A Tribute to Loren Cunningham ~ June 30, 1935⎼October 6, 2023
There is a book entitled, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. This captures my thoughts of Loren over a lifetime of knowing him. Many people’s direction with their giftings has a very defined focus of following through on one project. However, with Loren as a visionary, he sees the big picture and is broad-scoped.
As I awoke again to the sound of the sea surging on the rocks, the scream of the gulls, and the beautiful vista fanning out before me, I was struck with the thought, “However did I end up in Newfoundland?” Me, whose life was going to be happily-ever- after in the nirvana of Beautiful B.C. The chain of events was unexpected, un-sought, and wandering, yet God brought me to my heart’s home in this extraordinary province.
My phone buzzed on silent mode in my pocket while I was busy just doing normal old stuff. But that vibrating buzz alarms me everytime. Glancing at the shortened notification on my homescreen I saw the first line, "… I heard the Gospel for the first time." It was from Glenn. Glenn reminds me of speaker Bob Goff, the writer of Love Does, because he lights up the room wherever he's at and makes you feel like you're the boss. I was honored to be on the list of umptine friends in his contacts⏤my name and number got the text.
You have heard the stories in the Bible. In Genesis, God said to Abram, “Go…”. In Matthew, Jesus calls Simon (Peter) and Andrew and says to them, “Follow me…”. In John, Jesus speaks to the people saying that he is the light of the world and once again invites them to follow him. But these are the stories of people long ago. I grew up thinking the reality of these things happening again is so far-fetched and unforeseen. Is that really how God works today?
Fundraising is a huge part of missions. Whether you are raising money for yourself to be supported as a missionary, or for a project to help others, it takes funding to accomplish our God given goals. Although it can be overwhelming, it doesn't have to suck.
This is me with one of only 800 copies of the Bible in the Sakari language. Honestly, it was a holy movement grasping this book. Even my co-workers were drooling over it. It’s not fancy. No gold leaf.
But it’s special.
I believe in heroes, and I have had many in my lifetime. Brother Andrew, known as God's Smuggler, is undoubtedly one of those. He has impacted my life very much.
In an upcoming social media post that you'll see in the coming days, we are posting the caption: "The spirit of Christ is the spirit of missions. The nearer we get to Him, the more intense of a missionary we become." As part of the editing team I wasn't 100% convinced of this statement.
So, I decided to reach out to some long-term, incredibly thoughtful missionaries at our campus to ask them their opinion. What I got as a response was quite incredible.
When I went to The Flood, I was expecting breakthrough, but little did I know what it would entail.
The Flood was a week long event preceding the Send missions movement, held in Kansas City, Missouri. During The Flood and The Send, there were lots of worship times, speakers such as Francis Chan and Lou Engle, as well as outreaches each afternoon of The Flood. Before going to the Flood, I was not completely sure what to expect. I knew it was going to be incredible, but what would that look like?
Ever wonder if the thought forming in your brain was from God?
I know I have many times. 15 years ago, I did my DTS and read the inspirational book by the founder of YWAM, Is That Really You God?
His stories left me wide-eyed and wonder-filled. I honestly couldn't put it down. He addressed the very questions I had about hearing from God.
We zigzagged up the dirt roads into the mountain jungles of Thailand to visit a small children's school for our Discipleship Training School outreach. Our team had prepared well, but not for what was about to happen to me.
I saw this guy rocking the guitar, singing his guts out to the Lord, and inspiring the audience to join him in his rapturous worship, and I knew I liked this guy.
