tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78764759121889273362023-11-16T08:10:23.353-08:00The Faces of Kingdom AwakeningGetting to know a bit more about all of the wonderful, amazing people currently enrolled in Kingdom Awakening Apprenticeship!kingdomawakeninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08304416488373347377noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876475912188927336.post-79820886448423582352011-10-28T16:49:00.000-07:002011-10-28T16:49:34.433-07:00Meet Alisa<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="http://img2.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" /> <style>
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;">Meet Alisa!</span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;">Favorite Color:</span></i></span></div><div> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;">Pink</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;">Hobby:</span></i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;">To ride bikes (only nice cruiser-style bikes, though!)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;">Birthplace:</span></i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;">Yukslav</span><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;">, </span><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;">Russia</span><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;"></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;">What She Does:</span></i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;">Alisa is of the newest wave of students in Kingdom Awakening’s </span><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;">Core</span><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;"> </span><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;">School</span><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;">(a)</span><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;">. She is in class every morning, and volunteers at Re*stored</span><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;">(b)</span><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;">, a ministry of the Father’s House, every afternoon and weekend.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We are so incredibly rich to have Alisa as a participant of Kingdom Awakening Apprenticeship! Bringing life and sunshine wherever she goes, Alisa changes a little more every day, and we get to witness those changes first hand every day! How lucky are we? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Alisa’s life reached a critical point a little over a year ago when she found herself in jail, addicted, and all around down-and-out. Living a life of utter hell, and terrible disappointments, Alisa know she couldn’t provide herself with the help she needed to get her life back on track. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;">“I knew I needed Jesus!” </span></i><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;">she told us,<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> “so when I was in jail I began to look for a faith based rehabilitation program.”</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: .5in;"><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>She heard about Life Recovery Ministries (LRM), a recovery program sponsored through The Father’s House, while she was in jail and knew that was the one for her! Alisa waited for a spot to open, and when it did, she was picked up from jail and placed in one of our women’s recovery homes. Right away, the behavior of the people involved in The Father’s House, took Alisa of guard—in a good way! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; tab-stops: 6.75in;"><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;">She expressed genuinely and with incredible conviction, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“The love in this place is AMAZING! People here really are family and there’s [no doubt.] I feel so loved!”</i> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; tab-stops: 6.75in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: .5in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>From beginning of her time here, Alisa wasn’t shy about announcing her desire to participate in Kingdom Awakening Apprenticeship upon her graduation of LRM. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: .5in; tab-stops: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 1.0in; margin-top: 0in; tab-stops: .5in 6.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;">“I just really wanted to learn how to hear God’s voice,” </span></i><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;">Alisa explained,<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> “I thought that maybe I’d heard him before, but I just wanted to be sure.” </i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And we wanted Alisa in Kingdom Awakening so badly we admitted her to enroll before she fully graduated from LRM! So not only is Alisa completing the class work and independent studies of </span><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;">Core</span><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;"> </span><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;">School</span><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;"> and volunteering at Re*Stored, she is also maintaining all the requirements of a client of LRM as well. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;"> </span><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
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</style> <![endif]--><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> <span style="color: magenta;">Alisa is a joy and a delight and it’s a pleasure working with her, seeing her learn more and more about the nature of God’s extravagant love for her! </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 1.0in; margin-top: 0in; tab-stops: .5in 6.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;"><br />
</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;">***</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;">a </span><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;">Core</span><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;"> </span><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;">School</span><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;"> is the first six months of Kingdom Awakening Apprenticeship, directed at individuals who are hungry to go deeper in their relationship with the living God and who desire to understand the love he possesses for them. For more information, check out our website.<span> </span><a href="http://www.kingdomawakening.com/"><span style="color: magenta;">http://www.kingdomawakening.com</span></a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica;">b Re*stored Second Hand Boutique is <span class="fsm">Oroville's best Secondhand Store with great selection and a great atmosphere that will give you a new experience in the world of "Thrift". Proceeds go to fund Life Recovery Ministries and is staffed by clients from that program. For more information, here’s there blog address: </span>http://restoredoroville.wordpress.com/</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div></div>kingdomawakeninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08304416488373347377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876475912188927336.post-39193486747852896712011-10-21T16:56:00.000-07:002011-10-28T13:52:41.135-07:00Meet Joe!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="background-color: purple; color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: purple; color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">Birthplace:</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: purple; color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Yazoo City, Mississippi</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: purple; color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: purple;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: purple; color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">Favorite Color:</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: purple; color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Purple</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: purple; color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: purple; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: purple; color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i>F</i><i>avorite Food:</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: purple; color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Tri-Tip</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: purple; color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: purple; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: purple; color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">What he does:</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: purple; color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Joe is a recent graduate of Kingdom Awakening Apprenticeship and is now on staff at The Father’s House working full time as a house leader for Rehab clients. He is also the director of the church’s “visiting in person” ministry and leads many teams per week out into the city of Oroville to visit the elderly, the sick, the homeless, and members of the community in their homes. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: purple; color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: purple;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: purple; color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: purple; color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="background-color: purple; float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_MCGWDF1YfUi92YM5pvKD5MEIJQTOdSrdhGmOTSYWGryjwxWh-OgYtGZbC7YIKsyjqQ_xjQ1VrXp66KNeQ-JUKGo3HoGyuhTvMBNqHGyMif9cZdQpAclZEkSznzD4LMYVn6gh-NzTurkf/s1600/310149_10150294708642162_197151082161_7775218_1969126_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_MCGWDF1YfUi92YM5pvKD5MEIJQTOdSrdhGmOTSYWGryjwxWh-OgYtGZbC7YIKsyjqQ_xjQ1VrXp66KNeQ-JUKGo3HoGyuhTvMBNqHGyMif9cZdQpAclZEkSznzD4LMYVn6gh-NzTurkf/s320/310149_10150294708642162_197151082161_7775218_1969126_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="color: #f3f3f3;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Joe hard at work on a recent outreach to Burien, WA</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: purple; color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ladies and Gentlemen, this guy is the REAL DEAL! Joe Bestwick is the definition of a life that’s been transformed! Want to see the power of what a life surrendered to Jesus can produce? Joe is the PROOF of the existence of a living and breathing God, who is not only interested but INVESTED in the lives of his kids!</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: purple; color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: purple; color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> A mere five years ago, Joe reached the pinnacle of his hopelessness. With no place to live, and horribly lost in addiction to alcohol and hard drugs, Joe was left with no option other that to live under a bridge. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: purple; color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: purple; color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <i>“I was completely lost—putting needles in my arms every day.” </i>Joe will tell anyone who wants to know. <i>“I was totally broken.”</i> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: purple; color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: purple; color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">Unaware of the potential hidden inside of him, and having nothing to live for, Joe was set on the fact that life simple was what it was. He never expected anything to change—but Jesus had other plans! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: purple; color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: purple; color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Through a series of events, Joe stumbled into Life Recovery Ministries, and set out on the adventure of a lifetime! Although there were many things that Joe learned in his time in the program, he’s not shy to say that the greatest thing he learned was how to have a relationship with Jesus—and that it wasn’t always easy.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: purple; color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: purple; color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"></div><div style="background-color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="background-color: purple; float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7LwThCBQi6T2lw_-Ok3a5qcSRSKW7_ZblAkELc_DtorUskaF4qZE1inY839viHUeIlpaIh-VIaURMPaAuwN-nfJs6Fk1xw1G4hAe9LYYevWUXCzQgDL6NHwnoGxr212ZFgakcGT9Qa4KW/s1600/6452_1205657094530_1021725241_30650251_6802330_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7LwThCBQi6T2lw_-Ok3a5qcSRSKW7_ZblAkELc_DtorUskaF4qZE1inY839viHUeIlpaIh-VIaURMPaAuwN-nfJs6Fk1xw1G4hAe9LYYevWUXCzQgDL6NHwnoGxr212ZFgakcGT9Qa4KW/s320/6452_1205657094530_1021725241_30650251_6802330_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">Joe and Senior Pastor, Vicki Orsillo</span></i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: purple; color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i> “God put leaders in my life here, and I had to learn to follow them by example,”</i> Joe said,<i> “and it’s through following those leaders that I have learned how to follow Jesus.”</i> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">After his graduation from Life Recovery Ministries, Joe dove head first into internship and then into Kingdom Awakening Apprenticeship.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: purple; color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: purple; color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"></div><div style="background-color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: purple; color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Since his enrolment in Kingdom Awakening, his relationship with Jesus has continued to grow, as well as the understanding of who God says he is. <i>“Our relationship right now looks great!”</i> Joe told us,<i> “He loves me and I love Him—I’m the son of the living God!”</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: purple; color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: purple; color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;"> These words of Joe’s, that he’s the son of the living God, are so much more than mere words! He puts them into action every day by giving his life away to the people around him and continuing to submit himself to the leaders God has placed in his life!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: purple; color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: purple; color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;"> We love you, Joe!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: purple; color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div></div>kingdomawakeninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08304416488373347377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876475912188927336.post-5070916657922826992011-07-08T15:52:00.000-07:002011-07-08T16:04:02.748-07:00Luke Pollock<div style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Luke Pollock</span></div><div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW1dtIK9RwFIXQM9TTmpQEHm1lrbJ0HLY9IsZREApGvU29_ya7gUd_WvCpfM_RlT0XfIGBrjJncHueJjI58DjMfUifXDEjviwBz91eS2CHNub-2llYJSUZ0tYWtNR9hlKLRWd0_Td3gmhw/s1600/Luke-as.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW1dtIK9RwFIXQM9TTmpQEHm1lrbJ0HLY9IsZREApGvU29_ya7gUd_WvCpfM_RlT0XfIGBrjJncHueJjI58DjMfUifXDEjviwBz91eS2CHNub-2llYJSUZ0tYWtNR9hlKLRWd0_Td3gmhw/s320/Luke-as.jpg" width="298" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Age:</i> </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">20</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Favorite Color: </span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Green</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Favorite Food: </span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Fish and Chips (only from England, though)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Hometown:</i> </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Preston, Lancashire, England</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">What we love about Luke: </span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">His laid back personality, his innate ability to always have something encouraging to say, his wise-crack jokes about “speaking properly,” and his willingness to give his life away and serve the people around him</span>. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> In our opinion, Luke is the definition of “all in Christianity.” Who just gets onto a plane and flies to a different country with no guarantee of what exactly is going to happen or how they will be provided for? Luke does! He is a man of selfless faith and of loving compassion, giving away all of himself just to ensure the success of the people beside him. From professed atheist stuck in the vicious cycle of rejection, to spirit filled believer that loves not only himself but everyone around him, Luke’s story is one that couldn’t go unshared any longer!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> Born with a physical disability of one arm being under-developed, Luke’s life growing up was less than a walk in the park. Not only did he have to learn to do things differently than his peers so that he could cope, at a very young age came to the conclusion he was simply “different” from the rest of his friends. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I wasn’t able to do all the things that the other kids could do, and that made me struggle with rejection.”</i> Luke told us candidly.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> Growing up, although Luke’s parents were split up, he saw them both regularly. He lived with his mother, and he saw his father regularly on the weekends. Luke also has an older brother who is eight years older than himself. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;">Luke reminisced, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I didn’t grow up in a Christian home—I [actually] would have classified myself as an atheist, because I didn’t understand how there could be a God who loved me, yet created me the way he did. I never really gave any thought to Christianity or any other religion for that matter.”</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> In school, Luke always did really well and pulled straight A’s throughout his schooling career. He poured himself into books and reading, and into art as well as creative media. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Because there were many things I couldn’t do, I put myself into things I KNEW I was good at—[I think] that was lots of the time me making up for the inadequacies that I felt I had.”</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Also in his school years, Luke had a small circle of close friends and didn’t go much outside of that with people he wanted to spend time with. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;">He told us<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, “It was always hard to accept that people actually liked me and that it wasn’t out of pity or charity.”</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> Despite Luke’s opinion of God and who he perceived him to be, he begun hanging out with a young man named Jamie, who’s mother attended a local church. Although Jamie himself wasn’t a follower of Jesus, the foundation and curiosity of Christianity began to be sparked in Luke’s heart. After becoming good friends, Jamie invited Luke to come with him to a Christian conference in England called “Soul Survivor<span style="font-size: x-small;">*</span>,” telling Luke that he didn’t want to be alone “with all of those Christians.” </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I consented, not knowing what Soul Survivor actually entailed!” </i>Luke remembered. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I thought it was mostly going to be a campout, and a hang out, but it ended up being more than that!”</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> On the third of five days of this event, after watching thousands of people worshipping and having experiences with this “Jesus” that Luke had never really thought much about, his curiosity was peaked. Suddenly, he wanted to know if there was anything real about Jesus, or the experiences people were having with Him. The call to the front to receive prayer was made, and Luke responded.</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTq7dttdKq0OmSSVC8sL5TCNunhLt-M-PPNnq09dc6pepzwwpklGdfG-XnQRDplns7fwz-K3rQ0o-ZvUQWNYteOeCDsaywc-m2vetGViOXbh58R2PyNQuzH8dI1M0wxFLAysaRRsN6CNFW/s1600/luke+%2540+SS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTq7dttdKq0OmSSVC8sL5TCNunhLt-M-PPNnq09dc6pepzwwpklGdfG-XnQRDplns7fwz-K3rQ0o-ZvUQWNYteOeCDsaywc-m2vetGViOXbh58R2PyNQuzH8dI1M0wxFLAysaRRsN6CNFW/s400/luke+%2540+SS.jpg" width="297" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Luke at Soul Survivor in 2010 with a group of his friends.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I don’t even remember what I went forward for, or what the people that were praying for me were saying” </i>Luke said,<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> “All I know is that as I went forward, I kept in my own head telling God, ‘if you’re real, let me feel you.’”</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Luke’s prayer was answered when he found himself regaining consciousness about five minutes later, lying on the floor. That being the proof Luke needed of God’s reality, He said, “Okay, God, since you’re real, I guess I’ll follow you for awhile’”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> At first, Luke’s Christianity was based more off of a curiosity to learn more about this God he had encountered at Soul Survivor, and of relationship with the people at the church he started attending (Jamie’s mother’s church!) rather than a dramatic life change. After a couple of months, though, Luke made the decision to go all in with God! What started as simply volunteering in Children’s ministry at his home church, turned quickly into a year long internship! </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Through that whole process, my perception of myself changed massively!”</i> Luke recounted. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I realized that just because of a disability, it didn’t alter my worth or me being a man at all. I [recognized] the truth was it wasn’t people really rejecting me, but was me rejecting myself.”</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> Also in that time of Luke’s life, he said that he started to gain the ability to care about people and in turn actually stated to love and value others—</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Because I was able to love and value myself.”</i> Luke told us. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> In the midst of his new found salvation, the main prayer he prayed was “God, break my heart for what breaks yours.” </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Through this prayer, eventually God gave me a heart for broken and hurting people, which make me want to learn inner healing, so I began to!”</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> As his internship came to an end, the church that Luke had been serving at told him that they would like to pay for him to go on a mission trip somewhere in the world. At that time, he was planning on attending university to receive a degree in counseling, so Luke wanted to go to a place where he could put his passion of inner healing and wise counsel into practice. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I could have gone to a number of places on my trip, but through the Partners In Harvest** network, I found The Father’s House Church in Oroville, California and thought the ministry there would be a perfect fit for where my life was headed... So I decided to visit!”</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> Luke was only in Oroville for a short six weeks during his visit, but that was long enough to absolutely fall in love with Oroville as well as the community of people here. At the end of his stay, he was offered a position at the church, and after going back home and talking to Jesus about coming back and serving at The Father’s House, he began to feel more and more like it was the right decision. The rest was history! </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I started to apply for the visa [to come to the </i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">US</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">], and God provided that as well as the money I needed to be here...” </i>Luke told us. He continued,<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> “Then I got on a plane and here I am!”</i></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv_Lhln_TUPiW7aSxQc0zURSu0i1vL_D4Yw66QJ-05_lKkXzQQgftaYQBaBhWNfQ1c39JBob4MwCZeoWo9TBe62NrITJJ_OJrFCuoNYkWpM-W-7ovNVjadCncYtCwupjmpzFNwyvJgqjDp/s1600/Luke+N+Rizz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv_Lhln_TUPiW7aSxQc0zURSu0i1vL_D4Yw66QJ-05_lKkXzQQgftaYQBaBhWNfQ1c39JBob4MwCZeoWo9TBe62NrITJJ_OJrFCuoNYkWpM-W-7ovNVjadCncYtCwupjmpzFNwyvJgqjDp/s320/Luke+N+Rizz.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Luke and good friend, Ryan posing it up! </td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> Since his move back, Luke has been made head of the media department, which utilizes his skills in creativity and graphic design. He also has undertaken lots of inner healing, which as we know is his passion. He meets with up to eight guys in our Life Recovery Ministries program (a residential, Christ-based rehabilitation program for men and women seeking freedom from drug and alcohol abuse) a week, and there are countless testimonies of freedom in people’s lives being due to the time Luke has devoted to them in inner healing. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I came out here really wanting to grow in the healing of the heart and I asked God for the opportunity. It came in more abundance than I anticipated.” </i>Luke confessed. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“[Inner healing to those in recovery] is challenging and real!”</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> But Luke is the first to say that the reward of seeing freedom in the lives of the men he ministers to far outweighs the difficulty and the cost of sometimes having people walk away from our ministry, and worst, their recovery. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“The cost is hard to put into words. It’s hard to create emotional relationship with clients just to have them leave, knowing they’re still hurting and suffering and wanting to help them but not being able to. The thing that keeps me going, though is seeing the transformation in people. Although it hurts, God has showed to me that my heart is growing and my capacity to love has increased, and that mourning isn’t unhealthy, it just shows that my heart is open.”</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> How did we get so lucky that of all of the places Luke could have come, that he would have come here, to sunny but little Oroville, California? Luke is not only a breath of fresh air, but a life changer, and a trail blazer. Luke is a man that CAN be followed, and is a hero of our ministry! </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> On a slightly sillier note, Luke asked that a blurb of life as an English man in America could be put into his blog. So here it is, a direct quote from Luke Pollock of Preston, Lancashire, England, himself, with words spelled “properly,” and everything. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcOOhL4h8dotIgIvXGdE_3v6bkXV8T2wK_10jrVtpz0BgfoCBqQHLJbH-vSjgX663UzpMzwz6D-kgi-IVn2Epdw8s9BejF5nvM0xFliIw93XD-Wdmm97HEZjIXIfHhJFQLihRLnBELUOGl/s1600/Luke-as+and+the+queen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcOOhL4h8dotIgIvXGdE_3v6bkXV8T2wK_10jrVtpz0BgfoCBqQHLJbH-vSjgX663UzpMzwz6D-kgi-IVn2Epdw8s9BejF5nvM0xFliIw93XD-Wdmm97HEZjIXIfHhJFQLihRLnBELUOGl/s320/Luke-as+and+the+queen.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Silly photo-shopped picture Luke made of himself and the Queen.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Things have “flavour,” not flavor—and green is a “colour,” not color. I have never heard the words, “Hecka,” “Ghetto,” or “Bojankity” as adjectives. The word “process” is pronounced “proh-cess,” not “praaaah-cess,” and the last letter of the alphabet is pronounced “zed,” but the black and white neighing creature is still called a “zebra.” </i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I enjoy immensely the American grammar and words, and find myself, to my amusement, that I’m actually starting to speak that way. Although I won’t admit it out loud, I secretly enjoy the culture I’m taking on, I just don’t see myself letting go of my English roots any time soon. My hope one day is that Southside will sound like </i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">England</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.”</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">All joking aside, Luke thank you for all you do, we love and appreciate you!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">*<b> </b><b><span style="font-weight: normal;">Soul Survivor is a </span></b><span class="style2">five day event where thousands of young people gather together to meet with God in various locations all over the world, but mostly in the </span><span class="style2">United Kingdom</span><span class="style2">. For more information on this event, check out their website. http://www.soulsurvivor.com/</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">** Partners in Harvest is the denomination that The Father’s House Church as well as Luke’s Church, The Well Church, is affiliated with. For more information, feel free to visit their website. http://www.partnersinharvest.org/</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div>kingdomawakeninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08304416488373347377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876475912188927336.post-86462963246310620462011-06-13T16:51:00.000-07:002011-06-13T16:54:01.159-07:00Chris Renfrow<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Chris Renfrow</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Favorite Food: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Tri Tip</span></div><div style="text-align: right;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Favorite Place: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Santa Cruz</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Favorite Color: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Blue</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">What we love about Chris: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">We LOVE Chris’s “sunny disposition.” When Chris is around, you have to try REALLY hard to stay in a bad mood. He always has a smile on his face that we know is a reflection of the joy he feels in his heart. :)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN0GFZuRJlZzmiYf3k3kPqBGBhEfr_3Oc4E1OVt8SHZnFU64uDuI_WnojsE5G_Vo010cDn1SgaNqv1DJmrDmneOqzQGLkJFvogUrox4OGCwlNHk2F4K6rtAEIPg_L_haSlOSu1Nr7xKp5h/s1600/renny.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN0GFZuRJlZzmiYf3k3kPqBGBhEfr_3Oc4E1OVt8SHZnFU64uDuI_WnojsE5G_Vo010cDn1SgaNqv1DJmrDmneOqzQGLkJFvogUrox4OGCwlNHk2F4K6rtAEIPg_L_haSlOSu1Nr7xKp5h/s400/renny.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chris serving one of his friends from the "old days" at an outreach event.</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> Chris Renfrow, presently enrolled in our CIA, or “Core In Action”* program of Kingdom Awakening Apprenticeship, is a guy who incredibly easy to love. The way that he conducts himself, and the way that he has chosen to live his life brings inspiration to those around him, in fact—he leads many without even realizing it. His style of leadership is that of love and of humility. Chris is a leader by example, and many will attest to this! When he walks into a room, you hear adoring hoots of “RENFROW!” being shouted in his direction, and when he hears people greet him in this manner, you could light a room with the sheer joy that beams off of his face.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> Chris’ “before and after” Jesus testimony is so incredibly life changing, we HAD to share it! </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> Growing up, Chris told us, life wasn’t too great. The first few years of his life, Chris resided in Riverside, California with his mother and father. At a mere five years old, Chris’ mother and father split up, and Chris and his mother moved to Alabama. While in Alabama, Chris’ mom remarried a man that wreaked havoc and abuse onto herself and Chris for years. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> At around eight years, Chris’ mother took Chris and returned to California. Upon her return, she remarried Chris’ father. It was at this point that Chris and his mother and father moved to the Concow, California. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I was in about 7<sup>th</sup> grade when we moved from the city to the country,” </i>Chris remembered,<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> “That’s when I started drinking.”</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> With little to no exposure of right and wrong, and hardly any understanding of what living a hope filled life could look like, Chris began associating himself with the “wrong crowd.” He started partying every weekend, and began to smoke marijuana. By the time Chris got to High School, he had begun to use methamphetamine, and was drinking heavily before and after classes. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> Chris’ behavior continued to tailspin, which eventually got him in trouble with the law, and it was at this point his mother had no choice but to place Chris into a group home in Quincy. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“That group home wasn’t equipped to change me.” </i>Chris told us <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I was still going out and partying with my friends [the whole time I was there.]”</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> When he had reached eighteen years of age, the group home told him it was time to move on, and Chris moved back in with his mother. He continued drinking and using heavily. Just a year or two later, Chris’ parents again divorced and Chris moved to the bay area with his father and brother. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“My Father was a heavy drinker,” </i>Chris recounted,<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> “so we would party together… and that continued for years.” </i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> Some time later, Chris moved back to the Oroville area, not far from the “Concow” of his adolescence. He spent his time there at first living with his friends, taking whatever work he could find—the wages of which went entirely to supporting his addictions. Not long after his move back, Chris met a girl named Kim. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“It was not really a good relationship,” </i>Chris told us<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">. “We basically met through drinking and through using.”</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> Chris and Kim spent some time together, and in that time had two children together. Because of their continued addiction, CPS eventually got involved in the affairs of their children, and their children were lost into the system. As hard as they tried to get themselves cleaned up and to get their kids back, Chris and Kim were unable to stop their addictions. They were given chance after chance to gain their children back, but Kim and Chris continued to test positive for their court ordered drug tests. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> Much to the dismay of Kim and Chris, their children were eventually adopted out. Kim coped with this reality by joining Life Recovery Ministries, here at The Father’s House Church—resigned to get her life straight. Chris dealt with his pain the only way he knew how, through drinking and using. This continued, until Chris was charged with a charge of driving under the influence—which was the last allowable charge before he would have to serve prison time. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I was facing six years,” </i>Chris confessed.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> It was at this point, the desperation to change his life started to set into Chris. Seeing the effect that Life Recovery Ministries had had on Kim, Chris came straight into the program after receiving his DUI before he even spoke to his probation officer. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I wanted to change, but I was still very iffy about the program—I’d been to plenty of programs,” </i>Chris told us. But he continued<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, “I just wanted to give up everything and how I tried to control my life—which was completely out of control.” </i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> Regardless of his reservations, Chris joined Life Recovery Ministries anyways, and began to humble himself and allow himself to be led by men that had come through similar situations to him.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> He remembered, “I just kind of gave my life to the Lord and went with it. I followed my leaders, and dug into God’s word, because I literally knew NOTHING about Jesus.” And since Chris’ commitment to Life Recovery Ministries, and beginning to fall in love with Jesus, literally everything has changed. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;">Chris told us,<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> “When I first came in, I was looking forward to getting in and going out and getting a drink. People here have had the same problems—got to the point when I was out on pass and people were drinking, I remembered the hangover and the crap that I went through. Having enough time in a good atmosphere helped get me past the whole addiction part of it. It was pretty miraculous. I just felt safe here.”</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> When his year was up in Life Recovery Ministries, he clearly heard God say he needed to stay around The Father’s House Church. The opportunity of Kingdom Awakening Apprenticeship’s Core School came up, and Chris felt God’s tugging on his heart to want to enroll in the program, so he did! And the rest was history! </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> When asked about what he’s gained in his time in the apprenticeship, Chris’ response was, </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“The biggest thing I’ve learned in my time here is how to love and be selfless. The whole ‘giving your life away’ thing seemed like some kind of scam or something… I was very selfish… I just cared about me, me—but the opportunity to love on people and to receive love (I always felt like there was something attached) is just amazing!”</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> And no doubt about it-- Chris loves people. Pure and simple. This is undeniably obvious in all areas of his life. Jesus tells us in John 15 that we will know a tree by its fruit, and the fruit of Chris Renfrow’s life today speaks volumes of the incredible, integral man of God that He is today. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> Chris Renfrow, you are positively invaluable to us! We love you heaps!</div></div>kingdomawakeninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08304416488373347377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876475912188927336.post-24216349478942448902011-05-27T16:32:00.000-07:002011-05-27T16:32:19.059-07:00Ryan Kelly<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--> <m:smallfrac m:val="off"> <m:dispdef> <m:lmargin m:val="0"> <m:rmargin m:val="0"> <m:defjc m:val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440"> <m:intlim m:val="subSup"> <m:narylim m:val="undOvr"> </m:narylim></m:intlim> </m:wrapindent><!--[endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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</style> <![endif]--> </m:defjc></m:rmargin></m:lmargin></m:dispdef></m:smallfrac></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Ryan James Kelly</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoT_pC_DYwj1bHE8LubAMVwjcVu6iso4Hferqa0ohGEiMvcb5HM8kfDlZ5dT6UNz-O__8Z_lLIefI58S5JzeJym882VGLH55QXFOa6t1oli2H4dXLQlvXbaCWyNMCXTq67yoiROn3d4kL7/s1600/rizz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoT_pC_DYwj1bHE8LubAMVwjcVu6iso4Hferqa0ohGEiMvcb5HM8kfDlZ5dT6UNz-O__8Z_lLIefI58S5JzeJym882VGLH55QXFOa6t1oli2H4dXLQlvXbaCWyNMCXTq67yoiROn3d4kL7/s400/rizz.jpg" width="206" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ryan "Cheesin' it" In some California sunshine.</td></tr>
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</div><div style="color: #38761d;"> </div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #38761d; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Hometown:</span></i></div><div style="color: #38761d; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Elgin, Illinois </span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">(And, folks, he would like to clarify… He is a CUBS fan!)</span></div><div style="color: #38761d; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #38761d; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Favorite Place:</span></i></div><div style="color: #38761d; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">The West Coast </span></div><div style="color: #38761d; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #38761d; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Favorite Quote:</span></i></div><div style="color: #38761d; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="textexposedshow">"I cannot live in mediocrity, content with merely knowing that there is more of God to experience and explore--and then do nothing about it"</span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">-Bill Johnson, Face to Face with God</span></span></div><div style="color: #38761d; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #38761d; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="textexposedshow">What We Love About Ryan:</span></span></i></div><div style="color: #38761d; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="textexposedshow">We LOVE Ryan’s quirky sense of humor, his passion for Baseball and the Cubs, (or his “Cubbies” as he lovingly refers to them) his loyalty to his friends and family, (Ryan may very easily be one of the most dependable people we know) as well his undeniable desire to be a man set apart from the rest of the world! </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">What sets you apart? What is it that makes you different from the rest of the world? Are you living a life where you are a light that’s “hidden under a basket,” as the gospels say? Or do you fall more into the “light of the world” category? Whatever your response may be in answer to these questions, we are here to tell you that the latter is not an unreachable goal. To be a “city on a hill that cannot be hidden,” or to be someone worthy of following, of depending upon, is no easy task—but it is doable. We know because we see it exemplified every day, through individuals that have heard the call of God and are unwilling to settle for anything less than how He’s called them to live. Ryan Kelly is one of these individuals we have the pleasure of serving alongside of! </div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">Have you ever met someone that was just… different from anyone you’ve ever known? A person who for some reason you couldn’t quite put your finger on, naturally drew people to themselves? Ryan describes one of these people to a “T!” His life brings inspiration and meaning to many, and his love for others sparks an unmistakable, “Hey! I’ve never felt anything like that before!” Ryan will give anything to anyone to ensure his or her comfort and happiness—even if it’s the shirt off of his own back, and it’s obvious he loves to do it! </div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">Ryan and his twin brother, Justin, (Who Ryan would like us to tell you, is awesome.) were born in Illinois in July of 1988. In reminiscing about his upbringing, Ryan tells us that life was relatively ordinary.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ryan and his twin brother, Justin at their High School Graduation</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><i>“I was a normal kid. Normal life. Normal friends,” </i>But after a moment of deliberation he recanted,<i> “Well, normal for me… I definitely had my hurts and my issues.”</i></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">He always had exposure to church and to God, <span class="textexposedshow">as Ryan had been baptized catholic at a very young age, then confirmed Lutheran in 1997, but that was about the extent of how he related to Father God.</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><span class="textexposedshow"><i>“…I had a vague idea of who He was, but didn’t really know or care to let it change my life.” </i></span><span class="textexposedshow">Ryan told us very plainly.<i> “[Christianity] wasn’t ever a strict thing and standards were never kept in the home, so it wasn’t something I could model myself after.”</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">At the age of three, Ryan’s parents divorced. Although she remarried a few years later, it was mainly just the influence of his mother that contributed in Ryan’s upbringing. He saw his father sporadically through his childhood, mainly weekends and in the summer if anything and this had a very dramatic effect on young Ryan. </div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><i>“My Dad [wasn’t really] around a lot and that caused me to harden my heart and not trust fatherly figures… it became “normal” to me for them to not be there.”</i></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Although he never saw it in the home, Ryan's parents both struggled with drug addiction while he was growing up. Seeing the way it governed the life of his mother and father, Ryan resolved at a very young age that he would live in a different kind of way. </div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><i>"I never wanted to do drugs, and I wanted to be responsible [with my life]."</i> Ryan told us.</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">And responsible, Ryan remained! He was heavily involved in sports all throughout the extent of his schooling-- playing basketball, football, and of course, baseball. In addition to that, Ryan was an excellent student, pulling good grades and devoting time to his studies. He had many friends in High School, not faithful to one specific clique. Also, because of his determination at a young age to live a life set apart from what he knew, Ryan never got involved with the “party scene,” but kept diligently plugging away at his schoolwork.</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><span class="textexposedshow"><i>“I was a good kid… loved by everyone, but I was REALLY shy and held back.”</i></span><span class="textexposedshow"> Ryan recollected. </span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span> </span>Despite his success at his school and in his resolutions, there was still pain that was buried deep inside of Ryan’s heart from the absence of his father in his life. This pain had no recognizable way of being seen except a residual feeling of emotional apathy that Ryan often experienced. During his interview, Ryan thought back to a memory where that numbness was undoubtedly experienced:</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt;"><span class="textexposedshow"><i>“I remember for High School graduation, my mom threw us [my brother and I] a party, and my dad was going to throw one as well. When we showed up for his party, everyone was there except for Him-- But I wasn’t hurt, which was odd. I didn’t care at the time… well, I did, but thought that I didn’t, because I was used to it.” </i></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span> </span>Ryan, stuck in the rut of indifference and “normalcy,” kept plugging away at his life, unsure if he would ever experience something truly real. The love of God was hot on his heels, though! His junior year of High School, one of his buddies, John, invited Ryan to come to church with him. Ryan consented, and when he went was hit by the reality of how genuine, and unmistakably different the people there were. </div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="textexposedshow"><span> </span>Given Ryan’s background of church, he was taken aback by the love these people had for God. </span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt;"><span class="textexposedshow"><i>“[I encountered] people who were hungry and passionate for God. This was odd!” </i></span><span class="textexposedshow">and went on to tell us, <i>“Worship wasn’t out of a hymnal, and wasn’t boring!”</i> </span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="textexposedshow">As he continued in his recollection of his first experience in this church, he disclosed that it was in this “un-boring” time of worship that he first encountered that something different he’d been searching for his whole life. The feeling of community that he felt there, and seeing the people around him experience the love of God led Ryan to keep going back.</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="textexposedshow"><span> </span>Just a couple months later, Ryan accepted Jesus into his heart—led by his friend, John, as he was dropping Ryan off after a service. As he remembered this experience, Ryan stated, </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="textexposedshow"><i>“I didn’t even know the extent to what had happened then … but um… something changed. I didn’t talk the same—I stopped swearing. I started hanging out with different friends, started going to church… I started loving Jesus.”</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="textexposedshow"><span> </span>After this, Ryan’s life was never the same. He attended the International House of Prayer sponsored “One Thing” conference three years in a row, began leading worship at local houses of prayer, and for the first time in his life had found something worth being truly devoted to. He recalled giddily, <i>“I was so passionate at first! Oooh! I loved it!”</i> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="textexposedshow"><span> </span>After High School, Ryan attended community college and obtained a two-year degree in Business and Criminal Justice. <i>“I thought I wanted to be a police officer,”</i> Ryan told us, <i>“But I was also leading worship at the House of Prayer, so I thought I might want to go into ministry as well.”</i> Finally, He took this decision to Jesus and see what HE had to say about it. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt;"><span class="textexposedshow"><i>“I was praying in church one day, ‘God, where do you want me to go?’ The immediate thought that came to my head was, ‘Toronto.’ —This was before I knew how to hear the voice of the Lord.” </i></span><span class="textexposedshow">He told us. He continued his story: <i>“So I said, ‘Hm…Toronto, that sounds cool, I wonder what’s in Toronto?’ So I went home and Googled ministry schools in Toronto, and came across The School of Ministry</i></span><span class="textexposedshow"><i><span style="font-size: 8pt;">**</span></i></span><span class="textexposedshow"><i> in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I knew absolutely nothing about Toronto or the history of revival or anything, but I saw the website and really wanted to go. I applied and was accepted.”</i></span><span class="textexposedshow"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="textexposedshow"><span> </span></span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v1881/5/102/682843022/n682843022_1849538_4587.jpg?dl=1" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="242" src="http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v1881/5/102/682843022/n682843022_1849538_4587.jpg?dl=1" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With some team mates at a School of Ministry Outreach.</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="textexposedshow"><span> </span>During his five month stint in Toronto, Ryan was impacted in many ways, mainly through community and being a part of a group of people all going after God and seeking His heart. In School of Ministry, Ryan gained many new mindsets and revelations of Father God, as well as began the process of gaining healing in his heart. Ryan explained, <i>“It began a new journey, of being, ‘born again,’ knowing that there’s more than I’ve experienced or ever known.”</i><span> </span>Also, partnered with the healing taking place in Ryan’s heart, God began to reveal to him how “fearfully and wonderfully made” he truly is. Ryan told us, <i>“The biggest thing I learned [at School of Ministry] was to “just be.” That you were created to be yourself, and if you’re not going to be you, no one else is going to be you for you!”</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="textexposedshow"><span> </span>When Ryan’s time in Toronto started to come to an end, he began asking God again what was next. In his last weeks at School of Ministry, a team that came to Oroville on outreach gave testimonies about their time here and the lives that were impacted. It was during this time of testimonies that Ryan felt a tug on his heart. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt;"><span class="textexposedshow"><i>“I felt something stir inside of me and I thought, ‘I WANT TO GO THERE!’ I don’t even know <b>what</b> was said, [all I know] is there was just… something stirred up.”</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span> </span>Wanting to be certain He was following God’s will, Ryan returned home to Elgin after School of Ministry had concluded. S<span class="textexposedshow">till was unsure of what to do, Ryan brought it again before Father God. Determined to get a clear “go here,” or “do this,” Ryan sought out an answer. </span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt;"><span class="textexposedshow"><i>“I was so much about ‘tell me what to do clearly, and I’ll follow you,’</i></span><span class="textexposedshow">” Ryan confessed, <i>“But God wouldn’t give me a specific answer! The only thing basically was that He told me to follow my heart, choose where I wanted to go and go, for He was with me wherever I went. And it was in the unknown where he is often found.”</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="textexposedshow"><span> </span>The revelation of God being with him wherever he went, coupled with the draw of being apart of community again, (Ryan already knew some people here from his time spent at School of Ministry) Ryan’s heart ended up leading him to Oroville to participate in Kingdom Awakening Apprenticeship!<span> </span>And we are just about the luckiest people ever to have a guy like Ryan around! Ryan is in charge of all the worship and sound for church services, is full time kid’s department. Also, he has developed and leads our brand new EVOLVE ministry, which is directed at 10-13 yr olds, causing them to go deeper into who God is and who they are. In addition, he is a regular worship leader, and helps to feed hundreds of people a week through our weekly food bank. </span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="textexposedshow">Ryan has recently signed on for year three of Kingdom Awakening Apprenticeship, and we can say with one hundred percent conviction that Ryan has transformed into a completely different human being than he was when he came! </span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt;"><span class="textexposedshow"><i>“What have I learned in my time with Kingdom Awakening? Lots!” </i></span><span class="textexposedshow">He went on to say,<i> “The biggest thing I learned is that God is not hype, and He isn’t a conference… Relationship with God is about day in, day out, one choice at a time. I’ve learned that a standard is worth keeping, that Jesus IS Christianity, He IS what matters, and love IS what matters. I’ve learned about following and submission and how huge that is. If I can’t follow and submit to a man that I can see, then I can’t follow and submit to God that I can’t see.” </i></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">And this change in Ryan, although he may not see it right away, drastically affects many people in his life! </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt;"><span class="textexposedshow"><i>“I don’t always see the immediate change, it’s so much easier to see it when you’re looking from the outside in, then from the inside out. But I know there’s change because I don’t think the same, and I don’t live the same!” </i></span><span class="textexposedshow">Pride gleaming in his eyes, Ryan continued, “<i>My family even sees it. Whenever I go back and visit, they know something’s different about me. They’re proud of me, and they see that I’m going after something worth going after.”</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-right: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-right: 0.5in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="textexposedshow">The first born again Christian in his family, Ryan has been blazing a trail for them without even realizing it! Since his conversion, his Mother, Father, and Brother have all come into relationship with Jesus. “I may not have led them personally to the Lord,” Ryan told us, “But I think my choices helped them to see something different.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-right: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-right: 0.5in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="textexposedshow">When asked what he dreams about, Ryan says simply this… He dreams about impacting people and having people look up to him. He dreams about being a man that can be followed, and someone people will say lived like Jesus did. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-right: 0.5in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO8YvZche10rTdZQVab-6Q9I0Xrx2ySvZYRHF4pNYj2HIpdp8RuIa9HJDW-kVgdRdJtG4ldcK6Ub3d8UYabvwmS5Y8Eh4Hmlq0xDHaGln1c5siJ72wmQspul7Yf6gsCofj1H1LY7o-q2Oh/s1600/rizz+praying.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO8YvZche10rTdZQVab-6Q9I0Xrx2ySvZYRHF4pNYj2HIpdp8RuIa9HJDW-kVgdRdJtG4ldcK6Ub3d8UYabvwmS5Y8Eh4Hmlq0xDHaGln1c5siJ72wmQspul7Yf6gsCofj1H1LY7o-q2Oh/s320/rizz+praying.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ryan ministering to some children at a weekly kid's service.</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 0.5in;"><span class="textexposedshow"><i>“I want to be known as a big ball of love!”</i></span><span class="textexposedshow"> Ryan declared to us. He said it with a laugh, but we know that he meant it with his heart. <i>“Seriously, I dream about affecting people, traveling, and going crazy places-- I just want to do missions stuff, really. I want to visit every place I possibly can in the world at least once. I want to see people impacted by God through me, and know that he’s real.”</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-right: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span class="textexposedshow"><span> </span>Many people have ALREADY been changed by the love that spills out from Ryan onto others, and he is still touching lives every day! Jesus tells us that all men will know we are his disciples by the love that we show to one another, and it is people like Ryan Kelly that epitomize what Jesus is talking about here! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-right: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span class="textexposedshow">Ryan Kelly, this world is a better place because of people like you! You inspire us and we love you!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-right: 0.5in;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">**Toronto School of Ministry is a five-month program dedicated to encountering the love of God and learning how to give it away to the world. For more information, check out their website. http://som.catchthefire.com</div></div>kingdomawakeninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08304416488373347377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876475912188927336.post-49485350697947156812011-05-11T13:53:00.000-07:002011-05-27T16:05:03.202-07:00Barbara<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #f1c232; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: white; font-size: small;"></span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #f1c232; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #f1c232; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Meet Barbara!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #ffd966; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Name: </i></span></div><div style="color: #ffd966;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #ffd966; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Barbara Kruger</span></div><div style="color: #ffd966; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #ffd966; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #ffd966; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #ffd966; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Age: </i></span></div><div style="color: #ffd966; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #ffd966; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">She’s not telling… but in our opinion she doesn’t look at day over 35! </span></div><div style="color: #ffd966; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #ffd966; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #ffd966; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #ffd966; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Favorite Color: </i></span></div><div style="color: #ffd966; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #ffd966; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Blue</span></div><div style="color: #ffd966; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #ffd966; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #ffd966; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #ffd966; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Hobby: </i></span></div><div style="color: #ffd966; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #ffd966; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">To REALLY be in the presence of God in the holy of holies, completely overwhelming kind of way.</span></div><div style="color: #ffd966; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #ffd966; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY7Ih6fG3DXxU5L_8yiTLel3jxxzkrPAzj7j_93m_uNdhCxl57XY7WKivKEEsMhHeHhlabZXMBYF2dOCA8QkV7P2jDYix5VhbveBjpq0ZKYtpRIyGXfixWEy_H_qBS4HtZxx-kBGHWTv40/s1600/100_0959.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY7Ih6fG3DXxU5L_8yiTLel3jxxzkrPAzj7j_93m_uNdhCxl57XY7WKivKEEsMhHeHhlabZXMBYF2dOCA8QkV7P2jDYix5VhbveBjpq0ZKYtpRIyGXfixWEy_H_qBS4HtZxx-kBGHWTv40/s320/100_0959.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Barbara in all of her loveliness after Friday Morning Chapel.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;"><i>What we love about Barbara: </i></span></div><div style="color: #ffd966; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #ffd966; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Her genuine desire to everyone in her life experience the presence of Father God, her nurturing “mama hen” personality, and her willingness to do what God asks of her!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Want to see a life truly transformed by the power of the love of Jesus? You need look no further! Barbara is a woman who has not only given her life fully over to Jesus, but who leads the way for others to do the same. There is no person to great or small, in Barbara’s book that is undeserving of the love of Christ! Her testimony is so wonderful and so powerful, we HAD to share it! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Picture the scene-- it’s midweek at The Father’s House Church at our weekly Wednesday night church service. The presence of Holy Spirit is powerful and thick, and people from all sides are worshipping the Lord and experiencing Father God’s embrace in ways they never have before. In the midst of this, you hear explosions of emotion from the left hand side of the church-- Weeping, laughter, deep and powerful intercession. What you find when you look to investigate these noises is a woman completely undeterred by the people or circumstances around her. She is concerned only one thing, getting in and staying in the presence of her Father. This woman, if you haven’t already guessed, is Barbara!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Barbara is not only presently enrolled in our “Core School,” which is the first phase of Kingdom Awakening Apprenticeship, she is also an active member of The Father’s House Church. She leads a ministry called “Setting the Captives Free,” where she takes teams once a week into the Butte County Jail to speak hope and life into completely hopeless situations. As she shared her heart about jail ministry, Barbara told us, </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>“I go in and I just love on the girls, and I’m Jesus to them. I tell them about our program and I encourage them and lift them up, and I see their lives change as well as the lives of everyone else around them. I basically see people that are as bound up and broken as I was, and I share Jesus with them and they have a new life.”</i></span> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Barbara is a force to be reckoned with when there’s a life at stake, and she pours into and loves on those girls in jail tirelessly. In fact, there are many women in Life Recovery Ministries* today because of the relationship Barbara has culminated with them in the jail.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgde8EZKce3cBgEqMlp_9pE0dSnluRplj3hN1_fr8YifIfeeO-6aMOZSTYteziG01ApRitVF2t3Icuo3zA7zyfQsxu_8s_v-9UkuweZtiX3AMcuIYJFUOIk6tZgUTobau6bB81e0UYK-ijI/s1600/100_0956.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgde8EZKce3cBgEqMlp_9pE0dSnluRplj3hN1_fr8YifIfeeO-6aMOZSTYteziG01ApRitVF2t3Icuo3zA7zyfQsxu_8s_v-9UkuweZtiX3AMcuIYJFUOIk6tZgUTobau6bB81e0UYK-ijI/s320/100_0956.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Barbara with some of the ladies from Life Recovery Ministries</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"> But Barbara’s life hasn’t always been so full of vivacity. Quite the contrary, actually, her life used to be the picture of dysfunction. When asked to describe her life prior to her conversion, Barbara was at a loss for words.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>“My life was absolute chaos—I never knew when I was going to jail or losing my kids—I was constantly out of my mind, ready to snap—right a the edge of a nervous breakdown all the time.” </i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Barbara’s life took a turn for the worst at age 13, when her father was sent to prison. This was too much for her to handle.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>“I was always a daddy’s girl</i>.” She told us. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Upon her father’s imprisonment, Barbara ran away from home and began using Methamphetamine. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>“That,”</i> she recalled,<i> “Is when the insanity began. Everything was in an uproar—drama all the time!”</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> This insanity continued well through Barbara’s teenage years into a large majority of her adult life. Over the years, Barbara had two children, and they were living with her on a ranch where she was staying at the time. She was tired of the dysfunction that was ruining the lives children and herself. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>“I prayed to a God I didn’t even know saying ‘Get me out of this!’”</i> Barbara told us. “<i>My actual bottom was when I took my daughter, Shree, to jail with me and I lost my grand daughter and my youngest daughter for the third time to CPS. I knew that Shree was there because she was just following my example. That’s when I knew if I didn’t change my life, my daughter would be going in and out of prison for the rest of her life, just like me and the rest of my family were.”</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Barbara continued to say, <i>“To lose your kids in one thing, but to sit in a jail cell with your daughter and know that it’s because of your actions is beyond anything!”</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Once she had resolved to change her life and her jail term had ended, Barbara knew going back to her prior living situation would bring nothing but death to her and her family. <i>“Everyone I knew was using, and if I went back with them, I’d be doing the same thing!” </i>Barbara told us. So, when she got out of jail, she contacted Danny Harp, who she had met in a recovery program in one of her brief attempts at sobriety, and told him that she’d had enough. Danny invited Barbara to come to a revival meeting, which she obligingly attended. At this meeting, Danny introduced Barbara to a friend of his, who offered to take Barbara in until she was able to get on her feet. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>“I ended up staying there for quite awhile, sleeping on the floor,”</i> Barbara recollected, <i>“I was originally only supposed to stay for three days, but they kept me for nine months!”</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;">After those nine months, Barbara ended up finding a job, getting her own place, and regaining custody of her youngest daughter, Holly. Barbara’s other daughter, Shree, still continued in her addiction, but as Barbara walked out more and more of her own recovery, Shree eventually followed. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> After serving God for years, a hunger for intimacy with God began to increase more and more inside of Barbara. She had been attending services at The Father’s House church for quite some time, was leading teams into the jails to minister, and was very intrigued by Kingdom Awakening Apprenticeship’s “Core School.” </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>“I wanted to be complete—wanted to be able to minister without anything holding me back.”</i> Barbara told us. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">At first, because of the schedule of her job, (she does taxes at H&R block seasonally) Barbara didn’t think she could do Core School. But when Barbara decided Core School was something she wanted to pursue, she approached her boss and explained the situation to her. (Now mind you, the Core School Barbara was wanting to attend was at the peak of tax season.) Her boss’ response to Barbara’s request of a change of schedule was, “Well, Barbara, I know that you pray, and things happen for people who pray.” With that, Barbara’s schedule was reworked, and Barbara enrolled in Core School. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> When asked what’s changed inside of her since the start of Core School, Barbara says that she’s learned who she is— and she’s “more Jesus” than she’s ever been before. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>“I have more self worth that I didn’t have before. I didn’t think I deserved things and now I believe I deserve them! I have a lot of peace—a LOT of peace, and just fullness. In the rest of my time in Core school, I just want to know him more.”</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">And Barbara’s life now? There’s no way to describe it other than completely and utterly restored! Barbara told us with joy and sincerity in her voice, </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>“I have everything, I’m serious! I’m so blessed! I’m walking in such a state of blessing right now!” </i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Her family. Her relationships. Her heart. Her finances. All has been given back to her in a way that only Jesus could have done! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>“My life used to be [absolute] INSANITY,” </i>Barbara told us<i>. “But now? God tells me that I’m his beautiful daughter… and you know what? I believe it!”</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It is people like Barbara that make our jobs worth it. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Barbara Kruger, Thank you for being you! We love you and we’re so proud of you!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">*Life Recovery Ministries is a residential 12-month drug and alcohol treatment facility and is situated in South Oroville as an arm of The Father’s House Church.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div></div>kingdomawakeninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08304416488373347377noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876475912188927336.post-61373357287121529142011-04-06T15:48:00.000-07:002011-04-07T13:25:58.270-07:00Meet Tiffany!<style>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #741b47; text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;"><u><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><i>Meet Tiff!</i></span></span></u></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><i><br />
</i></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #351c75; text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><i>Name: </i></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><i><span style="color: #351c75;">Tiffany Anderson McCarter</span></i></span></span></div><div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #674ea7; text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><i>Age:</i></span></span></div><div style="color: #674ea7; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #674ea7; text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><i>33</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #351c75; text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><i>Favorite Food:</i></span></span></div><div style="color: #351c75; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #351c75; text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><i>“Everything’s my favorite, I just don’t like vegetables,”</i></span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"> she wants to make sure everybody knows. After a fair amount of thought, though, Tiffany decided on the BBQ Chicken Luau pizza from </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #351c75; text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Mountain Mikes.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwxNX8w_H8WcmcG62rMc3kt5mpdnI-4pGGGJTQk0Nl7AN64wwuR74g7APlgaUIXKulankUlU9RZWkATI9Ne24YWqgJK4LJlIJihkbGFCcQRoHGTXguynj7Xz5wlV716NUEncDVyFJP5XCj/s1600/188585_1308751976184_1752145899_557076_2217334_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwxNX8w_H8WcmcG62rMc3kt5mpdnI-4pGGGJTQk0Nl7AN64wwuR74g7APlgaUIXKulankUlU9RZWkATI9Ne24YWqgJK4LJlIJihkbGFCcQRoHGTXguynj7Xz5wlV716NUEncDVyFJP5XCj/s1600/188585_1308751976184_1752145899_557076_2217334_n.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tiff enjoying some California sunshine!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #8e7cc3; text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><i>Favorite Thing to Do:</i></span></span></div><div style="color: #8e7cc3; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #8e7cc3; text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">“Just kick it” with her three sons, Robert, Tavian, and Rajan</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #351c75; text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><i>OUR favorite thing about Tiffany:</i></span></span></div><div style="color: #351c75; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #351c75; text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Her heart and passion for South Oroville, or “The Southside” as she lovingly refers to it, her willingness to serve and love, her bubbly and fun-loving personality, as well as her sunny outlook on life in general. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="color: purple; font-size: small;">When deliberations began as to who to spotlight for our next segment of “The Faces of Kingdom Apprenticeship,” it didn’t take long for Tiffany to come to our mind. You see, Tiffany is the picture of what Kingdom Awakening Apprenticeship hopes to accomplish and a perfect representation of what “beauty for ashes” truly means. Tiffany is a strikingly accurate portrayal to the testimony of how much the love of Jesus can change a person. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"> Not only does Tiffany attend morning classes and volunteer at The Father’s House Church from 8AM to 5PM, she also manages to hold down a regular job AND is the mother of three teenage boys! Phew! But miraculously, Tiffany rarely gets bogged down or over burdened by these things. When we asked her if sometimes her fast-paced life style ever gets to be too much, she told us very candidly, </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"><i> “No! I believe that as long as I keep God at my fore-front, burn out is not in my near future</i></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;">.” </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;">And you know what? Words like these can be very easily doubted, because they so goes against what we’ve all been taught, but for some reason when Tiffany spoke these words as truth, we couldn’t help but believe her. </span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: purple; float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxF6cQazgw2sMuDrqulg4wW8xTK2uhDMj1j6dBQLLa9wlRfr1cuu8cKxAhz5PXZkdVhFq1wsOVa0xPRGrOlzF317Yk9xNP7N8Q7tz5V4A-MHKjq3Vzj8AlrCHsoOrIoQHUS1aatLUi8rbC/s1600/165781_1267313940259_1752145899_491618_3495020_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxF6cQazgw2sMuDrqulg4wW8xTK2uhDMj1j6dBQLLa9wlRfr1cuu8cKxAhz5PXZkdVhFq1wsOVa0xPRGrOlzF317Yk9xNP7N8Q7tz5V4A-MHKjq3Vzj8AlrCHsoOrIoQHUS1aatLUi8rbC/s320/165781_1267313940259_1752145899_491618_3495020_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Tiffany's two youngest sons, Tavian and Rajan, goofing around</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"> Whether a person be rich, poor, broken, whole, afflicted, or healthy, Tiffany will pour love them unhinderedly. She loves all people with no inhibition or “cap.” It doesn’t take a genius to figure out, though, that her favorite people to love on are her three sons. Even when we went to visit Tiffany at her place of work, her oldest son, Robert (16), was there with her. It didn’t take long to see that there was a very special relationship between the two of them that supersedes most parent-child relationships. Whether jesting, working, or simply being together, there is a trust and comfort between the two that is quite apparent. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"> But as we said in the beginning, Tiffany’s story is one of RESTORATION, and although she will be the first to tell you her life is better than it’s ever been, it hasn’t always been as “picture perfect” as some may say it is now. When asked to describe the life she used to live, or the way that she used to feel prior to her coming to know God’s love for her, Tiffany was for one of the first times we’ve ever seen at a loss for words.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"><i> “I just don’t know how to sum it up” she said after trying to come up with an answer “except to say that I was lost in the darkness. I was hopeless, and there was always this ‘impending doom’ hanging over me!”</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"> At a relatively young age, Tiffany was, for lack of a better term, “slapped in the face” by the reality of what people in the world can be capable of. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"><i>“I was always in a place where people always loved and cared for me, then [suddenly] in a place where that was no longer the case.”</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"> On drugs since she was fifteen, Tiffany found herself in a tangle of broken dreams, horrendously abusive relationships, and a miserable hopelessness that she couldn’t make go away no matter how much she tried. Tiffany has said many times that while she was living in this downward spiral, the reason why she didn’t change was because she was never given any kind of ultimatum not to. In her mind she could keep going the way that she was and still be able to keep all the things she loved (her children, relationships, ETC.) as well. Tiffany was cognizant that she was completely unhappy with her situation, but saw no reason to put an end to it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"> Tiffany’s out of control life came to a boiling point one night when the home that Tiffany and her children were living in was raided by the police. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"><i>“It was horrible” Tiffany stated. “My kids were all home when the police kicked the door in. They were all crying, ‘Mommy!’” </i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"> Later, after Tiffany was taken to jail for the contraband discovered in her house during the raid, her son Robert made it known to Tiffany that he’d had enough of her dysfunctional behavior. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"><i>“He told me, ‘Mom, I’m done with you, I’m stopping all communication with you [until this ends.]’ And I know that he meant it… That was a real turning point in my life, you know!”</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"> A turning point, it truly was. Not long after, Tiffany began to seek out a drug rehabilitation program in the hopes of getting her life back on track and to gain reconciliation with her children. Tiffany heard of Life Recovery Ministries* through a girl in her pod at jail who had called and gotten an interview right away. That was enough for Tiffany. When asked why she called Life Recovery Ministries (LRM) she told us quite frankly, </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"> <i>“I called Life Recovery Ministries because I knew they’d answer the phone.”</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;">Tiffany was right! She called the LRM office, they answered, and she was interviewed and accepted to the program in a matter of days. Tiffany was already ready to turn her life around, because she knew if she didn’t she would die. By the time the courts and probation approved Tiffany’s decision to come into LRM, 45 days after her initial acceptance into the program, it was “ON AND CRACKIN!’” (As Tiffany would say.) </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDM2lL-EuH3CoChbUB98B6jx3vgyoxEMsv55c49W8PfWohOVY7guYFU9TtZkM0raN7N4MuarRLVeF54WaMBhtFr4LAwu08hNiZeJi9bOydy_TUJ8Q_DCnU_ux275ubVOR-Qz8NIxYM1GTV/s1600/168686_191431900881627_100000444566996_607999_2397605_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDM2lL-EuH3CoChbUB98B6jx3vgyoxEMsv55c49W8PfWohOVY7guYFU9TtZkM0raN7N4MuarRLVeF54WaMBhtFr4LAwu08hNiZeJi9bOydy_TUJ8Q_DCnU_ux275ubVOR-Qz8NIxYM1GTV/s320/168686_191431900881627_100000444566996_607999_2397605_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Tiffany (Right) with friends Vicki (Left) and Colleen (Middle)</span></td></tr>
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"><i>“What happened in my time in LRM? I found God! Things started making sense and I figured out there was actually a plan for my life! I [suddenly] had a motivation to live differently.”</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"> The key to this revelation of God and how to find him? Love! As Tiffany shared in the beginning the key to her self destruction and degradation was a complete lack of love from people in her life. As she began to commit herself to the program of Life Recovery Ministries, she began to see the ABUNDANCE of love from people in her life!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; margin-left: 45pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"><i>“People opened up doors to me because they believed in me, and I started to believe that not only was GOD real, but his love for me was real too!” </i></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;">She went on to say, “<i>“I understand now that God loves me, I love God, and therefore I love others.”</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"> After Tiffany’s successful graduation from Life Recovery Ministries, she was hungry to know this love in a greater and more powerful way. She knew there was more that God had for her, and didn’t want to miss out on it!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"><i>“I had vision in my life [for the first time ever] and I wanted to be a part of something! I saw the lives of the directors of Kingdom Awakening Apprenticeship and I knew their vision lined up with mine. That was all it took to convince me!”</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"> Tiffany spoke at great length of the things she has learned and the ways that she has grown in her time affiliated with Kingdom Awakening Apprenticeship. In trying to “edit down” exactly what she said as she shared her heart, we decided her heart would be conveyed more accurately with a direct quote. Here it is. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;">(In answer to the question “What have you learned in your time with Kingdom Awakening Apprenticeship?”)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"><i>“I’ve been given the keys to the kingdom. God’s been THRASHING me with his love lately. And He’s given me a humongous heart for Him. As I push into the ‘safety net’ He has me in, He continues to teach me how to give my all! </i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"><i>He’s restoring EVERYTHING… I mean, there’s still some things that are in the process, but every major thing I thought I lost he’s brought back to me! It’s so awesome! </i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"><i> I change every day, it seems like, more and more! I get to be a part of something that’s way bigger than myself and not only that, but I get to lead others in the process as well!” </i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;">Tiffany is currently enrolled in our “Core School In Action” Program, phase 2 of the Apprenticeship, and we can attest one hundred percent that Tiffany lives a life of ABSOLUTE restoration. She is a living breathing testimony to Jesus’ words, “He who has been forgiven much loves much.” Tiffany loves much! She used to live a life where there was no hope, nothing worth setting her sight to, nothing worth living for—Now Tiffany dreams of seeing the love of Christ transform South Oroville, and see hope come to the community through Jesus!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;">As her interview came to a close, Tiffany said, </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;">“If it could happen to me, it could happen to anyone!” </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;">And we are so proud that it DID happen to her, because our lives are truly blessed and enriched through the life of Tiffany. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;">**Life Recovery Ministries is a residential 12-month drug and alcohol treatment facility and is situated in South Oroville as an arm of The Father’s House Church.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
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</div>kingdomawakeninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08304416488373347377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876475912188927336.post-52363407646074843992011-03-17T14:01:00.000-07:002011-04-07T13:20:10.485-07:00Meet Daniel!<div style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"></div><div style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i><u>Daniel Guererro</u></i></span></div><div style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: right;"></div><div style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Age:</i></span></div><div style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"> 53--but would like us all to know </span></div><div style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;">he will be turning 54 in September. :)</span></div><div style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"></div><div style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></div><div style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Nicknames:</i> </span></div><div style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;">"Shorty," "Smiley," and "Moses"</span></div><div style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>What we love about Daniel:</i> </span></div><div style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;">We LOVE Daniel's consistent smile, joyful demeanor, his outgoing-ness <span style="font-size: small;"><i>(Yes, we like it so much we invented a new word for it!)</i>, and his arroz con pollo! </span> </span></div><div style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://twitvidphotos.s3.amazonaws.com/0ZXLS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://twitvidphotos.s3.amazonaws.com/0ZXLS.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><div style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Daniel is amongst our newest group of graduates from our Core School in Action (CIA) program. (First full year of Kingdom Awakening Apprenticeship) Since his graduation, Daniel has moved into full time ministry-- heading up The Father House Church's kitchen ministry, which feeds sometimes up to 100 people a day. In addition to cooking some awesome, home-cooked meals for the hungry people in the ministry of The Father's House, Daniel also is a big player in the church's "Visiting In Person" department. Daniel and the V.I.P team go weekly to hospitals, homeless camps, and homes of children, youth, and adults in need of encouragement or support. And already, Daniel is seeing things change because of their effort. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i> "I prayed for a woman with heart problems the other day when we went to</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>visit at the hospital."</i> Daniel told us, <i>"At the time she was just sleeping,but I figured I'd just pray anyways. Later that day, she was released from the hospital." </i>As if that wasn't cool enough, Daniel went on to say, "<i>That's what it's all about, you know? Giving it [God's love] away!"</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;">As he shared his testimony, it quickly became very apparent that giving ANYTHING away, let alone love, was something that Daniel had never been able to do prior to his coming to know Jesus. <i> </i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i> </i>As he told us,<i> "I used to be the worst taker there was. I would take a </i></span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i> person and manipulate them into whatever I wanted from them." </i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;">As a child, he began dabbling with "small crimes" such as stealing four-track and eight-track tapes (<i>"Make sure you put in the part about the four-tracks and the eight-tracks" </i>Daniel insisted during his interview. <i>"That way people will know how old I actually am!") </i>but those crimes didn't stay "small" for long and turned quickly into drug use, violence, crime, a series of dysfunctional relationships, and all around hopelessness. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>"I was in a tailspin,"</i> </span><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Daniel recounted.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;">This tailspin and cycle of destructive behavior continued to spin faster and faster until Daniel could no longer take it. One morning, Daniel awoke and the first words out of his mouth were <i> </i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>"God, I'm tired and I can't do this anymore!" </i> </span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;">As he took his dog for a walk in the streets of South Oroville, Daniel passed The Father's House Church office. He had never seen it before, but somehow knew that God was leading him there. He went into the office, interviewed for Life Recovery Ministries, (A 12-month residential rehabilitation program) was accepted into the program, and moved into a house by the end of the day! </span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Daniel recollects, <i>"I was ready for a change!" </i>And, boy, was he ready! Daniel quickly became a "star" of Life Recovery Ministries (LRM), and the rapid change occurring in him was obvious to everyone in Daniel's life. As the graduation of LRM drew nearer, Daniel knew there was more that God had for him. <i> </i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>"I wanted to know God's heart, not just with my mind, and not just with my mouth."</i> Daniel told us. It became clear to him (and us too) that Kingdom Awakening Apprenticeship was an obvious next step-- so Daniel applied for the program, was accepted, and has been growing and changing through understanding God's powerful love for Daniel ever since! </span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;">As Daniel tried to put into words what he's received during his time in Kingdom Awakening apprenticeship, He says very candidly, <i>"Walking the path isn't always easy, but I'm learning [more and more everyday] how to stand in the truth-- and I'm this through the understanding of 'Greater is He who is in me than He who is in the world." </i>He went on to tell us, <i>"with the war in my mind, sometimes I don't make the right choice... But I want to get to the place where I choose right all the time."</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Daniel is a man worth following. He is a leader as well as a friend to many, and the legacy of his life is one that will continually inspire and encourage. He may have been "the biggest taker there was," as he told us, but now anyone will tell you Daniel has learned the value of giving his life away and continues to serve selflessly and love unconditionally! </span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Daniel Guererro! You're our hero! </span><br />
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</span></div>kingdomawakeninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08304416488373347377noreply@blogger.com0