Moving Mountains...

"He said to them, 'Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, Move from here to there, and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.'" Matthew 17:20 The disciples were questioning Jesus as to why they weren't able to cast demons out of a boy: when Jesus rebuked it the child was healed INSTANTLY... Do we believe what we say we do? During my car ride home last night I was praying into the rapidly approaching season... Romania, Moldova... my future on the mission field. The aforementioned is the verse that was impressed upon my heart. People often ask me what's next- I continuously say that I want to focus on what's now... but for a moment lets dream again. If I could do absolutely anything for the rest of my life it would be to influence as many lives for Christ as I possibly can, there isn't a life I would find more gratifying than one spent passionately pursuing Gods will for my life, wherever that may lead me. Recently I've had this idea formulating to establish an orphan care network: uniting a lot of people and churches to do what they can to raise more children in Christ centered loving environments, my heart is a bit infatuated with children unlikely to ever be brought into this setting; whether it be due to age, disease, geographic location. The whole concept is a bit of a pipe dream at the moment... but maybe its a mountain that God wants to empower me to move. A mustard seed is an interesting concept, they start as something small and pretty insignificant yet have the capacity to sprout, bloom, and mature at a remarkable rate; even with this rapid growth they have a long lasting quality and are functional and useful year after year... every part of it can be utilized. Most interesting to me? They spread rapidly in areas where they are introduced. Does your faith look like this? I want a faith that grows like that... it may start small- insignificant, unable to invoke change in the world... but Lord willing it has the capacity to mature at an aggressive rate. Hopefully, it spreads like wildfire. With faith like that? Of course mountains can be moved, so perhaps its time I stop worrying so much. I serve a loving God- I think he can handle my mountains of fundraising, school debt, travel plans... We are called to a BOLD faith- why couldn't the disciples heal the demon possessed boy? Perhaps they weren't completely, recklessly convinced it was possible. Maybe just maybe their rational was getting in the way. How often to we pray... Lord if its your will? What would happen if we'd start boldly declaring the things promised to us as heirs to the kingdom? What mountains can be moved in your life? How can you completely and irrationally trust God today?

Dusting off the non-verbal conversation skills...

As I walked up to my second table to respond to my attempted greet with nervous looks and sign language, I had to wonder if God was up to something... Within a half hour span of time my section was sat with two hearing impaired tables and two non-english speaking ones. Time to let those non-verbal communication skills resurface? I had to laugh because the whole thing was eerily reminisce of time spent overseas where I've had minimal knowledge of the native language- except this time I wasn't the one who was embarrassed. Before letting myself get frustrated (What are the odds, in the entire restaurant, I'd be the only one getting sat with these unique circumstances?!) I had to remind myself, this'll be me in a few months... Its one thing to have good non verbal communication skills... but to essentially carry on a conversation without using words? This poses a unique challenge because quite honestly, you need to get over yourself... I'm fairly certain my one "normal" table at the time probably enjoyed watching me interact with the rest of the tables... you wind up looking a bit silly- but it works. The first question people typically ask when they hear about time spent overseas is if I know a lot of languages. I don't, someday I hope to- and when I wind up living in a country for a longer duration of time I most certainly plan to- however, if that's a factor of fear keeping people from stepping out of their comfort zone don't let it be.... http://svekri.xanga.com/?nextdate=4%2f21%2f2007+17%3a14%3a15.097&direction=n that link should bring you to my old blog... Check out the the March 17th entry. Love.... it doesn't have a language barrier. Sometimes we forget that the advancement of the gospel doesn't depend on our eloquent words, more than anything its our actions. When people look at us do they see a love that lives loud? Do they see an irresistible boldness...Do they see a community of people who are radically different?
And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 When we trust in ourselves we wont get far... we have language barriers, fears, inadequacies, baggage... The power of God however? That changes lives.

A boring, getting "business" done entry...

I keep returning here, planning on posting a better summary of my upcoming trip to Eastern Europe- with necessary links etc, then I get sidetracked... launching into some sort of dialogue on a thought process, by the time I near the end I feel like links to a ministry sight would detract from the quality of the post and so I refrain... This time I'll stick with the boring stuff. Finally back in my element, the waiting room season of post Guatemala has ended- exciting things are on the horizon, and working themselves out in ways that can only be explained as "God things" December 26th I'll be departing for Romania where I will be working with H2H- a ministry that teams up with several orphanages in the Bucharest area. This holiday trip is designed to bring Christmas/the holidays to children who otherwise wouldn't experience it. We'll be delivering gifts, putting on a program, cuddling babies, playing with kids... things that may not seem of particular importance- but as I say over and over, we cant expect people to comprehend a God who loves them enough to die for them if they never experience a simple tangible form of love on earth... its a starting point :o) From there, I'll move on to Moldova- fine details for that are still being worked through with a few ministries I'll be partnering with there, but I'll be spending time at an orphanage as well as a transition house for girls rescued from human trafficking. How you can help? A lot of people doing a little really does add up... First and foremost prayer is a huge priority... Particularly being the age I am and traveling on my own again I cant even begin to tell you the immense appreciation I have for those of you standing behind me and supporting me in that way- I know I'm not really alone :o) I'll do my best to keep things such as this blog and my facebook "Fan Page" up to date, however if you'd like to receive personal updates, whether via snail mail or email, dont hesitate to ask! Contact me with addresses/email addresses and its done :o) Then there's the not so fun aspect... Obviously a trip like this doesn't come without expenses. If you feel led to partner with me in this area there are several options. The link on this blog that says donate will take you to my ministry Paypal account- any contributions made there will help cover expenses for the time spent in Romania and Moldova. If you'd prefer the funds to be designated specifically towards Romania (and need a tax receipt) http://www.h2hint.org/index.php/h2h/give/ that link will take you there- designate "Kristin Joy Svendsen-Holiday Trip" in the memo line to ensure it goes towards my account. Prefer the old fashioned way? Checks can be sent to 2369 Montana Ave E. Maplewood MN 55119. If you have questions, or just want to get together in person- dont hesitate to contact me!!
Current Prayer Needs
An increasing of compassion
That God would use me to radiate His love to the children/women I seek to serve in Romania and Moldova
That I could be an encouragement to the missionaries I'll be partnering with
The children I'll be working with- that their needs, physical, spritual, and emotional will be met
Funding... I've got until December 1 which is rapidly approaching for this all to come together
Travel details... The flight will be arranged but I'll be taking a train from Romania to Moldova... a bit intimidating!!
Increasing sensitivity to where the Lord is leading
That God's love will shine through me- regardless of where I am :o)

Blessings!!

God has work to do, and he uses our hands to do it...

"Babies need hugs, children need good night tucks. Orphans need homes. God has work to do and he uses our hands to do it..." My acceptance letter for the Romania holiday team opened with that Max Lucado quote- and it resonated quite well with what has been on my heart lately. Our responsibility...the recent developments in life lately coupled with my crazy "Do something!" wiring have left me thinking about this a lot. Sometimes its easier to pretend there isn't a need... because then we dont have to do anything about it. There are so many children in this world who will never know the love of a father... How, if they never experience a tangible form of love on earth, can they ever even begin to comprehend a heavenly father who loves them?
I've always loved James 1:27...
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. but really- what does this mean? I started in a study of the words orphan and fatherless as they appear throughout the bible... Chapter 14 of Deuteronomy kind of caught me up a bit... and sent my thought process in a million different directions, we always pay attention to what it says about tithing... but how about at the end, when it talks about bringing out a tithe so that the "Levite, sojourner, fatherless, and widows" can come and eat and be filled... and this really gets me :that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do We tithe for new church buildings, we tithe to meet budgets... but what do we think the Lord would do if the Church as a whole took more of a responsibility for the least of these among us... What if, just maybe- care for orphans, homeless, people trapped in human trafficking, the ones too often forgotten- became more of an integral part of more of our church bodies... dont you think the Lord would bless the remaining resources all the more so? Consider yourself fortunate you're getting this thought process via my blog- I got a bit energized talking about his concept with one of my coworkers the other night- there's a bit of a crazy idea forming here too, but I'll spare you the details on that until I finish researching logistics... The point- we need to do something, I remember a conversation I had with a non christian family member years ago (I was 12- this shows you what an opionated spitfire I've always been) He was arguing the existence of God with me- questioning how, if a loving God exists, why are there so many starving kids in the world, so many people on the streets, the list goes on... My answer to him- "because people like you see the problem and dont do anything about it. What if you're supposed to be the answer to someones prayer" Ouch. (yeah... I dont always think about what I say...) Its true though... none of us on our own can accomplish much... but if everyone were to respond when they see a need, everyone were to take ownership and responsibility over the needs around them... those little bits would add up to shake the kingdom in ways we cant even comprehend. God has work to do... let Him use your hands to do it...

All I Want For Christmas?

Its perhaps really strange to be thinking about this at all... except I'm realizing I want nothing more than to spend it with kids like these... Lately I've been seriously contemplating making it to Romania to help in orphanages over the holidays- and everyone around me notices the same thing they've always noticed when I talk about things like this, I am ridiculously full of joy. My heart... is to love the least of these- there are days where I literally hurt to be in overseas, taking care of orphans... ones who, without people stepping in, would never experience a tangible form of love on earth... makes it pretty hard to contemplate a loving God dont you think? I keep trying to reconfigure my dreams- make it more realistic... convince myself it's okay to just stay here...so many things stand in the way right now, and then I find myself miserable. Perhaps I'm wired to dream. I know I'm not big enough to make an impact on my own- but I know my God is :o) A long term assignment hasn't come about just yet- in the mean time I'm going to keep moving forward- closer to where I feel called- knowing He'll get me where He wants me. What does this mean for the moment? Praying for God to make a way for me to go to Romania. Even though it would just be for a few weeks it would be a chance to love like crazy while I'm there- and who knows, it may give me a glimmer of the bigger picture God's piecing together :o)