Missions Conference 2009

It has now been a week since I came back from the Missions Conference that took place in Millstat, Austria. It was hosted at Calvary Chapel Conference Center (Schloss Heroldeck). I have to be honest with you. Being able to go to Conferences is definitely a highlight about being in the ministry. Some of the things that I love about the conferences are the following:

• to be refreshed in the Lord
• challenged
• receive new vision
• the fellowship is always sweet
• and so much more!

But I have to be honest with you. This past missions conference was probably the best conference that I have ever been to in my life! I could list some reasons why, but that is not what this blog is about. I want to share with you what the Lord did that week in my life.

First of all, it was such a blessing to be able to travel to the conference with a long time friend of mine, Edmund Coronel Jr. He is the senior pastor at Calvary Chapel Düsseldorf. We had both just come off of a busy week before the confernce, and so it was a perfect time for us to get away to Austria (by the way, this location is absolutely beautiful), and see what the Lord wanted to do in our lives. We met each other in Köln (Cologne), Germany and flew to Klagenfurt, Austria. It was so nice to fly. Not only was it cheaper to fly, but it only took us an hour to get there! Praise the Lord for that!
We arrived on Saturday, August 15, one day before the conference started. Our blessed friend Daniel Ornaleas hooked us up with a room to stay at in his apartment. Thanks so much Daniel once again! The next morning we went to church at Calvary Chapel Spittal, which is just right downstairs from Daniel's apartment. That morning, Pastor Robin was continuing his teachings through the book of Revelation. He taught on the letter to the church of Thyatira, which was amazing, because I had just taught it the week prior at Calvary Chapel Herborn. So it was a blessing to be reminded of the things that I had just taught! The Lord is good to do that!
We then were able to find a ride to the castle and register. Edmund Jr. and I were so blessed to find out that we were staying in the villa (right next to the castle - onsite)! We roomed together with Mike Harrington who had been teaching at the Bible College in Jerusalem for the past seven years. It was a blessing to be able to get to know him a little.
So now let me get to my point. The teachers at the Conference were Brian Brodersen, Lloyd Pulley, Chris McCarrick, Dimitri Nikifolos, and David Guzik. We had a main session in the morning and in the evening, and we also had a breakout session, one for the men and one for the women, everyday. It was amazing to see how the Holy Spirit definitely spoke through each of these men in a mighty way into all of our lives. There are so many things that the Lord spoke to me during this conference, but I would have to say that the main point that stuck out to me throughout all of the teachings was on the topic of prayer and time in the Word. Now I know that these are really the basics of Christianity, but, that was exactly what the Lord wanted to really speak to us on. The Basics! In fact, Lloyd Pulley started it off on Monday morning really talking about the BASICS of Jesus!

Now I have to share with you that before the conference started, the Lord had already been speaking to me in regards to changing how we as a family were living our lives. What I mean by that is... When we lived in California, we didn't always stay up late. But ever since moving here to Germany, I don't know what it is, but we have pretty much from the beginning been staying up primarily to midnight every night. So the Lord was speaking to me on this topic and how it needed to change. And so when the teachings began to cover this very topic, specifically by Dimitri Nikifolos, it was a confirmation of what the Lord had already spoken to me. Dimitri was saying statements like, "You need to crucify your activities in the evening, so that you can go to bed early, get up early, spend time with Jesus early..... go to bed early, get up early, and spend time with Jesus early." He really challenged all of us with the following verse... "... I will awaken the dawn." Psalm 57:8.
Now these are things that I have already known, but this is what I needed to get back into. And, you know what, that is exactly what we as a family have been doing. Going to bed early. I have been getting up early every morning, spending a lot of more time in prayer and in the Word, and just being obedient to that which the Lord was speaking to me and confirmed to me at the Conference.

So I know that I could go on and on, but I am going to just leave it at that.

I am not sure what you are thinking as you read this blog. You could have all kinds of thoughts flowing through your head. But I just want to encourage you to do the same if you are not already doing it. If you time with Jesus is laxing, getting less and less, or is not even there at all. Do this tonight. Go to bed early! Get up early! Spend time with Jesus early! Be obedient in these things and I know that the Lord will radically begin to refresh you in His presence!
God Bless you as you spend time with Jesus!