Tuesday, September 28, 2010

I've moved AGAIN...


[JUST CLICK the "X" on the right corner so the PETS disappear! Also, if you hold your mouse over a picture, you will see a CAPTION with it!]

Well...I've moved again! This time it wasn't to another state though...it is just closer to town. In fact, I'm only a block away from one of the hospitals that I take calls for here in Portland....but there's sooo many trees between me and the hospital, it really seems like I'm still way out in the country! Thankfully, I'm still only about 20 minutes (15 miles) from the Lee's (my Korean family that gave me a home for the last 6 months - minus my time in Colorado) so I can still go and help them, or spend time with the kids easily.

Yes, I have a lot to be thankful for right now! In fact, as I get ready to spend my FIRST night here in my new little cozy apartment, I can't believe my good fortune. Actually, it's not "good fortune" - it's the providential workings and blessing of God. I've been praying He would give me just the place I needed, at the price I could afford. And while looking for apartments awhile back, I accidentally (again, providentially) stumbled on to this privately owned FULLY furnished apartment. (Remember, everything I have, I brought to Oregon in my car - so I don't have any furniture with me.) But believe it or not....despite beautiful furnishings, a plush queen bed, and more....it was close to the same price as other regular unfurnished apartments in the area. Ummm.....Wow!!!! This is amazing! God is good! But He wasn't done with me....besides that, it's nestled right up against a beautiful little mtn covered in hiking trails....like 5-6 miles worth of trails! The trail entrance is literally 30 feet from my back door!!!! (Only God knows how much I treasure a quiet serene peaceful place to walk/jog and spend time worshipping Him away from the eyes of others. So He has provided. I went walking up on the mtn tonight, and it was beautiful! So I already know, this mtn is going to be my haven and refuge...)

When my housemate Susy and I moved into our place in Loma Linda almost 4 years ago...we felt a "sanctity" about our new home. And so before we started setting up housekeeping or moving in, we stopped and prayed and dedicated our home to God. It was really special! The interesting thing is, I can't begin to count the people that came to spend time in our home (whether for an evening get-together or for a few nights) that told us, "This place is special. I really sense Peace here...and the presence of God." I was so touched by the different testimonies...as well as the many blessed experiences God gave us in that home. (A miracle story all in itself!)

Well, I'm on my own again now...no roommates, no family by my side...but once again, I've felt God's voice speaking to my heart... "While just a tiny little apartment, this is to be my home Melody, dedicated to my purposes and for my glory...to bless others." (Oh my, it gives me chills up my spine just thinking about it.) So Sunday...after Obba helped me unload stuff and then after he went home, before I started moving in, or getting things organized...I knelt and dedicated this little apartment to God. Again, I felt such a sweet spirit and peace flood over me and the place. It was very special.

And so I pray, as God has promised, that He will truly bless this place and all that enter...that when they come, they will see Jesus here...and they will feel at peace. Yes, God is good....all the time!!!! All the time, God is good....

So, I'm all moved in now and organized (more organized then I've been in months)! I had my first meal (Raisin Bran and soymilk with Toast on a kiddo "Tonka plate") this morning, and then late this afternoon, I had rice and "keem" seaweed! (Yep, sigh....it's my favorite!) While the apartment only has minimal kitchen supplies, and I only have with me a few things of my own....I do have a rice-cooker (compliments of Lee's) and I have my own chopsticks that I got in Korea last summer.....so I figure I am all set! Since I haven't worked all summer until just a couple weeks ago, I'm basically broke after paying rent and deposit to get started here...and my cupboards are kinda bare...but it's weird, because I don't feel stressed about this at all. I actually feel like a millionaire! (I guess I am....cause my Father owns the world...and just as He watches out for and cares for the sparrows, He's also caring for me.) However, although some may roll their eyes at the things I'm thankful for, I honestly couldn't be happier! I just stand in AWE and PRAISE.....because once again....God has proved faithful, and answered my prayer and requests even more beautifully than even I could have hoped or imagined...all I can say is WOW!!!!! (And....if you keep in perspective, that in third world settings, 5 families would be crammed into the space I'm going to be renting alone...well, that helps me realize even more how "rich" I am.)

So, if you are ever in the area....come and visit! I may only have 700 square feet of room, but whatever I have, I will share gladly.

"Blessed to be a blessing..."

Chorus
Blessed to be a blessing
Blessed to live your love
Blessed to share with others every blessing from above
Blessed to walk in mercy
Blessed to light the way
Oh, Blessed to be a blessing every day

Verse 1
Oh my Jesus, you have blessed me
You died for me to take my sin away
Now you live your life in me
And the love received is love I give away

Verse 2
Oh my Jesus, make me a blessing
In my work and play, in everything I do
Oh let your blessing flow through me
That in seeing me, may others see you

Friday, September 24, 2010

Introducing the NEWEST Set-Apart Girl!


Yep...once again, Annie and her team have done a simply spectacular job! I just spent this morning reading through the entire magazine, and learned even more inspiring tips about how to live a Set-Apart poured out life for Christ!

If you haven't seen it, you gotta read it! I have two articles in this month's issue...one in the relationship section and one in inspiration. Enjoy...and be blessed!


AND....don't forget to share with your friends...it's time we girls (and guys too) reach for a higher standard!

Friday, September 17, 2010

Love being in the ARME!!

Wow...I know you guys are all waiting for a report on ARME Bible Camp, but I hardly know where to begin! God has been soooo good!

Just to say in brief summary, we saw sooooo many lives turned around, people set free from years of bondage, and people catching on fire with a love and passion for the word and for Prayer.

This last ARME was hosted in Leoni Meadows, CA in August of 2010 was once again a God-given success. We worried if we would get enough people for the conference, as once again, we did very little advertising. But our team prayed, and as God always does...He brought the people. Over 500 were in attendance at this camp, including the whole Weimar Academy and staff who came to ARME to start off their school year. And this time around we beat our previous record in "Scholarship Give-aways." Our policy (I probably shouldn't say this too loudly, or everyone will be asking for a free scholarship) has been to NOT turn anyone down that came to us and showed genuine financial need. So this time around, 75 scholarships were awarded. That's about $15,000 in loss of Camp fee expense, because basically we only charge people the bare minimum of what we have to pay the camp, as we've been trying to keep things as affordable as possible! But God more then re-payed...for at the end of the camp, when we took an offering, we received over $100,000 in donations! Unbelievable! Part of that money was to go to pay the tuition of some of our attendees (some College students that gave their life fully to God during ARME....and we wanted to help them get a more solid Biblical footing.) The rest will be to help us put on many more ARME Bible Camps and give away more scholarships! And maybe to do our first overseas ARME training for a poor country that cannot afford our services. All I can say is, God is good...all the time, God is good!


Leoni Meadows was a beautiful location to have a camp! The beauty of the country setting, the variety and yet unity of the messages, along with the delicious food and friendly accommodations made this one of our favorite camps so far! Yet, as always, the best part was the Prayer time! We are all seeing the beauty and power of prayer in greater and greater degrees. In fact, the “All day Prayer-Room” lead by our Prayer team was a constant beehive, and over 600 people came through the room spending at least an hour of their day with us in prayer, and many stayed longer or returned. At this camp our trainers included: Jeffrey Rosario, Don Mackintosh, Ivor Myers, Martin Kim, Peter Gregory, Dr. Isaac Olatunji, and Dale Leamon. At the end, after our traditional "Testimony Banquet," there were more testimonies. I think it's our staff's favorite part as we see and hear how ARME is impacting the lives of those that came!

Here's a few of my favorite testimonies from the weekend I copied off our website from the weekend:


ALL GLORY TO GOD! It's not us! It's for His glory! Ps. 115:1
"ARME Bible Camp was “Incomparable” to any camp I’ve ever been to! I received abundant blessings from Heaven. Thank you!" ~ Juan A.

"I have been through our Bible worker training schools, attended numerous camps and conferences, and been part of ministry for years. Even now my husband and I work in full time evangelism ministry. However despite all this, it was not until attending the first ARME in 2009 that I finally learned how to have deep purposeful fruitful Bible Study for MYSELF. It was not until then that I experienced the power possible in prayer. ARME has totally revolutionized my devotional life! I just praise the Lord for this ministry that is truly doing a work like no other camp, conference or training program! Thank you!" ~ Anonymous Ministry Leader

"I was raised in the church and have always attended meetings and Bible camps. I grew up knowing our doctrines and professing to have a relationship with God. However something was always missing, it was never real for me. After coming to the prayer room I realized why I had no power in my life. I was missing prayer; I was missing a genuine and powerful prayer life. After experiencing this in the prayer room it made me want MORE. I went from a 5-minute prayer life one day to spending one hour of prayer on Thursday and then to 8 hours in the prayer room the next day on Friday. I was so inspired by it that I decided to email my youth pastor and tell him what I had experienced. Now I am starting not one but two prayer groups in my area. I love the prayer room because there I am able to experience what I have lacked for so many years and being there encouraged me to make this a daily part of my life.” ~ Allison K. - Junior in high school" - Paradise, CA

"I first learned about Arme Bible Camp on 3ABN in early March 2010. I had been praying that God would show me how to go into a deeper study of the Bible and I felt that this was an answer to my prayer. So I arrived at Canby Grove in May 2010 and met Melissa who invited me to what they called the prayer room. It instantly caught my attention. I was so impressed at how the Holy Spirit moved in that room and in the morning prayer devotions I just had to come back for more and be a part of this movement to bring God’s people back to the Bible. So I am now here at my second Arme Bible camp at Leoni Meadows CA (August 2010) to learn more about prayer, fellowship, and the study of God’s word. I have been so blessed by Arme and I praise the Lord for His mercy on us that He answers our deepest needs and longings of our hearts. I will definitely go home and share what God has taught me here at Arme!" ~ Raquel R, Fort Meade, FL

"Some of the things I liked most about ARME was the lessons from the speakers, the 6:15 am group prayer time, and the love of Jesus I felt in the Prayer room. The enemy tried to distract me and get me to leave, but I stayed, and I am so glad I did. Now I am going to Bible School for more training!" ~ Angel M. Hawaii

“I’ve never had an experience like I had at the Prayer Room. Wow! God be Praise. You’re together with other prayer warriors, coming together before the King of the Universe. I’ve always wondered how Jesus could have prayed for so long when he was on earth. Not anymore, the time passes quickly. There is such a special unity of bonding, of hearts just praising, requesting and pleading for the miracles of God. Also praying over other peoples request, and feeling and understanding what others are going through. You really sense that you are not alone in your battles. God’s Heart must ache so much for his children who are hurting. This has been such an encouragement for my life. I will never, ever be the same. Prayer has now become such a major impacting part of my life. I just want to Praise God!” ~ Robert V. - Sunnyvale, CA

"Prayer truly is power. If you doubt that the Holy Spirit is real, if you are in a lull, if you don’t know what it feels like to have the Holy Spirit so near to your heart… come to the prayer room. I was born and raised in the church and sometimes church felt routine; but PRAYER, oh how prayer has changed my life. What a humbling, breaking, life shattering kind of spectacular blessing to be in the Prayer Room with like minded brethren growing and crying and breathing earnest pleas to God. I love this place. God is in this place. I believe EVERY church should have a prayer room that is in constant prayer arming the believers with words of empowerment. “Thank you Lord for this experience today… you are more than good… you are indescribably awesome & I’m humbled you allowed me to have this blessing.” Go Prayer team! ~ Florencia T. Student & Copy Editor, South San Francisco, CA

"I came across the prayer room while in Canby OR. During the ARME Bible camp, I frequented the room whenever I could. I was so blessed that I could not refrain from returning back again and again. I felt the sweet presence of the Holy Spirit every time. I felt my heart softened by the Spirit of God. In addition the Lord delivered me from the spirit of bitterness during the camp meeting in Soquel where the group was conducting a prayer room. Immediately after sharing my request before the group, I felt the seeds of bitterness being pulled out of my heart. Tears of joy were streaming down my face as the Lord lifted me from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh. Praise God for prayer and victory through the prayer of brothers and sisters of like faith." ~ Carol R, MD, Carlton, Oregon

"As my mother constantly reminded me to go to the prayer room, I would constantly forget. But this morning my older sister wanted to pray with me and my other cousins, so I felt like it was finally time to feel the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Praying here today was one of the best experiences of fellowship I have ever had in my life. Often as a youth we are discouraged to go to things such as these, but the Lord has worked great wonders in just a short period of time!! I thank the Lord for this prayer room and for great fellowship." ~ Anthony T, a recent high school grad & freshman college student, South San Francisco, CA

Finally, in an e-mail from a friend just yesterday morning: Good Morning! It’s 2:52am… As I woke up a few minutes ago - this thought came to mind and I am struggling to put it into the right words at this hour. The experience at Leoni - it was like a small Pentecost. There were people there from a great diversity of places and each one going home has not been able to contain their experience or their joy of the time spent at Leoni with Jesus in prayer. He has lit a fire, that will not be soon quenched, but will continue to grow and light the whole earth. Jesus is coming soon! You talk of doing 4 camps next year! Are 4 camps next year going to be enough as the fire spreads? :) I am here looking up toward heaven with that awestruck "Wow Lord," and sitting in wonder before praying and talking with the Lord until day break. What a time to be living! Going back to Acts. Acts 2:42 talks about how they kept the fire going. As I was reading this, one of the last emails that David Gates sent out came to mind - he spoke about how people would soon be giving everything to share Jesus. Praise God! ~ Kim G. Nurse, McMinnville, OR

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As you can see, the power of prayer was evidenced as we witnessed chains broken, hearts healed, and lives empowered with the Word. And by the end of ARME, our team was even more convicted that God wants us to take this camp world-wide. Already we have so many invitations we cannot keep up, but PRAISE the Lord!

As a result of this camp, God has opened a number of doors and opportunities...specifically in the area of Prayer. Our Prayer team has been asked already to come and lead All-Day Prayer rooms at several conferences, evangelistic series and different schools. We are going to Andrews in October to be part of a Lee Venden Series. So we are excited! However, there are only a few of us.....We need God to multiply our team, so we can be deploying PRAYER teams all over the world!!! Of course, as a result of God's blessing, we have some other big plans on the horizon as well! But for now, I shall keep you in suspense...

To LEARN more about ARME, you can visit the website that we just re-launched tonight! Dean and I were up all night working on it...and have been spending every free moment on it for the past numerous weeks! Such a task, but praise God, it's done! So stop in for a visit and check it out!

My family and friends keep asking me, when are you going to have time to slow down...obviously you know I've had NO FREE time since even my blog is out-dated! But while it doesn't look like any moss will be growing under my feet anytime soon (after all, I'm in the ARME and they keep you busy in the ARME), God is blessing beyond measure and I'm so excited for what He has in store for us around the next corner!

So keep me and our team in prayer! And we will continue to press forward, FORWARD on Our KNEES!

Wednesday, September 01, 2010

ARME Leoni Meadows - More stories to come...


ARME BIBLE CAMP was once again beyond our expectations! God tells us when we make Him first, He will open the windows of Heaven soooo wide that we wont be able to receive all the blessings. And that's what I feel like right now....not enough room to hold or contain all the blessings....

WHY was God sooo good?? The picture above explains it all...because of the power of PRAYER! We have been seeking to surrender and make Him first...and lives are being broken and transformed through Him as they kneel in humble submission and prayer! Praise God!

More report and details coming soon! :-)