Run down of India trip!

Hello everyone! I am leaving for India today and I am so excited! I wont really be able to communicate while I am there, but let me at least tell you some of what I will be doing.

       We leave from Brisbane tonight! It will take about 3 days to finally reach Darjeeling. We have a 16 lay over in Dubai (so cool) and then a 12 hour train ride from Calcutta to New Delhi where we will then get on a jeep and have what I am sure is going to be a CRAZY ride up into the mountains towards Darjeeling. Darjeeling is a beautiful city that sits at the foot of the Himalaya Mountains, it is right on the northern boundary of India and Nepal (we can actually see Mount Everest from the base!). It has a lot of Indian and Nepalese culture which will be fascinating!  Once we are in Darjeeling, we will be staying at the YWAM base that is there. We will most likely stay on the base only a few days of the week and spend the rest of the time traveling into villages surrounding Darjeeling and helping in orphanages and churches there.
        We will be in Darjeeling for about 4 and a half weeks until we fly down to Southern India in Pondicherry. We are the first YWAM team to go to Pondicherry from our base and the purpose of our week long visit is to build relationship with some contacts we have there because my base is looking to plant a YWAM base in that city!
         India will be as they say "an assault to your senses". I am not worried about a thing! I have heard that the people are very open to hear what we have to say (mostly because we are white westerners) and I pray that my team will capitalize on those opportunities. It is a predominantly Hindu country so we will have to be cautious with our ministry, but I am confident that the Holy Spirit will guide us and also warn us of any danger. Darjeeling is a more westernized city due to all the backpackers, but when we go down south we will have to be more weary of the radical Hindus who wont like what we have to say. But I am not the least bit worried, I know that God is not intimidated by anything :)
        It will be such an amazing time! I can not wait to see how God moves because I know He will! It will be an incredible journey and by the end of it, my team will have gotten to see a lot of different parts of India. The culture will be very different from Darjeeling to Pondicherry as well as a huge weather change (very cold to very hot). I cant even sit still with all the excitement coursing through my body at the moment! Thank you all so much for your continued prayers and support for my team :

Prayer Requests for India:
-that the presence of the Holy Spirit that is with us is so overwhelming that it drives any and all darkness away
-good health
-safety
-unity
-and that we never take a day for granted


This is the link to my teams Facebook page. It will be updated weekly with stories of what God has been doing in India with our team. Pictures will be up at the end of the trip :)

http://www.facebook.com/theteamindia2012

Lucky number 12

   "Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they do not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes."
Romans 10:1-4

 I have been reading through Romans and this it really hit me! So many times do missionaries go out and share the Word of God and "win over a bunch of people for Christ", but then they leave and that individual is left to navigate through this world without much explanation of what that looks like. You see so many countries that have a high concentration of missionaries that pour into each year and yet they are still suffocated by poverty and corruption. For example, Kenya, it is the number one place for western missionaries to go into for a short term mission and yet their nation is not much better off. Violence, drugs, prostitution, illiteracy, poverty, and disease still run rampant through the country. And it is not for lack of being spreading the Word of God, but from people actually teaching it. As Christians  I think we need to realize that getting people to say a prayer and confess the name of Jesus is NOT the end goal: it is just the beginning! We were called to go into all of the earth and make disciples (Matthew 28: 16-20) MAKE DISCIPLES - meaning teach them! Walk with them, take them under our wing, instruct them, love on them, and be examples for them.
     This exciting revelation reminded me of Loren Cunningham, the founder of YWAM. That was part of his vision for this organization was to disciple young people so that they can go out and do the same in the rest of the world. Yes, I know that my DTS is a short term missions trip, but it is a discipleship training school and the outreach portion is to put what I have learned to use! It is designed to teach me and give me the tools to be secure in my identity with Christ. And I must agree with Loren, it is an amazing vision!
      Loren made a great point in one of his books, "The Book That Transforms the Nations", that nations can change when the Word of God is put into play in the different spheres of society. All of that seems incredible and I know I told God many times that if He needed someone to change an entire nation to "pick me, pick me!!!" but afterwards panicking a little at the overwhelming size of that task. Loren addressed this by reminding the readers that Jesus healed thousands and spoke to sooooo many, but the time he spent most was with his 12 disciples. Those disciples He taught, lived with, and SHOWED them how to live as a child of God. It does not have to be this overwhelming task of trying to convert millions, but what if every christian spent their life discipling just 12 other people? What would our world look like if everyone who had been walking with the Lord; started walking alongside another young christian and helped them? Our nations would be different! Our churches would be stronger! And our families would be less broken!
         So I encourage and challenge whoever is reading this to think about your 12. Twelve people at least in your life that you can disciple and walk-alongside. I am so excited at this point at this idea! God is so good and His Word never ceases to come alive!
         Reading this passage this morning was a perfect reminder for when I leave for India tonight. That my goal is not to get people to repeat after me and claim the name of Jesus. My goal is to make His name known through my love for Him and others. I will only be in India for a short 6 weeks - I can uplift my fellow brothers and sisters and I can show love to a nation who rarely receives any. Here we go Jesus - its all You!!!

***I may possibly blog over my time in India, but if that is not an option then I certainly will when I get back to Australia!

FOR INDIA!!!

     My team leaves for India in 3 days. We just found out tonight that our beloved team leader, Hannah, cannot come with us because of visa complications. I cant even put into words how hard it was to find that out and how hard it is on our team. She is the third member of our team to not come with us. The first two people were incredibly funny and strong teammates that I still hold dear to my hearts and now it is Hannah; an awe-inspiring woman of God that I have been so blessed to know.
     The events that happened tonight reminded me of my sophomore year of high school. I was apart of the worship team at my youth group and absolutely LOVED everything about my youth group. But my church was struggling, we had just lost a pastor and with that a lot of people. There was a lot of transition going on to say the least. The youth were falling into all different directions; some landed in other churches but most just fell away completely. It was heartbreaking. I knew what was going to happen next; God had been preparing my heart for it. One day, my pastor asked to speak with me before worship practice. He told me that God was calling him to another church and it was his time to leave. He told me that he saw that I was a leader and knew that it was my time to fight, to encourage, to hold fast. As he was speaking, God floored me with the realization of the fact that he was right. If I loved my youth group and my church as much as I said I did, then I would stay and fight for them. Our group went from 100-8 people on a Thursday night. But what happened? We pressed in, things got real, and we persevered. Our youth group grew a lot, but we never lost that core group. To this day, I am still so blessed from that group of friends and all that God taught us in those hard times.
    I see a similar thing happening here... There were so many time I was unsure and honestly just wanted to go home. I figured it would be easier at home then it would have been here. But as we met in that room, I knew what was going to happen. And God said again, you can leave Paige or you can stay and fight. I expected heartbreak and despair, but instead found peace. And a renewed sense of purpose and boldness. At this point, I KNOW that India will be amazing because we wouldn't have to fight so hard if it was going to be easy. India is worth it because that is where Gods heart is for us and that is where we are going to fight! Uniting with my team is worth it!The people we encounter there are worth it! Every child I get to hold and show love is worth it! My doubts and my fears don't even come close to comparing to Gods grace and Gods almighty power that is going to shake that country up. I know He is after their hearts and that He hears His children crying out for them. I know God is taking India back as His land and will break the darkness that has engulfed them. I am blessed enough to get to be a small bit of that. We have six weeks there and every moment of that is going to be for Him! Because God is worth it!
       Our team of 16 is now down to 13; we grieve for the loss of another teammate, but we will not be deterred. How amazing is our God? We expect despair and He brings hope! For the first time in a few weeks, I feel more like myself again. My feisty spirit has risen up again and I am not backing down. I just imagine some epic song will be playing in my head as we walk through that airport because we am going into battle! We am fighting for India in the Name of Jesus Christ!

This is my beautiful team from the very beginning of this journey (minus Hannah and Katrina, my leaders who aren't photographed). They are some of the strongest, funniest, talented, most God-fearing people I know. Please keep us in your prayers. Pray for unity and perseverance and never taking a day for granted!

Jesus LOVES me this I know

I have really enjoyed writing these blog posts! It has been such a fun way to not only reflect on, but share what God has been doing in my heart here. I am grateful and blessed to have such an awesome outlet. But I was recently convicted on vulnerability. I am so good at being vulnerable about the things that I want to be vulnerable about, but what about all the things I hate to bring up? Those are the areas of my heart God has been after the most, and He is relentless.
     His relentless love has brought me to this point of surrender; on my knees - at the foot of the cross. Because it is in the shadow of the cross that I find my freedom and it is in my Fathers arms where I find my comfort. There have been so many lies that have turned to chains that God has been gently tearing away from my heart. Lies that have been purposefully or accidentally spoken over me. Lies that I have spoken over myself.
      Over this DTS I have been searching for Gods truth on everything, especially how He views me. And the biggest thing I have come to learn is that He LOVES me. I do not say this lightly. God LOVES me. His thoughts for me out number the grains of sand on every shore of the ocean - WOW! His love is sufficient to cover all of my sins and once He forgives me (which He always does) He does not bring it back up again. And He sees my heart, which He formed and molded in my mothers womb to be what He wanted me to be. If that idea doesn't make you shout YAY GOD then I don't know what will!
      So He impressed it upon me, I am free! I am made whole! I am beautiful because the God of the heavens and the earth made me and He does NOT make anything that isn't beautiful. But now it is my choice to walk away from all of that. He has set my freedom before me and it is my choice to step into it. So many things I have been called in my life; sick, ugly, flirt, unworthy, liar, pointless... the list goes on and on but thats all it is a meaningless list I can choose to abide by or not. I am none of those things! I am a child of God!
       So now that I have had this glorious revelation, I still have to continue to choose to step into it every day. I wish I could sit here and tell you that I have chosen to do that every day without failing, but that would be a lie. On the days that I don't  I  fall back into the same old behavior, the same deception, and the chains. Which is absolutely ridiculous because what soldier would choose to walk back into the hands of his captives after his side won the victory?
      But God is good and He gives us what we need to break free. I don't have to be that same person who makes the same mistakes time and time again. And because He loves me, God gives me the second chance! He knows that I need to have that victory - the tangible memory that I stood up and chose freedom even in the face of all the lies! So He will continue to allow me to be tested; not because He is some cruel God in the sky who doesn't care about me, but because He is bragging about me! He looks at the devils pathetic attempts to drag me down and says "watch what my girl can do".  That is my King! My King is a proud Father who will die on a cross to protect his little girl.
      So after the lecture faze and right before outreach God is sending me out with the bold message of: I am His little girl. I choose freedom. I choose Him. YAY GOD!

Impact Summer

     The week of New Years was spent in Arlie Beach for Impact Summer! My school split up and half of us went to Byron Bay and the other half to the beautiful beach called Arlie. There we sent up a tent and served free chai tea! We had live music from the music students from my school and hung out playing checkers and talking. The week was really relaxed and our ministry consisted of a lot of intercession and evangelism to the back-packers we came in contact with.
     The environment there was not what I consider my cup of tea with bars open all night and drunk people everywhere you turn. But God was not intimidated :) The tea brought people to the tent, but the holy spirit is what radically changed their hearts. The people of Arlie were hungry for the truth of God and soaked up our words and asked many questions.
       I got the privilege of actually making a few friends while I was there. It was those same friends that I ended up at a gypsy tent on the beach. A wonderful woman then taught me how to twirl fire! Only with God would I have ended up on a beautiful beach, twirling fire and worshiping on New Years Eve!
       And only with God could I have gotten the opportunity to meet Tony. He was drunk out of his mind the first night we met, but so funny! My friends and I continued to hang out with him the rest of the week (where he stayed sober!). The second night our conversation went a little like this

Me: "Tony, I just want you to know that Jesus loves you"
Tony: "Of course He does, how could he not? Tell me about your god"

        Our conversation went on for a good 2 hours where we talked about heaven and hell and how great God is compared to what other religions believe as there god. He also allowed for me to pray for his shoulder. I know that it is healed! We wont know until he goes back to work but he promised that "if my shoulder is healed, I will believe in your god" so I may miss him, but I look forward to seeing Tony in heaven :)

        Tony is just one of the MANY testimonies people had that week about the conversations they were able to have! You could feel the ground shaking from the Lords presence.
        Some other opportunities we had consisted of snorkeling at the edge of the Great Barrier Reef and spending a glorious afternoon on the Whitehaven Islands (top 10 prettiest beach in the world!) What a fantastic new perspective on creation and the depths of Gods beauty. I was absolutely blown away! Two of my fellow YWAMers were baptized that week and to see God moving and using their acts of obedience to bring light and beauty into those places was extraordinary!
         After that week, I have a new passion and understanding of the heart of evangelism and how God can move through it. I am excited to take what I learned there and make it a part of every day life both here and back at home.

Can you feel the thunder?

     Sitting here on my porch absolutely blown away by the creativity and beauty of God. From my spot here, I look out and see palm trees and a bright variety of flowers. I hear birds singing their songs and an occasional distant rumble of thunder. It is currently stormy today. I love it when it storms! The rain pours down and the trees bend in the wind. The flowers, which you would think would wilt, instead welcome the rain and seem to stand stronger throughout the downpour.
     The flowers have figure out and embraced what I am still trying to grasp. That when the rain comes... it is a time to rejoice! Rejoice because God is God and He is good! Rejoice because He turns these rains into nourishment and I grow stronger because of them. Rejoice because the thunder means His presence and He will not leave my side.
     I find the notion that so many believers my age have; that when they are older they will have a better relationship with God, just plain silly. And when they are older they will start reading their bibles and really get to know God. All of my peers who say this, have not allowed themselves to fully experience Gods love. Because once you experience that... the things of this world will no longer satisfy you. And anyone who finds satisfaction in this world is merely kidding themselves.
    The idea that "one day" I will cling to God brings me back to the rain just outside the protection of my porch. The rains are here, as is the thunder, the time to cling is now. I guess my question is... can you feel the thunder? Not just hear it, but can you FEEL it? The trees are swaying and the birds are still singing... what are we doing?
     Lets Rejoice!

Sweet Surrender

     This past weeks lectures have been on Lordship: knowing the fear of God. What a week it has been! TO finish off the week, we spent 15 hours in a time of worship. At first I was afraid it was going to be a grueling 15 hours, but quite the opposite! I dont know why I would ever think that... I can easily spend that time with Becky - so how much more so would I want to spend that time with my best friend Jesus?
      We started by praise and then moved into a time of the most interesting worship I had ever been blessed to experience. Going into that night, I had no idea I would be tap dancing in a blue dress to worship my God. But what a great way to get to dance before my Father as His beautiful princess! After that, it was a time of surrender. Surrendering the things we held onto and laying them at the foot of the cross. We brought in items to represent those things that we wanted to surrender and literally laid them at the foot of the cross and spoke out for everyone to hear of what we were laying down. I laid down my family; releasing any responsibility that I felt for them and their well being and picked up faith that God loves them way more than I ever could and is taking care of them. I also laid down my passport. I have always told God to send me anywhere and I will go, but I needed to lay that down and if He calls me to stay and be a missionary in America - I will do it. I laid down the beautiful oragamy bouquet that my boyfriend made me for my birthday. Our relationship is something I lay down every day, but I wanted to do a physical act of that and in front of people. In laying down our relationship; I laid him down, my right to be married, and my future. The next thing was one of the hardest. My bear, Jeffrey, that my best friend had gotten me represented the relationships I hold so dear to my heart. It also represented my comfort. God asked me to not only lay this down, but to give it away to a girl who had let go of so much that night. I am a little embarrassed to admit just how hard it was to do that and sleeping without him will take some time getting used too. The last thing I surrendered was my control. My control of my dreams, identity, and everything else I tried to control. So I cut off my hair with a pair of kid scissors... Even as I was doing this I was trying to control how much I was cutting off. But the Holy Spirit kind of took over at that moment and I lost complete control of the scissors. My hair is currently very short and VERY uneven.At the time of doing this, I did not realize everything I was doing. I felt stripped bare and completely vulnerable to everyone around me and especially God. This was a mutual feelings among my fellow students and staff, but I had to wear mine. A constant reminder of the sweet surrender that opened me up in front of God and everyone. I have become a master at not showing people whats really going on underneath - in turn; I have consistently tried to do the same with God. Walking around with my little stump pony tail reminds me of the nightmares you would used to have of being in the school cafeteria naked. I hoped that after I did it, total peace and freedom would come over me.... but it is going to be a bit more of a process than that. So much came off with those 6 inches of hair... not only my control, what my idea of beauty way, my individuality (since everyone says I look like my big sister who has short hair and I wanted to be different), all the times I had set my goal before Gods, and my striving. But I know that my God is faithful and He will use this constant reminder to teach me what it means to be open and vulnerable in front of Him.
     So Daddy, it is all yours - every bit of it! I want you to have it all; every step I take, every breath I take, every relationship I make. If You arent the center or purpose of it - I dont want it. I am completely yours Father! Speak for Your servant is listening. SPEAK for Your servant is willing. SPEAK for Your servant is ready! Daddy, all I want is You. You are my hope, You are my smile, You are my desire. I will lay it all on the alter, every day, before You because You are all that I need. In your faithful name Jesus, Amen!