Meet Heidi Garrell coming to ISM September 2012

Hi everyone I’m Heidi Garrell and I will be attending ISM September 2012

Heidi Garrell

I’m excited to start my training at ISM and internship at NightLight in Thailand! So here it goes… For those of you who haven’t read the story leading up to this decision, here it is:

It started when I watched the documentary “Furious Love” for the first time and saw how the love of God is freeing people from strongholds all over the world. One of the places featured in the film was Thailand. There is an organization there called NightLight. NightLight’s mission is to build relationships and provide hope, intervention, rescue and assistance to women and children exploited in the sex industry by offering alternative employment, vocational opportunities, life-skills training and physical, emotional and spiritual development to women seeking freedom. (Sidenote: You can buy their jewelry on their website http://store.nightlightinternational.com/ if you are interested. The more jewelry orders, the more women can have the option of employment at NightLight.) When I saw the film “Furious Love” my heart was broken for those individuals who are in mental, emotional, spiritual and physical captivity. God awakened a love for them and a passion in my spirit to set the captives free. “He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives.” Isaiah 61:1

Another thing that some of you may not know is that I have been to Thailand before, Bangkok in fact, and didn’t know at the time about this issue. (I was ten or eleven.) But I knew that I wanted to go back because it was one of the most beautiful, lush places I have ever been. I attempted to go on a study abroad to Thailand, but it was a no go because I felt like God was saying the timing wasn’t right. After watching “Furious Love” it all clicked. This is why I have a passion for Thailand and Southeast Asia. This is why I shouldn’t have gone on a study abroad program before. God had a different plan for me. I contacted the director of ISM the day after watching the film and asked if they have any internship or volunteer opportunities available. She responded that they did in fact, starting in September of 2012.

After having multiple forms of confirmation that I am called to get involved in the abolition movement for human trafficking, I was still struggling with the “when.” Timing and decision making aren’t the easiest things for me and God knows that. So when I got peace in my spirit in the beginning of April about going to Thailand I decided to just go for it. I knew that if it was right, God would work out the rest. I found out the day I started filling out the application that there was one intern spot left for the September session. I flipped out. Then I filled out the rest of the application quickly. After an interview with ISM, I received a letter of acceptance on April 27, 2012. To top it off, on April 30, 2012 I got an offer for a Research Analyst Internship for the months of June and July of this year!

What God says is true. “All things work together for the good of those who love God.” Romans 8:28

Heidi

Meet ISM student Laura Fess coming September 2012

Hi! My name is Laura Fess and I will be attending ISM September 2012

Laura Fess

I have currently just completed a double major in Family Studies and Community Development from Western University in London, ON. Throughout my undergraduate career I felt like God was calling me to something bigger, but I did not know what that was. ISM was mentioned at my church one Sunday, and I felt like the Lord was telling me to go. I kind of put it off thinking I couldn’t do it and that I needed to get my carrer started in order to pay off my debt. However, a few months later the Lord spoke to me again telling me to go. This time I filled out my application and sent it off right away. Everything has been falling perfectly into place after making this decision, so clearly it IS the Lord’s plan for me to “go!”.

I am super excited for this upcoming adventure! I have already been to Ukraine, Guatemala, and Africa. I have not been on a mission’s trip on my own, so this is a whole new ballpark for me. The first four weeks I will be in Bangkok Thailand receiving some bible teaching. Then I will be serving at Noah’s Ark in the Philippines for eight weeks. Here I will be working with children ages 0-18 helping to provide care, and whatever else the Lord would have me to do.

I really believe that this will be a tremendous time of growing in the Lord and continuing to discover who I am in Christ. I am SO excited to see how the Lord is going to use me, change me, break me, and mold me during this next season!

Much love,

Laura

 

Our top reads as you prepare to GO!

When Helping Hurts – Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert

Serving with Eyes WIde Open – David Livermore

Dreaming with God – Bill Johnson

The Lotus and the Cross – Ravi Zacharias

Un-earth – Christy Vidrine, Autumn Rogers

Through Gates of Splendor – Elisabeth Elliot

A Chance to Die – Elisabeth Elliot

Chasing the Dragon – Jackie Pullinger

I once was a Buddhist Nun – Esther Baker

And “You will be Eaten by Cannibals” – Message by John Piper

I Surrender All. REALLY?

I surrender all! I lay it all down!  I will sacrifice everything!  I will die for you JESUS!

Really?

When we get together in our massive stadiums, comfortable churches or youth/young adult ministries we sing about sacrifice, surrender and death to self with gusto and passion. And…. most of us think we really mean it.   These songs ARE great and beautifully written.  One of my newer favourites is White Flag on the Passion 2012 CD.  It’s stirs up images of 1000′s of sold out young adults waving white flags, hand over their hearts, all ready to DIE. (any leader would love to tweet that!)

Okay, let the fantasy bubble burst for a minute and let’s get real.   How much do you REALLY have to sacrifice, surrender or die to self?  How is taking up your cross and following Jesus really played out in most of our lives?   Have you ever:

-  been imprisoned for your faith

-  been seriously persecuted

- lost someone you love because of their faith

- live without your basic needs met

- truly suffered (suffering doesn’t include not having an iphone 4S)

A.W Tozer suggested – “Christians don’t tell lies – they just go to church and sing them.”   That’s a little harsh!  People don’t know what they don’t know and we talk, live and sing songs in our present understanding of those words.

But once your feet land on the mission field, all of a sudden you have  a tiny (and by tiny, I mean miniscule) awakening  about some of the core realities of living out your faith.  Your white flag of surrender may be waving half mast when:

1.  The power goes out and you have no internet access (this is a biggy for a lot of people – in fact, reactions can rank up there with a death in the family)

2.  No one cares about your previous accomplishments, ministry involvement or leadership position.  As one missionary told me, “you become a BIG FAT ZERO.”  - Hmmm, lose your life to find it, do I have to?

3.  People tell you you’re fat when you weigh over 110 lbs.  Are you still singing?

4.  People point out all the zits on your face and say you should see a doctor right away.

5.  You sweat from morning till night.

6.  You live a bad hair life.

7.  You friends and families’ lives go on without you, birthdays, anniversaries, graduations and births.  ”I surrender all?”

8.  You are lonely, and unhappy and you feel like you are the only person on the planet.

9.  Your bed is a little hard.

10. The smells….. toilet aroma, garlic, rice, garbage.

11.  You don’t have loads of money.  Sound like fun yet?

12.  You try to order something and no one understands you.

13.  You lead a Bible study or preach and  no one says – “wow that was awesome”

14. You end up sitting on a toilet all night with a bucket in your hands.

Oh I could go on and on.  And most of these things are really just minor discomforts  and not truly suffering.  The point is, until we have to give up a few of the  comforts of home, we really don’t understand sacrifice at all.

Sacrifice, surrender and dying to self are essentials to becoming all  we were designed to, but most of us RUN from anything that looks remotely like it.  Let’s be honest we LOVE comfort don’t we? Paul said it beautifully in Philippians 2

^1-4If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.

^5-8Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.

^9-11Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.

So friends I encourage you today to embrace a little discomfort and resist the temptation to complain.  If we are willing to step out and risk our white flags of surrender will become more than a lyric.

Sandra McIntosh

Meet Kelly Braun – ISM Student coming in January 2013

Hey guys! I’m Kelly Braun, and I will be attending ISM in January 2013.

Kelly Braun

I am approaching graduation from my high school in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and I can’t wait to move forward into the plans God has for me. For the longest time, I’ve had a desire in my heart to do missions, but there was always something telling me I wasn’t good enough, or wasn’t equipped enough. But this past fall, God was really speaking into my life and I felt the calling on my heart to go for it. As I was discerning some options for my first year out of high school, I stumbled upon ISM’s website completely randomly. Immediately my heart started pounding. I knew this was the right place for me to be, and after spending time in prayer about it, I sent in my application.

I didn’t grow up in a Christian home so I have never been allowed to go on any missions trips throughout my faith journey because being a minor, I couldn’t go without parental consent. Now, as I enter into adulthood, I am ready to experience freedom to fulfill God’s calling on my heart. Although it was terrifying breaking the news to my parents about my acceptance, God strengthened me and I felt confident sharing with them.

It was hard for me to choose my serving preferences on my application, because all of the ministries on the list would be amazing to work with. I have a big heart for injustice and human trafficking, but I also love working with youth and children. So for my serving phase, I will be working at Noah’s Ark Children’s Home in the Philippines. I am ecstatic to be the hands and feet of Jesus in another part of the world and to love the kids there with my whole heart. A passage that has been a theme for me during this process is Ephesians 3:14-16. “When I think of the wisdom and scope of his plan, I fall down on my knees and pray to the Father of all the great family of God-some of them already in heaven and some down here on earth- that out of his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you the mighty inner strengthening of his Holy Spirit.”

Kelly

Meet Bethany Nickel – ISM Student for January 2013

Hey! My name is Bethany Nickel, and I will be attending ISM in January 2013.

Bethany Nickel

I am currently in my last year of high school, and I have been looking forward to my gap year for ages. I had been looking around at different bible colleges and long-term missions trips throughout high school, but nothing seemed to really jump out at me. I was looking for something that was approximately the length of one semester, didn’t have an overwhelming amount of academics, and was somewhere new and exciting that wasn’t one of those cliché places that everyone goes to for a missions trip, like Mexico or Africa. I had been told so many times to just forget about finding something that fit all my “requirements,” and to stop being so picky. But I knew in my heart that there was something out there that would fit me and what I felt God was calling me to do, I just had to find it.

I was browsing the Vanguard Bible College website a while ago, and I had noticed a little advertisement about Impact on the side. As soon as it had sunk in that this program fit in perfectly with my “requirements,” I was ecstatic. I’m pretty sure I exhausted my parents with my constant, “Look, look! IT’S PERFECT! I NEED TO GO THERE!” I applied almost instantly, and soon found out that I had been accepted I ran around like a chicken with its head cut off, telling everybody about it (and exhausting them as well, I’m sure).

I have never been more excited/terrified/happy/nervous about something in my entire life. After my month’s training in Thailand, I will be heading off to the Philippines to intern at an organization called Noah’s Ark, where I will be doing something I have always been passionate about; working with kids. I really feel that God has been slowly pointing me towards this experience throughout my life, and I know that whatever He wants to happen will happen. This gap year could not have come at a more perfect time in my life and in my constantly growing relationship with God, and I’m overwhelmed with excitement for what lies ahead of me.
- Bethany

Students can change the world!

I recently googled “the power of student movements” and I wasn’t surprised to see over 65,100,00 results.

Their passion for life and desire to make an impact has motivated them to do incredible things throughout all of history.   Most of the overthrowing of oppressive governments has been the result of students standing up and fighting for freedom.  Christian students for centuries have also had a massive impact on the world.  These movements usually start with a sparking of a passion, talking, hearing from God and then DOING something about it.  Some of the more notable movements include:

Haystack Revival - Five Williams College students gathered in a field to discuss the spiritual welfare of the people of Asia. Within four years of that gathering some of the participants established the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM). In 1812 it sent its first missionaries to India.^[2] During the same century the ABCFM sent missionaries to China, Hawaii and other nations in Southeast Asia, establishing hospitals and schools at its mission stations. Many of its missionaries undertook translation of the Bible into native languages, and some created written languages where none had existed before. Thousands of missionaries were sent to Asia and they taught numerous indigenous peoples.

The Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions was an organization founded in 1886 that sought to recruit college and university students in the United States for missionary service abroad. It also sought to publicize and encourage missionary enterprise in general. Arthur Tappan Pierson was the primary early leader.

Urbana Since 1946, God has used Urbana to challenge more than 250,000 participants with their responsibility and privilege in global missions. Started in Toronto Ontario at U of T. https://urbana.org/history

Youth With A Mission began in 1956 when a 20-year-old American college student named Loren Cunningham spent some time in prayer while on tour with a singing group in the Bahamas. Leaning back on his bed he saw what he called a “mental movie.” There was a map of the world and waves were breaking all over it. The waves began to turn into young people, thousands of them, spilling on to every continent and sharing the good news about Jesus. The picture faded.

“Was that really you, Lord?” he asked.

This idea, radical at the time, that young people could be missionaries, stayed with Loren. Four years later, in 1960, he started an organization with that idea expressed in its name: Youth With A Mission

2012 Passion Conference over 42,000 young adults raised over 3.3 million to help fight Human Trafficking. http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/05/college-kids-vow-to-end-slavery/

I honestly believe there is no limit to what the Holy Spirit can do through a young adult with a passion.  He works within the personality and giftings of every student and can cause the simplest dreams to become powerful realities.  Some students may be diamonds in the rough and just need a little more love and attention, others are ready to soar and just need the opportunity.  Many in the current generation realize a paycheck, while necessary, doesn’t bring fulfillment.  They want to be Jesus’ hands and feet in this world.  ISM will help them be just that.

Youth & Young Adult Pastors, teachers and coaches are given the incredible privilege of sparking passion, helping them discover their destiny and breathing life into their dreams. All of us can champion the young adults in our life!  Our cheering them on can help them become everything they were born to be.  Young adults out there – WE BELIVE IN YOU!  It’s your turn to GO! – the future is bright, God is beside you, before you and behind you, shouting your name, and chasing you with His goodness.  There are no limits.

Meet Taylor Collado ISM student for September 2012

Hello everyone! My name is Taylor Collado and I will be attending Impact School of Missions in Thailand in September 2012.

Taylor Collado

I am currently enrolled in my final year of high school in Napanee, Ontario, and it is my hope to attend Humber College, after my ISM experience, to become a Funeral Director. For as long as I can remember, I have always had a passion for Missions. I grew up in a home where a relationship with Christ and His work was of utter importance. Missions has always been a priority for my family, so it has been a part of me since infancy. I love sitting and listening to the stories of what people have experienced and, more importantly, what God has been doing in their area of ministry. It always gets me excited when I hear about what God is doing in the lives of others in and around the world. My father recently came back from a missions trip to Africa and that really opened my eyes to how blessed we really are in North America. It always amazes to see how, even though people are less fortunate in the physical aspect of material goods, they still give their all to God and worship Him with nothing holding them back – most times with more abandon than we do in North America; when we have every comfort one can imagine at our disposal. The first time I heard about Impact School of Missions was when Sandra and Peter came to our church in Napanee, ON. It intrigued me so much I thought right then, “I am ready to go!” However, I was only 14 years old. I now realize that it wasn’t just in my physical age that was too young, but my spiritual age as well. So, I tucked the desire away in my heart and continued growing with God. I knew if it was His will for me to attend ISM, He would open the door for me in His time. Then, a few months ago, I was reminded of ISM when Sandra ran into my dad at a conference. I knew this was my time! I prayed and talked it over with my parents and we were in agreement that this was the next step in my journey with the Lord. After my 4 weeks of training in Thailand, I will be moving over to Chennai, India to intern at the Living God Church with Sarah and Christo Emmanuel. I am so excited to meet their family and work with them in their city. I know they will be a blessing to me, as I endeavour to bless them and help with their efforts in reaching souls for Christ in India. I know there will be trials and times when I will feel discouraged; I hear life in India can be challenging. BUT I’m putting my full trust in God! Expecting that my life will be changed through this experience!

Taylor

Unicorns are in Fairy Tales

Growing up I was taught that only some very special, super spiritual people were “called” to the mission field.   Not only were they special, the “call” was even more special.  All the missionaries I heard speak either said, or I imagined them saying, that they heard God’s audible voice.  I imagined that voice was very similar to Morgan Freeman’s.  The voice connected with the very special call would boom, usually in the middle of the night – “GO to Africa” – and oh yes, it was always to Africa.  Others I imagined had a vision of a large God hand that reached out of the sky and pointed to a continent or country. Yes, Africa again.  I would either listen, on the edge of my seat, to incredible stories of trekking in strange and exotic lands and eating barbequed mice on a stick or ask my mom if I could go to the washroom for the third time, depending on the presenter.

Go to Africa

As a young woman I thought missionaries were strange creatures and if their words didn’t confirm this to me their clothing did. I remember watching endless slides of sad, dirty children with flies on their mouths, and, after hearing the presentations, I usually thought, “I don’t ever want to be a missionary and/or I could never be like them.”  My memories may be slightly blurred by my preconceived ideas of what I thought it meant to be a missionary.

Surprisingly however, I’ve met a lot of people who have the same preconceived ideas about missionaries.  Many people think you need to be super spiritual and have a supernatural call before you go overseas.  But, for most people, that may never happen.  Kind of like saving enough money before you get married, only less likely.  If you believe the idea that missionaries aren’t just like you,  you put them into an elite category, which results in you never entertaining the idea that YOU were called to go.  Waiting until you are ‘amazing’ before you go will keep you exactly where you are right now. Very special and super spiritual people, along with very special calls, are more mythical than real.  Unicornish. People are people.  Missionaries are people.  People make mistakes, sin fairly regularly, let others down,  struggle with pride – just like you probably do.  We all can be wowed by a great talent and the charisma of someone telling a story, but the true character of a man/women is not found in their words, but in the way they live.  Yes, some missionaries may yell at their friends and family, eat too much, lie from time to time and even might have wrong motives.  They can also be beautiful, kind, compassionate, grace filled and inspirational.   The point is, they are people.  You are people.  God loves and uses people. You don’t need a special call or be of a special spiritual status in order to do what Jesus said.  Instead of praying about whether or not you should go,  you might want to pray about whether or not you should stay. Yes, supernatural calls do happen,  but generally just reading Jesus words, “Go and make disciples” Matt 28:19, should be enough.  ”Go and make disciples” is the supernatural call, isn’t it?   Does He really need to say more?

Meet Bethany Somerville – ISM student coming in September 2012

Hey everyone! My name is Bethany Somerville and I am a new student at ISM starting September of this year, 2012.

Bethany Somerville

I will be graduating high school this year from Napanee, ON and after ISM, I plan on attending either a Christian university or Bible College to study counseling and theology, with the hopes of attaining my Master’s in counseling to eventually work with teens and more specifically teen girls. A couple years ago, if anyone were to ask me if I’d be interested in going on an overseas missions trip, my answer would have been absolutely not! Not because I didn’t have a relationship with Jesus Christ but because I was not always the most outgoing person, in addition, I was and still am a germaphobe, and quite honestly, it terrified me! However, it has been over this past year that God has really been working on me and as a result, I have grown greatly in my spiritual walk with God and in many other ways as well. He has brought me through many great challenges and tests over these past few years, all of which have been used to get me to where I am now, which is a place where I can say with absolute certainty that I am 100% willing and ready to go out into the world to show Jesus’ love, just as He commands His children to do in Matthew 28:19-20. I found out about ISM through Sandra McIntosh when she came to speak at my church during our missions convention and it was during Sandra’s presentation of ISM that God first placed the idea in my head and heart. After talking to her about the school and the opportunities available, I knew right away that God wanted me to do this! Over the following few months I wrestled with God quite a bit about going because I was still a little uneasy about taking such a big step like this, but I finally gave in and decided to apply and my excitement has been growing ever since! The hopes that I have as I embark on this journey to Nightlight to work with exploited women in a jewelry business and have opportunity for bar ministry is to not only gain some amazing missions experience and get the opportunity to experience another part of the world, but to also have the opportunity to fully engage in a totally different culture and see how these women live, what they go through, and to just open myself up completely as I allow God to do His will in my life and use me to serve Him and be His hands and feet in the most darkest of places. It has not always been an easy road for me throughout my high school years, however, it was through those challenges that God really showed me just how awesome He really is, as well as His amazing grace. It was also through these challenges that the Lord really placed a passion on my heart for young women and girls. All this to say that I am beyond excited for this experience and I look forward to seeing God’s will unfold not only in my life but in SEA. I know this is an experience of a lifetime and one that I know will be a major eye-opener for me and will change my life!

A big thank you to my Heavenly Father for providing me with such a fantastic opportunity to serve Him as well as a big thank you to Impact School of Missions for allowing me to come and for guiding me along this wonderful journey with such great support.

God Bless!

Bethany Somerville