Good morning family, good morning friends, good morning newcomers since I’ve been gone! I have been blessed to be part of this church for about ten years. Many of you have watched me grow from a 20 year old woman struggling with many things in life to an independent woman who is crazy enough to move across the world! Each and every one of you have had a part in my transformation from a victim in life to a victor in Christ! I’m so grateful for the time of training I had here at First Pres as a youth leader, worship leader and a lay leader in training. I enjoyed being part of this amazing family who takes care of one another and serves Jesus wholeheartedly. All of you helped to send me and our church team out to Russia the summers of 04’ and 05’ to take care of orphans, which in turn changed the direction of my life completely towards full-time missionary work in the Slavic regions. When I came back in 2005 I wanted to jump right in and move to Russia, but God in his wisdom knew best and had me wait another 7 years. He knew that he needed to send me over whole. I have been longing since then to go back to Russia, knowing that this was the place where God burdened my heart for the lost and the hurting, no matter what age they are or social status. Sometimes the wait to go back to where I call “home” has been painful, but I see so clearly now why God needed to take me through each trial, each joy, each season these past 7 years.

I moved to Missouri in 2006 to go to a Christian College that didn’t fully understand who Jesus was and the mission he had for us. But in spite of this, I learned a great deal about myself and about the Lord. Many of you know that I came back from Missouri very ill and it’s taken up until today for me to receive healing from most of it from the Lord. God’s grace and love in my life through the hardest circumstances increased my faith in who he was and who he is to all people. I started recovering and learning how to treat my body as God would want me to treat it. I then transferred to Nyack College in 2007 and received my Bachelor’s in Psychology in 2011, all with the purpose of having a skill for missions. God used my Psychology professor to mentor me, give me health advice and she encouraged me to be a powerful woman in God’s kingdom. Everywhere I went these past 5 years God put someone in my life to mentor me and to lead me into wholeness. God brought me through a complete change of mind and healing in my body. It has been a wonderful journey with the Lord and I can’t wait to see what He has in store in this next chapter in my life.
After graduating from Nyack last spring, I started praying about going to Ukraine. Ukraine has been a war ravaged country and needs to find her identity. Orphans need the love of the Father tangibly expressed to them in a saving fashion. Ukraine has a very high divorce rate, abortion is at an all -time high, and sex-trafficking is on the rise. Families need to know the restoring power of Jesus.
God led me to YWAM (Youth with a Mission) to complete a 6 month practical missionary training, or put simply Discipleship Training School. We will be partnering with existing ministries to serve orphans, relieve the burden of the homeless, lay hands on the sick and see God transform lives surrounding the capital city of Kyiv. After 3 months of class and ministry there, we will most likely travel to Moldova and Albania to bring Jesus love to people on the streets.
My life verse is from James 1:27 “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” I want to take this lifestyle to Ukraine with me in September.
I want to share a bit with you about why I feel that taking care of orphans, looking after widows, the sick and anyone in distress is a call from God to all people. But more importantly I want to share with you what God has put on my heart for all of you, because it is the backbone of everything in life.
What compels us to do anything in life? I think if we were all honest with ourselves is that we are motivated by being loved. SHOW OF HANDS I know that all of us have heard about God’s love for us. Some have had experiences with God’s love, given to us by others in word or deed. Scripture says that “We love because He first loved us” 1 Jn 4:19 Even though we “know” the love of the Father, have we experienced it? For instance, have we experienced it in a transforming, I have completely and utterly been undone fashion? Most of my life I knew that God loved me. I knew of his great compassion and great sacrifice for me on the cross. There is no greater love than someone who would lay down his life for his friends (Jn 15;13). I “knew” this and a few times I actually felt the tangible, manifest, here with us now kind of love come from the Father. This has been a journey for me because I grew up in a church that quenched the Spirit and also quenched a love encounter with the Risen Jesus. I was taught to shut my emotions off, that I had to know God’s word through and through (which I am grateful for), but feelings never were much in the picture. I’m not saying that feelings should be the most important thing, but God didn’t make us to shut it off! We are a whole being that He created to experience Him in every sense were were created with. Those of you who know me well, know that I’m an extremely cognitive person. I usually won’t trust anything until I’ve thought about something over and over in my mind, which in turn has to fit into a box of understanding. I’ll do this over and over until I find a solution. I guess this is what helped me to get my Psych degree!
I have had a great deal of sickness in my life which has sometimes left me feeling like God cares to heal others more than he wants to heal me. I would always hear God say to me ever so softly, “My grace is sufficient.” I was ok with this answer, because I trusted God’s words towards me that He indeed was good. I didn’t get angry with him, but I would ask him why everyone else was being healed and he told me to be patient. I started to learn that He wanted to receive the most glory and the most impact on others through my healing.
When I went to Nyack College, I started to learn how to receive more from others I didn’t know well. Most of the things I was receiving was words that God gave them to pray over me and I started to be able to receive the love of God. Each time the love encounter I had with God was deeper, but I still rejected much of what He said over me. Shame? Maybe. Guilt? maybe. Believing that everyone was more special and I had to suffer to receive blessing? Yes!
I was asked to be part of a new prayer training at my church this past winter. The focus of this prayer meeting was to learn how to hear the voice of God, to know His character more deeply, to speak truth over one another and to hear fresh revelation from God about the here and now as revealed through His word.
For most of my life I had a beggar mentality when it came to asking things of God for myself. I acted as though I had no authority in the Kingdom of God and that if I requested anything personal from him I was asking too much. My needs were always just too much, just like I was too much for others to handle. I was sometimes afraid of God’s presence because I wasn’t ready to receive His love. I loved to worship the Lord but don’t ask me to get emotional or overwhelmed by His love.
I had never felt God hug me before and I’ve begged Him for this for years. All the times I was in physical pain and enduring all medical problems I face, I would beg Him. This past March, I had my first overwhelming experience of God’s love for me. I was out of a job and had health problems that were getting me down. I sat down on my bed to have my quiet time with God and I cried out in desperation and asked him to hug me. For the first time I felt it! I don’t know why God chose this moment, but there were tears of Joy coming down my face. I remember asking Him, can I ask you to come any time? Do you really want to be that close to me? God said an overwhelming Yes!!!!! He said that He delighted in me and that I was his daughter. This revealing of His presence stayed with me for about an hour and I just basked in His love for me.
My second encounter with His presence was last Saturday. I went to the International House of Prayer conference, in NJ. The preacher was speaking of our intimacy with God and how much of a part of our lives that we allow God to be. (I will share this in person)
What is this good news that I want to share? God is completely ravished by you! When you experience this kind of love in a tangible way, what do you do with it? My pastor from Nyack said, “anytime God gives you a gift, in whatever form it comes in, God wants you to give it back. It will come back to you tenfold” ~Pastor Mike
In my degree program, we learned very profoundly that we can’t give what we don’t have. If I haven’t received God’s love for me, responded to him, and decided to give it away to others (in whatever form God reveals himself in), I don’t have anything of value to give away. The reality of that situation would be that my love that I am giving away is not filled with God’s spirit, and has no eternal value.
I recently found a couple quotes by Charles Spurgeon that I feel illustrates this idea fairly well. “As fire grows by the addition of fuel, so does our love to Christ
increase by renewed and enlarged discoveries of his love to us.”

“Where much of divine love is perceived by the soul, there will be
a return of affection in some degree proportionate to the measure
of the manifestation. As we pour water into a dry pump when we
desire to obtain more — so must we have the love of Christ imparted
to the heart before we shall feel any uprisings of delight in Him.”

Without a fresh revelation, a filling of God’s love in our lives we’re impoverished. We’re incapable of running the race with endurance. We’re inept to carry out the compassion, the depth and the height of God’s love for other people.
So why did I share all of this? It is because of this verse that I even have the power to serve Jesus: Ephesians 3:14-21 “ For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,  from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named (we bear the name of God, my point), that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,  and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
This is why taking care of orphans, looking after widows, the sick and anyone in distress is a call from God to all people. Most of these groups of people in some form are stricken by some form of poverty, such as monetary, physical, relational, emotional, etc. Most of all they are in need of the love of Jesus. Can I share my heart with you about this?
First lets start with what is poverty? Poverty is a very loose term and everyone I speak to has a different definition. A simple definition of poverty would be expressed as:
The state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions. Poverty is said to exist when people lack the means to satisfy their basic needs. In this context, the identification of poor people first requires a determination of what constitutes basic needs. These may be defined as narrowly as “those necessary for survival” or as broadly as “those reflecting the prevailing standard of living in the community.” (poverty. (n.d.). © Encyclopedia Britannica)
Even more disheartening are the plight of the individuals whom the name is given “the poor.” Behind the label of “poor” is a face; a person or group of people deeply loved by God. In Genesis 1:27 (NIV), God says, “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” Since “mankind” is made the image of God there is no partiality in that statement. The poor are held in high esteem by their Creator. With the economic state in the world right now being so real to all of us, Let us move to one of the prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures. Isaiah 61:1-3 so perfectly states God’s heart for the poor:
The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. (NIV) (Emphasis added) A similar passage is again spoken by Jesus is in Luke 4:18 in the New Testament. This verse is a strong statement concerning the poor. It was revolutionary statement in ancient times, it is equally revolutionary now, if not more so. This is not just a call from the Old and New Testament scriptures. This was Jesus’ calling on earth and he bestowed it to us by the Holy Spirit to carry on his work.
Who are the poor?
The poor have been portrayed many ways throughout the centuries. Strong’s concordance Greek word for “poor” is ptochos, and its transliterated meaning is:
reduced to beggary, begging, asking alms; destitute of wealth, influence, position, honour; lowly, afflicted, destitute of the Christian virtues and eternal riches, helpless, powerless to accomplish an end, poor, needy, lacking in anything as respects their spirit, destitute of wealth of learning and intellectual culture…” (Strong & Kohlenberger III, 2001, # 4434).
The poor have always been vulnerable, as history pens. In New Testament times, the peasants, who were in the majority Jews tied to the land, were a prime example of the oppressed and abused. The Jews did not only have to pay taxes to Rome and Herod, but they had to pay tithes to the Temple (Friesen, 2005). Historians estimate that 25 to 30 percent of a peasant’s wages were given from their harvest to taxation. On top of this, the peasants had to pay enormous rent whenever asked, and without notice. Eviction was the outcome and indebted slavery to pay off their debts was their reality (Friesen, 2005). This kind of oppression was perpetuated in part because the peasants were considered as less worthy of being able to have a working wage.
What does the Bible say about the poor? : Jesus view in the New Testament
First of all, the scriptures speak about the specific word “Poor” at least 176 times. God must have been rather serious about the topic if the poor are mentioned so much, although one could never exhaust talking about each passage. Jesus is seen as the liberator of those who are in bondage. Romans 8:21(NIV) says, “…that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.” Right before this verse Paul speaks of creation being in eager expectation for this hope of restoration.
Luke 1:52 states that, “He puts down the mighty from their thrones, and exalts the oppressed. He fills the hungry with good things, and the rich he sends away emptyhanded” (NIV). The “he” in this passage is Jesus; one could say that what Jesus was proclaiming is a moral and social and economic revolution (Linskens, 1976). In Luke 4:18-19, Jesus enters the Synagogue, opens up the scroll and proclaims that He is the one who will proclaim good news to the poor, proclaim freedom to prisoners, heal the blind, set the captive free and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. The “year of the Lord’s favor” was very clear to the audience he was speaking to because it referred to the “Year of Jubilee” from the Hebrew Scriptures; the Jews would have known this passage very well. In the Deuteronomic Legislation (code) of chapter 15, the author speaks of the cancellation of debts every seven years, which is called the Sabbatical Year; the Jubilee was commanded to be done every 49 years (Kinsler & Kinsler, 2005). In short, God’s command was from Isaiah 61, which was to proclaim liberation and liberty, referring to the laws of Exodus and Deuteronomy which instructs the Jews to proclaim “freedom for slaves, cancelation of debts, and the recovery of land” (Kinsler & Kinsler, 2005, p. 47). It is our job as the church to proclaim the year of Jubilee.
Peace in the New Testament
It is the “Church’s” role to bring about justice for the poor. John 20: 19-22 reads:
“So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again,” Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them,” Receive the Holy Spirit. (NIV, emphasis added). The meaning of the word “peace” alluded to complete wholeness or “Shalom.”
A similar word for ‘peace’ is used in this passage as the word shalom, right after Jesus’ ultimate demonstration and action of peace, the resurrection from the dead. This Greek word in Strong’s is called “Eirene,” (#1515) which is transliterated as: a state of national tranquility; exemption from the rage and havoc of war; peace between individuals, i.e. harmony, concord; security, safety, prosperity, felicity, (because peace and harmony make and keep things safe and prosperous); of the Messiah’s peace; the way that leads to peace, or salvation (Strong & Kohlenberger III, 2001). Jesus goes even further in this meaning of Shalom, as He is the absolute embodiment of what was prophesied in the above passage of Isaiah 9. Jesus came to bring peace through His people (the disciples in context) to everyone they touch and minister to. Jesus has sent us, today, His church to be moved by the Holy Spirit to be his ‘bringers of harmony,’ his menders of the world (Dr. Assur, Lecture, Fall 2010). This tranquility includes justice for the poor and right relationships to be had by all.
James goes even further in this concept in chapter 3, verse 18: “Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” (NKJV) The same word “Eirene,” is used in this passage for peace. It is very important for us to realize that the fruit of being in Jesus kingdom are just works which brings Shalom. Before this passage James 1:27 says, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (NIV). Justice, flowing out of a love for God and a love for neighbor is what keeps us from being corrupted by the world.
The Kingdom of God
There are many parables in the New Testament that Jesus told. This story in Luke 6:20-26 was more like a sermon demonstrating who the people of the “Kingdom” look like: And turning His gaze toward His disciples, He began to say, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven…”
We are blessed when we take care of those who God loves, for those he died for.
Poverty in families
Poverty has a cyclical effect in families. As happens often in poor families, mothers who grew up in poor environments tend to pass all the negative influences that affected them on to their children; these parents did not have the necessary attention they needed, leaving the same hopelessness and negative view on life to their children (Stapleton, 2007). Secure attachments allow children to feel that everything is alright with the world and poor children most likely are not securely attached to their parents in the above situation (Stapleton, 2007). In Ukraine, we hope to reverse this pattern in families.
Everything that we have is God’s, including our monetary and physical possessions. So therefore, in Deuteronomy 15: 7-11, the law which does not bind us instructs us:
…rich Israelites are exhorted, do not be hardhearted or tight-fisted toward your needy brother” (v. 7) but “open your hand, willingly lending enough to meet the need of the poor” (v. 8). This is an exhortation or a legal admonition, which in general is typical of Deuteronomistic language” (Kinsler & Kinsler, 2005, p. 85).
Jesus even went to the extreme of asking his Disciples to share in his poverty, which He did willingly; He asked for them to give up all their material possessions to follow Him (Mulhern, 1973). What is interesting about this request is that most of the disciples were poor, yet God asked them to give all they had. We may conclude that God wanted all that may captivate their hearts, all their being to be offered up to Him and that He would always provide for all their needs. The role of the Church has not changed. We should give all we can to help those in need.
Scripture gets even more specific as to who we are to be as the Church. Isaiah 1:17 states, “Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow” (NKJV). The church is not to sit and watch the poor suffer while we enjoy our comfort. We are to stand up (advocate) for those being oppressed and fight for their freedom. The church has become lazy with our comfort especially in the United States, with the assumption that someone else or the government will help the poor. This is a stance of the Presbyterian church back in the 90‘s which should be a pattern for us: God’s unconditional love is the measure by which every person is to be valued. God’s special concern for the poor and powerless makes our attitude toward them and actions for them a test of our loyalty to God (De Vries, 1998, p. 223). We must rebuke those who are oppressing the poor and seek just laws so that this generation and the coming generations will not have to suffer. We are to plead for those who cannot help themselves like the widows, the orphan, the foreigner and all those who are in need of assistance. Doing justice is not an option given in scripture for God’s people; it is etched within us because God first loved us. It is time for the Church to rise up and do His work in the world. This is the Whole Gospel. This is the heartbeat of Heaven.

The question I want to ask ourselves is this. What has God put in your heart to bring the kingdom of God to your neighborhood? We don’t have to go overseas to bring the love of Christ to people. What talents, what giftings do you have that can be used for the Lord? Where is God’s love taking you? Can I share with you what I will be doing over in Ukraine?