COME, HOLY SPIRIT!

Our Connection Group...minus Drew and Jeff!

We've been leading a Connection Group in our home for several months and Wednesday night was an amazing night!

We spent some time sharing about situations in our past when we felt God's very real and clear presence in our lives and one thing was very obvious to me---we all desire MORE of God.  We desire MORE Holy Spirit experiences.

As followers of Jesus Christ, nothing delights us more than those times in our lives when we feel our Father's presence and/or witness the Holy Spirit doing amazing things!  So....can we have MORE of these "Holy Spirit moments"?  I believe the answer is, "YES"!

I have recently been reading in the book of John and John 14 reminds and encourages me in verses 12-14 that say, "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing.  He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.  And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.  You may ask me for anything in my name and I will do it."  

Wow, these are powerful words and they are hard to believe!  And yet, there they are---God's truth.

As we go on and read in chapter 15, we see however that God is the gardener and will cut off branches that bear no fruit.  He prunes us, or disciplines us, so that we can be more fruitful.

What does he ask of us?  That we remain in him.  If we remain in Him, He will remain in us and apart from Him we can do NOTHING.

As we read further, He explains that if we obey His commands we will remain in His love.  He tells us this so that His joy may be in us.  His complete joy.  He chose us and appointed us to GO and bear fruit.  Fruit that will last.  Then He will give whatever we ask in his name!  

James 5:16 tells us that the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.  I believe God responds to our prayers.

Our interaction with God affects His actions.  In His Word, He has told us how He will react to certain actions and attitudes of ours and our prayers reveal what our attitudes are.

When we go to Him prayerfully, we are showing our reliance on Him.  We are showing our dependency and trust in Him.  He relates to His children who pray dependently upon Him, just as an earthly father wants the best for his children who come to him in dependence.

To me, this means simply that if I remain in relationship with Him, remain in His Word each day, remain in prayer, always remembering to ask His forgiveness for my sins and be "right" with God, that my "Holy Spirit moments" will be many instead of few.  

God WANTS to use us.  We are His ambassadors.  

Are we prepared every day, making ourselves available and "interruptable" to be used by God and see the Holy Spirit at work?

Jeff and I love these moments when the Holy Spirit shows up and we crave more!  So we remain....

...ready and willing,

Diane and Jeff

How Lost is Lost?

God continues to reaffirm our calling back to the States as missionaries and pastor, and especially to the neighborhood He has placed us in!  We celebrate our new friends down the street who come to our weekly Connection Group and study God's Word with us!

I recently met another of our new neighbors, Meg (not her real name), as we were out prayer-walking with our Connection Group this past Wednesday evening.

Meg shared openly about her difficult life, which includes several attempted suicides and problems with her marriage and mental illness.  Because of the medications she takes for bipolar disorder, she wasn't able to focus on our conversation, but we were able to pray for her, give her a gentle hug and speak truth into her life regarding her value as a person created in the image of God.  As well, I told her where I lived and offered a listening ear anytime she needed.

I spent a couple of days feeling overwhelmed by Meg's needs and problems.  I was overwhelmed because I was trying to be her savior!  Her problems are not too big for God!  He calls me to love my neighbor as myself.  Sometimes this requires getting involved in the messiness!

God gently reminded me this morning as I was reading in 1 Timothy 2 that God wants all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.

It doesn't matter how messed up our lives are.  It is the work of the Holy Spirit alone.  Our job is to speak the truth in love and respect and present the clear gospel message.

I, too, was once lost and without hope in my life.  People were praying for me and shared the truth!  I praise God for my sister, Debra, who asked me that difficult question, "have you ever prayed and asked God to be the Lord and Savior of your life?"  She then prayed with me and I entered into a life following Christ.

Could it be that no one has ever prayed for Meg?  Could it be that she has never heard the true gospel message?  Clearly, the enemy is at work in a myriad of ways, destroying her life.

God has replaced my overwhelmed feeling with His hope!  Hope that Meg's life can be transformed and that He alone is able to transform it!  Hope that this may be an opportunity to be used by Him!

I am humbled by His amazing grace, for I, too, was once lost...

Please join me in praying for Meg!  Pray for clear direction from God on how to minister to her.  Pray that the enemy is bound in her life and she chooses to follow Jesus!

Servant of the King of Kings,

Diane

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” Psalm 33:12

Jeff and I have been struggling to readjust to our American culture. There are many things we miss about Brazil!  

It was extremely difficult to leave ministries that we believe in and love!  It was hard to leave leaders that we fought with in the spiritual battle, saw God do amazing things through, and walked in the trenches with!

However, when God clearly says, "Go"----you do just that, you go....especially because, from our perspective of 8,788 kilometers away, we could blatantly see our nation turning away from the Lord!  

After being involved in very intense ministries in Brazil---reaching out to transvestite prostitutes and drug lords---the work here seems a bit tame and we miss the distinctness between good and evil, light and darkness, that we experienced in Brazil.  

However, we believe the enemy would have us believe it is tame so that we would not engage ourselves in the battle here!  In reality, there is a HUGE spiritual battle all around us here in the United States and we're seeing that it IS very intense!

On April 29, Rabbi Jonathan Cahn brought a message to the US Capital, warning America.

To watch this video, Click HERE

Let us not exchange our light for darkness!  Let us keep watch and not sleep!

Humble servants of the Lord Most High,

Diane and Jeff

Tell of All His Wonderful Acts!

Ian and Pastor Jeff

Psalm 105: 1-4

Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name;

make known among the nations what he has done.

Sing to him, sing praise to him;

tell of all his wonderful acts.

Glory in his holy name;

let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.

Look to the Lord and his strength;

seek his face always.

We are in AWE of what God is doing as we work together to plant His new church!

We thank Him daily for His answers to prayers, guidance and provision, and rejoice in the miracles, small and large!

God has provided a lovely and comfortable home for us in Grimes, Iowa!  We are feeling extremely blessed!

We moved in on May 1st, which is a special day for us, as it is the day our first daughter, Jessica, was born! 

God has clearly planted us in this new neighborhood for his eternal purposes!  We went out and delivered May Day baskets for 2 hours and were so encouraged to meet many of our neighbors and they are hungry for relationships!

We've been so encouraged by the friends that have unexpectedly stopped in to welcome us back to the USA!  THANKS, FRIENDS!

If you'd like to stop by, please do ANYTIME---no appointment is necessary!  

We'd love to chat with you, pray with you and, of course, give you a holy hug!  We do miss the spontaneity, relationships and warm hugs of the Brazilian culture!  

Our new address is 2150 NE 18th Street, Unit 9, Grimes, IA  50111.  If you desire to call ahead to confirm that we are at home, you may.  Diane's phone number is 612-412-6917.  Jeff's phone number is 515-414-4342.   

We'd love to catch up with you and hear how God is at work in your lives!  Diane is ALWAYS willing make you a cup of tea or a latte---with Brazilian coffee, of course!

Humble servants of the mighty king, Jesus,

Diane and Jeff