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

Mary Poppins and Missions

One of my favorite movies is Mary Poppins.  The funny thing is that I don’t remember watching it as a child, I watched it as an adult.  Part of my reason for liking this movie were the songs and imagination they used to bring things into perspective.  Be it ‘A Spoonful of Sugar’ as they clean up the nursery, or ‘The Life I Lead’ to show that there is a time and place to learn responsibility, but recently, the one that hit home is ‘Fidelity Fiduciary Bank’. 

In this song, the bank officers are trying to convince young Michael to place his tuppence into a bank account.  They sing about how money can grow with interest, how is strengthens England and how the bank can invest in other businesses.  The officers spoke about being a part of trains across Africa, dams across the Nile, ships that sail, and of course tea plantations.  By placing your money in the bank, you are a part of these opportunities.

This song hit me as how it also relates to missions.  It doesn’t matter how much money you may use to support missions, but you are a part of what you support.  You could be supporting food and shelter for orphans, or a generator to light up the night, or even to help train students in the Word of God so that they may be sent out to outermost parts of the world.  When you support missions, you are an integral part of what is happening in the field.

The other part that sticks out was all of the fuss over tuppence.  Not a million dollars, not a thousand pounds, just tuppence (two pennies)!  Could that amount launch a ship voyage, or start a new enterprise in India?  Not at all but, the premise is that every little bit can work together with what others had deposited for the common good of enterprise.  This is the same with missions.  If you are like me, when I first heard about supporting missions, I thought I had to pledge at least $100 per month or else I wasn’t doing anything.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  If God has put on your heart to financially support missions, it doesn’t matter the amount.  It could be $5, $20, $100, $500, it is about obedience to what God is telling you.  God uses it all for His glory.

For example, lets say we need to raise $2,000 per month.  Well we could receive $500 per month from 4 people.  Or 20 people/groups pledge $100 a month.  Again, that is great but, I want to break it down even more and make it more tangible.  Say you want to forego 1 Starbucks drink a week to support a missionary.  So basically you are able to support $20-25 a month.  If 39 other people were lead to do the same, that’s potentially $1,000 a month already!  It also doesn’t need to be limited to only you.  Maybe your Bible study, community group, anchor group, or youth group want to support a missionary.  Pool your funds together.  Let’s say there is consistently at least 5 people in your group every week and each of them contributes $2 a week.  So $10 per week, times 4-5 weeks a month and you are now supporting a missionary with $40-50 per month.  Suppose, 10+ groups decide to do that and now a missionary is now being supported with $500 per month.  Combine that with our coffee forgoers and this missionary now has $1,500 per month of their $2,000 need.  And all of those people get to be a part of what that missionary is doing in the field!

Now, giving isn’t just limited to just the individual side of things.  Giving is not limited to individuals, maybe your business could support a missionary.  Maybe you and your co-workers have a heart for a certain part of the world or a specific missions’ organization.  Why not use this passion to unite your business to support someone?  Or, maybe it is pledging 1% of your profits as a business owner.  The only limits are the ones we put on ourselves.

In the end, it is between you and God.  Only you know what you may like to give in support of missions.  Please do it with a grateful heart as unto the Lord.  Now yes, we are missionaries who are raising support (look below to see how you can support us financially), but really, we are all working towards the glory of God.  Understand, it doesn’t matter if you support us or someone else.  The key is to be obedient to what God wants you to do so please, pray about how God would have you support a missionary.

Blessings,

Andrew and Dawn McBride

Good, Good Father

As we inch closer to our departure to New Zealand, we are continually amazed at all that God does for us.  It isn’t that we don’t think He is capable of taking care of us nor that we don’t believe that He will surround us with others to assist us, it is just coming to a deeper realization of “…how deep and wide… is the love of Christ.” (Romans 8:39, NKJV)

This past Saturday our support team hosted a Spaghetti Lunch and Learn about us going to New Zealand. It was a great time of fellowship and learning about what we will be doing in New Zealand.   We also opened it up for questions that people had about us, New Zealand and Calvary Chapel Bible Institute (CCBI).  Below are a few of the questions that were asked:

-       Do you need to raise support since you will be on staff at the college?

o   Yes, while we will be listed as staff for CCBI, all staff members are not salaried and raise their own support.

-       Will you be staying on-campus?  If not, how much is housing?

o   Since CCBI rents property from a ranch and the student population is on the rise, there is no on-campus housing available.  We will be renting a house/apartment/flat around the town of Rotorua.  Rent is paid weekly in New Zealand and places go for around $275-350 NZD per week on average depending on if it is furnished or other amenities.

-       What will your “normal” day look like?

o   Usually breakfast is on our own and then devotions start around 8:10am.  The first session of classes starts at around 8:50am, the second session of classes start around 11:00am.  Lunch is around 1:00pm and then the third session of classes starts at around 2:30pm.  Dinner will start after 5:30pm depending on the length of the third class session.  Most of the students will then use the evening for homework and study while the staff is usually available for discipleship or questions.  Tuesday night is a Night for Prayer and Thursday nights consist of worship and teaching at the Koinonia service.

-       Will you need a vehicle?

o   Yes, in-town the public transportation is reputable, but where the school is located, as well as for making runs into town, we will be purchasing a vehicle in New Zealand.  (Side note: they do drive on the left-hand side of the road)

-       When are you leaving?

o   Our passports need to be stamped by April 20 for the current Visa to be valid but we are praying that we will be able to leave before then.  The Lord’s timing is perfect and it is ultimately up to Him.

-       How can we financially support you?

o   We are using Shepherd’s Staff for our support agency and our support page can be found HERE.

Do you have any questions that you would like to ask us – about us, New Zealand, CCBI, or what we will be doing?  Email us or visit us at our table on Wednesday nights this month for Missions Month at Calvary Aurora. 

God Bless,

Andrew and Dawn McBride