Images provoke reactions and this image featured in the British newspaper the Telegraph last week is no exception...



As we observe the prayer practices of other faiths what do we learn? What does it say to us about faith, perseverance, the hunger of world to believe there is a God who can intervene?

THIS WAS POSTED ON THE 24/7 PRAYER WEBSITE. I Wrote some comments below to inspire the picture :)

Contention in Prayer – inspired by Monday night Live!

The highest battle for our faith is prayer. I have observed other people, like Hindus and Muslims. What startles me the most about them is their devotion to pray. It makes me wonder some times what they have found in this devotion to prayer that we have not. Why do these two men sit in a barrel of water, what have they found in this ritual that we have not found in our devotion to Jesus?

The past few months Monday night as I know it changed, and why? Two people spent hours on a floor praying for God to show up.

A friend and myself came together every Monday night to pray; Our hearts came open, our spirits came hungry, our eyes came wanting to see, our ears came wanting to hear, our mouths came wanting to praise, our legs came wanting to run, our minds came wanting to be changed, and as we came with our whole being we began to see God move in with His presence and our lives desiring more of the Kingdom of God and His love.

We sat on my floor; and as we sat God showed up and as God showed up we became over whelmed with different desires. At times our hearts desires was to worship Him. At times our desires shifted to others we knew and interceded for them, at times our desire was to pray for each other, at times our desires went over the top and we would pray crazy things like “ God send us to the ends of the earth for your glory even if it means we lose our lives”. At the heart of it all was "God use us to bring your kingdom down to earth no matter what it costs us."

We laughed, we cried, we sang, we talked, we sat in silence, what ever our spirit was hungry for we wanted to see it manifest. We wanted more of His presence. We began to see how we could do nothing without His presence. And as we spent those Monday nights seeking Gods presence He would show up. He came all the time. We did not plead or beg; He was literally at times just waiting in my room for us to be there. We wanted His presence and He wanted to give it to us.

As Elijah stood and called down fire from Heaven, he had a confidence that I long for in life. He knew God would show up. What strikes me the most is when the people see this fire, they immediately fell prostate and cried out to the Lord.

May we reach a place where we carry the presence of God like Elijah, where we can stand next to people like these Holy men in their barrels of water and minister the love of God and the presence of God that will bring them out of their barrels of rituals into the love and presence of God, the God who created heaven and earth, the God who alone brings the rain from heaven. The God who loves them.

Catherine

Your Calling is calling!

Last week Sunday we went to throw my mom’s ashes in the sea. Was the most incredible day, definitely ordered by God. It was weird to take out the ashes and think that was my mom. It was just ashes in a bag. What it made me see was that it was not her smile, it was not her smell, it was not her laughter, it was not her talkativeness, it was not her joy, it was not her dancing, it was not her extravagance, it was not her compassion, it was not her gracefulness, it was not her love, it was not her beauty, it was not her blue eyes, it was not her as I knew her, it was just ashes of a body of a life that had a calling and lived it out to the best she knew how. Death has been so real to me this past year; it’s shaped some of my thinking in an amazing way. That might sound weird but its true. I have come to see things and life from a different perspective. You know when we were on the boat heading out and looking back at Cape Town, I saw the city from a different view, which I had not seen for a long time. Being out on the see gave me a different vision of the city; just the way death has given me a different vision of this life that we live. During the day I was constantly reminded of the scripture Paul talks about when he says for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. .

I saw how death truly is a reality, how a life that once breathed to live for Christ was actually with Christ, and how my mom was celebrating with Christ, and looking down inspiring me to live out my life for Christ. Releasing me fully into this calling that is calling. Death is a strange thing and we might not like it, we find it hard to talk about, and we seldom know what to say to someone who has lost a loved one. Relooking at death I have found there is life. No wonder God calls us to die to our selfish ways and live for him. What we need to see is that dying to self releases life and a calling which we might have seen a glimpse of but not the full picture, and once we die to self God will show us a different view of our lives, this world and what He has called us to. Therefore this allows us to walk in the fullness of Christ and what He is calling us to, it’s a rough process but it’s a glorious one. Reflecting Christ’s life through our death.

So yes our bodies eventually die and we either go down in the ground or get sprinkled across some part of this earth, but truly that’s not who we are or what we are living for. We live to reflect Christ and fulfill all He has called us to. My mom’s smile and blue eyes will always be remembered, and still lives in the lives she smiled at and in me, I have her eyes and will always know she lived, just like we have Christ in us and our calling is to reflect Christ, so we will be remembered by our reflection of Christ in us.

We have a calling that is calling, and that calling is Christ and His love. The rest of what we do will be a reflection of that and we need to be running in that reflection, whether that means giving up everything we have, and dying to the things in this world, we need to do it, God is wanting us to see His vision, but not from our eyes but His!

Your calling is calling....

Hibernating or Waiting?

Wondering where I am, well I find myself in Nelspruit, with some friends I met in Mozambique last year. What am I doing here, well not much....

If you read the definitions of Hibernating and waiting they seem similar, If I try and describe the season I am in I feel like I am Hibernating, yet also waiting.......

hi·ber·nate
1. To pass the winter in a dormant or torpid state.
2. To be in an inactive or dormant state or period.

wait·ing
1. The act of remaining inactive or stationary.
2. A period of time spent waiting.

Some of you might be wondering what am I waiting for? Well in my mind I am waiting for clarity and confirmation of what is next on my plate. These past 2 months have been rather choatic and confusing at times and in a way its been good to have time to try piece things together but also hard. I have no updates on where or what I will be doing or going next, but am trusting that God has me in the palm of His hand and is guiding me every step of the way.

Thats about it for now.


Love
Catherine

Sudden Change!Sad news.

Hi

I had planned to stay in the states for a few more months, I have had some really sad news, and need to return home this week. My mom passed away on Monday, it was unexpected. She got double pneumonia and was in the hospital on Sunday, my brother and sister in law were with her on Monday, and she passed away Monday afternoon. Lisa is returning with me, and we have a lot to sort out before we leave. Please pray that everything goes smoothly and that God maps out each step for us.

thanks
love
Catherine

Another Lisa's update

Hello once again--from Oregon!

Catherine and I made it home a couple of weeks ago and just have not yet gotten around to writing yet. Oops! The last month of our trip really took a lot out of us so we have been trying to rest up and get back on our feet again.

NATIONAL PARKS GALORE!
The month of July took us to just about every National Park in Colorado and Utah, it seems. It seemed silly not to take full advantage of our new annual pass! We hit most of the famous parks (Arches, Zion, Bryce, Grand Canyon), and discovered some lesser known ones as well that were pretty amazing. We enjoyed the beautiful creation--but not the heat so much!! I have been wanting to see the Grand Canyon for years now and got to fulfill one of my dreams--watching the sunrise over the canyon. It was sweet!

LV
After making our way through Arizona, we met up with my mom and her brother in Las Vegas for a night. I am not a huge LV fan, but it was really fun to see my mom and Catherine was glad to see yet one more thing that she has only seen through the movies.

YOSEMITE--MY FAVORITE!
Our last stop was Yosemite--a personal favorite of mine. We didn't have reservations for a campsite, so we found a nice lady who was willing to share hers with us! We had a blast playing in the river and soaking up the beauty of the valley. We were even able to borrow bikes from our camp-mate, something we've been trying to do for months now!

SEATTLE
A couple of weeks ago, we got to meet up with some friends in Seattle--our friend Denea who lives in Lubbock, TX and Dawn from Seattle (both of whom we met in Mozambique). We were plenty busy as we saw lots of sites and went to lots of coffee shops. It was a blast. Catherine has come a long way from her first hesitant cup of coffee a few months ago. She was drinking lattes without sugar and doing espresso shots! Ha! I love it! She even wouldn't let me leave the city without going to get "just one last cup"! =) Who would have guessed?!

LATEST NEWS--CATH'S STAYING!
Catherine's flight back home was supposed to be last Saturday, but she has filed with the US to extend her stay here. So assuming all goes well, she should be here a while longer. Neither of us was ready for her to go yet!

Well, that's the short version of our last few months. Hope you are all well.

Love,
Lisa (and Catherine too)

A few Highlights!

Hi all!
You may ask where I am saying hi from, well we find ourselves in Dallas, Texas! Yip we did not think we would make it this far but God seems to be leading this journey not us.
So while in California God told us to head to Lubbock Texas(some friends we met in Mozambqie stay there), so we packed up and left. To get htere we had to drive through some desert land. We headed to Arizona, it was interesting and kind of hard on us as we thought we were not hearing right and going in the wrong direction. After much heat, tears and praying we kept going. As we were driving out of Arizona there was this slight rain that came out of no where, and God told us there is refreshing coming. We had no idea what to expect. We hit New Mexico, and stayed in a place called Lus Cruces, it was really amazing there, we could breath again. we camped 2 nights there. We went to go see White sands, which really was incredible it was miles and miles of white sand dunes....white sand dunes strecthing for miles. And scary thought we were driving through the area where America first tested the Atomic bomb. Yip we were in the middle of missile territory, but we were safe! They werent testing any that day and am sure that the road where people drive is not the place they test them.

The next day we headed for Caldsbad Caverns, still in New Mexico. We got hit with a crazy storm on the way there, I could hardly see in front of me while I was driving, we kept going as we had no idea if it would stop, just black clouds lighting everywhere, and of course the relief that we were out of the desert! It eventually stopped and we felt ok again and well refreshed!We headed straight for the caves once in Caldsbad. These caves are the biggest in the US not sure about the world. You could fit 14 football fields in them. It was fascinating, we caught and elevator down 750 feet and took a stroll around, it was fascinating. We hung around till dusk, watched the bats take flight out of the caves interesting little creatures those bats are. The next day we went back and decided to walk in the caves, so we walked down 750 feet, took us about 2 hours. Next stop "Alien territory"

We headed for Roswell, now if any of you know this is the place to see UFO'S, well this is what the town seems to think. It was kind of weird. We went and found a camp site and decided to explore Roswell in the morning. Trust me, not much to explore, most shops have some Alien/UFO memrobilia and we went to the museum but decide that paying $5 was not worth the information we might see or read. Sure is a strange place, Lisa and myself decided to be funny and put some foil on our heads and take a picture of us by a Roswell sign, yip we thought well we might as well laugh at the oppurtunity we had of seeing this strange little town(you want to see the picture, let me know i will email it to you). We left pretty soon after htat and reached Lubbock, Texas

We had no idea what was going to happen here. But we had fun. Our friends spoiled us, we met lots of people and got to just hang around Lubbock. God had been planning some stuff we loved doing. So some of the stuff was, praying and encouraging people we got to meet. It was such fun just watching God move and Holy Spirit being poured out onto people. We even got the oppurtunitie to speak at a church on a Sunday morning. It was such fun, the pastor just let us do what we felt Holy Spirit was wanting to do. Lisa and myself had no clue until it was our turn to stand up and speak what God wanted us to share, but we got to share and pray for people to have Holy Spirit, (I love doing this). We left a few hours later after sharing our hearts and praying till the last person left, no one seemed to want to leave.

I also got refreshed with some pure South Africans, a friend of a friend new these two crazy South Africans that come to Lubbock once a year to minister at a Church here. They are pure afrikaans South Africans, they made us milk tart and then pulled out some sausage that kind of tasted like borewors, and ALL GOLD tomatoe sauce and Mrs Balls Chutney.....yummy it felt like i was back home. We spent some good time with them and laughed a lot because we could understand each other and the things we were saying. So I have started teaching Lisa some afrikaans, our secret little language, so no one else can understand us here in US, especially when we need to communicate and we dont want everyone to understand.It fun and Lisa is a good learner. We left Lubbock and headed for Dallas, been here just over a week, have been staying with a family that Lisa kind of knew, they welcomed us in and we have had some good times with them and their 3 daughters. We will be leaving in a few days, we kind of know where but have not finalised it yet,
So keep praying for us, we have good days and bad days but have learnt that each day is just another day of grace!

Love you
Catherine

Highlights from Lisa!

Hello from the Rockies!!

It has been many, many miles since we last wrote.... Yesterday marked a month since our last oil change and we already crossed the 3,000 mile mark--just since then!

THE DESERT IS HIGHLY OVERRATED!
We've covered a lot of territory in the last month and a half! We decided we weren't so fond of the desert of Arizona and New Mexico, except for the amazing caves in Carlsbad! We spent a morning in Roswell, New Mexico and that was quite enough. No, we didn't see any aliens this time!

LUBBOCK-(where?!)
Our time in Lubbock, Texas with our friends from Mozambique was absolutely amazing. We saw God moving very powerfully in people there and we were given the opportunity to speak in a church there, which ended up being such fun. We let the Holy Spirit lead and he really spoke through us and touched people there. We enjoyed praying for people afterward for over 2 hours! Such fun!

CAMPING IN DALLAS WITH GREG AND JEAN
The next day we headed to the Dallas area and met up with my (Lisa's) aunt and unlce, who happened to be there camping at the same time we were planning to be there. Cath and I went for an impromptu swim in our clothes in the lake there one evening at sunset--beautiful and refreshing!! Reminded us of our early morning swims together in Mozambique when we were first getting to know each other!

REST AND BLESSING AT THE KYPUROS HOME
We have been amazingly blessed all throughout our trip of finding amazing "strangers" who have opened up their homes and hearts to us. One such family, the Kypuros', are friends of friends from CA. We thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them, playing (and coloring!) with their three beautiful girls, and praying with them on several occasions. After our first few days with them, they left town on vacation and let us stay in their home for a few more days while they were gone. A blessing for sure!

A REAL TEXAS RODEO!
After that, we headed to our friend, Andrea's, parents' house--also "strangers" to us. They welcomed us with amazing "Tex Mex" and upon discovering that we had not yet seen a rodeo jumped up from the dinner table, packed us in the car and took us off to see one! I was a bit skeptical at first, but ended up having an absolute blast! I liked the bull riding--and the kiddie version (4-6 year olds) on sheep!

MORE STRANGERS--and FISHING! (see picture below)
Our friend, Denea (from Lubbock), was in Dallas for a family reunion and invited us to join. It was great fun to see her again and to meet yet more wonderful people who welcomed us so warmly. A favorite part of our time there was going on her dad's platoon on a lake at sunset to fish. Once again, I didn't think I would enjoy myself, but ended up not wanting our time to end. We laughed a lot, and I caught....a log, some plants, and the bottom of the lake on numerous occasions.

OOOOOOO-KLAHOMA WHERE THE WIND COMES SWEEPIN' DOWN THE PLAIN....
After a long drive, we made a stop in Oklahoma City, where (once again) we were rained on while camping. Seems to be a theme... Anyway, we thought what better thing to do in Oklahoma than go see the musical "Oklahoma!" on stage. It just happened to be playing that week we were there and we caught opening night. Such fun to be in an audience of real Oklahomans who were so excited about their State.

NEXT STOP--KANSAS CITY AND DAGWOOD'S DINER (see picture below)
Once again, we were taken in by a complete stranger--this time on 2 hours' notice. We stayed 3 nights with a friend of a friend of a friend of a woman we met in Lubbock. We visited the International House of Prayer there and were happy to escape the crazy rain that has been pounding the mid-west. Our favorite part of Kansas City was discovering a dingy little diner on the Kansas side one morning. After a failed attempt to find a restaurant we were familiar with, we finally stopped, incredibly hungry, at Dagwood's Diner. Wowee--AAA needs to get this one in it's tourbook! We ate with the locals and watched as the 60something, overweight woman in the kitchen made our pancakes, licking the batter off of her fingers before carrying on with the next order. Next to her stood two women in the kitchen taking their smoke break... It was absolutely an amazing experience--and the food was so fabulous that we went back the next day for more!

A LOOOOOONG DAY OF DRIVING LEADS TO DENVER, COLORADO (see picture below)
Through Kansas we went in one day. Not too much to see, really. We found a nice place to stay in the mountains of Denver and Cath got to see another baseball game--the Rockies vs the Mets. Good fun as usual. I enjoyed watching the cotton candy man speed down the stairs, the amazing sunset, and the cute baby that was sitting in front of us. Oh, ya, and the baseball was good too. "We" won. =)

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH! (see picture below)
We are currently (that is, for the next hour or so) just outside of Colorado Springs, enjoying some tremendous beauty. We've decided that we officially like Colorado! Yesterday we visited the "Garden of the Gods", which is a park consisting of all sorts of crazy rock formations. The sky was bright blue, the trees super green, the clouds white as could be, and the rocks a beautiful red. We took tons of pictures and enjoyed just sitting and enjoying the scenery. Last night we went to Seven Falls, all lit up with lights. We missed the fireworks, but this was better than fireworks! It was calm and very pretty. We felt like we were in a movie set and that when we left they would shut off the lights and turn off the tap to the water!

NEXT STOP??
We're off in a few minutes and aren't sure where we'll sleep tonight. However, we have been scheming about the next few weeks and have a good idea about our route back to Oregon. This could well be the last chance I have to update until we get back home. We will likely stop at a coffee shop for internet here and there, but I probably won't be able to take the time to write another long update for a while. I hope you all are well!

Lisa and Catherine