Christian Gonzales - Mark 5 Demon Possessed Man Drama

Here is last week's speaker, Christian Gonzalez acting out a Bible story. Pretty amazing! Enjoy :)

The Awakening Begins!

Over 40 students are here from all over the world to do the Awaken Discipleship Training School. We are so blessed and honored to be a part of this community to disciple & train students and build new relationships and see God in new ways! This is day 1 orientation and its so exciting! I think God is going to blow us all away! Amazing things are happening through this campus. I will try to update again after the first week.

We have some really exciting news about where we will be spending outreach this summer, but due to sensitive information about the location we won't be posting about it here or on Facebook. If you would like to receive our monthly newsletter please subscribe on the Connect page here on our blog or send us your email address. We want to keep you involved because you are such a part of this journey. We can't be doing what we are without prayers and encouragement. So thank you for how you have been a part of that! I will continue to update here especially for the next few months in Kona but it won't be about outreach or details. I hope you will stay in touch. Blessings!

Aloha!

Dear friends, we are writing from Kona, Hawaii, our home for the next 4 months! We are at the YWAM University of the Nations to staff the Awaken DTS in April. You can still sign up if you're interested and there is another school happening in July! Evan and I greatly enjoyed our time in Charleston. Our fundraisers last weekend with the yard sale and concert were a success and it wouldn't have happened without y'all! We are happy to report that we made it to Kona on Saturday ad we are adjusting and settling in. Yes it is beautiful and we are greatly enjoying being here. It has been so awesome to walk this journey and see God's word to us 5 months ago to come here fulfilled. We give praise to Him for His faithfulness, bringing us here for this time, and for how so many of you have supported and encourage us by joining in with this mission! The Lord is building a team for us and it is an answer to prayer. We are so humbled and grateful for how you have come around us! This morning we went to campus worship with close to 1,000 people on fire for Jesus with the same heart as us to seek Him and take Good News to the lost! It kind of feels like we are at a big conference or camp, but it happens every day and never ends! I think God is going to teach us so much while we are here! We have been meeting the other staff for our April DTS and catching the excitement and vision for what we are doing. We're expecting 40+ students in April and our staff of 17 will start training and preparing next week for the school. Thanks for your prayers along the way and as we continue! You can join us in prayer for our students who have been accepted and who are yet to be, for unity and vision or our team, and discernment as we decide on outreach locations over the next few weeks. We're also praying that we can move onto campus asap as our current place is only for 2 weeks and we are looking for a moped for our time here. Please stay in touch. We love hearing from you!

I'll leave you with one big praise- we saw God's favor once again as we flew out of Charleston. We had 3 bags to check which should have definitely been at least $80. Somehow the lady made a phone call and with a confused look gave us our bag tags and said we were done. We checked 3 bags for free! God is so awesome!!!

Miracle in the airport

Writing from Mt. Pleasant, SC. So good to be back for a few weeks. I (Alicia) am slowly adjusting to the 10.5 hour time difference and my body is taking it hard. Evan is well and happy to eat without fear of what will happen afterward! We have some re-entry culture shock- it seems soo quiet and uninhabited compared to India! But there is something so sweet and peaceful about being in Charleston. We are staying with dear friends that we are very thankful for. I just wanted to do a quick update and share about the miracle in the airport as we left India. :)

We had a lot of baggage because we had been completely living abroad for almost a year. We planned very carefully and checked airline policy to be sure we could bring all of our baggage without paying the $100 fee for each extra bag (we had no money)! According to the airline website we could each check 2 bags from India to US. So we had 4 bags to check including Evan's guitar and we each had a big hiking backpack as carry ons plus 2 small backpacks as a personal item; this is how we normally travel everywhere. In all we had 8 bags. At check in we were told we could each only check 1 bag. On top of that they were VERY strict with their carry on policy and weighed our backpacks and said they were too big and too heavy for carry on. So basically they were saying we had 4 extra bags. We began praying intensely and explaining the situation and what the website says. He brought over a manager and he made phone calls, etc as this went on for about 30 minutes. They were both insistent that we could only check 1 bag each and our carry ons were too big. Evan remembered he had seen earlier on my Facebook a quote "When you are waiting for God to open a door, praise Him in the hallway." So we began to praise God. A couple of minutes later the manager said okay you can check the 4 bags. Then he came and looked at our carry ons and said this is still a problem. And then just said, "Ok you can check those too." Evan asked, "For free?" He said yes for free. WHAT! JUST HAPPENED? WHOA! He completely changed and did everything to help us! We were able to check SIX bags for FREE. That has never come close to happening to us or anyone we know! That left us with just 2 small backpacks to carry, our lightest load ever. Evan and I walked away so amazed at God's presence and favor with us. It was an impossible situation and God came through once again with His faithfulness and power! There was nothing else that could have changed that situation or the man's attitude towards us. Everything arrived on time and our travels were so smooth. We are still praising Him for this 3 days later. Thanks you for your prayers as we traveled!

Saying Goodbye India, for now

Wow! Here is an India recap/debrief: I (Alicia) can’t believe our 2 months in India is finished and we are heading back to the States for some time. God taught each of us a lot during this time. It would be a lie to say that it was an easy time. I came with expectations and plans that didn’t happen (constantly learning not to have my own expectations). But I had some lessons to learn about giving up all my rights to the Lord of my life and living day by day in total trust. I got to do ministry with hula hoops a lot and received more clarity for how that will look in my future. We both got to teach in the church and in cell groups and spend time with local believers. Evan got to teach in the Bible College several time and really enjoyed working with the students. They had a lot of great things to say about him and his teachings. With so many speaking opportunities his preaching style has been developing and God has really strengthened this gift. He is full of wisdom. We prayed for many people and saw God move people with His love. Evan prayed for 4 people at the hospital one night, they were very sick and had been in the hospital for an extended time; 3 of them were released from the hospital the next day!

We also saw God’s continued faithfulness in providing in awesome ways for our time and travel here. Just being here for 2 months is such a miracle and testimony of His faithfulness and provision when we are following Him. About $1500 was provided in unexpected ways within a week to purchase our plane tickets home! We already miss our friends in Ranchi and look forward to the time we can return to invest in the people there.

There are many needs in India and more workers are needed. One of the biggest needs is training for believers and leaders. They need teaching and discipleship. Then the locals can reach many more than we can as foreigners.

We got to have some fun too enjoying the local field hockey team games, Evan went to an India/England cricket match (and now loves cricket), and went to a waterfall. We took an overnight train back to New Delhi and enjoyed seeing some sites including the India Gate, Hindu, and Sikh temples. You can check out more photos on Facebook but I’ll put a few here. Mixed emotions as we prepare to leave this crazy, beautiful nation and the wonderful people here; but looking forward to some comfort and friends in South Carolina and what we expect to be an amazing time in Kona. Thank you always for all your support and prayers!

Packed and ready for culture shock, Idk if our culture could be more opposite than here. Can you pray for us as we travel from New Delhi to Charleston? We leave India at 2:25 am Feb 5 (Mon 4:00 pm Eastern time) on an 8 hour flight to Austria. Then we have a 10.5 hour flight to DC before our short flight to Charleston where we should arrive Tue evening after nearly 30 hours of travel! How can we pray for you!? Write to us!

Evan, Jesus, and Pawan preaching at Impact City Church

Evan with the Bible College students he taught

Hindu temple, New Delhi

Our group adventure to a waterfall, yes I guess people worship that

Girls cell group

India Gate

Spinning around India

Hi dear friends! Just a quick update from India. Our New Year is off to a good start. We had a week of rest for the holidays and last week was back to "work." Evan visited some english classes partnered with World Vision. We spoke almost everyday at different home groups in mostly slum neighborhoods. It is so sweet to visit the humble, hungry, believers in their homes. And we really saw God show up and touch people's lives with His love. We were all blessed. This week we will continue to visit home groups. Pray that the light of Christ would shine through us and that God's message for His children would be in our hearts. The people live in very difficult situations and India as a nation is having a lot of struggles so they really need the light & hope that comes from the Living God.

I also stayed busy with a lot of hula hooping! I am having daily classes with some girls here that we are training up to lead the hoop ministry once we are gone. They are learning so fast and are so good with the kids! There is big vision and opportunity for hula hoop ministry here! We also took hoops to Kids outreach in different locations. Most kids here have never seen a hula hoop! They LOVE it and then I get to share the Gospel through the 5 colored hoops :) We will continue that this week, as well as teach some workshops at dance schools in the city. Please pray that our last few weeks here would be the best yet! I want to give & take everything God has for me during this time. I know there is more to come. More joy & love & Spirit. You can keep us in your prayers for finances as well as we hope to fly home at the end of this month before going on to Kona to staff a DTS. It is an honor to partner with y'all in this mission to reach the nations with the name of Jesus.

ps. I just finished reading Bill Johnson's book Face to Face with God It is seriously the best book I have read in a VERY long time. It challenged me so many times to stop, think, and pray. So good. I leave you with one of the many great quotes. "That is the nature of the Christian life. We give away what we have, and as we do, the world around us conforms. It is a superior kingdom." True, and something we can all do wherever we are.

Living Shampoo Free

Yes that’s right, 9 months shampoo and hair product free. No I don’t have dreads and I have nice, clean hair! Missionaries and world travelers rejoice! Evan has also been shampoo free for about 2 years. I don’t usually post this kind of stuff but I have people ask me about it so thought I would share. I read several blogs and tried several ways but this is the routine I have found to be the best, even in a variety of climates and cultures. I use a mixture of baking soda and water to clean my hair and an apple cider vinegar rinse to condition about twice a week. At first I used a small amount of baking soda mixed with water in a small cup. It would be almost paste like and apply it to the top and crown of my head. Some people do this once a week or less, some people completely stop using this. I started using this recipe to make a batch that I keep in a bottle and find that my hair is great doing this twice a week. I’m much happier with the texture and look of my hair with this routine. I don't remember now which site I got my recipes on but here is the baking soda mix: www.inashoe.com/2009/10/shampoo-update-7-months-counting/ Here are a couple of other blogs that I found really helpful and informative in the decision and process.

www.fulfilledhomemaking.com/no-poo-shampoo

www.thehairpin.com/2011/04/how-to-quit-shampoo-without-becoming-disgusting

www.naturemoms.com/no-shampoo-alternative Here is the recipe I use for Apple Cider Vinegar Rinse: 3/4 cup water 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar 2 T. aloe vera gel (I have never included this) 1 T. honey 8 drops peppermint oil 8 drops tea tree oil. Combine all ingredients and shake well. After cleansing, pour all over scalp and hair. Allow it to sit for a few minutes.

It does take a while for your hair to adjust, but don’t let it stop you. It took about 5 or 6 weeks for me; just plan on a lot of ponytails, braids, and headbands for a while. You have a lot of extra oil when you use products because shampoo strips your hair of natural oils. It over compensates. Expect a lot of oil as your hair adjusts to its natural production. In the mean time, use the baking soda to cleanse the oil. When I came back to the States to summer heat and humidity of South Carolina it had to adjust again. But I was using less than twice a week and didn’t use the vinegar rinse. When I went back to the vinegar rinse it makes a big difference. I am convinced the apple cider vinegar rinse is the key to having good hair with this routine. Feel free to ask questions but these blogs have a lot of answers to a lot of specific questions! Good luck!