Hello family! We pray you each had a beautiful and special Christmas and New Year with your loved ones.
This year we did Christmas a little differently. Carrie Durren and her family so beautifully opened their house to us and made us a beautiful meal! On New Year’s, Marva Beauvior and her family hosted us as well! These volunteers are more than just volunteers, they are family to us and we couldn’t be more happier and honored to have them as apart of our ministry!
As the title says, this month is month of our intensive missionary training! We started on January 6, and spent the first two days on our foundational beliefs such as who is God, and so forth, to get those who were new to the ministry on the score beliefs we operate in. In our class is a young lady who is a friend of Annella’s, along with Marva and her husband Robert, and their friend Kathy, and Jonathan Durren, along with our own house family. After the first two days, we jumped into the nitty gritty! So we have last Wednesday and Thursday’s class synopsis, to catch you up to speed on what we’ve covered.
08 JANUARY 2014 – Slaying Your Giants
On this day, our class went through how to catch and deliver spiritual natural concepts, despite the emotional or spiritual issues that can come attached to them. We called those feelings and past experiences “slime”. So in the future you read about us dealing with the slime on our lives, you’ll know what we’re referring to. We had an exercise that involved a ball, and we all caught the ball. Then, Teresa covered the ball with a wet, slimy substance. She told class the goo had germs, and so Annella was on standby to disinfect the catcher’s hands. People were a little unsure about volunteering, but two people bravely volunteered to catch the ball. After catching it, the volunteers were told the substance was nothing more than hand sanitizer. Teresa asked us why we caught the ball, even it was covered in something we weren’t sure of. After a few minutes, of discussion, Teresa helped the class realize that the two volunteers caught it because they knew and trusted Teresa. The ball represents the concepts or ideas we have or try to impart. The slimey substance represents the junk in our lives or the lives of others that sometimes covers and distorts the concepts we are trying to receive or give, which in turn makes it difficult for us to grasp.
The class stirred up some pretty difficult things, but the Lord came and began to do a powerful work for each of the students. In turn, Teresa talked about how when we go to bring the Gospel to people, the concept will have negative “slime” from the person receiving it. We must identify that problem, then ask the Lord what is He doing, what does He want to do, and how can we be a part of His plan.
We also discussed different ways we can serve as missionaries. We may not always have our hands busy, but we should always be prepared to move and do as He wants and wills.
09 JANUARY 2014 – Where Does Your Wisdom Come From?
This class was an interesting one. One that caused a lot if deep, introspective thinking for many of our students. It dealt with wisdom and the relation of it to communicating and behavior. Gordon taught first, and began by distinguishing the different kinds of wisdom. First, there’s earthly wisdom. Earthly wisdom is wisdom that comes from ourselves. Now when we give that kind of wisdom, it’s usually from our own mind, our own intelligence, and often times, it’s covered with the “slime” (remember, the slime is representative of the negative feelings and aversions we feel towards certain subjects that prevent us from catching concepts) of our own past experiences and preconceived notions. That wisdom is only from within ourselves, and it has nothing to do with God.
The second kind of wisdom is God’s wisdom. This wisdom is the best kind and really the only kind we should be using. It’s from the Holy Spirit, and it helps speak and minister in a way that we could never do in our own simple minds. Plus, this wisdom is God giving of Himself through us to someone else, unlike earthly wisdom. Gordon then spoke on Heavenly wisdom in relation to natural happenings. When we’re trying to accomplish a task, or pass a hurdle in our lives and we find we lack the wisdom to navigate a situation, our natural reaction is frustration, tears, anger, etc. With Heavenly wisdom, we can navigate these frustrating situations in a manner not remotely possible on our own.
Gordon spoke on our behavior and communication towards others, and the effects of it in our lives. Our behavior can breed rebellion or humility/honor. The actions and words that breed rebellion in us are slander, sarcasm, gossip, and disobedience. Actions and communication that bring honor are praises, edification, and obedience.
Now, we can’t be in obedience yet be in rebellion. When we are disobedience, in any area, we are in rebellion. And when we allow ourselves to get in that area, we step out of our place, naturally and spiritually. Whether it be with a your boss at work, your Pastor or even your spouse, when we are in rebellion, it causes us to overstep the place we should be filling. Not only that, the spiritual authority we have diminishes! If we are not in tune to the orders of the Father, how can we wield His power? We can’t! We must always know our place, and be sure to fill that place, without any fear. One nugget that stood out (there really were so many!) was this: Humility will discern it’s correct place. When our words and thoughts correspond with Godly wisdom, we remain humble, and therefore always in our place.
The last thing we talked about was using the most of His provision. We were given certain food items, (Noodles, dehydrated eggs, refried beans, dried shredded meat, some veggies, in case some of you wanted to know) and recipe of how to use them. The class was very creative and some yummy sounding dishes were thought of. The groups were to cook them and bring them in. We will share how it went with you all next week. We can’t wait to update you on this weeks classes!
Also, we have a beautiful, NEW website! Clean, simple and attractive in design, our new site is easy to navigate, ensuring that you can easily find what you’re looking for while enjoying your experience! We are adding more to it all the time, so keep checking back to see what new tidbits you can find! http://allnationsis58.org/
Also, Sommer Haven has a wonderful new site as well! Teresa has worked hard at getting these sites updated and refreshed, and redesigned. We appreciate all she does! Thank you Teresa! (She won’t see this until it’s been posted. But we here at home wanted to thank her, because she does so much!)
We love you, have a good week!
Love, your family at
All Nations
