Off to Ecuador

To those who are loved by God and called to be Saints,

It has been some time since my last update, and before I get to the reason for this letter I want to share where I am at. This phase of my life has been more than just eventful, it has been life changing. From meeting Bekki, to Marriage, and now to parenthood, the events in my life have been refining my character, and God’s holy spirit is clearly orchestrating this growth.

Almost a year ago I married the incredible Rebekah Kowalski and began doing life with her. It has been our goal to be extremely open about everything, and to put Christ at the core of our life. With the help of John and Kristi Hamon (our marriage counselors), we have learned how to communicate effectively and learned how to grow with each other's help. Our long term goal is to be missionaries somewhere in the world (to see updates about this visit our facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/mysoultosave or email me at johnnyywam@gmail.com). If you have questions about our life or would like to meet, please contact us! We would love to interact and express more of our hopes and dreams.

On October 22nd, 2014 we are expecting our first child. Hadassah Anna Lee Savage is a blessing and we are so excited to be entrusted with the care and growth of this wonderful life. We are preparing for the emotional, financial, and intellectual responsibility,and recognize that you can never truly be ready for a child, but we welcome any and all advice that you deem worthy. We are still relatively young and invite any instruction from parents from all around our community.

Now to the topic at hand, Loja. God has presented me with an incredible opportunity to  join with a company called E3 partners in an expedition to Ecuador. E3 has been involved in countless trips around the world for one purpose: to bring the lost to Christ. Bringing the gospel to villages around the world, E3 brings in short term teams to tell of the good news and get local new believers into scripture. It is then the goal of a semi-local missionary to visit these communities at various times throughout the year. These villages embark on their journey with Christ together, and are headed by a believer of greater maturity.

I will be joining E3 for the short term process, telling the people of Loja, Ecuador the good news of our position before God, his saving grace, and our eternal destiny. From August 1st till August 9th, I will be joining a team participating in the great commision. We will be planting the seeds that a local missionary will water.

While Bekki is going to be quite far into her pregnancy, we felt it was important that, given this opportunity, I seize it. This outreach will only be possible if I have the support of all of my Adelphoi (brothers and sisters) here, so would you consider sending me? as it says in Romans 10:13-15:

"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in?

And how can they believe in the one of who they have not heard?

And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?

And how can they preach unless they are SENT?

As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"

If you would like to send me, I really need three things. First of all, I need prayer. Please send our Facebook page to as many friends and family as possible. Let people know about E3 and be praying for the people we will come in contact with.

Secondly, if at all possible, shoot me an email or facebook me if you want to meetup to discuss this mission, my life, or anything. Community is hugely important. As it is written, “We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up” (Romans 15:1).  It is in my many frailties that I hope I have companionship for, not my strengths.

Thirdly, finances are a big barrier. If you want to send me financially, you will be joining a team who will be giving $2900 for the flight, my translator, boarding for myself and the translator. please make your check payable to: e3 Partners Ministry.  Send your check to my attention at:  365 Rancho Vista Place, Vista, CA 92083.  You can also contribute online at www.e3partners.org, or through my paypal account. You can use our e-mail address whoabek@yahoo.com for the Paypal method.

All gifts are tax deductible.  e3 Partners will send you a receipt.      

Thank you for prayfully considering all that I have said. This journey will be one in which we pray will have an eternal effect on countless souls,

May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you,

Johnny Savage

            

full outreach summary

To all those who are loved by God and called to be saints:

firstly I would like to apologies, I’ve been avoiding a spelling and grammar read through for quite some time, this was written before I came home. I pray this is a blessing to you as you read of God’s amazing work in me and through me.

My life has been quite an adventure over the past few months. Firstly, I want to thank those who were called to support my mission, without you all this would not have been possible. Not only was this a time in which I was able to come along side missionaries in England, Bangladesh, and India, but a time of immense growth for my relationship with God. The past six months I was involved in a course in YWAM (youth with a mission) called a DTS or Discipleship Training School. These schools take three months of a "lecture phase" in which students study scripture, work through sin that is holding them, and work through issues in their pasts all with a perspective of growing closer to God. My particular school was littered the way through with evangelism into the local town. Our leaders organized this not only to spread the gospel into the hearts of the locals, but to prepare us for the three months of mission work we would be taking part in after this "lecture phase". This time of intense character change and growth was beyond what I had expected and could even imagine. This time was quite instrumental in the ways God used my team as we traveled to the land of spice to share the message, and I am so overjoyed that our leaders had focused on getting my peers and I close to God, because it made sharing God's love much more real. The things we had grown in during this time set not only our own walks in line, but gave us real testimonies we were able to share in these other countries, for instance, one girl on my school, Rachel, was missing quite a bit of the funds she needed for the phase of the school in Bangladesh/India, but so was a girl on our team from Egypt, Martina.  Rachel, despite her lack of funds, felt God tell her to give Martina every  last cent she had for outreach. God made it clear to her that she was generous when it did not cost her anything, but at her own expense, she would hold onto money. This revelation compelled her to give everything to Martina, leaving her with no way of getting to Bangladesh.  She then resigned to the idea of having to stay in England, forgoing this trip. But God had different plans, with only three days left until the plane left for Bangladesh, an anonymous source (or many) was the origin of the funds for the entirety of what was necessary! This and many other stories of God's goodness scattered the three months in England, and looking back, I see how many of them grew us specifically to be used in Bangladesh and India, and I am so grateful that we had such a time.

kitchen duty

Giant's causeway in Ireland with the team

India and Bangladesh teams in england

a few of us taking silly pics

The outreach phase was quite a bit different from lecture, from the complete change of culture, temperature, and economic conditions were quite different, but even the schedule differed greatly. From a schooling time with free weekends and a lot of sitting and learning, to a time of constant evangelism and ministry, moving from place to place, and being in front of the class; the way in which we spent these months was quite different from the previous three. The leader of my particular outreach tam had been in prayer over what to do with our eight person team to spread the gospel and help those in need. God revealed to him a crazy plan which involved moving around Bangladesh for the entire outreach, giving us access to ministries in five different towns. Once this hugely diverse outreach in Bangladesh, we were to meet the eight person team who compiled the rest of our school in India where we climbed the Himalayas. The stories simply of traveling could take pages to tell, and immensely more so the tales of how God worked, but for simplicity sake I want to share one or two stories from each location and a small summary. Feel free to ask me about any of these places or people that pique your interest, I love to tell of what God has been doing.

Our first Location was the capital of Bangladesh, Dhaka. My team and I were bombarded as soon as we arrived with hospitality of the most extravagant kind. While adjusting to the Muslim culture and the completely destitute living conditions we were aided by an amazing team of missionaries. Our hosts prepared us for the culture by getting the girls culturally appropriate clothes and teaching us quite a bit of the local language, Bangla. But the culture and language were by far not the weirdest part of being there, as we were not locals, we drew a crowd everywhere we went, no matter what we did. Our ministries included working with street children, evangelizing at the university, and many other unique ministries (including a dance ministry) but the most exciting moment of Dhaka was the young man who approached me outside of a museum. My team and I were given a day off in which we decided to go to a museum and see the old part of the city. This decision was thankfully blessed by God, because as we left the museum a young man of about twenty approached me. This was not uncommon as many people wanted to talk to foreigners if for no other purpose than to practice English. But as he spoke I noticed a unique grasp of the English language that few other Bangladeshi's possessed. He asked me what I studied at university, which made it clear he was a student. I told him I planned on studying theology, and at that he nearly leaped out of his sandals. He quickly asked me to explain the gospel, and I, perplexed, explained from creation to redemption. But that didn't satisfy him. He questioned why there were more books in the New Testament than the gospels. And through questions he made me explain to near exhaustion the bible and my own testimony. He asked me to pray for him and I was able to give him the address of a local church as well as a bible in Bangla! Dhaka was also the location of my first experience sharing testimony of God's work in my life, which, though frightening, introduced me to the joys of speaking to believers. After that service I was dedicated to becoming a better preacher, creating in me a desire to volunteer to speak at any opportunity given. God did so much while we were there, but I hope this is a glimpse into what God did.

outside museum

New years Party

Dance Battle on New Years

Me and Ismael (street kid)

We next traveled to another economically provident city called Chittigong. Where, much to my surprise, we were scheduled to teach a DTS for their first week. While the surprise of such a task that I felt clearly unready for was nearly overwhelming, our own DTS had prepared us so much. I was able to speak the first day, and my team brought forth so much wisdom for the students it quite astounded me! We had grown so much and we were seeing the fruit! This time was so amazing! Unfortunately, on the other hand, I had planned on speaking on God's call for our lives when I came down with severe stomach pains. To say it gently, that day I emptied myself of anything in my digestive tract. The team was amazing at filling in the time with relevant and powerful teaching, but it was a bit of a disappointment as I had wanted to teach. That Friday, God made a way for me to teach! A youth group invited us to come and run it for a night, and when we discussed who would preach, the team let me. We were able to lead worship, play awesome games, and I was able to give a sermon! It was such an honor and so beyond what I could have imagined myself doing before this school! God worked in that group and I’m still in contact with the leadership! They are amazing and I was so glad I was able to meet those amazing people and speak into their lives. It was in this town that I learned of my grandmother's death. It was quite intense as she was one of the people that blessed me constantly and just wanted to talk and share her faith. My team was amazing with me though, and we were able to sort of celebrate her life quite a bit as I shared a lot about who she was.

The Church i was given the ability to speak at

Shanon and I on a river to the water park

After Chittigong, our travels brought us to a large village called Rangamatti. Here, we were led around by a YWAMer who was busy setting up ministries there amongst a people oppressed by the government and in the midst of revolt. While there, my team involved themselves in visiting Buddhist homes and sharing the gospel, and I was even invited to the professor of philosophy’s home for tea and to discuss religion! All of the interaction we had was amazing, but I think the coolest part was a trip we took up river to run a kid's camp. Half way thought the week we were able to go to the local river and go four hours north to land and walk about five miles to a village in the deep hiltracks! It was so near the revolutionary troops that we had to bring five armed police officers (government orders). But this long trip brought us to a Christian’s house where we were able to perform skits, play music (yes, I lugged my guitar all that way :) ). We ran a few games and were blessed with the spiciest food I have ever ingested. The fifty or so kids were all accompanied by their parents who all loved us by the end! This and many other evangelism opportunities presented where we saw God move! 

Rachael and I on boat ride to village

Running a kid's camp

From Rangamatti, we traveled to the most amazing place I've ever been! Fortiquchurry was the location of an eleven day ministry my team was able to do! Here, I saw God move, here, I saw people come to Christ, here, I saw how God can put the right people in the right place at the right time! This small village in the midst of forest and farmland was dotted with clay homes and animals. Every home was host to chickens and cows, whilst the hut we stayed in was a two room clay/tin house with a squatty potty around back. Bathing in the river and being able to kill the chickens for dinner, this is what I imagined outreach being. The people of this village were so amazing, after so long being surrounded by Muslim culture, we entered a place where these Hindu people had gender equality, an extremely relaxed attitude, and a freedom expressed in everything they did. There was a very dark part of this society though as they worshiped Kali (the Hindu goddess of chaos). A local Christian who had done a DTS in Chittigong was constantly beaten by her family and forced to eat food from the Kali ceremonies. The mission team wasn't always there, but she was, and here testimony of holding onto God has been huge! She is slowly seeing the village turn to Christ, but her suffering is continuing. Please pray for her. Our ministries here included soccer ever day at 4:00 with all the men of the village where we shared the gospel and our testimonies each half time! A few were responsive with this ministry, we also had a team of the girls go to the local school to teach English (most kids would not be able to be educated past twelve because they were needed at home or in the fields). We even held a Bangladeshi new year party/festival where I was given the opportunity to speak the gospel from beginning to end as well a my testimony to the entire village (about two hundred Hindus). The most fruitful ministry was house visits though, we saw an old drunk guy named pukkido come to Christ and in one day reduced his alcohol intake to one cup of sakki. God used the testimony of my two leaders to bring this guy into a real conviction, we saw tears run down his cheeks as he contemplated his actions in regards to his family, and he accepted Christ! We were able to go to a families house also that was covered in images of Hindu Gods, and thanks to God moving in our explanation of Jesus as the only God, the husband and wife forsook all of those Idols and accepted Christ! these three were at the first ever church service that village had ever experienced! Unju, the girl who had done a dts, had volunteered to be the pastor for this new church. Miraculously, one of our team had gone to University for architecture, and was able to do blueprints for a long planned school and church that the missionaries from Chittigong had been focused on. God put us there for so many reasons and it was amazing to see him move! 

Me and the local kids climbing trees

First ever House Church

Me and raj

"so that's culturally appropriate?" mark- "no it's weird here too"

Me and the pied piper with an audiance

Our next destination was almost less of a ministry destination and more of a vacation hotspot. Our planned ministries mainly included mainly prayer walking and church visits, but the unplanned Ministries were proof of God's love of adventure. The next location is known as Cox's bizarre, and it is the longest beach in the world! Upon arriving I had the urge to skim board or surf, but knew the likelihood of such a venture seemed impossible. Yet on the second day there, a girl from my team wanted a few of us to go to the beach for the sunset. While sitting on the beach, a group of surfers walked past, as it turns out, one was a professional from Bangladesh and the others UN refugee workers. The professional lent us some surf boards the next day, and we were able to talk to him about Christ. It turns out, five years earlier, he began surfing when a YWAM team called "surfing the nations" gave him a board! It was so exiting to know that YWAM has had an impact over there, and we actually sang worship songs together! It was an amazing time of encouraging churches and so many unique ministries, if we meet in person, ill most likely be telling you one of the stories from Cox's Bizarre. 

Me and Carly chillin

This is the professional we surfed with

Riding about the streets in a taxi

The last week we traveled back to Dhaka and built upon relationships we had built up there. We had the opportunity to speak in several houses and work in a mother Theresa house for orphans. Fortunately, a local pastor housed us as the hotel we had used last cheated us out of a bit of money. This guy had such a love for God and desire to see Muslims saved! He was so great, and his two sons were funny. Barney at eleven and Eli at eight. Pastor William was raising these boys alone as his wife had died in a rickshaw accident seven years earlier. Despite the traded and running a quite large house church, he had so much time for these kids. The oldest, Barney, had been learning guitar on the church's. When we arrived and pastor William saw my guitar, he was quick to show me his pride and joy. He brought me to a guitar case which held a guitar a YWAM team had given the church. To my dismay, it was the same model as my beat-up/beach guitar. God brought conviction on me as I knew there was no chance they could even purchase a guitar where they are let alone afford one. All week Barney and I would play together, and I was able to show him a few tricks, but I noticed that he loved playing my guitar, so at the end of the week, I gave them my guitar. The family was so cool, and we are still in contact with them! But that last week in Dhaka had a lot of sorrowful goodbye's. I really miss that city and know ill be heading back.

All dressed up for last evening

Teaching Barney guitar tricks

From the heartfelt goodbyes in Dhaka we entered into a warm embrace from our other team that had been in India. Our arrival in New Delhi led quickly to a drive to the Tibet boarder where a team of Norwegians led us and a team from Thailand up a Himalayan range called Panchacholi (five kings). On a 50 mile trek over seven days, we prayed for and interacted with an unreached people group called the kulmani. It was an amazing time physically as well as spiritually. About four days in, I really loved the people, with minimum contact, (in which we spoke different languages). But it was amazing to see our group love these people. One girl on my team, Carly, after only one week of being there had decided she was called long term to those people! She is taking a teaching English course as I type to do so! Those two weeks in the mountains was amazing, and I still cannot believe how God moved in our hearts! 

Climbing up

me, cold, at 4100 meters? no way

Villagers we ate with

The plane ride to England and one last week of lectures in which we debriefed were the capstones on this monumentous journey. It seems a bit surreal now, but I see everyday different ways in which I and others on my DTS have changed! What a blessing those months were! A huge appreciative thank you goes to anyone with the attention span and patience where I trailed off enough to get to the end! Loll :) I pray that this has been encouraging as well as informative to you all, and an update about the Olympic outreach I was involved in is soon to follow!

Grace and Peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ!

To all those who are loved by God and called to be saints:

It's been a while since my last post, I must apologize for such a gap in communication. The reason, mainly, behind such a break is because of the difficulty to express how God was growing me in DTS in such a public platform. This, along with the sporadic internet I have received in the course of outreach here in Bangladesh has led to the break from blogs. But God has blessed me with an internet cafe, so i hope to update you guys on everything that has happened on outreach.

Week 1:
We arrived in Dhaka after a long flight, and for the first few days, we had a lot of hospitable people making sure we had two huge plates of food at every meal. (Everyone here loves being hospitable). it was awesome being able to stay in the center of the city, but it was really crazy what a crowd a foreigner gathers for nothing! Everywhere I go, I have a mob of people collide to watch me. I have to be super careful not to smile at women though, or hold a door for them, or be generally nice, because its been claimed that I might wind up married... lol! The way women interact with men here is so messed up! I'm scared all the time for the girls on my team, as every man on the street creeps on them. But there is a lot of awesome opportunities here. The crowds we draw have been great ways of spreading the gospel, and practicing Bangla!
There is an amazing team here in Dhaka, Rachel and Will are a couple from America. He coached professional squash, and Rachel coordinates teams that come to Bangladesh. She has been a huge blessing! in every aspect of the trip she has had everything set up! She knows the ins and outs of outreach here, and blessed us immensely. Shaun and Dola opened up their home to us for worship and meetings and even a movie night! There mission here is centered on getting churches to pray for their immediate area. They hope to get every area of Bangladesh covered in prayer. We were fortunate enough to Go introduce a church to this concept with them! Gia, a contact in Dhaka, led us to a university, and while half of our team went to a refugee camp to teach kids, four of us went to the university with Gia. There, I played guitar to attract crowds, but out of the numerous people we conversed with, we had about five fruitful conversations. My leader Jonty was able to bring a guy to Christ after two days there, I shared my testimony to a guy who was curious about Christianity and get two girls to buy Kutless albums. (Christian Rock Band) Rachel was basically proposed to, and through that we shared a bit of the gospel to her suitor. And The other contacts, Ceelo and Katrina, Nubian and John led us about town on the weekends to church where we were able to share testimonies and one of my leaders gave a sermon.
One of my favorite parts of the week though, was the day off's surprise! On the day off we went to Old Dhaka where we visited the docks and the British house in which different rulers lived. After the tour of the historical house, someone approached me about my major. I said candidly "theology", and God did the rest. He was instantly fascinated, curious of why I would study the bible. He asked me to explain Jesus' gospel, so I explained the gospel in its entirety, and he was still curious, so I explained the Church, and he edged me on to explain the old testament, in which I explained the character of God, the conversation ended with me giving him a bible and praying for him.

Ill give another summary of a week next time I get internet,
 The grace of Christ Jesus be with your spirirt!

Daily duties

To all those who are loved by God and called to be saints: Thank you to all who donated for this portion of my trip, England has been completely paid for! I thank God for you all in my prayers, thank you for the prayers and the donations. Without you all responding to Christ, I would not be here. The community here is extraordinary. From egypt to switzerland, italy to korea, there are so many nations represented! Quite a few americans as well, from chicago to virginia, hawaii to washington, even the diversity amoungst the americans is tremendous! And knowing this, we are more tight than any other organization ive ever been apart of! Christ is so able to work through everyone here as they are living in such a sacrifice of their wills to Christ. I do miss home, but I cant imagine leaving this place! Ben and Jo, my leaders are from england and new zealand, Martina is from Egypt and Lara is from switzerland! What an awesomely diverse group, Im learning so much about everybody's cultures! :)        The past week has been quick! Every day, we have breakfast at seven to prepare for the eight o’clock session of worship and sermon/intersession, which is always amazing. There are so many talented people here who have led worship. It’s remarkable, having these leaders truly lead as we are brought to a time of sincere worship to be in the right place for either intercession/prayer, or to learn from the day’s sermon. The fore mentioned time is followed promptly by about three hours of lecture, which is a time when speakers who have been involved in YWAM instruct us through scripture. Each week is assigned a different leader and coordinately a different topic. Our leader Ben, in the first week, led us through scrture in the things achieved through the cross. Which led to a time of awesome clarity in our lives, as we confessed of guilt and shame that we carried with us, as Ben put it, as to not walk a victorious limp. Last week, an amazing man of God named Dave led us through the scriptures in full context of how to live in community, in short, how to have Godly relationships with everyone we commune with. He was well prepared every day, and had an immense amount to share, but he was so willing to recieve instruction from the Spirit. His openess to pray for issues in our lives was beyond that of anyone that i have come in contact with. The first day, he started off with the announcement that someone in the class was homesick, hadnt been sleeping, and was frustrated with nearly everything that was going on. One girl in the class instantly came into mind for my roomate Dane. Shanon had been telling him the night before that she was extreemely homesick and couldnt sleep. She shyly attracted Dave's attention, and we were able to pray for her! She had such a relieved expression after that time of prayer, since then she has been so much more involved with the group! On wednesday, Dave suggested prayer for someone whose family has had heart problems, bypass surgeries, and whose father's blood pressure seemed frightening as the student thought of their own future... My heart started beating out of my chest, but i was a bit hesitant to stand up and ask for prayer in that, but he continued by saying that one of our friends was in serious trouble and was falling away from Christ, inwardly i reeled at the thought that he had heard from the Spirit that I needed prayer. My close friend had just been arrested and was hating God. With that, he began a time of intercesion. I raised my hand and told him of how he could pray for me, and the things he had been led to pray for, he did. (later that week my friend in prison accepted Christ!!!!!) to say the least the sermons have been great! After the time of learning, we are blessed with the opportunity to serve the base in work duties. Work duties are assigned based on each student’s willingness to serve and previous experiences, and for the past two weeks, I’ve been involved in the demolition and removal of the interior of a corridor here. It’s quite the workout, but the team is a lot of fun to work with. The woman in charge of construction and maintenance, Hermione, is such a work horse! She was a double Olympic athlete for South Africa in softball and field Hockey, and is so cool. She also teaches on a different book of the Bible every week in a very estudious way, walking us through the history, purpose, and applicative purpose of that particular book each week! She is such a blessing here. My roomate Dane has also been assisting, a girl named Racheal from the medical education team originally from Virginia, Sampson, a school of biblical studies student from Niger, and another student from the sbs named Kieth from The Isle of Man. This team and I have removed an entire hall of tiles, toilets, and walls to prepare for two large shower rooms! Its been quite the experience :) Every thursday so far, we have been able to go to the closest town and evangelize! Its been so geat trusting in God and simply walking up to people to talk, and spreading the gospel to these people's lives! We have had quite a few great experiences. Carly was even able to pray for healing in two seperate people's lives, and both were cured of chronic back pain! A girl from Virginia in our team, Rachael gave her ug boots to a teenager who was quite extatic! Sorry it took so long to post this, but ive been quite hectic :) The grace of Christ Jesus be with your spirirt! :)

Week 1

To all those who are loved by God and called to be saints: I left in a spirit of anticipation of what God had in store, and I am not disapointed. Since arriving here in England I have been surrounded by love and the spirit of God. I've never seen so many people so in love with God. My arrival on wednesday night was met with an imeasurable sence of relief, and with relief came the fantastic task of learning a seemingly infinite amount of names. Person after person introducing themselves, and yet, it's not akin joining a group of people in which you pretend to know one another. Almost everyone here has given me their testimony, and I have responded in turn. I really feel like each of these people are a unique member of my family! Adelphoi is the greek word for brothers and/or sisters in inheritance, and I have found many adelphoi here. Brothers and sisters in christ, saved to do good works. :) Through the last two days of the week, the leader of our DTS has been teaching on all of the things given us through the cross. Forgiveness in place of condemnation, healing in place of brokeness, rightchousness in place of Sin, life in place of death, blessing in place of curse, abundance in place of bareness, glory in place of shame, acceptance in place of rejection,and a new man to replace the old. These lessons led up to a session in which we were given the opportunity to confess any part of our lives we considered shamefull or bringing down in any way, because as Ben put it, so many christians walk with a victorious limp, or to phrase it a bit more expanded, we live in such a way that we only accept the salvation of Christ's sacrifice and ingnore the things we know Christ can free us from. One of my adelphoi here said that we need to not only ask God to remove evil and problems from our lives, but to also replace those issues with the equivalant good. This has been quite the week of growth.     17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:17-24 ESV

Up, Up, and Away

To all those who are loved by God and called to be saints:

    Excitement, confusion, and an overwhelming sense of purpose filled me this morning. Thanks to my newly adapted passport (containing a visa) I was completely ready to leave for England. Through a frustrating morning of hustle and bustle, I was able to complete all of the cleaning and duties inherent to leaving for an extended period of time. 

     Thanks to a crazy awesome group of friends, I was driven here to San Diego International to take a flight to LAX then on to Heathrow. I was extremely exited, typing this entry, saying goodbye to friends on the phone, eating my last peperachini lathered sandwich for six months. Then... "attention, flight 6283 is actually one hour and a half late, instead of boarding, we will be redirecting passengers who need to transfer to other airlines."
     The frantic nature of my behavior was nearly comical, my eyes were twitching back and forth, while my hands defiantly shook.  I was frightened as I had purchased my plane ticket on Expedia.com and was unsure of my status in regards to flight changes. In all the confusion I remembered the patience God had been developing in me through the process with my Visa, and I sat to pray. All I could say in my anger at the airline and sheer frustration was, "God, not my will but thy will be done." With a suddenness that only the spirit can bring, I calmed. The feeling was strange, partially assured, but mainly free. It's somewhat of an oddity, but I hadn't been praying for the ticket to go through, simply that what I did was in his will, and that is what freed me I suppose, simply to want to act in a way that is efficient, not worrying about outside forces enacting on me at a future time. I had done all I could do.
     The attendant that had been sitting there through all of this called for "Passenger Savage". I sighed off great relief when she informed me there was a possibility British Airways might take my ticket. I calmly thanked her. Her surprise at my calm attitude led to a quick process and just like that, a British Airways ticket was at my disposal. From the United Desk, I traversed the confusing  journey to the American Airlines/British Airways desk where I was helped by a man who was extremely amused at the comparison between my passport photo and my current appearance. And from here I write, a soon to be passenger aboard the British Arline flight to Heathrow, extremely exited, a tad bit tired, and trusting in God.
   

 1 What then shall we say was gained by[a] Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but believes in[b] him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:
 7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
   and whose sins are covered;
8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”        Romans 4:1-8

Encinitas

To all those who are loved by God and called to be saints:

    Saturday night, God purposed in the heart of some close friends and brothers in Christ, Cody Cantabrana and John Hamon, to go to Encinitas in order to interview people in regards to their Faith and theology (or lack there of).
     With this goal in mind the two gathered the group of us who wanted to help in the living room of the Hamon residence. With boldness and excitement unique to those gifted with performing, John and Cody enthralled us with a plan to minister to Encinitas in a unique way, one in which we would be able to preach the good news differently to each individual we encountered. The goal was to send teams of two or three about the center of Encinitas to interview people in regards to their belief in God, Hell, Christ, and Eternity in hopes of finding a cross section of Encinitas's beliefs and really making connections to these individuals.
           The people we encountered had a diverse sets of opinions in regards to theology/philosophy. Weather their opinion fell under the banner of Creationism or Atheism, about one third of them had thought about the issues behind ontology. The confusion displayed was sad, but brought to my attention the lack of thought put into the nature of their own existence.
     Knowing this, it seems that one of the best ways to spark the want for Christ in North County is to simply ask questions! I know it probably seems simple, and perhaps obvious, but ask yourself how many times you have even asked a close friend what they believe about the nature of reality. I had such a good time talking to people and attempting to lead their thoughts toward the truth.  It's also a great way to connect to those who do know what they believe, and show them that you care! It was a great to share Christ in this manner. :)

     In regards to the Visa, I received conformation that UPS is collecting my completed visa and Passport today and should have it to me tomorrow. When I receive it I plan on purchasing a ticket to London through Airfare.com. So what that all means is I am leaving either tomorrow or the next day for sure. It's such a relief to be receiving the material to enter England. Thank you all for the prayer and support. :)



 23 Sing to the LORD, all the earth!
   Tell of his salvation from day to day.
24 Declare his glory among the nations,
   his marvelous works among all the peoples!
25 For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised,
   and he is to be feared above all gods.
26 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
   but the LORD made the heavens.
27 Splendor and majesty are before him;
   strength and joy are in his place.                                        1 Chronicles 16:23-27