Well it has been a while since the last update! Things are going very well! God is faithful, and will continue to be.
We had our first leaders meeting last week! It was fantastic getting to work with people who share the same aspirations to see the campus of Boise State encounter the living God. Early last week, I met with a former BCM director and he casually mentioned a ministry conference that takes place in San Francisco every year through Golden Gate Seminary. My heart leapt at the opportunity to take a trip to California and learn about Jesus! The bad news was that it was only a week away. I decided to go for it and see what happened. Praise the Lord that He provided a way for us to go! I decided that I would take our three leaders, Elisa, Shane, and Casey in the hopes that we could bond and grow together. From the get-go of planning this trip, Satan was in attack mode.
Tangent time.
Do you realize how much you are hated by the enemy? Do we truly realize how much Satan despises us? Satan will do anything in his power to take away the glory that we should be giving to God and turn it to Himself and ourselves. Satan hates you. He hates God. He hates salvation. He hates the saving grace and love that he has scorned. Every evil, slanderous, hurtful, and doubt comes from the prince of this world in order to mess you up. Satan despises God. Do we really get it?
Better Tangent.
Our God is bigger than Satan. He has CRUSHED him. And the same Spirit that has completely obliterated Satan and his sorry lot of demons resides in you when you accept Christ and turn your life over to Him. Do you know what that means? We are victorious! But Satan loves to tell us that we aren't. He loves to tell us that Jesus died for all people except for me. He loves to lie and tell us that God is not faithful. Let me tell you something my friends, GOD IS FAITHFUL. God is good. God is just. God has beat the evil forces of darkness, it is up to us to discern truth from life and live by the Spirit of truth that now resides in us. Does this mean we will be perfect? Does this mean we will not struggle and not doubt? Of course not. Satan is good at his job, but we can hold fast to the scripture that tells us that , "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." (Romans 8:37, and you should check out the verses leading up to that btw).
End tangent.
Everything seemed to be super difficult as we tried to organize this trip (and yes waiting until a week beforehand definitly did not help). We could not find a car that would support us adequately and enable us to drive safely through the storm of ice and snow we were forced to face. We could not find lodging that was free or inexpensive due to our small budget. Casey was diagnosed with walking pneumonia the day before we left. Things were hard. Satan put doubts on my mind. But God allowed these things to happen as he always does so that we could trust in Him completely. And he provided. Housing was given to us by two sweet couples from a local church we contacted who let us stay in their gorgeous homes free of charge. Gail and Joyce offered to let us take their 4x4 Jeep. Casey was given just enough strength and endurance to make it through the weekend, and that weakness she felt helped deepen her relationship with God. God is faithful.
We walked into the conference and the first thing I noticed was the large amount of asians that were present. And then the weirdest thing happened. A lyric from the Newsboys "He Reigns" song started playing in my head and would not stop. The lyric says, "The sound of Asian believers filled with God's holy fire." The rest of the conference I could not escape this thought. I looked around during worship and saw Asians worshipping. I have never seen a more beautiful or peaceful thing. It was amazing. We went on an urban excursion of our choice the next day. I decided I wanted to go to Chinatown and see how I felt about it. There was just enough seats in the car for those who chose to go. As we walked around Chinatown, my heart was elated. I could not stop smiling (and of course that had to do with being in an awesome new place). We met with a Chinese pastor and he told the story of how he became a believer. I ate dinner with a man from Thailand who imparted wisdom and love to me. I am not sure what all of this means but it def. showed me that I have a heart for the Asian people. I went home and decided to look on the IMB's (International Mission Board) website and just see what kind of short term mission trips are available. The first thing that came open when I opened the world missions link was something that said "Want to spend Christmas in China?"- it was listed under the urgent need tab. Very interesting to say the least huh?
All in all it was a fantastic conference and a great way to invest and build relationships with our fellow leaders.
God is good. God is faithful.
Phillip
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