of comparing and contrasting and start walking forward in the true identity of one created by the King of kings with a unique plan and purpose to glorify Him and Him alone?!?

Blessings to you!

Keri

Adventures On A Bike

Two nights ago we had dinner with some new friends and while we were talking it came out that there was a housing project not too far away that housed refugees.  Our friends drove us by the complex as they were taking us home.  We drove into the parking lot but it looked completely deserted.  

This complex stood out in my mind all night long and into the next morning.  As I prayed and sought the Lord He asked me if I was ready to take risks for Him.  As much as I could discern I told Him I was ready to be made ready.  So all day long I waited and watched for the adventure the Lord may be taking me on.  But it was a pretty low key day.  We ran some errands, picked up forms, got a fan (it gets hot in Berlin believe it or not), and ate dinner as a family.  

One of the great things about this part of the world at this time of the year is that it is light outside late into the evening.  Being that it was only 6:45pm and still light I decided I would ride my bike to this apartment complex, pray over it, and see what the Lord may want to show me about this complex.  The complex is only about a 15 minute bike ride from where we are staying.  Technically it is not in the city of Berlin but in the former GDR in the state of Brandenburg (which surrounds Berlin).

I crossed over the canal and left the city and got lost.  I mean lost.  I kept thinking I would pass by the complex and see it.  It was fairly large and certainly in the style of the nondescript East German architecture so I should have been able to find it.  But one hour passed by and nothing.

I rode forever and saw nothing but I had the abiding sense that the Lord brought me here for a purpose.  So I told the Lord that I cannot return home until I see what you brought me to see.  And I kept riding.  

As I rode I asked the Lord what I was supposed to be looking for.  He told me I was seeing with my physical eyes and that I was not looking through spiritual lenses.  He then asked me, "David, what do you see?"  I answered, "Nothing.  I see nothing.  There are houses and streets, but that is it.  There are no people.  This place could be deserted for all I know.  There are no cars.  Nothing.  Nothing at all."

Nearly two hours had gone by of solid riding and I could see nothing.  I just could not understand what was going on.  As I rode I prayed and just sensed an overwhelming sense of isolation.  As I felt this a phrase pops into my mind, 'spirit of isolation.'  I did not know really what that was but I began to ride and aggressively pray against a 'spirit of isolation.'

Suddenly out of no where it seemed I was about 1 block from the complex!  I saw two immigrant men sitting on a bench and I began to deliberate whether I should stop for conversation with them or ride into the complex.  I decided I would ride past, turn around and then perhaps make conversation.  But in riding past them I also passed another man (perhaps early 50's or late 40's in age).  I said hello to him in German and he responded to me in English.  I threw on my brakes and said, "do you speak English?"  He said, "yes of course!  Do you live here?"  I said, "yes my family and I just moved to Berlin about two weeks ago."  He said, "Thank you for coming."

He told me he was from Pakistan and had been in Germany for 1 year and 9 months.  I asked him if he was Muslim and he said yes.  I told him I follow Jesus and he responded with "you are welcome here, would you like to come to my house?"  

I followed him to his apartment in this complex but as we walked up the stairs a very large German man stepped out and tells me very harshly that visiting hours are over and I must leave.  My new friend pleaded my case and asked for 15 minutes, I was granted 10 minutes.  We continued to his apartment and the smells of middle eastern and Asian foods were simply over powering.

As we walked along I sent a quick text to Keri because I was acutely aware of the foolishness of coming here alone - or at least with no one knowing my location.  We stepped into his apartment and he locked the door and my heart sank just a bit.  The enemy used this situation to explain all the reasons I should fear.  But soon the Lord showed me that this was what He was wanting me to see.

I sat down at his table and we began to speak.  He told me about being beaten severely in the head with an automatic weapon by the Taliban.  He told me about his health issues related to the beating.  He is having trouble with his vision and he has constant headaches.  It was then that my time was up and I had to leave.

But I had seen a man who had his physical needs pretty well cared for.  He had an apartment, food, clothing, and medical care.  Yet he was isolated and alone.  His family had either been killed or fled to other countries with no way to communicate.  Could it be that a friendship is what the Lord wanted me to give this man?  I do not yet have clarity on why the Lord wanted me to see and meet this man yet I am certain there is a reason.

As I left the complex I got lost on my bike AGAIN and turned a 15 minute return trip into another solid hour of riding.  Today I am exhausted and grateful.  His mercies are new every morning. 

This fall our kids will attend the John F. Kennedy school in Berlin.  This is an American funded public school teaching German and English.  It is a very good school and we are excited to be able to participate.

We want to ask all of our prayer partners to join us in praying for a few matters: 

1. We are asking The Lord for at least 3 Godly best friends for each of our kids (and us too). 

2. We are praying against any sort of transition anxiety in our kids. 

3. We are especially being diligent to pray blessings on the students, parents, and teachers.  

Our temporary housing in located just around the corner so it was a good time today praying over the school on site.  

Thank you for your prayers. They are a truly appreciated! 

David & Keri