Never would I have imagined…

Despite the struggles that we have been through these past few years, we have determined in our hearts that “we can not be defeated and will not quit”. In the midst of the biggest challenges of our lives, we have found that as long as we continually look to God, nothing is impossible and with Him, ALL things truly are possible.

Tonight was a moment that I thought was worth sharing. We have had many amazing moments in this past month, ones that I wish didn’t take so much time to chronicle. (So happy that we have twitter and facebook) However, as Cliff shared with 12 male students during an after school program in inner-city Albany, NY this evening, I realized once again that we are created for such a time as this. Both of our backgrounds are those of statistical failures. We were from broken families with many different kinds of abuse and heartache, the ones that “won’t make it”. Not that we are saying we are even close to perfection, but we have overcome such huge odds that were against us, both as individuals and as a couple. It was surreal to share with these teens, ones that have bigger odds against them than we ever did. Yet to watch them respond to Cliff’s message by writing down these dreams/goals and then talk about their plans to attain them was so extremely purposeful. It is what we were created to do.

And it is wonderful to be doing it….

Thank you to ALL of you who help us to reach out to others. You are going with us and fulfilling a vital part. Thank you!

…And the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice. Jn 10:4b

A ministry friend had to cancel a youth camp due to unforseen circumstances and asked me to be the main speaker last minute.
I just happened to be in the region so it was perfect. They informed me that the denominations represented were a little more conservative than our camp, so “tone it down a little” to put it mildly. Tone it down a little is not normally in my vocabulary but I endeavored to cooperate.

The first two meetings were reasonable services. Simple sermons based on being ‘Connected’ and ‘If you love Me, keep My commandments’. Walking with Him. Putting Him first. Good Christian sermons.
I had nominal responses, these were denominational youth at a youth camp. Most, if not all were saved. Good Christian youth having a good time at Fall camp. They didn’t know me, had never heard about me. A guest speaker.

Several young people responded to commit to a deeper walk.

Provision along the Way
Then for my last service I began to tell them about driving my ‘69 VW Karmann Ghia from Denver, CO to Tulsa, OK moving for Bible School.
While driving, I was talking to the Lord about my financial situation, realizing I could use more resources. I had just come from Hawaii, worked a little in Boulder, CO and bought the Ghia.I was pulling into town with a job offer. I had three months before school started but definitely in need of ‘daily bread’.
Driving through Cimarron, KS along I-70, the Lord told me to “Pull into that gas station and ask the lady at the counter for work”. I pulled in, went inside, got a cup of tea and sat down at one of the tables.

I sat there for two hours basically looking at the lady, trying to figure out how to do this. Finally I thought I might as well leave, so on my way out I’ll just ask her. When I did she stared at me in disbelief saying, “You’ve been sitting there for two hours and I’ve been calling all over town trying to find someone to help my husband. “You need to go over to my house and help him weed the front lawn.”
It turned out they were believers and supporters of the ministry and bible school I was headed to attend.They sent me off with an excellent days wages for four hours of labor.

A Little Recreation
Another time I was staying in Monaco for a couple of months with my youth group of One (that’s another story). Raphael my previous watersports boss from the Monte-Carlo Beach Hotel asked me to pick up some buoys from Beaulieu-sur-Mer. I was getting in the vehicle at about 9am when I again heard the voice of the Lord. “Put Your surfboard in the car,” He directed me. He wasn’t leading me to crash my car into the wall, just a simple instruction regarding my surfboard.

I drove the relatively short distance to Beaulieu and did my task. I figured I might as well drive a little further to Villefranche-sur-Mer and take a look at the water. I had heard about but never surfed the Mediterranean. Sure enough as I drove around the Bay there they were: head-high waves. I surfed with several people for a few hours. When I asked a frenchman who was catching the waves how long the swell would be here he responded, “7am-7pm, c’est tout, that’s it.”

Does He do that kind of stuff? Well He did it with me. I was there. Nobody can take that from me. Revelation 12:11, “And they overcame Him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony…”

Eternal hope for a young person
My last story, though certainly not the last revolves around a young man I’ll call Justin. Justin was about 15. He was a recipient in the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He had been diagnosed with Leukemia and his desire was to ski. A local news crew was assigned to follow his wish and part of his training was to ski on an indoor deck in Oklahoma. Get him prepared for the mountain in a more hospitable location. I was the instructor and during the lesson the voice of the Lord kept prompting me. “Tell him about Me.” But I was working, and I was the manager of the deck.
Again, my heart was beating out of my chest. “Tell him about Me.” Finally, exhausted by the lesson, Justin took a break. The news crew had gotten their shots and decided to exit. As I wrapped up the lesson at 8pm, I took my opportunity.

I explained to Justin and his father that although I was the manager this was my part-time job. My other job that I had trained for was my real job and there was no connection between the ski shop and me. I had now officially clocked out.

I had no idea what their reaction would be. But I had to follow the voice of the Shepherd. I asked Justin if he died if he knew where he would spend eternity. This was an extremely delicate situation considering the circumstances. I could just be an overzealous Bible School graduate.His father immediately shouted “Hallelujah!”. He responded by telling me Justin thought God was the author of this overwhelming challenge. I talked to Justin for a few minutes of God’s goodness and why Jesus was sent for us. I invited him to give his heart to the Lord. He declined but allowed me to pray for him.

As I finished up the last session of the youth camp I had noticed most of the 90 or so people had their arms folded, a not so positive body language response. I realised with some additional stories I was probably blowing their minds. “Yeah, right,” I could almost hear them say. I again closed the service asking who would like to develop a deeper walk with God, not to hear ‘A Voice’ per se, but to listen to the voice of the Shepherd.

At the closing of the service over fourty young people responded, including a youth pastor’s wife.
People really want to hear.

Sorry for the delay to those of you that have looked for Part 2 to last week’s blog re-post. Cliff flew to Washington last Thursday and has been having a great time doing leadership meetings, youth services and a re-design of a youth facility etc. He is excited about writing this next blog, but will have to get to it next week. Thanks for your patience.

LOOK FOR PART 2 next week

10 days with Unison Harvest

November 18-November 28…a veritable glimpse into the workings and amazing things that happen when you do what we do.

Sunday: We finish up with an evening youth service with New Beginnings in Brick NJ @ 7:15 before rushing off to the Newark airport as we have a flight scheduled for Orlando Florida. We have been involved with 5 services over the weekend starting Fri. eve. We have an 8AM appointment. The 9PM or thereabouts departure is delayed 1 hour or so. I arrive @ 2AM.

Monday, Tuesday: 8:30 AM Face to Face with Reinhard Bohnke officially commences. He targets 50 evangelists to sit together with him and challenge with the insurmountable task of reaching Planet Earth’s almost 4.6 billion unreached and/or unsaved.The initial goal turns into three separate sessions of 50 or so delegates. We are in the second session. How we got chosen I am still humbled and amazed. There were some 8000 applicants.
This is ten days with Unison Harvest.
We end around 9PM and arrive back to the hotel for me to pack. I am on a 5:25AM flight out to LA. The girls and our helper, Stephanie don’t leave until the next morning. It’s Thanksgiving to us Americans. For some reason I think we get a little pool time with Tori, our 3yr old and Lauren our 1 1/2 yr old. But I don’t remember…maybe it’s the sleep deprivation.

Wednesday: ORL-LAX. I arrive @ 10:30 or so and catch a flyaway to a nearby location where the van has been at Pastor Wil Strong’s house. I have a bowl of Italian wedding soup which his wife Sandy prepares. When was the last time I ate? A real meal I mean. I head to the storage unit where everything is waiting to be moved into our house in Malibu, but that’s another story in itself. Come back in a couple of articles. I pack the van, with Tom Smith’s help, for our winter rest in Sun Valley, ID. I think I finish @ 3AM. California time.

Thursday: I drive to LAX. I have to leave the van in the airport for the family. Christie and the girls are trying to fly in to meet me for a quick Thanksgiving dinner before they head to Idaho. I leave @ 3:35PM and their plane arrives @ 5PM. As I board my plane to Paris, once again Malibu is ravaged by fire.

One of our partners gave us mileage and I am able to fly Business Class to the Ukraine via Paris. I have my Thanksgiving meal by myself on the plane and finally get some real sleep.

Friday: I arrive in Paris Charles de Gaulle, register at a nearby hotel, check my bags to Kiev and go into the city to Du Pareil Au Meme for some kids clothes for Tori and Lauren. Riots have broken out in the North Suburbs of Paris among the Muslim youth. Coupled with that there is a Metro strike throughout the city. I pass the majority of my 17-hour layover in the business lounge at the airport.

Saturday: I board my flight to Kiev, Ukraine and as I am listening to the crew I hear the captain speak impeccable French. He then switches to English and he’s got a pretty accurate American accent. I ask him where he was schooled in the US. He says he’s American but lives overseas. Before we take off I have a thought…”How cool would it be to ride in the cockpit?”. I dismiss it immediately, knowing the times. Part way through the flight, one of the attendants call me to the galley while closing the curtain. The captain wants to invite me to the cockpit. There are only two of us in first class so no one even notices. I end up discussing our life and purpose with the pilot and co-pilot. Who says this isn’t an amazing ride?

I arrive in Kiev and it’s the weekend. I’m meeting up with fellow ministers and friends putting on a conference five or so hours away in Sumy, 40 kilometers from the Russian border. They are swamped and the best transportation is a bus. The only problem is it’s the weekend, and only one bus runs at 5pm. I’ve got a six hour layover in Kiev airport. When I board the bus I realize almost no one speaks English. One man near me nods whenever I attempt to communicate but no real English. I rest. I arrive at about 10:30PM and the bus drops me off in the boonies. It’s about 40 degrees F and I need the guidance of the Lord. The Ukrainian man says get in the taxi and they take me to the town square where I locate a small hotel until I can call someone in the morning.

Sunday: I’ve crossed through as many as twelve time zones. I end up sleeping until 11AM Ukraine time. I finally reach my contacts and head for the evening service. Bro.Tommie Zito is finishing up a week long soul winners event. They are having a baptism service. Hundreds are being baptized in water which in the former Soviet Union is kicking over some sacred cows. Baptism here accompanies joining the local church. People have come from all over the country for these meetings. Water baptism like this is tantamount to heresy. Even though the scripture says differently.
Tommie invites me up to speak a few minutes before he preaches. I had not been in the Ukraine for eight and a half years and was amazed at the seeming progress. They almost resembled the American church: fat, happy and a little bit sleepy. On the bus ride from Kiev the Lord dropped verses from 2 Kings 13 about taking it to the next level with the Lord. Tommie ends the service with most of the 700 person congregation having hands layed on them without any further preaching.

Monday: Early morning ride to Kiev. It’s only about four hours because this time it’s in a car. Then a three hour flight to Tel Aviv. Hey, I’ve put in my 8 hours, can I go home now? JK. America, Europe, the edge of Russia and now the Middle East in only five days. I am ending this year in the place Jesus walked on planet Earth. The One who started and ended all of this. By that I mean payed the price for all of us, especially those that believe, I Timothy 4:10. He traveled the distance from Heaven to Earth to show us what our Heavenly Father is like so we could have the opportunity to chose eternity with Him…or not. So people like you and I could tell others of the Good News, and they could accept or reject the One Who died for us. We check into our hotel in Tel Aviv and get some shut eye.

Tuesday: We take a taxi to Jerusalem and check into our hotel. The next few days will be spent making contacts and scouting out places for future meetings, while walking in the footsteps of Jesus…
John 21:25 And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.
Isn’t that how He intended our life to be?

A testimony from Sarah, which includes an”unscheduled” trip for Cliff Thank you Sarah!

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Yesterday at 10:10am

Mine is a story that is in no way common or unique. But, I believe that my outcome is. Not often do you hear of a flower emerging from the ashes of a fire. And even less often do you hear of that flower being the result of divorce.

The Bad, The Ugly:

My parents split during my senior year in high school- a pivotal time in any young person’s life. Although I had seen it coming and was surrounded by tell-tale signs of suffering all around- I was devastated and caught off guard. They had promised me that divorce was to be the final option.

I cannot begin to tell you the mental and emotion anguish that engulfed me during that year. I went from a carefree teenager, to a girl laden with the burden beyond her years. My heart and mind slumped into a state of such depression that I began to take out my anger on myself- desperate that it would give me the attention I so needed. I refused to feed myself, instead hunting down any type of diet pill I could find; I would exercise and run until my insides felt like they were about to implode. The TV and computer were my closest friends, although I can honestly tell you that I do not remember watching it. And those who should have been my closest friends had left me aside, too caught up in their own social life to recognize a sinking Titanic. There is no blame there, young people rarely look beyond themselves; it just goes with the territory of being young.

Although I did not miss my main graduation (I was dually enrolled in my private school and public school), I missed my graduation picnic from the performing arts school I attended and completely spaced my public school graduation. The summer following my parents’ separation is a blur with little blips of memory here and there. But, for the most part, I was just a shell.

I swore that I would never, again, allow myself to feel the warmth of love and risk being forsaken.

Their separation affected my spiritual growth, as well. For a season, I stepped away from what the Lord had planned for me and did my own thing. Which mainly involved hanging out with those who were not positive influences; those who would not only allow me to wallow in my sorrow, but make a party of it. I became a Peter, sort of, denying all that I had been taught in my elementary years- the goodness of the Lord. It had become a sweet candy, turned sour, in my mouth. I wanted to spit it out. After all, what had God done for me? He only allowed my world to be torn apart at the seams; throwing me into a downward spiral, toward inevitable doom.

Still, there was that candle flame that He would not allow to be snuffed out. That little flicker of hope- so tiny that only He could sense it and keep it safe from the turbulent winds of my stormy life.

The Good

Graciously and faithfully (and ever so gently, as a doctor nurses a patient back to health) He brought me back to Himself and taught me this:

“He will never leave me nor forsake me.”

A side note: like the good God that He is, He sent a man whom I have looked up to, all my life, drive from the farthest part of America to Sun Valley, Idaho; stop in the very deli that I worked at and told him to tell me how great Christ’s love is for me. Cliff Graham said himself, “I have no idea why I am here in Idaho- I just felt that I needed to come here” and the next day, “I figured it out! The Lord wants me to tell you how much He loves you! GO TO BIBLE SCHOOL!”

In the last 8 years since the divorce, I have battled with not being a part of a whole family and dealing with a step-parent whom I had no say in whether or not she could join my family. Getting married and having a baby of my own only compounded my sadness and understanding of what had happened all those years ago. But, because He is so good, God did not stop teaching me. He has also spoken, sweetly, to my spirit:

“Only I can complete you the way you need to be completed.”

At the end of the day, I know that God, my Father, took a horrible situation and turned it into an opportunity to show His love, grace and providence over me. He is the Master Mixer. He can take the good, the bad and the ugly parts of life and can bring them all together, making them into something so full of potential and beyond imagination or expectation that you will be in awe of His love for you.

Beyond Good!

Keeping to His word, He does not just heal our pain and leave it at that. He takes us, makes us whole, sets our feet upon a solid path and points our vision toward His future for us!

He also showed me this- that my parents were not born perfect, but they are covered in the blood of His son, Jesus. In all that they went through and all their pain, He held them just as close as He held me. He has mixed their lives into His will.

Philippians 1:6:
“I am confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Romans 8:28:
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

Amen! What an AWESOME God we serve!

Luke 15:11-32: The prodigal son story. We all know it. Young man decides he wants his inheritance, goes off to a distant land and wastes it with prodigal living. Prodigal actually means recklessly wasteful and extravagant. Different translations say, “Squandered on wild, riotous, foolish, loose living”. The older brother even recounts the story later of the younger partying with prostitutes!

Personally, I’ve only heard two or maybe three spins on this…

The loving Father accepts the backslidden son after misusing his trust account, receiving him with open arms and giving him full access to his life and possessions. What once was lost now is found, fully restored; sins blotted out and restoration complete to the humbled, repentant son realizing the errors of his ways.
Another take is the disgruntled brother not understanding the foolish brother’s reward for his wasteful lifestyle, and the Father
saying to the older brother, “Son, you are with me always, and all that I have is yours.” Instead of Christians judging others and the ‘rewards’ of the Father; realizing that all that He has is ours and we must simply ask Him for our needs AND the benefits, blessings and enjoyment of the Kingdom is ours. Wow, what a concept…

But I have been following a different thought lately. Chewing on it. Meditating, speaking, muttering, uttering, even imagining.

What would we do if we were handed our inheritance? All the resources we need to fulfill our destinies?

Would we go prodigal? Initiate a riotous lifestyle? Recklessly extravagant living?
Ministry friends of mine believe God said to them that He won’t give His resources to anyone who doesn’t have a plan.
But will we be faithful when we have His resources?

Revelation 17:14b … and those who are with Him are called, chosen and faithful.

1 Corinthians 4:2 Moreover it is required in stewards ( managers, superintendents, head of household, metaphorically: apostles, christian teachers, bishops and overseers) that they be found faithful [believing, confiding, trusting].

All judgment aside, this is a serious responsibility He’s left to our care.

Over six billion people on planet earth that we are to continue to share the good news with and lead to eternity.

LaLa’s Gift, in memory of our daughter, Lauren Nicole Skye Graham, is a DBA of Unison Harvest International and therefore is an established 501-C3. Unison Harvest International is an outreach to ages 14-25 that has been in operation for over 9 years.

LaLa’s Gift has been established to help children around the world, ages 0-13, by getting resources to existing works. These include individuals, ministries and organizations that are reaching out a helping hand to children. Children around the world have been orphaned because of war, natural disasters or neglect. They have been prostituted and abused and slighted opportunities for an education. They have also been denied the opportunity to be loved by family. We, together, will be the caring hands doing something today that will matter tomorrow.

I Corinthians 13:13b …but the greatest of these is love.

GAME RULES: FOLLOW THE LEADER

What a novel concept.

Children play the game. Adults attempt it… but buck, challenge, question, rebel and numerous other verbs instead of just following the rules.

Follow the leader.
What He says do…Do.

Paul said follow me as I follow Christ. Jesus said “Come, follow me”. It’s simple. It’s not as hard as it looks. The proverbial yoking up of the weaker to the stronger ox.

Jesus is more experienced and He knows how to lead. He knows how to plow the “fields”.

Jesus said, “Take my yoke and learn of me, for my yoke is easy and my burden light.” He knows the past and knows the directions.

He can take you into the future.

GAME RULES: FOLLOW THE LEADER

This week has been an intense week of memories and required some time for reflection. The loss of our little girl one year ago has been the most difficult situation we have ever faced. However, it has made us stronger in many ways. The future is bright and the vision is strong in our hearts to continue the call. Thank you to everyone who has contributed in some way in caring for our family and ministry during this past year.