Obedience.. not a popular word

Obedience… not a popular word, but an important word.  Sometimes the Lord will ask me to do something that makes absolutely no sense to me.  “Are You sure, Lord?”  “Do You really want me to do that?”  A little while ago while out running errands with Andrew, I saw a woman with what looked to be her granddaughter.  She looked quite pained as she limped with this little girl.  I watched her pick her up and put her into a buggy or trolley as they are called here.  We moseyed on our way but before we left, I saw this woman again.  

Prompted, I went over to her and asked her if she was okay.  This woman, Denise, said that she pulled a muscle in her calf.  I said, “I know this is quite bold to ask you, but could I pray for you?”  She quickly agreed and we went to the Father in the middle of the shopping center.  This is not something that I would normally do, but I know if the Lord puts something on my heart like that, it is in the best interest of the other person that I heed and obey.  After our brief and poignant prayer, we parted ways and I saw her smile for the first time.  Please join me in continued prayer for Denise.  Pray with me for her healing in body and heart.  Pray that she knows how precious and loved she is by the Father.

Sunset from our apartment on the CCBI NZ campus.

The school break is quickly passing and we find winter to be quite wet and cloudy.  We love our little oil heaters as they do the job of keeping up with the chill quite well.  We are studying and preparing for the upcoming semester.  Andrew will be teaching the book of Mark and I will be helping with the ladies class where we will go through Proverbs.  Pray with us that God would say what He wants to convey through us and we would get out of the way. 

We are making more friends.  We had dinner with Naida and Ivan, a lovely couple who live in Hamilton.  I had met Naida (Nigh-da) at the Hamilton’s Women’s Retreat and a friendship has begun.  She has been such a blessing to me and we look forward to getting together again.  I will be going to the Hamilton Ladies Bible Study on the 29^th of July and will spend the night with Naida and get caught up.  I am grateful for the blessings the Lord gives us when we least expect it.

Ivan and Naida are a wonderful couple and are very hospitable.

Andrew stepped out and led worship at Shoreline Church by himself with the bass guitar and a microphone.  WOW!  It was a first for him to lead a congregation.  The need was there and Andrew volunteered to step up and take this step of faith.  His heart of worship was so evident and many commented on it.  If the Lord is asking you to take a step of faith, one that you are not sure because it seems so big, trust the Lord and step out.  The following week Andrew led worship again and was accompanied by Gordon on the electric guitar.  The second time Andrew was more at ease and sang songs that stayed with people.  I love watching God move, work, and grow people.  Andrew with Gordon will lead two more times on July.  Please be praying with us that their worship will usher people into God’s presence.

Andrew about to lead worship at Shoreline Church.
Brian giving the church welcome.

It seems that there is a theme of calling people out of their comfort zones, into a place of deeper trust.  Is the Lord asking you to do something that you are just not sure you can do?  It is probably something you really should do because God wants to show Himself mighty in your life.  “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord.” Zechariah 4:6b 

Be encouraged.  We serve a mighty God who is worthy to be praised.  He will never leave you nor forsake (give up on) you.

Much love to you,

Dawn and Andrew

Praise reports:

• The Lord has blessed us with a newer mattress.
• God has been faithful to show the things we need to learn.
• God has been sustaining us.

Prayer requests:

• Pray for wisdom on where we should live during the next semester.
• Pray for Andrew as he gets the outline of his class completed.
• Pray for Dawn to wrap her head around Proverbs and how God would have her assist with the class.
• Pray for the Stockill and Cooper families as they venture out to missions in Nepal.  Pray for them to have safe travels and acclimate quickly to their new surroundings.
• Pray for the students who are coming in late August.  Pray for their hearts to be ready to receive from the Lord all that He wants to give and show them.
• Pray for the potential students who are wavering on whether to attend CCBI NZ or not.
• Pray for the interns that are serving for the next year.  Pray that they will be prepared for the service opportunities that will be in abundance.  Pray for their hearts to be open and ready for God to move mightily.
• Pray for the future pastor of Shoreline as they navigate the visa process.  Pray for their family as God leads.

If the Lord leads you to support us, please click on this link to our support page with Shepherd's Staff.

The McBride's Support Page

Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.

Romans 12:10-13

June Prayer Calendar

Here is our prayer calendar for June 2016.  

If you would like a PDF version of it, please email us at mcbrideflock@gmail.com.
Thanks and God bless!

Thoughts Have Power

Thoughts have power.  Recently I prayed that God would help me to capture negative thoughts that threatened me.  I was becoming overwhelmed with the negative possibilities and not remembering Who held my life in His hands.  Much like the foxes that spoil the vine, I asked for help to capture those negative thoughts and silence them… to put them into a sound proof cage where they could no longer wage war on my mind.  I needed to squelch them with the truth of God’s Word, because nothing else truly silences them.  I can busy myself with music, reading, hanging out with people… but those crazy negative nillies will still nip at my heels. 

Getting into the truth of His Word is where I can be truly set free; believing what He says, since He is the King of kings and spoke the world into existence.  He has the ultimate power… not those negative thoughts that threaten me... threaten my joy and my peace.  Whom will I believe?  Will I believe the defeated foe or the Creator?  Again, going back to what the Word says, there is power to silence the enemy of my heart.

If my thoughts, if our thoughts, go unchecked, they can ruin a most blessed thing.  The Lord was specific in His Word about thoughts.  When thoughts come in and rise up against the truth, we need to bring “every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).  Here is another way to view thoughts… much like mice, we see one and it’s slightly alarming and we buy a trap.  If we leave the trap alone and don’t check it to see if we have caught that mouse, that little critter will quickly have a family and the multiplying will continue.  Those mice will cause an infestation which will take much more time and effort to take care of.  Be quick to take care of that negative thought so that your thoughts for the next ten minutes, afternoon, or day don’t become infested with other negative thoughts.

Our thoughts have power – positive and negative.  Watch out to not let your thoughts camp out on the negative.  As you think negative thoughts over and over, you are creating a worn path that can be difficult to get off of… a rut in the road.  There is power in the living Word of God.  Every day challenge yourself to read that living Word, the Bible.  Yet, don’t just read it.  Ask the Lord to show you something from what you just read and then ponder about it throughout the day.  It will amaze you how He will feed you.  Those negative thoughts will become smaller and smaller, and even fade away.

If you are battling negative thoughts, take a time out and reset your mind.  Take time in the Bible.  Take time talking to God.  He will help you overcome those negative nillies, but you have to take the action and seek the change.  He is right there to help you.  I know because He helped me.  He is so trustworthy!

Cheers.... Dawn

UPDATE OF HOW WE ARE DOING

We moved in with the pastoral assistant, Cami, while the school is on break.  This helps both sides with the cost of living.  She is a smart young woman and pleasant to hang out with. 

We bought a small car that we have named Betty.  She is a Mazda Verisa and looks to only be available in Japan.  She was imported as a previously owned vehicle and has got some great zoom to her.  We are getting more than 30 mpg in mixed conditions.  There is no way for cruise control to work here except for the toll way since there are so many turns, roundabouts, and such.  With that in mind, 30+ mpg is pretty great!

We are still acclimating to life here in New Zealand.  Dawn has been having fun learning the lingo and vocabulary.  If you are not on Facebook and would like her to send some of them your way, send her an email at mcbrideflock@gmail.com.  One such question was “What are sunnies?”

We are getting more and more into our roles for the next semester.  Andrew will be teaching about the Gospel of Mark as well as taking care of the AV and IT needs.  Dawn will continue to learn the pastoral assistant role with Cami.  There is much to take in and remember.  With school on break, we have had the opportunity to rest and get into a groove.

Dawn had the opportunity to go the Calvary Chapel Hamilton’s women’s retreat at Waihi Beach.  It was a great time of teaching and meeting new friends.  The theme of the weekend was the full armor of God.  From the write up above, you can see that Dawn got fired up again.  It was a great weekend and she is still review her notes.

Andrew attended the Calvary Chapel Hamilton men’s breakfast with the leadership team from CCBI.  There were roughly 30 men in attendance in a café just outside of Hamilton.  It was a great time of fellowship and getting to hear what is on the heart of Tom and Sam as they head with their families to Nepal.  They will be serving initially at a Bible college in Kathmandu. 

CCBI hosted their first youth conference - Ignite.  From the looks of it, CCBI will do it again with the hopes of it growing.  Two speakers were brought in from the States and a youth group for Calvary Chapel Wellington was in attendance.  Small but mighty, this youth conference was a great start of things to come.

Thank you for checking in and seeing how we are doing!  We love you and appreciate more than you know!  

May 2016 Prayer Calendar

Here is the May 2016 prayer calendar.  Please let us know if you want the PDF version @ mcbrideflock@yahoo.com.  We don't have easy access to wifi, so there might be a delay in getting it 

to you, but we WILL!  :)

Thanks and blessings,

Dawn and Andrew McBride

Landed and Adjusting

Hello family and friends,

We are settling into our new home in New Zealand.  Some things right off the bat:

1) Andrew is adapting quite well to driving on the left hand side of the road.

2) The voltage here is much higher so we use converters on all of our electronics.

3) It is very humid here, which is quite opposite of Denver.

4) The food here at the college is amazing!  Tecla is an amazing cook!

We are in the midst of a youth conference until Thursday night.  Please pray for those students that don’t know Jesus to be touched by His presence and forever changed.  Two guest speakers came over from California to contribute to an impactful week, much like Winter Camp at Calvary Aurora.  Pray for the Lord to be glorified and students to be transformed by His presence.

We still need to figure out housing.  One option is to be free flowing and move into student housing during the break until we know how many students there will be for the August semester.  If the student body continues at the current pace, we will then move into a place off campus in August.  Even though this option is a bit nomadic, we are favoring it.

We also still need to figure out a vehicle.  Jake and Tecla (fellow CCBI staff) are loaning us a vehicle until we purchase one, but we don’t want to extend our use of it if at all possible.  Pray that the Lord helps us to find a dependable vehicle that will meet our needs.  Pray that He grants us favor and discernment.

The adjustment to life here has been pretty good.  There is so much to learn and adapt to.  We both are getting our toes wet with our new responsibilities.  Pray that our heads and hearts will meld well with the college.  We both want to serve with excellence and shine Jesus through our service.

We love you all and appreciate your support and prayers!  You are here with us as we encourage a student, adjust the sound board, or help cook a meal.  Thank you for joining us on this journey!

Blessings,

Dawn and Andrew McBride

Here are some pictures during our first week:

Chapel at CCBI

Public Restroom

A nice reminder!

Pastor Steve at Calvary Chapel Hamilton

Kitchen crew cleaning up after dinner

Lake near campus

On the drive to Hamilton

Sunset from campus

April Prayer Calendar

Hi there,

Some of you were asking how you could be praying for us.  Please see the prayer calendar below and join us in prayer. If you would like a better calendar image, please email us and we will send one to you!  Our email address is mcbrideflock@yahoo.com.

Thanks and God bless,

Andrew and Dawn McBride

Here we goooooo! We are heading to NZ!

Good-bye March and hello April.  We leave for CCBI on April 11 and we are so excited to start this chapter in our lives.  We started praying about New Zealand back in 2012 without a clear vision of what God wanted us to do there.  It wasn’t until our exploratory trip in 2014 where things were coming into clearer focus.  As we waited upon the Lord for confirmation, the Lord was working patience in me (Dawn).  

Waiting has never really been my forte, but I know the Lord has been trying to work on that in me for a long time.  Here, I was captive to His timing.  Being a driver, a person that gets things done on the jiffy, waiting usually does not come easily for me.  I like to get things done and move on to the next thing.  God had me waiting on Him until I forsook my own expectations and put them in Him instead.  Last summer Calvary Aurora hosted an amazing conference called Pursuing Peace. 

The links to the three sessions are listed below if you would like to listen.  Powerful time!

Pursuing Peace: Session 1

Pursuing Peace: Session 2

Pursuing Peace: Session 3

It was at this conference that the speaker, Tammy Brown, delved into Psalm 62:5-6, “My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him.  He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved.”  I was surprised to see this scripture.  What?!?  My expectation is to be from Him!?  Wow, I have this all wrong.  No wonder things were not exactly what I wanted.  What.. I… Wanted….  My expectations were misplaced. 

I had expectations of my husband... expectations on the timing of things.... expectations of my boss and peers.... expectations of myself.  Wow.. I needed to let GO!  I was headlong into a deep relinquishing cry after that session.  I almost got to that ugly cry, you know when your shoulders heave up and down and you make noises that are better left in private.  This was deep sorrow, fortunately, godly sorrow which leads to life.  According to 2 Corinthians 7:10, “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.”

I was making a choice, and I still do, to put my expectations in the Lord.  Going forward I wanted the Lord to show me what He wanted.. what He expected of me, those around me, and the circumstances I was in or about to face.  It is a choice.  Will I continue to set the bar of expectation for me and others, or am I going to relinquish this to my loving and all-knowing Heavenly Father?  Let it go… let it GOOO… nothing is going to stop me now… from doing what He has shown me.  Put my expectations in Him.

Even now I am challenged with turning my focus, my expectations from what I want to what He wants.  He really does know best and is 100% trustworthy.  When I can’t see His hands, I can certainly trust His heart for me, which is kind, loving, and strong.  There is no love on this earth like the love of our Heavenly Father.  You can trust Him too!!

So, as we head out to a new frontier in our marriage, a new location, and new ministry opportunities, our focus will be on Him!  The countdown continues until we board that plane, which is quickly approaching.  The journey to get where we are today from October, which was only five months ago, has been short of miraculous.  We have sold the house and 95%+ of our belongings.  God has been gracious and made a way where there seemed to be no way.  If He is asking you to do something that seems beyond your ability, ask Him for confirmation and ask Him again.  He will gladly provide it to you!  As He does confirm what He is asking of you, step out in faith and see what He will do for you and through you!  He is an amazing Father that loves and adores you!

Our next update may be 7,300 miles from here (Denver, Colorado).  Thank you for your love and support as we continue to seek His face.

Much love,

Dawn and Andrew