An Intro to Iris Ministries (filmed while I was in Africa!!!)

What to say, what to say, what to say…

Honestly, right now I don't really know. What can I say? How do I explain what God has done in me when i don't even know myself? :o) I think it's going to take some time before I will be able to understand how I have changed during my time here in Pemba, Mozambique. But I do know that I have changed. A lot. I've seen and experienced a totally different culture from my own. I've sat and learned at the feet of some of the greatest generals in the faith on the earth today. I've developed a friendship that will last for the rest of my life. I've held kids in my arms and dreamed of how God could take and multiply my little little life. I've seen poverty, joy, pain, and love like I've never seen before. I've cried a lot, danced a lot, thought a lot, and laughed a lot. I've smelled fresh African rain, gazed at shining African stars, watched the breathtaking African sunrise, and listened to glorious African worship. I've allowed God to break my heart for the things that break His heart, and I've allowed Him to dream His dreams through me. I've said "yes" to the call to missions but don't know where He is calling me to yet. And I've fallen in love with the One who loved me first.

So even though I don't really know how to explain it, I know I'm different. But if you want to know how you're going to have to watch me. :o)

Why do you love God?...

Have you ever thought about it?...

I love God because first He loved me. (1 John 4:19)
He loved me even before I was born.
Jer. 1:5 "Before I formed you... I knew you."
And He loved me enough to send His own Son to die for me. Can you imagine being willing to give up your own child? That's crazy!!! But He did it. He gave Him up because He couldn't stand being separated from us. He couldn't bear the thought of not being able to be with us. He loves us that much!!!
It blows my mind!
It really blows my mind that the God of the universe would come down to earth as a man, that He would humble himself that much, and that He would die for me.
He died for me.
He died for you.

That's love.

Dream

Have you ever dreamed with God about what He could do in your city? Just think about it. What’s possible? If, like the bible says, anything is possible with God, then what’s possible? What do you want to see happen? …

You know what I want to see?
I want to see families restored.
I want to see youth who know that they are loved just as they are.
I want to see college students catch the vision of the Great Commission.
I want to see the wealthy befriending the poor and the refugees.
I want to see people simply loving the person in front of them.
I want to see revival.

What about you?

Imagine

I asked the Lord the other morning:“What would it look like if my life was fully possessed by love for Jesus?”

Imagine…

Together Forever

One morning in worship I asked the Lord what was on His mind, and He said, “I’m thinking about the things I love to do with you and about how we get to do those things together forever!” So I started dreaming about the things I get to do with God forever, like eat ice cream and shakes, and stay up late talking, and swim in the ocean, and go rafting and play on the river!! All the things I love to do He loves to do too, and we get to do them together for the rest of eternity. How amazing is that!

Relationship

We got back from outreach, and I was asking the Lord, “Is it wrong that I get more excited about playing with the kids in the dirt or holding a little girl in my arms than I do about seeing miracles and healings?” He said, “You are made for relationship. It’s what I’ve made you for and called you to.” We’ve all been created for relationship. We’ve all been created to know God and to be with Him forever! The other day God said to me, “Just be with me. That’s all I want. Just be with me.” He wasn’t asking me to do anything. There wasn’t a checklist I needed to complete. He simply wanted to be with me.

Offering

I watched as she crawled across the stage with her offering in her hand and a big smile on her face. :o) Here in Mozambique everyone walks to the front to drop their offerings in the basket. A couple of the women who are unable to walk joyfully get out of their seats and crawl on their hands and knees across the stage to put their offerings in the basket. I’ve cried as I watched them. What compels these women to give so cheerfully and completely?

LOVE

I’m sitting in the student compound on the Iris base in Pemba, Mozambique, wondering how in the world I am going to put into words the things that I have seen, heard, and experienced in this place. How do I describe what God is doing here? How do I explain what He has been doing in my heart? How do I describe the presence of God? … And the only word that comes to mind is a very simple yet very powerful word.

It’s LOVE

Plain and simple.
It’s what we were made for.
It’s what compelled Jesus Christ to die on a cross for you and for me.
It’s the reason you and I are alive.
It’s what we live for!!!

Love

a quick post

Here's a quick snapshot of what has been happening...

Jacky Pullinger spoke this week!!!! So amazing! It was her first time at Iris, so we felt very honored to get to hear her speak :o) We also had dinner with our color group (the group we will be going on outreach with) which includes some of the Mozambican bible school students. We had so much fun sharing testimonies, eating dessert (very rare here), and playing musical chairs, all the while translating everything into 3 languages!

I wish I could write more, but I have to go...

Chao!

Mozambicans love to dance!!!

Hey everybody!!

How are you?! I feel like it has been so long since I was last able to send out an update…

School has been awesome! We had class Monday through Thursday with some amazing speakers including Heidi and Rolland, Will Hart, and Ben Dunn. Ben is a super fun worship leader! If you get a chance, you should check him out on iTunes :o)

Friday we call “Practical missions” day. We have all been assigned a job or area on base to serve in order to learn more about some of the practicalities of missions. I have been given the opportunity with a couple of my classmates to help Naomi check the Iris kids’ eyes! So yesterday I learned how to give a vision test and then we called in some of the young boys and checked their vision to see if there were any problems, whether they might need glasses, etc. It is so cool to see how much goes on at Iris behind the scenes that most people do not see or think about.

Something I have quickly learned about Mozambican culture is that they love to dance!!! Every time we worship together, whether at church or during our multi-cultural classes or at night with special speakers, the Mozambicans are always dancing! And they’re really good too :o) We often will all end up on stage together just dancing our hearts out before the Lord! I love it!!

I have been spending a lot of time with my amazing friend Kasia! She is from Australia!!! I love her accent and her vocabulary :o) We often have to translate for each other from Australian to English or vice versa ;o) Did you know that Australians call rice krispies “rice bubbles” and flip flops “thongs”?! I still get confused when she asks if I want to go get tea when it’s actually time for dinner :o) But I love her!

One of the main things God has been teaching me this week is that I need the body of Christ. God told Heidi once, “You can do nothing without the body of Christ.” We are called to work together. I have really been missing my family and friends while I’ve been here. I feel like something is missing when my Antioch family isn’t here with me. The other day I was asking the Lord why and He said, “Because they’re your family.” So to my Antioch family, know that I miss you tons and that I wish with all my heart that you could be here with me! I think that through being here by myself, God is showing me how much I need you all. But He also wants me to bring what I get here back to Wheaton and share it with my family, so what I’m receiving here isn’t just for me, it’s for y’all too!!

I gotta go, but know that you all are in my heart and in my prayers. I don’t have access to internet often, but send me a quick message about how you are doing and how I can be praying for you!

Talk to you soon!
Love
Erica

I'm here!!!

Hey all!!!

I miss you all so much!!!

Sorry I was not able to send out an update sooner... internet access is hard to come by here :o)
I arrived safely in Pemba on Saturday afternoon after over 24 hours of traveling. The Harvest School staff met me and about 30 other students at the airport and we jumped on the back of a truck for our ride to the Iris base. However, the truck wouldn't start! So, we all jumped off and waited until some others could pick us up in smaller trucks :o) It was a very fitting African welcome!

After arriving on base, I moved into a small house with 10 other girls!! I am sleeping in a little room with 4 other friends, sleeping under a lovely blue bug net, and living out of my big red duffle bag! I love it! Kind of reminds me of my summers on the river... :o)

It is so beautiful here! Right now it is Mozaqmbique's winter, so it has only been about 80 or 90 degrees outside as opposed to 120! Everything seems so bright, including the red dirt and the stars at night. We live right next to the beach, so I have taken the opportunity to go swimming almost every day! On base there are always kids running around, some that live on the base and others from the surrounding villages. Most do not speak english, so I am trying to learn Portuguese as quickly as possible. Some of the older boys and some of the pastors in the bible school have been teaching me!

Tuesday was a national holiday here called Children's Day! It is a really big day at Iris, almost like Christmas! Thousands of kids from the surrounding villages come to Iris to get a hot meal of rice and beans. Then as they leave they get a small bag of candy and a balloon. I was responsible for dipping their thumbs in ink so that they couldn't try to get in line a second time :)

Wednesday was our first day of class. Monday through Thursday we have class from 8 to 1, and then Friday is our practical missions day. We have already heard some amazing speakers, including Heidi Baker, Will Hart, and Pastor Donweke, a man who has raised 5 people from the dead! I have been here for less than a week and have already been so undone by the Father's love!! I have also been exposed to poverty, sickness, and pain like I have never seen before and for which my heart breaks. I am praying that God will continue to give me more of His heart for His people, but most of all that He will give me a deeper revelation of His love for me. Will Hart spoke about God's love and said that the #1 reason we were created is to be loved by God. I want to know more of that love!!

I don't have a lot of time, so I need to go, but I will do my best to send another update soon!
I love you all so much! I have been thinking about you guys a lot :o) One of the hardest things so far has been being so far away without being able to talk to you all... I love you and pray that you are well and that God will continue to show you more and more of His love each and every day!!

Love
Erica

Compelled by Love

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

Deuteronomy 6:5

At the beginning of this year, God told me that my primary purpose is to love Him and to be loved by Him. My prayer in response was, "May everything I do be motivated by love for You God!" And that continues to be my prayer as I go to Mozambique. I am going to Africa because I want to love Him with all my heart, soul, mind and strength.

In his book Jesus Culture, Banning Liebscher writes, "Your life is critically potent with the plans of God. The dreams ingrained upon your heart are resident there because God wants to use you to bring revival in the particular realm of society you are zealous about. In fact, God has set it up so that His dream of giving the nations to His Son as well as the dreams of His sons and daughters can only be fulfilled together. The passions of your heart are intimately and intrinsically linked to God's desire for nations being discipled and societies completely transformed! You have been set up for success. God is with you, and nothing is impossible."

My dream is to hold the sick, the broken, the hurting and the dying in my arms and to show them the love and compassion of Jesus. My dream is to bring light and life to the darkest places on earth. That is why I am going to Africa. I am compelled by love.

Thanks for your support!

Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me through prayer and financially. Thanks to your prayers and your giving, I have all of my support!!! My plane tickets are paid for, tuition is paid for, and malaria pills will soon be paid for :o) I am well on my way to Pemba, Mozambique for the adventure of a lifetime! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

A glimpse of Mozambique...

Here is a video I found on youtube made by a family that spent a year at Iris Ministries.

I'm going to AFRICA!!!

Welcome to a glimpse of my life. So glad I can share it with you!

In exactly 2 weeks I will be walking across the stage to receive my diploma as I graduate from Wheaton College :o)

And then my adventure in Africa begins...