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.