Team- Pais Arlington Central

Hi Lovely saints, Friends, family.

We have had such an incredible journey these past few weeks. We have lead a lesson on Goals at a local JRH:

 We have lead FCA: nine students gave there lives to Christ: Praise God !!!

 Prayer at the Pole

 Lead FCA Games at Local Jrh

 Supported Students at there games

 Served with students and built relationships

 All with my lovely team

 and also invited and challenged our students at youth group come along side us and serve the community.

You did this all, through your prayer and support, through your encouragement. Thank you!!!!
And my team, what an amazing group of people who want to serve and show God Kingdom to the 1,000's of kids we have met this past month.

We have taught lesson, we have handed out flyers, we have prayed with our student, served with them and minster to them and to see my team connect with students like Sarah who was invited by the team to youth group and showed up and enjoyed hearing the gospel or Tray who is a student at the local Jrh who came to youth group and really just jumped in with the other students... All of these things great or small are apart of the journey you are taking with our Father and with me....

We have come against some tricky obstacles but God has found a way FCA at local high school. No kids were expected to come but we went out to the hall ways and invited them in, 20 students came 15 stayed and 9 got saved, who knows what God has in store for all the students that did show up but our God made it possible to allow all of these amazing things to occur at the right time. Praise God that we are living our lives as He would have it

 "May His Kingdom come on Earth as it is in Heaven"


This was just a quick picture update, please keep me and the team in prayer, another up date is always round the corner... Don't forget, I want to hear about your lives, I love hearing update on my friends and family and remember Prayer request are always welcome....

Peace and Grace
Adrienne

p.s
Please pass this blog on, the more the merrier

The Wheel's are turning...

Dearest Friends,

What a month it has been for me, the teams are now on the ground and running towards the goal of spreading the gospel and Christ love for His creation, it truly is a site to see...

But with all this hassle and bussle of things, I see how God is humbling me but also making me into a person of more Character then I ever thought possible. I am not boasting here I am boasting of my weakness but it is Him that is giving me the wise words and plans to lead the teams.

This semester I was given a challenge to connect with the Director of Personnel for Arlington ISD (School governing body) and once I connect with the director work with him to find a way to get the international Pais' into the volunteer system aka allowing them to visit students who are part of the local church they lead in and also make connection with teachers who would allow them to teach in the class rooms.

It was crazy but through prayer and persistence, we finally got an answer that was simple and easy but it had been a problem for years but God's favour was upon us and we finally have it resolved.

Building the youth group:
Our youth group is very small and our challenge as soon as we got to town was laying foundations for the youth to grow . We decided to bring in an holistic model to get the students to discover there faith, pursue it . Which basically means that the students each week would have a different experience: 1- wk it would be pray and worship, 2-wk Bible Study, 3- service project//serve the community 4-fellowship.

The students have just gone through the first month of the model and already we have seen 4 students who's family are apart of the church get connect and regularly attend Wednesday night youth group.

PRAISE GOD !!!!  These students who were outsiders are now becoming people who belong not because of there parents but because of there desire placed in them by God. 


We are seeing students wanting to serve the church , family, community when before they had no avenues to do so..

This Month my personal aim was to connect with girl students that seemed quite distant  in the youth group:
One particular girl, seemed very standoffish towards me and  the team and it just seem very upset by our present but once again, I really felt that I need to make it a point to connect with her and we finally got to talk this week, she seemed very open to me once I started to talk about she was into and her busy school life. So my hope is to see her in a play next month. GOD is so good, I have no clue why she was upset the past few weeks I tried to talk to her, I don't know why she doesn't want to join or like youth group but God made a way for me to talk with her ....My hope and desire is to pursue more time with her and actually get her more connected with the church.

It is a big shock to me that people can come to the church for many year but not want to be connected to the Body and I know God has put this girl in my path to really show her the love, joy and peace God has for his people who fellowship with other people and my fear is that many students do this and walk away from the church because they never experience Gods amazing community... God Community is such an amazing place to understand more about God, His love and who we are as people..

Finally I need to tell you about our first girly hangout :
 it was GREAT...The typical girl stuff occurred, dance generation was played on the wii, junk food and loads of giggles but as we settled down to sleep I was able to talk with one of the girls I hope to mentor this year. Through all the random stories of life, she began to share her heart and the hardship that she had gone through this pass 3 yrs and I was once again blown away by God's divine skill to drawn people together.
I met this girl 3 wks ago and was instantly was  drawn to her.... Although I felt this girl seemed to have it all together and it didn't seem to want or needed a mentor, I had no idea that what she was about to reveal to me, teenage heartbreak, misunderstanding and so much more,  it just broke my heart...

While in the mist of all the heartbreak this girl had experienced I was touched because I heard how God had restored her, brought her out of darkness and the journey of how God was and is restoring her, How much it reminded me of my own teenage years and how much now more then ever I see that God was always with me, watching, waiting yearning for me to call upon Him and how He still is for theses teenagers today ....

It will always amaze me that while I am trying to minister to others they are being used by God to minister to me, it wasn't just another conversation with a teen girl, it was an honour, a privilege to see  the amazingness of God through her testimony....



Thank you so much for your support, Friendship and time for reading this....it doesn't go unwanted please continue  to keep us in pray as a team and for me in leading and guiding these missionaries who are making the generation of missionaries.

If you would like to pass this on to others please do....

Peace and Grace

Love
Adrienne

Beginning of the 4th .....

When I heard three year ago the call to join The Pais Project, I thought that It would be just one year  a year. As I transitioned from team member to team leader and then repeating my role as team leader last year, I had no clue What God had planned. That He was bubbling inside of me a new season that would force me to grow and rely on Him more deeply then ever  before. Once more show me that its nothing to do with me but its all about Him... 

Is it not a shocker that your in the mist of living your life, suddenly realize the many things you don’t know about Him and some of those revelations of who God is, is not even the tip of the ice berg. I mean you grasp an understanding of God in certain areas of your life and then God is also showing you His path is not a game or win or lose or even of luck and chance but of providence or His will and of His heart. 

I am just overwhelmed but happy and grateful that God is in the business of shocking and surprising this daughter of His....

I am in my first officially week of being a ...wait for it... Its a big title...Hub Leader, Youth Director, Team Leader....in other words I am overseeing two teams while leading another and building structure into our youth group.  Its a lot to take in... My prayers turned from my own desires and then into His desire, so once I placed my life in His hands the statement that came forth was Trust in me a little bit more, lean into me more then you ever have and again with some nervousness in my heart, I said yes

Yes to loving people into growth, to challenging teams to push behind the norm and to never settle, Yes to Him and No to me and instead of seeing loads of Oh No’s and eeekkks and I am beginning to see so many more Yes’s and possibilities in my life in then I could every have imagined

My life is in his hands and it really is the best place to be ...

Strange

 "Rejoice in hope,be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer." Romans 12:12 


I have the strangest of dreams some are of flying, others of weird planets that don't make sense and safari animals . Now granted its often when I need to take allergy medication and I have had a crazy day but its still strange.

Its that time of year again when everything is about to change. For me its making another step into what God has for me and that is staying on Pais and working as a Missionary.

Strangest thing dreams, sometimes they become a reality and one day you wake up and realise "hey I am living it"  

I laugh now but God gave me a sweet and small dream, to see students come to know the Lord and develop and lead others to know Him. Sometimes this dream is easy to live out and somedays its difficult.  Its be filled with Joy, Kindness, Growth, trails and hiccups and all the while God has truly had me.

Don't you Love our Father, that His not just happy to give us a life that we want but He wants to give us a life we couldn't imagine for ourselves. I couldn't imagine I would meet a student who would hear the word, take the calling and not only run and tell others about her amazing Father in Heaven but give them rides to church and lead people into bible study only just becoming a believe in less then a year or one of our shy male students lead us outside of his campus in prayer.

WOW Lord just a word, just a glimpse, just a touch and BAM! you make something, you make my world spin and use it for your glory and what's amazing about it all, is that you who are reading have amazing stories of the amazing strangest things God has done, you who live in London or Australia, Rome have testimonies of How God is faithful and good to His children.

I am so very overwhelmed sometimes with the things that God has asked me to do and to be honest, I have no idea sometimes what I am doing, I make mistakes, I get inpatient with my team or sometimes students and I don't know how God provides for me and I get disappointed  when God asks me and push me to  ask for help and nothing happens. But I know when it seems so very strange that all of this is  in my life. I look to Him who called me and I need to trust Him because He know best.  Then I remember all them many splendid things he has done. The friendship he has given, the comfort he has shown, the patience he has portioned out for me and I am in owe.

this verse comes to mind in
Romans 12; 12a comes to mind "Don't burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame" (MSG) such a sweet message for me at this time, when the strangest of things happen...




Strangest things happen, when God gives you a dream it cause some amazing things to happen, when you say yes with your heart and and inch step with your feet.

Note:
If you would like to support me in my next year as a missionary or know of someone who would like to read my blog and in turn partner with me this year on Mission. Please  pass on the blog and my contact details below. Thank you once again for reading.

Peace and Grace

Email: adriennemcpherson1@gmail.com
adriennemcpherson@paisproject.com

Monday, Thank you's

What a crazy weekend at the Passion Conference, I went for one thing and God totally showed me His and Yet am still not sure how much I fully grasped. Here are a few things I wanted to lift up and Thank Him for:

31) Men that cry for Christ's grace
32) Honest conversation with  friends
33) Questions that run deep
34) Tender hearts
35) Leaders that care
36) Passionate Students
37) Fundraising
38) Justice
39) Worship
40) Serving the weak

Good Grief !

I have been told many times that there are five stages of grief: Denial, angry, Bargaining depression acceptance.  I wonder if God goes through some of these stages. I know I certainly have. I went to a funereal this week and as I sat in a pew to say goodbye to a person I never met but meant so much to my dear friend. I realized that grief effects us all in so many ways than just the five stages suggested. I have seen grief bring truth, healing, restoration to communities and to the calling that one, once lost. Grief can make you selfish and introverted, it can also awoken your heart to opportunities of selflessness and expression of love.

When it happens to you or someone close this is not what we see or feel, its the opposite. I think God's grief time after time has turned into expression of love: Genesis 6:6  say that  God regrets making man due to there crazy mistakes but he turns that sadness into great doors of redemption.
In Matthew 9:36 say that Jesus saw the people harassed and helpless and he had compassion on them.
I am not a schooler or trying to change the word of God but I place myself in that passage and I feel saddened, deep lose for those in distress and I think good grief, what do you do in that situation and what does Jesus do? He builds up the disciples and creates opportunity to heal, serve, teach ,love for  these people in distress then, now and always.

On a personal note: grief these pass week or shall I say loss has opened my eyes to the way people deal with it. Some mothers cling tightly to the children in hopes that grief will not infect them and there family , some have a new lease on life, others become lost in deep thought about the purpose of life and many of us carry on with no regard for the passing of the dead and all to some degree is good in the right balance but what its done to me is think that maybe, I need to seek Him in my grief not just on how to handle it but also how to rest in Him. The person that died wasn't a relative but its somehow trickled down and effected me through my outlook, my walk and even through my work /ministry.  Questions have arisen : What am I doing? I'm I doing things right? How can I do things better and where do I stand on this and that? None bad but grief has brought somethings in to question....

Questions aren't bad, if the answers are searched out and somewhat answered. I have been told that there are five stages of Grief Anger, Denial, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance, but what if there's another point to consider that when it says in the Bible to rejoice through, in our suffering that God knows something more then we do that Grief is Good.

Thirsty ?

Everyone is Thirsty for something, some for money, popularity, security and all the other candy coated things the world offers.

30 days ago, my team and our community church we partner with, set out on a mission to life up our youth group in prayer for the up and coming disciple now (spiritual students weekend)....

We came across, sickness, dismissals and even forgetfulness. We didn't even have enough people to cover the hourly spots we had for prayer. Through out the weeks we had students sign-up that we thought would never do such a thing, we had students rush to sign-up and others cringe. God is so amazing and wonderful  he softened the hearts of many students and gave parents zeal to nicely push there stiff students to the weekend.

I need to laugh because the group of girls I was given were 8-9th grade girls. I only new two students the others were fairly new to the ministry or had not turned up for youth group in quite sometime. My feeling for the weekend was exciting . I really didn't know what to think or feel about the D-now due to the fact the team and I had a really crazy week volunteering in the school.

I was overwhelmed with the openness of our students. I know that many of us believe that a missionary is someone in Africa or deep jungles of India somewhere and I often imagined that very thing but I firmly believe and know that being a missionary in America is needed, that we are able to impact the youth of a powerful nation to impact the world.  There is true brokenness in America in our girls students. So many of our girls within the group spoke of the perfect look of a family from the outside but many come from broken homes or even just broken relationship within the family home.  It was a heartfelt plea for help. I heard girl after girl confess  the feeling of being unloved,  inadequacy ,  unforgiveness and so much more. These girls are going through divorce, depression, stress  and all the other things that teens have to battle with in this day and age and they have no hope. Many confessed to not understanding Gods love and grace, some are happy to go blindly along and many are so filled with mix messages that they barely see or get the Truth of Gods kindness that they are  thoroughly confused.

God totally showed his kindness and love for his children over the weekend with great discussion, revelation even students ministering to other students of there understanding of God forgiveness and what truth its brought to there own lives. God not only showed up but also stamp His seal on many hearts and if one students genuinely gave there lives to follow christ then the lack of sleep, the girl fights was worth it.

Two of my girls gave there lives to christ and I am so Happy to have even witnessed such a great step, God hope and plan for there futures are so much greater then we can Imagine.

I am so very, very excited to go for it serving and impacting the area with our students and what's great about our weekend is we really push forward in promoting a cause we all want to peruse as a youth group H20 project (14 days only water, save the money and build a water well)...Not only did the students get to experience God and develop a relationship with Him but also take this experience and sow it into another community that needs help and make a impact that they couldn't have on there own, really give them a chance to serve and love on people in thirst.

Everyone students some for relationships, security, peace love and I know that God is the only one that can truly quench the thirst and I believe know and am so very overjoyed that God is not done with our students with our community with our the church.

Our students were thirsty this weekend and the drank from Him who satisfies. My prayer is  that they will not hide or  run from what God is now calling them to do, serve, worship there creator.....

Please continue to pray for our youth, for me and the mission we are heading towards together.


Peace and Grace

Monday Praise!

21) Host Mum's who love to chat
22) Silence
23) Books
24) Jesus as Bridegroom
25) Love that never fades
26) Jesus Culture
27) Time
28) Clean Sheets
29) New Supports for my mission
30) Students

Prayer and Beauty

I pray everyday, not to boast I think its something God has placed in my DNA and I think everyone does in some way or form.

I pray for the day, my students, my team, family friends and for Gods glory to be shun from me and seen by me in what I do and what I see other do to please Our Father.

This week I could not imagine what God would do with my prayers, our prayers, towards our ministry and the students we interact with.

We were so blessed to have spiritual leaders that are over us and apart of our team to really bring forth a great ideas. Our current one is 24hrs prayer for our students before our big student weekend.  Every church puts on a student weekend at one point, especially when they have more then 2 students in there youth group but our hope is to see our students lives changed from ok, to I want more of Him.  Our youth group is at the budding stages, we have many students coming but not many participating our even real engaging with the Word or others. I have seen over the past couple of months our students jump at the chance to serve, its in there hearts to give and create compassion but our students like many have battles to fight, chains to break from and demons to slay.

We have stepped out in our calling to pray for our students for 24 days, 24 hours a day and its getting me, the team, the body excited. I can't wait to see what God has in store for our students.

As well as working with our youth group, Pais Project is all about bridging the gap between the local Church and the school reaching students who might not even have or receive an opportunity to come to church or connect with other believers . We work in a local school as volunteers helping in many different capacity: office aids, Lunch room supervisors, teachers aids etc..

We have been blessed to work with the special needs department and even prayed for the director of the department. Our relationship with the special needs teachers and aids have allowed us this week to bless the special needs girls in particular  with Manicures. They loved it many girls could pick from a variety of colours and although it was hard for many of them to stay still, did so with a look of great easy.

It was a true experience, while I was painting the nails of a few girls I stroke up a few conversations with Melissa, Christine, Stella as they looked at me with expression of happiness in those precious moments. I new and could see Gods beauty in these girls faces and as I casual started to sing praises of over them and there cute faces. I knew that for many of the girls , they had not heard that they were beautiful and I knew it with an urge from my spirit to just speak words of life and encourage over them.  God Presences was never void in the school or in the special needs class room it was just unrecognized and for the time we were in there I was able to see that as clear as day.

We were able to then assist our Seniors in Peer-Mediation (students guiding students to resolve conflict)...We were seeking serves opportunities and the head counselor brought this to our attention, none of the teachers wanted to give up there free periods (where they deal with admin etc..) and we stepped forward with smiles on our faces and a hunger to serve the students aid the student body.

HOW EXCITING IS THAT WE GET TO ADVISE, ASSIT, GUIDE STUDENTS IN MEDIATION AND THUS MENTORING SENIORS ON HOW TO DEAL WITH CONFLICT FROM A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE!!! can you imagine how many students are going to be effected by this program, how we can use Gods word to director them in pouring wisdom into students lives, there own lives. God word does not return void and that is a promise,. Its so Crazy amazing at how and what God at work in..

We even started to see this opportunity open up more, when one of the senior mediators opened up about his past and family, friends. We have  students who want us to be hard and desire some true good input and  advise, its really blows me away at what we are able to do and how we can impact the seniors.
and that was just this week, what will happen for the rest of the semester. I think God is wanting to amaze, shock His children more and more.

I pray all the time its something I do naturally, I think God put it in my DNA but now I pray not only for the things I have always prayed for but things like ceasing God arisen opportunities, to see and appreciate His Beauty and to never forget where it all starts and begins with Him.

Roadtrip

Road-trip are awesome , if you plan it right some amazing things can happen but with all things, there often a few disasters on the way. This time on my little adventure there weren't any disasters as such just mishaps like forgetting a mobile phone, getting lost or packing a luggage way to big for a hatchback car. These little hiccups, were bumps in the road but all in all they made the road trip lovely.

A couple of friends and I decided we need to get out of town and have a little fun and so with a email or two to a local church we scoured a host home for us cash strapped missionaries and headed towards Kanasa our aim the onething Conference by International house of prayer aka IHOP. The conference is based around prayer and aimed for young adults but all are welcome. My friends and I all listen to the live prayer sessions they streams all year round, we all have a heart for intercession. We were just set and excited to go.

I can not tell you how excited and amazed I was at first how my heart sung, seeing all these people who were all about more then onething: Jesus returning, Prayer, People being saved and healed. It blew me away and placed wind in my sails...people were encouraging and there were times for people to pray over each other and the speakers spoke about His love for us and what we need to do to share it and much more but what struck me most was the amazing passion for Jesus as BRIDEGROOM.

I had heard it mentioned, but I had never heard it quite the same way. its not about him being are lovers, boyfriends chum but looking at Jesus as the bridegroom and us as the Bride (church), how he love us, how we should be in a state of yearning for Him. It was new different, good and very real to me.  His our Bridegroom, Our Judge , Our King and that was just more then words to me, it was His character explained in a fresh way to me.

I am thankful for road-trips it gives us time to talk with people, unpack some stuff you felt or learnt on your adventure, it was great because everyday on the way back to the host home we were able to talk and unpack some stuff and it was just another great thing about fellowship, the week flew by and I found myself being in awe of God and wanting to pray and praise him, I would find myself in the 24 hr prayer room seeking God and being filled by Him, through those times I heard God speak about not allowing my feeling or my circumstance dictate to me who I am and the things He says I am. Its the things he has always said that I never spent time to stop and listen to hear.... whilst we brought in the new year at the conference, I knew this was not the end of what God wanted to show me about Himself as the Bridegroom, King, Judge.

So what is God telling you about His character, I would say my friends, ask Him and when he answer commit to really looking deep into his heart, with His word, prayer time with Him.