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Grace's PERSONAL NEWSLETTER UPDATE |
Archives - INDEX to Personal newsletters
"FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS" (God is TOTALLY AMAZING!!)
Intro / Now is the Time/For Such a Time as This / Some Things He's Been Doing - Health - About to be healed??!! - Miracle! - new art form emerges! - Finances - Developing 'Kingdom-Focused' Business to Reach the Lost & Hopefully Help Supplement Income in the Future? - Gate*way Crea*tion Arts Centre Ltd. - Staff - Family / Local
"...And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, (this has to happen first, and THEN the following is to happen), may have power, together with all the saints, to GRASP how Lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng.....and high..........and wide.............and deeep........... is the love of Christ, and to KNOW this love that surpasses knowledge -- (why??) that you .....MAY be FILLED TO THE MEASURE of ALL the FULLNESS OF GOD." (wow!!!) - mind-blowing!! Let's keep praying that wew trulky know this love so we MAY be filled to the measure of God's fullness! as He desires!....Incredible!!
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Dear Praying Friends/Support Team!
You may be wondering why I'm writing this time instead of typing -- I had almost finished typing up my update to you and yesterday for the first time ever my computer totally froze and has not been able to do anything, since, except turn on - only the IBM logo comes on. I have no idea how serious this is and was feeling very stressed about it yesterday, but thankfully God has been reminding me to 'be still and know that He is God' and to trust in Him and not lean to my own udnerstanding and that He will keep me in perfect peace as I continue to focus on HIM and SPEAK His promises to remind me and Him of them, because His Word is true. (As you can see, this is now online - as of June04 -so my computer is now fixed, but it did take several months before I was finally able to use the computer again after a new motherboard needed to be installed. It was certainly a matter of trusting God with this and He also seemed to want to have me focusing on some other aspects besides being at my computer during that time, so it was verrry interesting!! :)
There have been a lot of faith challenges clumping together again the past couple weeks, especially, so I'm so grateful the Lord keeps reminding me of His truth so I can again and again get back into that place of peace and rest in Him (Deut.33:12 - Let the Beloved of the Lord REST secure in Him, for He shields him all day long; and the one the Lord loves RESTS BETWEEN HIS SHOULDERS.").
I want to thank you all soo very much for all your on-going, faithful and gracious/generous support, prayers and love!! You have no idea how amazed I am at God's continuing mercy, grace and love through you! I pray that your lives are FILLED with HIs Presence and a deepening sense of His love and "I pray that you may enjoy good health and that ALL may go well with you even as your soul is getting along well." (3 John 2) and may He MULTIPLY His blessings in every area of your lives as you/we increasingly learn to live in the inheritance He has bought for us with His Life!
I am so very sorry for another long delay in updating you again : ( ! This has been an incredibly wild and adventurous and busy year -- it seems God has me going through major transitioins in all (or almost all) of the areas of my life this year! - - very exciting and also many faith challenges; also a time of feeling very much like I'm in more of God's "training schools", especially in the areas of being stretched in faith, learning to hear and discern Him more clearly, increasingly recognizing God's desire to speak to us through dreams, recognizing from Scripture how VITAL our words are in bringing "life" or "death" into our lives and the lives of others -- especially when we believe what we are saying - negatively or positively, etc.
Anyway, more on that next time hopefully - it is something I'm very excited about, especially in a time when I have been strongly sensing that we as the Church are on the verge of seeing some MAJOR breakthroughs, personally, in our cities and nation/s, etc. even beginning this coming year! I've never felt like this before but it has been growing in my heart for months and months (yhears) and I feel we're "at the door".
The past weeks it seems God keeps impressing on my heart that "NOW IS THE TIME" and that He has created me/us "FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS"!
In a time when our province/nation and indeed the nations are going through much transition and darkness. I believe God is saying to us "ARISE!! SHINE!!! for your light HAS come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth, and thick darkness is over the peoples, BUT the Lord rises upon YOU and His glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn..."
Several weeks ago, after not having written any songs (thought some lyrics) over the past 5 years or so, suddenly I felt that God was giving me a song, which I believe is not only for me, but for us in these days - the words are almost word for word from Song of Songs 2:10-14 and Zeph.3:14-17. It's called ARISE, MY DARLING...
Many people who deeply love God have been going through major spiritual wildernesses for years asa God has been wooing us and pruning/refining us and preparing us to become increasingly fruitful in HIs Kingdom. I believe many are at the end or near the end of that time as He is calling us to "ARISE!!" and come with Him!
I'm very encouraged by the lines "see, the winter is past...the season of singing has come..." I find it interesting that this is the first song I've written in years! and I see that God is indeed bringing many "seasons of singing" into my life in these days!! He is so awesome!! May He also bring much NEW LIFE and SEASONS OF SINGING into your lives as well!!!
LOTS to say here, but maybe more another time... My health has expereinced a lot of strange things this year - ie. numerous unexpected severe bone attacks which have been horrendously painful and kept me in bed for days at a time...In spring I began feeling worse and worse generally, so in asking God what to do, He confirmed through my naturpath what I felt He'd said about going on an intensive detoxifying (and parasite) cleanse - apparently 90% of N. American people have health problems due to parasites we don't realize we have - from our food, pollution, etc. Anyway, that was a long process but PTL!!, I'm begining to feel somewhat better now! : ) My cataract in my right eye (from the cortizone) has been getting a lot worse the past few months but I believe that's about to go!
Last time I briefly mentioned that God seems to bring areas of my life through 7 year cycles - including a 7 year 'death' - to purify my heart in those areas and to reveal Himself in deeper ways - - and then ends them with a miracle as He brings me into fruitfulness in that area!
Well, in fall of 2002 I felt that He reminded me that I'd been almost completely homebound for 6 years and I felt He was indicating that I had a year to go!! As I prayed about this, I felt He confirmed it immediately with different Scriptures, one of them Job 36:16..."He is wooing you from the jaws of distress to a SPACIOUS PLACE FREE FROM RESTRICTION to the comfort of your table laden with choice food..."
He has since been re-emphasizing to me the importance of speaking His promises to me about healing - there are so many Scriptures about that!
Also, He's been having me walk by faith into thinigs, since then, which I don't see how I'll be able to do in the future unless I'm healed -- such as the Gateway Creation Arts Centre...vision I'm enclosing with this letter! AND, as He's also been emphasizing HIS value on communicating with us through dreams, suddenly since then, over thepast few months, there have been 7 dreams 9so far) that people have had about me being healed!!!! (My Mom had 4 of them!! - which really touches me that God would give them to HER! since she is probably the one who has prayed the most and felt the most heart pain about my health all these years). I had one, as well, and 2 dear friends did, too!! I am soo excited!! I really feel that I may be healed by Christmas!! If by the, I'll come dance on over!! :)
MIRACLE!! - new art form emerges
I believe I've already had a miracle to help to encourage me in this direction!! : ) I'll tell you more next time, but briefly, in spring I was asking God for a new way to express creativity cause I've hardly been able to play piano for the past few years.
I felt He said "sculpture". Well, for someone with totally gimpy fingers/hands and someone who can hardly draw even stick men, I really thought I had heard wrong!! But I didn't want to write it off if it possibly WAS God (Him wanting to do one of those 'impossible' things!!), so I prayed further about that.
To make a long and amazing story short, after weeks of praying and trying and total failures again and again, except for one figurine that gave me a glimmer of hope (after my artistically talented young niece was over one weekend where all she wanted to do was creative plasticene figurines!!), one evening I finally told God that if He wanted me to 'sculpt', HE'D have to do it, or I'd have to quit the next day, cause it was obvious to me and to Him that I COULDN'T DO IT!! and I didn't know what else to do to because it had been about 5 or 6 weeks by that time with only that one glimmer of hope before many more total failures.
So THAT NIGHT, at about 4 in the morning or so, while I was sleeping, suddenly He put a picture in my mind illustrating a Bible verse and it totally inspired me and I immediately woke up and went to my Dollar Store plasticene and worked on what I had 'seen' and as I prayed for God to teach me, I had such fun creating, with Him, a figurine that helped me to worship Him and it actually turned out and totally surprised me!! Ever since then these figurines have been coming out!! Myhouse is full and I've given about 100 away already and I have so many ideas I want to try!!
It's one of the new meaningful ways I'm experiencing worship and more relationship with God as we are working together on these figurines; it's a way to bless others, and is a way to further open doors of deeper communication with my non-Christian friends, AND I believe God's timing has been very amazing!!! More on that in a bit...You can see some of them here if your browser works with my web site program...EthniClay. Some pictures need to be re-taken and the site needs to be improved - it's not professionally done yet but will work on all of that as the Lord leads...but this will give you an idea...
Another area God began to restore with a miracle after 7 years of 'death' in that area is in my finances!!
As you know, for years I kept getting into more and more debt due to my health costs, etc., while at the same time various ministry partners that have contributed financially have also gone through their own financial struggles and so it has been a time of trusting God in finances even more for them and for me.
As I prayed, God initially showed me a couple changes to make (about 6 years or so ago), but His usual response was TRUST ME". I would and my finances would get WORSE! I'd pray with more desperation! He'd say "TRUST ME". I would and it got WORSE! - for 7 years!!!
Then SUDDENLY (God loves to do SUDDENLIES!!), near the end of 2002, out of the blue, in a few week's time, He TOTALLY paid off my debt!!! I can't tell you how grateful, shocked and amazed at how He did it I was!!!! I laughed, cried, screamed, was initially in total silent shock, etc...!!! I continue to marvel at His amazing love and powwer and grace - even though it meant those many painful faith challenges along the way!
This miracle set the stage for the visit of one of my long-time ethnomusicology friends/co-workers who has been in a Mu*s-lim nation with the mission I'm with. More on that in a bit....
So most of this year has been fairly stress-free re finances! PTL!! Although I've not been in debt, there's not been any money in my account after basic necessities are taken care of - and there have definitely been some financial challenges along the way.
However, over the summer the financial challenges have begun to multiply - one of the things is that my supporting church now is sending so many new missionaries out (thank you, Lord!! : ) that my support is being cut, in a number of months, to 1/4 of what they've been supporting me with all these years - which is about 1/3 of my total approx. financial support.
Other faith challenges re finances have been coming up a lot the past couple months, so I would deeply appreciate your prayers that God would raise up addditional financial and prayer partners as He desires. Thank you sooo much!
At the same time, I have also felt that, after many years of sensing God leading me, slowly but surely, to become bi-vocational in the future, it may be time for me to continue to prayerfully and seriously consider some initial next steps in these directions to potentially help to supplement my income in the future if He continues to confirm this direction.
DEVELOPING 'KINGDOM-FOCUSED' BUSINESS TO REACH THE LOST AND HOPEFULLY HELP SUPPLEMENT INCOME IN THE FUTURE?
Over the years, I've seen world and Canadian gov't trends being that of gradually removing tax exempt status from churches/ministries, etc. and I believe that we as the Church and supported ministries/individuals are being given time to prepare as God seems to be increasingly leading many Christian leaders, missionaries and believers at many levels into starting businesses - many of them home-based.
I believe this is because God wants a growing godly witness in the markplace and business people who desire to use their businesses to see the Kingdom of God expanded. I've felt God nudging me in these directions for years and feel that with HIs recent confirmations to incorporate the Gat*eway Crea*tion Arts Centre Ltd., then seeming to confirm that I'm to develop a business (through Gat*eway) with these plasticene figurines at the time when my finances are being hit big-time again, that this is one of God's 'encouragements' : ) that He wants me to keep moving by faith in these directions even though I don't know how soon I'd be able to actually keep any of the income for personal expenses, since the initial income would need to go back into the businesses to help them move forward - but this is the direction I'm headed and feel God has confirmed in many ways.
Hopefully it will also provide income opportunities for some of our missionaries, M*u-s-li+m background believers our ch planters are working with, and local family and friends that share the vision and need additional income opportunities. Some of YOU may be intersted in this once it's at a place where others can begin to get involved...If you think you would be, let me know....
so this is another area where God has been bringing restoration and is also allowing/bringing faith challenges as He's stretchnigme to keep moving forward!!
GAT*EWAY CREA*TION ARTS CENTRE LTD.
I'm enclosing a copy of our vision paper on this co. we incorporated in Feb. and would DEEPLY appreciate your prayers for all we need in this regard - especially wisdom, discernment, faith, obedience, God's connections/partners, insight into His timing and methods/plans, etc.
It has been INCREDIBLE to see the amazing people God seems to keep bringing to potentially do joint ventures or partner with us on some level once we're ready to do so! - This is not a company where we have to be experts in everything - since we would be partnering together with various ministries/companies, etc. etc., but it seems the people that God is bringing, that share the vision, ARE experts in the fields that we feel God is wanting us to include!! PTL!!!!!
We hope to begin to function as a business sometime in 2004, but will need to see how the Holy Spirit leads. Our first international office was incorporated there by one of our company directors. The other two directors are both long-time friends and co-workers!
The Ghanian couple from the UK which I mentioned last time, is moving here in 1 1/2 weeks or so, Lord willing, to move into a role, as we're ready, to working with Gat*eway full time!!! This is totally amazing to me that God would bring a family from that far away to work with us!!!
God is also in the process of doing some amazing/encouraging things in my family in the midst of some major on-going faith challenges as well. God is in the process of RESTORING things, and I see this not only in my life but in the lives of many believers and in the Church today! So if you're not seeing it yet, hand on - it's coming!!!!!
I'm sooo encouraged by things happening locally, too! There is a Prayer Network meeting in my home for those interested in seeing musicians and artists and the arts reclaimed for the glory of God!
2 women's fellowship/prayer groups are meeting regularly in my home - these are one of the many great joys in my life! God is doing amazing things!
Oh... : ( I'm running out of space - soo much more to share!!
Thank yo soo much for taking the time to read this!! Thank you again soo much for EVERYTHING!!!
I hope the CD I'm sending you about INTIMACY WITH GOD is of great encouragement to you!!
With much love, prayers and warm affection,
Grace