VOL № 1 » 2013

BEGINNINGS | andrew york

The next thing I knew, I dreamt I was standing in the pres-ence of God. It’s strange how the majority of us don’t know we’re dreaming when we are. It makes me won-der if there’s not a greater reality to our dreams. There I was, knowing I was before the LORD, unable to see Him, only being aware of His nearness. The next thing I remember was a box placed before me, big enough that I had to reach down into it to retrieve “the gift”. I pull out a message that said something along the lines of “Behold, I am doing something new”. It was at the reading of this that all of a sudden something began to bubble up within my spirit. Before I had time to figure out what was happening, like a cup running over, I be-gan to make a sound. I remember feeling both awe, fear and excitement. I began to cry as I felt the release of this “song” that was now flowing through me...and while it was slightly terrifying, the overwhelming sense was that of HOPE.All of a sudden I awake to the sound of my own voice singing, and the voice my disturbed friend, Michael, saying “Bro! Are you ok!?”. I shook the sleep off and with tears in my eyes, I said “Yes, I think so...are you?”, “Yes”, “Was I singing?”, “You were making a noise!”... and there we sat in the darkness, feeling the weightiness of something happening in the room that was beyond us. I looked at the clock - 2:17 am. It was then that I felt like the LORD said “Isaiah 2:17” (on the night of 12/17):“And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled, and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low, and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.”I remember going back to bed, a little uncertain what was happening, but unable to shake the thought that God was indeed doing “something new”. The morning of December 18th, I went about my day, still a little puzzled by the night’s activity. 3 hours later, I get a call from a friend saying, “Have you heard the news about [undisclosed country]??”. I will let you re-search what happened on the 18th of December, but I will say that a major leader of a communist nation died

that morning. “What in the world!?” I thought to my-self. I remember finding Michael later in the day, and we stood in awe of God and how He had very purposefully visited us that night to declare that something new was happening. It wasn’t long after this that this same nation began nuclear testing and rocket launches. It’s a country and people that many view as hopeless, and even evil. As I consider my dream, I am more and more convinced that my dream was an actual encounter with God. He was wanting to bring me into a greater reality, one where He was inviting me to see the way He sees things. He filled me with a substance of hope that night, one that would actually awaken me in the night hours and break the silence on earth, here in our “reality”. I now trumpet the message of HOPE over this “hopeless” communist nation. There’s nothing you could tell me that would dis-courage my stance, because it was given to me by the Author of hope. Hope is a sound that pierces the silence of despair and awakens the soul to the reality of Christ’s light in the darkest hours.We are seated with Christ in Heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). As adopted children of God, this is our greater real-ity. I believe there’s an invitation for us today to “come up” to our seat with Christ, where we will see things not for what they appear to be, but what they are. Who are we letting feed us perspective? The media? The news? Tabloids, horoscopes, and more have for too long dic-tated to us a humanistic reality that breeds fear, hope-lessness and criticism. God wants to fill us with the sub-stance of faith, hope and love. What if a generation saw hope in every hopeless situa-tion? With Christ, this is more than possible, it’s impera-tive. If we want to see an awakening in our lifetime, we need to believe God sees potential for light, life and love in the hardest and darkest. We’re now seeing a generation of young people who be-lieve the God of the Bible is the God of today. This mag-azine is more than just another periodical, it’s a trumpet of sounds from the nations that compose the anthem “Our God is Alive”. Be refreshed, challenged and filled with His perspective through the following testimonies...

The night of December 17, 2011 felt no different than other nights in Kona, Hawaii, other than the fact that my friend Michael was sleeping on my futon because he needed a place to stay for the night. As usual, I said a prayer asking for God’s presence to fill the room, to give us rest, and to grant us visions and dreams in the night - it’s sort of become a bed-time ritual. Personally, I believe the Holy Spirit loves to encounter God’s beloved in the night hours, but He often waits to be invited.

Let HOPE arise.

The alpha logo element you will see throughout represents the Awaken Magazine. We prayed about the logo element and a vision of this symbol spontaneously

entered Calvin’s thoughts. It makes sense to use the ALPHA symbol because it is the first letter of the greek alphabet and it has a symbolic mean-ing for starting or awakening. God says he is the “Alpha and Omega.” Ev-erything starts with Him including this magazine. He makes all things new!

LET TER FROM THE EDITOR

CALVIN HANSON

TAREN MAROUN ALYSSA LUZIACH

for flipping through this magazine! In reading it, you are holding the compila-tion of many hours of works, sweat, countries, miles, people, typing, prayers, photographing, photo edit-ing and random tasks. The work was done by sons and daughters express-ing creative worship to their heavenly Father. This magazine is for our Heav-enly Father.This magazine is made for you to enjoy and be encouraged. It was created to awaken hope in your heart. It doesn’t

matter your background or how far away from God or how near to God you are at this very moment. He wants to meet with you. He’s been waiting to meet you. Our prayer is that you encounter the living Hope through the photos, stories, and art. We created this magazine for you! The reality is that God is moving around the world every second of every day. We took out our cameras and pens to catch just a few moments worth. This magazine is an invitation for you to seek out God, to go on a faith journey, to awaken creativity, and to discover your maker. Enjoy!

hansonsblog.com @calvinhanson

tarenmaroun.com /tarenmarounphotography

alyssaluziach.com /AlongsideAlyssa

T H A N K Y O U

...and all the students in the Awaken DTS!

THE CREATIVE COMMUNITY ALPHA

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It’s a dreamy idea and a precious thought. We get it tattooed on our sixteen year old feet and hang in nice block letters next to a picture of summer flowers framed in the entryway of our house. It always holds positivity. How-ever, it rarely gets credit beyond the warm fuzzy chin-up for a brighter tomorrow. When we start to taste hope in light of what Jesus Christ intends it to be, there’s nothing fluffy about it. Hope is our most powerful indication of the unseen world. It’s the most powerful tie we have to the heart of God. And, at the core of our human nature, it’s the same in each and every one of us. Our souls long for and cling to the pow-erful reality of the substance behind the fluffy name.

Hope. It’s a fluffy, sweet, little word. Hope is the most intentional quality of our innate character, crafted into us by the hand of God, drawing us to Himself. You see, we never had the opportunity to choose what our hearts want most. With or without having expe-rienced peace, we know we want peace. With or without having experienced joy, we know we want joy. God created us to want Him and all parts of His character, whether we have experienced them or not. He has given us the ability to see beyond ourselves, to desire something we do not already have. He has given us a glimpse of His reality hidden within our human nature. And He has given us hope for this reality. He has given us hope for His kingdom. He has given us hope for Him. The best part is that hope does not exist without expectancy (that would be wishing, y’all). For those who put their faith in Christ Jesus can not only want- but expect- to

Hope. It’s a fluffy, sweet, little word.By Abby Phillips

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”“experience everything our hearts dream of. Through Him anything is possible. This opens all the doors. All the cards are on the table. We are free to dream from the deepest parts of our hearts, and seek what we truly desire. We were meant to have these desires, so that the One who put them there can bring them to completion. With God, our hope is eternal. We can be expectant because of Jesus Christ. As said in Hebrews 11, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, Because He who promised is faithful.”

This is where we put our hope in the invisible, because in

the invisible the kingdom of heaven has already come to be.“ ”

Photo by Taren Maroun

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// a boy named

koami

Out in the bush of Togo, West Af-rica, there is a village called Jokpe Kokpe. The whole village is made up of one family who have lived, farmed, and practiced Voodoo together for generations. We have visited their village three times now and have seen amazing results in one boy in particular.Koami is an 8 year old boy who, initially, didn’t even smile. The first time we met him, we were surprised by how reserved he was. While all the other kids were thrilled to see what they call Yovos (white people), he would just stand off to the side with his arms crossed rigidly and a constant frown on his face. We tried to get him to interact with the games and songs we were doing with the kids, but he prefered to just watch. He never uncrossed his arms or smiled, but we did finally man-age to teach him how to do a fist bump. The longer we spent with him, the less resistant he was to us, but progress came very slowly.A week later, we visited again expecting similar results. As we

turned the cor-ner, though, a huge grin spread across hi s face as soon as he saw our team. Coming into the village, he still kept his arms crossed in front of him and didn’t smile much, but those few smiles that we did manage to get out of him were like gold.We taught him different hand-shakes and he actually sat on my lap during the Bible story! Jonas sang his favorite song for the kids and asked if any-one wanted to sing their favor-ite song; Koami surprised us all with his boldness as he sang us a song. All he needed was some love and he was already coming out of his shell. It was amazing to see the transformation in him simply out of two short days of interacting with us.He danced with us during the songs and loved the skit we did for them. At the end, though, was

what r e a l l y surprised me. Voodoo is very in-tegral in their way of life and these kids experience a lot of spirituality even from such a young age, Many of them, we know, experience nightmares and see demonic manifestations nearly every night. They are ter-rified and bullied by these spirits that their parents have brought into their homes and that can lead to some very troubled chil-dren like Koami.We shared about how Jesus can protect them and asked the kids if any of them experienced bad dreams they wanted to get rid of. Before the question was

b y E r i k a

Burkenes

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even done being asked, Koami shot his hand up like a rocket, still with a very serious expression on his face like normal. He was sitting on my lap and I was so surprised at how immediate his response had been.He went up with a few other boys and we led them through a short prayer asking Jesus to protect their sleep. We had to leave shortly after that and my heart melted when he actually hugged me goodbye.My heart, for some reason, was just smitten with this little boy from the first moment I saw him. Even though he was so hard to reach comared to the other kids, I loved him so much and wanted to see him again as soon as possible. Unfortunately, though we tried a lot, it took a whole two weeks before the chief of the village would let us come back.I was so shocked by what had happened! Koami, the very same little boy who used to at best give me a fist bump and then return his arms to their defensive position, was ecstatic to see us. He was smiling and happy, wait-ing out by the road to greet us as we came up to the village.He actually let me carry him around on my hip and sat with me the whole time. He smiled a lot and actually talked to

us in what little French he knew. Before, he would bartely even tell us his name, so it was thrilling to be able to actually talk with him for the firtst time with what broken French I have picked up.When we asked him about his dreams, he told us that all the bad dreams were all gone. Praise God! Whatever demonic presences that had been pestering him had left him alone for the two weeks that we were gone because he was be-ing covered by the Holy Spirit for the first time in his life. The transformation in him was utterly astounding!He didn’t cross his arms at all, he sang and danced just as exhuberantly as all the other kids, and he sang about six of his favorite songs for us. I got to take pic-tures with him and he actually smiled! If it was possible for me to fall more in love with him than I already was, it happened that night.It was so incredible to see the transfor-mation that the Holy Spirit and all our prayers for him had made. His family is still involved in Voodoo and I have not even met his parents to know if they know Jesus, but even at his young age he now knows both that we love him and that Jesus loves him. Not only that, but he has experienced first hand the power of the Holy Spirit to protect him and that is something no one can take away from him!

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is enoughenoughBy Ryan Moreno

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It was extremely hard for me in the first few weeks of being down there. I wanted to leave,

but I knew that was not God’s plan. I had to stick it out. One thing I was challenged with, being there

in Sayulita, was believing that God is enough. I al-ways have said that, like any Christian would prob-

ably say, but was it really true? I did not realize un-til then that God was not all I needed. I needed the people that I am close to. I needed comfort and things

I was used to in life. There was none of that there. God brought me to Sayulita to teach me his ways. He

brought me there to show to me that I was leaning on other things to get me through life. I was not fully lean-

ing on him before that. I started to realize what God was teaching me as I stepped out of the short four-month sea-

son God had for me in Mexico. God wanted all of me and all of my attention. He did not want me to constantly lean

on my family or friends. He wanted me to lean on him first.

God’s plans are not my plans. I learned that there was not much of doing in Sayulita, but a whole lot of being. Being in the presence of God daily, reading and praying more than I ever

have before and being more constant at continually thinking of God. I began to notice these reoccurring situations in the Bible.

Where did the Holy Spirit lead Jesus out for 40 days? He led him to the desert to be alone and nowhere in there does it say Jesus was

lonely for that time. It was the same with Paul in chains, away from his beloved ones that he wanted to see so badly. Was God not able

to get Paul out if He wanted? God wanted Paul there for a reason.

He wanted him alone, but not to be lonely. Was it lonely for Paul? Probably at some points, because he was human

just as we are. But God was teaching him so much in his state of being.

As I sing these songs with lyrics like “I want to follow you with all my heart, I worship you” and “I lean not on my own understanding, my

life is in the hands of the maker of heaven,” I have to stop and truly think about this. Am I being honest when I say this? Yes, I do mean it, because I know I have been tested and found true. Now, when James says in chap-

ter 1 to consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds, I smile.

Loneliness is something that no Christian should ever go through, but many of us do. Why is this? Why shouldn’t we be lonely?

Well, because with Christ living in us he is enough. But that does not always seem true in our walk with God. We can say he is everything to us, but do we really mean that? I guess we will only know when we are put to the test. I knew God was calling me to Mexico for a short season of my life, so I decided to go….alone. As I searched out Mexico online, I found a little fishing town that I knew God was leading me to. First, I flew into Gua-dalajara, where I stayed with some friends for a short while. Then I headed off by myself to the coast of Mex-ico to a little place called Sayulita, Nayarit, Mexico. If I had to describe how I felt during my time in Sayulita with one word, it would be: loneliness. Is that a good or bad thing? It’s not a characteristic of God, yet he can definitely use it to strengthen and better us as believers. Now, when I arrived there my expectations were through the roof! I had had a blast in Guadalajara before that, so I went to Sayulita thinking that it was going to be the same. I planned to do lots of things: work with the church, meet tons of people, and tell everyone about Jesus. You know, the things God has called me to do. After alI, knew that he wanted me there. He miraculously hooked me up with an amazing housing opportunity, but I was unaware of what he was going to do next. When I got there I quickly, immediately, learned that my expectations were not God’s expectations when I got there.

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#AwakenOR12

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#Awakendts

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What is hope? At some point in our lives we have all “hoped” in or for something. Maybe everyday we even hope or desire for something certain to hap-pen. What do you have hope in? Is there something you hope to happen in your life? People all around the world are putting their hope in Jesus Christ, not only to return for his bride, but also to lead them, day by day, through this life he has graciously given us. This story is about a young girl, Leidiane, who put her hope in Christ. A YWAM (Youth With A Mission) outreach team was doing evangelism in small river com-munities in the Amazon Rain Forest. In one of the communities that they stopped at, they found God’s spirit moving heav-ily through the hearts of the people in that area. One afternoon three of the missionaries went down the river on a boat to find a house tucked back in the jungle. One of the drivers of the small boat was Leidiane. She had learned about the missionaries and volunteered to take them to the houses that could only be accessed by boat. When they arrived to the house, everyone was warmly welcomed inside along with the two driv-ers on the boat. After 45 minutes of them all explaining the gospel and about the Holy Spirit, four of the five people in the house accepted the Lord Jesus Christ into their hearts. The missionaries then prayed for the power of the Holy Spirit to move in their lives. After-wards, they asked all the new believers if they had any questions before they leave. Leidiane spoke up and said that she wanted more of the Holy Spirit in her life.

So they prayed for her again and then left the house. The following night two of the missionaries stopped Leidiane to talk to her. After talking with her for a while, one of them told her that they felt the Lord say to give her a passage of Scripture from John 14. Then they asked her to read that passage and come back the next morning before they left so they could discuss what she had read and pray for her one more time. That morning Leidiane arrived to meet them with a pretty exciting story to tell. She had read the

passage and asked the Holy Spirit to speak to her. She then felt something like fire surround her.

The Holy Spirit began to talk to her about personal things in her life and about the community she lived in. Leidiane had a personal encounter with the Holy Spirit in the middle of the rain forest. She had hope in her heart from the beginning for

more of the Holy Spirit and He showed up in her life for the first time in a very personal

way. The missionaries, too, had hope that in their obedience to God, by spreading the Gospel, people of that community would be blessed. Some were even able to go back and re-visit her in the community a month later. They reported back that Leidiane, with hope in her heart, is now helping her community become more unified through studying scriptures in the Bible.

My hope is that she continually grows in the Lord and continues to be led by the Holy Spirit. What are you hoping for?

Seeking HimRevelation about hope

In the Amazon jungle

1 A story of one girL

“She wanted

more of the Holy Spirit in

her life.”

But a testimony to many+

Written by Ryan Moreno

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May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Romans 15:13

Photo by Alyssa Luzaich AWAKENmag.COM 11

Lime Soup RecipeOh lime soup how I love you. Light, versatile and fresh I would eat this any day! There are people I have served this to like 5 years ago who bring it up when we see each other half way around the globe! What a compliment! This is a perfect com-munity meal - make the soup and have each guest

bring one of the toppings.

In a large pot on high heat sauté the chicken, peppers, onions, garlic, and chilli in your olive oil. After a few minutes they will be soft, so add the cilantro stalks and lime zest. After about 10 minutes total of cooking, everything will be soft, chicken a little brown, and smelling amazing , at this point add all the rest of your ingredients. Keep the soup bubbling for about 30 minutes, some of the liquid will evaporate away concentrat-ing the flavor. Taste it, adding salt or extra chilli if

you like.

I like to bring the pot of soup to the table, and put all the toppings on a nice wooden chopping board. Ladle that amazing soup into a bowl, throw those toppings and eat the best Mexican soup of your

life!By the way, it’s even better the next day.

INGRED IENTS

// 4 chicken breast :: chopped// 5 mixed bellpeppers :: chopped// 1 large red onion :: diced// 3 cloves of garlic :: crushed // 1 red chilli :: diced// 1/2 cup diced cilantro stalks (reserve the actual cilantro leaves for later!) // Juice and zest of two limes // Two good gluggs of extra virgin olive oil // 4 cups organic chicken stock // 1 can fire roasted crusted tomatoes// 2 ears of corn, kernels sliced off the cob // 1 can black olives ( optional) // Salt to taste

Toppings:

// Greek yoghurt

// Grated cheese

// Sliced avocado

// Fresh cilantro

// Sliced limes

// Tortilla chips

BETHANY REID

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kids, unexpected strangers or wise old grandparents are all blessed!We rotate the cooking and often share out items for people to bring. It some-

times does feel tiresome to have one night of the week already committed out, but truly so very worth it. Once a week our SA crew rotates and trades

having one another over. Many other evening meals or brunches through the week and weekend we invite those we are discipleing to join our family table.Wherever you are and whatever your ministry or journey with the Lord looks like, I encourage you to make your dinner table a place for encountering Jesus. Why not begin weekly having dinner with a few other close friends? Start a ‘SupperClub’ with another fam-ily in your church. Regularly invite new believers or ‘pre-believers’ to join you. Allow this to grow into a life-bringing tradition you look forward to! “PracticeHospitality” (Romans 12:13) in your home, dormitory or break room. You will discover the Heart of God as you do!

discipleship as the sharing of Food. Who doesn’t love that? We’ve come to realized people aren’t coming to us for food, it’s the way they are encountering Jesus around our dinner table that brings them back. Friends all over the world are expe-riencing this too! Holy spirit parties and intercession breaking out over scrambled eggs and waffle!Jeff and I now live in SA where we are leading out missional communities. One of the key ways we are building meaningful friendships within our team is through shared meal times. The Community

Transformations Training Schools and Communities all over the USA meet in a similar way. We gather weekly either all together or family with family and make the dinner our connecting point instead of an office.We believe that one key to making the

most of your dinner table is intentional conversation. Someone might bring up a scripture and we unpack it together. Other times we share what we have been thankful for in that day. Lately the Lord has met us deeply as we each ask Him what affirmation or prophetic word He wants to share with others sitting at the table. Children included, we share what He showed us and pray for one another. Meal time is about so much more than food for us now. Fussy

If you came into my house on any day and almost at any time you will find me in the kitchen. I love to be there. For much of my life I just thought it was a hobby—nothing more. As I have grown older and come to know the Lord more deeply I see it as a way He ministers to others through our family. Oh, the sto-ries for freedom that have taken place as I pray with people while stirring the granola.Hospitality is a big deal in the Bible. Gathering over meals also is talked about often! Why ? Jesus is our model, he often ate with his disciples and some of his most powerful ministry happened around parties and food. Mary pour-

ing oil on his feet during a feast—Jesus response

shifted culture, from the dinner table not the pulpit!In Acts 1, we see Jesus at the table with his dis-ciples teach and training, at the Last Supper we see the same. His interac-tions with Mary and Mar-tha, the Wedding feast etc—over and and over! Jesus is where people are and people love to gather around food. As believ-ers seeking to ‘make dis-ciples’ we must be where people are in their day to day—and create a place for them to join us in ours. Where better than our tables.In more than eight years of life and ministry togeth-er, Jeff and I have seen few things as impacting for building friendship and

HOLY SPIRIT PARTIES AND INTERCESSION BREAKING

OUT OVER SCRAMBLED EGGS AND WAFFLES!

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5Things I Learned on a Faith TripBy Calvin Hanson

After 6 months of praying into our trip, 5 friends set off to Europe. We had specifically felt in prayer that the Lord wanted to take us around Europe. We had no idea how many countries, how long or, in some ways, why God was sending us. Spain was our starting point and when we all arrived, we asked God in prayer, “Where to next?” 18 Countries and 3 months later, our group gained a perspective of what God is doing in Europe.

#1 God is moving in EuropeOver and over again, we were filled with hope, as we saw a pattern of expansion of the churches and missions bases. Six times, we were in a service where the next Sunday they were moving or in a missions base where they had just signed a contract or decided they will move. Our hearts were stirred with faith that God is mov-ing in a supposedly post-christian closed-off conti-nent of the world! May the lies be broken. God is on the move.

#2 Humility opens doorsMany churches and ministries were skeptical of a group of people traveling around with no plan. By outside appearanc-es it probably seemed like we wanted to mooch off of people and enjoy a vacation around Europe. From the very beginning, we set out to serve in any way we could, from washing dishes to painting chairs to speaking in youth groups. It was amazing to see the instant change in people as we came in with this attitude. They would end up opening up their church or minis-try to us and we were able to minister in so many more ways. A biblical truth was confirmed—the humble will be exalted.

#3 God loves you, the one in this world of 7 billionOne time we were walking around Brussels, Belgium won-dering what God wanted us to do and a girl approached us asking where a park was. We asked her if she wanted

to hang out with us instead and she abandoned her plans right away. The girls spent 2 hours loving her and sharing about Jesus with her. We bought her a meal and sent her off with hugs. She said she had never heard about God in this way. This event helped us learned to keep our spirit open to abandon our plans for the one that God had on His heart. The Apostles, Peter and John, knew this lesson (Acts 3)!

#4 God loves the seemingly forgettable

placesWe went to some off-the-beaten

path places around Europe like Prishtine, Kosovo, Alés, France or Löhne, Germany. A student made up a rumor about a town near Löhne that it didn’t exist. Alés was voted worst area to live in by France. Kosovo isn’t even recognized by some countries. But God hasn’t

forgotten one person in these places and is doing great

things! We saw remnants of faith-filled people and even peo-

ple being called by God to these places. He loves places like Nazareth

and Bethlehem as well as Jerusalem!

#5 God is not a slave-driv-er, but a relational FatherWe found because our time was limited in places that we wanted to maximize our performance for God. This mind-set led to striving and not feeling the peace of the Lord with us. We realized that God wanted to be Father to us and partner with us. He opened doors for us, he provided ministries and he shared his joy for Europe and its people with us as we traveled! After 18 countries in 3 months, we should have been wiped and although we were physically tired, our spirits were soaring as we recounted the goodness and faithfulness of our Heavenly Father throughout our trip.

God taught us much more than this short list and we are so thankful we were able to take a trip like this in our lifetime. I hope you are inspired and filled with hope to hear from God in faith. May He lead you on your faith journey of life.

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What is a faith trip?A faith trip is a time set apart where you and a few others take a walk of faith. The trip is meant to build faith that God will lead, guide and provide everything. In the Gospel of Luke chapter 10, Jesus sends out 72 with no money, food, or extra clothing. It’s purpose is to grow in stepping out in hearing God’s voice and to grow in trust in God’s character.

For more stories about the trip, visit Calvin’s blog at:www.hansonsblog.com

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verybody in the classroom felt his authentic excitement for what God was doing in His life and in his community.

Something in my heart stirred when I lis-tened to Adam Cox speak. He spoke of church as home and God as a Father. He called his particular extension of the church family The Boiler Room.

The Boiler Room is the church in Kan-sas City that he and some friends pio-neered 7 years ago. The main theme that marks the community is that of twenty-four hour prayer involving all 5 senses and a constant presence in sup-plication to God.

This is not done as a chore, because they discovered prayer is enjoy-able and because one of the highest values of the community is the presence of the Father.

24/7 KIN

GD

OM

FAM

ILY

E

CHURCH IS A PRAYING FAMILYby

Erika burk

enes

What would happen if we

actually lived like we were sons and

daughters in the family

of the kingdom of heaven?

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The idea of 24-hour prayer is not original to them, of course, but has actually been around since the very beginning of the church. All around the world, there are large and small houses of prayer open all hours of the day in order to be always in the presence of the Lord, completely unplanned and yet in unity.

The Boiler Room community is a group of friends who are family sim-ply loving God and praying together. Adam adopted this principle years ago when God gave him spiritual parents to mentor him and he has been living it ever since.

Adam and his family live this out every day as they live right next to the other families God has put in their lives. Some of the fam-ilies in the Boiler Room even live under the same roof. He has learned that living as a family reads romantically and lives sacrificially because you are in a constant process of putting others before your-self. He says that, though conflicts are inevitable, processing them in a Christ-like manner always

leads to both growth and healing. The best guide-book he has found to help them learn how to live with each other is the Gospel itself.

As long as they maintain following the principles of honoring God, honoring each other, and honoring themselves, their cohabitation runs smoothly. Not only does this apply to physically living with others, but also living together in the kingdom family.

The community has seen a lot of re-vival in many of the parents in the community. Adam says that the re-vival they have been seeing is “not a swoop-dee-doop of the Holy Spirit, but is actually the Gospel encounter-ing moms and dads to raise children

in the ways of the Lord.” According to Adam, revival is an entire society learning what it means to be hu-man again. They are being lit back on fire for God to both help raise up the spiritual infants entering the church as well as being called out into the world to spread that fire to others. May this continue to hap-pen through the KC Boiler Room community!

FAMILY READS ROMANTICALLY BUT LIVES SACRIFICIALLY

“God makes the waves;

we ride them.”

ADAM COX

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BACKSTORY At 18 years old, Christian Gonzales woke up one night and heard God speak to him, saying, “Your whole life will be about this phrase, “In the beginning was the Word.” He now travels around the world shar-ing on the Word in creative ways including performing selections of the Gospel of Luke and experiencing the bible with all 5 senses. He has a passion for art and architecture and how they affect and speak to people about life and God.

AMag: What is the significance of the state-ment, “In the Beginning was the Word”? CG: Taken from The Gospel of John, in the Greek “logos” means “word” and also “story.” AMag: Where does your fountain of artis-tic inspiration come from?CG: I believe rest and my prayer life with

the Lord are where my inspiration flows. We cannot find rest unless it’s in the Lord. Equally, The Word of God is so important. I started studying how language affects people and at the same time I was study-ing architecture and how it speaks to people. How do we know a building is American or French? Are all the architectural de-tails in line with this? How do we arrive at this impression? It speaks to us.I approach architecture with the belief that the Lord has something to say about it and express from it. Environ-ment and place are so important to God. For Example, God says, “Take off your shoes, where you are standing is holy ground” (Exo 3:5)—even the texture of different spaces

is impor-tant to God.

Beauty is not simply deco-

rative, it is criti-cal. I gain a lot of

inspiration by just asking the Lord,

“Why is this impor-tant?”

AMag: What is lan-guage and arts role in

society?CG: I teach on language

and communication, Art is a bridge, I’m creating a

bridge to a place—an un-seen reality. The reality of

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God is so vibrant and profound and life-giving that if I were to accurately describe it and express it and build a bridge to that reality, everything would change.AMag: How can we present the gos-pel and the Word authentically and cre-atively?CG: We are who God created us to be. We aren’t just to share the Gos-pel—that’s awesome of course, but the Good news is good news, because its Good News to you and that’s a testimo-ny because people see the Good News manifested in your life. It’s not propa-ganda that we are guilted into sharing with others. Propaganda comes from a place of lack of relationship. Its just information that I am processing and assembling and crafting in a way that feels convincing and cogent, but there is a lack of deep personal investment in

relationship with the information. Many of us have grown up in a culture that prioritizes reason, but what we have to understand is that the way we think was taught by something or somebody and we are more used to operating in this way of thinking than a more ab-stract way.AMag: Can you give us a testimony of how God has used the teaching about reading the Word with all 5 senses?CG: We were exploring the Psalm 21 and the statement, “You have placed a crown of pure gold on my head” stuck out to this girl. I was leading the exer-cise and was pushing them not toward the obvious, but beyond it—encourag-ing them to exercise their imaginations

to be open to what they wouldn’t ex-pect. This girl saw the hands of the Lord put-ting the gold crown on her head, but what struck her was that they were a man’s hands. She said I didn’t want him to be a man because I was raped by a man and so, in her mind, he can’t be a man. That day, the Lord allowed her to get over her fear and find free-dom and healing from that moment when she was abused. So that was a really powerful moment!People sometimes don’t understand that they read with their entire body’s and understanding is just something that occurs in your whole being not just in the rational processes of the mind. What is right actually resonates first with your heart and then you process what happens.

ART IS A BRIDGE.

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