Hello Friends!
     I'm excited to send an update again of how things are going on this adventure I call life!  Thank you to all of you for your prayers this last month.  As I reflect on November, I'm amazed at how God speaks, especially when we are in "foreign" places with only Him as our main contact.  I finished up my time in Kansas City, packed everything I had for 2 months back into my vehicle and made my way to Pella for a day.  With great joy, I'm so thankful to God for the amazing gift of being able to see 7 of the girls I have mentored since they were in 6th grade, and are now sophomores in college.  They were home for Thanksgiving, and we found ourselves at a cabin, God graciously allowed us to use for a night, laughing, sharing and praying with each other.  It probably isn't a surprise that I didn't get to bed till after 2am, but so worth it!
     The following day (Thanksgiving) I found myself on a plane making my way to L.A., with a stop in Denver, where God gave me the best surprise, Madison (one of the girl's I'd mentored), was on my first flight to return to school!  Of all the flights :).  It was such a joy to catch up even more.  As I arrived in L.A. I was excited to see a Pella native, Sarah Gaulke, who was letting me stay with her for a few days.  God had a small change of plans, as a guy, Nathan that I had met at YWAM-Kona was arriving to the airport from Haiti to volunteer for the week and didn't have a ride or a place to stay the first night.  Such a blessing Sarah was and is to help Nathan out too.  We were able to be God's hands and feet for a tired traveler, so cool!  
      With the LA Congress I was in charge of about 100 volunteers from multiple nations.  They came from the US, including a group from a DTS school in Kona, India, Paraguay, Korea, and more.  I was helping to make sure they all knew where they were going for training, the day after Thanksgiving, setting up the 3 days of training, and making sure we had everyone where they were needed for the 6 days of the Congress.  One of the greatest things God taught me in this week was how He's given me such a mix of skills in my life experiences to be able to take on this challenge!  Everything from creating a "photo scavenger hunt" during the training to build relationships and help the volunteers get to know the area, to being able to shift the resources every half hour, as I'd get called that there were things like "a truck with 42 boxes that needed unloading asap".  Our volunteers covered greeting, ushering, hospitality, security, photography, the World Vision booth, exhibits, registration, and more!  I'm in awe of how God worked to put our team together for this week, and I'm so grateful for the new friendships and connections.  Oh, and did I mention how God did some other amazing things!  For example... during the scavenger hunt, 2 teams met young people they prayed with and shared the Gospel with, and one group even met a young woman, Jasmine, who came to volunteer with us during the week.  So cool!  I had the great honor to get to know the DTS school from Kona well, including a group of 12 that was leaving for the Philippines (areas where I had been just 2 months earlier) a week after the Congress!  It's been great praying for them and sharing all God had done in our time there.  So amazing how God continues to work in surprizing ways!

  
       The congress was a success with better practice sharing, prayer, and commitments made for the Kingdom.  Here are the actual commitment numbers that came from the event with brothers and sisters continuing to work to reach the unreached!

New Houses of Prayer                        71,311
UUPGs (Unreached People Groups)   1,416
Oral Bible Teams                                46,548 
New Churches Planted                       217,908 
New Evangelism Exposures                584,681,363
New Online Missionaries                    20,054

      I was quite exhausted after those 2 weeks, but so thankful for the time and the reunion I had with some of my YWAM classmates!  As I made my way home, I drove through Pella for a day where I was able to celebrate with the youth of Third Church where they had raised $36,000 for an orphanage in Uganda!  I also spent some time with a wonderful family who has been hosting me.  I’m so thankful for them, their care and great example of family.  Before finally getting to my parents in Wisconsin, I stopped in Rockford, IL to see my sister.  My mom came down too, and we were able to help her take off some wallpaper down in a bedroom and paint.  
     I’ve now been home for a week with my family.  Some of you might be wondering how my mom’s surgery went!?!  (thanks to all those praying)  The truth is she cancelled the date right before the surgery.  She had a bad cold, and the doctor said she couldn’t have the surgery with it, and she’s been working with physical therapy to see if she can hold off a bit.  I’m thankful she is feeling somewhat better, but is now looking at having it possibly in May or June.  Still praying God will heal her totally!
     God allowing me to come home for this time, with the main focus being serving my parents and resting, has been wonderful.  They’ve put me to work cooking meals each night (if you know me, you know I love that!), we’ve been playing cards, sharing stories, and doing projects around the house.  As much as I’m different in many ways, it is such a joy to be back together as “family” and to be the kid again. 
       I want to share something with you that God showed me personally this week.  I found myself, when I was alone, really struggling with some things and over analyzing my future so much that I became overwhelmed.  I really didn’t want to go out and see people or do “things”; I just found being alone was good.  I know that there are seasons where that can be fine, but it was not healthy for me, and I realized that the joy and peace I’d had when I first came back from Kona was not as bold.  As I prayed and spent time with God on this, He showed me.  The last two months I’ve allowed myself to become a cynic on the topic of “love” through the traveling around and being places only a short time, as well as some walls I put up with people.  However, through this it seems the enemy has worked to get me to turn those walls into mirrors and I’ve really been internally focused.  Basically the love God has shown me and the calling to share that love with others, was stopping before I was sharing it.  And in that, I found myself miserable!  How crazy that to have myself feel better I had to do the exact opposite, and stop focusing on myself and focus on loving others!  God is so good.  As soon as I saw the truth behind that lie and was able to take what God was teaching me daily, and to shine it out rather than keep it in, my joy and peace for today and the future is back!  I share this hoping that any of you that might feel overwhelmed can go to God and learn from this situation, hopefully not the hard way I did. J
     I’m excited to have my whole family together for Christmas, and to enjoy this precious time that I missed while away with YWAM.  I don’t know yet where I’ll be or what I’ll be doing after January, and would really appreciate if you would join me in prayer!!! Would you pray that God would give me the next steps as I wait on Him.  And I believe we all can hear from God, so if you hear anything as you pray (as silly as it might seem) email or call me!  Thank you to those who willingly offered funds for my LA Congress trip.  I still have about $500 dollars to cover if you are able to help with that, please email me at rayellem@gmail.com.  And if there are things I can be keeping lifted in prayer for you, nothing is too small, please let me know!  It is an honor to stand with you as brothers and sisters.
     I pray God blesses your time with family this Christmas and that He shows you something new about His character.  It is way greater than anything we can grasp, but it is filled with such LOVE that to know even a piece of it is worth everything. 
Merry Christmas!


 - Rayelle


May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)

Pella to Missourri to LA to Wisconsin!

Hello Friends,

                Here it is again… another time I’m packing my bags, following God’s direction after the Philippines!  On Tuesday, I’ll be moving out of my friend’s house in Kansas City to make my way on to Long Beach, California for almost 2 weeks. I’ll be running the volunteers and large exhibits for the LA Global Congress (www.call2all.org), a 5 day event focused on better practice sharing, praying together, and action plans for reaching the 3600 unreached people groups in the world with the Gospel.  I’ve been working in the call2all office for 3.5 weeks, preparing and organizing the training and positions for over 100 volunteers!  It’s been great to be back in a taste of “project management,” with a new focus!

                Before I share about the other parts of this month, I wanted to take a moment and share some reflection on my time in Pella during October.  After being in Kansas City a week, God gave me the great opportunity to come back to Pella in order to speak at a middle school overnight retreat.  I shared about my experiences in Mexico, Haiti and the Philippines.  Speaking at 9:30pm, I knew I had to do something to keep the young people engaged.  I had so much fun sharing my experiences as a “choose your own adventure” story where they helped me pick along the way such things as… we are on our way to a tribal region, would you like to drive in the Jeepney or the open garbage truck?  There were videos and photos to go with their choices, great amounts of laughter, and great questions about my experiences.  The next day, I was able to share my story with the Teen Challenge ladies of Pella too!  It is amazing watching the doors God has been opening, and getting to be a part of them!

                Leaving Pella for the second time in a week was much harder than I thought.  God has truly made it my “City of Refuge.”  I didn’t really appreciate how special Pella is until I left.  When my friend from Seattle came to visit she was shocked by the little community, with nothing “big” really close to it… she’d only been in cities and suburbs and she considered Pella a “jewel”.  She’s right.  This place, the cleanliness, safety, love-abounding, opportunities, and community… it is something so special!  I’m so thankful God called me to the middle of Iowa for a long, wonderful season of my life and that I can call Third my home church.

                This last month has been a heavy growing time for me internally.  I would say “character building” would be the theme.  Walking with God in this time continues to bring great peace and joy, which I’m so thankful for.  At the same time, I feel the enemy trying to get in my head with fear of the future regarding finances, health, and other things that I’m not “in total control of.”  It is so easy to get wrapped up in fears when you take your focus off of God.  But the truth is that any decisions made out of fear like this, only lead to bondage.  And Christ came for freedom!  So as I have been living in a new place, “working” as a volunteer with a new group, not knowing many people… I’ve been dealing with a number of things including some health issues left over from the Philippines, a vehicle making funny noises, no idea what God is calling me to do after December, and feeling like I’ve given everything to God that I can possibly give, but that He wants even more.  This has truly led me to lean into Him and I believe He has been allowing this to see how “in” with His calling on my life I really am.  I continue to say “Yes and Amen” and in that obedience He is blessing me!  This last week, He has brought some amazing new friends in my life!  During a lunch break, God brought me to Longview Lake, a place I call my second home in KC.  He has had total strangers speak words over me from call2all and IHOP about what God is doing, that affirm no doubt that I’m going the right way.  And He continues to teach me about intimacy with Him, especially in the IHOP Global Prayer Room (of all the wonderful places in the world God could send me for this season).

                So it is with great joy that I arise each morning serving an amazing God.  It is with great joy that I look forward to helping serve at the LA Congress.  It is with great joy and thanksgiving that I am getting to see the girl’s I’ve mentored for over 7 years in Pella the day before I fly to LA.  It is with great joy and hope that I prepare myself to go home to Wisconsin for December to be with my family as my mom undergoes surgery.  It is with great joy that I look forward to God’s continued guidance for 2012 and beyond.  Thank you for being a part of this journey with me.  I pray His joy and peace spreads abundantly to you as well, as you trust in Him.

*Please note, if you would like to give a gift financially towards my 2 week trip to LA (all airfare, housing, car rental, food, parking and additional costs I’m covering on my own) I could really use the help! Email me at rayellem@gmail.com.  And please mark your calendars for prayer from Nov 29-Dec 3 for the event as I stay organized and guide.

Where's Rayelle? MAINLAND USA! (1 month after DTS)

FRIENDS!
  I realize time flies... and I've been on the mainland for almost a month!  So, I wanted to give you an update. :)  So... where am I? PELLA, IOWA... until Sunday anyway.  To back up slightly, I came home at the end of September, had a wonderful time seeing my parents for 2 days, while repacking from tropical wear to winter wear.  Then saw my sister for a day (which included fun wedding dress shopping for her!) before coming to Pella.  I've been here almost 4 weeks, and it has been so wonderful!!!  I was nervous about what things would be like coming back here, but as I hit the outskirts of town all I felt was "I'm home!".  Over these last few weeks, God has blessed me with some great encounters with people here!  I've had such an amazing time catching up, praying with people, spending time back at Third with the youth, and so much more!  I also had my friend from YWAM, Chandra, visit here for week.  We went to North Dakota for a weekend to see the IWT (Impact World Tour event) and also to Kansas City to meet those I'll be volunteering with in November, and I introduced Chandra to IHOP (Prayer, not pancakes :)).  God continues to teach me about "leaning into Him," even in the little things, and He keeps surprising me!  I think the greatest part of being back is having the opportunity to see how much God has done inside of me over the last 7 months.  Being in the same environment I was before has truly shown me the changes that happened, that I didn't totally grasp while I was away.  I feel so blessed!

 So Sunday, I move to Kansas City to help with the LA Congress right after Thanksgiving.  As I mentioned in my last email, God had put on my heart to go home for the month of December.  I hadn't really known why, but since my last email He has made it known.  My mom called and shared that she will be needing replacement knee surgery, and they are going to do it the first week of December!  God is so awesome, how He speaks to us when we are willing to listen!  So, I'm going home to be with both of my parents, and to help out.  My dad thinks he is getting a personal chef too, and I can't say I'm sad about that. :)  Plus, I'll get to use my new found CNA skills!

 I'm still not sure where I'll be going in January, but I still feel tremendous peace about it!  Please do keep me in your prayers for that!  May God bless all of you with greater joy each day!  Finally, if you are in Pella on Sunday (this weekend, Oct 30th) I'll be doing a presentation about my YWAM time from 12:30pm-1:30pm at Third Church in the Furnace (below the Auditorium).  All are invited!

Philippines: Baptism

Written: Wednesday, August 24th... 

             Earlier today, I had the great honor of sharing my love with Christ in the way of adult baptism.  I hope none of you are offended by this, knowing I was baptized as a baby, but I want to share with you the great joy I have in my heart.

 I was baptized as an infant on August 24, 1980, when I was just over a month old.  For this past year, after seeing some of the youth I have led baptized, God has put on my heart “reaffirming the choice on my own”.  I’m so grateful that God put me in a family with parents who love the Lord, who gave me the great blessing of baptism as a baby, and declared that they would raise me in the Biblical tradition.  They have done so in mighty ways.

As I’ve consistently prayed about it, my heart has grown with excitement!  I feel so unworthy of the sacrifice God gave for us.  That He would limit himself in human form to live as we do, and to die a horrific death when He did not deserve it, simply to show love for us and to give us the opportunity to be free.  I can never say thank you enough.  God gave me life on this earth, and the only thing I felt like I could give Him back was that same life, as a living sacrifice for Him.  I am His.  So today, on August 24^th, I ventured to the sea with 4 of my closest classmates, a pastor from a local church we’ve worked with the past couple of months, 3 of his church members I call friends, and the love of God penetrating my heart. 

As we prepared for the sacrament, Pastora Grace strummed a hymn on the guitar and we sang “I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back”.  “No turning back” were the last words I shared as I entered the plane in Milwaukee leaving for my time in Kona.  There is more truth in that statement that many others I’ve shared in life. 

As I walked into the ocean, each step felt more freeing than the next.  Pastor Jerry prayed for me and we praised God.  This act of baptism was nothing about what God would do for me.  It was a declaration of my love for God.  That I saw Him as a man proposing down on one knee, asking me to be his bride, and I screamed at the top of my lungs, “I love you!  I give you all of me.” 

When I came back to the apartment a friend asked me if I felt any different, as the act of baptism represents repentance and entering as your old self and coming up a new creation.  Initially I said no, it was simply a fresh commitment to the Lord and that I simply wanted to love Him with no expectations back.  Then, as I finished the sentence, God revealed to me that in these past 5 months I have become a new creation, I’d just never put words to it.  The spiritual eyes He has given me, the deeper roots into Him as my foundation, and the love I’ve never felt so intensely has truly made me a new creation.  Thank you Lord!  Amen.  May all glory be His.

                Psalm 1: I want to be like a tree planted by the streams of living water!

From the Philippines: Why I'm doing "Mission" work

Brothers, Sisters, Friends & Enemies:    
     Yesterday my team spent 11 hours in churches, here in Tagum City.I believe that is a record for meJ.Though it was strenuous, it was all worth it, and the cherry to top the ice cream “Sunday” was a question my team leader asked in a sermon he shared.His words were simply a question, “Why do I do missions?” I realized I had not shared this answer with you well, and I want to do so today.
     The Bible states in Matthew 28:19-20 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.The fact is this statement is not a request; rather it is a command from God for His followers.But, this is not why I am doing “mission work” here in the Philippines.
      There are times when organized religion makes it seem that people are going around trying to make everyone else "like them". To make their clubs "bigger" for more money, or whatever. But, I must say that if the world was full of people like me, I think that would be overwhelming! One Rayelle is enough for the world, so I don't do Mission work because I want more people in my club.
      The reason I am here at this time is because the love I have for my LORD is so great that as I think about it, I feel like my body will burst from pure joy! The same God who spoke and created the universes, lives inside of me by the Holy Spirit.He is ALIVE!He speaks to me, He shares His love with me all day long.He gives me the honor of being able to pray with others and to ask God how He sees them, and God speaks to me to share those things with individuals! And it not my words and thoughts, these are people I’ve never met before and God speaks so specifically that people crumble in tears from His love!
     Yesterday we prayed for a man, Paulos, and 3 of us heard separately the same thing!One person heard “Perseverance” and received a Scripture.I saw a picture in my mind of waves hitting rocks on a coast and I asked God what it meant and he said“Perseverance” and a third person saw Paulos climbing a mountain.It was snow covered and brutal, but he was almost to the top and the other side was a beautiful field with wild flowers, and God spoke about perseverance.When we all shared these things, I think we were more in awe at first than Paulos.But Paulos needed to hear that word from God.What love the Father in Heaven has for His children! Nothing by our power, but toally the Holy Spirit being allowed to move and becaues God loves Paulos more than any of us!
      The only thing worth leaving a great job, my house, family, friends, and everything the American Dream would say should fulfill me is this LOVE!God is so faithful and everyday He fills me with more of His love.He shows me how alive He is, and how much He loves others.It is the most precious gift and the strongest force I’ve ever known. So why did I do it?Leave“everything” to come here… the answer is LOVE.
      I hope that you are blessed by my sharing, and that you feel the love God has for you. It is an amazing thing to know that no matter what, God loves you, and He loved you first... He just wants our love. If face that is why He made us! (see Genesis) If you have any prayer requests send them my way! And if you pray for my team and I, please lift up our health and perseverence these last 4.5 weeks here in the Philippines. We'll be very busy at schools, churchs, evangalizing, and even doing construction this week!!! (blame it on my Mexico trips, buildling homes... but I'm mega-excited for construction :))

May God Bless You in your times of rest, work, and play,

Rayelle

Filipino Birthday!!!

I don't have much time, but thanks for those who asked about my birthday!  I totally went into the day telling God I didn't need anything special as it was a travel day to Mati, where we are serving all week.  But God loves to spoil us and He has been showing me that in my time here especially in the "little ways" no one else would know how to do it here! :)  You see at home a great birthday would usually involve a good meal and games with my family, much laughter, singing and more.  And I've always wanted a "surprise party" in my life.

Well, we were on a 3 hour bus ride, or more, when we arrived.  It is hotter here, and we met some pastors, waited a long time in the heat for our rooms (that's okay), and more... we then made our way to a "pastors gathering" which turned out to be a HOG ROAST!  Hello great food!  (and praise the Lord I was feeling better to be able to eat it!)  They sang to me "Happy Birthday", had a dart board, basketball and a pool table!  (DARTS I missed) and great company!  Exactly what I longed for with food and games and fun!  Then as we came home late to the orphanage where we are staying... the leader and I lagged back, only to find that they had a surprise party waiting for me!  I walked in (NO IDEA) and each of my team was holding a mini cupcake with a candle in the dark, singing!  There were snacks, and a multi-tiered tower of champagne glasses filled with fruit punch, and a sign!!! IT WAS AWESOME!  Great music (thanks Frank Sinatra), a little dancing, and they took the time to each share how I've blessed their lives.

So the day that was to be "whatever" was one of the best birthdays ever!  Thanks for all the wishes from home also, HUGE BONUS!  So greatful to be here and for all of you!

Message from the Roof! :)