my community :)

Hello! Here's a picture of my wonderful community in Herrnhut:

I definitely encourage you to watch the flash mob with live music the other Discipleship Training School (Marriage of the Arts) did on their mini-outreach here. It's seriously so awesome that I almost cried when I saw it! For a comprehensive update of all the different things going on related to the base, check out the base blog here: http://www.ywamherrnhutblog.com/.

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I have learned so much about community and seen the great value of living in community these past two months. We are called to live like Christ, and the chapters of the Gospel have the context of community. Jesus lived in community with his small group and with those who no one else loved. We are given a model of how the first Christians lived in community in Acts 2:42-47 & Acts 4:32-35... pretty cool, yeah?

A group of us have house church at the Justice House on Sundays--worship, a delicious homemade lunch and listening to a message from a podcast. As a group, we are pretty pumped about the topic of community, so today's podcast was about community. It emphasized that we are called to live in and invest in community, and it reminded us that we are also called to go out: the Great Commission calls us out into the world, meaning not always staying in the comfort of community. And this phrase really stuck out to me: godly people hold each other with open hands.

It got me wondering: Do I hold people with open hands? And then beyond that: What do I hold with open hands? What do I not hold with open hands? This can apply to so many things! Time, finances, life direction, people, so many things. I'm going to be chewing on this idea for awhile, I'm sure.

And I got this picture: our lives are like vessels. And we can decide which kind of vessel to make our life, ranging from a milk jug that is opened occasionally but mostly kept safe in the fridge to a beautiful fountain. And of course we can't keep giving if we aren't receiving... we can't and we don't have to, since God provides and it's only by God's power that we can give and love so much. Here's a good one by Mother Theresa: "I have found a paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love."

If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. - Jesus, in Matthew 16:25
 

cheb

Ahoj! Ahoj is Czech for an informal hello and is pronounced "ahoy," as in "Ahoy, mateys!"

On Friday night I returned from two weeks in Cheb ("Hyeb"), Czech Republic--my mini outreach! There is a YWAM base in Cheb that will have its first Discipleship Training School beginning in February, and we were able to meet the staff and a few of the students who may be in the school. Cheb is an amazing city. The architecture is amazing, and the people that I met are great.

That isn't to say that it's perfect--in fact, as a border town it is an area for prostitution and sex trafficking. Brothels are in plain view. They are called "night clubs," but function the same way. German men cross over the border, since sex is cheaper in Czech.

Twice our team did red light district outreach, meaning a few teams went out and spoke with prostitutes--offering prayer and warm tea in the evenings. Part of our team would stay back and pray over the outreach.

In fact, prayer spotted our entire time in Cheb. We did a mix of prayer and worship most mornings. I learned what a prayer walk is--walking through the city, asking the Holy Spirit to lead, and praying over the city. Sam Hofmann, our speaker for last week, led us in prayer in front of two brothels during the day. We also spent a morning in prayer over the city on a hill. God is so good.

We also had the opportunity to teach English classes in one of the local high schools. The students were awesome! We kept meeting up with them throughout our time in Cheb. I loved having friends to meet in cafés! One new friend invited a group of us to visit her town, which was just outside of Cheb :)

We got to talk about all kinds of things--boys, the sex industry in Cheb, how kids grow up too early there (sounds a little like the US, yeah?). Athiesm is super common in Cheb, so we had some cool conversations about God too.

Now I'm back in Herrnhut for the next four weeks or so! :)