This Momentary Marriage: Why We Got Married (The Story of Ian and Larissa) from 健明 鍾 on Vimeo.

This week we are talking about relationships, and today we were talking about love. Our leader decided to share this touching and very emotional video. It really touched my heart, so I thought I would like to share it with you all. :)

Here is to the first book of the month! I will be sharing with you guys the inspirational things I have been reading throughout my DTS. Here is the first book, Is it really you God? by, Loren Cunningham, founder of Youth with a Mission. This book really opened up my eyes to hearing Gods voice, and has been an inspiration in my walk with Christ. It is full of stories that happened to Loren, and later his wife Darlene, as they were starting the Ywam ministry. It talks about the hardships, but also the ways in which God worked and provided. To me it is a must read :) Let me know what you think!

David Olinger! Think Civil Wars meets Worship, ish. I have been crazy about this guy since I first heard him. He has incredible lyrics, vocals, and song arrangements! My favorite song by him is Pride of Mine. I find his lyrics so poetic and inspiration and far from some cheesy stuff you hear. He is the type of music I listen to when I don't listen to worship, so now I have the best of both worlds! Go Check him out on spotify or itunes, and listen to his beats. <----

These past few weeks have been a crazy whirlwind of just go, go, going! But I would love to update you on all the wonderful ways God is working in and around me! I am really going to make an effort to at least share with you a newsletter type post bi-weekly if not weekly. I want to encourage you to come to me with prayer requests, because not only do I want to be prayed for, but I want to pray for my supporters and friends. You all are so near and dear to my heart, and while living abroad I see how crucial communications is. I will dedicating my blog strictly to updating my supporters about my the ways God is working, what is happening in my area of YWAM, and the local joys of living in Norway.

So let me start off with the last week called Kairos! Kairos is a course that is all about "God, the Church, and the World." It is an 8 chapter notebook sized booklet full of articles and information that we must read in
one weeks time.  This week was really influential for me, and there is so much I could talk about, but I think for the sake of time and space I will stick to one or two things that really stood out to me.

We have all heard of the Great Commission, it's what concludes both Matthew and Mark. But what struck me this week is how much us as Christians, we think that what Jesus is saying is a suggestion. If you feel "called" to go out among nations and preach the gospel, if you are "called" to be a missionary.  What I really learned though, is that this is not a suggestion at all. It is a commandment. It's not called the Great Suggestion, is it? Just like we should obey our parents, love our neighbors, we should also preach the gospel to all nations. We also need to look at the right question, ask God 'what is my part in the mission field?' and I guarantee He will lay something on your heart. He may call you to be a trail blazer in the unreached tribes of the amazon, or He could call you to simply pray for a nation, or support a local missionary.  All of those are ways how you can help fulfill the Great Commission.  You are consciously aware of what is going on in the world, you are actively doing something. Not all of us are called to the front lines, and that is okay. But once we realize that this is something we need to be unified in in the Body of Christ, then big changes will start to happen.

At the heart of any Church should be God's heart for the nations. It is estimated that we now have access to countries and people groups representing over a billion people that we couldn't reach ten years ago. "The Church has the people, money, prayer, resources, and technology to fulfill the Great Commission in our age. But it will not be fulfilled by chance. It can only be fulfilled through godly unity and cooperation."  And if any commandment, isn't this the one to be on the forefront of our hearts?  The staggering fact is, God has entrusted to people like us, redeemed sinners, the responsibility of carrying out the divine purpose in history.  "God has entrusted to us this mission; and unless we do it, it will not get done."  Christ will come when every nation, every people, every tribe, and every tongue are represented in the Kingdom of Heaven. So why do we put off the coming of our Savior? When I read this my heart jumps!  I want to canoe into the remote tribes of Papa New Guinea, and tell these lost people about the love of my Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ. I want to shout it from the Himalayan Mountains, that Jesus died on the cross for the sins of each and every person. He took all the weight of the world so that we may have eternal life with Him in Heaven! Doesn't that excite you?! The gospel is good news, it's great news! It is something we shouldn't want to keep to ourselves, it should spring out of us, and flow from our mouths so that others can drink from the living water! When I think about the fact that I am withholding the chance of everlasting life from people because I am to busy, or I am not called to be a missionary, none of that matters, the only thing that should matter to us is knowing God but also making God known! Throughout the ends of the earth! It is our duty! Our commandment! Our reason we are placed on this earth! So why is it so hard then for the Christian community to do just that? Why is it so hard for us to reach out to the Muslim community in our city, or the illegal immigrants? Don't they deserve to hear of God's sacrifice for us, and Jesus's love for them? Jesus loves them exactly the same amount as He loves you and me, so shouldn't we share His love with them so they can start to walk in right relationship with Him?

Did you know there are still over 6,900 least reached people groups yet to experience the good news?! Millions of people in these least reached people groups will live and die without ever interacting with a believer or hearing the way of salvation. Don't we want to see the love of Jesus spread across the globe like a forest fire? Don't we want to be carriers of that fire? We need to have that burning desire that the gospel is something so great that we cannot contain it, we cannot control who we share it with because it is so life changing!

If we are all one in Christ Jesus and God desires that the nations be discipled, then what is stopping us? Let us be unified in the Body of Christ, and start supporting each other and encouraging each other in the journey of reaching all nations.

We need to surrender all to Jesus, and make Him Lord of our lives. Aren't we always taught and telling others that God has a plan for our life, and His plan is the best plan. So why don't we start living that way? Living in faith, going where God leads, and taking part of the greatest commandment of them all. "Go and make disciples of ALL nations."

Hey Fellow supporters! After some generous donations I have gotten $700 toward my mission trip to Thailand! But I still need $400 by November 25th so that I can go! It would mean the world to me if you could pray about supporting me and see if God lays it on your heart! I still need lots of prayers as well! If you would like to support me please message me directly or click the donate button on the homepage of my blog! Thank you so much! :)

I love when she says "Vulnerability is not weakness, but actually it is courage". I think she speaks so many truths and It is a way of life we should all strive for. Peoples lives would be so much better if instead of stepping back from a vulnerable situation, they stepped into it, they stepped into faith. When people are vulnerable, people are honest, it is laying everything down on the line, saying "I don't know what will happen, but I am trusting." If you are vulnerable with the people you care about,they are able to invest in your life, and become a greater part of it and vice versa. In this day in age we need to emphasize that our younger generation is good enough. Social media focuses so much on how to be smarter, how to be thinner, how to get more guys, how to be prettier. Stop it! We just need to stop it! We are raising a society that doesn't see the value in human life. A generation of kids and teenagers that feel worthless because of what the media is constantly shoving in there faces. What we need to do is show them how to be vulnerable, and that it is okay to make mistakes, and that being a size 00 isn't what makes you beautiful, It's your heart and your compassion, and the way you treat others that give you the most satisfaction and happiness in life. We need to start raising a generation that believes they are enough. Simple as that. "When you believe you are enough you are kinder and gentler to yourself and to others." Brown talks about the main point of life is relationships, and it's the truth! Relationship with God, with our spouse, our kids, our friends, our parents, our siblings, our co-workers. The list goes on and on. And in order to be connected we have to let ourselves be seen, really seen. We need to lay our hearts on the line, and let go of who we think we should be and just start being who we are. We need to embrace Vulnerability. The key points I got from Brown is that 1. We need to allow ourselves to be seen, to be open 2. We need to love with our whole hearts. 3.We need to be filled with gratitude 4. We need to believe we are enough! So I challenge you, be vulnerable this week, in your relationships, in your dreams, in life. And start believing that YOU.ARE.ENOUGH.

Hey fellow readers and supporters! I am so sorry I haven't updated much these past few weeks! We have been very busy here at Grimerud, having lots of great teaching and also going to Oslo for mini outreach. It has been so cool to see how God has been working here and using our school to glorify Him.

A couple of weeks ago I announced that we are going to Thailand for outreach! We are so excited to be able to go there and evangelize and serve the people of Thailand. We will be going to ChiangMai which is in the northern part of Thailand and we will also be going to Fang, which is a small village close to the boarder to Myanmar.  In fang we will be working with a lot of Burmese refugees who have escaped the wars going on in Burma. The refugees live a very hard life as they are not recognized by anyone.  They have no identification, are unable to work, or go to school. However, in Fang they are privileged to have a school for children from around 1 years old to 16 years old.  When we are in Thailand we will be doing street ministry as well as working in the school in Fang, investing in the children's lives, building relationships, and teaching them about the love of Jesus.

 It is a really exciting time and I cannot wait to get over there and see what The Lord has planned for us! I am really in a time where I have to trust God with my finances.  I received my bill for the outreach today and it totaled to around $3,000 or 17,000 Norwegian Kroner.  I have really seen God provide these past 6 months since I started raising money for this school and I continue to trust Him that He will provide all that I need.  My bill is due the 25th of November, so in two weeks and I have $1852.97 in my bank account right now.  So in two weeks I am trusting that God will provide the $1,147.03 I still need. He has always, always, provided for me, and I am putting my full trust in Him that He will continue to do so.

It would mean the world to me if you could just pray about my financial situation. If God lays it on your heart to give that is wonderful! But more than that I just would love support through prayer.  Just prayer for peace during this unstable time, and that God would indeed provide.

If you do feel like God has laid it on your heart to support me, you can send me the donations through my paypal account using the email eliana.j.jirucha@gmail.com, or you can just directly click on the 'donate' button that is on the home page of my blog.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support, this mission would not be possible without each and everyone of you! May God bless you abundantly as you have blessed me!

In Christ,

Eliana Jirucha

Waking up to a beautiful sunrise this morning, Feeling so thankful today.

We are excited and proud to present the first ever DTS in Europe partnering with the cutting edge YWAM ministries Justice Water, Voice for the Voiceless, Steps of Justice and the two YWAM training centers Borgen and Grimerud in Norway! The Justice DTS is a exciting partnership with the YWAM Bases Borgen and Grimerud. You get the best of two worlds, with the DTS starting out at YWAM Borgen, the world’s most northern YWAM base for seven weeks of intimate, life changing teaching and fellowship, enjoying and experiencing the fantastic nature of the Arctic.

During the Lecture phase you will be trained in how to engage injustice issues, as well as how to function in teams and share the Gospel and live in another culture. During outreach you get to use all you have learned, and pass it on and live it out!

You can find Application forms and lots of more information at http://www.grimerud.no/training/dts/justice-dts/