My sister Lauren is going to the Harvest School!!

Lauren Brown, my beautiful friend with a beautiful heart is going to Pemba!

Huts in Mozambique close to Pemba area

Hello dear friends and loved ones!

I wanted to share with you that one of my amazing friends, or spiritual sister/daughter, Lauren Brown, is going to Pemba for the Harvest School this summer!!!! She and I have walked through a lot together. I met her last year on a choir trip in Europe, and we were drawn to eachother by Missions. I also thank the Lord that He used me as an example to her of something that she was really desiring: the Holy Spirit and an intimacy with Jesus that brings freedom and joy! She told me that she could see that there was something different in me, that there was a joy that I didn't seem to strive for. I was able to tell her that those deep yearnings in her heart for a closer and more REAL relattionship with God exists and was made for her as part of our inheritence (Ephesians 1:14)!! We talked about the relation to all of this and Missions, and I got to share with her that God has so shown me that it's through intimate and close relationship with Him that we are able to love others or do anything of the adventurous Missions things that should be really difficult in the natural. 

God has been giving her those desires of her heart, and then some! Including sending her to Mozambique! He has opened the doors in a big way, and I’m so excited for her! and we have been so excited to see the ways God has been preparing her for such an amazing time and experience that God prepared just for her!!

Would you join me in being excited with her and being a supportive family for her through this journey of getting to Pemba!  I know how difficult it is to stand in faith going through the process of getting there, with the hurdles of getting a visa, shots, preparing for lifestyle change of being in Africa etc.

She has some deadlines for payments that I'd love you to join me in believing for. She has one TODAY for buying her plane tickets and another deadline coming  up in about 2 weeks for her tuition payment. Please pray with me for the money to come in!

Please pray this in with us:

-$400 by the end of today!!

- Around $3000 more over the next couple of weeks!

Here is some of her testimony and also sharing a bit of why she is going to the Harvest school. It also has her contact information, and you can find her on Facebook if you'd like to follow her on her journey to get there! More than anything, I feel I'd like to offer her some friendships with people that I know PRAY! And I believe many of you that read my blog will do so! So will you join me in praising the Lord for getting Lauren to Pemba and changing her entire paradigm!

Here are some of Lauren's words:

  Last summer, I accepted freedom in Christ for the first time, and this is an excerpt from that night’s journal entry:

“Yahweh has adorned my head with jewels of adoration!  After a lifetime of feeling completely inadequate, I finally feel enabled.  Equipped.  Empowered.   To be humble is not to be ashamed. To be humble is not to be timid.  To be humble is to bow.  It is to weep. It is to yearn for something more.  It is the realization of something beyond myself.  It is sweet liberation! From mountains to mountains I will run.  Over rough terrain, I will run!”

            The moment I decided to let go of myself and grab hold of God, everything changed.  Before Jesus ascended into heaven in Acts 1:8, He told His disciples, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”   My life has been turned inside out by the power of God within me!

            The Lord recently led me to apply for Heidi Baker’s Harvest School of Ministry, so I did.  This school provides 10 weeks of in-depth missionary training while serving the people of Pemba, a city in Mozambique, Africa.   Due to the small amount of housing available at this mission base, only 350 out of 5,000 applicants were accepted.  The Lord has opened this door wide, and I am ready to run with arms wide open!  This is the mission of Harvest School of Missions:

“Called to LOVE.  It costs everything.  It’s passion and compassion.  Extravagant

love that gives without expecting back.  A laid down life.  A love that looks like something practical.  It is a huge vision that is changing the world person by

person and nation by nation.” 

I am honored to proclaim the healing power of Christ to a hurting world.  There is hope, and I am excited for the opportunity to be sharpened, equipped, encouraged, humbled, and taught.  In the name of Jesus, I will run!

I am thankful for the light you have been in my life, and it is my hope that you might ask the Lord how you can support me in this season.  The cost of this trip is $7,000, and the value of your prayer is priceless.  I pray that you will be filled with joy and peace that can only be found in Christ!

Love,

Contact Information:         Lauren Brown                                   Email:  lmbrown@mail.trevecca.edu

333 Murfreesboro Pike                    Cell:  731-394-3878

TNU Box 735

Nashville, Tennessee 37210

 

Broken for others

I had a picture during worship last night (at the young adult church service at Grace Center,  that I sat on for many minutes because I didn’t understand it. But I just pressed in pressed in pressed in, and asked, "what does this mean, Lord"? I had seen a picture of myself being cracked open like an egg, and the contents inside of me were cooked and became edible. It was a weird picture, but I FELT it’s importance to be HUGE. I kept thinking, "this is important , God wants me to get this – what it is it Lord"? Finally, it hit me, and it hit me BIG.  God had just given me a picture of the reason that I have been here in the U.S since October, and what it means for the future. As heaving sobs came over me, I realized this:

“I am being cracked open like an egg – my chest and body are being opened like an eggshell and whats inside of me is being released and is becoming usable and edible. I am being and have been broken in order to release the things God has put inside of me, and make them substantial – in order for them to be usable  or edible – I.e. my brokenness will lead to many being fed.  All the sacrifice and all that I’ve laid down is in order to save and feed those that I love. Oh what a beautiful sacrifice for my loved ones – oh that I could see some or ANY saved, healed, renewed, restored, and fed. Oh thank you Jesus that you’d break ME open for the sake of the ones that you love and you’ve caused me to love even with the loss of my life. Thank you Lord.

I think about the things that I’ve sacrificed in this season or in general.  I think of how I’ve sacrificed  comfort in knowing what I’m doing and when I’m doing and where I’m going, and what that may look like to people. That I’m laying down my ability to see Shyanna -My willingness to even lay down my rights to thinking or worrying over marriage. I think about how I was intentional to be here in the uncomfortable place with some of family relationships and jumped head–first into confronting our issues. I think of how I was available to love my friends that really needed me in this time well. I think of how I’ve taken a job that I don’t enjoy that looks on the outside like it’s going nowhere, and worked very early shifts. And how Ive stopped watching any television for the sake of focusing on Him.

And I felt during this encounter how much God loves these women. I forgot about the guilt I’ve felt for not being there or any responsibilities that I’d thought I had to them, and realized that I’ve actually been interceding for them with my life in this season.  I’ve lived a prophetic act of sacrifice, laying down my life for them, and allowing God to prepare me to bless them in a greater way. And God has made a big promise to me that because of my obedience and being broken open there will be greater breakthroughs for them. He has caused me to expect miracles and deliverance for them, and a stirring in the spirit; I can’t wait to see what the new season looks like.

If you’re wondering of practical things, when I’m leaving, etc., I unfortunately still can’t answer you (likely April). But this I know: I’m headed in exactly the direction God has pointed me.

I have been doing a study on communication by Danny silk. In it there’s a section on realizing your Visions statement and the goal of your life. I was greatly encouraged through the exercise to see that I’m on course for my life goals. Here is the mission statement the exercise helped me to come up with:

“My mission in life is to always be in a posture of worship at the Lord’s feet (this includes worship through art), and love the poor and unloved with art/creativity as my main instrument.”

God has made me a worshipper, and I feel and can see that I worship Him with my life. I can see that God has called me to not hold tightly to any goods or possessions in life, because of the fact that He will be taking me through many different countries. I am on course in that I don’t hold tightly to things, and have sold most of my larger possessions. I am going to continue to study art and have begun to worship the Lord with prophetic art for the first time. This is exciting, and I believe it will be an amazing new source of life for me and others. I am being prepared for being used, and I plan to continue to allow God to do what He needs to do to prepare me.

Thank you for loving me through this time, and I’m sorry for not sharing more often.  It’s been a nice time to just rest in the NOW, and so I haven’t been feeling like I’ve had much to share – though He is ALWAYS up to good things. Pretty much weekly, He is teaching me something and doing a work deep inside of me, Hallelujah!

- Please be praying as the Lord continues to strengthen me. I dont want to miss any opportunity for Him to go deeper or heal or prepare me. I'm realizing that when I get there, I'll pretty much have to hit the ground running, so I want to be fully ready when that day comes.
- I've been tryign to learn Portuguese and MAKUA (WOOO SO EXCITED!), and how to make jewelry out of coconuts. I feel that I don't really know what I'm doing with the coconut jewelry and can't seem to find anyone that knows much more than me either! But I can tell that there are easier ways to make items than I have been making them. So, I need help with that!
-  I believe that I am pretty close to my monthly goal for living in Pemba, as long as my monthly supporters are able to support during the time that I'm there, which is an INCREDIBLE blessing!!!!!!!! I am still planning on buying a bike and spending more money on internet while there, so pray that my costs will be lower than anticipated for those, so that I can freely use the money for blessing others by cooking for them, giving gifts, and having guests!!
- Please pray that I will continue to be more and more intimately close to the Lord and will take full advantage of the time I have here to have incredible quiet times with God. 
Love you guys, and I will continue to keep you updated - thank you for sticking with me through the lack of communication!
Tetra

Email me if you'd like at Tcierpke@gmail.com
Financially support me at http://www.miraculouslove.com/tetra/

Seeing Heidi, Miss amy, and getting prepared!

Mama Heidi speaking and reminding us of what we want to give our lives for!

Hello friends!
There was a conference here in Nashville last weekend in which David Hogan and Heidi Baker spoke!  I got soooo....just overwhelmed by what God did in me there. I had an incredible encounter with the Lord in which He truly started breaking my heart for the mamas and the women that I live with in Pemba. thank you Lord for that! I am so thankful. 

The amazing Lancaster family! Go to www.Wewillgo.org to learn more

Last week I was miraculously blessed with the ability to get to visit Miss Amy Lancaster in Jackson, Mississippi! She and her family live there with other missionaries, right in the heart of the downtown area which is apparently one of the "worst" cities in the U.S. Which is where us Iris folks like to be!!! It was amazing to see all that God is doing there, and I was SO encouraged to live life with them and to the people ther efor a while. I realized something while interacting witht he people there: people are people...and I love them. ! Walking around the neighborhoods there was so similar to visiting friends in Pemba, and  loved it. I am realizing more and more that God made me to be a lover of His children - especially the onees that don't get much love. Thank you Lord, for breaking my heart for your lost children!

They also have a lot of knocks on their door for help from their neighbors, which is similar to my 350 or so people that knock on our doors for help in Pemba. that was one of the reasons that I wanted to visit them - to see how they stop for the one there. I learned a lot from their patience and kindness and HOSPITALITY! Oh my goodness - the south has such an anointing for hospitality, it's amazing!!! I want to be like that, Jesus. I realized that i can NEVER let the jewelry making preparations stop me from really caring about the ones that knock on my door for help. 
This week I have the opportunity to go to California for a while. There I will be seeing and encouraging my sister who moved there recently, visiting with my aunt and asking for help with Jewelry making (she makes Jewely as well!), meeting up with Iris Alumni who I will love to ask for prayer and disection of my time this summer, and just get some time to fill up in the amazing worship there! 


Please keep praying for finances for my plane ticket and living expenses there, and praise the Lord with me that He has provided everytime I have really needed it. Also please pray that I figure out how to really connect with my church family while Im here, though I have time limitations! I'm realizing Im not as close to people there as Id like to be, and I really need friends right now!!!!
Dont forget you can email me anytime if youre wondering about what's going on with me, or if you want to give advice about how to...be a missionary that's visitng home!! :)
love and peace

Everyday life

If I were in Pemba this week...




These are the faces that I would be seeing tomorrow morning if I were in Pemba. I would be getting up early to jog and spend time with God, then I would be either walking (if so, I'd see ladies carrying their loads on their heads on the way there)
or catching a ride to the other base to begin teaching these ladies at 8:30 am.




I would say "Moshellelia Simpwanaka" and "Salaama" (good morning friends! and hello!), give two kisses on either cheek, and hugs, and then start worshiping and dancing! Then we would start teaching!









I would be making time out of my busy day to make sure and eat lunch in the kitchen - because that's where my best friends are!!! These ladies teach me Makua, joke around with me, make special kind of food for me (JUST ME!!!) and save it for me, and sing songs together. They also bring me into the kitchen and try to teach me to make the food with them. This is one of the best parts of my day, and most important, in my opinion (probably the Lord's as well!). Sometimes I get busy and may even miss a lunch meal - but these ladies are the main reason that I make myself stop doing busyness!



I would be getting visits! every night, these two girls knock on my door (the lovely white girl next to me is my roommate, Bridget!!!!! I love her!!) and they come in and just hang out! They are daughters of teachers in the Bible school. They will sometimes jsut sit contently while Bridget and I are doing our own things, or they will play on my computer, or we willl help them with some homework or give them some food. (I had to set some parameters at one point, because for a while I was getting knocks at all times of the day including 6:30 am on a saturday morning! ha!).



This is what I would be doing this weekend if I were in Pemba - sitting on a rope bed, in a hut with good friends, playing cards with a little girl sleeping on my lap and village kids crowing around to see. Or, an amazing friend would be cooking me a meal. I always bring persents when I visit these friends - usually some food, something practical, and something fun like jewelry! I love my weekends. One time I bought bamboo for a friend to fix part of her house.





Seems adventurous, huh? Well this is just everyday life in Pemba!!!


To become a monthly supporter please contact me at Tcierpke@gmail.com
To send a tax deductible gift to me through Miraculous Love Ministries send it here (Always listen to Him first):
P.O. Box 1543
Franklin, TN 37064

Fun Videos from Iris Arts jewelry making class!

Here are some really fun and beautiful videos from our class!
The first two videos are from a day that we had a party and foot washing for the ladies. Because the Pemba base also houses the Harvest School of Missions, we had Harvest schoolers helping with the class for the two months that they were on base. They were in class once a week, and did a lot of other amazing things to help us during the week (we love you, Harvest Schoolers!!!!!). This was their last day to be in the class, so we had a party in which each lady recieved a skirt (an awesome present for them), foot washing, toenails painted, and some brownies!!! It was such an amazing and fun day. They were very thankful and were singing most of the time that we were washing their feet.
The second video down is them getting very excited about receiving skirts! You can hear their token warbling sound that they make with their tongues - it's a type of applause, and it's hard to do!!! I'll master it yet! Ha!

The last video is the ladies having fun during worship. We have worship before class every day, and they have a lot of fun. You can see in the middle of their dance circle that the women bring their children to class, and some of the dance too! One of the little girls is named Regina, and she is always dancing in the middle of the room when we are singing together!!! These ladies have a lot to be upset and worried about - many of them have a lot of children and no husband or way to support themselves ( though Iris does feed them and their families and supply many basic needs). But they are full of joy because of Jesus' love for them, and because they are learning how to make jewelry and will be able to have jobs soon!



Muluku Aureriheni Simpwanaka!!! (God bless you, my friends! - in Makua)

I'm in Nashville - but I'm returning to Mozy!

I am home! Or in one of my two homes.
A week ago I arrived here in Nashville TN, my North American home. Traveling went smoothly, though it took 3 days and I was pooped when I arrived! My friends had a surprise birthday party for me on Wednesday night the 31st, and it was such an amazing gift to me. I am now a quarter of a century old, and ready to live life!

I would love to share the basic life plan with everyone, so here it is:

My 3 months in Pemba was amazing, and challenging. I have been welcomed back by the base leaders in Pemba to to be an Iris Missionary on the base for another 6 months to continue training and loving the 109 ladies that I have been working with. I am excited and have many dreams for the direction of the class!!
Those dreams include working more on technique with them by having small group training, and starting a smaller group on projects with metal jewelry designs such as rings and pendants!! Iris Arts is also working on the business aspect of the project and is looking into selling jewelry online and in the U.S with Heidi Baker as she preaches in other countries.

I am here in the U.S. for about two months, mainly to close this chapter, connect with and say proper goodbyes to YOU, and get better equipped emotionally, spiritually, and physically (with supplies). I am looking for odd jobs as well, looking to share as much as possible about my awesome time in Pemba, am selling my stuff including my car, and am hoping to serve at the Iris Nashville conference coming up Sept. 23-25, as well as at "We Will Go" in Jackson, Mississippi.
I also feel that I need to take advantage of the resources of the U.S. as much as possible when it comes to really equipping myself so I'm going to be studying Portuguese, jewelry techniques and books, as well as hopefully getting to Redding, California to get truly filled and rested and possibly a RTF healing week.
Those both cost money, and my first priority is to get a return ticket to Pemba, and Visa! But I have been feeling the importance of taking care of myself and preparing to be a healthy Missionary and am hoping to be able to do both. While I was in Pemba I started to see the importance of getting rid of my "junk" in order to truly have plenty to give of myself to those around me.
So, those are all the things that I'm dreaming and believing for in this time period!
Please feel free to request getting together with me if you are in Nashville , but do it NOW, because I am going to run out of time quickly, and am planning on going out of town more next month than this one.
Bless you all, and I'll be putting up some more stories from my last weeks there soon!
Love you all so much, and am so happy to be here in my second home!

To become a monthly supporter please contact me at Tcierpke@gmail.com
To send a tax deductible gift to me through Miraculous Love Ministries send it here (Always listen to Him first):
P.O. Box 1543
Franklin, TN 37064

Stopping for the One - what does it look like?

I’ve had a day where I’ve come to tears a few times every time I think about the women that I work with. It’s not because I’m worried about their life situations, but because God is so filling me with love for them as I get to know them that it overwhelms me. Their life situations are worthy of tears, but I’m thankful that I know the truth about that; That is that I’m allowed to be joyful though the world would say I need to be in despair. I’m thankful for the kind of tears that God brings me and these that He is bringing.

The last month has been hard for me. Let me be transparent; I have had many difficulties. They have been very good difficulties, but difficult nonetheless. About a month ago, dissension started in the unity of our ministry team. They weren’t and aren’t large – with Iris’s personality, it’s hard to stay in a place of disunity for very long. We all so desire to move forward with the Holy Spirit, and I love working with people that put Him first and actually try to line up Biblically in decisions. Most of the issues, turns out, were things in me that I didn’t know were there. This time has been an amazing way of pointing out more of my “junk” to get rid of. It’s been overwhelming at times, but I’m so thankful for it now. God has repeatedly been telling me that He is beautifying me to be His bride, and I can see that this has been a weeding and pruning time for me.

Other issues have been that my wallet was stolen, and I’ve been without money for three weeks because the credit card I had from my father (thank you Jesus that I happened to have it – I don’t own one and I only had that for my flight confirmations) wasn’t working. I think I’ve also just been realizing so much about how to live life, that it’s been overwhelming for me.

I hope everyone I love realizes that being here in a revival zone, in an amazing environment, following God’s call on my life isn’t enough on its own to make me close to Him. I’ve realized I can’t rely on that to create intimacy with God. Yes, sacrificing most of what I’m used to and giving up rights to “my life” really affects me in an amazing way, but I’m seeing in so many areas of my life what it takes to be consistent in putting Him first. It’s not always easy. Right now I’ve decided to fast for this week - I really want to be hungrier for God, and I really want to know Him better. So I’m making decisions that better position me for that…or trying! I’ve been alone this week, no roommate and no Harvest schoolers. That school ended last week and all have left for homes or outreaches. Nathalia, my co-worker is also gone. The only friends that I have right now are my Mozambican friends – which is amazing because I love having time for only them. But Im alone in the evenings working on designs for jewelry making and I keep giving in and eating things! This is me being transparent. J But there is Grace and Im getting up today deciding to fast for another week (except for on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning as Ive been invited to a friend’s house from the kitchen and on Saturday am cooking breakfast for some of the amazing boys from the orphanage/no-longer-orphans.)

One thing I think is amazing is that I’m being forced into a position in which it doesn’t matter to me at all whether anyone knows what I’m doing for the glory of it or affirmation or what it does to my identity. God has so been working on identity for me while I’ve been here, which I think is the first thing to deal with when doing full-time ministry. I think when you’re consistently walking in the destiny called you to and living out the practical aspects of it, like prepping jewelry designs, you realize what it looks like to truly decide to follow Him and sacrifice and that joy that comes from other people thinking you’re special or amazing for following God simply doesn’t make doing any of it worth it. The only thing that makes doing the very hard stuff, the amazing stuff, the boring stuff worth it for me is the way God is using my life to draw beautiful people closer to Him and showing me how He sees His children – it’s all about Him. It can’t be anything else. I’m so thankful to be realizing this. As I’m so very close to being completely alone with God, and Mozambicans, I see that it’s amazing to have the affirmation of others stripped away and only live off of God’s and their affirmation. (My friends here are incredibly affirming, though which is amazing. But I can’t live from that place either.)

I’ve been thinking a lot about what this means: “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Philippians 2:3. Also what “stopping for the one” looks like. I’ve been learning this very much in this department. There are 280 women in the program that I find myself needing to stop for frequently. How does it work, you ask? I ask the same thing all of the time; I don’t know how to do it. I don’t know how to do anything out of my own strength here. So what does it look like for me at this point: it looks like not getting frustrated or being rude when it’s hard for me to walk more than a few feet without getting many many requests for money, food, or hearing stories about deaths in the family and problems with houses, that may or may not be true. It’s me stopping to talk to them, being kind and smiling and seeing if any of these things are emergencies, if they are I do something about it – if not I tell them to come talk to us on Tuesdays at 11 when we have our requests day. It’s me swallowing my pride and explaining (which I did yesterday) why I’m not a “bad friend” for not giving them exactly what they ask for in that I am able to say no and still love them. Explaining that I am not their savior and that Mercy Ministries has to be responsible to try and help emergencies before needs like a pot to cook in that could actually wait until the next week. It’s me deciding that I will honor my promise to visit my friends that live a very long walk into the village on my only day off from work , Saturday, (other than Sunday, my sabath) even though I’m very tired. It’s choosing to spend money on my friends here instead of on myself, and sharing my food with them.

The best example that I have at this point of how stopping for the one is actually so important and SO worth it is this: last Tuesday I was very very busy and was getting sick. My throat was hurting terribly and I was sneezing and coughing. I had class in the morning and sang too much which made my throat hurt worse, but I had told the girl, Julieta, whose mother died in our class about a month ago that I would visit after class. I knew I wouldn’t have a lot of time, because we had to sell jewelry that afternoon, and I was supposed to get a Sozo with Kristene and Eileen from Grace center and Grace chapel. I seriously considered just giving her some food and a gift and saying that I didn’t have time and that I felt sick. But I knew that I knew inside that I needed to STOP for her, and take the time to do this thing that I didn’t have time for in the natural. As we were beginning to walk I found out that she lives in Imbonderio, which is about a 40 minute walk ha! The sun was hot, I only had a little bit of water with me, and my throat was hurting so badly. But I knew I had to go.

As we were walking I slowly started to remember why I knew I needed to do it. I started remembering the way this area is so much bigger than I think it is and that there’s so much of the culture and way of life that I haven’t experienced yet. I was walking through a new area that I hadn’t been to before and it was beautiful – there were many hills and the huts were strewn about them. Once I got to her house, I found out that she wasn’t actually living with her grandmother as I thought she was – she (13) and her brother (9) live alone in a small house that looks like the tool shed of another house that shares the same fenced in yard. Her grandmother apparently lives about 10 minutes walking distance away. But Julieta and her brother are basically being fed and taken care of by the house that they share the yard with; there are four girls and a married couple that lives there and they are amazing. The leader of the bunch is named Anifa, and she has a baby named Nelson (who peed on me, Gracas a deus (by the Grace of God haha). I had spoken with Julieta many times about her mother dying, and somehow I didn’t get the information right about her living situation. It’s hard sometimes to understand the way someone’s life is – this is why you visit them in their houses. This is why you take time for them. Oh my goodness, I wouldn’t have known otherwise. So, I decided to buy her groceries. I got enough for probably two to three weeks for her, hallelujah. It’s not usually a good idea to do that very often here, but I knew it was right for me to do in this situation. I’m talking with our team, as well, trying to decide what to do from this point for her. It seems that it might be better for her to be with this family than with her grandma, but I’m not sure.

I can't believe how obvious it is that visiting this girl's house changed so many things in the way I understand her and am able to help her. Giving her my time, and sacrificing my comfort to walk to her house was all I needed to do to bring some change. I want to say also that that night, I noticed that my throat wasn’t hurting anymore. That was truly a miracle. The next day, she and her grandma brought me a papaya from their trees, since they don’t have a lot of money to buy a present for me. That papaya was so precious to me.

Please try to stop for someone today. And pray that I will have the strength to remember to stop here as well.

love you all so much