Macedonia, Greece, Romania and more.

My outreach team en route to Thessaloniki, Greece.


Last I wrote that we had seen God's miraculous guidance in Serbia- a lot has happened since then! The day after Christmas we packed up all the vans and sat down to ask God where the next step was. Almost overwhelmingly He spoke Greece. As it was a long drive we took off with Skopje, Macedonia in mind. A member of the team had been there before and knew of a few people we could stay with. We showed up and they were very gracious to accommodate us. While we were there we explained that we felt God was leading us to Greece but didn't know where and had no contacts at all. They immediately contacted a church in Thessaloniki who said they would house us.

We set off having no real idea of why God was leading us to this very specific place. When we got there the pastor of the church told us that they were wanting to establish a house of prayer, with a night watch scheduled for NYE, but weren't really sure how to do it and when they heard that a team of missionaries from Herrnhut felt God leading them to Greece they were blown away! We were able to pray with them, support their new church, engage in street ministry and work in a Roma settlement. It was an extraordinary week, completely full of God.

As I am involved in an anti-human trafficking organization, Chad (the other leader) and I were determined to make some connections with people fighting this injustice in Thessaloniki. The scale of the problem in this particular part of the world is huge. One organization I wanted to connect with was A21 Campaign- conveniently they were located literally one minute away from where we were staying. We were also put in touch with a woman, Maria, who works for the Salvation Army and has been working with woman in prostitution for 15 years. I cannot describe how amazing she is! She is completely dependent on, and full of, the Holy Spirit and shared with us more wisdom and information than our hearts and heads could handle.

We ended our time in Greece and were asked to come and serve a church and adoption ministry in Sighisoara, Romania. We drove for 25 hours and arrived a week ago. This past week was mostly spent at 2 state-run Romanian orphanages. Both were heartbreaking. One of them was buried deep in the woods of rural Romania and housed about 150 kids. They had very few facilities but all the beds had handmade quilts and the children responded immediately to any affection and love. We experienced the power of prayer when dealing with some of the more difficult kids and all of us left changed. Both are under heavy government supervision and so we weren't able to take any pictures but I know all of us will remember their little faces for a long time.

This week we will mostly serve the community in practical ways. Some of the students will visit a family with 2 severely disabled adult children, others of us will work with an anti-domestic violence group. We have been involved in a number of churches and even with pretty severe illness sweeping the team, we have managed to do more street ministry.

On Thursday night, Chad and I will leave the team briefly for a meeting with the co-founder of Not for Sale,  in Budapest. We hope to start planning for the Europe Forum on Human Trafficking which is in Romania this October. We will catch an overnight train Thursday night and arrive Friday morning for two full days of meetings before catching the train back on Sunday. I really need 65 euro for the train fare and some money for food and accommodation while I am there. I would really appreciate your prayer on this matter.

On the 23rd, we leave with the team for Moldova and will be based there, with smaller groups going to the Ukraine, until mid-February.

I love and appreciate your prayer and support- you are all so a part of this!

Merry Christmas from Serbia

A week ago we left Herrnhut with 2 vans, 26 people, very little money but full of faith and expectation. We felt lead to go to Nuremburg but no contacts were panning out and we had no accommodation in a city famed for its Christmas markets a week before the big day. We felt to leave Herrnhut anyway and found ourselves stepping out in total and complete dependence to God. It was Saturday night and the students spread throughout the Hbf praying for people, helping a man with Alzheimer's to find his way home and getting a heart for the city. I went with the other leader, Chad to the nearest YMCA and we were welcomed with open arms by the people there and the whole group slept on the floor of their sanctuary for the week. During the week we worked with the Salvation army, spent time praying for Afghans and Iraqis in a high security asylum-seekers home, helping a victim of human trafficking go home and did ministry on the street and in the red-light district. It was an intense and wonderful week but we had to go by Friday. We left at 1am and drove for 20 hours through Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and into Serbia. We still had no idea at this stage as to where we were heading, but God was faithful to lead and we ended up in Novi Sad very late at night. None of us had been to the city, we had no contacts and no idea what to do and it was really really cold and 2 days before Christmas. After much prayer and leading we went into a bar, the waitress spoke English and it just so happened that a hostel owner was sitting at one of the tables. We were able to get a large discount and the 26 of us made ourselves home. We have been doing non-stop ministry, continuing until 3am last night. People have been responding in a huge way to our Christmas carols and it has been a beautiful way to celebrate this Christmas season. Pray for us as we take the next step...namely because we don't know where it will be . The team is amazing...motivated and spirit lead. We are a long way away from home and everyone is missing family but we see that this has purpose and we have hope for the countries.

I hope your Christmas is joy-filled and full of love and blessing.

Love always,

Heres a little glimpse of the team newsletter.

Liz and the Lions...behind the scenes music video.

Liz and the Lions - Behind the scenes from Marriage Of The Arts YWAM on Vimeo.


Liz and the Lions have just recorded their first album and it is... amazing. Seriously.The U.S.A release tour is in June next year and I have been asked to come along and be the speaker for- talking about Pick a Pocket, poverty and justice issues.  Please pray that this band makes it big! All of the money from sales goes back into Pick a Pocket projects and to lifting people out from poverty.

MOTA Music

We had an open mic night here a little while ago to give some of the artists in the community a chance to let others hear their work. I love love love the awesome original work these students are presenting. So worth a listen! Media Fire Open Mic Night

Our project in Ethiopia just had its 2 year anniversary.

One of the girls who was rescued a year ago just had her birthday. It was celebrated with a big party and she told the story of how a year earlier on her birthday she had been sorting through garbage when a truck unloaded on her and she had to fight for her life to escape from under the huge mound of stinking filth. What a difference a year makes... thank you to all of you that support me and enable me to be a part of this project.


2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY from the Koshe Project YAY!!! from Pick a Pocket on Vimeo.

YWAM Herrnhut is a hive of activity!

MOTA Cafe Herrnhut from Marriage Of The Arts YWAM on Vimeo.

There really is a whole heap of us!

Thailand report!

Friends!

Well this has been waaay too long in coming. It was provided miraculously for me and the others to go to Thailand. It definitely grew my faith is a big way to see how he provided for the 3 of us to go there and serve Not For Sale and YWAM.

At a week, it was a short trip to be able to help out, and further our connection with Not for Sale Campaign and YWAM Mercy Ministries as a whole. I really liked Chiang Mai a lot and of course the Thai people were unfailingly friendly. The conference went over 3 days, all day and it was so busy. It was amazing to be able to do media work there and to have total access to all of the speakers and people (in all representing 180 NGOs and ministeries in the region). I worked mostly with a videographer to do on camera interviews which was really fun and not something I had ever done before. I interviewed a lot of heads of major organizations, people from the Australian Federal Police human trafficking unit, authors and journalists...all sorts of people. Remember Anna Coren from Today Tonight? She now she works for CNN and I interviewed her which was very funny. 

After the conference we went with a delegation of filmakers, benefactors and others up to Chiang Rai, near the border of Burma, to the children's home and drug rehab center that is run by Not For Sale. We were so blessed to be invited on this trip with people, most of whom are without active faith, who were so open to hearing about the life that God has called us to. It was very interesting experience to share about hearing God's voice to them. The home houses and cares for about 140 kids that have been rescued from the most horrific circumstances. Most of them are children born into the tribes that live in the mountainous region between Burma and Thailand. Because of this, they are not recognized as being either Burmese or Thai and they are really looked down upon and aren't granted any nationality. It's about as bad a situation as you can get. But! the kids were amazing! Seriously...they hardly get any visitors and so got super mega attached to us in a matter of hours and cried and cried when we left which was devastating. I would definitely love to go back. 

A couple of us have already been asked to go to the A/P Forum on Human Trafficking in Manilla next year which would be great and a group of us here will head up the European forum in October next year which will be an epic undertaking but an amazing way to connect people. 

Thanks so much for all your support in getting there and back!

Asia/Pacific Human Trafficking Forum

Hey friends, 

Hope this reaches you well! I just wanted to let you know that I have an awesome opportunity to be a part of, and serve, a conference in Thailand next week. Steve Goode, head of YWAM Mercy Ministries, in partnership with David Batstone from Not For Sale Campaign, has asked me to come and write for the upcoming Asia/Pacific Forum on Human Trafficking in Chiang Mai next week. As I am moving further into ministry with a heart to see an end to the injustice of human trafficking and modern day slavery, this would be invaluable for information, inspiration and connections. I have a heart for reaching the lost and the unloved with the love of God and helping them to see revelation and purpose through Jesus in their lives. To be able to serve this conference and the organizations involved with my skills would be such a blessing. 

If you have any questions, I am only too happy to answer them. I really need people to partner with me in prayer for this upcoming week. Please pray for the country of Thailand as it is experiencing devastating floods. Please also consider if you can support me with finances (I need 400 euro to be able to get to and stay in Chiang Mai).

Thank you all so much.