Prayers for Nate

Hey everyone

Please keep Nate in your prayers today. He started the conditioning process today. It is a 6 day long process that involves intensive drugs to destroy his bone marrow. He has had neuro radiation for the past several days and praise be to God that pretty much the only side effects have been some headaches.

Please continue to pray that :
- the Holy Spirit moves through the hospital and through Nate
-that God would make himself clear to Nate in this time
-that the Holy Spirit would give the doctors not only wisdom but the skill they need to perform
-that the Father's love permiate throughout Nate and the hospital
-protection over Nate's healthy cells (particularly brain cells)
-and complete destruction of all the cancer/bad guys cells!!

Thanks friends :)

Procrastination at it's finest!

Things I have done to avoid working on my English homework:
-take out the trash
-paint my nails (4 coats)
-sit on Pinterest for hours
-sit on Facebook for hours
-google study abroad programs
-look at study abroad programs for hours
-watch Arrested Development
-listen to the new Mumford & Sons album for hours
-do my algebra homework
-do my speech homework
-apply for a CA position

I am now out of excuses and energy! Time for bed and a crazy filled day tomorrow of class, meetings and tackling this unwanted English paper. Eh. Definitely not looking forward to grad school!!

Q: What do you call a cat that has 8 legs and likes to swim?
A: An octopuss! :)

Hold On To What You Believe

I, I can't promise you

that I won't let you down

And I, I can't promise you

that I will be the only one around

when your hope falls down

 

But we're young, open flowers in the windy fields

of this war-torn world

And love, this city breathes the plague

of loving things more than their creators

 

I ran away

I could not take the burden of both me and you

It was too fast

Casting love on me as if it were a spell I could not break

When it was a promise I could not make

 

But what if I was wrong?

 

But hold on to what you believe in the light

When the darkness has robbed you of all your sight

 

And now this land means less and less to me

Without you breathing through its trees

At every turn the water runs away from me

and the halo disappears

and the hole when you're not here

 

So what if I was wrong?

 

But hold on to what you believe in the light

When the darkness has robbed you of all your sight

 

So hold on to what you believed in the light

 

--"Hold On To What You Believe" Mumford & Sons

My lip gloss be cool

So, for some reason this morning in the shower, I had the song "Lip gloss" by Lil Mama stuck in my head. It continued to stay in my head for pretty much the rest of the day. And the more I listened to the song, the more agitated I became with the song. The more agitated I became with Lil Mama, and with the current music sector in general. Let's be honest, most pop culture music today is terrible! Should I name some examples: Lil Mama, Snoop Dog, 50 cent, Rebecca Black and even Katy Perry. Don't get me wrong, their tunes are catchy and often witty but are they really substantial? What message does it send? Only ones that you like to have sex and party. Definitely intellectual!! This isn't just within the past five years. I mean go back 20 years and you have songs like "Ice Ice Baby" and "Baby got back" and "MMMBop". But what happened?! What went so wrong that we went from writing deep, intellectual and meaningful songs to writing fluff? I seriously think there are marshmallows more dense than most songs today, in comparison to songs like "Sunday Bloody Sunday", "Imagine", and "Awake my Soul" (I had to throw a Mumford song in there :)). Just saying.
As much as I am bashing pop culture music, I will admit - I have Beiber fever!! And hey, if it makes you dance and makes you happy then to you it is good music, but I think that overall there has been a steep decline in quality and content of music in the past 30 years and I pray everyday for a new revival of artists to step out, not only in courage but also out of the box and put their heart on their sleeve to come up with creative and meaningful music.

"Music expresses feeling and though, without language; it was below and before speech, and it is above and beyond all words." - Robert G. Ingersoll

Hakuna Matata

It means no worries...for the rest of your days!!
Apparently, whoever wrote this song has never been to college. In the last week of college, I can't believe it's only been one week, I feel as though I have read an entire textbook, written the equivalent of a doctoral dissertation, had more to do than I ever did in all my high school years combined! And yet, I have to say, I am thoroughly enjoying it. Call me crazy but I love to have a busy schedule. And yet at the same time I want to pull my hair out. A feeling that only a fellow college student could understand!

"Safe? Of course He's not safe! But He's good"

Hello friends and family!!

I hope this update finds you well and accomplishing all of your New Year’s resolutions. It has been about 6 weeks since my last update, sorry guys! So… since it has been a while since my last update, this may be a long one. So before we begin, grab yourself a nice cup of coffee and make sure that you are comfy J

Let’s start from the beginning, shall we? My DTS headed out for outreach on December 5. Heading first to Port Elizabeth, then a 20 hour bus ride to Johannesburg where we stayed overnight. We then departed the next day for another 18 hours of flying/layovers before finally arriving in Hong Kong. That was almost worse than travelling to South Africa from the States (which was give or take about 35 hours of travel) Getting through customs was far easier than expected and my team was able to get through without any complications. Thank you Jesus! Our accommodation situation was far better than I could have imagined. Having heard many, many stories from previous DTS students, I was prepared for the worst. We were staying in a 900 year old village, the oldest in Hong Kong which was inhabited by the Tang clan, so everyone within the village had the last name of Tang. Talk about confusing when addressing people! Our apartment was a 3 bedroom, 1 bath with a nice living room and a decent kitchen. As nice as it was to have our own apartment, some of the utilities within took some adjusting to. For example, the kitchen had a tiny countertop with one gas burner so cooking a simple dinner of spaghetti could take a good 45 minutes. Or the shower situation which was a bathroom with a toilet, sink and hand held shower head. No tub, no curtain, and a tiny drain equaled a shower standing over the toilet and trying to wash your hair. Awkward!! I can’t complain too much though considering all the luxuries I had compared to other outreaches.

So…we arrived in Hong Kong December 8^th I believe, and were super lucky to be able to relax for a few days before beginning our Christmas Outreach program. Christmas Outreach began on December 13^th, so for the first few days we had an orientation on the base, village, and Hong Kong. We also had mini lectures, so to speak, about evangelism and sharing your testimony and things that were going to be helpful during the outreaches. It was awesome to receive those lectures, no matter how brief, because they were very informative and were a great asset to attain for outreach and even just for life. We were also taught dances and dramas which we were to perform during the outreaches. We learned routines such as a choreographed drama called “It’s my life”, a clown skit, a Samoan island dance, “Jingle Bells”, and a skit called “Eat Work Sleep”. I was not involved in each but rather we were split into groups which were each given a performance or two that they learned and would perform. Each team would go on outreach for two days and would spend the third day on the base serving. (Since there were 3 major teams) Each outreach our team would go on would consist of two or three of our performances with a few testimonies and a preaching at the end. After all was said and done, we would break off with our ministry partner to go talk to the spectators and share the gospel with them. I was so thankful to have been paired with a “veteran”. Mirjam is a staff at the Hong Kong base and it was wonderful to have her as my partner considering she has done this stuff before. But not only had she done it before, but she challenged me to go and talk to people, instead of hiding in the shadows while she talked to the people. (Which to be honest, was far easier) Some of the places we had outreaches included: Five Flags aka Star Ferry Pier, Temple Street Market, schools, drug rehabilitation centers, and Chelsea Heights mall. My favorite, being a future teacher and all, was the school that we were able to go to. It was so cute! Before we performed for the school, each class was brought into the library where we were sitting and came and talked to us to practice their English. They each brought a script and would start out by saying “Hello. My name is _________. How are you today?” As a polite response I would say that I am well and would ask them how they are doing. You could see the panic come across their face as they realized that they did not know how to respond since that was not on their script. After asking us questions about ourselves, what we like, why we are here, and such they would give us either a Christmas card or a bookmark. Some of which hilariously stated: “My name is Gary Chan. I like green frogs. I like red watermelon.” Or “Merry Exams!!” Or “I miss you baby!!” Most of the outreaches did not result in many miraculous healings or thousands of salvations but rather most of them, we were able to encourage many Christians that we came into contact with and I truly believe that we were able to plant many seeds. When mailing a postcard back home to my family, there are dozens of people that touch it and are involved in the process of getting it into my momma’s hands but typically only one is able to be the one to deliver it and put it in her mailbox. That does not discredit the other’s work, it simply means that they are a means to the end and I believe that it was the same with the Christmas Outreach. Though we were not able to be the ones to be there when they give their life to Jesus we were able to be one of the ones to help plant the seed and to help deliver their heart to Him. That does not mean though that we didn’t see any salvations!! Our team, in fact, saw about 10 salvations throughout the outreach. Most of which took place at the drug rehabilitation centers. How cool is that?! I enjoyed every minute of the outreaches and being pushed in my faith to step out of my comfort zone and of my western thinking to approach someone and ask if they know Jesus.

Christmas Day was a bit difficult, to be quite frank. However, I was expecting that it would not be like a normal Christmas. And to my relief it was not a normal Christmas for my parents either. Christmas morning there was a HUGE brunch with made-to-order omelets, pastries, fruit salad, and multiple kinds of coffee. There was worship later that morning and a showing of the movie Elf which helped relieve some homesickness since that movie is a tradition in the Bethke family. I was also able to call my parents, which was wonderful! That night was full, between a large international dinner, a talent show, and a gift exchange. There was not a whole lot of time to think about the fact that it was Christmas morning back home, which helped a lot. Even though all the activities helped take my mind off from not being home, it ended up feeling more like a party and less like Christmas day. Which looking back now, I supposed helped because it made it feel less real that I was not home for the biggest holiday of the year. But be sure that next year I will be making up for sure with the lack of Christmas spirit this year. Beware Scrooge! New Year’s Eve on the other hand was easier to handle. That night my team and I celebrated with snacks and card games. We rung in the by praying together as a team and thanking God for the past year. I don’t think I could come up with a better way to spend the new year!

After Christmas Outreach, my team stayed in Hong Kong for about another three weeks to continue outreach. We took a few days off again to rest and were able to head to some tourist destinations such as Stanley Market. We also got to go to Victoria’s Peak which was simply incredible!! Victoria’s Peak is the highest 360 degree view of Hong Kong City and has a tram that takes you up the mountain at incredibly steep angles. It was pretty scary at time! I greatly appreciated Petro, our outreach leader, giving us time off to rest before we continued with ministries. She has been such a blessing and am so grateful that she joined our team.

For about two weeks we continued to doing ministry within Hong Kong. Some of the ministries included serving at an organization called Crossroads, teaching Sunday School at a church, and going down to the Red Light District in Wan Chai. First off, Crossroads Organization. What an incredible company! Crossroads is exactly what it’s name is. It is a crossroads between need and supply, so to do this they accept donations of any kind from individuals and businesses. They accept anything from old computers to clothing to furniture to school supplies. And then when a ministry or country calls in need of something, Crossroads goes into their warehouse and sends it to the people in need. Like the flooding in Thailand for example, when it happened Crossroads sent out tons of first aid supplies, clothing, and anything else the people could need at no charge to them. They also have simulation modules to give people a real life experience of things such as HIV/AIDS, a refugee camp, a drug addict struggles, loan sharks, life in the slums, and so on. The coolest part of it all is that when they first started the simulations they invited the big wigs of Hong Kong to come and try the refugee module. So about 20 CEOs and presidents of large corporations in H.K. came together for about 24 hours, without their watches, cell phones, laptops, or anything of value and were placed in a smoky room with men with guns and had to “survive”, so to speak, for 24 hours under those conditions. After the experience these extremely powerful men walked out of the experience weeping because it totally changed how they viewed life and how they want to manage their companies. Seeing that is was a success, they took this simulation to the Global Economic forum held every year. Some of the biggest names in the market have done the refugee module including people like the CEO of Gucci and of Nike. (Which is so impressive, considering Nike is one of the worst organizations known for child labor and exploiting workers at the expense of cheaper manufacturing.) And what better way to change the world then to change the minds of the people with the most power! It was such an incredible opportunity to serve there and would love to go back one day to serve again and to try some of the simulations. Another one of our ministries that we did was teaching Sunday School at a local church. It was so cool how it worked out because before we left, Petro’s pastor told her about a South African family that was living in H.K. and working at a church there. We got into contact with them and they invited us over for a braai at their apartment. We thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company and felt at ease with them instantly. We were going to lead two after school programs as well but were unable to because there was not enough children. Our last Sunday in H.K. though we were able to go to St. Andrew’s Church and teach the children’s classes on the topic of missions. The age group that I worked with was 7-10 so before the lesson we arranged to play a game, similar to 4 corners but whenever a country (which where the corners) was called on the children had to give a fact about the country that they were “in”. One of the boys when called upon, standing at the America corner, shouted “AMERICA HATES GOD!!” It was definitely one of those moments where you want to laugh but it’s not appropriate to and you don’t want to embarrass the child. So I simply told him that he and I would have a chat later and that we can talk about America. It was so funny to hear the facts that the children would come up with about that given country. I cannot even begin to express how happy I was to get to work with children again, since that is what I love. I was so grateful that we were able to do that and able to work with children. One of our other ministry opportunities was going down to the Red Light District. I have always wanted to do that, and going down there that night only deepened my desire to one day work with it more. Once a the R.L.D. we went to a local park and prayed and worshipped for about 30-45 minutes and immediately you could sense a change in atmosphere. Stepping off the train I was overcome with a presence of evil and just a feeling of a dark cloud covering the area but as soon as we started worshipping it vanished and I just felt a total weight off my shoulders. We broke off into groups of 2’s and went out to go talk to some of the ladies. My friend Alicia and I started walking and tried talking to the ladies but unless you are talking business with them, you get chased away by the madams. While we were walking around we just started praying and proclaiming territory and rebuking the enemy. Even though we didn’t have any incredible salvations or healings or anything I am confident that us just being there and praying was doing something, if not in this realm, for sure in the spiritual. As we were walking though, a few men started following us. At first we thought nothing of but after a while when they were still behind us despite us crossing the street and zigzagging, we started to get a little nervous. After a while, they started closing in on us and the closer they got, the worse their comments were, making derogatory comments, saying what they want to do to us, and so on. Alicia and I were getting pretty nervous and were realizing that we were powerless against three men, each about twice our size. So we began to pray! As we prayed under our breath, I was totally filled with a spirit of power and was not afraid. I know that it was not me but the Holy Spirit that gave me that power because there is no way I could have been calm and at peace without the Holy Spirit in that situation. So yeah, we just started praying under our breath and proclaiming that we are princesses of God, of the Most High King and that we are surrounded by a royal army and that we cannot be touched! That the enemy will not harm us because we are protected under the blood of Jesus. As soon as we said that the men suddenly turned around and left. I still can’t get over how at peace I was with the situation and how calm I was! Anyone that is close to me knows that in emergencies, I panic. I freak out and flail around like a chicken with its head cut off. So for me to be calm in the midst of being followed, speaks volumes. And just shows me that much more how good the father heart of God is!!

Where to start about Petro?! I figured I would say a little something about her and brag a little bit since she has been so good to the team. She has been so incredible and has encouraged us to call her Tannie Petro which is Afrikaans for Auntie Petro. Which is exactly what she has been! She told us bedtime stories and sang to us and has been protective in anything that comes against us. I appreciate her support and love and encouragement. It is so evident how much of a gift of leadership that she has. Having led 17 DTS’s she knows a thing or two about outreach but I never once felt that she was above me but rather like an auntie, she was superior to me but loved me just the same and I am so thankful. Knowing how our lecture phase was, she arranged for us to have teaching while we were in H.K. I just cannot even express how thankful I am and how much I love her!

So…my apologies for a) not having written an update at all while in H.K. and b) for this being so long. The team leaves again for outreach on Monday to Cape Town for 2 weeks and then the Garden Route for about 2 or 3 more so it will be a while before another update.

Prayer requests:
- My team and unity (though praise God we are getting better!)
- Our outreaches in Cape Town and the Garden Route (safety and ministries)
- And pray that time flies by so I can come home quickly ;)

All my love,
Amanda

Q: What kind of dance do frogs like?
A: Hip-Hop J

Africa Update!

Hi friends and family!!
As they say here in Africa, "I greet you all in the name of Jesus". I hope this update finds you well and enjoying the Christmas season! I figured that since I leave for Hong Kong in about 8 hours I would give you an update of how things are going lately.
Unfortunately, like my last update things have been a little rough. However; I totally see how God is working and I have so much more peace and joy about the whole situation. About two weeks, we had an unfortunate series of events that unfolded and ended up resulting in one of my teammates quitting the DTS. It has been a struggle to cope with simply because I strongly believe that it did not have to come to that. Not only that, but I also believe that if you make a mistake, you must deal with the consequences. Whether you want to or not. Despite all of the drama that has ensued within the past two weeks, I have grown infinitely closer to some of my teammates. My dear friend Melissa has seriously been a gift from heaven. She has become a sister to me and has been so incredibly helpful in allowing me to vent, understanding my thinking and what irks me (and totally sympathizing) and being a comfort and friend that I can openly share my struggles with. My other teammate, Renette has been so awesome to have on our team. She is ridiculously funny and so insightful when it comes to the spiritual realm and such. Odd combo to put together in a sentence but it works for her! She has been amazing at helping release stress by cracking jokes and lightening the mood. I could not be more thankful for these girls!!
About two or three weeks ago, I was incredibly frustrated because over this whole lecture phase we have only brought in three speakers. It upset me that I had worked so hard to get here and was so well supported finacially to come (THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU) that it bothered me that my expectations were not even close to what it was really like here. It is a wonderful base, but when I applied, I was told that every week that would be a different speaker, flown or driven in and out of the 10 weeks that I have been here, only 3 speakers have been brought in. And yet, when I was praying about it, aka yelling at God, He told me that I did not come here for the speakers, I can listen to them back home. I can go to their conferences and I can listen to their sermons and what not. But rather, I came here for the experience. I came here for the adventure and to leave my comfort zone and most importantly I came because God called me. As I was asking God why He brought me here, why He would bring me somewhere where I would be continually frustrated and upset, He told me that He brought me here for personal growth that would only happen out of radical obedience to Him, and through leaving my comfort zone and being totally dependent on Him. Which I have been. It's been cool to see how it's not the lectures or even the outreach that was the reason for God bringing me here, but rather as a test of would I listen if He called. Would I obey even if it means sacrificing my family and education for a while. And I can say with certainty that that is the reason for me coming. To build great relationships with great people, to fully put my trust in God, to leave my comfort zone and be independent and to test myself as to if I would respond to the call. And how amazing it has been to see how God is using this experience to mold and shape and develop me!
I believe that I shared with you last time, about the many prophecies I have received lately. And if you recall, one (well a couple) of them was healing hands. The first few weeks after I received this prophecy, I had huge amounts of frustration because everytime I prayed over someone, for healing, none would come. And I know that sometimes this stuff takes time but when you have the same prophecy told to you multiple times and you don't see it happening, you start to wonder, "Am I doing something wrong?" So yesterday I was praying and asking God why am I not seeing any results? His response was breathtaking! I suddenly got this overwhelming sense that my healing will not be here, but rather will be at home. It's not something that I will see cultivated in my outreach or even in my DTS because this is not where it's needed. Let me explain a little more. God showed me how my healing hands are not medically healing hands. I will not cure the sick, or raise the dead (though I don't doubt that God's awesome power could do that) but my healing hands is more metaphorical than that. My healing hands prophecy was more about the healing of hearts than of anything else. And how would I achieve that you might ask? Through sign language. I don't really know how quite yet, but I believe that God wants to use me for ministry to the deaf. God, you are so freaking cool!! I was reading a book the other day about women changing the world and after each chapter, there was a vital stats section were it gave statistics of different abuses and issues against women that are going on in the world today. One of the first stat sections was about the hearing impaired. Here are some of the alarming facts:
1. The top three countries with hearing impaired are India (90 million), China (73 million) and the US (23 million).
2. The deaf are the fourth largest people group in the world unreached by the gospel.
3. American Sign Language is the third most commonly used language in America.
4. Fewer than 8 out of every 100 deaf people ever attend church and fewer than 4 out of every 100 claim a personal relationship with Jesus!
It was incredible how God spoke to me through a book to give clarity on a prophetic word I received. AHH!! I'm just so excited about life and all that God is doing in my life right now!! God is so good. On a little more superficial level, the things that I have gotten to do while here are also super cool! I have tried crocodile and octopus! (Both of which were decent) I have gone on a safari and gotten within a few feet of wild elephants! I have gotten to pet a cheetah and hold a baby lion! And last weekend I got to go ziplining and cliff jumping! A few of us were going to go bungy jumping, unfortunately each time the plans fell through, so I will have to wait a few weeks to be able to do it. The bungy jumping site is the highest in the world on a bridge. At 216 meters, I know guys who have fought in Iraq and nearly peed themselves standing on that bridge!! AHH! Pray for me!!
I apologize that I cannot tell you more but because my team is leaving later today, I have to finish packing and getting ready for our excursion!
Please pray for my team, for unity and patience with each other, for safe travels and easy entry into Hong Kong. Please also continue to pray for our safety once we enter the country that all visas and documentation is correct and acceptable. But most importantly, please pray for the people of Hong Kong, that God would prepare their hearts for what we have to share and like our t-shirts say that they "Receive It!" and receive the good news.
I love you all so much and cannot wait to see you all in March!!
Q: What do you call cheese that doesn't belong to you?
A: Nacho cheese!