Streams New Hampshire Interns Visit

This past weekend we had the pleasure of hosting a group of wonderful young people. The organization we belong to has two internship programs that train and equip young people to minister – teach, do outreaches, interpret dreams, etc. One is based in New Hampshire and the other in Canada. When we lived in Washington State we got to know the interns based in Vancouver, BC. New Hampshire is about a six hour drive from NY, so were able to have the interns from NH come for the weekend.

It was a great visit!!!

The bonus of meeting ten new young people was seeing two who were familiar to us from our former church in Washington. I absolutely fell in love with this group of young people. I would adopt any and all of them.

Thursday evening we shared a meal with them and then Tom spoke to them. Tom and I also enjoyed telling the story of how we met.

On Friday, they went to the city to see Times Square and Central Park among other sites. Unfortunately they hit our famous NYC traffic on the way back and it took three hours to return to Long Island.

Friday evening they ministered to the people at the church. They interpreted dreams and gave encouraging words. The feedback was all good. They did a great job.

Saturday we rented a thirty yard dumpster to do some house cleaning at the church. They were a tremendous help in filling that dumpster to overflowing. (Check the picture below). They worked with our people from the church and didn’t hesitate to do anything they were asked to help with.
On Sunday, they did the whole service from worship to the message. They were great. If you’re interested in hearing it, you can find it on our church’s website.

Thank you Streams NH School of Ministry Interns for coming. We miss you guys already.

© Nadine Zawacki 2010

Tips for a Healthy Marriage

Today I had the privilege of teaching with Tom. He’s been teaching on relationships on Sundays. Since he was going to speak about marriage, he asked me to do it with him. I had fun working with Tom. Thank you honey for sharing your pulpit.

If you want to check it out just go to our church website HERE. Click on SERMON. It’s titled Relationships 3 – Tips for a Healthy Marriage.

© Nadine Zawacki 2010

Josh Young

A few years ago, Tom and I had the pleasure of meeting Josh Young and his lovely wife Jodi. Josh has recorded a couple of CDs and is one of my favorite worship leaders. When I’m having a hard day and I want to change my mind set, I just listen to one of his CDs. He is talented, humble, real and fun to be around. In other words, a good man.

We are excited that he is playing tomorrow night, December 12th, at our church for a night of worship. If you’re in the New York area and are interested in coming, let me know. It starts at 7:30 pm.

Enjoy these YouTube videos of Josh singing.





© Nadine Zawacki 2009

The Revolve Tour

Last weekend a group of moms and I took six of our young girls to The Revolve Tour. The girls had a great time. The conference was just for girls and the theme was being real. It's an important message for young girls as well as boys to hear. Being real is not always easy. Adults have trouble with it, imagine how difficult it can be for young adults.

My favorite speaker was Chad Eastman. He spoke about guys being waffles and girls being spaghetti. Guys are like waffles because they have compartments. They put everything in a square. They can only operate in one square at a time. He said that they even have a box called, "Nothing." Girls are like spaghetti because everything is intermingled. Girls can go from one subject to another in a second while guys are still in the first wondering where did they go. You can order the book HERE.

My favorite part of the trip was Friday night when I shared the room (2 double beds) with another mom and six teenagers (pictured above). They were great. I was very impressed by the girls. We played this game called, "When I Look At You I See." We told each girl something positive we seen in them, some things were from our own hearts and some things were what we felt God was saying about the girl. These girls are awesome and I was touched by what they said to one another.

© Nadine Zawacki 2009

Who Says New Yorkers are Rude?

The last several days have been spent trying to get settled. When we got the keys to our new home, we entered and found the flowers in the above picture. There was a card welcoming us to our new home and a little bowl of fruit. This was from our landlords, whom we had not met yet. We later met our neighbor upstairs. He sacrificed his parking space for one of our PODS and was very sweet about it. He told us if we needed extra help moving in, he would be available. If it stopped there, that would be nice enough. Later he was going to store and asked if I needed any essentials for the morning.

Our PODS arrived on Friday. We needed to get the TVs, computers and phones out of the PODS and set up for the internet man who was coming the next morning. We told the movers in Texas to make sure those boxes were accessible. Was that case? No. Thanks to two fantastic guys from the church, Peter and Maurice the TVs were rescued. Unfortunately they had to remove a love seat, large chair, Tom’s desk, a futon and several boxes to get to it. We appreciated their help very much. They worked hard even when rain started to pour down on them.

Saturday came and an army from the church came and unloaded both PODS in just one hour (it rained Saturday too). While the men were taking down doors and moving heavy furniture and tons of boxes, etc. the wonderful ladies were unpacking boxes and helping to set up the kitchen, bathroom and helping to make sure my bed was made. The basement stored all our belongings that couldn’t fit in the apartment. A couple of guys moved things around and organized it so that I could easily get to the boxes.

It doesn’t stop there. Some people bought donuts, cookies, bagels, coffee, and orange juice for everyone to munch on while they worked. Wow right? What I didn’t realized was that one of the men of the church who loves to cook got up at 5:30 in the morning to make baked ziti, Chicken Masala, salad, and fruit to feed the masses. It was delicious – thank you Sal and Maria.

Tom and I felt very loved by everyone in the church. The army of help we received over the weekend was priceless to us. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Now whoever says New Yorkers are rude haven’t met these wonderful people.

© Nadine Zawacki 2009

New York – Part III

Last Saturday when we were in New York we had a busy day. The church (pictured above) was having a luncheon at noon for us. A meet and greet. About fifty or so members were able to attend. We had a delightful time meeting everyone. It seems every time I talk about our visit, I mention food. Then everyone gets hungry as they read – I’ll skip the food part to spare all of you the glorious yummy details.

After we ate, we had a questions and answers session. I took pictures from the front (see below) of each side of the church. I told them if they asked hard questions, I would point them out on my blog. I have to say, they were all very, very nice. I’ve never felt more welcomed. I’m looking forward to getting to know all of them better.
That evening we went to Tom’s dad’s house to catch up with family. You can ask Tom, it takes a lot to embarrass me. After we said our hellos and gave hugs, three family members handed me my book to sign. They have not been the first ones to ask, but I always find that funny when someone wants me to autograph my book. Part of me was embarrassed and the other part was honored. I could tell they were proud of me.

We had a nice time visiting with family. Not all the siblings were able to be there, but we’ll have time to visit with them soon enough.

On Sunday we got to meet more people from the church. Tom preached, mainly describing who we are and where we came from. Rick and Kari (the former pastors) prayed for us and passed the baton. It was good.

We had such a nice visit. Tom and I are excited about this next phase of our lives. We are going home. I never thought we would live in New York again, but something feels so right about it.

We were praying that our flight would not be cancelled. New York was expecting a snow storm. The prayers worked and we took off without any problems. The snow did fall – they received a foot of it. Ah, the snow. I’m not a big fan of snow – I don’t like to drive in it. I guess I’ll just have to get use to it again.

Thank you for reliving my trip. I have a busy week next week and company coming. I don’t know how much time I’ll have to blog. Until next time – have a great week.

© Nadine Zawacki 2009

New York – Part II

I don’t usually have time to blog when I’m on an actual trip, so blogging about it after the fact is also fun. Here’s more about our visit to NY.

After we got settled into our hotel (which was very nice), we met the two elders (Peter and Maurice) from the church for dinner at Piccola Bussolar. This was a very nice Italian restaurant. The food was amazing. The company was delightful. The service was fun. Our waiter – Hector, unless we didn’t like the service then his name was John – was adorable.

From appetizers to the main course it was all so good. Tom and I shared a veal chop that melted in your mouth. Each piece was the size of a plate (thank you Hector for the head’s up on how big the portion was). We couldn’t finish, but it served as a yummy snack one night. Peter and Maurice were so pleasant. It was a fun evening of getting to know each other.

The next day we got up and went on a search for a bagel place. Oh my. We found bagel heaven. I just savored that first bite. It was so long since I had a NY bagel that was freshly made that morning. My favorite is a toss up between – a cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese and a toasted sesame seed bagel with butter. When you can’t decide you have to have both. Tom loves both also, but if he had to choose one it would be the sesame seed bagel.

Tom and I went house hunting after our yummy breakfast. We met with a real estate lady who showed us around. I had wanted to look at more rentals than she was able to line up. We are convinced our best bet is to rent first because it gives us more time to make a wise decision in buying. I’m glad we are going again in April to firm up a rental. We have so many people from the church looking for us. Thank you all for your help.

That evening we got to meet with the leadership team at Panera Bread. I’ve never been to one before and the food was yummy. I had a soup and salad combo that was very tasty. The bread that came with it was really good – I didn’t even use butter. The team was so welcoming and didn’t have as many questions as I thought they would. I have to say that these people love their former pastors – that was clear. What impressed me the most was how loving and kind they were towards us while going through this difficult transition.

I know I’ve made you all very hungry right now. I’m sorry. Stay tuned for more NY trip stories.

© Nadine Zawacki 2009

Start Spreading the News. . .

You’re properly wondering why there is a video of Frank Sinatra singing New York, New York…that’s because Tom and I are moving back after being gone for 16 years. We are going back to pastor the Lighthouse Bridge located in Lindenhurst, Long Island. We go with the full blessing of his current employer, John Paul Jackson.

The current pastors (Rick & Kari) are coming here (Dallas) to work with John Paul. Leaving a church family whom you love is never easy. Sometimes following God means making changes in where we live. We understand that fully and when we left Washington it was difficult. Keep Rick, Kari, and the Lighthouse Bridge as they navigate this new change in their lives.

Our trip was wonderful and we couldn’t have felt more welcomed by everyone. What a warm, loving group of people. I feel totally blessed.

When Tom and I knew our time in West Virginia was over, we started looking for what God wanted us to do next. In that time of transition, Tom and I went through an interview process at several churches. We were invited to speak and meet the people. It never failed, each time on the way home Tom would look at me and say, “Na, I could love these people.” Tom has such a big heart and I would laugh because I knew he was being very sincere. After about the second time I’d say, “Tom, I know you can, but could I love these people.” After this trip, I said to Tom, “I could love these people.”

God has bought us full circle. We’ve lived in West Virginia, Washington, Texas and now back to New York. Along the way, we had our ups and downs. We’ve met incredible people who we loved and worked side by side to advance God’s kingdom. Each time it was a new adventure. I’ve often said to Tom, “You jump, I jump Jack.” (Gilmore Girl reference) and I meant it. God keeps giving me opportunity to follow through on my words.

I will tell you more about our trip, the wonderful people and the great food we ate in upcoming posts. So stay tuned.

© Nadine Zawacki 2009

Texas, Here We Come!

So much has happened since my birthday. Packing, packing, packing and then more packing. I trained the gal taking my place – she’s fabulous and I know will do a great job. My boss gave me a going away dinner party at his home. He was quite honoring and he made it obvious that he would miss me.

Our church gave me birthday presents. Let me explain first that there was a little joke about me being the “church diva.” This was started by wonderful husband. So being me – I played along and didn’t discourage it. I said that so you would understand my gifts – a pink cowboy hat with a tiara and Godiva chocolates (which I was told meant: Go Diva chocolates). So Tom wouldn’t feel left out they gave him a big belt buckle with a large “T” on it. Funny aren’t they?

Our church family have been so wonderful. They helped throughout this whole process, even though our leaving was sad for them. They helped prepare the house for sale, helped packed boxes and then on moving day – pack the truck.

Yesterday was our last Sunday. There were tears, laughter and lots of hugs. The church released us for this next phase in our lives and we released them to the destines that God has for each of them. We past the baton to the co-pastors who are perfect for what God will do with this body of believers. They are in great hands.

Today, we signed the closing papers and hit the road. We were so tired from the last few weeks of activities. We are grateful to be able to ride together. Our Explorer on this really cool car carrier is pictured above.

We left Washington and traveled into Oregon. Tonight we are spending the night in Idaho. These next few pictures have many similarities.

Washington

Oregon

Idaho

Goodnight until tomorrow.

© Nadine Zawacki 2008

I’m Just a City Girl

Wade and Kathy are members of our church who live on a wheat farm (pictured above with Tom). They own seven thousand acres of land. I kid you not. In case you haven’t figured this out, I’m a total city girl. They invited us out during harvest to check it out. I have to admit that I thought to myself how much fun could it be to ride on a combine?

They literally live out in the middle of no where. I told Tom that I’m grateful he didn’t tick them off during one of his sermons, because no one would ever find our bodies or our Explorer. They could easily say, “Hey, I don’t know what happened to them, they never made it here.”

I admit, I had a blast. It was fun riding in the huge combine. When it was my turn, Wade drove the combine near the edge of the property. Some parts of the property dipped off the edge. It seemed to me if we tipped over, it would be a long way down. I had to know the answer to a very important question. So I asked, “Hey, Wade you ever tip one of these things?” He’s been doing this for thirty four years and in his early days, he admitted he tipped a few. He feels no need to ride that close to the edge anymore. I have to say that I’m grateful we didn’t tip over.

Tom and I enjoyed learning about wheat farming. We had such a nice visit. We laughed, we enjoyed a lovely lunch, and got to take home some yummy homemade banana bread. I never thought a city girl like me would enjoy visiting a farm as much as I did.

The following are some pictures from our day.

Here's a wonderful welcoming sign. Doesn't it give you warm fuzzies?

Is this thing big or what? The wheel is taller than I am.

Tom was first to go for a ride.

This is the view from inside the combine. Nothing to see for miles around.

© Nadine Z. 2008

Change

There is change happening all around me. I’m not a big fan of change, but it happens whether I want it to or not. I’m learning to handle it better. I have no choice. If any of these events were isolated it might be easier to handle – okay, if I’m honest maybe not. All of these changes are good things, but my head is spinning just the same.

This past weekend was the wedding of a young couple from our church. She is the same age I was when I got married, but I don’t remember being that young. She took my breath away. She looked stunning and he was very handsome. Her parents are good friends as well as the associate pastors of the church. When we first arrived here seven years ago she was only twelve years old and now she’s a married lady.

Tom’s secretary is leaving next Sunday for six months to join Youth with a Mission (YWAM) in Switzerland. Another young lady from our church is already in Perth, Australia at another YWAM base. One of the young worship team members is leaving for California to attend to college in the fall.

If that is not enough change the Music Pastor/elder and his lovely family leave in three weeks for a great job opportunity in South Carolina. Another former elder and his family are already living there (they moved away in March). I love them and their kids are my pretend grandchildren.

All these people mean the world to me. These are wonderful, exciting transitions in their lives. Tom preached today about changes and managing transition well. It was a timely message. Here are some highlights. There are five stages to grief – denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Handling change can be akin to what we experience when handling grief. It’s okay to go through these stages, but we mustn’t stay in any of them too long. It’s not healthy for us. In the end it’s about them and not about us.

Change is not a dirty word. It’s part of life. Tom always says to hold on tight to people with an open hand. As much as I will miss those who are leaving, I know in my heart these are good, Godly things happening in their lives. I love them and because of that I let them go with blessings.

© Nadine Z. 2008

Stain Remover

I bought a stain remover recently that promised to remove the “toughest of stains.” It really wasn’t any different than any other product I’ve tried. It removed some stains but not others. I often find if I need to remove stains from laundry that I’m using three different products to get the job done.

Sometimes no matter what you do there are always some stains that don’t go away. They may fade but don’t disappear.

Tom and I was driving pass a church the other day and the following was on their bulletin board: God removes the stains that others leave behind.

I thought to myself – wow, that’s so true. When He comes along He removes the hurts, the pains, the heartbreak, etc. that other people inflict on us. Tom preached last Sunday about God giving out new hearts to replace the broken hearted ones, the divided ones, the harden ones and the dirty ones. It was a great message followed by a powerful time of ministry.

I know for myself that when my heart breaks, I tend to harden my heart. I put up walls to protect myself from future hurt. I distance myself from the person emotionally and sometimes physically. I look at others with suspicion. Trust is not given easily. If I’m not careful, I isolate myself from everyone. God doesn’t want me to operate that way. He wants to remove the stains and heal the hurt. Sometimes He just gives a whole new heart that doesn’t even recall the hurt that was once there.

© Nadine Z. 2008

Road House Cycles 101

This weekend I accompanied Tom to Post Falls Idaho. He was going there to teach a 101 class (The Art of Hearing God). This class helps you to discover the different ways God speaks to you as well a strong emphasis on character. For the first time ever this class was held in a motor cycle dealership called Road House Cycles. The owners, Scott and Jinny Lyon, were gracious enough to allow the class to be held in the basement of their store. They cleared out all the motorcycles and moved them upstairs, which made their main showroom very crowded. They didn’t ask for any money, but sacrificed time, space, bathrooms, etc.

It all started out with Sherry, who is a teacher, but had no venue to teach. She was talking to Jinny about the class. Sherry mentioned she was having a hard time finding a place to host the class. Jinny didn’t hesitate and the rest is history.

It was fun to be there with Tom. Before he taught on Sunday morning, he asked me to come up. Very few people knew who he was and he thought telling them a story about us would break the ice. We told the story of how we got together. It was great fun and the people just laughed.

If you are ever in Post Falls, stop in and say hi to Scott and Jinny. Not only are they kind hearted people, but they have a nice shop. Below are some pictures I took.

Sherry is pictured on the right in red thanking the owners, Scott and Jinny.

Look at all the cool bikes. Because we were using their extra showroom, everything was packed in the main showroom. Normally they have a lot more room.
This chopper won 1st place in the Spokane Orange County Cycles Custom Motorcycle Show.

This is what it looked like before the class started. I teased them because we were in a motorcycle shop and I said it looked so girlie.

It filled up quickly. The place really packed out.
This is Sherry posing with the only manly thing left downstairs - Arnold cutout.

© Nadine Z. 2008

Vancouver, BC

This past weekend Tom and I had the opportunity to go to Vancouver, BC for a very short visit. It was a six hour drive and we had a great time being alone together. Life gets so busy and it was wonderful to talk and enjoy one another.

Streams Canada is based in Vancouver. They have a great intern program. Tom and I just love these young people. It was wonderful to see them again and catch up.

We went to a conference that John Paul Jackson was the speaker. He talked about the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It was excellent. John Paul is the founder of Streams and Association of Bridge Churches (ABC) which our church is part of. He rode back with us because he was going to speak at our sister church in town. His message on our purpose in God was exceptional.

Sunday morning we went to a church in Vancouver that meets in a movie theater. At one point during worship, I notice this child about one or two. He’s waving hello to someone on the stage with the biggest smile on his face. I lean over to my friend Joanie and pointed him out. She told me the little boy was waving to his father, the worship leader. He stayed there in the third row just waving and smiling until the set ended. The father walked over and his young son came running to him. The father bent over and scooped him up in his arms. The son held on to his dad, placed his head on his shoulder and looked so content.

This got me to thinking. Isn’t that the way we should approach our heavenly Father? We see Him at a distance and the excitement builds. When He approaches we leap into His arms and hold on with contentment on our faces and in our hearts. That’s the way I want to approach prayer, filled with excitement that I’m going to spend time with my Father.

© Nadine Z. 2008

Josh Young

Our church is having a worship conference this weekend. It’s been a busy week. Josh Young is a worship leader out of New Hampshire. He travels doing worship all over. He’s recorded two CD’s and is incredibly gifted and talented. He’s been working with our worship team this past week preparing for the conference, which takes place Friday and Saturday evenings.

Friday evening was great. I’ve been at the practices all week. I’m not on the worship team, but I love to worship. I can’t sing, but that doesn’t stop me from doing so when I’m alone in my car. I love to dance, even though I’m not as graceful as I once was. I’m married to the pastor, so I get to tag along and be arm candy at these kinds of things.

I’ve observed something during the practices. Josh gave lots of direction on how he wanted a song to play out, like when the background voices were to come in. They sounded great. I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew it would be good. Josh has a great voice and I’ve heard him do worship before, but Friday night was fantastic. The night flowed beautifully. There was freedom and passion in worship. People danced, sang and entered into the presence of God. It was a great time.

I was so proud of our worship team. I’ve watched them be themselves at a new level. I always enjoy it when they put down their instruments or microphones and start dancing. Last night was no exception. I look up at one point and three members of the team were dancing their hearts out. The team worshipped and so the people worshipped. Isn’t that always the case? I have no idea if someone missed a cue, or strummed a bad note…the focus was where it should be - on Him. I’m so excited for tonight.

Josh is a good man and has been a joy to have around. He’s humble, real, friendly, and loves God with all his heart. When I look at him I see great things in his future.

I want to thank his wife, Jodi, for loaning him to us this week. Josh, you rock!

NOTE: If you click on Josh's name in the 1st paragraph it takes you to his website. Notice the bottom left side of your screen. You can listen to different songs by hitting the forward button. I'm sure you'll find something you will love.

© Nadine Z. 2008

City Wide Prayer

Last Sunday marked the end of the 40 day city wide fast in our community. There were around 2,000 people that attended a prayer service. It was amazing to have so many people there with the sole purpose of seeking more of God.

Tom posted an article that appeared in our local paper about the event. Hop over here to check it out.

The pastors are going to continue to meet on a weekly basis to seek God. This is a very good thing.

Nadine Z. 2008

Up next, a special birthday post for a special someone.

Frozen Chosen

I can’t believe the amount of snow that’s falling down on our city. Tom and I got ready for church and gave ourselves extra time. It never entered our minds to cancel services this morning. We didn’t know who would be able to drive through the bad roads to come, but we would be there. One of those brave souls (John G.) called all of us “frozen chosen,” hence the name of this post. I just thought it was a cool title. I totally get those who didn’t come. If Tom wasn’t the pastor, I probably would have stayed at home.

The service was good. We (those who attended the conference) shared about the week we had in Dallas. I shared about some of things that impacted me the most. One thing was I found myself having a heart of compassion for other pastor’s wives. I realized how much pain there was behind their eyes. Some pretend so well that life is wonderful they fool even themselves. Some are just burned out and if you gave them a ticket out of Dodge they would take it. Along with a friend/associate pastor from our church, I was able to minister to one of these women and it was powerful. I knew that I wanted to do more of this.

The other thing was I found myself being bolder when it came speaking words of encouragement to strangers. I have in the past when I felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to speak a prophetic word. Except for our outreaches, this doesn’t usually happen that often. This past week I had three opportunities and took each one. When their eyes well up, you know that the word given was timely. I love it when God does that.

I’ve been praying that God would transform my life. I prayed that I would be more like Him and sensitive to my surroundings. I want more of Him and less of me. I’ve noticed that I’ve keep very short accounts with God. If I’ve done something wrong I instantly feel the sense to make it right.

I’ve made God too small in my eyes. I need to expand my box. I need to look beyond myself and see the needs of others. I’ve not come close to being perfect in this area, but I’m trying to be better at it.

© Nadine Z. 2008

ABC Conference

The conference was wonderful. It was so nice to meet other pastors from all over the world. There are now about twenty ABC (Association of Bridge Churches) churches. People came from England, Honduras, Canada and across the United States. There will be one opening in Hawaii. It was enjoyable to meet new people and see friends we haven’t seen in a while.

The couple from England, Dwee and Tony, were simply delightful and extremely funny. They kept us laughing the whole week. I’m afraid from now on I’ll be saying, “Oh that’s just lovely.” Amy and Robert are missioners from Honduras working to start a training center in Honduras. It was great to encourage them and spend time getting to know them better. Michael and Elisha are friends from Alabama. Elisha is delightful, smart and funny. She gave us more than a few chuckles. It was great to see old friends, like Greg and Patty, Eric and Joanie (another charming and funny gal), Scott, Recie, Jim, Amanda and Mike, and last but definitely not least, John Paul and Diane. I give a special shout out to Mike and Amanda who put the conference together. They did a great job and it was their first time.

There were different speakers; my husband was among them. Tom gave a passionate message about how Streams had a positive impact on the life of our church. He spoke encouragement and hope for the future to the other pastors. I thought he did a great job. Others spoke about the different resources Streams has to offer. John Paul’s messages were inspiring to me because it confirmed what God has been doing in my heart. I came away with a hunger for more of God’s presence in my life. Ministry times were life giving for people who have been going through hard times. It was great to see the healing that took place.

It wasn’t all business. Thursday was a day of fun. The ladies went shopping and the men went bowling. We also went to a rodeo. I had a great time. I’ve never been to a rodeo but I definitely would go back. I’m encouraged by the passion for God I’ve seen this week. It was exciting to hear about what God is doing around the world. Our days were very full and I’m tired, but it was all good.

© Nadine Z. 2008

Citywide Prayer Update: Tonight we gathered at one of the biggest churches in town and it was so encouraging. All the pastors got up kneeled and prayed for repentance for sins of the pastors. There was prayer for individual repentance. There was prayer for healing of the land. The turnout I heard is somewhere around the thousand mark. Even though I was tired, I was encouraged by how well this is progressing.

40 Days

My hubby as you all know is a pastor. A larger group of pastors meet on occasion, but he attends a smaller local monthly meeting. Last month there were six different churches represented in the meeting. After a time of worship, what evolved in the next fourteen minutes was a miracle. These men thought it would be a good idea to start the new year with forty days of prayer and fasting. That all six churches would meet weekly during this time period and pray as a corporate body for our city. Here’s the cool part of this story, other churches heard about it and wanted to participate. There are twenty four churches that are committed to fast for the next forty days. They were inspired by this scripture verse:

2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

The only agenda is to ask God for more of His manifest presence in our area.

Fasting for me is a time of giving something up that I enjoy and in its place (when I crave it) spurs me to pray. It’s a time of drawing nearer to God. Some of the people in our church are fasting various things such as; television, sugar, coffee, meats, etc. There is no wrong way to fast. It is something that is between you and God. I decided I should fast snacks. What I’ve discovered is you don’t realize how much you do something until you stop doing it. Let’s just put it this way, I pray a lot lately.

Last night was the first of six weekly prayer meetings. Different churches will host the meetings and the pastors will take turns leading them. Last night two different pastors and various members from their worship team worked together to facilitate the meeting. There were about five hundred people who showed up to pray together. The place was packed out. You can feel the excitement in the air. It was wonderful. I can only imagine this number growing.

I’m very excited and encouraged by this. Unity among God’s people is very pleasing to Him. A lot can happen in forty days. I can’t wait to see what next week brings.

© Nadine Z. 2008

Interns

The word intern means an assistant or trainee working to gain practical experience in an occupation. I’ve come to the realization it means much more. Streams Canada has an internship program. Part of our trip was to minister to the interns (group pictured above). It was the best part of the trip. These are extraordinary young people that I fell in love with. They are passionate for God, willing to serve and open to whatever God would impart to them. They made us feel special and in the end, I was blessed more than they could know. Each of them have unique gifts and talents. By the end of the trip I wanted to see how many interns I could sneak back to Washington with me. In the short time that some of them have been there, you can plainly see the work that God has done in them. Looking at them I see them at the end of their journey. The world will be blessed when they move forward towards their destinies.

There are two houses (one for the guys and one for the girls). They were meeting in the girl’s house for prayer and worship when Tom and I arrived. We went straight there when we finally landed. Their welcome was warm. They were excited, but little did they know that I was elated to meet them as well. They come from different parts of the world. We got to share the story of how we met and impart some life’s lessons we’ve learned along the way. The time spent with them was priceless and joy for us. We left a bit of our heart there and took a bit of theirs home.

The class went well. The subject matter (strongholds, submission, forgiveness, lawlessness) is not always easy but the concepts help us to better ourselves. I enjoyed working with Tom. It amazed me that after all these years I can still learn so much from him. The couple (Eric & Joni) in charge of the intern program was both gracious and generous to us. Joni and I became fast friends. She has a great sense of humor and we laughed so much. The class ended early on Saturday night and we had an opportunity to see a bit of Vancouver. We went to a very nice restaurant for dinner called The Sandbar Seafood Restaurant. The food was great and the company even better.

We had no trouble coming home on the plane. No delays and our luggage arrived with us. Yeah! Miracles do happen with air travel.

So thank you, Lane, Ronny, Rachel, Jennifer, Cameron, Joshua, Justin, Erin, Christine, David S., Jesse, Hannah, Danielle, Ashley Tyler, Bethany, Kulbir, Anthony, Jamie, Claire, Rebecca, Noah, Sharayah, David C., Eric and Joni for a great time. Thank you for allowing us to come and spend time with all of you. Our lives are richer for the experience.

© Nadine Z. 2007