I didn't know how I could sum up everything about the time I was in Nepal and Tibet for the past 3 months. So I decided to type up one of my journal entries, while in Tibet.
The day that a waitress in Lhasa, Tibet received the gospel and the Holy Spirit-5/22/11:
(Wooing)
I am lovesick! I love talking about You Jesus. You are so good! Your plans are perfect.
Lord it was You who stirred our hearts this morning, who showed me Your desire to unlock peoples' hearts. You truly reign over all the earth (Psalm 103:19-22), but in this day You are looking for voluntary lovers (Psalm 110:3). Jesus as you sit on Your throne you make intercession for us. You speak life over us all the day long! You make intercession in this ministry of reconciliation, of wooing the hearts of people who are hungry for You. You are a Bridegroom King. You conquer the heart of Your bride.
A heart was conquered today! A beautiful woman's life was touched by the revelation of Your love (how numerous are Your thoughts toward her), joy (Your Spirit gives us joy on the inside!), and power (You defeated sin and death). Holy Spirit surround her. You are good! You are the King of Kings and You reign over all, but above all You love us. How You love us! And how You've won us by Your kindness and goodness. The fruit of righteousness is a tree of life and by Your Spirit of wisdom and revelation, souls are conquered and won (Proverbs 11:30)! Thank-you for capturing the heart of this daughter of Jerusalem!
You leap upon the mountains, dance upon the heights, but Your greatest delight is conquering the heart of Your bride. You have conquered my heart. You have won me. I am a slave to You, to Your righteousness. I surrender happily. I am lovesick.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Lecture Phase Complete
Yes I have crossed the finish line of this Fire & Fragrance DTS 2011 Lecture Phase event. I can hear the applause of Abba, Jesus, Holy Spirit, and the great cloud of witnesses. I went surfing. Once with a fun-board heehee... And hundreds of times on the waves of revelation about who God is. He is love! I declare and shout that He is love! He can't help Himself and He never will stop being who He is for all of eternity.
I see now that God didn't bring me here as a soldier to receive more training, eager to prove myself a ready and fit carrier of the gospel. He brought me here to love me and it happened to be on a YWAM base in Kona, Hawaii. Through all the teachings, work duty hours, ministry times, music, and moments in the prayer room I have come to know Him better. But it's not because I have the information in my mind. It's because of the power of the Holy Spirit to reveal it to my heart. I will probably never fully understand, with my mind and my heart, all of the wisdom I've heard during these past months. My spirit, however, begs to differ. My spirit-woman soaked it in! My spirit is dancing and singing and laughing. She wants to lead from now on and I so desire that. Lead me when I'm going to eat dinner! Lead me when I'm at the airport! Lead me when I'm on the airplane heading for Nepal! Lead me when I've been in Kathmandu for a month and feel homesick! Lead me when my levels of patience are depleting! Lead me when I'm tired and hurting! Lead me when I come back to "normal life"! Lead me when I go back to UT! Lead me when I don't want to do my homework! Lead me when I get my first job as a social worker! Lead me to the ends of the earth! Lead me to my next neighbor!
Holy Spirit you are here, there, and everywhere. I walk accordingly. I see...
Footprints because I follow the Lamb. Dust because I am close behind my Rabbai. Kisses because His word hits me. Tears because I'm not afraid to cry. A new city because He will wipe away every tear soon enough. Leaves because His wind moves everything and His plan is to heal the nations. A bride because He desires a help-meet who is His equal. Prayer because Jesus is still living with unanswered prayers. Desire because He created me for passion. Satisfaction because He is my reward. Longing because there's always more of Him. Frustration because things are not ok right now. Declaration because He is the solution. Justice because He is coming back. Rest because I know He is trustworthy. Smile because His smile is breaking out all over the earth. Obedience because I so love Him. Groaning because the sons of Adam and daughters of Eve have glory that we have yet to see. Aching because the sounds of the indigenous have yet to be fully released. Laughter because the Holy Spirit loves to laugh. Warmth because my body was meant for God and God for my body. Kindness because His eyes are upon me. Wild because His heart is beating and I feel it. Breath because I'm an eternal being. Human tabernacle because God desires a dwelling place. Marriage because redeemed humanity is a bride. Preparation because the bridegroom is Jesus. Food because there's gonna be a wedding feast. Excitement because that's why I'm living.
The point is lecture phase never really ends :)
Monday, January 17, 2011
swimming
I'm on an island. I'm on a missions base with some important ladies and gentleman. I'm in a place of beauty with salty ocean waves, roaring and crashing. I'm one of seventy-something students in a school about fire and fragrance. God is an all-consuming fire and we His disciples are the fragrance of who He is. So I smell like He is? Yessum.
I also smell sweaty. I like the fact that I walk to the dining room, to the prayer room, to class, to the shore. I like to sweat. I like to watch the ocean waves and think about how God's voice sounds like those roaring waves. I can hear His voice, but I also see that I move His heart. I gaze on His beauty.
Friday evening I was in the prayer room as it was full of DTS staff students. We were having a 24-hour session that we refer to as a "burn". Most people did not stay for the full twenty-four hours but a few did. I saw a picture of Jesus sitting at the right hand of the Father. He was talking to some angels and it seemed like it was a matter of importance. He stopped suddenly and closed His eyes. I could see that He felt something inside of Him, in His heart. His heart was stirring and He smiled. "It's Sarah" he whispered. He listens and He continues smiling.
In my heart I whispered, "You are holy Jesus."
He whispers back,"And you are holy"
"You are mighty Jesus."
"And you are strong."
He smiles and turns to the Father and they laugh together. So that's what David meant when God delights in us. God delights in me and I saw and faintly felt the Holy Spirit twirling inside of me. This is the trinity, my God. It's a dance of love and friendship and for a moment I was caught up in it. I smiled and Jesus smiled. "I'm not just glancing at You, I'm gazing at You. We're all gazing at You." He smiles a smile that speaks of such deep joy, but no combination of facial features could come together and form an expression that could sufficiently show His heart.
That's why there's the ocean. His heart is deeper than the deepest ocean. His heart speaks of His emotions toward us. mmmm... there's no way anyone could ever take this in, we can only sink or swim or both. But we don't just swim alongside the angels. We have our own reservoir of living water within us and His deep calls out to our deep. And what if there's also no end to the depth inside of us... the depth of the impact of His affections for us? We are eternal beings.
Andy Byrd, the school leader, spoke to us the first week of the DTS. He mentioned that he'd love to have lots of children because they are beings that he helped create and they will live forever. We humans are remarkable. I've been thinking about how surreal it is that I am a human being, breathing air, talking to the living God, destined to live forever. There are some important people on this planet and then there's all of humanity. But the crazy thing about this whole of humanity is that each one was carefully lovingly fearfully crafted by God who had a dream in His heart for each one. This God is something else, in fact He is holy, unlike anyone else. He loves us ya'll. How does one respond? One could learn how to swim or one could learn how to sink.
Monday, January 10, 2011
a time to support
Hello beloved friends and family,
I write this letter to bring you news of what I’ve been up to, what my plans are, and to ask for your prayers and financial support.
I’ve been a student at the University of Texas for the past two years, but in following the leading of the Holy Spirit I decided to take a break from studies for this ‘10-’11 year. Hence I wasn’t in school this past semester, but in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. To that beautiful city I went to participate in the Intercessory Missionary Internship (IMI) for three months. This was connected to the Tabernacle of the Nations, a house of prayer connected with YWAM Amsterdam located in the middle of the red light district. For me, the IMI was a season of time in which I tasted what it was like to be an intercessory missionary: one whose primary occupation is to minister before the Lord through night and day prayer. I tasted and saw that it was good, realizing that the prayer room-the Tabernacle as well as the houses of prayer the Holy Spirit is raising up globally-is like the heartbeat of God in the body of Christ, which is Jesus’ bride! I have a new-found passion for the house of prayer movement and how this fuels everything that the body of Christ does, whether evangelism, church-planting, or works of justice. This passion comes from God’s own heart, for didn’t Jesus say that His house would be called a house of prayer!
Now I am in Kona, Hawaii doing a DTS (discipleship training school) called Fire and Fragrance. The purpose of the training is to call forth young people who will help build and/or plant houses/communities who seek first and foremost worship, intercession, prayer, and establishing a place for God’s fire to fall. From there His fragrance is released to the lost and broken, the communities, and the world through a bridal church whose heart is consumed with passionate love for Jesus. The desire of the leadership at Fire and Fragrance is to equip leaders to walk in a marriage of prayer and mission.
Information about the DTS:
The school runs for 5 ½ months from January 6th to June 17th. There is a 12-week lecture phase, followed by an 11-week outreach phase. God has already provided the money for the lecture phase, which covers my room, board, and tuition at the YWAM base.
I still need funds for the outreach, which would cover airfares, housing, and food. I don't know the location of the outreach yet, but the estimated expenses are $5000-$6000.
Find more information at their website: Fire and Fragrance
I ask that you partner with me in prayer. During my time in Amsterdam, I was very blessed to have people from home partnering with me in prayer and I hope for the same during my time in Hawaii.
Please pray and ask the Lord about supporting me financially for the outreach phase. Giving financially is a picture of what Paul says in Galatians 6:8 about sowing to please the Holy Spirit whereby reaping everlasting life. In giving financially into my trip you also reap of the fruit that will come from it. He is the Provider and in His Kingdom we can freely give and receive with cheerful and thankful hearts for He is a good Father.
If you would like to partner with me financially you can click on the Donate button located on the right hand side of this page.
If you have any questions email me at holacharah@gmail.com.
Thank you for reading this and thank you for your support. Blessings, strength, and encouragement to you from our Jesus, the Bridegroom, King, and Judge who is coming back soon!
~Sarah Elizabeth Strong
I write this letter to bring you news of what I’ve been up to, what my plans are, and to ask for your prayers and financial support.
I’ve been a student at the University of Texas for the past two years, but in following the leading of the Holy Spirit I decided to take a break from studies for this ‘10-’11 year. Hence I wasn’t in school this past semester, but in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. To that beautiful city I went to participate in the Intercessory Missionary Internship (IMI) for three months. This was connected to the Tabernacle of the Nations, a house of prayer connected with YWAM Amsterdam located in the middle of the red light district. For me, the IMI was a season of time in which I tasted what it was like to be an intercessory missionary: one whose primary occupation is to minister before the Lord through night and day prayer. I tasted and saw that it was good, realizing that the prayer room-the Tabernacle as well as the houses of prayer the Holy Spirit is raising up globally-is like the heartbeat of God in the body of Christ, which is Jesus’ bride! I have a new-found passion for the house of prayer movement and how this fuels everything that the body of Christ does, whether evangelism, church-planting, or works of justice. This passion comes from God’s own heart, for didn’t Jesus say that His house would be called a house of prayer!
Now I am in Kona, Hawaii doing a DTS (discipleship training school) called Fire and Fragrance. The purpose of the training is to call forth young people who will help build and/or plant houses/communities who seek first and foremost worship, intercession, prayer, and establishing a place for God’s fire to fall. From there His fragrance is released to the lost and broken, the communities, and the world through a bridal church whose heart is consumed with passionate love for Jesus. The desire of the leadership at Fire and Fragrance is to equip leaders to walk in a marriage of prayer and mission.
Information about the DTS:
The school runs for 5 ½ months from January 6th to June 17th. There is a 12-week lecture phase, followed by an 11-week outreach phase. God has already provided the money for the lecture phase, which covers my room, board, and tuition at the YWAM base.
I still need funds for the outreach, which would cover airfares, housing, and food. I don't know the location of the outreach yet, but the estimated expenses are $5000-$6000.
Find more information at their website: Fire and Fragrance
I ask that you partner with me in prayer. During my time in Amsterdam, I was very blessed to have people from home partnering with me in prayer and I hope for the same during my time in Hawaii.
Please pray and ask the Lord about supporting me financially for the outreach phase. Giving financially is a picture of what Paul says in Galatians 6:8 about sowing to please the Holy Spirit whereby reaping everlasting life. In giving financially into my trip you also reap of the fruit that will come from it. He is the Provider and in His Kingdom we can freely give and receive with cheerful and thankful hearts for He is a good Father.
If you would like to partner with me financially you can click on the Donate button located on the right hand side of this page.
If you have any questions email me at holacharah@gmail.com.
Thank you for reading this and thank you for your support. Blessings, strength, and encouragement to you from our Jesus, the Bridegroom, King, and Judge who is coming back soon!
~Sarah Elizabeth Strong
Monday, January 3, 2011
I'm still here
In three days the Fire and Fragrance Discipleship Training School starts. In three days I will be on a plane to Kona, Hawaii. In three days I will be seeing many new things.
Today I'm still here in Austin, Tx (well, suburbia of Cedar Park). I feel very much still here, in my mind, body, and emotions. I can imagine what it will be like, but I haven't tried. The excitement and butterflies have not kicked in yet. God is with me and I feel His Presence with me and we are together. God is present. He is where I want to be and He is the ultimate cause of butterflies in my tummy. He makes me excited. My eyes are on Him and we run together.
We run together spreading the fragrance of Him, the sweet-smelling aroma, the incense of prayer. I'm excited to continue this journey in Hawaii and into eternity!
Today I'm still here in Austin, Tx (well, suburbia of Cedar Park). I feel very much still here, in my mind, body, and emotions. I can imagine what it will be like, but I haven't tried. The excitement and butterflies have not kicked in yet. God is with me and I feel His Presence with me and we are together. God is present. He is where I want to be and He is the ultimate cause of butterflies in my tummy. He makes me excited. My eyes are on Him and we run together.
We run together spreading the fragrance of Him, the sweet-smelling aroma, the incense of prayer. I'm excited to continue this journey in Hawaii and into eternity!
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