Leaving La La Land

August is here. The month in which I leave America indefinitely has arrived. Will it be forever is the question in my head. Will it be a short reprieve or the end of an affair. What do you do when your great love is a state and your love in unrequited? Do the normal fixes work? Time, alcohol, shopping, chocolate, new hair style? I don’t know but I know I will need help.

Today I was mostly blissfully unaware that it was my last day in LA, a god style mercy because he knows my penchant for the nostalgic and melodramatic and the whole day would have been a lot worse if I had looked at everything “for the last time”. But I discovered in telling Angie (who I spent the afternoon innocuously running errands around IKEA and Lowes) that I was leaving Thursday and she told me that ‘that’s tomorrow’. I realised I’M LEAVING TOMORROW!!! My thoughts flashed to my host family and the puppies and that I want more time with them. I thought of the special moments I’ve wanted to repeat and thought I would have a chance to.

Something rather wonderful happened on my return home. I realised I had Athalia’s rug in my car and I wanted to return it to her so I pulled over and found out where she was and drove to meet her in east Hollywood. The Basilea girls where there and they prayed for me. Athalia nailed it, praying that I would feel the father’s presense and love for me. That I wouldn’t have a broken heart or broken dreams, but that I would know that this is not a full stop or the end of the story but just a part of a continued story of God making His promises happen in my life – so to wrestle with Him and embrace the journey.

I cried. They hugged. I knew it was true and I needed to let go. So there we stood in front of a bar on Hollywood Blvd with my heart breaking and my dreams fragile in my hand. Weeping, I knew the truth in her words – this all comes back to trusting Papa. Trusting him with my greatest love – the USA and my greatest dream – Hollywood. What is my choice when it looks like I have no choice? What is my belief when it all looks over? When I am forced to leave this place and this dream – Hollywood – what do I think? Will I believe that a comeback is possible or will I believe that it’s over before it started.

What a prayer with such friends, in the place of my dreams.

I said my goodbyes and got back in my trusted stead and just started to cry again as I drove through the bright lights of Hollywood Blvd, back ‘home’ for the last night. It was good to just release the complex emotions that had been circulating somewhere inside of me for a week or two. Wailing is good, when Papa is right there with you.

I suddenly felt like putting the radio on and this song came on: Dreams by Van Halen. I’d never heard it before.

This is what I heard:

Standin' on broken dreams
Never losin' sight, ah
Well just spread your wings 

We'll get higher and higher
Straight up we'll climb
We'll get higher and higher
Leave it all behind 

So baby dry your eyes
Save all the tears you've cried
Oh, that's what dreams are made of
'Cause we belong in a world that must be strong
Oh, that's what dreams are made of.

I knew I was entering a new season. I am about to grow up and start putting a little fight in for my dreams. This is not the time to sit back anymore and let what will be will be. It is a season to take what I learned about rest and trust and being a little girl and melding it into the kind of personality that has backbone and strength and tenacity. The kind of woman that I was born to be, the kind of woman who can not just work in Hollywood, but rock it.

The missing link

Please read 'the story so far' for the missing and really essential part of my story that fits in somewhere here :)

Trust Me

For quite some time, everywhere I looked I would see the number 11:11. I saw "ones" everywhere. They would appear on clocks, timetables, radios, photographs, receipts, and hotel room doors. I would glance at the clock on my phone only once or twice a day, and if the time wasn’t 11:11, it would be 1:11 or 11:01. It could have been a coincidence, but somehow I knew that it wasn’t.

Whenever I asked God what it meant, I would only get a smile in return. I happened to be in one of the most difficult seasons of my life, and every time I saw 11:11, it reminded me that He was here with me, and that was all I needed. Sometimes seeing the number would make me laugh out loud; sometimes it would make me cry. It never failed, however, to move my heart and bring my focus back to the reality that God is good and His promises are true for my life.

One day during this time, I walked into the bathroom at my parent’s home in Southern England. Some poor, unsuspecting male in the family had left the toilet seat up. I was livid. So furious, in fact, that even in my state of blind rage I could see that my anger was vastly out of proportion to the situation at hand.

I immediately looked heavenward and asked Papa what was going on. Why was I so angry? The answer came back: “Because you ARE angry.”

As I heard His words, I had the startling realization that I had been feeling constantly angry for a long time. I asked Him why and His answer stunned me. “You are angry with me, because your life hasn’t worked out the way you thought it would.” I was incredulous. After all, wasn’t He my closest friend and constant support through this dark season? Yet, at the same time, I knew it was true. I was undone. The toilet seat was not the object of my pain; my loss of trust in God was.

Sarah in Genesis has long been my hero, so when I finally found my 11:11 in the book of Hebrews, I was captured by the simplicity and power found in this statement about faith:
"For [Sarah] considered Him faithful who had promised."

Faithfulness is the source of faith. A promise has only as much value as the person making it. In evaluating his words to us, we are actually judging whether or not we believe that God is trustworthy. Faith is not spelt R-I-S-K. It is spelt T-R-U-S-T. Unless, of course, you consider God to be a risky bet.

Every promise and dream for your life is anchored in the level of trust you have in God. "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." It is our knowledge of His faithfulness that gives us assurance of the promises He has made. This is faith: judging Him faithful who has promised.

If we do not have faith in Him, our belief in His promises are based on what we can currently see happening around us. This, as I experienced, often results in our feeling as though the carpet has been pulled out from under our feet. Faith is essential because in the day when you cannot see the promises for your life, your trust in Him has to be your guarantee. We must have ‘the conviction of things unseen.’

When trust is real in your heart, hope is never deferred. Your hope for the promises He has spoken to you is secured in who He is, not your circumstances. This is faith. We can have confidence in a promise before we see it become a reality, because the one who has made the promise is the ultimate assurance.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a promise realised is the tree of life.
It is not the absence of fulfilled promises that ‘makes the heart sick,’ but when hope itself is deferred. It is easy to be hope-full continually when you trust the one that promises good things. We realise His promises are assured and it is our tree of life.

life

Sweet Alabama

I had the awesome privilege to travel to Alabama with some giants in the Kingdom this week. It was amazing.

Hundreds got healed and I got to participate in a bunch :) Thank you for praying - it was a great trip and I grew a lot - thank you!!

Releasing the rhema word
Two nights in a row i gave a word of knowledge from the front, but when the people responded they found they were already healed as the word was released - they didn't even give me a chance to pray for them!! ha ha! I love it!!

The first was a young man from Atlanta with 3 broken lumber vertebrae who had a metel rod in his back holding it rigid. He was not only completely healed on the spot, but also had full mobility - it will be interesting to hear what happened to that rod!

The 2nd were a group of people with a specific fracture in the base of their toe(s). Several of these were healed when the word was released. Bill Johnson (who was leading the trip) sensed this and paused to ask them before we continued. They tested it out and several were healed already!

At school we are taught to take notice of coincidences because they are oftentimes the language of the spirit. I had never seen people healed just by me releasing a word of knowledge and then I had two in a row. I'm taking note and learning that what we say and release has creative power!

Hip Restored

I also prayed for a pastor who was scheduled for a right hip replacement within two weeks. She  had no cartilage and her hip was bone on bone (very painful!!). We prayed and then asked her to test it out by doing things she couldn't do before. First she put on her sock, then she walked, then she ran and then she ran up and down stairs!! We eventually told her she could stop, but she cried saying "No!! I get to do this now!!" This was a really encouraging miracle for me as it's something I'm contending for with a family member. Since there is creative power in telling the testimony - maybe this will be the day!!

Ovarian Cysts Dissolved

I had the privilege of praying for a young woman who had ovarian cysts on her left side. One cyst was so big that she could feel it with her hand and it was extremely painful. As we prayed she felt it dissolve and could no longer feel it with her fingers or feel any pain!! God is so cool!! She is going to get the medical results this week :)


New Website and Itinerary

Bill has a new website - it's awesomely interactive!! It was created to resource people hungry for the Kingdom. Please go and check it out at http://www.bjm.org Our trip is blogged on there :) Bill is also coming to your area of the world: if you want to access more of the Kingdom, I really recommend you go. My life has never been the same since I heard him teach:

Feb 2 - 4
New Wine Cymru - On Earth as it is in Heaven
City Temple
Cardiff, Wales
www.flamesoffire.co.uk/news_and_events/bill_johnson.php
April 22 - 25
United Kingdom Healing School with Randy Clark
Southampton, United Kingdom
www.globalawakening.com

April 28 - 30
New Wine Stockholm
Stockholm, Sweden
new-wine.org/countries/Sweden.htm

Blessings!
Sarah XX

The days preceding a new year are a time to dream.

Every year, well all year actually, I set up new rules for myself and new demands for my time and character. Setting goals is good. Setting rules is not. Somehow rules kill you whereas goals bring life.

For a rule-setter, goal-getter type like myself, New Years Resolutions used to provide an excellent opportunity to set even more self-imposed laws, which I endeavoured to keep, but more often missed.

Years ago I regularly watched the kids for the pastors of a rural church in England. They had a rule for their kids: ‘No New Years Resolutions’. A rule that banned rules; Interesting.

Perturbed at the prospect of a missed rule-setting-opportunity, I enquired about why such a decision. The answer surprised me. ‘Laws set people up to fail’ the pastor’s wife explained. They don’t come with the grace to carry them out, just pressure and disappointment. So the kids were banned from setting new years rules. What was also true of this family was that they were highly disciplined, highly creative and highly relational. Lack of laws didn’t equate lack of achievement; rather it gave space for it. Relationship and encouragement accomplished what rules couldn’t.

Grace like this is a funny substance. It is freedom. Freedom to not be controlled by rules. It is rest. The rest to never strive. It is passion. Passion that drives you further. It is power. The power to achieve all things. It is both a letting go and a reaching higher.

I have been learning the joys of living in graceland. It’s a somewhat magical place, where love not law is the law of the land. Easy you may think? But when you have found the ability to reach for the stars you have a new-found responsibility to pluck them out of the sky. The sky is no limit in graceland. To who much is given, much is required. But these requirements are not like the demands of law set before, these requirements are to dream bigger and go further. Because, as the laws fade, so do the natural laws. Nothing is impossible in graceland. Therefore, dream bigger, love deeper, forgive greater and go further than you ever thought possible.

Vision gives pain a purpose. If your New Years Resolution is to loose weight because you had one to many minced pies this Christmas, your focus is on your failure to keep in shape. When the pain of working out happens, all you can see is your out-of-shape (and now sweaty, out-of-breath) body staring back at you in the mirror. If instead you dream of being fit, in-shape and healthy enough to run into old age. Then you have a vision that is unperturbed by pain. The pain is just a sign of a step in the right direction, rather than proof that you really are out-of-shape. Lack of vision is subtle, but a proven deal breaker in the New Years Resolution stakes. Instead you can dream into being the person you want to be.

So tired of laws that lead to failure? Start to dream and dream bigger. If you can achieve your dream, then it is too small. The glory of the young is that they are too inexperienced to know that their dreams are impossible, so they do them anyway. Realise that nothing is impossible. Write down your dreams and don’t put them off until tomorrow. I have dreams and visions for my life that I’ve written down in a list. It is pinned to my bathroom wall and everyday I remind my day about my dreams. Speak to your day and speak to your self. It’s not a sign of madness, but of greatness to declare your destiny.

Dream big. This is not the season to devise new laws or resolutions. It’s the season to dream new dreams. What does 2009 look like in your dreams? What is your life dream and how will 2009 be a part of that? If you want to stop human trafficking how will your dreams for yourself in 2009 support your life dream? What were the dreams that you traded in as a child for laws and impossibility? Bring them out of the closet again. Fulfilled all your dreams? Then you need to dream again and dream bigger, further and always with a level of impossibility.

There always has to be some impossible situation in your hand. Otherwise how will there ever be miracles?

Stories of Jesus

Friends and Countrymen!

As we go after the King and His Kingdom together I wanted to send each of you my love for this Christmas and New Year! I am excited by the day we live in and the joy that is ours. God is so good!! Have a ton of fun over the holidays and an awesome 2009! The mince pies are made, the brandy butter is chillin and I'm excited!

Something else to get happy about...

Miracles

This week I got the opportunity to pray for a young woman who had arthritis in her wrist and hand. Now arthritis often feels to me like it comes with fear attached and I get angry. There was something there that my spirit reacted against. I felt that there was a spirit attached with this one, not that the woman had done anything wrong, but her body was under attack.

I prayed for a short time just simply binding the arthritis and releasing strength and healing. I asked her to test it out and she did! Big time! All the pain had gone! We praised Jesus big time too! She was so stoked and shocked, as it was something she had been contending for for a long time.

Yey Jesus is the King!!

I am going on a trip to Alabama with Bill and his team on the 2nd January. Please pray for our travels and that God would have His way there. Expect some stories! Remember that we all share in the inheritance of each-others encounters with God, because the 'testimony (stories) of Jesus, IS the Spirit of prophecy'. In other-words, testimonies release the prophetic power to do it again! Sounds good :)

Merry Christmas!

Much love!

Sarah

heal, elbow, cancer

Yesterday I went to my seat in-between Sunday morning services. The lady in the row behind me looked quizzically at me and asked me where I was from, not my name. I told her and she got very excited. She said ‘I thought it was you! I’ve been looking for you since September!’. I guess the Englishness is my defining feature!

Heal Healed
She went on to tell me how I had prayed for her heal one Sunday morning in late September. I remembered her and remembered how the presence of God had been so strong and sweet while we prayed. She told me that though she could feel things happening inside her foot, the pain had not left when I prayed that day, when she woke up the next day it was completely gone and hadn’t returned since then. She had had excruciating shooting pain in her heal for one and a half years up until then. We were both very happy!!! She was so moved by Jesus healing her – it was so special. It reminded me that when we pray we should never be discouraged if we don’t see it happen before our eyes, because we’ve prayed – something has to happen!!! Even if it’s that night while they sleep.

Elbow Healed
So then she told me that her left elbow was in a lot of pain too. She couldn’t lift a cup of coffee with it because it hurt too much. She wanted me to pray for it right then and there and I was more than happy to. I prayed and the pain lessened so much that when she tested by pushing strongly against my hand it didn’t hurt at all! She moved it around and there was still a slight twinge so we prayed again. Struck by the power and passion of God she received her healing right then with tears rolling down her cheeks. I was overcome by the sweetness of God.

Miracles never get old for me. Each time I am struck by the love and power of our God who cares so much about our lives. It’s such a privilege to pray ‘Your Kingdom come!’ and watch what happens. I love Him!


Cancer Healed
It’s so important to pray. I realise over and over how much we carry the key to heaven in our hands. The other day a classmate of mine found his colleague upset at work. He had previously released the presence of God on this guy, a non-Christian. It had been an amazing experience for the guy who had felt electricity running into him during the encounter at the store where they both work. So when my classmate asked him what was wrong he was really open and said that his grandmother had been diagnosed with serious cancer. He was devastated by the prognosis that she had only weeks to live. My classmate was deeply moved with compassion and so asked if he could pray. His colleague jumped at the chance, so right there outside the door of the shop they prayed – releasing life into the lady’s body. Within a week the doctors report came back that the grandmother was completely clear of cancer after no treatment. The doctors were astonished. We were very happy. It was a sweet moment when he told us the news in class during testimony time. We all leapt to our feet, shouting and cheering – this is what we live for!

Miracles in Fremont

I traveled to Fremont at the weekend (yes my car made it!!!) with a team of 4 and Eric and Candice Johnson. We had the most fun trip and were totally spoilt by Harvest House Church there.

Sunday morning Candice spoke on Trust and Distrust and Eric spoke on stewarding Favor. it was really good - and we had to practice receiving favor all weekend. I have a ways to go.

We opened up the meeting to word of knowledge call outs for healing needs and prayed for the the sick with the church. One local guy i was praying for had pain in his right elbow for 30 years since he dislocated his shoulder and broke his arm as a child. it was particularly bad that day and he had been complaining to his wife about the pain. We prayed and half the pain left the elbow, but of course we pray again (much to his bewilderment).

THe man started rotating his arm so that they were both faced palm upwards and he kept repeating over and over and over again "this is so weird, this is so weird". I asked him what was weird and he told me that he hadn't been able to rotate his right arm at all for those 30 years...and of course all 100% of the pin had gone! I love my God!

'My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, 5so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.' 1 Cor 2

In the evening Eric taught in their school of supernatural ministry - an offshoot of BSSM. It was great. He taught on having the highest honor for the presence of God. He told the story of how a well known revivalist held a dinner with lots of leaders there to meet with him and how he felt the Spirit show up and he knew that he needed to go be alone with God. without hesitation he excused himself from the meeting and went to his hotel where he had an encounter with God.

It was a good teaching. We then opened up the meeting for the team (i.e. me) to prophesy from the front. Happily I already had one loaded as god had spoken to me in my nap to "tell john that he is worthy" I knew that john was thinking of starting a new venture in life or business and needed God's encouragement. So i took the microphone first and asked "is there anyone here called John?". Happily there was and there was only one. He got rocked. I thought it could be hard after that but they just flowed as the team pointed people out and prophesied life and grace into them. It was so sweet.

What a day we live in that God shows up and people get changed forever.

Christmas Gifts

PRAY NOW!

Please pray for the USA this week. These elections will not only determine the next president but also 3 supreme court judges and the future of America for the next 30 years. This entire generation will be effected by what people vote this week. Please Pray.

We have two candidates with many different policies covering many different issues. But really there is only one issue. When you have babies killed by the million there is only one issue. We have to see the end of child abortion in the USA. Please pray so that every child conceived with a destiny upon their life, will get the choice to live. We need them, they are part of the kingdom and reflect a part of God that we don’t see without them. We thought Hitler was wrong with 6 million deaths, and Stalin with 30 million, what will we say about the 49 million babies in America since 1973? If you would stand for the Jews, you need to stand for the children.

Pray for California for ‘where she goes the nation will go’ and I believe the world will go. There are several propositions to vote upon in California right now on gay marriage. Pray.

God sets the rulers to rule under him according to what we pray. So Pray. Right now Pray. Pray as if another 49 million children’s lives are on the line. Because they are.

You can read my article here

Watch

Watchmen on the Walls



We are called to extend our Kingdom's culture until the knowledge of the glory of the Lord covers the earth. We are not called to stand by as truth and conscience loose definition and whilst another 70 million babies are mown down in the UK or another 400 million in the USA.

At some point who you are and what you believe must effect how you live and how you vote.

Living Generously August e-newsletter

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I LOVE CHURCH. I HATE CANCER.

I love my church - these are all the people just in 2nd service who have been healed of cancer.


and this is them passing the healing along. Because freely they have received and freely they give.


The kingdom is all about this flow - everything we get, we get to give away. it's a privilege and requirement for increase :) When we do something with what we've been given we are like the guy with the talents who invested what he was given and so was given more.

I Hate cancer and God hates cancer. He never uses it. He never partners with it. He never starts it. and he never prolongs it. He hates it like He hates sin. which is why we can always pray with confidence knowing He wants it gone and that He paid a high price to destroy it.

So lets establish the freedom He paid so much for :)

love ME

Do you think me cheesey whan I tell you ‘love is all we need’? When the Beetles and the Bible say the same thing it’s time to listen. Best selling band and best selling book, 20th century to 1st century, love revolution to love revolution. Love is all we need. I believe.

If I speak in the languages of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing…And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

It was for love of my brother that I stood at his wedding and read these words, my knees visibly knocking and my hands sweating. But, knowing that I would be nervous, I had read though the words a million times so that I wouldn’t stutter and stumble. But what I did instead was fall in love with these love letters. And how could I stumble? They are like poetry running off the tongue, language of angels indeed. But, amongst theses lovely lines is some age-old truth that can shock my cold heart to the bone: Whatever we do in life, if we have not love, it is all for nothing, for it will not remain.

Years ago, in southern France an electrical storm drove us into the shelter of the great and ancient arches of the Pont du Gard, older than both the Beatles and the Bible. With lightning dropping around us I asked my ever-wise mother if we should move to somewhere less obvious for a strike. And with ever-increasing wisdom she replied ‘it’s been here for 2000 years and probably encountered a few lightning storms in its time’. It set me thinking, buildings feel immortal, while we like shadows come and go. But, the truth is the opposite. While the material things we see look more enduring, it is the insubstantial element of love that is powerful and lasts forever.

When you love, the effects are eternal, passed from one person to another, from generation to generation. Recently someone told me to write a list of all the people who had ever showed me love or kindness. As the list trailed off the page, I realised those deposits of love make me who I am and make my life possible and make me be able to love. Relational generosity is the soundest investment of them all.

Over the next few weeks I am going to explore a few ideas surrounding relational generosity. Otherwise spelt LOVE. Loving myself, finding love, love for them, and giving love.

Part One:love ME

Like charity, love starts at home, and I don’t mean your house. I mean you. The person who does not love themselves is a nightmare for everyone around them. After all, you can’t give away what you don’t have. If you can’t love yourself, you can’t honestly love the people around you. We can do our best, but we are operating out of lack. At some point we are going to love people the way we love ourselves, and if we don’t love ourselves, we can’t love them. My friend’s fiancé once told her that it was his ambition in life to love her as much as she did. She promptly replied that it was in his best interest that she loves herself, because we love others as we love ourselves. It’s true. We’ve all seen how a damaged person damages. An insecure person creates insecurity. A hurt person hurts. The greatest thing you can do for people around you, is to love you.

Identity is the best place to start. To have relationship we have to let people really know us. Intimacy is ‘into me you see’. If we don’t like who we are or don’t know who we are, we won’t let anyone else see who we are. Many many people (if not all of us) have taken some knocks in life that can rock their identity and their intrinsic value. When we don’t feel valuable we feel vulnerable and open to attack. We expect attack. Someone who is insecure is defensive; and therefore offensive. They create insecurity in their environment and trigger every other insecurity around them. Equalling relational (or unrelational) mess. We have to love ourselves enough to let them see the real us.

Another friend of mine was given £15 000 a few years ago by a man he didn’t even know very well. Instead of being friendly to this guy, my friend went to great lengths to avoid him. It got so ridiculous that he realized there was a problem, and he realised the problem was him. He felt unworthy of £15 000 and thought if the man got to know him he would realise this too and regret the gift. At some point we need to believe L’Oreal and know that we are worth it, not because L’Oreal says so, but because every human who walks this globe is worthy and wonderfully made. I love the Dove adverts that promote the message that every size and shape is beautiful. It’s the same with our inside – we are all good. ‘I am lovely’ is the biggest thing we can realise, so that we can become the greatest gift to give away.

Fear of Sat Nav?

When you find yourself feeling bad for disobeying your Sat-Nav-lady, you know there is a problem.

It’s true, I was finding that I felt guilty every time I took another route to the one she proposed and was all at peace when my car was following her directions. I was trying to people please my Sat Nav. Jesus we have a problem.

What’s weird is that last year I really got free of needing people’s approval and this year I measurably got better at discounting what people think of me in exchange for taking all that Papa God thinks of me. To such an extent that I risk being rude. I need more love to guide me, because the fear of man no longer does.

But as with all lessons there are little tests to see how we’re doing. 18 months ago I stopped doing my chores (passed test of people pleasing, failed test of honour). 12 months ago I got seriously nervous around leaders I respected (failed people pleasing, failed doing stupid things as a result of people pleasing). 6 months ago momentarily wobbled by someone not liking me but regained composure when I knew fathers’ love (failed fear of man, passed fear of man). 1 month ago knew who my daddy was and didn’t get seriously nervous around leaders I respected (passed fear of man, passed being able to do stupid things because I can). So I was slowly progressing until the Tom Tom regression.

The answer? Hmm not sure I have one. I think I am doing well on not caring what ‘they’ think, but not so well on being free to do what I think. Why do I need to be told what to do when the master of the universe and my destiny walks with me and whispers to me?

Not that we don’t listen to advice, hear the prophetic voice through others or honour people with obedience when appropriate. But your Sat Nav? Where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom. It’s true. Not just freedom in His direction over peoples, but freedom in your direction over peoples, even, dare I say it, over your Sat Nav.

Some things just need practicing I guess. I may take the car out soon and drive in endless opposite directions…where, I wonder, will I end up...?

Burma Cyclone

A letter from a friend in Burma:

“The victims of this disaster need help now. For the many thousands who have died, this tragedy is over. But for the men, women, and children of southern Burma who have lost their homes, livelihood and in many cases, their loved ones, it has really only just begun. We at Partners are doing all we can to ensure the help we send is received by those who desperately need it” (Steve Gumaer, Founder and Director of Partners Relief and Development).
More than fifty years of civil war has left Burma one of the poorest counties in the world. The people of Burma have faced continued hardship

s since the show-elections of 1990, when the official results were overturned and the opposition imprisoned. Before the cyclone hit, over 2 million people had been displaced by ethnic cleansing - either hiding in the jungles or escaped over the border as refugees. The tragedy of Cyclone Nargis has only added to an already desperate situation.

The current estimates from the UN are that over 100,000 people will have perished both in the storm itself and because of the hold up on help reaching those who need it. Christian Aid has reported that outbreaks of malaria and cholera are occurring in the Delta region where hundreds of villages are still underwater. Yet because of internal insecurity, help is still not reaching the people and it’s costing lives.

Over the years Partners has built up relationships with individuals and groups inside Burma who are now able to assist getting funding and supplies to survivors who are still living in dire conditions. Partners is able to get to places that large NGO’s cannot go and is using it’s extensive experience to deliver targeted life-saving resources, equipment, food and care to the worst affected areas. Working closely with Free Burma Rangers and The Haven Foundation, they are continually assessing the situation and responding as best they can with the resources they have.

So far Partners have been able to get 15,000lbs of nutritional supplements and 100 rolls of plastic sheeting inside. They have also been able to channel funding to their co-workers inside Burma to enable them to purchase supplies to send to the Delta region. Partners are also arranging the delivery of water purification systems that will fight dehydration and the diseases that are rapidly spreading.

These guys are amazing and we're helping them out at Living Generously to raise funds - if you want to give you can here:

Give Today

www.livinggenerously.com

One thing.

I would rather run with a couple of burning ones, than thousands of the content.

It has to be first about seeking the Kingdom. All the other things will be added. The point is, it’s HIM we so desperately, crazily, passionately pursue. It’s the fullness of the Kingdom that’s real, that’s desperately needed by the desperate, by the hungry. It’s His glory. His presence, his never-ending ever increasing presence.

I really don’t care about anything else. Athough I have a feeling that when He becomes our everything, everything else will be added. But even if it isn’t, if I get HIM in the exchange, I don’t care.

We have to get so ruined for anything else, we have to act as if we are as hungry as we are.

No price is too high, no distance too far, no shame too great to get more of God. If you’re hungry, you’ll go get food.

“There is something glorious about having no options. I only have one option: to do what He said. “But what if we lose a bunch of people?” you may ask. Well they’re not ours to keep. Our esteem is not built upon the size of the local church, it’s built by doing what He said to do. All the other stuff doesn’t last.

Numbers have to be important first for them to impact you. They don’t impact you if they are not in the value system. When you say ‘God I want more of you at any cost’ you’ve already decided that numbers don’t matter if you get Him in the exchange.”

Desire Lost

How quickly dost the signs of love pale
And sweet nothings, fade to nothing
Those hints at epic romance, become loose change
Lost without thought
And valued as no value.

Your love still burns, but I see only embers
Your heart still turns, but I see only shadows
What was once bold, I count as lost
Not seen to mine eye
Or my mind
Or my heart

But hope holds me.
That when all is cold and faded
A new light shall spark
And you shall find a new way to romance this fickle heart
Your ways are higher than my ebbing interest
And your love is stronger than my weakness

And so soon and suddenly we will sour together
Onto a mountain top
Higher than before
We will be swept up in each other
And my passion will come back to the fore
Not hidden under a bowl but blazing
Joining your fire with my fire

This, this is my desire.