Guatamala here I come!

Though it has not been long since my last post I have had a busy few days. At the weekend I had the privilege of going with a team to San Francisco to do outreach and the whole weekend just cemented my desire and belief that San Francisco is my training ground. I loved it!

It was strange being out in a place where I was unfamiliar and by unfamiliar I mean completely! I did not know anything, the areas we were in, who hangs out where or even how to practically help. This last thing was especially hard for me. Having worked in the UK for the last 16 years for a wide variety of organisations I know about benefits, housing and other such useful stuff in the UK, sadly it is of no use in the US and I have no idea how things work here. However, we gave out food and treats to the people we met who were sat around on the streets, gave out roses to prostitutes (many of whom were transgender) and we got to spend time in a few of the projects just hanging out with some kids and their families. It was amazing.

Thankfully I will get to go to San Francisco one or two times every month that I am here, starting on the 7^th November. I look forward to telling you more as time progresses. The last thing that I will say about this trip is that I had asked Holy Spirit what I should take and he said 'red gloves', so I bought red gloves. He also gave me two very simple pictures to draw and take with me. Wow! I do not draw but nevertheless, I was obedient and did it. The whole weekend I was excited to see how God would use these things but came home with all but a picture of a broken heart made whole. Holy Spirit had me give the picture to a lady who had just lost her mum saying that he was going to make her heart whole again. She was touched and we got to pray over her and speak words of life into her situation. The gloves and the other picture are in my bag so every time I am out I am looking for the encounter that God has for me where these will be important. Watch this space for more!

Now for the main reason for this post so quickly after the other, I am off on mission to Guatamala in March 2015. I am so excited because it was my first choice for mission trip (we got to choose 5) and here's why:

Come join us on the streets of Guatemala! The focus of our trip is going to be taking Jesus outside the 4 walls of the church. You will get to bring the Kingdom to people who have never before experienced God's love. Serving in the largest slum in Central America with between 60,000-100,000 people, we will also be ministering to prostitutes, the homeless, street orphans, drug dealers, and every day people on the streets and in markets. We will also be going to schools, a hospital, and a church. We are looking for people who are willing to step out and take risk, people who can be flexible and who are not afraid to go into dark and often avoided places. Growth will be inevitable as you step outside your comfort zone. This trip will make permanent and lasting changes in many lives as we continue to partner with what God is doing in Guatemala.

Woohoo! This trip was made for me! It is the perfect training ground for me alongside San Francisco, dark places, avoided places, prostitues, homeless, drug dealers. All of my passions rolled into one and a little more beside!

Now for the hard part, I believe God is calling me to ask people to partner with me in this adventure. Now if he was just asking me to ask people for prayer, well that would be easy, I know the importance of prayer and that I need people faithfully lifting me up before the throne as I walk into dark places. However, he has asked me to ask for financial help. Aaaaggghhhh! This is way out of my comfort zone but I have to be obedient.

I know why he has asked me, it is about independence and my always wanting to rely on me because that is what I have always done. This is one of the big lessons he is teaching me this year, that I need other people in more ways that I think! I have no car which means I have to rely on others for lifts, he had me share with my revival group about how hard the week before the anniversary of my husband's death was, he has had me share in my small group and make myself accountable to being interdependent and not independent and this is the next step. Again, aaaaggghhhh!

In obedience though I am going to write and ask people to donate money to my mission fund. The total I need is $1800 or £1150 and it is due in instalments between now and February 2014. God has said that I am not to pay anything until each of the deadline payment dates and then only the amount that must be paid and no more. This too is hard as by my own choice I would pay it all now and then work out my budget to deal with the money I had spent! I know this is a vital lesson for me to learn and I am grateful that God keeps leading me on in the next steps of my growth. I truly am created for greatness and to do mighty things in his name!

If you have read this far, well done! I would like to ask you to partner with me and pray for both my monthly trips to San Francisco and for my Guatamala trip in March. If this is something you would like to do then please email me at michellearthur68@gmail.com and I will add you to a monthly email list where I will send out specific prayer requests. Also, I would like to ask (well, like to is probably not completely true but I know I have to!) if you would prayerfully consider donating something towards my mission trip costs. If you would like to then please visit:

https://trips.ibethel.org/

When you are on the site put my name under traveler (Michelle Arthur) and follow the directions.

I want to thank you now for your support, both for prayer and finance and declare that God in his faithfulness will give you back much more that you give. We can never outgive him and the resources of heaven are his to bestow on who he pleases.

I hope you have been blessed as you have read this. I will let you know how my fundraising goes. Thanks for reading. I truly love you all.

The line in the sand.

Wow! What an amazing, roller coaster few weeks I have had but through it all Papa has been so good. The song that is constantly on my lips at the moment is 'Amazed', so simple but just hits right where I am at the moment.

"You dance over me though I am unaware. You sing over me though I never hear a sound. I'm amazed by you. I'm amazed by you. I'm amazed by you. Oh, how You love me."

I hope as you read this post you are encouraged wherever you are at and can declare this song's simple truth with all your heart.

The night before my birthday we had lots and lots of rain in California. Halelujah! Not just because of the drought but because I love rain. It truly felt like a gift just for me from Papa. I was a little nervous about my birthday, it being the first one since my husband died and the fact that I was off on retreat with 300 other students and I knew there would not be much alone time. I need not have been concerned as Papa woke me up at 11.55pm and we spent the first two hours of my birthday together? Awesome! I sang to Him and He sang to me and just poured out His love all over me. What an amazing way to start to my 46th year!

Retreat was great. The setting of JH ranch was breathtaking, even with the cold and rain! I got some brilliant, confirming prophetic words and pictures. We had wonderful worship and teaching and I loved getting to know the guys in my revival group better. It was fun!

When I got home from retreat one of my lovely friends in the UK had sent me a message. She said she had been thinking about me and the rain and felt God say that the rain before my birthday was a prophetic sign and He was going to draw a line in the sand. She did not know what it meant and neither did I but all will become clear!

Fast forward to last week, Friday 10th October was the first anniversary of my husband's death and I truly did not know how I would feel. I was pleased it was a Friday and that I was not in school though I did volunteer at the Open Heavens conference at Bethel and I was unsure if this was a good thing or not! However, I am getting ahead of myself and I need to go back to Tuesday of that week.

After I got home from school on the Tuesday I went up to get the mail and was surprised to see a small package addressed to me from England. Being a big kid I rushed home eager and excited to see what it contained. Inside there was a wonderful card from my sister-in-law with a beautiful silver hummingbird necklace. What blew me away though were the amazing and encouraging words that she wrote in the card. Wow! The tears came!

The next morning (Wednesday) the tears were still falling and there seemed to be no stopping them. They were not violent tears but a constant weeping. I did not know how I would get through school. I just laid before Papa, as I did not really have any words to say and felt him say to me that I should let my revival group know how I felt by posting on our facebook page. NO WAY was my immediate thought, However, I was obedient and posted this:

This is kinda hard for me to do (am always the strong one!) but believe God is asking me to be real and vulnerable in the moment and not just declare testimony when it's all over. Friday is the one year anniversary from when my husband died and I am feeling very emotional and a little overwhelmed. Really missing my friends and family back home who knew and loved him too and who would just know how I may be feeling without me saying a word. Papa says your my family now so just wanted to let you know that a hug or a smile would be so amazing right now and if I cry, don't worry, Papa's working me through the process. I still have joy in my spirit even when the tears are falling. Love you guys xx

Wow! It was done now and there was no going back! Within a short while I had several lovely comments from my revival group saying they were there for me. Still crying I headed off to school. It was amazing, the tears did not stop but person after person from my revival group came and hugged me and I felt Papa's love through each and every one. I was loved, I was accepted and I was with family!

Thursday morning came and there were still tears though thankfully much more intermittent. before we went to school Lizzie, one of my amazing roomies, came and said God had shown her that there was a bright new dawn for me. it felt like a good word but it seemed like a while away! At school love continued to be poured out on me by my revival group through hugs, words and even a couple of pictures drawn for me. The tears continued to fall off and on. By the end of school I was exhausted and wondered what Friday had in store.

Friday morning arrived and the time it was in the UK when I got up was the time I was arriving home shortly before my husband died one year earlier. Amazingly there were no tears! I read a few messages from people saying they were thinking and praying for me and still no tears. I had got up early enough to spend some time with Papa before I went off to volunteer and so I did. As I was laying before him (there was not much talking on my part) I felt him remind me of the word my friend had given me about the rain. I felt him say the rain before my birthday were the tears before this anniversary and he had now drawn a line in the sand. I just knew that this was my bright new dawn, the old season had passed away and the new season was beginning. It did not mean I would never be sad or miss my hubby, it just meant I had passed from my grief season and the tears were done. Amazing! 

Volunteering at the conference that day was fantastic and I had a great day with lots of fun. I also got lots of opportunity to remember my husband and I remembered him with joy and thankfulness for the great times we had spent together. No tears fell and I knew a deep peace knowing I was able and ready to move on. Wow! God is so good all the time. He planned this to make it work so beautifully. As I let the tears flow earlier in the week, he brought healing so that the line could be drawn and that chapter completed.

To finish this post I just want to give a quick testimony of how awesome Papa truly is and how amazing it is to partner with him. In the morning at the conference there was a lady who said she was from LA but I only saw her briefly. Later in the evening she was leaving with her friend and because I knew she had a long way to travel I asked if I could pray for her journey. She said yes and I prayed. As I was praying I felt Papa say tell her she is going to mentor and encourage young black women, she will teach them to be proud of being black and to know that they have amazing destinies ahead of them and that they can fulfil their dreams. As I told her this tears started streaming down her face and she explained that she had recently got out of prison from a 14 year sentence and the day before her probation officer had asked if she would speak to young women at risk of offending. She now knew that this was something that God wanted her to do and he would help her. Wow! I was blown away by how Papa used me to show this beautiful lady how much he loves her the gold he placed inside of her.

Tomorrow I head to San Francisco to do 2 days of street outreach and I hope to be able to love hell's trash like heaven's treasure and show people that they are loved by God and he has placed amazing things inside of them. I look forward to telling you more. Be blessed and know that wherever you are at you are loved by God and his plan for you is amazing!