Posted in Month 12: Canada by Nicole Pearson on 5/20/2012
In Another Time, Another Place...
Have you ever noticed how some things are just right and you know it?
You hit a moment in time where you catch yourself in a smile as you're slipping into perfect tune with the world around you and you just know in that moment you are in just the right place, at just the right time, with the right people beside you. It's in that moment that it doesn't really matter what the heck is going on around you or where you are on the globe at the moment because the peace that you find in that beautiful instant is bigger than all of that.
I enjoyed a million of those moment when I was on the race....
-Sitting in a ministry briefing in Nepal, tears pouring down my face.
-Riding back from Siem Reap in the heat, guided only by the constant whirl of the wheels
and our tiny electric bicycle lights.
-Waiting in a torrential downpour for a bus to pick us up in Australia.
-Looking out at a blanket of stars so vast it seems endless on the edge of a cliff in
South Africa.
-Screaming declarations at the top of my lungs with my team at a little park in Malaysia.
-Praying for just a brief rain shower while riding home in an auto in the May Indian heat
and then reaching out my hands to embrace the cool drops when it actually happened.
Beautiful moments when I realized without a doubt that no matter what I was struggling with I was exactly where I needed to be. And then the race was over and I came home...and home was different and so was I. It felt like I would never again be able to reconcile the two.
All I could think about were the places I used to be and the people I went there with...
------->Moving Forward.
For as long as I can remember I have had a dream. I knew what I wanted to do, how I was going to get there and what my life was going to look like. There was a point in my life when I gave up on that dream and tried to kill it dead because things weren't going as I expected. Truth is I was doing everything in my own power and hadn't seriously stopped to even think about asking God where he might be leading me. Coming home from the race, changed but with few plans and no clear direction, I have found myself face to face with a choice.
Go it on my own or wait patiently, pray for wisdom, trust God and rely on His timing.
I have spent about a month composing this blog. It's something that has been heavy on my heart for a while now and I just didn't know how to put it into words. I thought I got used to discomfort when I was on the race now I find that I face a new kind of discomfort. The kind that confronts you at random when you find yourself having conversations in the grocery store about organic produce or the ethical debate about eating meat when you know how rare and precious food is in many parts of the world. If killing a chicken feeds a starving family, I have to say it, cut that birds head off and get him on their plates. But I feel this tug to fit in to my new environment.
I can't count the number of times that I heard this phrase during my time on the race:
Abandon Your Expectations!
You would think that I would have gotten that one by now. Let God have control. Let him put you where he wants to put you and do what he wants to do. Give up your need to dictate the circumstances and say what happens next. Just let GO!
I should be an expert at letting go. "Should" that's the key word. Apparently I need a little bit more practice. The other day after praying about going back to school I walked into the college on a whim to look into setting up an appointment with an advisor about my options. While I was waiting in line a program information package on the resource wall caught my eye. I went over, picked it up and started to flip through it. Immediately I knew that it wasn't an accident.
I started to consider the events of the past 6 months I've spent at home. The changes and challenges that I've faced. The ways that God has slowly guided me into position and realized that without my planning it my feet were set on a path directly to the place that I wanted to go.
My struggle to be content ended with the knowledge that I am exactly where I need to be, at the right time and with the right people beside me... That in and of itself is an intense blessing.
The place that I am at is different but it's also just right.
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Posted in Month 12: Canada by Nicole Pearson on 4/3/2012
A Great Deal of FAITH
This Sunday I taught the Overcomers at my church.
Our topic was EXTREME FAITH.
Before the lesson began Colleen and I had thought up some examples of people in the Bible who we thought the kids would recognize as people of great faith. People like David, Daniel, Joseph, Mary, Moses or Abraham...
We started by asking what the kids thought FAITH was...
They said that FAITH was believing in the unseen.
We then asked them if they could give an example of someone in the Bible who had GREAT FAITH. One little boy raised his hand to answer and gave an example we were not expecting.
He said: Job was a man of very great faith.
------------NOW STOP RIGHT THERE-------------
I don't know if I would have given Job as an example to kids. In some ways I find the story of Job daunting to understand as an adult but the kid said it. Even cooler I was working my way into trying to say what God had told me during the week when I'd been praying into it and that example was EXACTLY what I needed.
I explained that he was right Job was an AMAZING example of faith.
Job faced some very hard things. He lost his wealth, his family and his health. He even lost his reputation (remember his friends thought he must have sinned.)but Job would not curse God, he would not say that God wasn't good and just. Instead Job had faith and believed that God is exactly who he says he is. That God really, truly IS good.
During the week that was the definition of faith that God had been speaking to me.
Faith is continuing to press in and fight believing that no matter what God is always good and he is always working on our behalf. It's trusting God to be who he says he is despite our circumstances.
DREAMS + FAITH = REALITY
We started to talk about what we can accomplish IF we have faith.
We asked the kids to give some examples of things that they wanted to do or accomplish and how having faith could help them get there.
They gave a few examples like build a sky scraper, fly, help animals, buy a gift for their mom, travel the world as a missionary or paint pictures. Then we asked the kids what they wanted to do when they grew up and talked about how God has placed those unique ideas and dreams in our hearts. We told the kids that God would help them make those dreams reality, they just have to have faith.
What Can We DO With FAITH?
WELL.... How about pray for healing and SEE IT HAPPEN!!!
I don't know how it happened exactly but I found myself sharing/acting out the story of a man my team saw healed in India. My missionary kids had stories of their own about healing and jumped right in to tell the class about them.
I then offered the kids an example of a family in our church who has great faith even though they are going through a difficult struggle with health and we prayed together as a class for healing and strength.
Immediately after our class ended one of the coolest and most encouraging things that I've seen since I got home happened. This little blond haired girl walked right up to me with this big smile, very excited and eager to talk to me.
"You know what?" She said.
"Nope, what?"
"My Dad had a really sore neck. I prayed for it and the pain went away immediately!" She literally beamed at me.
FAITH like a CHILD. Pure BEAUTY.
Suddenly that whole thing was a lesson for me and I wanted to take every kid in that room load them into a car and go pray for sick people because the power and strength of the faith in that room... Man it was THICK.
Smashing the Box -- AGAIN.
I'm a World Race alumni. I have been around the world. I have seen the Kingdom come in SO many ways but I was foolish enough to think that God isn't as BIG, as PRESENT, or as CAPABLE in Canada as he was on the race. I still put God in a box and believe that he is limited in his power, provision and willingness to pursue his people.
God forgive me for recreating that little box I smashed at training camp and stuffing you back into it. You are so much bigger and better than I give you credit for.
The truth is faith really is as simple as believing that God is good and then trusting, no matter what happens, that his goodness never fades.
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Posted in Month 12: Canada by Nicole Pearson on 2/25/2012
First Things First...
If you were wondering why I stopped blogging immediately after the race it's because I created another blog and forgot to post here to let you know about it.
The name of my new blog is: Re-Action Words.
This past year I have come to a realization about words:
In the end it doesn't matter how they are spoken, passionate or apathetic, if they are not followed by action they may as well have fallen on deaf ears.
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At times during this past year I would find myself wondering what to write and coming up with nothing. It's not that there was a time when nothing was happening, something was always happening. In fact I think that the reason Racer's sometimes struggle to write is because so much is happening, (big events and small), that it's hard to explain all of the changes that are taking place.
For example in my first month in Thailand I found myself desperately longing for a journal like the one that I had at home. It wasn't a major issue, I was doing fine without one, but at the time the thought of my journal with the scripture quotes at the bottom of each page was comforting. I asked God for a journal with scripture quotes on the pages not anticipating that I would actually get one. That evening when I went down to look through the free pile there was an un-used journal with scripture quotes on the bottom of each page and I nearly cried right there.
It's not a big story. It's also not exactly life changing but it is one small stone in the foundation God built up in my life in 2011 that defines how I interact with Him today.
Day By Day...
You see, that is what the reality of day to day life is supposed to be like for any Christian. That same day to day stuff doesn't stop or somehow become more amazing when you get on a plane and fly to Thailand. However in a lot of ways it does become more necessary for us to become practiced at recognizing it.
I was going into the red light district. Every other night my senses were assaulted with the sights, sounds, smells and confusion of Bangla Road. Having never been in a bar before the whole party scene was completely overwhelming. Not to mention the heat, the food, the language barrier or the fact that I was farther from home than I ever had been and among people I had met once at a week long camp. I was out of my comfort zone in every possible way and there was no escaping the fact. I physically wasn't able to just leave and go some place comforting and familiar.
The only comforting and familiar thing I had left was God. And honestly at the start of the race I wasn't always sure He was going to be enough. It was only through his faithfulness to prove it to me that I began to really lean on him and take bolder steps of faith.
Re-ACT
Those kinds of stories are good and encouraging and sometimes we really need to hear them but I left in pursuit of something more and that's what I wanted to tell you about. Remember what I said before, words are kind of powerless unless they inspire us to act. I could fill books with words and say a lot of good things but if you aren't inspired or changed by them then they may as well be written in a foreign language.
For years I read the blogs of racers on the field. I would sit in front of my computer laughing, crying and totally fired up for justice as I lived through their blogs. Through what they had to say I realized that there is SO MUCH MORE to see.
Finally their words moved me to take action and go on my own World Race.
I have a guilty confession to make to you:
Sometimes I get angry at pictures of starving kids on TV and it's not because of the injustices in the world that kills 15 million children every year because they don't have enough to eat. I get angry because I don't like to see things that I feel are specifically created to get a reaction out of me. I can't be responsible for something that I don't know about. I can't be blamed for not taking action if I never know that the problem exists. Ignorance is BLISS, not rebellion or self-entitlement and it suits a lazy person just fine.
They Are Still There.
In so many ways as I walked along Bangla Road I felt the same way I used to feel about those commercials except instead of anger I felt fear. It was too much to take in. I felt powerless. I doubted that my efforts could change any of what I was seeing. I was face to face with something that I couldn't ignore and there was a sense that I was being asked to do something but I had no idea what to do. I had no idea how to react.
I just looked at face after face, sign after flashing sign, street after street soaking it all in and becoming completely AWARE of the existence of a place called Bangla Road.
I couldn't write about what I seen along Bangla Road while I was there. I didn't know how to put into words the things I was seeing. I didn't know how to reach out, how to get angry about it or even how to think about the things that I witnessed there. But they impacted me. They left a large mark on the circuitry of my brain and when I think of Thailand I think of them.
I know that there are still girls in Thailand selling their bodies. There are still orphans in Swaziland fighting AID's and a little aboriginal girl in Australia growing up in a home where drug use is a normal, daily occurance. There are still families sifting through the garbage in India. There are still little girls trafficked across the border in Nepal. There are homeless men and women lining up for a street feeding in Kuala Lumpur. There are youth in Moldova struggling to raise themselves. There are boys in Mozambique struggling to get through a school system that doesn't care if they fail.
They are there. STILL there. ALWAYS there. Knowing that is the hardest part about being home.
Those commercials no longer make me angry about not being involved they make me ache because it is my wish to be up to my elbows in the poverty of the world fighting for change. I remember faces and names. I remember situations, the stress, hopelessness and tribulations of the world. But I also remember the miracles, the power, the relief, the hope and joy that God poured into every single situation and every single person we came into contact with.
I struggled to write blogs while on the race because I never wanted to waste your time with forgetable stories. I wanted to leave a mark on you. I wanted to hit you with the reality of what I was seeing and leave you breathless with only one option - To REACT.
Still Running...
The goal behind my new blog is to continue on that mission. To do the research and continue to write words that drive you to respond while at the same time constantly reminding myself never to lose sight of the reality that I have become acquainted with.
It's also a place for me to explore ideas and come up with creative solutions to one very big problem. I'm not on the race anymore. I'm not in Asia, Africa, Australia or Europe.
I am in Quesnel, British Columbia, Canada. I'm your neighbour again.
I admit that I frequently go to Expedia to look up air fares to the places I've grown to love but, for better or worse, this is where I live. And that doesn't mean that I get to stop caring about orphans or trafficking victims in fact I think it means that I have to care EVEN MORE in the very place where it is easy to forget their faces. With knowledge comes great responsibility and it is my hope to find ways to continue advocating for them right where I'm at.
I'm not excused from or finished with the race. They're still there and that means I'm still running.
www.re-actionwords.blogspot.com
(Check out the new blog and don't forget to sign up to recieve email notifications.)
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Posted in Month 12: Canada by Nicole Pearson on 12/14/2011
...Men Versus Women...
According to a wide array of entertainment media and even some scientific theories there is a natural on going struggle between men and women. At one point in history women were considered to be the 'weaker' sex and since then they have been striving to overcome their male counterparts. Often overcoming means successfully tarnishing the value that society places on men in order to boost their own value. In the end the arguement goes absolutely no where. We tear each other down, fail to walk in unity and miss the value and enrichment that we were created to offer to each other.
At the end of our stay in Malaysia U squad was given the opportunity to meet up with P squad as they were entering their final month on the race. During worship one night my team got to hang out with Colby Gardner from P squad. Colby encouraged our team and he shared with us a vision that God had given him while he was in Africa. He explained that God had been teaching him that when he spoke life over the women on his team and squad and encouraged the release of their voices a change took place in them. As these women were released from their insecurities and bondage they began to speak life over the men on their squad in turn releasing them to walk greater boldness as warriors. In the vision he described to us the women on his squad were painting the faces and arms of the men on the squad. As they painted them they declared identity and truths over them preparing them for battle and releasing them to be warriors in the Kingdom. Colby's vision stuck with me and it was something that I began to think and pray about.
I began to ask a question:
What would it look like for the girls on my team to paint Andrew and Cole for war?
It's not a secret that the number of girls on the race far exceeds the number of guys. Why? The World Race is probably one of the craziest, action packed missions trips out there. It's an ADVENTURE in every sense of the definition. What happened to that manly desire for a right of passage, the discovery of real manhood in the face of raw reality and abandonment? Where did that go? Missions is not just for the ladies, there really should be more men involved in the World Race.
In India during our girl time with our WR coach Bernadette we talked about how as women we have been given voices of influence. Generally speaking women like to talk and there is a reason for it. We were made to speak forth words of life, of release and of freedom. It is a characteristic that we share with God and since the very beginning the enemy has worked overtime to shut us up or, even better, to get us to speak idle words and curses instead. The voice of a woman of God and the quality of the words that she speaks are vitally important to the Kingdom of God.
Bernadette's talk stuck with me remained a constant theme in my thoughts as I travelled into Nepal. As I continued to press in to understand my identity and the need for my voice to be released loud and clear God reminded me of something that I had learned about First Nations culture in one of my history classes and once again stressed the need for our team to paint our men as warriors. Contrary to the typical view of First Nations women portrayed in westerns many tribes actually treated their women with great respect and valued their opinions highly. In some tribes the men would not go to war unless the women held a counsel and gave them permission.
The voices of these women were so highly respected that men would not even go to war UNLESS THE WOMEN SPOKE UP AND COMMISSIONED THEM FOR BATTLE.
That is a powerful amount of influence! We as Daughters of the Most High God, as Queens, have been given that same authority and influence. Our voices carry a heavy weight and we have a choice to make. Choose to look from a heavenly perspective and declare life or become passive aggressive and speak curses that not only bind us but the people around us.
In Swaziland at our 8 month debrief the men of U squad took the iniative and did something very prophetic. They honoured the U squad women, prophesied and spoke life over us, declare our value and released us to be all that God calls us to be - Women of a higher standard. When I saw it happening I knew that it was time to take a step of faith and put into action the things that they had declared by painting our men for war.
At our final debrief in Romania the women of U squad put together a special ceremony. We gave each man a t-shirt with declarations about their identity written on them and then we prayed, prophesied and made declarations over them while painting their faces and arms and annointing them with oil. When they were all painted we gathered them together and shouted declarations with them sealing their identity in Christ.
These are the Warrior Kings who make the enemy tremble. The men of God who walk in full confidence, tear down the works of the enemy, love freely, shake the earth with their roars, touch heaven with their worship and walk free from the fear of man. These men move mountains! They slay giants! They bring the Kingdom! Nothing stands in their way, they march side by side with their Lord and they trust in his might. These are my brothers and my friends. Men who speak life over me, who set my voice free and stand beside me. They will change the world and because of them more men will rise up and take their places on the battle field.
I 
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Posted in Month 12: Canada by Nicole Pearson on 12/13/2011
Home.
One word with so many feelings, meanings and expectations binding it together. Leaving home was one of the hardest things for me to do. There were moments on the race when all I wanted was to come home where everything was normal and comfortable.
-Struggling in the heat of India, sick from too much spice all I wanted was a cool Cariboo
breeze and ginger ale with orange juice.
-Living in close quarters month after month, unable to go anywhere on my own I longed for
the freedom to take off for a walk across the field or a random drive to wherever I pleased
to spend time by myself.
-Struggling to hand wash clothing in all but two countries I dreamed of the day when I
could simply throw my clothing into a machine, turn a knob and return half an hour later to
clean clothing.
-Month after month of squatty potty's and bucket
showers left my hair greasy and a deep
heartfelt wish for the ability to pursue a higher
standard of hygiene.
-Salo. Deep fried tarantulas. Chicken foot
soup...The list goes on and so did my desire
for familiar food items.
Comfort and the lack thereof...
That was the major difference between the wide array of comparisions I entertained when my thoughts turned to home. What made me comfortable, what I liked or enjoyed and what was currently forcing me out of my day to day 'normal' routine. Somewhere in the middle of 11 months of challenges, reality checks and victories I let go of my assumed rights and entitlements. I got used to being too hot all of the time, eating strange food, sleeping on the floor, never getting time to myself, hand washing clothing and only having access to the minimal amount of supplies that I could carry in my 65L pack.
Somehow, when I wasn't looking, my transient minimalist World Race life became normal to me and my team of 5 became like family. Home remained a pleasant reward but life on the race was my present reality and I loved it in spite of all the challenges.
Now, home and comfortable, I find myself struggling with a brand new kind of discomfort. I miss the race. I miss time with my team and having 40 other people able to relate to what it's like to give everything up, live side by side with the poor and needy and move to a new country every month. Until I came home it didn't seem weird to have a conversation including statements like:
"When I was in Australia (India, Nepal, Thailand, Malaysia, ect...)"
"At month 5 debrief..."
"I got feed back on..."
"I just wanted to speak life over her!"
For me doing the World Race was an enormous step of faith. I had never even been away from home for more than 2 or 3 weeks on my own prior to leaving. It took all of the courage I could muster to leave and it took even more for me to stay. But I did it. I risked it all, I went and I found out that I am stronger, more confident and more capable than I had at first believed. As the months came and went so did my insecurities.
Now I'm home but I miss the community and nations that challenged, stretched and broke my heart. I am comfortable and at home in a physical sense but my heart hurts more than I expected it would. I love my family and I love Quesnel but I still feel a little bit lost without U know, U squad.
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Posted in Month 11: Moldova by Nicole Pearson on 11/8/2011
I breathed a quiet prayer for guidance as Pastor Borris parked the van along the side of a rocky road and motioned towards a small brick house to the left.
All he said was, "They live here. Come." as he opened the drivers side door and crawled out.
Andrew, our translator Vicka and I followed suit quickly exiting the van and walking up to the house of the family we were about to visit. This was a new ministry opportunity for our team. Up until this point we had been kept busy by construction projects at the church, children's clubs and opportunities to speak and share in neighbouring villages. Only two of us could visit a family at a time so tonight Andrew and I were forging uncharted territory and neither of us really knew what to expect.
We had been told before leaving that the woman we were about to visit had 6 children and that 2 of her kids suffered from disabilities. We were also told that her husband had died several years before and the family suffered from severe poverty. As we approached their home I asked God to give me eyes to see their suffering and somehow to offer them hope.
Pastor knocked on the door and a thin, short haired woman bundled in winter clothing invited us to come inside. The first part of the house was cluttered with random scraps and materials that the family collects to make money and the rind of some kind of melon saved for the 18 lb pig that lives with them in the kitchen, at least until Christmas.
She continued to beckon us through another door into a small room crammed with metal framed beds complete with sagging matresses and any scrap of warm material they could find. A spot was quickly cleared for each of us to sit on the edge of the beds and we all sat down to talk about their struggles and about the love that Jesus has for them.
I immediately found myself distracted by my surroundings. The room was freezing and we were told the reason why - no money for the stove. Everyone in the room was bundled in their warmest clothing and I had absently not even considered wearing mine. In addition I was very aware of a little mouse doing laps underneath the bed I was sitting on.
Pastor Borris and Vicka began to speak to the family and soon the woman pointed out that her daughter, age 22, was disabled because of a disease she had as a baby. I didn't understand the translation entirely but it had something to do with bleeding from the mouth. We asked if that was common and were told that among poorer families such things are not surprising.
Next she told us that her son, age 16, was also disabled but his story was very different. She explained that when she discovered that she was pregnant she went to the clinic to have an abortion but the doctors there couldn't do it because she was too far along. In desperation she went home and tried to do the abortion herself. The result, she said, is her son's sickness.
At this point the cold and the mouse don't even matter anymore. I stared across the room at her 16 year old son listening intently as she told us the story. He seemed to shrink into himself with every word. The bright, interested smile we had recieved upon entering the house with a greeting in a language he had never heard before disappeared.
My heart broke for him.
In just one moment it was like no one else in the room existed. All I wanted to do was look him in the eyes and tell him that he was loved, that God wanted and needed him to be alive, that there was a plan and a purpose for his life greater than anything he had ever dreamed of before. I wanted to invite him into the Father's embrace. To speak worth over him and see him released from the guilt and the shame until the feeling that he wasn't wanted got completely immersed in God's glorious ocean of love.
But for most of our visit it really didn't feel like I would get the chance to do that. I was asked to share something by Pastor Boris and had absolutely no idea what or how to share. There was a fire burning inside of me to declare life over this boy and it stole away my ability to think on my feet. I asked God was story to tell and he told me which one. Then I stumbled through it with many different distractions and unrelated questions from the audience.
Finally it was time to pray for the family and as the prayer ended I knew my chance was quickly slipping away. I asked Vicka to translate something to the boy for me. I told him that he was loved. That it was not a mistake that he was alive and that God had a special plan for his life.
Even as I was trying to speak out the words God had placed so heavily on my heart the enemy was trying to steal them away. Vicka would translate my words and then his mother would interrupt me to defend herself or to share a story about her son and how she knows he's special, which Vicka would also translate. It was a hectic moment and a struggle to maintain focus but the Holy Spirit was present and somehow I said what I needed to say.
As we ended our visit I reached out to shake the boys hand. When he looked up at me the huge smile that had greeted us upon our arrival was back in it's rightful place stretched from ear to ear.
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Posted in Good News by Nicole Pearson on 11/6/2011
So I've been thinking about this adventure I've been on. Remembering some of the high lights and memorable moments. Reviewing some of my fears and hesitations and the realities I discovered in order to see how far I've come. Tonight I went online to check my support account (I only need 4.77 to be fully funded!) and found myself rereading my World Race application. The very first section invites you to describe, in your own words, what the gospel is.
I reread my answer to that question and I really liked it. One of the things that I haven't done a lot of in my blogs is present the gospel or say exactly what I believe. I want to do that at least once. Check out the answer I wrote on my application. I promise it's worth the read even if you have been a Christian your whole life. : )
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Love.
Simply put God loved us so much that he gave us the choice to sin and when we did he loved us so much, despite our sinful state, that he died to give us a second chance to choose relationship with him. The good news is that God is pursuing you. No matter who or where you are the profound truth is God loves you and His love changes everything.
I used to have a grand explanation for what the gospel is but I also had an incomplete understanding of the nature of God. God is love and the core of the gospel is his love for humanity.
John 3:16 is quoted so often it's almost tempting to disregard it but what it actually says is profound.
"For God so LOVED the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."
The Gospel is God's message of love to the world... When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden they traded relationship with God for death. Because he loved them God determined to restore relationship with them. The rest of the Bible is built on that pursuit for restoration and the climax is the death and resurrection of Jesus.
When he became our advocate and took our sins onto himself the veil in the temple was torn, enabling us to come boldly into the throne room. We have been restored to relationship with God and the abundant life that he offers us. We have been set free from the bondages of sin. The shame that we feel, the anxiety we experience, and the guilt that forces us to strive to prove ourselves is caught up in the blood of Christ and washed away.
We are made whole and complete. We are free to be exactly who we were created to be because God's love for us has made us complete. God loves us; we no longer have to worry about our inability to follow the rules. We are empowered through relationship with Christ to pursue a life marked by the sign posts of righteousness. We are freed to walk with him daily depending on him to be strong when we are weak.
Not only are we forgiven for the sins that we ourselves have committed but we have been given the ability to forgive. Our desire for retaliation has been satisfied in the horror of the cross. We can turn those who have hurt us into the hands of the perfect judge with sanity knowing that the justice we desire will be perfectly satisfied.
God is a good judge. The punishment for sin that Jesus took onto himself at the cross not only covers OUR sins but those of our enemies. When someone hurts us a price has to be paid, we demand justice. When we look at the cross we see justice for the sins committed against us. We can place our enemies in the hands of God knowing that if they call on Jesus we got our justice in his death. If they refuse to call on him then God has prepared a place of eternal punishment. We can forgive just as we have been forgiven.
The freedom from sin experienced in the gospel is made complete when we are able to accept forgiveness and offer it in return. God loved us, wanted to see us free to pursue relationship with him and made a way for it to happen.That is the good news of the gospel.
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Posted in Month 11: Moldova by Nicole Pearson on 11/3/2011
"Are you ready for fun?!?"
"Louder! We can't hear you!"
"Who's ready to sing some songs!?!"
Lifeless and relatively apathetic faces stared back at us as we did our best to breathe life into a 3 day children's program we came up with on the fly at the church we're working with here in Moldova. We pulled out our best songs, made fools of ourselves doing drama's and at the end of the day only recieved a small burst of enthusiasm from the audience of 3 to 14 year olds when we decided to play games outside with them.
There was something almost disturbing about the silence of the kids as they sat up straight and uncomfortable to listen and sing songs. It was discouraging, we had never had so much trouble with a children's program before. More than anything else we wanted to reach them. We wanted the stories we were telling to become alive and exciting so that they would remember them and think back on them their entire lives. We didn't want to just be boring especially when serving God and seeing him act has become such an interactive part of our daily lives this past year.
Our translator told us as we were trying to encourage the kids to answer questions, do crazy hand motions and sing really loud that they just aren't comfortable doing stuff like that. Especially in a church. Later as I prayed it over I began to realize that was probably our biggest problem. The Orthodox Church in Moldova is the only church that most families will be familiar with. Through out the generations the values of the traditional church are the ones that stick and although most people will attend church on special occassions they have never heard of engaging in an active, living relationship with God.
For these kids the idea of a loving, approachable God who would invite them to play with him, delight in their laughter and love to hear them singing loud songs and having fun in his house just doesn't exist. They were uneasy until we let them out of the church to play. Watching their serious faces made me think about the story in the Bible where Jesus rebukes his disciples for keeping the children away from him. He tells them to let the children come to him. I couldn't help but think that it broke God's heart to see kids so uncomfortable sitting in a church to learn about him.
I was given the opportunity to be the one to choose and tell the Bible story at the final club. For two days I prayed into it and finally decided to tell them the story of how Jesus calmed the storm. We started off talking about what we are afraid of. The kids threw out typical things like mice, snakes and chickens; then one girl said she was afraid of God...
Now please put all theological stuff about the fear of God aside. Little kids don't typically know that stuff. We were talking about our worst fears, not reverent fear. She was scared of God. The kids in the Bible story I mentioned before WANTED to come to Jesus. They were attracted to him. They weren't afraid of him. He was a safe person, a fun person, someone they were comfortable going to and that was the way Jesus wanted it to be.
Jesus died to restore perfect relationship with us. He died to take away all of the sin, fear, guilt, shame and pride that keeps us from walking by his side in true freedom. He died to make us sons and daughters who go to their Father knowing he gives good gifts not performance driven slaves who do good out of the fear of their master.
I continued the lesson sharing a time when I was very scared and Jesus comforted me. Then our team acted out the Bible story along with several kids who were brave enough to help us by acting as the disciples in the boat. At the end of the drama we were able to tell the kids about why the disciples didn't have to be afraid - they had Jesus in the boat. We related it back to them saying that because God truly loves us and is all powerful, all knowing and in control we can trust Him to take care of us too and we don't have to fear anything. And because we don't have to fear we can be bold and do great things for God. Things like slay giants, move mountains, or even raise the dead. After all that is their destiny, it's who God created them to be.
At this point a change had come across the room. The kids were listening. They were engaged in what we were presenting and they looked happy and relaxed. As I wrapped up the Bible story Jamie came up and built on what we'd just learned to tell the kids about making declarations. Then we did it...
In true World Race fashion every kid in that room screamed out declarations at the top of their lungs with huge smiles on their faces.
I AM FREE FROM FEAR!!!
GOD IS FOR ME!!!
I AM KIND!!!
I AM GOOD!!!
I AM BLESSED!!!
GOD HEARS MY PRAYERS!!!
I AM BOLD!!!
FEARLESS!!!
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Posted in Revelations by Nicole Pearson on 11/3/2011
During U Squad worship at our 8th month debrief in Swaziland God revealed something important to me about worship. I spoke out and shared what God showed me and I felt like it would be a good idea to share it here as well just as a reminder.
Basically this is what God said...
You are WARRIORS... when you enter worship you are going into a place of battle.
Worship is not an individual thing. It is never just about you... and when we go into worship together, as a community, (because there IS power in numbers), we are unstoppable. But we have to go together, we can't leave anyone behind -- we have to fight for each other, fight to see our brothers and sisters find freedom in worship. We do this so that nothing can or will stop us from entering the throne room together, we have to release each other.
So I speak release over everyone here right now. Release of your giftings. Use them. Fight to bring each other up into a deeper place of worship. Now is the time to use those giftings. There are people here who are hurtingand bound. You are at war. And you are VICTORIOUS WARRIORS. No Fear. The battle is won. NO FEAR!!!
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-Warriors:
We are not called to merely live a passive life. We are called, gifted and released to act as warriors in a battle.
-Worship is a battleground:
When we enter a posture of worship our focus is placed solely on God. We declare truths about who God is and who we are. This is a direct offensive attack against the enemy.
-Worship is not an individual thing:
First off it always takes at least two - you and God. There is power when we take time to worship alone. When we worship on own it builds up our one on one relationship with God. When we come together it causes the atmosphere to shift. That doesn't happen to give us a thrill so we can go home happy. It is meant to release us. We are made bold and are empowered to step out and use the gifts we've been given to bring freedom to our brothers and sisters.
-Now is the time to use these giftings:
When you enter worship be prepared and obediant to step out. When you begin to use your gifting to bring freedom it will enable you to go deeper into worship together.
-No fear:
This goes back to the message Chelsea spoke before worship. Behind your greatest fear lays the door to your greatness. We are victorious and nothing can stop us. God forward and use your gifts to build up and release your brothers and sisters. NO FEAR. Don't let anything stop you.
As we seek to bring greater freedom and use our gifts to build them up and set them free we are able to go father together.
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Posted in Month 11: Moldova by Nicole Pearson on 10/31/2011
See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms
to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow,
to build and to plant.
Jeremiah 1:10
I read this verse the other day and it reminded me of the World Race. I feel like this verse summarizes my entire year in more than one way as I have learned to walk in the freedom, confidence, authority and truth won for me at the cross. I have walked through the nations as the hands and feet of Jesus. I have found my place in the kingdom of God and found my authority over the kingdom of darkness. I have uprooted the lies I believed about God and my identity in Christ and I have tore down, destroyed and overthrown the plans and the strongholds of the enemy. I have built up the church both physically and through words and encouraging actions. I have spoken truth into the hearts of wounded, lost, confused or insecure hearts planting seeds that will grow within them to become fruit bearing trees in the years and months to come. I have lived out Jeremiah 1:10.
It is amazing to be able to say that and it's encouraging to know what God has accomplished and continues to work out in my life. What a wild, wild ride. What a priviledge to be the eyes, ears, hands and feet of the church! How blessed am I to recieve such a precious gift? It is beyond amazing and as I dive into ministry here in Moldova I am excited to say that this just might be my best month on the race. Finally, after months of striving for it, I am walking in real freedom and confidence. FINALLY.
When I read this verse I was encouraged to see how far I had come and I was tempted not to think further about it. But then it occurred to me that I was recieving this verse and the call at the end of the race. Why wouldn't I have found this little gem way back in January before or shortly after I had left? Why now? I've thought it through and I have a couple of reasons why I'm reading this now.
Here's the short list:
-I needed the reminder so that I press into those things specifically in this last month.
-I need to see how far I've come.
-It helps me to summarize and fully digest all that I've learned this year.
They are all good reasons but I am convinced that God is up to a little bit more than that. I believe that the real reason I'm only now discovering this verse is because there is more for me than just this year. Knowing what I know I cannot sit still. I am once again being called and appointed over nations and kingdoms, to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build up and to plant. My job is not finished, it's just getting started.
In 5 more days team Soul Graffiti loses two members as Cole and Jamie go on ahead to complete logistics prep. for final debrief. This is the last week that we will get to minister together as a team. More than ever this is the time to pour ourselves out and be all in and we're going to give it all we've got.
I'll be home for Christmas but in the meantime pray for us and pray hard! We're just about there and we've got to go fast enough to launch each other into the brand new season God is leading us into in month 12. It's going to be awesome, the best yet, but we've got some lessons to learn before we get there and a final sprint ahead.
As always I am so blessed by your support and I can't wait to catch up with everyone at the completion of this amazing chapter of my life. Thank you all SO much!
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