Tessa in Tanzania

Hello friends and family! Or as they say in Swahili, Jambo!

My name is Tessa Ratner, and I am a 21-year-old Simpson student majoring in Cross-Cultural Studies with an emphasis in Transformational Community Development. This is quite a mouthful, but basically it means that I hope to fulfill God’s call to become a holistic missionary. I am passionate about the kingdom of God and fulfilling my call to be a part of Missio Dei, or the mission of God. I feel very blessed to have found such an incredible church family at the Stirring, and I currently serve there in the toddler class room at the morning service, as well as being involved in the creative team, creating images and art for the many series we have. I have been receiving training here at Simpson to be sent out into the world and serve him. And right now I have some very exciting news!

On May 10^th I will be leaving on a jet plane: destination Kigoma, Tanzania. There I will be completing my internship requirement for the Cross-Cultural Studies major. I will be working with an incredible mission called Joy in the Harvest, www.joyintheharvest.com, learning from the missionaries, and the local people there. I have been so blessed to get to know Lowell and Claudia Wertz over the past few months, as we have been corresponding and they are excited for my arrival! I am so excited to join them in Kigoma and each day the excitement rises! While I am unsure of what I will be doing there, I know they have many different projects, ministries, and outreaches that I will be able to participate and be a part of.

Joy in the Harvest is a holistic ministry in Kigoma, Tanzania. Some of their current projects and ministries include:

Feeding the street people three times a week

Refugee camp outreaches, ministry and assistance

Construction of community center

Destitute camp for the handicapped

Job training and education

Trees for Tanzania

And many other services helping local churches and missionaries.

I will be there until the week of June 11^th! I am so very excited to have this opportunity to have such an adventure with God. Please partner with me by praying for me during my time there! Also, I am still raising funds to make this trip possible. I am about $400 away from being able to purchase airfare, which I need to pay for by Monday, and then I still need some more for the trip and hopefully a gift to the ministry I am going to serve in. That leaves me with $1100 more to raise total. If you would like more information on how to donate to my trip fund, please email me at tessa_renae@yahoo.com!

Blessings to you all!

-Tessa Ratner

Almost "home"

One of the girls that I mentor always says I'm obsessed with counting and numbers. I can remember being 9 or 10 and hearing my mom shouting across the house, "Leah? What's the church's phone number?"..."Leah? What's Grandma and Grandpa's number?" And I remembered them all. I had a memory bank of phone numbers.

I suppose it's true that I'm obsessed with numbers because I can tell you that it's 25 days till I am in California, 14 days till I move to Joburg, and 9 days till Piet comes to PE.

I've been thinking a lot lately how I'm so ready to settle somewhere. For almost the last two years, I've been moving around a lot and no where has really been "home". I haven't lived in my parent's house since I was 18. And although that will always be home, it's not really my home. I'm really looking forward to moving on to Joburg because I'll finally be settling down somewhere. It's coming at a good time.

For those of you who don't know, I am planning on getting married within the year. January 1 to be exact. I have no ring on my finger, but that should be coming soon! :) I've been cooking a lot more, partially out of boredom, and Piet says I've been doing a lot of good practicing at being a wife.

Our minds are funny things. I have been just fine being away from my family this whole year. But now that I know I'll be home soon, I've really starting missing home. I've been making a list of foods I'd like to eat (get ready Mom! (-: ), people I'd like to see, and I've even starting driving on the opposite side of the road! (Not on purpose, haha)

Welp, thanks for listening to the thoughts in my head.

Love is a gift, give it.
Be Blessed,

Leah

Shasta College: a campus transformed

Rachel Kuhn, ultimately, wants to see
Shasta College transformed by the
gospel. That’s why she has joined
InterVarsity as a campus missionary.

I believe Shasta College can become
a training ground for a new generation
of world changers. Through
InterVarsity, students discover a deeper
intimacy with Jesus, learn to study the
Bible inductively, pray passionately for
their campus and world, share Christ’s
love in fresh ways, and are
empowered to live out the dreams
God has given them to bring His
Kingdom to earth. Our students will
graduate from Shasta College, not just
with a AA or AS, but with an
experiential degree in mission.
I consider you a significant player in
God’s work in our city, aware of the
importance of reaching the Shasta
College campus with the gospel. I am
inviting you to come meet other
crucial people of influence in the
Redding community and imagine what
it would mean to transform
students’ lives at Shasta College.

I look forward to sharing my goals
and vision for reaching Shasta, and
introducing you to Shawn Young, a
national leader with InterVarsity
Christian Fellowship. My hope is that
together we can map out some
clear steps to make this vision
become a reality. I value your input
in this discussion!

We can do this…together!
April 17th at 6:30 p.m.
Trinity Alliance Church
20639 State Highway 299 E
You can RSVP for this event by email: rach.kuhn@gmail.com

-Rachel Kuhn

Stirring Missions Support and Care Team

Stirring Missions Support and Care Team meeting -

If you are interested in serving and caring for our missionaries, please join us
April 6th 7PM -Simpson University Coffee Shop

For more information please email Kari Beadner kbeadner@gmail.com

Long Term Sirring Missionaries

Larry, Krista, Averiana, and Eli Lain
The Baton Rough Ministry Center 2006-2008
CAMA Services - Mongolia 2008 to present
B-Days
Larry: February 8th
Krista: March 24th
Averiana: December 29, 2000
Eli: March 22, 2004

Anniversary: 9/18/99

Email: larry.krista@gmail.com
The Lain's Blog






Leah Rush
South Africa 9/08 to present

B-Day: July 7th
Email: leahv77@gmail.com
Leah's Blog








M&A
Serving in East Asia
For security of these workers, please send any email correspondence to kburrell@gmail.com and the message will get to them. Please do not use their names or location in comments if you know them. Feel free to correspond with them on facebook!

The Barbers

We are the Barber’s. We are expecting our first baby, and feel that God is calling our family to do missions through YWAM. We will be leaving in September to do a discipleship training school in Lakeside, Montana. The school is three months of training and two months putting our training into practice in another country. We are not sure what God is calling us to after this but we are stepping out in faith and obedience. All we know is that we love our God and want to serve him and his people however he asks us to. Saying this can be a little scary, because it means that we are open to anything, but we really are. We have a world full of lost, thirsty, and hurting people. Robert and I feel so blessed that God has called us to live a life of service. We are just stepping out and letting God lead. For more information on what a DTS is you can visit: www.ywammontana.org or www.ywam.org. We will be keeping everyone updated through our blog, so check it out! Keep us in your prayers.
We need support of all types! We need people to come behind us and support us with encouragement and prayer. We also need financial support. We need to raise close to $13000 to go on this trip. This includes the school fees which cover room/board and traveling fees, and also our personal needs like gas money, diapers, and shampoo! We will need a nanny while we are doing the three month discipleship training part of our DTS. The nanny wouldn’t be required to go overseas with us, but would need to raise support of $675. We want people to seek God and ask him how he would have them support us. We can answer questions and connect with people in person and through our contact info as follows. We also want to encourage people to follow the blog we are building.

Email: jennifervbarber@yahoo.com or robertsbarber@yahoo.com

Blog: www.thebarbers3.blogspot.com

Phone: (559) 760-5160

Address: 1167 Bond St.

Redding, CA 96002

Sarah Schepens - Jordan

Sarah Schepens will be serving in Jordan May 2010-2011

Sarah will be joining a team of International workers, working mainly through a community center that offers English classes, a coffee shop, and a women's health clinic. Through these services Sarah will be building relationships with the women in the city.

Email: skapesny82@hotmail.com
Blog: http://www.strongatthebrokenplaces.blogspot.com
Birthday 9/24

Sarah will be in Redding, CA from now until the middle of May.
May 23-28 orientation in Ensenada, Mexico
End of May/beg of June leave for Jordan

Financial Needs:
I need $4000 of one-time financial gifts
I need $1150/monthly support

If you are interested in financial Supporting Sarah, please email her

The Lains - Mongolia

Thank you all for coming to hear from the Lains today! If you would like to join the Lain's support team please contact them!

Larry and Krista Lain
CAMA Services International
PO Box 945
Darhan, Mongolia
Uul Aimag 45000
New Address to come as they move to west Mongolia in June

larry.krista@gmail.com

www.thelains.blogspot.com
www.camamongolia.com

Experience:
Military:  USAF
         Larry, Water Specialist 1996-2002
         Krista, Engineer Assistant 1997-2002
         Assignments to Japan, Korea, Saudi
         Alaska, Wyoming
Simpson Grads...Larry: BA, CM Leadership '05, Krista: BA, Psych. '04, National Univ. MA, Counseling Psych. '05
The Stirring, Outreach, 2003-2005
PointMan Veteran's Ministries (Homeless and low-income Vets)  2003-2005
Baton Rouge Ministry Center, Community Development/Relief Workers after Hurricane Katrina 2005-2007
Short term Trips: Mexico 2001, Indonesia 2005
2008- Present: CAMA Community Development Workers in Mongolia

Birthdays:
Larry 2-8-78
Krista 3-24-79
Averiana 12-29-00
Eli 3-22-04

Anniversaries:
Wedding 9-18-99
Eli's Gotcha Day
(Adoption) 6-30-07

The Lains visit the Stirring

This Sunday March 14th the Lains will be with us at all 3 gatherings. Come and hear about their ministry with CAMA in Mongolia.

At 12pm we will have a time of sharing, questions and prayer for the Lains at Downtown Eatery. There will be a $5 lunch available. Come have some good lunch and hear from our missionaries!

The Stirring Missions Support and Care Meeting March 9th

Do you want to find out more about the needs of our missionaries? Do you want to find out more about who are missionaries are? Do you have ideas about how we can better serve our missionaries? Do you feel called to be a missionary?

If you answer yes to any of these questions, then please join us:

The Stirring Missions Support and Care Meeting
Tuesday March 9th 7PM @Simpson University Coffee Shop!

Thank yous

We did and we love all the goodies!!! It was like a big party...we received it the day before Christmas...just in time with Grandma's gifts too. Thanks to great timing, we actually had some special gifts to put under the tree :) Thank you so much! We ate up most the goodies and we look forward to using the itunes cards as soon as we can get itunes uploaded...will have to take a trip to better internet source soon. I (Krista) almost used up all the candles already due to lots of stress-relieving baths (best part about being back in the apt :). We are so thankful!
- The Lains

Good news! My package arrived today! I can't believe it took two months! When it arrived it looked like it had been rifled through. I don't think anything was missing, but it was obvious that it had been resealed.

Anyway, thanks so much! It is was such a nice blessing! Especially the candles!! Oh my word I was so excited about so many wonderful smelling candles! :)

- Leah

Just wanted you to know that we received our Christmas package full of goodness on Thursday! Thank you so much and thanks to the Stirring!

- The Wills

How will you be involved??

NOVEMBER 11th @7pm Simpson Univeristy YAKS

Come talk to us! Come Pray with us! How will YOU be involved in the Stirring Mission!!!

Car Accident

Please pray for Larry and the kids. They got into a car accident today with our new Russian Van. From what I hear from the kids, a taxi ran a red light and T-boned Larry, which then turned the van on it's side while Averi and Eli were in the backseat. Eli is fine, Averi has a big knot on her head, and Larry says he is okay but his back is sore. Right now, Larry is at the police station sorting things out. (I haven't seen him yet). The van will be impounded for an uncertain amount of time, which may make transportation difficult back and forth to the ger we just moved into last night. (Praise the Lord for a good move! We set up the ger on Saturday and moved in on Sunday. We had a good first night (and today the sleeping bags we ordered came in so tonight should be toasty warm with a fire and cozy blankets :) Thank you so much for your prayers! We love you all!
Love Krista

A&M

At the end of August we had a visit from A&M! We had a wonderful time of encouraging and praying with them.

Please continue to pray for the many people who have been displaced during a time of flooding in their area.

One at a time

THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 2009

I've always told people I want to change the world. I guess I never understood what that exactly meant when I said it. Sure I've had dreams, aspirations, goals, but I never would call myself a visionary. When I say I want to change the world, I mean it, but I'm still trying to figure out what that looks like. Jesus changed his world and he wasn't even in it that long. Jesus caused waves in his world. I want my life to cause waves, to cause a reaction, to stir people to question the life they currently lead.
But is that what I mean when I say I want to change to the world? Perhaps. But sometimes my blood boils and stirs and I wish that I could snap my fingers and change things just like that. Change things because they're not supposed to be that way...they just aren't!

When a nanny calls in sick to work today saying she can't come in. The woman answering the phone feels in her gut that something wasn't right and goes over to the house to find this woman lying in a pool of blood beaten almost to death by her husband.

When a woman gets up every morning and willingly walks to work...a bar down the street where she tries to make enough money to feed her kids by selling herself.

When an eight year old child is forced by her mother to sell flowers on the street to make enough money for her family knowing full well that in a couple of years her "cuteness" will run out and she'll be selling other things by then.

When the woman with a well established food stand at the corner, hardened to life by her husband cheating and leaving her, cries as she talks about her daughter, not knowing what will become of both of them when her house sells.

I wonder at the choices these women have made, but what if they didn't know there were other choices to choose from? I wonder at the life that was given to them, at the life they have carved out for themselves or that others have carved for them. God can redeem, heal, and restore anything, I believe that to the core of being because it's what he did for me. It's what he continues to do for me. I can't hear these stories and NOT believe that the Lord couldn't do the same for them.

I don't know if I'll change the world...if the Lord chooses to use me in such a crazy way...I'd be honored. Perhaps I've done things, impacted people, that will in time do just that. But I'm content right now with it being one. To see the Lord bring love, a chance for education, renewed hope, and provision to ONE eight year old or ONE twenty five year old woman.

One at a time...it's how the waves start.

-Sarah Schepens

Thank you for your prayers

Thanks for praying!!! Our flight went well and we made it to UB on Sunday evening and the Fields arrived on Tuesday night! We are all staying together in UB (the capital city) until our Field Forum beginning on Saturday. Thank you for your prayers for Larry and Jeremy as they meet with Leadership about next steps to help with the flood efforts. Most likely they will be spending a lot of time in the capital this month. Thank you!!!

Powered by the love of our Magnificent Obsession!!!
Larry and Krista Lain

Sarah is going back to Thailand

So it's official. I bought my plane ticket to Thailand last week. An amazing ticket landed in my lap that was half the price of anything else I was looking at. The ticket was such an answer to prayer, so thank you to all who were praying.

Here are the details so far of my trip:

I will be leaving August 3rd flying from Sacramento, CA to Bangkok. I arrive in Chiang Mai on August 5th and will be there until August 22nd.

Once there, I will be spending time with old friends, visiting past places of ministry, and am currently setting up interviews and appointments with various organizations working with women. I am so excited to be in Thailand again! In many ways this is a mini vision trip and I cannot wait to see what the Lord does during this time

I've been so encouraged by all the positive responses I've received since sending my last email out. Thank you to you all who have been praying for clarity and wisdom as I pursue this endeavor. So many of you have asked how you can help financially and prayerfully so here's how:

I will need $1500 for this trip. The majority of this amount is my plane ticket. Once I'm there I have very few expenses. I have a couple of domestic flights within Thailand that are also included in this amount.

If you want to give towards my vision trip please make your checks payable to my church:
The Stirring and write 507-007 in the memo portion.
In order to deposit your check and make it tax-deductible please do not write my name anywhere on the check.
Send to:
The Stirring
1348 Market St #201
Redding, CA 96001

Things to pray for:

Please pray for continued wisdom and clarity as I follow the Lord's leading.
Pray for the Lord's guidance as I set up appointments and contacts with people and organizations.
Pray against fear, doubt, anxiety, and anything else the enemy will use to deter me from going forward.
The Lord is continually shaping this trip. Pray I will be open to the things He shows me before, during and after.

Prayer support is so very important and I cannot do this without you! I would love to have a specific team of prayer warriors with me while I'm over in Thailand. If you feel called to come alongside me in prayer during this time, please let me know.

Thank you again for all your prayers and encouragement. Your support is very much appreciated!

In His Hands,

Sarah Schepens

p.s. For more updated information on my life and this trip please check out my blog at http://strongatthebrokenplaces.blogspot.com/

Leah Rush is HOME!!

Leah Rush will be with us at the Stirring on May 31st. Come and here about her ministry and how you can be involved in supporting her on going ministry in South Africa.

We will have lunch with Leah at noon at Puerto Vallarta 2315 Eureka Way Redding, CA 96001
Please come and spend time with Leah and ask any follow up questions you may have for her.

Please RSVP for lunch in a comment on this blog.

Jamacia May18 - June 8

From Left to Right: Christina Hutchinson, Megan Furze, Sara Jackson, Laura Rainsberry

In partnership with Simpson University and Jamaica Link Ministries, the Stirring with be commissioning this team to minister in Jamaica. We will pray for the team on May 17 during the morning service at 10am.

The team will be working at the Robin's Nest (an orphanage/school) helping out with the kids, helping in the classroom, playing games with them and going to the ocean with them.
The Jamaica Christian School for Deaf- gardening projects & assisting in the classroom
SOS- (School/Home) assist in the basic school, and providing craft projects for the children
through out the stay we will be leading Bible studies and working with an all girls home.

You can follow the team on their blog

New York team update

After six hours on the plane, three hours on the subway, (Oops... takes a while to learn to take the EXPRESS... oh my,) and twenty four hours without sleep...we stepped out into the chilling cold of Brooklyn New York. As we walked the streets to the church where we would be staying, I attempted to take in my surroundings. Wow, I was in for an awakening.

I remember praying that night in the dark. (Lights out at 11pm which would be 8pm here in California... I wasn't exactly ready to sleep) I felt the presence of God so heavily that night, and my heart ached in anticipation to what God was going to do in the short week that God had brought us to serve.

That week, I observed myself take emotional highs and lows that I never deemed possible. We served in pantries, soup kitchens, the "relief bus", and after school programs. Even in this short amount of time I felt huge God encounters... I felt the Spirit heavily upon us and the people that we encountered. God was using us as vessels, and it was the most beautiful thing I had ever witnessed.

Tuesday was incredible. We took a prayer tour around the entire city. We went into three of the five burroughs... Brooklyn, Manhattan, and the Bronx... We went into huge ethnic centers, Little Italy, China Town, and Harlem... Every face that I saw, every person... God loves them all, and I saw God in all of them... and I prayed for God's Kingdom to come upon each of God's people in this city.

Throughout the prayer tour we had several divine appointments that just blew me away.

There was Deborah, who overheard us praying for Little Italy, and China Town and came over and said "Amen!" We encouraged her through prayer...She had an amazing heart for God, and I will never forget her eyes.

There was Tyrone, who overheard us praying in the Bronx, and came up to us asking for prayer, for healing. Amazing.

But the one encounter that God put upon us is something that I can never forget. It took place in Times Square of all places. We were trying to hear what people thought of homelessness in NYC. Our team was split into two groups and sent out into Times square to have conversations with the people. The first person that Travis, Schnae, Megan, and I came across was a some sort of a guard for the red stairs. We tried to ask him about homelessness and he simply stated that he had no opinion on the matter. That is when we turned and I saw him, smack dab in the middle of Times Square.

"Reality"(this was is show name, we won't use his actual name for privacy reasons) was holding a "liquidation sale" sign right in the center. When I saw him I said to the others in my group, "Lets talk to him," as I pointed in his direction. The others nodded in agreement and we started walking towards him.

God had led us to a Jamaican man who used to be homeless himself in NYC. "Reality" shared his testimony with us, and shared how tremendous homelessness is there. He was absolutely blown away by us coming to talk to him and I could see tears in his eyes after he shared his story, I reminded him of something that he already knew. I said, "You are a blessing to all of the people around you." He was so taken aback, and said "Me? A blessing?" and I said back to him, "Of course, you." A man that was once homeless himself, who had been taken in and had been radically touched by God. A man once homeless himself is now trying to help the homeless. In awe we all hugged him, and reminded him that he was being prayed for, and he told us he would be praying for us as well. Beautiful.

Each year over 100,000 people in New York experience homelessness. This is a growing epidemic. This city has invaded my heart, and God wants this city. The people there are in need of love.

Family, my family. Thank you for your support through prayer and other means. No matter how small, God has used this past week to glorify His name and I truly believe that. Tears were shed, prayers were prayed, and love was shared. Please continue to pray for this city. Thank you.

Tessa Renae Ratner