http://kristinhanson.tumblr.com/post/626265660/expectations-exceeded

She is currently staffing a Call2All DTS led by our friends Johnny and Jenni.

Tomorrow, we fly out of Charlotte to DC to LA to Kona—a looong day of travel! Please pray for smooth travels.

Our time in South Carolina was a great because it allowed us to hanging out with friends and family. It had some hard moments as well adjusting back to life, work, cell phones, tv, friends, and church. I found myself being afraid to speak about what God did, because the response wasn’t what I expected many times. I realized that some people just didn’t want to talk about God as much as I did. And then, it was so worth it to see some people respond positively as we talked about what God did in Kona and on outreach. I learned quickly who the hungry ones are and also not to worry about the response but rest in the fact that God is doing the work, I am just the vehicle. I am still learning that being uncomfortable (and awkward) is sometimes necessary for God to work and making people uncomfortable helps them grow and question their theology. My hope is that my stories and personal experiences get listeners thinking, because many times this is what Jesus did. He asked questions to get people thinking.

It makes me think back to when Melodie and Jed came back from their DTS. If God hadn’t prepared events leading up to when they came back, I would have been one of those people that wanted to change the subject from God. I thought I knew Him, but little did I know that my whole view of God would be flipped upside down in only a few months. God chose that moment to have my heart (and Camille’s heart) open to hear what Melodie and Jed had to say and eat up every word, because I was hungry for God! I pray that anybody that reads this post and finds the topic of God boring or confusing to become hungry for Him! Lord open their hearts and show them the real, raw, powerful, unpredictable and good God!

I’m still hungry to know more about God and I look forward to spending time getting to know Him. Now starts my personal journey to know God and make Him known..

(photo at Waipio Valley with friends Kevin and Jelle taken through Liam’s sunglasses)

Come by on May 15th for a MASSIVE sale! We are selling off a lot tons of stuff to help fund our mission trip coming up! We sold our house in preparation for the missions field and, as a result, we are selling most items from our home!

We have a beautiful queen bedroom set, clothes, decor, electronics, dvds and more!

LOCATION: Just off HWY 290, 16 W McElhaney Rd, Taylors, SC 29687
GET DIRECTIONS CLICK HERE

HOURS: 8am-sold out!

Craigslist-ing:

http://greenville.craigslist.org/gms/1731025605.html

According to wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn a missionary is:

• someone who attempts to convert others to a particular doctrine or program
• someone sent on a mission–especially a religious or charitable mission to a foreign country
• relating to or connected to a religious mission

My Thought Process Timeline

1 Year ago: Missionaries go to a place to convert people to Christianity. They live in the jungles of Africa (or enter third world country). They don’t own many things.

6 Months ago: Missionaries go to a place to proclaim the good news about Jesus and what that means for their lives. The places they go could be anywhere even America. They help people who are hurting physically or spiritually. They live a simple lifestyle supported by their church or individuals.

Today: Missionaries are committed to seeing God’s Kingdom come to earth where ever they are in the world. Being a missionary is not about a place its about a lifestyle of following Jesus. They seek to solve the things that break God’s heart: injustice, sickness, slavery, bondage, and his lost sheep. They know He desires mercy. They are led by the Holy Spirit. Their mission in a particular day could be befriending a lonely christian and encouraging him, working with local government to fight sex trafficking, working in a café with Spirit open for opportunities for God to break through, healing a broken ankle and tell them about the One who healed them, or praying for the city they are currently in. They realize that in order to have lasting fruit and avoid burn out, they have to walk in the reality that everything is a reaction to God’s love and that is their foundation of life and ministry. He loved us first and is the very definition of love. Efforts are empty without love. Worship is essential to be filled up and get Heavenly perspective for the day. They know that God supernaturally heals and they pray for people as opportunities arise. They also know God gave them a creative mind to think about difficult issues and take well-thought-out action. Money is no longer a source of bondage or control just an opportunity to see miraculous provision.

Church in Ödeshög, Sweden

I’ve had quite a change in thought in one year. God has stripped the stereotype of poor missionary in Africa to freed up, Holy Spirit empowered, laid down follower of Jesus who has a Fatherly God in Heaven looking after them even in the darkest places.

Thank you Jesus for giving me a new reality!

Feel free to give your thoughts and take on who a missionary is.

Fear dictates so many of our lives and decisions we make—fear of failure, fear of man, fear of not having enough money to retire or to pay the bills, fear of flying, fear of death, pain, etc, the list goes on. As my pastor talked about, many people suffer anxiety as a result all these fears. He spoke that my generation and the younger generation are suffering way more anxiety issues than older generations. How about you what do you fear? Are you anxious? Well I have the answer.

Jesus is the answer. Don’t roll your eyes because I keep saying He is the solution to all the world’s problems! He really is and fear is one problem he has covered.

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 2 Corinthians 3:17

If you believe in Jesus, His spirit is with you. Cultivate the Spirit in worship and prayer and you will notice that your fears melt away and you have a boldness develop.

These are the famous words of Jesus:

“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ²⁶“Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?²⁷And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? ²⁸And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, ²⁹yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.

³⁰But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! ³¹Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ ³²For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

³³But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. ³⁴So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:25-34

Just think about all your fears. What are they hold you back from? What is it accomplishing by being afraid? The devil has tricked you and I into thinking our fears help protect us or help us, but instead it is destroying us just as he wants to do. It prevents us from bringing God’s Kingdom to Earth with His perfect love that drives out all fear! The Lord brings victory over fear as we continually focus on Him and  and we can live in the freedom of knowing He is with us always and to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:26).

Freedom from Fear and Pain in Action

As Pastor Tomas finished his sermon on freedom from fear today, Camille had been feeling her neck hurting for most the service and she felt like the Lord said someone had neck pain and He was wanting to heal them. She contemplating going up to the mic to ask the congregation. I’m sure fears were going through her head, what if she was wrong and heard God wrong?, but she walked out in freedom and got on the mic and asked if anyone had neck pain because God wanted to heal them. Sure enough a woman came up and said she’d had neck pain for a few weeks now and didn’t know what it was. Tomas, Camille and I got around her and prayed. After the prayer, the lady with tears streaming down her face said her neck felt better! Thank you Jesus! It was cool to see Camille walk out in action what Tomas had just preached about!

What is staffing?

We will help lead the school as well as lead a team to a yet-to-be-decided location. Staffing seems like an amazing opportunity to view the Discipleship Training School from a different perspective. Instead of receiving teachings and discipleship, we will have an opportunity to pour into others. I’m sure we will learn and be discipled along the way. I really enjoyed seeing God’s radical transformation of my fellow DTS classmates. I get excited as I think about Camille and I being a vehicle that God can use to see transformation in the coming students.

How and why did we decide to staff?

We started thinking about staffing even before our DTS outreach. We looked into a few DTS’ we could staff and talked with some leaders. When we returned from outreach, we sat down with a campus leader that said as he prayed about the classic DTS school he thought to ask us to staff not even knowing we had been thinking about it. Camille said she felt excitement as he mentioned it. We prayed into it and felt peace about going. I really felt God say, “Yes, go” as I was worshipping one Friday—it seems I hear God’s voice most clearly when I am in worship and adoration towards Him.

We had a few conversations with the leader Andrew York (click his name to view his blog) and loved the vision for the school and saw the passion Andrew had for the school. It had a lot of the same goals as our Community Transformations DTS like living out a missional lifestyle flowing out of intimacy with God and targeting all spheres (Business, Arts&Entertainment, etc) with the Gospel. We’re excited to get to know Andrew more when we arrive on campus. We also have some other great staffers who we are excited to meet!

What is the Classic DTS (Summer)? (from University of Nations website)

The Summer DTS is the integration of all the very best things God has called the Discipleship Training School to be.   It will propel you into the most radical movement of global transformation the world has ever known! A movement of people who are consumed with a passion to intimately know Jesus and translate His life into every setting they find themselves in.

The Summer DTS will include key elements such as:

Learn More: http://uofnkona.edu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=175&Itemid=136&lang=en

Partnership and Prayers

We were really grateful for the prayer warriors who kept us in their prayers during our student DTS! In this next stage in following Jesus, we will need your prayers once again! We thank you so much for your prayers!

Although staffing is much less expensive than being a student, there are some costs. Camille and I want to give our whole heart and effort into this DTS, so we won’t be making any other income. We are relying on partnerships with friends who also have a heart for seeing hungry students transformed by the love of God and would be there next to us if they could. Here is our estimated needs:

Staff Fees including food & housing (4 months on campus at $700/month) – $2800

Travel (air) – $4900 ($1900 round trip to KONA and $3000 estimated cost for outreach tickets)

TOTAL: $7700

Prayerfully consider partnering with us as we partner with God in creating radical followers of Jesus! Click the link below for easy ways to partner with us:

PARTNER WITH US

Click on the Donate Button below to partner with us through paypal:

I also want to thank all of our prayer and financial partners! Without your backing, I’m sure things wouldn’t have gone so smoothly. Throughout the journey, Camille and I felt a real peace—even in the most dangerous places in Sweden and Finland. We are truly grateful for everything you have done! Through our partnership, people were healed, lives were saved, people were set on fire with a revelation of Gods love, and many seeds were planted.

Your partnership also resulted in two lives changed forever! What Camille and I experienced on our DTS is forever etched in our hearts. We experienced many revelations about God and who he is. His fatherly love for us, His children, and how he longs to have his lost sheep among him and that they would know His voice. God is no longer in a box—He’s unpredictable, but powerful, just and good, and His love for us is unfathomable! We will never fully know the mysteries of God but I’m going to try for the rest of my life to seek Him, worship Him and know Him, because it is so worth it—just a small revelation of who He is blows my mind!

What’s next now that we’re back in Greenville, SC?

We really have a great scenario unfolding. First of all, Jed and Melodie (bro in law and sister, DTS alumni) have continued to pour into this community and its exciting to see what is coming out of it. More and more people are catching the fire! It seems like something is happening here in Greenville, something big. Another crazy event is that people from our DTS are moving here not because of us but randomly finding their way here. Also, check out this new church that sprang up: Kingdom Culture. They do community outreaches every thursday and also have a Friday service. What’s happening, I don’t know, only God knows. I say lets just keep our gaze on Jesus and see what the King of kings can do and follow Him!

We are also looking into staffing a DTS which is what we just graduated from. We both share a passion to disciple and lead hungry people to God, so it would be a perfect fit for us. This would mean another 3 months in Kona, and 3 months leading an outreach. We also love the YWAM community in Kona. Financially, staffing is much less of an investment.

We are praying that God would lead us to His will for our lives. Bless you all in Jesus name!

Come say goodbye and hang out with us one more time before we head off to YWAM for 6 months!

WHERE: Calvin’s Parent’s farm off New Cut Rd. (at the red barn) The Vine Community Church on Wade Hampton (DIRECTIONS)

WHEN: This Friday (SEPT 18) at 6 PM

WHAT’S THERE: We are! Oh..and some music and food (some dancing might break out, but foot-tapping is acceptable)

RSVP: Facebook Click here

SEE YOU THERE!

The cupboards are pretty bare here in the Hanson house! We decided to pack up most of the house besides decor. If someone rents or buys our house while we are away, It’ll be an easier move out. Its pretty hard packing for 6 months, when you don’t know if you will end up in a cold place (Finland, Sweden, Amsterdam, NYC, Colorado and probably Israel) or a hot place (South Africa). Chances are it’ll be a cold place!

Sadness mixed with excitement and a little happiness thrown in for good measure

Camille and I are sad as we think about our friends and family we won’t see for 6 months, but at the same time, we are filled with excitement and happiness for this new chapter in our lives. I’m excited to see many things blossom out of this experience especially a closer relationship with Jesus. It’s also exciting thinking about the growth in our marriage (Camille and mine, not you, the reader, and mine ha, but hopefully that’ll grow too), the adventures we will have and the new friends we will meet!

My new position: Follower of Jesus

It’s crazy to think that for the next 6 months Camille and I will be focused on Jesus—Praising Him, telling others about Him, and praying to Him. It’ll be our full time “job”, and from what I’ve heard the best one in the world. I was talking to Jeff about that on Skype and he said after your DTS, it will be your focus for life. I believe it after seeing the people that have returned from doing a DTS!

Oh Lord, just let us praise You and lift up your holy Name forever!

This last week we had a visit from our good friend and Youth with a Mission leader, Jeff. He just came from a whirlwind trip through Europe checking out and preparing outreach locations (check out some videos) and wanted to stop in Greenville, SC because he loved the community so much last time, he wanted to see us all again. While he was here he came with us to hang out with the homeless and spoke to us about the true meaning of church, led a night of worship, teaching, and encouragement at The Vine Community Church and spoke to Dominion Community Church congregation. We had a awesome time at all those events. I can see he has a calling to speak to churches about the true meaning of being the body of Christ and what it looks like.  Here’s just a fraction of what I learned from hanging out with him…

An Deeper Meaning of Communion

What Jesus did at the last supper was much more symbolic than I realized and much more than a tradition I do every other Sunday. If you were sitting at the table at the last supper you probably would have been really confused, because Jesus was performing a Jewish marriage proposal. In Jewish tradition, the man would pour a cup of wine for his potential bride and wait to see if she drank it. The cup was a covenant. If she drank the cup she would accept his marriage proposal.  The groom would then give gifts and before leaving announce He is going to prepare a place for his bride. The Groom would go prepare the room for his bride and before returning would have to get approval from the father that the room was ready. If he was asked when is the date of the wedding, he would have to say, “only my father knows”.

The disciples must have been thinking, “Why is Jesus wanting to marry us? and why is this important?”  Jesus’ love for the church is so strong he offers his body as a gift for his bride (the church) and seals it with his blood on the cross. He went to prepare a place for His bride and we must wait readily for our bridegroom. Communion is actually a love story and one He wants us to share with everyone.

Thanks Jeff for this lesson, I’m excited for more teachings like this soon! You Rock! We love you!

It’s been an eye-opening experience for Camille and I as we’ve met and befriended some of the homeless. During the time, I’ve had to change and re-change my views on who the homeless are. Before Summer of Love, I didn’t think too much about the homeless unless one asked me for money and I tried to ignore them as I awkwardly walked by. Once I started to meet them, I realized these are real people with real human souls just like you and I, but due to some addiction they have put themselves in this situation. Then again, some people we feed aren’t really homeless, just really poor. Some are very spirited Christians. I met more people and my definition had to expand. I discovered some are sadly stuck. It really hit me with a woman we prayed for.

She started to talk about the bruises on her hands and face. She was being beaten by her alcoholic boyfriend. She told me she prayed to Jesus every night and she’d feel better and her spirits were lifted by morning, but then it would happen again. She said she loved him. I told her to get out of there. She said she had no where to go, because she had a charge against her (probably a drug charge) so she couldn’t get into a shelter. I tried to encourage her and hugged her  and said I loved her and that Jesus did to0. I could just see the sense of despair in her eyes as she spoke. That is what it is like to be truly stuck.

Please pray for the homeless, the poor, the beaten, the sick, the alcoholics, the drug addicts—Pray for my friends.

Check out the Brown Family Ministries at www.brownfamilyministries.org