The Holy Spirit Indwelling

Ok, so we are due for an update after retreat.

We headed to Lenk Simmental, Switzerland last weekend for the High School Retreat. Each year BFA takes the students away for one weekend to give them some time away from Kandern to retreat and focus in on their spiritual theme for the year.

A look at the Swiss Alps in the background of the retreat center.

Snow makes everything even prettier doesn't it?

Heading to Switzerland sounds pretty crazy and exotic, and it kind of is to me. However this was only a 2.5 hour drive for us. I am a little baffled that God has allowed me to live so close to so much beauty.








This year the Chaplain's department chose the theme "Indwelling" With John 14:20 as the verse for the school to focus on this year. Jon Schliep (Brother of my awesome co-worker Kristi) came and chose to really focus in on the Holy Spirit and His role in the world.

To be perfectly honest I was feeling pretty "heavy" going into the weekend. I was struggling to think positively about the work I was asking God to do. How does one balance a burden for the lost with the joy of seeing growth and maturing in other believers? I don't really know, but I have felt heavy laden with the weight of the lost lately. I don't think that is a bad thing by any means, but sometimes I think I can get hopeless and forget that I am burdened for the lost because I HAVE hope. Walking in that hope is one of the things that makes following Christ attractive to others.

I thought I would break down a few of the things we talked about this weekend, just to give you an idea of what God is up to in the hearts of our staff and students.

The weekend consisted of four sessions, each of which followed by a small group meeting to discuss what Jon shared.

In session 1 Jon started with an overview of the Holy Spirit's presence throughout Biblical history. Some things that stood out to me from this session was the succinct way Jon talked about the purpose of the Spirit. We blew through a ton of Scripture, and I am still going back and thinking through a lot of it.
Some of my notes from the evening:
1. God created us. (Genesis 2)
2. God is with us. (Genesis 2:15-17)
**Insert Genesis 3:8 and so a dramatic shift. Sin has entered and broken communion with God. Because God cannot be with sin He cannot be with us.
3. God is for us. (God spends the entire Old Testament fighting for the hearts of his Chosen People. He sends the Spirit to do great things among the people. Some of which seem quite nutso. Judges 15:14-15 1 Samuel 11:5-7)
4. God promises that He will REcreate us.  (Ezekiel 36:23-27)
**Insert silence after the promise. Gap between the OT and NT.
5. God with us again! (Matthew 1:21-23)
6. God in us. Something new. (John 14:16-17; 16:7-11)
Jon ended each service with some "So Whats?" and "Now Whats?" The thing that stuck out to me most was when he asked them to actually look inside and survey the state of their heart. He asked them to evaluate where they stood with God. Honestly.

I went to the retreat not responsible for a small group of students. The ladies I stayed with Kristi, Amanda, and Elizabeth and I had a tiny small group with Kristi leading us through the questions. We were all pretty broken during this time.


Session 2: A lot of great things to think on from this session. Jon kicked it off by telling a story about coming home from work one day to find the kitchen messy and saying out loud, "The kitchen is messy." To him, just a statement. Pure fact. To his wife Ellie it was commentary on what she had been doing all day. Discussion continued on what Jon said and what he meant by it. Jon exclaimed, "You can't tell me what I meant, only I can tell you what I meant by that."
Jon used this story to present the concept that one of the Holy Spirit's role in our lives is to be the one who "explains what God meant." He helps us to read and understand Scripture. James 1:5-6 was referenced and the concept that without the Holy Spirit, there are things about God that we quite simply cannot understand. He guides us into the depths with God. Jon used this time to talk about the difference between worldly wisdom and Godly wisdom. Much more Scripture was referenced.

Our ResLife small group was much more refreshed walking out of this service. We discussed times we have seen the Holy Spirit at work in our lives and truths He has revealed to us.


So there was a lot of free time during the day. I filled part of it by being on a staff team for the dodgeball tournament. Miraculously I did not get hit in the head at any point during the tournament. Our team quite frankly dominated (with little to no help from me, but hey, they had to have two girls on the team.) We did not lose a single game and were the ultimate winners of the tournament. I am still waiting on my trophy.

For E, Free time meant snowball fights. Thanks for the picture SG

That evening we headed into the 3rd session. My notes from this session were pretty sparse. I was very much floating back and forth between listening to Jon and praying that God's words would break into the hearts of our students. To give the general gist of this Jon spoke of the Spirit's role in repentance. He then boldly called the student's to repentance. He ended the time with a call to spend the next song thinking and evaluating and asking the Spirit to guide us to repentance, be it for the first time or for a specific sin. He came back up after a song and asked the student's to respond. He invited them to stand if they felt the Spirit convicting them and guiding them to repentance.

In my mind this is the typical camp moment where two or three bold kids stand up immediately and the rest who want to stand sort of filter up while looking around the room at their friends. Boy was I surprised. Jon counted to 3 and in one massive movement about 2/3 of the student body stood immediately without care or concern for who stood or sat beside them. I was mostly in shock. Then I began praying fervently for God to keep drawing those student's and to not allow Satan to snatch the conviction they were feeling.

Small group time found our little group of 4 in a bit of shell shock. I am not sure why I am always surprised when God does miraculous things, especially when I have seen Him act so swiftly so many times. We praised God for the work His Spirit was accomplishing in the hearts of our students and shared the work He was doing in our own. I had my fired up southern voice going. I really wanted to reach out to a few of the girls from the dorm, but wasn't able to connect with them so I just kept praying that Jesus would continue the work He started that evening.

Session 4: Sunday morning we had one last session before heading back to Kandern.
Jon basically spent the time talking through the kind of walking in circles conversation between "What is my role?" and "What is the Holy Spirit's role?" He was very open from the beginning that he intended us to leave the sermon without answers. Which I really appreciated. I think often times camps and retreats choose a topic to be wrapped up in a nice little package that you can return home with to say, "Look what I learned." but then we set that pretty package on a shelf and don't move it into the rest of our everyday life. By leaving the conversation open ended and with too many questions left to answer in the last small group session students have a way to transition what they have learned up in the literal mountains and bring it back to their day to day lives.

He shared this Bonhoeffer quote related to Galatians 5:

“Fruit is always the miraculous, the created; it is never the result of willing, but always a growth. The fruit of the Spirit is a gift of God, and only He can produce it. They who bear it know as little about it as the tree knows of its fruit. They know only the power of Him on whom their life depends”

Ok, so that was a LOT of thoughts. And obviously I am still processing and working through it all. As are our students. When I got home I wanted to continue thinking about the Holy Spirit and His role so I picked up some books I have had for a while and started reading. One being Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala and the other being The Holy Spirit: Who He is, What He Does, and Why You Should Care by RA Torrey and Barry L. Davis.

Please be praying as all of the students and staff continue working through these things. Pray that we would listen to the Holy Spirit as He guides us to truth.

Love these weirdos.

Cute little Freshmen

Retreat

So in a few weeks the whole school will be loading up on some busses and heading across the border to Switzerland for High School Retreat. Dorm Staff doesn't typically go as this is a school side event put on by the Chaplain's department, however you know me, if they put retreat in the title I am totally sold. Honestly, a lot of why I want to go is a chance to understand more about the spiritual atmosphere at BFA.

I am not always the best about keeping open expectations. Coming to BFA, I took what I knew about high schoolers in general, blended it with a bit of what I had been taught about TCKs (Third Culture Kids) and then tossed in random things I had heard about what students here were like. I knew better than to expect a school full of kids who were totally sold out to God and only made incredibly wise and responsible choices. I'm not quite that naive. However, I think I came in with this idea that apathy wouldn't be a thing here. I expected kids to be either totally on board with Jesus, or pretty strongly opposed to Him. I also thought that I was going to be working with students who were just light years of maturity above the average teenager I had interacted with in the States.

I know this will shock you (sarcasm font) but somehow my expectations were wrong. That seems to happen to me a fair amount. I am pretty sure that is the entire process of becoming an adult.

In so many ways students here blow my expectations out of the water in a positive way. In other ways I had elevated the idea of a student who loves Christ being someone who just "gets it" I forgot that developmentally, while many have lived life in a big way, and have experiences I will never get, they are still in fact teenagers. And I mean that in the most perfect way. I don't use the phrasing, "Well they are teenagers." in a negative way. I like the stage of life that is teenagerdom. It is a weird, hard, and confusing time, but I think it is cool how God uses it. I'd say I am probably somewhere in my teenage years in relation to my faith.

This is a really long way to say, the students here are highschoolers. And while in many ways they are different from my previous frame of reference for what that means (at any given meal four or more languages are thrown around the table) at the core, there are so many similarities to myself and my friends in high school.

There are students who just really love Jesus. They are figuring out what that means, but they are enamored with Him. And it does my heart good to know that students like that exist here.

There are students here who may just flip if they here the name Jesus one more time. They are tired of it, they have heard it their whole lives and are just done with the whole spiel. It does my heart good to know that they are here.

There are students who ache for "church" to look like what it does at "home" There are students who celebrate that here they can have "church" that is different from "home"

I could go on and on. I think my point is that it would take a lot of words for me to explain students here, because, much like at home they are made up of layer upon layer of unique story.

So bringing this back around to retreat. Kids are a mixed bag of emotions when it comes to how they feel about retreat. And I would really love it if you joined me in praying for them as this time of spiritual focus draws near.

Things to pray for:
~Speaker: Jon Schliep Ask that God would continue speaking to him as he finishes his preparations. Pray for his wife Ellie and him as they travel here. Pray that during the times that he is sharing, God would give him clear and distinct guidance on what to say.
~Worship leader: (I don't know their name.) Pray that they would enter worship in Spirit and Truth. Pray that they would be focused on leading us into worship, not entertaining us.
~Chaplains Office Staff: Pray that they would be able to work through all of the details with ease. Pray that logistics would not become a distraction from the work of God.
~Small Group Leaders: Pray they would be able to guide students into real and honest discussion about their relationships with God and others. Give them wisdom to know which ways to steer conversations.
~Students: Pray that God would soften hearts. Pray that students would be able to lay aside various distractions and listen for God to speak. Pray against illness that would prevent students from attending. Pray that the retreat would be restful and spiritually renewing. Pray that the work God does in hearts during this time would not be left there, but brought back to continue meaningful impact in the community.

I want to leave you with a short Psalm one of my girls wrote at retreat two years ago. She was watching the fog rise over the mountains. We will be returning to the same location this year. I have an expectant heart that God will lift the fog in the hearts of our students again.

As the fog lifts up by Mary Moon

As the fog lifts up
So does my fears lift up to you

As the fog rises up
My hope rises up to you

When I feel afraid
When I feel hopeless

Your hands lift up the fog in my soul
And present your might and glory

Like a mountain fixed powerfully
And its trees reaching the skies with the tips of its fingers

My arms lift up to you
And I cannot help but stand in awe of you

Father you are the Creator
Father you are the Almighty

Though my future seems dim like a fog
And my fears blind me

Father, you are still behind the fog
You have never left your place

My hopes soar like a bird
Hovering through the fog
And I trust in you presence behind the fog

A House of 21 Messy

So this is a post I have been meaning to write for approximately 4 months. Whoops. I wanted to kind of give a tour of the dorm and school to give everyone a general overview of where I live. I'm very visual, so blogging through pictures is the easiest way for me to do things. Look for a common thing in most of the pictures.

We will start with the outside of the dorm.

Isn't she a beaut?! Every dorm here is unique, and perhaps I am a little biased, 

but I think mine is the best. Right down to the building itself.

Our dorm is called Storchenblick. Or Storch. We live in a small village called Holzen. We are called Storch (Stork) due to the storch preserve located in Holzen. The building itself is pretty old. I'm not sure exactly when it was built, but the BFA community has used it as a dorm for around 40 years. Prior to being used by BFA it was a school building in the community and has served other purposes throughout the years. BFA currently has eight dorms. Four of the dorms are in downtown Kandern, the same town as the school, and the other four dorms are in smaller outlying villages.

Sidenote: The trough out front is used for dunking girls on their birthday. After they have been dunked they chase everyone else trying to give them sopping wet hugs.

As we go inside we enter the main level of the house. All of the common areas are on this level.

Computer/ sitting area

Living room

Laundry room

    

guest bathroom and music room

Kitchen and Dining room

The dorm parents also live on this floor. They have a small apartment across from the kitchen area.

As you go up a floor you have 7 rooms for the girls, and 1 RA room. They all share a bathroom with three sinks, 2 toilets, and 2 showers. Well, it is actually one shower for now. One of the girls was cleaning the shower and used a little too much elbow grease and shattered the shower door.

After you walk up on more set of stairs you make it to my floor. I only have 5 student rooms on my hall, with 6 girls total. We also have a community bathroom with 2 showers, 2 sinks, and 2 toilets. One or two of the girls from the 2nd floor come up to my floor to shower since there are less people up here. More have been doing it since they are down to one shower downstairs.

       

My floor also has a small study room. 

Then my room is at the end of the hall. I am pretty fortunate to have a large room. Especially in a building this old. I am coming to really love this space as I try to make it home. I've filled it with a lot of things that make it feel comfy and welcoming to me. I've had some random living arrangements the past 6.5 years since I moved to college. This one has the best views so far.

         

So there is a basic tour of the house. I don't have good school photos right now and this post was getting to be a bit long anyway. I will try to continue the train of thought here next week with school photos and a post about what a "typical" week looks like here. 

Beating a dead horse

If you were wondering what it feels like to be 23 days away from moving to another country for 2 years the answer is overwhelmed. If you were wondering what it feels like to need to have over $500 in monthly donations left to fundraise before you can buy a plane ticket to move to said country, that answer is overwhelmed and nauseous.

Can I just be honest here and say fundraising is not fun. I know that some people really enjoy this aspect of their job, but I am not one of those people. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE sharing with people what I am going to be doing. I just don't like the last bit of the meeting where I casually mention, oh yeah, I need you to help pay for me to do this. Because the thing is, I am passionate about what I am doing. I believe it is important in the Kingdom of God. I think it is a worthy cause to give you money... I just don't want to be the one who asks you to do that. And yet I think God has things to teach me in this process. I'm learning a lot about patience. I am learning about trusting God in action, not just in words.

As I was praying one night this week I began to just beg God to provide people who could lift me up and I remembered a program that we used at Crossgates to sign people up for 24 hours of prayer before our new season would start in the college service. I thought, "I wish I knew I had specific people praying for me daily." I know that some people do. But I don't know with confidence each day that someone has prayed for me. Imagine how confident that would make you. So I decided that I wanted that. Then I realized if I asked people to fast and pray for a meal once a month, and asked them to give the money they might have spent on that meal, then I would be incredibly close to my goal.

So for example, a friend would choose the 3rd of the month. For one meal on the 3rd of every month they would fast and pray for me. They would also sign up to do a monthly donation for $10 per month.

If 31 people were able to sign up for that then I would have $310/ month and one person for each day of the month. If 62 people signed up then I would have $620/month and would deb totally funded, and each day I would know that TWO people where specifically sacrificing a meal to pray for me and my girls. In some ways I feel like I am asking a lot of people, but I need a lot from people. I NEED your prayers. Each day I wake up thinking about all that I want to see God do during my time in Germany and I know just how much I need people to support me in that.

I have 1,824 Facebook friends. If 62 of them can partner with me I will be able to go. Able to do the thing I know God has called me to. So if we are being honest here, you should know that I am praying for the people reading this. I am praying that God would guide you as you read this. That if He leads you would follow.

But most importantly I am thankful for this. I am thankful that no matter how I get there, God is in this journey. He is in the process of getting to Germany, and will be with me guiding me once I get there. I am thankful for His unending faithfulness. Because no matter how weary I become, I can find my rest in Him.

English major friends, please forgive my terrible usage of commas. It is my deepest grammar struggle. 

Halfway and Vision Messy

Well guys. We are one month and 8 days from my hopeful leave date. I have reached my halfway goal. Thankful for God's provision of family and friends who are outstanding. May God continue to be glorified in fundraising.

I spent last week at Teach Beyond orientation. Teach Beyond is my "sending company." Up until a few months ago I didn't really know what a sending company was. But let me tell you I chose a great one. It was awesome this week to hear from so many Teach Beyond (TB) missionaries about what the vision for TB is and what they desire to see happen for their company. It got me thinking about vision/mission statements. 

TB's is the following: Mission Statement 
Who We Are 
As followers of Jesus we are an international organization providing transformational education to children and to adults. 
What We Do 
We provide teaching and learning services to all regardless of gender, ethnicity, or religion in order to promote holistic personal growth and enduring social benefit. 


So anyway. I have thought a lot this week about what my mission or vision statement is for my life. I kept going back to the passage of scripture about the woman at the well in John chapter 4. After Jesus tells her "everything about her" she runs off to tell the entire town about him. Then we see the following verses. 
39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”
(Emphasis mine)
Read the full story here
I think this verse perfectly captures my vision for my life.  I want to be willing to share my testimony. I want to run to people wherever they are, no matter their circumstances and tell them "He told me all that I ever did." I'd like to add onto that "And he LOVES me. He loves me. He knows every hateful thought I have thought. He knows have word of death I have spoken into people. But he loves me. He loves me." I want people to believe in Him because of my testimony. But then I want to see those people ask Jesus to stay with them. Then I want them to believe because of His Word (himself). And oh how I long to hear this next part. I want people to say to me, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world." Do you hear that??????? "For we have heard for ourselves." Oh the importance of those words. 

In one month and 8 days (God willing) I will be in Germany. I will be in the place where God is calling me to himself.  I will be living with 14-16 young women who have heard the testimony of many faithful followers of Christ. I'd like to add my name to the list of people whose testimony they heard that sent them towards belief in Christ. With your prayer and support I will seek to encourage them to ask Jesus to stay with them. To ask him to speak to them. Then for them to return to me saying that they have heard Him for themselves. 

So that is my "Vision Statement" I guess. It provides direction for this wanderer. As God draws me to himself I desire to see this same pattern play out in the places He and I dwell together. 

Hope Messy

I am incredibly uncomfortable with fundraising. I consistently question why people should give to me. "My friends have other friends who are missionaries. They find other ministries to be more worth their while. I shouldn't bother that person, I don't really even know them that well." Thoughts like these circle around my brain a lot. And honestly. I often believe them.

21                  But this I call to mind,

                 and therefore I have hope:

22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;[b]
    his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
    “therefore I will hope in him.”

Lamentations 3:21-24 

Granted. The author here was describing tragedies far greater than not being as funded as I want to be right now. (One part of the verse mentions his teeth grinding on gravel.) But the idea is the same. I have misplaced my hope. I put my hope in FB posts and shares. I put my hope in the kindness of others. But truly my hope is to be placed in Christ. My hope is to be found in Him. That out of His glorious riches He will supply people who desire to meet financial and prayer needs for me. So here I am. Placing my hope back in the Creator of the Universe and seeking to use the resources He has supplied me with. I am mildly creative and I love a good DIY project. So I have put that to use. I have been making several items to sell. My lack of confidence in my artwork makes it hard for me to set a price. But I am asking people to consider making a monthly donation to my Teach Beyond account in place of a one time check written to myself. I also had a T-Shirt designed by www.fundthenations.com (An amazing website that works with non-profits to get them inexpensive designs and shirts printed to use as fundraisers. They have been outstanding to work with) 

This seems to be the most popular item I have made. World map on salvaged wood.

Mississippi and Alabama. My two homes.

USA on Salvaged wood.

Working on another one of these with "Sweet" written above it in a cursive script.

My T-shirt

My first pallet creation.

If you are interested in partnering with me in ministry by purchasing one of these items, or by making a donation to my Teach Beyond account send me an email cummingsjordanl@gmail.com and I will get in touch with you about how to purchase or donate! Thanks!

This is the blog of my new friend Beth. She is fundraising to do "The World Race" a very cool mission opportunity. I love her thoughts on fundraising. She worded things in a way I don't know how. She is hilarious and loves Jesus a whole lot. Beth's Fundraising Post

Fundraising Messy

Well. It has been a while. I'm sorry I may be the worst blogger ever. A lot of life has happened in the time since I last blogged. I'll try to be brief and give an overview before I get to the point of this blog.

November:
Came home. Thanks were given. American food was eaten. Culture was reverse shocked.

December:
Sister got married.
Made it to MS to see my MS people finally. (Still waiting to see a few friends. There is seriously not enough time in the world to see all the cool people I know.)
I LOVE CHRISTMAS DECORATING. I put up a lot of decorations.
Mid way through December  Sean, the brother of one of my close friends from college, was in a car accident and was transported to the hospital in Birmingham. I spent a lot of December driving to UAB hospital and hanging around in a waiting room hoping and praying for things to be different than they were. I really need to post a full blog about this time. In short, God is good even when I don't like they way things go. Officially decided to accept the position of RA at BFA. Officially overwhelmed with changes.

January:
More hospital. Sean died. Went to KY for funeral. God was praised for His goodness, in the midst of sorrow. Got some sort of stomach related illness. Ended sleeping on the couch at my friend's childhood home while their family is mourning. Guys. I have thrown up in so many places I never thought I would. It's truly unfortunate. Snowed a few times in Bama, which was delightful.

February:
Holy cow a lot of time has passed since I blogged. In other news I am a terrible procrastinator of things I don't enjoy. My Great-Great (great grandmother) died. At this point I am really tired of funerals. I did get a new niece. Ellis Patterson Cummings was born Feb. 27th. She is pretty stinking adorable if I do say so myself. Started attending my parents church faithfully. Prior to this I had done a lot of visiting.

March:
Spring Break with all the fam. Drove to visit friends in FL and GA while on the coast. Worked around the house.

April:
Planted a garden. Read a lot of books. Helped with an event at the church.

May:
Here we are. May kind of hit me with the fact that, while I have done some fundraising, I have not pushed this like I need to. God has given me an opportunity to do a job that fits so clearly into things I love, but I have been pretty lazy in my efforts to fully prepare for the job. So after some conviction time I am in full fundraising mode these days. Which brings me to the point of the blog. Why am I fundraising and what is next for me???


ANNOUNCEMENT!
I have accepted a position with Teach Beyond ( http://teachbeyond.org ) to work at Black Forest Academy ( http://bfacademy.com )in Kandern, Germany as a resident assistant in their dorms. BFA is a boarding school which hosts many students, grades 7-12, whose parents are Workers in regions that aren't super conducive to their children attending school. My job as an RA will be somewhere between acting as a big sister and a mom, which are two of my favorite roles to play! I will have the privilege of discipling a house of young women alongside another RA and Dorm Parents. I am beyond excited about this opportunity. I went into teaching originally desiring to work with middle school or high school students, I love that age. I love teaching them to challenge themselves to look at the big picture and ask hard questions and be curious and to live a Good Story. ( I also love run on sentences.) Ultimately that is what I desire to do with this job. I want to live a Good Story and share the Good News.

Here comes the part of the blog that makes my insides all kinds of squishy. I need money to be able to do this job. (Yikes.) All of the employees at Teach Beyond fundraise their salaries. The money goes to paying for healthcare, insurance, training, and basic needs so that we can do our jobs well. Any donations made toward my account are tax deductible. Everything in me screams against point blank asking for money, but I know this job is what God has equipped me for and fundraising is a portion of this job. So I am currently working on some of my mediocre art to try and sell. I am gathering things for a BIG yardsale in June. I have been putting some money in savings. But mainly I am praying for people who are willing to be a partner with me in prayer for this next season of life, and are willing to make a financial gift to allow me to do a job that I think is important.

So if you would like to do that, you can follow this link to the Teach Beyond website.
https://give.teachbeyond.org
There are several ways you can give. Each way has an option to designate who to give for. You can simply put my name in the box.

If you would like to talk with me personally before you decide to give I would absolutely love to meet with you. Comment and I will get in touch with you to meet for coffee or a treat and I can answer any questions you might have about Teach Beyond and Black Forest Academy.