So....although we have been in Port Vila for the last few days, which we didn't expect to be as powerful as our time in Lelepa (our our time in Emao coming up) man, we had one of the most intense few days we've had all outreach.
On Saturday we went into this slum-ish area of Port Vila to have a time for kids, so we were singing songs and building relationships, really just trying to get to know people. However, in the midst of all this there were powerful things happening as one of our members saw God heal this woman and her child of malaria, and that story in itself is nuts, this kid during our program was really burning up and shaking, so one of our members (Myung -hee from Korea) took him home. When she did the mother at home actually fell down and was burning up from fever or something... and myung hee thought she heard the people panicking saying it was malaria... who knwos. anyways, myung hee immediatly began to pray and then the woman's body immediatly cooled. We came back the next day and the woman wasn't around.... but then the NEXT day (Monday) we came to the commuiunity adn this woman (and her sister who she had brought) come spruiniting up to Myung hee more excited than anything becuase they had miraculously been COMPLETY healed. Halleluja haha
The night on monday was nuts, we held an open air where we taught, preached, performed, everything and it was awsome, so many people were turning up, on average the crowd was 120 people watching. and at the end we offered that we would pray for anyone who wanted prayer.... and the next little bit was hectic with all the prayer. It was amazing, it started slow but then one woman gained the courage to step forward, adn then it broke loose, I had people trying to drag me away frmo other people WHILE i was praying for them to pray for healing, and to pray for all sorts of everythings. We may have seen healings, but in many cases we're unsure becuase we'd pray for healings for sore backs, finish, ask how they were feeling and they'd casually say "much better, thank you" and then walk away... um... hahah good? I know if i was healed like that i'd be like WOAHHHH!! WHATT>?? but for them it seemed to be an everyday thing, "of course, you pray and your healed" kind of mindset. Vanessa and I prayed over one individual over a strange sickness that was... something else... I actually went back later and prayed for her again in a different way... becuase something wasn't right there...
But!
It was a really good time, and good prep for Lelepa when we go back. I neglected to write about it in my l;ast blog, but when we go back to lelepa, there is alot more truth that has been unnearthed about that place that we were oblivious to before... and alot more things are starting to make sense. There is a dark presence that we are going to be going up against, and our "mysterious sickness" that our leader came down with that basically put him out of commission for a few days was actually predicted and prayed against by two completely different groups back in Perth australia while they were praying for us, and the source was made clearer...and actually caused a bit of fear to enter into our group, but we've dealt with it and are ready to take it on. (it was actually really cool, because at around the same time they had started to pray was the time when Joe said he actually felt BAM a huge difference). There is spiritual warfare behind this and I would appretiate all of your prayers for my team as we go back into it, prayers for strength and prayers for protection.
But, before i start physching poeple out with all this spiritual warfare talk, I'll talk more about whats up now,
So the last few days we were in these slums with our outreach leader gone back to perth, but today actually is the day that Joe gets back from perth, so we will start to press in and get ready to go back to Lelepa and then Emao.
Man, words can't describe how much I appretiate the E-mails that have been sent to me and the updates I've been getting on people's lives back home. It reminds me of you all and i really appretiate it. Please keep them coming as they are the only contact I have with home these days. Honestly, they just bring the biggest smile to my face, I'm so happy to hear about home from the people who I can see are thinking about me constantly!! THank you so much
But yea, this is the last time I'll get to update my blog for a while... so this is really the last update you could get until... well for a while! So if you have any details you would like to know, please write me and I'll tell you, i'm trying to keep some things on the blog fairly vauge becuase i feel uncomfortable talking about them on the "world wide web" but if anyone wants to know more specifics to pray into or anything like that, than by all means e-mail me and I'll get back to you.
Thank you so much for your support everyone.
The Authority and the Commission
The Power of Prayer
-Jon
Monday, January 22, 2007
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
1 Week in
Woo!
Hello everyone! I am having the most amazing time, it is incredible!
We just spent the last week on the Island of Lelipa and it was absolutly incredible, I met some of the most amazing people on the most beautiful island, it was something else.
Everyday we would work on this concrete water tank that we were building, (The villagers would have to usually canoe across the passage to the mainland (Vila) to get water from freshwater streams there when the tanks they have run out, so we were building another one. Whats awsome is while we were there, it rained HARD twice, filling up all the tanks so that some were overflowing! it was powerful.
We made friends with so many people, and impacted alot of lives. There was this one woman who had suffered from a stroke and the entire right side of her body below the neck was pretty much paralyzed. She could move her fingers and toes really. We all prayed over her one day for healing, and once we were done... she could move her right arm fully, that was really cool to see, theres been a fair bit of spiritual warfare, and htast JUST on Lelipa, and i'm sure we'll be faced with more.
On the island we ate fruit, 'showered' in the ocean, and would sweat... alot haha.
The guys all slept in this half built church while the girls in this building of sorts that was a big room. There was in general no electricity on the island save for one 'shop' and one or two homes, but those were not community generators, those belonged to the family. Also, no running water save for water coming from the tanks, the toilet was... haha something else, i'm sure you'll see pictures.
Everynight you could hear village mutts fighting, haha and the next day the dogs would have all these scars all over them.
For fun when we were done work, Eric and myself (usually with two of our Vanuatian friends Fredie and Rex) would swim out to this sunken plane and go freediving around it, the other day we saw a Stingray and we tried to spear it with Fredies spear but it was too quick.
The water tank is finished save for a roof, it's watertight, but now we want to structure it perfectly so the DTS will be heading back there in a few days... next week? After hte SOS has gone home. When the SOS goes home, our outreach leader (Joe) will be going back to Perth with them temporarily (Which is a good thing because then he can go to a doctor, his eye got really really swollen up the other day and we don't know why.. he may have been bitten by something but we are unsure, they have some MASSIVE bugs here)
Anyways, when Joe is gone, we will be going into Prisons here in Port Vila to speak to prisoners, which will be amazing, after that we go (as i said) back to Lelipa for a day or so to finish the tank, which will be cool, I miss them all already. (Oh! I'll talk about this game I learned that the kids on the island made up)
When Joe does get back to Vanuatu then we will go to this Island up north about 30 min boat trip that has 7 villages on it, and we will be backpacking from one to another. (Oh, and and one point... either before or after that, I can't remember we only got concrete plans a few days ago, but we will be going into the slums of vila as well)
And thats essentially all the details i can think of right now.... Joe leaves in 2 days for Perth, and thats the gameplan.
This morning I woke up at 5:30- throwing up... thought you might like to hear some of my calamitys as well haha, also my feet have been slaughtered becuase hte sandals that i have are my dads, which have moulded to his feet not mine, and as a result I have some AMAZING blisters and gashes.. which may be septic now becuase i didn't put anything on them the entire time i was on Lelipa, but I doubt it. A few scrapes and scratches from the plane (cutting myself on the sides as i swam through it haha but nothing some salt water can't fix.. whats awsome is not too far off is where there are Hammerheads!
Right now in Vila we are staying at a YWAM run...area? it really reminds me of Morningstar
kind of set up, almost exactly the same sized and designed buildings, everything (For those from westbank/ glenrosa), and we are sleeping in the church. Last night the biggest beetle i have ever seen in my life came flying through the window, this thing was the size of my palm and it landed on my mosquito net and got trapped. Also last night chuck said he saw cockraches crawling all over, and one on my net. haHA! Missions is amazing!
So... thats my quick blurb update for now.... I've been keeping my journal everyday so I have lots of good full length explinations of awsome stuff that i've forgotten at this current moment... but oh boy... one week and it's been this good? thats great.
So! I have to head off now, time is running out, so i should wrap this up
I've been thinking of you all! haha and i won't give you the little updates like what music i've been listning to, noone wants that anymore, BUT! if you have any questions about anything that i havn't mentioned here? then PLEASE! by all means e-mail me! Thank you to those who E-mailed me in this past week, I was excited to hear what's new with you!
"Pray Dangerous Prayers"
-Jon
Hello everyone! I am having the most amazing time, it is incredible!
We just spent the last week on the Island of Lelipa and it was absolutly incredible, I met some of the most amazing people on the most beautiful island, it was something else.
Everyday we would work on this concrete water tank that we were building, (The villagers would have to usually canoe across the passage to the mainland (Vila) to get water from freshwater streams there when the tanks they have run out, so we were building another one. Whats awsome is while we were there, it rained HARD twice, filling up all the tanks so that some were overflowing! it was powerful.
We made friends with so many people, and impacted alot of lives. There was this one woman who had suffered from a stroke and the entire right side of her body below the neck was pretty much paralyzed. She could move her fingers and toes really. We all prayed over her one day for healing, and once we were done... she could move her right arm fully, that was really cool to see, theres been a fair bit of spiritual warfare, and htast JUST on Lelipa, and i'm sure we'll be faced with more.
On the island we ate fruit, 'showered' in the ocean, and would sweat... alot haha.
The guys all slept in this half built church while the girls in this building of sorts that was a big room. There was in general no electricity on the island save for one 'shop' and one or two homes, but those were not community generators, those belonged to the family. Also, no running water save for water coming from the tanks, the toilet was... haha something else, i'm sure you'll see pictures.
Everynight you could hear village mutts fighting, haha and the next day the dogs would have all these scars all over them.
For fun when we were done work, Eric and myself (usually with two of our Vanuatian friends Fredie and Rex) would swim out to this sunken plane and go freediving around it, the other day we saw a Stingray and we tried to spear it with Fredies spear but it was too quick.
The water tank is finished save for a roof, it's watertight, but now we want to structure it perfectly so the DTS will be heading back there in a few days... next week? After hte SOS has gone home. When the SOS goes home, our outreach leader (Joe) will be going back to Perth with them temporarily (Which is a good thing because then he can go to a doctor, his eye got really really swollen up the other day and we don't know why.. he may have been bitten by something but we are unsure, they have some MASSIVE bugs here)
Anyways, when Joe is gone, we will be going into Prisons here in Port Vila to speak to prisoners, which will be amazing, after that we go (as i said) back to Lelipa for a day or so to finish the tank, which will be cool, I miss them all already. (Oh! I'll talk about this game I learned that the kids on the island made up)
When Joe does get back to Vanuatu then we will go to this Island up north about 30 min boat trip that has 7 villages on it, and we will be backpacking from one to another. (Oh, and and one point... either before or after that, I can't remember we only got concrete plans a few days ago, but we will be going into the slums of vila as well)
And thats essentially all the details i can think of right now.... Joe leaves in 2 days for Perth, and thats the gameplan.
This morning I woke up at 5:30- throwing up... thought you might like to hear some of my calamitys as well haha, also my feet have been slaughtered becuase hte sandals that i have are my dads, which have moulded to his feet not mine, and as a result I have some AMAZING blisters and gashes.. which may be septic now becuase i didn't put anything on them the entire time i was on Lelipa, but I doubt it. A few scrapes and scratches from the plane (cutting myself on the sides as i swam through it haha but nothing some salt water can't fix.. whats awsome is not too far off is where there are Hammerheads!
Right now in Vila we are staying at a YWAM run...area? it really reminds me of Morningstar
kind of set up, almost exactly the same sized and designed buildings, everything (For those from westbank/ glenrosa), and we are sleeping in the church. Last night the biggest beetle i have ever seen in my life came flying through the window, this thing was the size of my palm and it landed on my mosquito net and got trapped. Also last night chuck said he saw cockraches crawling all over, and one on my net. haHA! Missions is amazing!
So... thats my quick blurb update for now.... I've been keeping my journal everyday so I have lots of good full length explinations of awsome stuff that i've forgotten at this current moment... but oh boy... one week and it's been this good? thats great.
So! I have to head off now, time is running out, so i should wrap this up
I've been thinking of you all! haha and i won't give you the little updates like what music i've been listning to, noone wants that anymore, BUT! if you have any questions about anything that i havn't mentioned here? then PLEASE! by all means e-mail me! Thank you to those who E-mailed me in this past week, I was excited to hear what's new with you!
"Pray Dangerous Prayers"
-Jon
Friday, January 05, 2007
On my way
I'm currently in Brisbane International Airport, waiting for mu flight.. which boards in 5 min
TO VANUATU
Gotta go
TO VANUATU
Gotta go
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)