Hello blog...oops

Sorry its been too long. There's no excuse, I could've been blogging but I didn't. Forgive me...

Anyways we are still here in Iceland and we only have one more week unitil we leave to go back to Hawaii for a debriefing there.

Today I wanted to share about a ministry that we are involved in here in Reykjavik. My favorite, United Reykjavik, which is a regular church that opens its doors for the streets every Monday night. This includes the best worship band I've ever listened to, a great message for all the young adults living for the world but choosing to make the next step in living for JESUS (!!!!!), and a time where my team and I get to pray for this young congregation. We have made many friends in this church and we really have been stepping up in discipleship through the people we have met there.

Through this church we have been invited to several weekend retreats to help out and disciple the young members, the weekend retreat that we went on was a lot of fun for our team. A lot of break through happens through these weekends for these young adults who struggle with their hard addictions. I got to minister and pray for a girl, a friend and a new sister in Christ: Jenny. The very next day after the retreat she was going to go into rehab for a couple of months and needed help and prayer with her anxiety and unsettled nervousness for this next season in her life. I confirmed her in her choice and we came together and just simply loved on her. So many other similar stories like this from the weekend.
These students, young adults, brothers and sisters are simply trying to do whats best for them in their own lives so that they can pick up their crosses and follow the Father. Please be praying for this dear community here in Reykjavik, they will always hold a close place in team Iceland's heart.

Little snack of reality for y'all. :)

Hmm. Just a little food for thought before I go into my new favorite topic to talk about.
     Yes. I am "homesick" and this week has been really great besides the fact, but think about this. As the body of Christ we will all be homesick for the real Kingdom family for the rest of our lives. I was just writing in my journal about this today and it sort of blew my mind. Don't let this statement scare you! Ahhh, that would be awful, but because we are waiting here for that day we need to have fervent faith and be a light until Jesus is reunited with us, His family. SOOO GOOD!!! It was indeed a reality check for me. How are you spending your day today to further the Kingdom family culture?

Just one more shout out, thank you to all of you who sent me an uplifting email or a facebook message this last week. I loved all of the encouragement and lovely thoughts, y'all are really the best "home-team" a little dutch girl could truly ask for.

Muchmuch love, Ellie.

Late night journal entry..

This is a jouranl entry that brought me much revelation here in Iceland.

   I cant help but think that you woke me up for a reason. Its one in the morning, and all I wanted to do was sit here in my favorite new chair and wallow on the phone to my Mom..but I cant, Jesus has a sense of humor and He put this fantastic chair in a no WiFi section of our house, so here is my phone call to my heavenly parent who is also my best friend...blahblahblahmeowmeowmeow.

         I cant sleep, I'm so home sick. I'm back to my old self, wishing I were home for this friend or that family dinner, stuck in my thoughts. I know this isn't awful and circumstances could be much worse, but it feels like cat barf at this moment. All I want to do is be home in all the fall colors, work at some coffee joint and watch my baby sister go to homecoming. I want to talk to friends in person, I want to cry over Kennedy, I want to be held by my family. God will you rain heaven down on me in a home-like way?!? I cannot go any further in this if I dont have you. I am actually now completely reliant and desperate for you. I'm sick of counting down the weeks till I go home. For heavens sake its only the first week here. I feel like I'm finally going through what everyone in the beginning went through during our DTS...dammit. Anyways Jesus I'm up for a reason, now show me why.

As I kept processing my thoughts and my first week here in my new home I came across many "love notes" from family and friends, I felt their love and it brought my spirits up and up. A letter and a verse from my outreach leader especially caught my eye and gave me such truth and revelation. Romans 5:3-5 "We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope and hope does not put us to shame, because Gods love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." What an amazing leader and women of God, who SO understands my heart. Love you Alexa, Thank you.

Journal continues....

 One more thing Jesus: I am clearly sitting and talking to you right now and its amazing. You calm me down and you quiet me with your love. My fears and insecurities actually bring me revelation and peace. So weird, I guess I'm still human though. I want to rely more often on my Godly instincts, these quiet times that I feel pushed to do by you are constantly more amazing then the last. SO come on God, bring me down to this chair more often at anytime of the night, bring your truth and I'll bring the pen and my vulnerability to you. I actually think this has been the first time in a long that I have been honest and vulnerable with anyone or myself in a long time. These times are times to note and mark, as times that I truly am desperately coming to Christ in need of more of Him and less of me. Jesus, you are beautiful and my best friend. Nightnight

Want more awesome verses..yes you do.. 

John 15:26-27

Lamentations 5

Hope everything is peachy-keen for all y'all. Lovelove, peacepeace, JesusJesus.

Readers FAQ..

From Dianne: Whats your greatest fear?

Good question Mom. The answer.. Constipation and hostels

Here we GO!

We are leaving for Iceland tomorrow! We are all so so so excited and cannot wait to arrive to the beautiful country of Iceland. While we are in Iceland we will be working a little with the YWAM base there, but we will mainly be working with youth ministry. We will be helping out with discipleship and partnering with them on weekend retreats. This last week God has really put high schoolers on my heart! I cannot wait to love on these kids, be an example and a leader to them! The other thing we will also be doing in Iceland will be working in a Christian coffee shop, this will be a great place to meet new people and build a great community.

Prayer requests: 

The depressed youth: Iceland was recently and still is involved in a major financial crisis, this has indeed broken peoples spirits. Pray for revival and radical faith to grow in this nation through the youth of Iceland. I believe that the youth need prayer because the future is drawing near and I fear that they are afraid because what happened in their own houses, families or even jobs because this financial crisis. (Currently our team is interceding for the youth who have tried to commit suicide.)

Safe travels

Unity: Pray that our team always has unity, unity such as a family. If we can do this and partner with each other to grow closer to God, we will be more of a light in this dark nation. In doing this we will be setting the bar high for what community and what family should really look like while having God at the center.

Thank you so much for all your love and prayers these last months, stay tuned for the next two in a half... I promise I'll write more Mom...

 

ICE ICE BABY!

Ya'll!

     Only 29 more days till Iceland! I cannot believe how long I've been out here and how soon I will be leaving this island for the next island!!! In other news I have been given a job for Iceland! Everyone on my team gets to be in charge of an area like: worship, intercession/prayer, groceries, hospitality, finances, etc. My job is to deal with my teams finances...please pray for me. I'm so grateful for a father, Peter Henschel, that is SOO great with finances. You're so great Dad, thanks for teaching me even when I didn't really honor it. I love you Pappy thanks for helping me during this time. What a blessin' praise the Lamb.
 
More to come friends!

A rabid heart for intercession and prayer.

I'm sitting at my favorite Starbucks in Hawaii pretending that I'm home but not in a sad way, just in a I'm glad they have a Starbucks here even though it's a foot and an arm more expensive kind of way. Hmm missin' ya'll.
Today I was thinking a lot about these last two weeks and what I should do with this Blogger thing, as I was doing so the Mom-tron 3000 called. We talked about home and how I shouldn't worry about the home front too much. But ohhh do I anyways? Duh.. Today folks I want to love on the word Intercession.
    How much do we love the theory of interceding for others?! I LOVE it!! Intercession means simply prayer, petition, or entreaty in favor of one another. A way for us as humans to act out in selflessness. In the last weeks I have learned how much I love crazy rapid fire prayer; screaming it out as individuals or teams for people who need it. This act isnt something you only do once a week with your small groups or church, believe it or not you do this allllll the time in prayer. I am constantly interceding for my siblings, family and friends back at home. But it is here that I have learned that this can go so much further than the people that I hold dearest. Come on Ellie, so simple.
   These last two week's we have interceded for passion in God, the men and women here, Hawaii and different YWAM outreach teams all over the world. Here at YWAM we get the great privilege to have Dan Bauman as a friend and speaker at our school. Last week we talked about passion and how as people sometimes we let our faith in God be driven by our emotional highs and lows. It's okay, we as people are emotional and it's great! BUT our relationship with God and our love for Him should be rooted with consistently or our love for Him will be inconsistent (spiritual highs and lows). After Dan talked for only thirty minutes the room exploded with prayer! We as students were all standing on our chairs praying against passivity and our comfort zones. Yelling out, proclaiming the freedom in God's name. Thirty minutes later we were praying over eachother, proclaiming the truth that we all have a voice and He wants to hear us. Everyone broke their chains off that day, such beauty was found.
  The very next day we divided up: women on one side and men on the other. Our separate circles were praying and proclaiming the lies that we have told ourselves through and through. After awhile we came back together, women in the inside together and men circling around us praying over us as brothers. Interceding and apologizing to us for what men have done to us in the past. This time was so amazing, such freedom was found for many of the women. I couldn't hold myself together. I was scared, sad and full of anger by my past and how I've been let down by men in my life. But once us as women circled around the men and prayed for them all of those feelings had left me. God gave me His heart for this beautiful breed of men that He has put here at YWAM. They are my friends and my brothers, God is pulling a 180 in my heart.
   The picture above is the prayer room on campus, we have prayer sets twice a week. It is here where we worship God as the kingdom family, on Mondays we pray for our outreach teams, nations, family, and worldviews. On Wednesdays we pray for reconciliation in Hawaii. Hawaii has the highest numbers of abuse of crystallized meth/ "ice" in America. Please join us in prayer on Wednesdays and all week as we pray for addictions. Also in Hawaii one out of two girls in high school deal with teen pregnancy. Please pray for families in HI. That addictions are shattered so family structures can be rebuilt with a firm foundation of love. Lastly pray for the church and mission leaders here in HI, that more will step out in faith, that they will help mend and reach more people in this land.
  Pray it out this weekend! 
Psalm 86:1-7
Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me,
    for I am poor and needy.
² Preserve my life, for I am godly;
    save your servant, who trusts in you—you are my God.
³  Be gracious to me, O Lord,
    for to you do I cry all the day.
⁴ Gladden the soul of your servant,
    for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
⁵ For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
     abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.
⁶  Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer;
    listen to my plea for grace.
⁷ In the day of my trouble I call upon you,
     for you answer me.