My oh my, where has the time gone?! It has been over a months since my last update already! The europe trip has ended, K-squad parted ways (but soon to be reunited!) and I am now home with my family.

The rest of the Europe trip was fantastic. We had an amazingly restful time in the eastern city of Herrenhut, Germany. We partnered with the Fire and Fragrance DTS that is running there, speaking and participating in their classes. We explored the tiny town and learned more about its history, thick with Revival. It may seem sleepy now, but 300 years ago Herrenhut was thriving in the Spirit. Missionaries were being sent out, packing their belongings in a coffin, planning to live and die in the land that God sent them to. A prayer movement was birthed and for the following 100 years, prayer was being lifted up 24/7.  Talk about commitment! It was so encouraging to walk the streets of that town, knowing the history, and to see the Fire and Fragrance DTS doing the same thing. Different generation, different people, but same loving, powerful, amazing, beautiful Jesus. After our time in Germany, we wandered over to Spain to close out the trip by speaking in a church and debriefing as a team. After 5 days, I headed home to surprise my mom for mother's day! Many squeals, screams, and tears (this is of no surprise to those of you who know my mother) followed when I showed up to her bible study 8 days early. So blessed I got to do that!

Flower field in Herrenhut

2 weeks have past since then and I have been having an amazing time at home! It has been so good to unwind from the intense yet glorious Europe trip and to catch up with my family and friends in good ol' Wheaton. With one week left, I can feel my Kona senses tingling!!! Most of Awaken is out there, preparing for the school and participating in the Leadership Track, and I can not wait to be reunited with them. This year is going to be so different than the past 2 summers, yet filled to the brim with God, family, and growth. I can not wait to get this thing rolling!

I will be writing an update of little nuggets I learned and heart transformations while in Europe, so be on the look out! In the mean time, please be praying for

• Awaken staff as we prepare
• Awaken DTS 2012 students!!!!!
• Awaken Unity
• Finances

Thank you! Love love love!

Update

We are now in Prague, Czech Republic, our 16th country on our faith journey! Crazy, eh? Never in my life would I have ever thought I would be doing something like this. 2 year ago, God was something I heard all the time, but a distant figure hanging out in the clouds. Now I am listening to His voice, drawing nearer to Him everyday, traveling with close friends, meeting new friends along the way, showing them the Love of God, all while in some of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. 

Our time in Kosovo was awesome! We met with YWAMers there and were encouraged by what God is doing in them. In a 3-year old nation that is still being built up after a time of war, these young believers are passionate about the Lord and His heart for their country. For a short while, we were able to partner with them, encourage them, pray for them and the work that is being done there. They trust God completely with their Muslim country, and can not wait to see Jesus reign there. With seed planters like them, I bet we won’t have to wait long to hear about how God is moving in Kosovo!

Our friends in Kosovo

After Kosovo, we made our way north to Bosnia!!! Out of the 4 million that live there, only 1,000 are evangelical believers, the rest predominantly Muslim. God has laid Bosnia on my heart for months now, especially the women. There was a long, confusing war that took place on Bosnian soil in the 90‘s. Concentration style camps were set up, some specially for women, also disgustingly known as “rape camps”. I hate that I even have to write that. Girls just a few years older than me are walking around today with 4 years worth of painful memories and scarred hearts. Although prostitution is illegal, this war opened the door to human trafficking. One of my heart’s biggest desires is to see this end there. To see the women walk into their identity as Daughters. For them to know and believe that they are beautiful. 

It was incredible to be in the land, getting a vibe for the land and feeling what God feels towards that beautiful country. Our contacts there (who mega blessed us!) held a house church one night. I got to talk with 2 Bosnians and heard their radical stories of salvation. One woman was sent to the states during the war. Her family disowned her (she was a muslim and married a catholic-big no no there), her husband left her, she didn’t speak the language, and quickly became depressed. She literally lost her mind for 3 months when her daughter was taken by social services and was staying in a psych hospital. One day, she had an angelic visitation. An angle dressed in white held out a book to her and asked if she wanted life, and if she did, to take the book from his hand. She snapped awake (not just physically, but mentally), as she struggled to reach the book. She called someone shortly after that she knew from a local church and they led her to Christ (yay!). Another man I got to talk to was orphaned in the war, with no other family, completely alone. After watching the 50’s movie Ben Hurr one night, he had a tangible encounter with God. Pressed to the ground by His overwhelming presence, He heard God speak to Him for the first time, “You are my son and I love you! I will never leave you!”. Can you imagine?! Never hearing about God besides an old movie classic then BOOM! Down on the ground because you feel Him so strong! It may be hard to see, but God is alive and moving in Bosnia!

Banja Luka, Bosnia

After a few restful days in Croatia, we continued on to Austria, Slovakia, and now Prague. Each country we have been to we have met searching people. Little divine 5 minutes talks with strangers have been striking chords in hearts. God has had this trip set up for all eternity, orchestrating who we meet, when and where, all in His perfect timing. Through all this, my faith in Him has increased, my trust in hearing His voice has increased. To explain all He has done in my heart on this trip would take hours. To explain all that we have seen Him do would take days. He is good. All the time!

In a few days, we will be in Harrenhut, Germany! A DTS is running there and we will be joining them for a while, living with the students, getting to see what God is doing there. The Lord changed my life through DTS and I am excited to see how He is working in the lives of the students there! Please be praying for us as we continue traveling! 

Much love,

Kristi 

This trip looks much different than I thought it would. Of course it does because my plans are never the same as God’s, right? He always hijacks them and makes them better. God has been using us to encouraging and strengthen the Church body that is already thriving in Europe. We have been told more than once that we have come at the perfect time. I love seeing what God is doing through His faithful servants in Europe...they are changing the world and I am so blessed that the Lord has called us to run along side them for a season!

These past seven weeks have been mind blowing. It is difficult to sum in in a few paragraphs all that the Lord has done in the past few weeks. Since my last update, we have journeyed through 6 more countries, each one holding unique, divine stories to be told. I hope you enjoy a few of them that I share here.

After time spent in Belgium and Holland (which were both insane! Check www.hansonsatywam.com for video updates), we went to Germany for about 10 days in 2 different locations. We started in Lohne, Germany to partner with the Hansons’ friend, Selena, and what she was doing there. The second place was Hamburg, where we were with Valseka, a DTS friend of the Hansons. While in Hamburg, we were invited to sit in on her Pastor’s small group. So we did! At the end of the bible study, they asked us 5 if we had any prophetic words to share. We thought we would just share a general word or two. But of course, God had a lot to say than just a couple words! We spent the next hour or so prophesying over each person (about 13 of them). Specific words came to us to speak out over them. Many came up to us saying that what we spoke was spot on. A lot of them did not know that they could hear God’s voice in their own hearts. It was like Christmas morning, seeing their faces light up as they discovered this gift in them.

Later that week, we attended the church’s youth group. The pastor asked us to share something before the speaker began. But then the hijacking Holy Sprit came. A 15 minute encouragement turned into a 2 hour prophesy time. God highlighted about 15 kids to us so we called each of them up and took turns prophesying over each of them. Words of truth, encouragement and love poured out, touching hearts of young teens. Tears flowed as words from the Father struck their spirits. Some needed to know that they were beautiful. Some needed to know they were loved. Some needed to know that God saw the terrible things that have happened to them and it broke His heart. This experience was one of the most personal heart changing moments for myself. It was incredible to see how God is moving in people’s hearts, speaking to and using them no matter their age, nationality, or circumstances.

A theme we have seen all throughout Europe is the expansion of the Church. Literally. We have now been to 2 different churches (Portugal and Holland) where it was their last Sunday service in that building. Both churches were moving into bigger buildings because they could no longer hold the amount of people flowing in through the doors. The YWAM bases in France and Berlin and the church in Germany we visited were also on the hunt for bigger places for the exact same reason. God is moving and people are responding!

After Germany, we stayed in Copenhagen with Anne-Sofie, who I did DTS and outreach with in 2010. Such a blessing to see her! Then to an amazing community in Sweden before we headed south. (much happened in Sweden! visit the Hansons' blog for video update!) Kaylea has returned to Kona to staff and the rest of us have continued on to Kosovo with our friend Dan Baumann. We will be praying and traveling through several countries this week as the Spirit leads us. Please partner with us by praying for open doors, protection, and provision! Thank you to everyone who has supported me and been covering us in prayer! It means more to me than you will ever know. Let us keep Him the center. Forever and always.

Much love,

Kristi

Europe update!

Bonjour! We have just entered into our 4th country of our trip...Belgium!!! We have been led by faith for 4 weeks now and my heart is stirred by the Love of God, seeing Him move in each country, and the ways He provides, protects, and leads us. Each country we step into, we gain a new perspective for that nation as we feel the Father’s heart for it, hearing the thoughts of Heaven of the Sons and Daughters who live there.

After praying in Spain, we felt the Lord speak Portugal as our next destination, the one place we did not have contacts. Portugal was not even on my radar, thinking it was in another continent. Lord knows I need to brush up on my geography skills. We posted on facebook and blasted out emails of our newly formed plan to head out to the Western most part of Europe, hoping a contact would emerge. The day came to leave, and we had yet to hear from anyone. With no real final destination, we stepped out in faith and moved forward with buying train tickets to Lisbon, the Capitol of Portugal. Minutes before the taxi arrived to get us, we received an email from a friend of a friend in the south offering us a place to stay for a week for free and the invitation to be involved the church they pastored down there! Jesus is faithful, up to the very last second. Before going south, we spent 5 nights in Lisbon- 2 at a hostel, 3 at the YWAM base there. We had connected well with a Portuguese church, which happened to be moving into a new building that week. We helped move into the new building, and formed an amazing relationship with the Pastor there and a man of the Church who was able to hook us up, John.

We then headed south to Logos, or “the end of the world” to the locals. Calvin, Camille, and Christer stayed with the pastor of an international church while Kaylea and myself stayed with his daughter and her family. The next week was filled with friendship, ministry, beautiful sights, and seeing 7 people saved! The families who hosted us were an absolute blessing and I will be so thankful the day our paths cross again.

After hearing from God, we headed to the YWAM base in south France via a 28 hour bus ride. I do not recommend doing this. Ever. What awaited us on the other side of this that beastly ride was incredible. The YWAM base, a 250 year old renovated farm house, was up in the country side hills of france. BEAUTIFUL.The true beauty of this place was not the sights, however, but the amazing community that they cultivate there. My heart felt at home as we sat around the dinner table, chatting away as if old friends. Their time is spent together hanging out, cooking, and just being a family after the day is kicked off with worship and prayer (when not running schools). We were able to pick the brain of Dudley, the base leader, and he gave us some awesome insight to community living with Christ as the center. When speaking about discipleship and evangelism, he made a good point. Our purpose in life is not to save. That is what Jesus does, and Jesus alone. We are to love God, love others, and be obedient to what He says. Do what He says, nothing more. He will take care of the rest. Makes life so much easier than trying to do what we think He wants us to do over actually doing what He says!

Our time came to an end in the south, and we trekked to Paris for a night. PARIS. My heart sings with the beauty of this place! Jesus must love Paris, it is one of the most stunning cities I have ever been to. One thing that I have been discovering on this trip is that Psalm 37:4 is so so so true! “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.” He gives us the desires of our hearts, for He has put them there and will use them for His glory. Even seeing Pairs :)

And now here we are, on a bus arriving in Brussels, Belgium. We do not know what God has in store for us here, but it must be something great if He told us to come for 2 nights! That is another thing I have learned...I don’t always need to know the answer! I can easily revert to the 4 year old Kristi, asking why why why about everything, challenging everything He says instead of actually doing it. It has been such a leap of faith to head out a city where none of us have been, no set place to stay, and no agenda of what to do. But that is the beauty of it. It gives God the freedom to do what He wishes without us boxing Him in to our own plans. He has not failed us once, but instead provided more abundantly than we ever thought possible.

I cannot wait to see where else He will lead us on this trip. Thank you for all the prayers and support that have been coming our way!!!! I can not wait to share all of these experiences in person with all of you :)

Much love,

Kristi