Church is...Simple!

Hi everybody!

So it has been quite awhile since we have blogged, but don't worry, we are still alive! It has been a very busy last couple of weeks, so just to catch up, we will give y'all a giant overload of what has been going on! This way, you will get the whole picture of what we have been learning, experiencing, and praying through! So here it goes....

Early in October, we were blessed with the opportunity to meet George Patterson! He is a church planting guru who has been all over the world, and has witnessed many church planting movements. He inspired us to take the lives of Jesus and his disciples seriously. So when Jesus said "I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age." This is just incredible. Jesus gives us the command to go to all nations and share what we know about Jesus, not by ourselves... but with the presence of the Lord! I think Jesus knows this seems easier said than done...which is why he said, "Be sure of this: I am with you always." This isn't as hard as we sometimes make it, if we truly realize that the Holy Spirit is with us, all the time. Period. We learned how to simplify church, and strip the message of Jesus from the westerern ideas we have attached to it, therefore making it possible for Jesus to speak to ALL cultures! Not just ours! I would love to explain this more, but I could write 3 pages easily on what I learned from Mr. George. I would encourage you to find a book of his!

After George Patterson's class, we came back to Texas for our best friends wedding (which was AWESOME by the way! We love you Mr. and Mrs. Linville :-))! It was a crazy weekend filled with celebration, engagement photos and catching up with our awesome friends and family!! It was great to get rejuvenated and now we are ready to get planning for our outreach to Cambodia! Woo Hoo!

Right now, we are probably in the most intense part of the program! We are finishing up Elijah House (woo hoo, only three more sessions to go), working on individual Missionary Biography Devos (each week, one of us researches the life of a missionary and facilitates a devotional), doing a group book report on the Ragamuffin Gospel (SUCH a good book, I recommend it for all the people like us who are coming out of legalism and the people pleasing disease), continuing CHE (a program that works to help communities world-wide by meeting their spiritual, physical, and emotional health needs), learning the Khmere language (10, 2 hour sessions for 5 weeks), learning the basics to linguistics, preparing and forming partnership teams for our adventure to Cambodia, and planning a wedding! Woo Hoo! Very many exciting things going on, huh!?

Speaking of Cambodia, we have some exciting news! Last Wednesday, we had a Cambodia team meeting with Jonie Wise (All Nations church planter in Phnom Penh, Cambodia), where we learned more about what we will be doing, and the opportunities that we will have. Meghan will be able to work with young girls that are at risk for human trafficking. This will give her the opportunity to use her skills to teach the girls the trade of hairstyling, while also developing deep relationships! Chris will be able to work on the prospect of starting an actual hairstyling school for these girls to attend, and also start a mentoring project for the young boys. We are so excited about the amazing opportunities that God has put in front of us.

So, as you can see, there is a LOT going on up here in KC! We have more to update you on, but figured we can just blog later this week about other details! Thank you all for your prayers, support and love! Have a great week!

Love
Chris and Meghan