Life Down Under

Time to brag on our team

I was thinking today about the team of people that the Lord has gathered around us here in Tauranga, the ones He has chosen to help birth this House of Prayer and missions base here in the ends of the earth. When we left Kansas City 2 1/2 years ago to venture into the vast unknown, we had absolutely no idea what (or who) would await us. We knew a handful of amazing people already here, but also wondered who the names and faces would be that the Lord would add to our number in the years to come. (Actually, to be completely honest, when we left KC, we really had no idea if this thing would actually work and if we would even still be here "in the years to come". By His grace, we are still here; and for as long as He chooses to impart the same grace, we will continue to be here, laboring to see His house built). Anyways, for those out there reading this who have ever started a house of prayer, you will understand what I mean when I say it is hard work. For those reading this who have never started a house of prayer, I hate to ruin the romatic ideas of what that may be like, but, it's really hard work. And if this is something that the Lord ever calls you into, I pray that you will be blessed with a team as incredible as He has blessed us with.

I was looking around the prayer room this morning, silently thanking the Lord for the ones He has gathered here. Many of the ones in the room today have been with us since the very beginning, others for a year, some for just a couple weeks. But let me tell you, the faithfulness of these people is remarkable. I have seen them show up day after day, week after week, year after year to gather together for no reason other than to worship Jesus and lift their voices and cry out for His mercy on behalf of this city and this nation. Many winter mornings the temperature in the prayer room has been colder than the temperature outside; a few times our worship leaders have joyfully worshipped the Lord truly before the Audience of One ~ with no one (or only one or two) people in the room. All of them have gone without legitimate pleasures in order to pursue the superior Pleasure. But still they keep coming back day after day, to set themselves before the Lord, to pursue Him until He comes, to seek until they find. They have really bought into the fact that their reward is Him, and nothing else. And they are growing in leaps and bounds. These guys are the real deal.

So first of all, I'm grateful to the Lord for surrounding us with such amazing people. And I'm grateful to them for their faithfulness and devotion to Christ Jesus, and also for standing alongside us through the thick and the thin. You guys are the best.