PIONEERING: "A Season of NEW!"

PIONEERING: "A Season of NEW!"

     One of the most basic aspects of discipleship is learning to walk in the Spirit! In order to do this, there are some fundamental things we need to recognize and respond to! Here are a few: Jesus came not just to save us, but to give us new identity as children of God, and to bring us into the Kingdom of God! We are saved for more than just heaven; we are saved to see the Kingdom of Heaven restored on earth. As Jesus taught his disciples to pray, "Your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven!" God has not left us to our own abilities to do this, rather He has given us the presence of His Spirit to dwell in us continually! Our life as followers of Jesus is to walk in communion with Holy Spirit, having eyes to see and ears to hear, a gift from God (Prov. 20:12 NLT)! Surely this proverb is not referring to our physical ears and eyes, but rather to the God-given ability to hear what God is saying, and see what He is doing; then to align ourselves with Him! This is a dynamic, ongoing relationship which, hopefully, we continue to mature in! 

     There are several factors which characterize our relationship with Holy Spirit. The first should be obvious, but in many circles it is not so; that is, we communicate with Holy Spirit. We both listen to the Spirit of God, and respond. By faith, we spend time in communication with God! It does take some practice, but we all can learn to hear God speak! This is a basic aspect of becoming a disciple of Jesus! Another characteristic of being in relationship with Holy Spirit is that we can expect life to be adventurous with a continual sense of "newness" to it, if we are walking in the Spirit. This is because the Holy Spirit opens new doors and new ways of serving others as we walk with Him! Religious life can become very static and routine; but relationship with God will always call us to be open to the "new wine"ways of God, and seek to know the "new wineskins" God wants to use as the means of pouring out His love to those around us! 

Some New Wineskins for New Wine of the Spirit!

"Who pours new wine into an old wineskin? If someonedid, the old wineskin would burst and the new wine would be lost. New wine must be poured into new wineskins. Yet, you say, 'The old ways are better,' and you refuse to even taste the new that I bring." (Jesus)

(Luke 5:37-39 The Passion Translation)

YWAM Boise Staff

     We find ourselves in a new season where we have several "pioneering" ministry opportunities. We are now on staff with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in Boise, Idaho. Although Idaho has had a YWAM presence for around 12 years, this is the first time they have begun a ministry center in the city of Boise! They began their first Discipleship Training School (DTS) this January! 

Discipleship Training Course (DTC)

http://www.discipleshiptrainingcourse.com

     The YWAM ministry we were involved with in Colorado (Discipleship Training Course) is now officially available as a DVD package for churches, youth ministries, prison ministries, businesses and anywhere else a group of people could envision becoming disciplers in their sphere of influence! Briefly, I will give a bit of overview. The DTC is a set of 39 DVD's with 10 primary discipleship topics for laying a solid foundation in becoming effective disciples of Jesus! Included in the package are all the resources needed to begin training a group to be disciples. Included are links to artwork for promotion, student and leader manual material which can be photocopied, as well as some personal leadership training via SKYPE! To keep this brief, please check out the DTC website for further information at above link! If anyone has any questions, use the contact info on the website, or personally contact me (Ray) and I will walk you through more of this dynamic program. One of the new wineskin ministries is the DTC which we hope to begin facilitating both here in Idaho, as well as globally; at this point, wherever English is spoken. A Spanish version will be produced in the near future! Please pray for us as we begin this adventure! There is so much potential for seeing the Body of Christ mobilized into ministry; both internationally as well as locally! 

"Kairos" Opportunity in Papua New Guinea for DTC!

        There are times when God divinely opens a door to impact people with the Gospel which is unusual in nature. A term used for this is a "kairos" moment in time! This is an opportunity for dramatic change to take place in a place or among a people. We have before us a "kairos" opportunity to bring the Gospel to the country of Papua New Guinea! The government has asked YWAM (and probably other missions organizations) to disciple the entire country! These kairos moments often have a limited window of time, and we need to take advantage of this gift from God! So, there is a possibility that the visionary of the DTC, Dave Gustaveson, myself and others (maybe including Laurel) may go to PNG to begin establishing and training leaders to spread the DTC throughout the country! This is a HUGE open door! Please pray for us as we pursue this, and would you prayerfully consider financially supporting us in this endeavor? We simply cannot miss such an opportunity because of lack of finances! This is a divine gift from God to reach an entire nation! Crazy exciting!

WISE School this Fall at YWAM Boise!

     There are other divine "pioneering" opportunities before us at this time. One other I will mention is staffing the first "Worship, Intercession, Spiritual Warfare and Evangelism School (WISE School) at the YWAM Boise base this fall. This school has impacted both Laurel and myself like no other discipleship we've received! I unapologetically stand on the "new wine" which really shouldn't be new wine of these aspects of being a disciple given through the WISE School. One of the greatest lacks we see in the Church today is the lack of walking in the power and authority which is part of our inherited rights as children of God. For the majority of my life as a believer, I read the scriptures which talk about the gifts of the spirit, spiritual warfare, etc, but really had NO model to follow nor practical discipleship in these areas; and my life reflected that impotency! But we have tasted and are being discipled in the ways of the Spirit, including the precious gifts HE has provided for us to give to others! Why? So that the reality of the goodness and greatness of God which is proclaimed in the Gospel is demonstrated and manifest to those who are desperate for a God of both love and power to rescue them from bondage they cannot free themselves from! The gifts of the Spirit are not something to be afraid of, or shy away from! They are Bible based reality, and wondrous acts of God for both the believer and God is seeking to come into His Kingdom! 

Our Needs!

•  FINANCIAL PARTNERS
• Our faith rests in God as our Provider, but we also believe He can speak to others who catch the vision of what HE is doing! We are joyfully willing to serve God, but we need others to share the load with us! This is spiritual battle, and the enemy would try to keep us self-focused and distracted; but our God will call forth those who are willing to invest, not in this world, but in the Kingdom of God! 

• PRAYER and INTERCESSION PARTNERS
• We do not take lightly the commitment of those who would partner with us in prayer and intercession! Intercession is going before God, seeking to hear what He is saying about the prayer needs AND how to pray! This is an entirely new form of  adventure with God. Anyone interested in serving as an intercessor? We will gladly give some discipleship in this area of ministry!

• PROPHETIC ENCOURAGERS
•  See 1 Cor. 14:3 to see what prophecy is really about! It is, again, seeking to listen to God on behalf of others around you; to hear what He wants them to hear through you! We would love to have a few people who would seek God for words of encouragement, edification and comfort on our behalf! Again, we would love to give some discipleship in this area to anyone interested!

One Last Word!

     We really do love the Church; those who are called by Jesus' Name, and who really want to follow the ways of God! Because we (at least me, Ray) have known the struggle of the journey of walking with God, we want to be an encouragement to those fighting those same battles. One of the greatest needs we have known as sojourners with God over the years has been the lack of real discipleship! Not just giving us information, or even some training in knowing the Bible, but real discipleship; that which provides the training, but also someone who models and provides opportunities to take what we've learned out into the world. There has been nothing more discouraging to me over the years than living under the expectation of being a disciple of Jesus but really not having a clue what that looks like or how to do it! We want to be resources to others to model and train in real discipleship! This is what we are doing here, and it is what we would love to model for others as opportunity is given! 

     God called us into relationship with Him! He has called us His children by sending His Son, given us His Spirit with promise of transformed lives which are fruitful, and given us good gifts to give to others. He has given us an incredible message to share, and He is calling us to a destiny beginning right here and now that fulfills His promise of abundant life, life to the full! I encourage you to pursue after this God who is first pursuing and wooing you to Himself! Not as a selling gimmick, but in authentic desire to see others lit on fire with passion for God and His Kingdom, I encourage considering the DTC! It is what I call a "passion igniter" for God! 

     May you know the joy of being ignited with the passionate fire of God through His Spirit!

Embracing the "New Wine" and "New Wineskins" of the Spirit,

Ray and Laurel

Contact Information:

Mailing Address: 16605 Spartan Ave.

                             Caldwell, ID  83607   

[This is a temporary address at our daughter's until we find permanent housing]

Email: ray.farris@gmail.com 

            laurel.a.arris@gmail.com

Ray's Cell # 1 (719) 484-9509

Laurel's Cell # 1 (719) 502-0146

FINANCIAL DONATION INFO:

US DONATIONS:

Please send donations to the following address:

YWAM IDAHO

Accounting Department

P.O. Box 70

Cascade, ID  83706

USA

Phone: 1 (208) 382-0050
Website: www.ywamidaho.org

Please call YWAM Idaho if you would like to set up automatic donations. Also, for checks, please make out to YWAM, do not put our name anywhere on the check, but send separate note indicating it is allocated for us! Thank you so much!

CANADIAN DONATIONS:

Please send to the following address:

Y Project 

PO Box 57100
RPO East Hastings
Vancouver, BC  V5K 5G6
Canada

Phone: 1 (604) 436-4433
Email: admin@projectfunding.ca

Please do not put our name anywhere on a cheque. However, please put our code number, FR04, in the memo line! Also, please contact Y Project if you would like to set up automatic donations!