Women’s Ministries

Adventures in Cambodia: Part 3 December 20, 2011

More from Keirstin Hammond on her year-long internship in Cambodia:

What did daily life look like?

The first half of the year I lived in a hotel, and the second half I lived in a flat (a tiled room with an attached bathroom).  I hand-washed my own clothes and cooked my own meals.  A lot of the CHO staff lived right next to me in the same building.  We’d often hang out in the evenings and sometimes cook together.  I really enjoyed living here because I was able to walk to work everyday and spend quality time with my Cambodian friends.

The culture made language learning easy.  They are very open and want you to learn the language.  I had one friend who would have me over almost every day, Monday through Friday, for a language (Khmer) lesson.  Then she would teach me to cook a Cambodian meal.  This gave me an hour of conversational practice at least five days a week.

Anyone who has lived in another country knows that you have to have a sense of humor—including the ability to laugh at yourself—in order to survive.  Here’s one example:

Over a holiday weekend, my friends Piron and Saohim invited me on a trip to visit Piron’s parents and extended family in Phnom Penh. Piron and Saohim had just started dating and his parents had not yet met Saohim. After arriving, we decided that the very first night we would stay with Piron’s relatives (and not his parents.)

That night, while Saohim and I were getting ready for bed, we were discussing how glad we were to be together because we were feeling so awkward about staying with these people that we didn’t even know. What made it even more awkward was that the relatives had earlier been discussing how they should accommodate the “Tom Barang,” (aka Big Foreigner).

We finally get settled, the mosquito net is up and we have pillows and blankets all laid out on the wooden bed frame.  Saohim climbs into bed. Then, the “Tom Barang” (aka ME) decides, “Okay, she is settled, now it’s my turn!”  So I climbed on, very, very carefully. I didn’t “jump” into bed, like you may have imagined because, to be honest, I was sort of afraid the bed couldn’t hold the weight.

And then it happened, just like I imagined it. CRACK!!!  The bed broke!  Both of us fell to the ground, tangled up in the bed frame, instantly busting up in laughter! We were so embarrassed! But, it was also quite humorous considering the circumstances. Of course, this loud cracking noise left everyone else in the house wondering “Hmm, what the heck is going on up there with the guest and the Barang?!”  Mind you, it’s already about 10:30pm and everyone else was ready for bed.  So, they had to send a crew up to fix the bed while we changed rooms and slept on a different bed…a bed that they had just finished mending, and one both of us were afraid to sleep on.  Moral of story: maybe next time the “Tom Barang” should just take the floor!  :)

Adventures in Cambodia: Part 2 December 13, 2011

How did this experience change you and change your faith?
It strengthened my faith in a big way.  We all struggle trusting God in some area, and for me it was trusting that he had a good things for me in my life.  I always feared that I was missing out on God’s good.  I used to have the perspective that everyone else’s life was better.  Because I had so much time in Cambodia, I did a lot of journaling and through that, God opened my eyes to all of the lies I had believe for a long time.

My time there gave me a good perspective on life.  I learned to live in the present.  I’m still on the journey but I’m learning to trust that he has good planned for me.

From the moment I saw Kanha, I knew I wanted to be her friend.  As it turned out, we lived just a few doors from each other.  She taught me so much about Cambodian culture, the language (called Khmer), and was truly an honest friend who supported me along the way.  Shortly after I arrived in Cambodia I heard that she had recently had a miscarriage.  I could sense she was discouraged and really wanted children.  I decided from that day on that I would pray that God would give her another baby.  I gave her a verse to encourage her.  Soon after I found out that she was pregnant again, so I continued to pray for protection and that the Lord would grant her this child.  A few months went by and she hadn’t been to the doctor yet because she couldn’t afford it.  I told her how important it was that she sees a doctor to make sure everything was okay.  I even offered to pay for the visit.  She continued to refuse.  She also admitted that she was afraid to go.  I encouraged her and told her I would go with her, and I assured her that everything would be okay.  Finally she made an appointment and she and I went together.  That day was a very special day because she found out that she was having a healthy baby boy!  The Lord had answered my prayer and I was able to share this incredible moment with her.  I will never forget the joy we shared together.

Adventures in Cambodia: Part 1 December 6, 2011

I’d like to introduce you to Keirsten Hammond.  Keirsten spent time in Cambodia and had some amazing encounters with God.  I’ve asked her to share some of her experience with us over the month of December.  I had the chance to catch up with her over coffee, so my questions are in bold.

Tell us about your big faith adventure.
In the fall of 2007 I had the opportunity to take a yearlong internship with World Concern in Poipet, Cambodia working alongside the Cambodian Hope Organization (CHO), which Northshore supports.  I cannot believe it has been 4 years since my return.  My main purpose was to teach English to the CHO staff, but I had a special opportunity to get to know the Cambodians on a very personal level.  Looking back at the journey the Lord led me through amazes me.  There are still some days now that I feel like I’m trying to make sense of it all.

Why did you choose to do the internship?
God’s leading.  I have been called to missions since I was in 8^th grade.  After spending a year with YWAM in (where were you?) I was working (in Washington?), but my spirit was unsettled.  I prayed, “Lord, What am I supposed to do?  I feel like I’m supposed to be overseas.”  And God said, “Go.”  But I doubted hearing him because it seemed too vague.  Then I found out about Women of Purpose, and got together with Sharme Hettinga.  She was leading a trip to Cambodia.  The purpose of the trip was giving hope to destitute women, something the Lord had really been putting on my heart already.  So I took a leap of faith and agreed to go.  I raised $2800 in 2 weeks—when I only needed $2200!  During our time there, I continued to pray to God for direction.  World Concern partnered with Women of Purpose for the trip and that’s how I found out about the opportunity for an internship.

How would you describe your experience in Cambodia?
To give you a glimpse of my experience I’ll be sharing a few stories, along with some things the Lord taught me along the way.  For starters, I was one of two ‘foreigners’ working with the organization; so the feeling of isolation rarely escaped me.  The Lord taught me a whole new meaning of what it means to fully rely on Him.  The majority of my days were spent in an office working on lesson plans, while the rest of the staff did ministry in the villages.  To say that I had some down time is an understatement.  But, it was in these quiet, lonely moments that the Lord began to open my heart and teach me many things.

Here’s an excerpt from my journal I kept during my time there:
“From one simple truth, the Lord began freeing me from believing that He doesn’t have good things in store for me or that I’m somehow always missing out on something, which is what I had subconsciously believed since I was young.  I’m beginning to grasp how little disappointments from our past can turn into lies, which affect the way we hear the Lord’s voice clearly.  It is pretty incredible, the grasp the enemy can have on us and we do not even realize it.  He is so good at deceiving us, yet we CAN conquer through Christ!!  If we are willing to dig deep and figure out what those lies are, the outcome is incredible!!  God is so faithful in renewing our minds and drawing close to us when we are willing!  I’m learning so much about His character and His will in and for my life.  My prayer is that I become aware of these things, that I am faithful in making a choice in saying ‘no’ to the lies and saying ‘yes’ to God’s truth so that my mind can be transformed into His likeness.  Someone once answered the question, ‘How do we become more like Christ?’ like this: ‘One choice at a time.’  Every ‘no’ to the enemy and ‘yes’ to God makes us more into the likeness of Christ.”

Watch for more from Keirsten every Tuesday this month!

We Need Your Help! December 5, 2011

Hello women of Northshore!

We are in need of your help!  Northshore is hosting a wonderful Christmas Party this Saturday for families involved in Step by Step.  But toy and food donations are still needed to make the most of this special party!  Please consider helping with this.

To see the food and toys donations list, click here and scroll down to nearly the bottom of the page.  If you’re able to help, please contact Hannah Rogers at hannahr@nsb.org.

Thank you for your help and please spread the word!

Out of my heart, under my breath November 29, 2011

By Amanda Williams
http://deeperstory.com

“Mama, what does ‘dammit’ mean?”

The fact that my four year old daughter didn’t ask me this question at lunchtime is by God’s sheer grace. And possibly the magnetic pull of her fingers and attention to spilled Cheerios on the kitchen counter.

I don’t even remember now why I said it. It could have been any number of things, really. Maybe a stubborn high chair or a thrown sandwich.

The half hour trek from Bible study to the gas station to the pharmacy drive-thru to home was filled with so much whining my ears were ringing from the pitch of it. There was the quick detour on the porch for the boys to dump the dirt out of a plant I’ve been trying to rescue from an untimely demise, and then the chaos that ensued once we walked in the door… Well. Let’s just say Mama was on edge.

I’ll be honest. Four-letter words and I are not strangers. I grew up a good southern church girl, for the most part leaving colorful expressions to friends much bolder than me. But somewhere between the birth of the boys and the potty training of the girl it became a near-daily occurrence, this muttering under my breath the tiny words I would never let a stranger – and rarely a friend – hear me say aloud.

It is out of character for me, after all. Isn’t it?

In my lame defense, the victims of my one-word tirades are usually inanimate objects. A cup of juice knocked to the ground in my hurry to close the fridge. The mysterious smell coming from Lord-knows-where in the kitchen, inevitably encountered upon coming home from a rare out of the house adventure. The toy found by the bottom my bare feet in an effort to sneak out of the boys’ room in the dark.

The cat eating paper, or the dog who barks at thunder. And other dogs. And fireworks. And anything that moves or breathes.

Ok, so they aren’t all inanimate objects.

The point is, it became a coping mechanism. There weren’t any adults around to say adult words to — or anything to, for that matter — so I said them to myself. Those days were (and often still are) long and isolated and hard, so I exercised the freedom to vent to myself on occasion. No big deal.

It made me feel better. And anyone who has ever had the job knows, a day as a stay-at-home parent of small children is not unlike an episode of Survivor. We’re all just trying to make it through another day on the island.

I remember hearing once that who we really are is who we are under pressure. Life squeezes hard and the real me is what comes out.

Today the real me didn’t even bother to whisper. And now I’m thanking God that my children didn’t bother to listen.

This is not a post about whether it is okay for a Christian to curse. Those kinds of debates — the kind that college Amanda thrived on — tend to go round and round, from liberty to responsibility and back again. Honestly, I don’t have the intellectual or emotional energy to chase that tail any more. It doesn’t interest me.

The question that stirs me now is not one of legalism versus grace, sanctification versus sin. It is, What is going on with my heart that makes me utter bitterness with my mouth?

What is happening in me that can make me speak words of anger — ABOUT A SANDWICH, for crying out loud — in the face of my children?

Why am I doing what I’m doing? Why am I saying what I’m saying?

With what am I filling my heart and, in turn, my children? Better yet, with what am I not?

I’m afraid the answers to these questions aren’t pretty. And unfortunately, I’m not ramping up here to the reveal of some magic formula to make the struggle disappear. Truth be told, I suspect there isn’t one.

All I am confident of is that the answer is ongoing, one that you and I will get to spend years uncovering. And also, that it has something to do with Jesus.

Thanksgiving Exercise November 26, 2011

Here are some good ideas for burning off some of those extra calories we ate this week!

1. Plan a Thanksgiving Day Event. Meet up with your friends, family and neighbors the morning of Thanksgiving and exercise together. You can start a tradition and play a game of football, baseball or any other sport. Good competition will always get you in the mood to work hard. You can also gather everyone up for a Thanksgiving Day run or walk around the neighborhood.

2. Run a 5k. There are lots of organizations that schedule 5k runs around Thanksgiving. They usually support a great cause and are also really good workouts. Running a 5k burns a huge amount of calories the day of the race in addition to all the training you do leading up to the big day.

3. Make a Deal. Thanksgiving is one of those times you can’t always control yourself. You might think you’ll only eat a little but once all those dishes come out of the kitchen, more food is going to wind up in your plate than you had hoped for. To negate some of those calories, make a deal with yourself (you can include friends and family too). Tell yourself that for every serving over what is normal, you’ll run 1/2 a mile or 10 minutes. Get creative and make your own criteria but make sure you follow it. If you tell others about it, you’re more likely to stick with it.

4. Pre/Post Thanksgiving Workout. Since Thanksgiving is all about tradition, think about how the Pilgrims and Indians got around back in those days. There were no cars or busses. If they wanted to get somewhere, they’d walk or ride a horse. Since it isn’t realistic to walk (or ride your horse) to your Thanksgiving Dinner, simulate the walk by working out 30 minutes longer than normal on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and 30 minutes longer on the Friday after.

5. Walk it off. Don’t forget to have a post Thanksgiving Meal walk. You’ll probably be too heavy to run or do any other form of rigorous exercise. Walking will burn a few calories and let your mind unwind after being stuck inside all day long.

www.straighthealth.com

People Matter November 19, 2011

This Christmas season, we at NSB are being challenged to BRING, GIVE and SERVE.  This is a great challenge for the holidays and one that will help keep our focus on what the season is all about.

The challenge to bring a friend, family member, coworker, or neighbor to church can be an easy one to sort of “blow over.”  At least it can be for me.  I find it so easy to make excuses, like: “My neighbors already have plans.”  (Have I already asked them?  No.)  Or: So-and-so has rejected the invite before so it’s not really worth asking again.”  It can also be a gut check: do I even have any relationships with non-Christians?!  Am I looking for opportunities to share the gospel with others?

I read a great and challenging book for a course in college.  The book is Building a Contagious Church by Mark Mittelberg.  It’s geared toward church leaders, but as I read through it, my heart was unexpectedly challenged: Do I love the lost the way the Lord does?  I wanted to share with you an excerpt from this book:

VALUE #1: PEOPLE MATTER TO GOD
…I know that when you hear the words “People matter to God” you’re tempted to say, “I’ve got this one down–let’s skip to the more advanced principles.”  But hear me: This belief is the hardest one to fully absorb into our value system.  It’s also the most difficult value to build into those around us.

Those of us who have been in church for a long time, myself included, get very adept at affirming a statement like this and then completely ignoring it in our daily lives.  When we hear it, we run an instantaneous internal litmus-test program that includes, “Of course, John 3:16–’God so loved the world’–this is a value that passes my theological filter.  I agree with it.”

We agree with it, but we don’t own it.  We slot it into our minds right next to other biblical truths like “David was king,” “Moses parted the Red Sea,” and “Ruth was a Moabite.”  We nod our heads in intellectual approval and move on to other topics.

So please slow down and read carefully what I write next, for it has life-and-death implications: What we do with every other concept in this book will directly depend on the degree to which we own and apply this first value.  People matter to God.  Do you believe this to the very core of your being?

A friend of mine says that when this value really takes root, it dramatically affects our checkbooks and calendars, because those are the places where it expresses itself in daily life.  We ought to be able to look back and say, “Here’s where I’ve spent time and energy trying to reach people outside the family of God.”  We should be able to open up our checkbook ledgers and say, “Here’s where I’ve invested my resources to help make evangelism happen through supporting the church’s outreach efforts; buying Bibles, books, and tapes to give to spiritual seekers; spending money to take a non-believing friend out to breakfast or lunch; or inviting non-Christians into my home.”  These are investments that flow out of a heart that says genuinely, “People matter to God and they matter to me too.”

When you start trying to rearrange the priorities in your life…this value will be tested immediately.  The question naturally arises, whether aloud or below the surface: How much to people matter to God?  Without announcing themselves or asking for anyone’s permission, other values start competing with and crowding out this first one.  [Again, see here and watch the video.]

…Remember in John chapter 4, where Jesus broke a Jewish custom by traveling though the heart of Samaria?  Then, completely ignoring the rules of political correctness, he risked his reputation by talking openly with a sinful Samaritan woman.  This was scandalous behavior for any Jewish man and even more so for Jesus, because he was a rabbi.  What could he have been thinking?

I’m confident that Jesus was thinking about how much this wayward woman mattered to the Father.  he felt a holy love and concern for her and her people.  In face, he lingered at the well long enough to allow her this broken woman to bring her friends down to meet him.  Then Jesus spent more time teaching them.  He even altered his plans–making last-minute adjustments to his ministry calendar–so that he and the disciples could stay and minister in Samaria for two more days.  And the text tells us that “because of his words many more became believers.” (John 4:41).

That is only one of numerous examples from Jesus’ life that reveals how much people matter to God.  But we can’t stop there.  Ephesians 5:1 tells us to “be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children.”  We need to do whatever it takes to gain God’s heart toward those outside the family.  We need to make sure they matter to us the way they matter to him.

People matter.  Relationships matter.  Let’s keep our focus this season and pray for God to grow our hearts for those outside His family, and to open our eyes to places where we can build relationship and love others the way He loves them (and us!)

Thanksgiving Traditions November 15, 2011

One of the best parts of holidays is the traditions that often go along with them.  When I was growing up, we’d spend Thanksgiving with one side of the family and then Christmas with the other.  My dad’s side of the family would always commence the Thanksgiving festivities with the Turkey Bowl – a ruckus touch-football game (with the occasional tackle) involving all the dads/uncles and cousins while the moms/aunts prepped the giant feast.  Everyone would stumble to the table cold, bruised and starving, then fall into a pile in the living room after stuffing our faces–and nap.  It was awesome.

Now all of us cousins are grown up, spread throughout the country and building families of own, making our own new traditions.  I think every stage of life brings the opportunity to give up some traditions and embrace others.  I know for me and the stage of life I’m in, I find myself thinking a lot about what kind of traditions I want to start for my kids to help them grow fond memories of the holidays.

I’d love to hear what kind of traditions you have with your family!  Is there a special dish you must have at Thanksgiving, in order for it to feel like Thanksgiving?  Is there an activity you always do, or certain people you’re always with?  Please share in the comments!

(No prize this time, just the opportunity to pick up a new holiday tradition!)

Common Threads Classes November 8, 2011

Northshore Ladies,

Our next Common Threads event is scheduled for Saturday, February 11^th. We’d love your input on the kind of breakout sessions you’d like to see offered. General categories might include cooking, hospitality, technology, fitness, and crafting…we’d love to know your specific interests in those areas! Also, if you have a skill that you would like to share with a group at Common Threads we’d love to hear from you too. Please contact Julie Guest at ryjammers@comcast.net with ideas and put this fun event on your calendar for winter now!

Blessing the Women of Nicaragua November 5, 2011

Women’s Clothing Drive

In January a team of women from Northshore will be traveling to Los Cedros for our 5th annual women’s conference. We have the opportunity to give nearly 250 women the joy of “shopping” in our Blessings Boutique. To make this possible we are collecting clothing during the month of November. Appropriate clothing for the area includes summer tops and skirts, shoes and purses and scarves. Please no toiletry items. These products become costly due to weight and bulk when transporting as luggage.

Donations can be left in the wooden donation bin located in the Student Center. QUESTIONS? Please contact Judy Hystad at 425-821-0511 or 2012NicaWomensTeam@gmail.com.

Thanks in advance for sharing of your gently used summer clothes that will be a gift to the women of Los Cedros. Women everywhere enjoy shopping….and we are blessed to watch the joy the ladies experience in the Northshore Blessings Boutique.