Women’s Ministries

You Can't Handle the Truth! November 18, 2009

article by Lauren Neal

I’ve recently had the privilege of starting a mentoring relationship with an “older” woman at this church. (She’s not old, just older than me!) I have had a desire for a mentor for a while, and, amazingly, she had wanted a mentoree for a while, too. So, as we chatted, and got deeper into talking about what this whole interaction would look like, she said, “Ok. So, what type of person are you? Are you the type that asks me to give truth, and really just wants to hear something nice, or are you the type that wants the actual truth?”

Oh! You’re one of those people! Ugh! Of course, I’m the person that wants to hear nice things. Everyone is. I think I should be the type of person that wants to hear truth, but the reality is, is that all of us just want to hear what we want to hear.

I’ve been pursuing a “career” in home interior design for about 3-4 years now, and have been somewhat successful. However, recently I’ve started losing my taste for it. I believe this to be God. I already know that He’s asked me to focus more on ministry than this job pursuit, yet I’ve continued down the path of the job. It’s been somewhat unclear; until Monday. Monday I went on a design job, where I felt more directed to talk with the client about what was going on in her life, than the design at hand. These are the little truths of God, personally speaking into my life that really endears me to Him. Don’t get me wrong–I’m slightly frustrated about the design thing probably not working out, but I’m in love with a God who turns my pursuits into His pursuits, so lovingly.

Truth is given so harshly by people often times, yet God has no time frame in which to “be right”. He, of course, loves an obedient heart, but he loves ME. Because He loves me, He will wait and correct, wait and correct, and wait and correct some more. He knows what it will take for my obedience to come to fruition, and He knows that I desire to be tuned into Him. We love each other. I can really only handle His truth. Everyone else’s sometimes stings, or is just their truth. My God always only gives me THE truth.

The Rest of the Story…

article by Lauren Neal, for Melissa Twitchell; photo by John Twitchell

I wanted to give the “rest of the story”, for Melissa. As you will see below, God has done a miraculous work in her (and John’s life) in the past weeks. God has fulfilled her desire to become a mother, as well as, more than she could have thought to ask for. She sent an email out to some of us, a week or so before delivering sweet baby Jackson, outlining some of her impending fears. She used that email to show how God answered each and every one of her fears, and then some! Isn’t He always that way?! Please read below how He worked in her life, and praise your God for how He works in your life, too!

Two weeks ago, I wrote you all with some unexpected circumstances and prayer requests.  Tonight, I am writing to give an update on our situation and on those prayer requests.

Fear 1) The baby is able to stay in as long as feasible.  If the baby comes early, the baby is born with no major complications and will be able to be with us and spend little time in the NICU.

Answer 1) Jackson was able to stay in 10 extra days and was born on Monday, 11/16 @ 1:24 AM.  He spent a total of 36 hours in the Special Delivery Nursery (not NICU) with no major issues. He was able to come home with us yesterday and has already surpassed his birth weight (he’s now 5 lbs).  Doctors & nurses are saying he is doing great.

Fear 2) We have peace about this surprise, really trust God and let Him handle the details and for us to “obtain” a parent mindset.  I don’t exactly feel like a ‘Mom’ yet.

Answer 2) I was at peace with delivering Jackson 3-4 weeks early and especially so with the level of medical care we were receiving.  I definitely am in Mommy mode and love my little guy in a way I can’t quite describe yet.  John is ecstatic to have Jackson here and loves holding and taking naps (the few we can) with him.

Fear 3) Our moving will go smoothly and I, Melissa to be at peace with not being involved in it.

Answer 3) We were moved and moved quickly.  My sister, Mindy was sent down from Alaska to help us for little over a week and John’s mom came for a day to help with the actual move.  We were unpacked and had everything that “needed” to get done done before I was re-admitted into the hospital this last Saturday morning.

Fear 4) I, Melissa am able to finish up transition pieces at work tomorrow (using my laptop at the hospital) and be able to be finished with work for now.

Answer 4) I was able to go back to work for a few more days when I was discharged from the hospital last week.  I was able to “finish” enough for me to be able to walk away for the next three months.

Fear 5) John interviewed for a great position this week.  Pray that this is the job for John and we don’t need to worry about what this month early change might have on our savings and finances.

Answer 5) Today, John accepted an offer from this position/interview.  This job has been a perfect job fit for him from the very beginning. The timing of every aspect of this job/interview process has been impeccable and only God’s doing.  After a counter offer, he was offered what we needed and was given one extra week of vacation a year.  John and I both agree that the extra week of vacation is so valuable and worth more than extra money.   John starts Monday, November 30 so Jackson and I have him for a little bit longer here at home.

I know some of this is somewhat redundant with the other emails John & I have sent out.  But when I went to send an email stating we were home and the news about John’s employment situation, I remembered this specific list I had sent out.  After reviewing it, I am once again amazed and humbled at God’s provisions, timing and His ways of accomplishing His plans.  I sit here and look at my sleeping son and it brought tears of gratitude and love for Him and for our friends and family who have been incredibly supportive of us during this time in prayer, words of encouragement and actions. Thank you again.

And the Winner is…… November 15, 2009

article and photo by Becky Phillips

My oldest is seven years old and full of fire.  Emma is passionate about just about everything, from her favorite food (candy) to her favorite movie (Twelve Dancing Princesses) to bedtime (never).  She can argue until the cows come home or until she gets what she wants.  Round after round, her words hit my ears as we box away.  You’d think that there was actually a fiscal reward for the number of words that constantly stream out.   Most recently Emma has been arguing over a pet.  We’re all allergic to dogs and cats, fortunately, so she’s been pursuing other avenues.  She especially would like “a rabbit or a guinea pig.”  However, I have a distinct aversion to smelly pets.  So, the arguer won, and we all agreed on…. a beta fish!  Little Baby Purple is its name, and Emma couldn’t be happier.  Except two days later, “Mommy, when can we think about getting a rabbit or a guinea pig?”  My husband and I wonder if she may be a lawyer when she grows up.  Sometimes I wonder if she’ll have a daughter who argues as well as she (that’ll teach her).

My daughter reminds me of me.  I can also argue with the best of them.  Most specifically I can argue with God (and my husband).  I get so frustrated when I feel un-listened-to or left out or anxious about tomorrow, or lonely.  The list goes on.

But oh my goodness as I think about how Emma’s words pour out of her mouth and into my ears, I think of how I must sound to God.  Blah, blah, blah, blah…. On and on.  However, the Bible is full of examples of God’s action on behalf of his people when they cry out to him:  the Israelites in Egypt, Hannah’s desire for a child,   And finally, 1 John 5.14: “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.”  Thankfully, the Lord is full of mercy and grace when we are right with him.  Our good God listens as an attentive Father who desires the best for his sons and daughters. So, even if I’m pouring out my words to him and it just sounds like a mess to me, He hears me and cares.

A Story with My God November 11, 2009

article by Lauren Neal/photo by Christiana Childers

I had a cancer scare last February. Breast cancer. I am 33 years old. That isn’t supposed to happen when you’re 33 and a busy mom of 3.

Briefly, the story is sort of comical (now). Had a pain, MD felt a lump, she sent me for a mammo, they sent me for an ultrasound, they sent me for a breast aspiration, they sent me for a breast biopsy.  At each “stop”, the person that was treating me said, “Oh, but I’m sure you won’t have to get a….whatever” the next thing was, but then I DID! And, if you’re ever treated for anything like this at Evergreen Hospital, the hospital gets darker, and more ominous the further in you get. The cute little mammogram office, turns into a windowless, smelly biopsy room. It felt cold, lonely, and desolate. When I was waiting for my ultrasound, I even plopped down on the couch, only to turn and see a copy of a ‘Seattle’ magazine, with the “Top Seattle Cancer MDs” Seriously, God? Not funny.

Well, as you may have guessed, I was “fine”. By fine, I mean that I didn’t have cancer. However, somehow, I came out of that experience very angry. It surprised me. What kind of ungrateful person gets a good cancer report and comes out angry? Me, I guess. I wandered around for about 2 weeks asking God why I was so angry.

First of all, I realized that I had a very “do you know who I am?” type attitude. In that, I am:

1. Young
2. Busy
3. A mom of 3 kids, who isn’t dying right now
4. Have no time for any kind of tests, let alone time to come to any future treatments!

Secondly, and I think the more true answer, I was scared out of my socks. I often say that God gives us little “pop quizzes”….sometimes I pass, and sometimes I fail—miserably. This one I failed. God was loving me. He wanted me to draw to Him. I did. When you fear a cancer diagnosis, and facing the possible “reorganization” of your life, you start to draw near to Him.

As with most women, I am capable, responsible, and independent–of God. I mean, sure He provides for me, but…I’ve got it from here…thanks God! No. I was angry because He was pulling me closer into His lap, and it stung. It stung my pride. As soon as I realized that He was pulling me closer, the pain and anger dissipated. The gratefulness overtook my emotions, and I felt repentant for my attitude.

God may give me breast cancer, someday, but when/if that happens, I will keenly remember this “pop quiz”, so that I can (hopefully) pass the “big test”.  But, let’s be honest…I’ll probably fail then, too. However, I will have had more years, in my story with my God, to draw from…and God will never fail.

Under the Bridge November 10, 2009

article and photos by Paula Guest

Thailand is across the bridge.  To a people who have nothing, that bridge looks like hope.  But under the bridge is where greed and poverty intersect, and exploitation begins. And a steady stream of human tragedy flows.

When I went to Cambodia in October of 2007, our team was the first to set foot on the land purchased through the efforts of Northshore, working with World Concern. To set foot on that property was to set foot on Holy Ground.

Ps 18:16,19   He reached down from on high and took hold of me.  He brought me out into a spacious place, He rescued me because He delighted in me.

We ‘helped’ them build a road into the property – one stone at a time, with the help of one ancient wheelbarrow.  We ‘helped’ them make bricks for the first house – one brick at a time.  All by hand.  No electricity.  (And I am quite sure they could have worked much faster without our ‘help.’)

I was privileged to return eighteen months later, April 2009, for the grand opening of Safe Haven.  And grand it was.  No human will could have accomplished this in so short a time.  God is working.  He is ‘arising.’  Four houses ready and waiting to receive children.  With, as Chomo so eloquently put it, room for ‘rolling’.

And Hope has a foothold in Poipet, Cambodia.

But the bridge is still there.  And the lure, and false promises of a better life still attract a steady flow of victims.  Children are a very marketable commodity.  You can only sell a weapon once.  A load of drugs once.  But you can sell a child over and over again.

As we left Cambodia, and walked over that bridge into Thailand, a very young girl, maybe three years old, sat on the side of the road, cradling an infant.  She was rocking back and forth, back and forth, softly keening.  That picture is indelibly burned into my heart.  Safe Haven is open.  But we are not finished.

And neither is God.

I WIll Now Arise November 6, 2009

article and photo by Paula Guest

As I struggle to put ‘Cambodia’ into words, the feelings well up, and the tears flow.  How can you describe the horror of genocide, and the resulting devastation?

Where was I in 1975?  Hundreds of thousands of men, women and children, were being driven out of the city of Phnom Penh at the mercy of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.  Did I even know??  Did I pay any attention??

Where was I from 1979 – 1999?  Just living my life, consumed by my own wants and needs.  Did I even care? And all the while a bloody civil war raged.  An entire generation of teachers, doctors, bankers – any one who so much as wore glasses – was executed. An equal number were maimed by land mines. Tens of thousands eked out an existence in refugee camps across the border in Thailand.  1999 was just ten years ago.  Ten short years of recovery, of trying to regain the soul of a nation.

Is it any wonder people sell their children into sex slavery?  Human life has very little value. Grinding poverty creates a desperation that we simply cannot fathom. If one child can provide enough money for the others to survive, is it not her ‘duty’ to do it??

Ps 11:5   “Because of the oppression of the weak and the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says the Lord.  “I will protect them from those who malign them.”

God ‘arising.’  How awesome is that??  And ‘arising’ He is. In Cambodia He is ‘arising’ in the human form of Chomno In.  Chomno was in the forced march out of Phnom Penh.  He was in that civil war.  He was in those refugee camps.  And it was in the refugee camp that he met Christ in the form of an American doctor.

God burdened Chomno’s heart for the plight of his country and the tragedy of its children.  He gave Chomno a vision, and a promise,  of a place where children could recover, and women could find a way to earn a living without selling their own bodies, or their children’s.

Chomno moved to Poipet, and began working to make that vision a reality. And so was birthed a dream, the Cambodian Hope Organization.   A place where hope begins by meeting the God of the Bible.

It was Northshore’s privilege to be allowed to partner with Chomno in his dream.  To make Safe Haven a reality.

And that is why I went back to Cambodia.

A Deliberate Choice November 4, 2009

article and photos by Paula Guest

Is there not enough frustration, disappointment, worry, stress, in our own lives, that we should deliberately take on the pain of others?  To open our eyes to the suffering of others causes emotional agony.  We feel overwhelmed by the enormity, unable to effect change, and unwilling to step out of our comfort zone.

As the burden on my heart for trafficking victims grew, I felt all of the above in huge portions.  Totally inadequate.  Totally unwilling.  “Please, Lord, let me just change the channel.  I don’t want to SEE this.  I don’t want to KNOW this.  I don’t want to FEEL this!”

But every time I opened my Bible, my eyes would land on another verse about justice.  I had long been praying that I would walk so closely to my Lord that I could hear His heart beat.  What He was showing me, is that THIS is where His heart beats.  If I want to walk in communion with Him, I have to go where He is.  I have to care about what He cares about.  And I realized that the tears I weep, are His tears.

Psalm 11:7  For the Lord is righteous, He loves justice,  upright men will see His face.

I finally surrendered, ”OK, Lord, I get it.  Show me what you want me to do.”  Kay Warren calls it, “Dangerous Surrender.”  And dangerous it is, but the reward far outweighs the pain because you get to SEE HIS FACE.

After all, He loved me enough to take on my suffering.  He was willing to let what was crushing me crush Him.  How can I do anything less?  By offering to suffer with someone else we are living out the commandment “whatever you do for the least of these, you do for Me.”

“Here is the irony of chosen pain, we volunteer to accept a pain we want to do without; we volunteer to be hurt with a hurt we would rather not feel; we volunteer to bear a burden we want very badly not to bear. . . .    We are to walk with our eyes wide open in the pain of another human being and claim it as our own.”  (Kay Warren, Dangerous Surrender, pg 153)

And so, I went back to Cambodia.

A Load of Garbage November 2, 2009

Editor’s note: This is part 1 of a 4 part series.  Please learn more about Frontline for Justice, and the ministry to which God has led Paula.

article and photos by Paula Guest

What is your life worth?  What about the life of your child??

In 2004 while on a mission trip to Nicaragua, our team was visiting the village of 3,000 people who live, and die, in the dump.  It was indeed, “The Gates of Hell.”  Smoke rising.  Buzzards circling. Cattle wandering.  Stench permeating.  And through the haze of the smoke, people were seen standing out on the heaps, poking and prodding.  Searching for something of value.

As we walked down the street, preparing to escape into the safety of our airconditioned, smoke free, stench free van, a young girl met us with a huge smile.  “How are you?” I asked in my rudimentary Spanish. “Very well,” she replied.  Our guide explained as we drove away, that this young girl, that very morning, had been diagnosed with AIDS.

Her parents had sold her to the garbage truck drivers so that the ‘best’ garbage would be dropped in their ‘area.’  Her life traded for a load of garbage.  And she had three younger sisters.

What is your life worth?  What about the life of your child??

At that moment, God reached down and broke my heart in a way that cannot be mended.  In my safe little world it had never occurred to me that such an evil could exist.  It was no longer possible to simply ‘change the channel, and go about having supper.’

And so I found myself in Poipet, Cambodia in an AIDS hospice holding the hands of dying women, and praying for them.  Sitting in a bar in Bangkok talking to young women with a number attached to their bikini bottom.  We had ‘bought’ their time.  Sex travelers were buying a lot more.