Part 2

Finally posting the 2nd part of THIS post….

Thanks so much for your comments!  Lovey, you make an excellent point. I think other people can have a HUGE affect on how we view God. Here are some of the reasons I came up with:

Why do we have these misconceptions about God?

1. Sometimes we humanize God. We expect him to act the way we would in a situation. We need to remember that God’s ways are different then our ways. His love is revolutionary!

Ephesians 3:18 – “And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his live is. May you experience the love of Christ through it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”

God’s love for us is so much bigger then we can fully comprehend!

2.Sometimes it’s easier to believe that God is going to give us we we think we deserve. Grace can be hard to accept.

When I lived in California, I use to drive a silver Volvo. It had over a 100,000 miles on it, and one day it started making a strange noise. I knew I needed a new car, but I also knew that I didn’t have the money to buy one. I really didn’t know what I was going to do. I asked for prayer about my car dilemma during my small group meeting one Sunday night. One of my group members told me about another lady in our church who had just purchased a new car. It seems she was looking to sell her old car at a good price. She suggested I call her to check it out. Even though I really had no money to buy a car, something told me to just call her. When I did she shocked me when she told me that her plan was to give away her old car to the first person who called to ask about it. That person was me, and before I knew it I was driving around in my new FREE car!

Ephesians 2:8-9 - “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast boast about it.”

Me getting that car reminds me of God’s grace. I didn’t do anything to deserve it. That car was a gift that I didn’t earn. Grace can be hard to accept, because there’s a part of us that feels like we need to do something to deserve it. Which brings me to my next point…

3. It’s hard to wrap our heads around the fact that we don’t need to work for God’s affection. It’s a gift that we just need to accept. That means we can’t boast about it, but that also means that we don’t have to worry about working to try and earn it.

I think if we realized the depth of the LOVE God has for us, it would change the way we live our lives…

Psalm 139:17-18 - “How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand!”

Accountability

vulnerable
open
naked
no desire or place to hide
i bring myself willingly here with you
each of us with trust in our hands
ready to offer
when our shields come down
and our masks come off
all of our weaknesses are laid out
i let you see into me
and I see into you
open
in this time let us be
honest
bare
gentle with one another
there is no space for condemnation or
judgement
only LOVE
acceptance
wisdom
shared freely amongst us
we are sitting in the presence together
being still
being healed
in this place let us
speak
listen
HEAR
reflect
and never be the same again.

...naked personalities

Living as part of a community here in Ibiza has really changed my life. If I'm being honest I'll admit that I'm not the most open or vulnerable person. In fact I think I do more hiding than most people do. Why is it so hard to just be open? There are the obvious reason...like when you close yourself off after being hurt a few too many times. I think it's tough because even the world vulnerable has negative connotations to it. Here's how Webster's defines vulnerable:

Capable of being physically or emotionally wounded. Open to attack or damage.

I mean COME ON! Who wants that in their life?!

What I've learned this summer is that being vulnerable doesn't always mean getting hurt. Sometimes opening yourself up, and letting someone else look in can bring an incredible amount of healing to your life. I read this amazing C.S. Lewis quote today -

"Eros will have naked bodies; Friendship naked personalities."

In real friendship we can just be ourselves. We don't have to hide. I'm finding that when I can be naked, honest and vulnerable with another person, cool things happen.

Ibiza Graffiti

Misconceptions, Jesus & Santa Claus

I got to give a preach in church on Sunday, which was awesome. I love getting the opportunity to share within this community. I talked about some of the misconceptions we have about how God views us. Here’s my sermon in two parts…

You probably didn’t know this about me, but I believed in Santa Claus until I was pretty old. Older then most kids. Why was this? When I was about 6 or 7 I remember one Christmas Eve night looking out my window and seeing Santa Claus (or what I thought was the man in red) In reality the city I lived in thought it would be cute to fly a helicopter with special lights over the city while playing recorded sleigh bell sounds (with a few ho-ho-ho’s sprinkled in) through a PA system. When I looked out my window that night, my young mind was convinced that I had seen Santa. Most people stop believing in Mr.Claus because an older brother or sister spoils the fun, or because some big mouthed kid at school tells. When a girl in my class tried to share the news with everyone, I was not convinced. After all, I had actually seen Santa with my own eyes. Eventually my mom had to sit me down and have a conversation with me about what I’d seen. I think I was 12!

The point is things weren’t exactly what they seemed. But I saw what I thought was truth, and believing it had a major affect on me.

I think we sometimes look at God and see things about him that aren’t true. Those things then have an affect on how we look at him, and how we look at ourselves in relationship with him.

Watch this video…In a funny way it shows how we sometimes view Jesus and how he feels about us.



Misconceptions from the video:

1. We can never make God happy.

2. God is angry with us.

3. All God wants to do is point out all of the things we’ve done wrong

4. There is no hope for us,

5. We need to be perfect, or at our best for God to really love us

6. We’re so messed up, that not even Jesus can help us.

If we’re being honest, all of us have felt one of those things at some point in our spiritual journey. But what does the bible have to say about these misconceptions?

Psalm 103: 7-12

“The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us as we deserve. For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.”

I just want to point out a few things about these awesome verses.

1. God is slow to get angry. He’s not up in heaven on his throne fists clenched just waiting for us to screw up so he can punish us. He’s slow to anger and as the next words say he’s FILLED with love.

2. God does not constantly accuse us…AMEN! (if he did he would be so busy with me, he would have not time for anyone else!)

3. God doesn’t give us what we deserve. That’s basically the definition of Grace. We get love and mercy, when we don’t deserve it.

4. …As far as the east is from the west. God has taken our mistakes and cast them as far away from us as he can. It’s like he’s telling us to forget about them, get up and move on. We’re the ones who have a hard time letting go.

I’ll post the part two to this tomorrow, but I have a question for discussion. Please feel free to put your answer in a comment.

Why do we have these misconceptions? Where do they come from?

to love and serve...

It’s been an amazing summer for me so far. Night after night, I’ve continued to be amazed as I’ve seen God lead me to the people he wants me to talk to or help. Monday night, I was out in the West End with Ed. We got a call about a guy lying in a bush, so we went out in search of him. Let’s call this guy Sam. Ed and I head out, and we find Sam in a bush really close to a main road near the West End. Seriously if he had rolled over, he would have been lying in the middle of the road in busy traffic. We managed to find him before that could happen. We spent the next two hours with Sam, trying to figure out where he was staying, and then working to get him sober enough so he could take a taxi back to his hotel. It’s amazing the things you can learn about someone in two hours. He was pretty drunk, and out of it for most of our time together, so we didn’t really get to have a deep theological chat with him. We chatted about football, movies, his job and family. And then after about an hour and 57 minutes he just snapped out of it. It was almost like the clouds cleared and he was coherent. He gave us a genuinely grateful thank you, and then he was in a taxi on his way back to his hotel.

Once Ed and I got back to the prayer room, I just started thinking about how much God really trusts us with his children. I really believe that God sent Ed and I to spend two hours with Sam, because he wanted to make sure he was going to be okay. And so that through the unexpected kindness of a few strangers Sam might stop and turn his eyes to the divine for just a moment, and consider…that maybe there is someone out there watching, and waiting…

gutter love...

Since I've been here, I've had MANY interesting nights in the West End. Before we go out at night, we meet up in our center in the chapel for some worship and prayer time. After about 30 minutes half of us go out in pairs while the other half of us stays in the chapel to pray. After an hour we switch, and we continue that pattern of breathing in and breathing out, until about 4:00 or 5:00 am.

When I head out into the West End, I like to just walk and pray, and ask God to lead me to whoever he wants me to talk to or help. It's amazing how many times people will just walk up to me. Sometimes they want to say thank you because someone from 24-7 Ibiza has helped them out. Or they may have heard about what we do, and they're curious. Whatever the reason, suddenly I find myself in the midst of a conversation, and before I know it I'm being asked why I do what I do. I love that question. It's probably the number one thing I get asked out here. My answer is pretty simple. I'm here because I want to show people that God loves them no matter where they're at. Even if you're drunk and passed out in the gutter, God is still reaching out to them. When most people are in that state, they're a embarrassed, and they think they're the furthest thing from God's mind. It really is quite a mental picture if you stop and think about it. God (through me) is reaching down to pull them out of their mess. One night in the prayer room I was praying and was just reminded that God doesn't wait for us to get cleaned up. He comes to find us when we're still in the middle of our mess. He finds us where we're at, and the most wonderful thing is that no matter what state we're in, he sees beauty in us...do you really get that?! Even when we've messed up and we look around and find ourselves in a situation that is the complete opposite of what God would desire for us...God looks down and sees the possibility and potential. He hasn't given up on us, He still loves us, and desires to know us, and for us to know him... How cool is that?!

Give us Your Courage

There's an excellent song by Tim Hughes that gets played a lot on my iPod. It's called Give us Your Courage. Check out the lyrics:

I'm not backing down
I will stand my ground
Lifting high the name of Jesus

Holding out Your light
To a world in need
Living out the love of Jesus

And though the battles rage
Your blessing still will come

To the ends of the earth we will go
To the ends of the earth we will go
Fill us with power
Fill us with power
For the truth of Your word we will stand
For the truth of Your word we will stand
Give us Your courage
Give us Your courage

Be our strength and song
Till the battles won
Nothing is impossible for You

Stretch Your hand to save
You will never fail
Nothing is impossible for You

Would You breathe on us
Would You breathe on us
Would You breathe on us
Would You breathe on us

It just reminds me that as I go out on to the streets of the West End, I'm not going in my own power. I don't have to depend on myself to be good enough to save people. I can trust that as I go, I go with God's power in me. Using me and fueling me to be his light on these streets. Here's what Romans 8:5 says in The Message version:

"Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God's action in them find that God's Spirit is in them—living and breathing God!"

The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead walks the streets of Ibiza with me every night. My prayer is that I would go out in HIS power, and awaken people from the spiritual death that they've been living in.

Amen!

Won't Be Silent...

I'm working her in Ibiza with a great group of other Christians. It's been challenging and life changing for me to get to live life in community. Some of the team live here year round, and during the winter they really felt like God was speaking Isaiah 62 to them for Ibiza. I wanted to share it on my blog, because I think it's so powerful! (Zion or Jerusalem have been replaced with Ibiza)

"Because I love Ibiza, I will not keep still.
Because my heart yearns for Ibiza,
I cannot remain silent.
I will not stop praying for her
until her righteousness shines like the dawn,
and her salvation blazes like a burning torch.
The nations will see your righteousness.
World leaders will be blinded by your glory.
And you will be given a new name
by the Lord’s own mouth.
The Lord will hold you in his hand for all to see—
a splendid crown in the hand of God.
O Ibiza, I have posted watchmen on your walls;
they will pray day and night, continually.
Take no rest, all you who pray to the Lord.
Give the Lord no rest until he completes his work,
until he makes Ibiza the pride of the earth."

Wherever God has placed us, we are watchmen on the walls. Let's not give God any rest, let's pesevere in prayer, until his work is complete!

Real Love

We have a church service that we do in our center every Sunday. I know God smiles when he looks down at the rag tag bunch of people we are. Some of us sure of our relationship with God, and other’s full of questions…seeking. Today, I got to speak, and I spoke from 1 John 3:16 which says this:

“We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we ought to give up our lives for out brothers and sisters.”

I read that verse one day, and just started meditating on what Jesus giving his life up for us says about real love. Here are a few of the thoughts I came up with:

1. Real Love is self- sacrificing – Jesus put our best interest before his own. He thought of our needs first. (Philippians 2:3-8)

2. Real Love is love with NO LIMITS! – Through his sacrifice on the cross Jesus showed us that he was willing to give EVERYTHING for us. He loved us with wild abandon, not holding anything back, but giving us ALL he had to give.

3. Real Love changes us for the better – Jesus showed us real love by giving his life for us. When we put our faith in him, we’re made right with God. (Romans 3:22-25)

4. Real Love takes the 1st Step -

“ But God showed his his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS.” (Romans 5:8)

Real Love puts itself out there, it makes itself vulnerable. It doesn’t wait until it’s safe, or until it knows how others will react. It’s not afraid of looking foolish. REAL LOVE GIVES LOVE NO MATTER WHAT THE RESPONSE! Jesus showed us love while we were still in our sin. While we still had our backs turned on him, he was loving us.

5. Real Love forgives, when there is no reason to – Through Christ’s death, we are forgiven. God showed us mercy, when we didn’t deserve it!

So what should our response to Real Love be?

“Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.”
(1 John 4:11)

We need to be self sacrificing in our love. Putting other’s before ourselves

We need to love with no limits

We need to love people in a way that points them to God

We need to take the 1st step and love first

We need to forgive, even when it’s not deserved

“No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us and his love is brought to full expression in us.” (1 John 4:12)

I’m loving that verse! It gives us a role in revealing God’s love to people. God loves people, and his love is perfect, but when I follow in his foot steps and show people that same love, his love is fully expressed in me. We have a hand in other people seeing God’s love in action. It’s up to us to show them love like he did.

I challenge you this week to show Real Love to the people that God has put in your life. Stop living life on auto pilot. See the people that God has put in your path, and ask him to show you how to love them.

Three Guys, Three Bibles

Most times if we’re out at night, and we find someone who’s really intoxicated that we’re helping back to their hotel, we really don’t get to chat with them a lot. We’re working to try to figure out where they’re staying, or we’re dealing with their friends, or they’re just too drunk to have any kind of conversation with! The good thing is that most people who come to the island come for at least a week, and sometimes longer. So if I get to help someone, and somehow I find out that they’re here for 10 days, and it’s only their first night, I pray that I run into them again. The other night I was out on the streets with Christine, when suddenly these three guys come rushing up to us. The first thing they asked us is “Are you guys the Christians?” We of course replied that yes we were.

Just a little background before I continue. When we go out on the streets we wear our 24-7 Ibiza shirts.

24- 7 Ibiza has been on the island for several years, and has really established a good reputation. The West End is a very branded kind of place. It’s common to see lots of different groups walking around in shirts advertising their club or bar. I’ll always remember my very first night on the streets Claire and I approached a young guy sitting in front of a bar who needed some help. When the bartender saw us this look of relief came over her face. She saw our shirts knew we were with 24-7 Ibiza and that we were there to help.

I say all that to say that the reason the 3 guys stopped us is because they saw our shirts. It turned out that the night before, one of them had gotten pretty drunk, and got separated from the rest of the group. Now if you’re a guy, and you’re drunk and passed out somewhere on the streets of the West End, one of two things is going to happen to you. You’re going to get robbed, or if the police find you, they’re not always so nice. Before anything bad could happen to this young guy, he was found by someone from 24-7 Ibiza, who got him back to his hotel safe. So these three guys were stopping us to say thank you. In chatting with them, I got to talk to the guy that got helped. He told me that he’d never heard of a Christian doing anything like what we’d done to help him. He admitted that he never really thought about God, but because of the kindness of a stranger in God’s name, he’d decided that maybe he should take a closer look at this whole God thing. So I got to chat with him when he was sober, and encourage him to give God a chance…We also were able to give the three of them bibles, that we personalized with a little message and a scripture for them to read.

Later that night when we got back to the prayer room, one of the other teams that was out told us that they’d seen three guys sitting outside of a bar reading their bibles.

How cool is that?!

Vomit Monday...

First of all, aren’t you glad this post doesn’t have a photo?!

Monday night out on the streets was an interesting one. Somehow I’ve managed to make it two weeks without really being exposed to much vomit. Monday night ended my streak!

When we go out at night, we go out in pairs. On Monday I went out with Neil, and the evening started slow. After our first hour out we were back in the prayer room about 5 minutes when we got a call, about two girls alone and in trouble. Neil and I were able to help them get back to their hotel. In the middle of the madness of helping them, I was able to have a conversation with one of the girls about why she doesn’t believe in God anymore. I’m still a little overwhelmed by the amount of opportunities I get to share God with People. I was able to encourage this girl, by telling her that God was still there, and reaching out to her. I got to give her a bible, and I really just felt like the whole situation was a divine appointment. Like God brought me all the way out here to Ibiza just to meet her, and share His love with her. As I get to help people, and talk to them, and pray for them night after night, I'm struck by that thought that my being here is God's love. That he's loving people through me. He's meeting them where they're at, and reaching out to them. In the middle of vomit, and mess, God is here.

A Franciscan Blessing

May God bless you with a restless discomfort
about easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships,
so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.

May God bless you with holy anger at injustice, oppression,
and exploitation of people, so that you may tirelessly work for
justice, freedom, and peace among all people.

May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer
from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.

May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that
you really CAN make a difference in this world, so that you are able,
with God's grace, to do what others claim cannot be done.

And the blessing of God the Supreme Majesty and our Creator,
Jesus Christ the Incarnate Word who is our brother and Saviour,
and the Holy Spirit, our Advocate and Guide, be with you
and remain with you, this day and forevermore.

AMEN.

Greater Intimacy...

One thing I’m absolutely loving about my time here in Ibiza is that I get to spend some quality time with God. This week I was listening to a great sermon by Francis Chan which you can find here. It’s called “You Have Everything You Need,” and It’s based on one of my favorite chapters in the bible 2 Peter 1. One of my favorite verses is number 3 which says:

“By his divine power God has given us everything we need for living a godly life, we have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.”

The Message version says it like this:

“Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received!”

During one point in his message, he asks everyone if they had one wish, what would they ask for. He gives them time to think, and then he says this:

“Would you have asked for greater intimacy with God, believing that greater intimacy with God is the solution to all of your problems? Believing that a greater knowledge of him will lead you to the more grace and peace.Do you really believe that the knowledge of God is the way to be fulfilled in life?”

That really hit home with me. I think sometimes we get into this mindset where we pray to God to help us with our problems. But we don’t really get, that our knowing him more is the solution to everything. Knowing God more can help me with:

Financial issues

Relationships

Problems at work

Self-Esteem issues

Addiction

Dealing with my past

The knowledge of God is a powerful thing, and something that I’m learning more and more to desire above everything else. Like I said earlier, I’ve gotten to spend some quality time with God since I’ve been here. If I’m being honest, I’d say that a big reason for that is because I don’t have a TV here! In the quiet, I’ve been feeling God challenge me to continue this no matter where I am. Here in Ibiza I have this freeness in my schedule to be able to spend as much time with God as I want. I want to have that habit so engrained in me that from now on, I never let anything distract me from seeking him.

Jesus LOVES Ibiza

We have these super cool Jesus Loves Ibiza bibles that were made specifically for 24-7 Ibiza.



Here’s what the back says:

Does Jesus Really love Ibiza?

Totally. We don’t know what you think about Jesus, but we do know that He loves this beautiful island and all who inhabit it. Jesus loves everyone, regardless of race, gender or social standing.

Following Jesus is a bit like dancing. The wrong things that we have done have put us out of step with God and left us in a mess that we can’t get out of by ourselves, but Jesus made a way to rescue us if we follow him.

Following Him is about catching His rhythm and allowing your life to move to the rhythm of his beat! His dance is a dance of love, mercy, justice, forgiveness, selflessness and sacrifice. It’s a dance that lead us to repentance and relationship with God…”

So far this summer we’ve given out hundreds of these bibles, and I’m so struck by the power of God’s word reaching out to people. The awesome thing is that people aren’t just taking them and forgetting about them, they’re actually reading them!

In Isaiah 55:10-11 God promises this:

“The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the the grain to grow producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.”

As I get to give out bibles this summer to prostitutes, and sun worshipers, and summer workers, I’m trusting that God keeps his promises!

Sunset in Ibiza

Sunset in Ibiza is an event. There are sections of the beach where hundreds of people will sit out on the rocks to watch as the sun dips below the horizon. Every time I get to watch one, I'm reminded of Psalm 19:1-4 -

"The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world."

I think it speaks volumes to the fact that God loves us, and is always seeking to make himself known to us. Even through his creation. We just need to listen...

What's Poppy Doing in Ibiza?!

What is Poppy Doing in Ibiza?!

I’m sure a few of you are still a little foggy on exactly what I’m doing here in Spain. So the goal of this blog is to give you a clear picture of what my work here is all about.

A major goal of 24-7 Ibiza is to meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of everyone we come into contact with.

We do most of our work in a part of Ibiza called the West End.It’s a long street that leads down to the ocean. Both sides of the street are filled with bars and strip clubs, and a few fast food type restaurants.



During the summer season at night this street is a madhouse! It’s full of people, and always super busy. Each of the places along the West End hires a person called a PR. This person basically stands outside of the front entrance and works to try to get people to come through the door. If you were to walk down the West End at about 3:00 am every few steps you’d have someone stopping you and trying to entice you into their bar with whatever the drink specials of the night are.

24-7 Ibiza has a center that’s right smack in the middle of all the madness of the West End.



During the week Monday through Friday our center is open from 4:00 to 8:00 for workers. Most of the workers here in Ibiza are British, and they come to live and work in Ibiza for the summer. We offer them free internet, we have a Wii, and we have table tennis.It’s basically a place for them to chill. During those times in the center the goal is to fulfill a bit of their practical needs while also getting the chance to chat and get to know them.

Monday through Thursday in the evenings, we go out into the West End from 12 am until 5 am, and just wait for God to lead us. That may mean approaching someone and asking if there’s anything we can pray for them about, or it could be catching up with a worker we’ve met in our center. When we’re out during the night times we split in half. So half of us are in the prayer room praying, and the other half are out in the streets.

If we see someone whose overly intoxicated and needs help, we offer it. Most times that means a ride back to their hotel. We use the 24-7 vehicle that’s lovingly called “The Vomit Van!”



There are taxi’s here on the island, but if you’re too drunk the taxi drivers won’t take you, because they’re afraid you’re going to throw up in their car! There are so many young people that get left in really vulnerable situations. Imagine being in a foreign country, you’ve somehow lost your friends, and you’re drunk. You try to get a taxi, but they won’t take you, so you just lay down on a bench hoping to sober up soon. If you fall asleep or pass out, you more than likely will get robbed, or possibly even worse. We try to keep an eye out, and help those that we can.

So far it’s been awesome, and I’ll be sharing more about specific encounters that I’ve had even in just my couple of weeks!

Poppy in Ibiza

After many months of planning, praying, and saving...I'm FINALLY in Ibiza. It's kind of surreal to actually finally be here. I'm super excited, and I'll admit a little nervous. I'm secure in the belief that if I offer my time here to God, he's going to do amazing things through me. I left home on Thursday, and flew to London arriving on Friday morning. I ended up getting to spend all day Friday in London which was superb!




I've never been to London, so I tried to do as much as I could while I was there. I ended up going to the British Museum, and the Tate Modern museum. One cool fact about London...there are a ton of FREE things to do! Both museum's I went to were free. I got an audio guide at the British Museum for 5 pounds which was fun. I've been to a lot of museum's and I must say that the Tate Modern was the best museum I've ever been to. I also conquered the London underground, after a little help from a friendly british chap.





London was great, and I definitely need to go back for more then a day. But right now, I'm just excited to finally be in Ibiza. I've met the other girls and guys who are here for long-term this summer. Some for 2 months and others for 6 months. We had a lovely team dinner tonight, and right now I'm sitting inthe 24/7 center in the heart of San Antoio getting ready for service tonight. I still can't believe I'm finally here!

One More Day...

Until I head for Europe. I've still got a few things to do, including finding a hotel for one night in London...I'm still working on that! I will officially be in Ibiza on Saturday night. I'm excited, and ready to go!
I was reading Philippians 2:3-11 this morning...


Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
Though he was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
and gave him the name above all other names,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

That's my goal in Spain. To pour myself out for other people, and to let God do amazing things through me!

It's Almost Time

I've got a million things to do before I leave, so just a quick update. I spent this past weekend in California with my friends at Christian Faith Center


I got to speak and sing at their Sunday night service, and it was just awesome. I don't get to see them often enough. It's really starting to hit me now. I'm leaving in a few days. I'm still raising money for my trip, so if you want to donate, just click on the donate button found on the right hand side of the page. You can donate securely using any major credit card. A HUGE thanks to everyone who's donated so far.

Make sure you keep checking back because I will be updating the blog more frequently once I'm in Spain. I just got a handy dandy new video camera, so I'm sure there will be video as well.

The Clock is Ticking...

It's almost that time! I'm so excited, and I can't believe I'm only 9 days away from heading back to Ibiza. Make sure you keep track of me by checking out my blog on a regular basis. I'll be sharing all about my experience in Spain.

This is my last week at work, and it feels pretty good to just step out in faith. I'm heading to California this weekend to preach and sing at an awesome church in Panorama City. Christian Faith Center will be hosting me on Sunday night July 11th.

After that I'll spend my last week hanging with my family, and wrapping things up as I get ready to head out.

I just got a cool video camera, so I promise that there will be photo and video updates!

Trust Me...

Last year in April I got to go to Spain on a short term mission trip…it was awesome! Click HERE to read a recap of my trip from last year. In mid-July, I’ll be heading back to Ibiza for 3 months.

If I’m being honest, I’ll admit that I’m both super excited and a little scared about going back to Ibiza. As I’ve been praying about my trip, one of my recurring prayers has been that God would give me the ability to look at people and really see them. Most of the time, I’m so wrapped up in my own life, and super focused on me, that it’s really easy for me walk past someone and just ignore their situation. I’ve just been asking God to let me see people like he does. I want to be bold, and I want to be able to see past the “public” face that most people put on. You know, the one we show other people when we’re trying to hide. I want to look at someone, and feel God’s heart breaking because He wants them to know how much he loves them. I want to be the vessel that God used to express that to them in both word and deed. As I’ve been praying about my trip, I’ve been hearing God speak to me…Trust me. For provision, and for guidance. Trust me for everything. I’m going to Ibiza this summer because I really feel like God is calling me to go. I know that he’s going to walk with me. And I believe that if I trust and am obedient, the Holy Spirit is going to lead me in every situation I find myself in. I keep thinking about the story in the bible when God tells Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. The bible says that “early the next morning” Abraham got up and started on the journey to do what God had asked him to do. He did that trusting that God would provide. I want to have that same immediate obedience. I want to hear the Holy Spirit speak, and immediately set out to obey without a second of hesitation. No excuses, just obedience and surrender.

That’s one of my prayers for this summer, and for the rest of my life!

Getting to Spain...

One of my sisters has a friend who works for an airline, so I'll actually be flying to Europe on a free ticket this year. All I have to do is pay the taxes. This is so super awesome because unfortunately tickets to Ibiza have been pricing around $1400. I'll be flying in and out of London, so I'll just need to get a round trip ticket from London to Ibiza. From the looks of it, I can do that for about $100. What a blessing that's been. Because of that I'm hoping to have enough money to get to explore London for a few days before I return home in October. Right now I'm just waiting to work out the logistics of my free ticket, before I purchase my London to Ibiza ticket. I'm hoping to do that in the next couple of days. Something about doing that just makes things even more final! I'm so excited!!!

The vision of 24-7ibiza

Here's a glimpse at what I'll be doing in Spain this summer...

The Countdown Begins...

Time for an update on my journey to Ibiza this summer…

As I shared in my last post, I was a little bummed when I found out that getting a Spanish visa is a major undertaking! I had been planning on spending the whole season in Ibiza, but now I’ll be there for about 3 months. For those of you know what’s been going on in my life lately, isn’t it cool how God has everything taken care of? I ended up having surgery in April, and I’ll just be ready physically to head to Spain in July. God’s timing is PERFECT!

I’m still working on fundraising, for my trip. I was super excited to get invited to do a service at Christian Faith Centerin California in early July. I’ll get to sing and share about my trip and raise some money. I’ll have raised most of my money before I leave, and I’ll be trusting that God will provide the rest along the way. Sounds scary, doesn’t it! The cool thing is that I’m not scared…I feel like God is asking me to trust him in a big way.

I’ll be in Europe from July 17th - October 22nd. If you’d like to make a donation towards my trip, click on the donate link at the top right hand side of this page. You can donate now, or at any time during my trip.

I appreciate it!

Update..

Hello!

Here's an update on how things are going...

The visa situation didn't turn out at all like I'd planned it! After some research, and several phone calls to the Spanish consulate, it looks like I don't fit into any of the Spanish visa categories. So that means in order for me to stay in Spain for longer than 3 months I would need to apply for a Spanish work visa. As it turns out, this is the hardest, and most expensive visa there is to get! Ugggghhhhh! Legally I can stay in the country for 90 days with just my passport, so as of right now, that's what I'm planning to do. I'll be headed to Spain in mid July, and I'll stay through mid October. I'm really excited!

Well that's it for now. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks!

Big News!

Hello All!

Thanks so much for checking out my Ibiza fundraising blog. I got the chance to go to Ibiza in April of 09 to work with a fabulous ministry called 24/7 Ibiza. This past October I started to feel like God was calling me to go back to Ibiza for a longer amount of time. So I'm taking a leap of faith, and I'll be heading back to Spain for the 2010 summer season. My goal is to be there from April 26th until the season is over in October. And so the fundraising machine is getting ready to start up again! Right now I'm just asking you to pray for me. When you're done reading this just stop and take some time to pray about these requests:

1. Spanish Visa - to stay in the country for 6 months I'll need to get a Spanish Visa. It's a very involved process, and I'll pretty much have one shot at getting it right. Pray that I'll be able to get all of my documentation, and that I'll have favor when I go the the Spanish consulate to apply.

2. Finances - Once again I'll have to raise the money to be able to take advantage of this opportunity. I truly belive that if God is calling me, He will provide a way.

That's it for now. Check back for updates on my progress!