Christmas 2009!

Seasons greetings from Sweden!

I hope that Christmas is finding you well whether it is summer or winter outside,
or if you are at home or somewhere else out in the world.
“I’m dreaming of a white Christmas” Well the dreams are true as even now snow is coming down, and sideways, even up at times! My skinny Christmas tree is leaning to one side again and I am listening to my favorite Christmas carol “Carol of the Bells” Yip...its Christmas!

Which also means it is nearly the end of 2009 and a new decade is upon us. Its the time of the year where we look back over the year that was...and look forward to the one ahead.

The last six months for me has been busy and quite intense and I am now enjoying the Christmas break! Here’s what has been happening the last months...

In July I agreed to be a part of the leadership team here on the YWAM base in Restenäs, Sweden (a 3 year commitment). On our team we are 9 people and basically we are meet twice a week discussing all the details that come with over-sighting 80 people in various ministries.
There are many things to decide, talk about and work on. I can see that I have strength in looking at issues from many angles..but my greatest strength is to see things put into action. I have even recognized my ‘action’ action: slapping my knee and saying “OK!”...means lets go and do it!!! I’m weird, I know!

From August onwards I worked on preparing to run the 2nd School of Communication Foundations (SCF) here in Sweden. August and September were crazy months where I just had too many things on my plate at once. As well as prepping for my school I working on school staff training for all the schools running in the fall (3 others), the leadership team, and teaching prep for my school and Kiev (see right).

One of the biggest things I have learnt this fall is that I like to give 100% to the things I do and have quality results. I get very frustrated when I feel like I am doing nothing well because there is too many diverse things flighting for my attention.....lets hope I have learnt my lesson for the new year!!

Celebrating my 35th birthday in Kiev, Ukraine


In September myself and about 20 others from Restenäs went to a YWAM conference in Kiev. It was fun to go into the center of the city to have dessert together on my birthday.
We were staying in “soviet-style” dorms - and yes, well, it is good to be able to fully appreciate hot showers and non-lumpy mattresses when you get home!



SCF 2009

The 2009 School of Communication Foundations has come and gone, and once again I am in awe of God and His love for us. It was a challenging school in many ways and as always I feel like I have learnt and grown just as much as the students. We had six students who were very diverse in personalities and cultures and we made a unique class. They were from Ethiopia, Norway, USA, Germany and South Korea, and my three staff were from Korea, Norway and Latvia. There was a really great line up of teachers and each week was inspiring and challenging. We all grew in skills and knowing our identity in God.
One teacher was Patrick Dodson (www.patrickdodson.net) and he taught on Identity and Calling. It was a timely teaching for me as this year has a season of questioning what I want to do in life and wondering if I really make a difference in missions. I am still in the process of re-examining all the questions and no big life changes are coming up (ie I will continue working with YWAM here in Sweden)...but I am reminded about how God wants to work WITH us in living life. Not that He will dictate to us every detail, or stay distant and impersonal. But rather God wants us to talk to Him about the things we love to do and what we see around us. Then we can use our brains, talents and relationships to actively live out Biblical principles in the societies we live in. What an adventure!!!!
So I look around me and see communities of people who do not know God at all; I see people here in Restenäs who I can serve, encourage and learn from; I see new opportunities coming where I can use my talents in teaching; I see countries with so many unmet basic needs; and I see a new year where I can keep working it all out.
What do you see when you see yourself and those around you?
Restenäs Student Transformations...

Eeva (Finland), Discipleship Training School (DTS)
“I am learning more of God’s love. I have always known it in my head...but I am starting to know it more in my heart.”
Corban (USA), School of Biblical Studies
“SBS is a stretching time experiencing the pains of growing, but also the vital importance of God tearing down fear and assumptions and renewing who He really is to you.”
Marianne (Norway), School of Communication Foundations
“God has shown me I can do more than I think I can...He is revealing the truth about who I am.”
Mikael (Sweden), DTS
“God has basically turned me upside down and made a lot of things in my head more than information, and in that way touched my heart!”
Sarah (South Korea). Prayer Seminar participant
“It has become obvious how society deteriorates when we turn our backs on God...He wants to restore Sweden.”

UPCOMING CALENDAR

January 2010:
Start the year with a staff gathering where we look forward to the year.
Working in the training department.

February:
Teaching about learning styles in a YWAM training week in England.
Helping with staff training for upcoming schools.

March:
Two weeks in Thailand and Cambodia - looking around and connecting with people and ministries
Two weeks in Melbourne - visiting friends
April: In NZ!!
May: Still in NZ!!
June: Back in Sweden
July-September: In Sweden preparing for the SCF and YWAM/Restenäs Birthday parties.
September 20-26th 30th Birthday for Restenäs and 50th Birthday of YWAM International.
September 9th -
December 4th: SCF 2010

COMING HOME....
I had hoped to come home to NZ for Christmas, but unfortunately I was not able to raise enough money for the tickets. I really really want to come home in the next few months though and will be aiming to leave here in March for a three month trip.

BROKEN CAMERA
I have always enjoyed taking photos and have come to the point where I wonder if I can start to sell them online. Unfortunately I fell over a couple of weeks ago and my camera was broken.
If you want to help with either of these expenses please let me know!

NEW COMPUTER!!
Thank you all those who contributed to my new Macbook Pro laptop!
It is an awesome computer and is helping me a lot with all that I do.


Hope 2010 will be a great year for you all!!

May News!

SPRING IN SWEDEN ’09 There is something about spring that lifts the soul and puts, well, a spring in my step! The trees just burst into fresh green leaves and the flowers shoot from the earth, birds are singing, flies are buzzing (OK it is not all nice!). It is a time where I just look forward to the future even more than usual; like spring declares with it fresh promises and a new hope. The past four months have been different in many ways, Here are some highlights:
January: Amsterdam I got to be a part of ‘UniQuip’ in Amsterdam, which is a week- long training event for YWAM staff. Over 90 people from many nations who work mostly in Europe came together for meetings and specific skill-focused workshops. For me the best part was to see again the bigger picture of YWAM internationally – in many ways it is like getting a can of spinach (which is a new burst of energy and inspiration for those who do not know the Popeye reference). The spectrum of work focus for the participants was broad, from a group of young people working in Afghanistan to others who work in training and administration. Yet all were there because of their heart to see peoples and nations lives transformed by God.

February till now: SFI Swedish for Immigrants Most of my time in the last months has been focused on learning Swedish. “Why? You may ask. Several reasons: Firstly, language is the key to people and their culture. Although most Swedes speak excellent English, I am living in their nation and want to connect and understand them on a deeper level. Secondly, I knew if I did not MAKE the time I would never learn the language (Exhibit A; four years in Norway, very little Norwegian). Thirdly, it is great to get my brain trained to learn languages which will help me in the future. Finally, it just makes life a lot easier when you can read what is written and understand what is spoken around you!

Overall I am really glad I have taken this time to go to school and see that it is helping me be more effective in what I do here in Sweden. There is also a great love for this nation and the people growing in me.

I have really enjoyed my time in SFI. I drive 20 minutes into Uddevalla to the government-run school. The school itself is free which is a HUGE blessing! There are over a hundred adult students, most are refugees but there are also a number of “love-immigrants” who are together to Swedes. It is really the case of the mission field coming to us as I have met people from Ethiopia, Somalia, Iraq, Iran, Russia, Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Brazil, Poland, Thailand and the Philippines...plus more! It has been fun! Most rewarding for me has been to get to know the Muslims. Seeing woman in headscarves can summon stereotypes in our minds (or at least it did in mine!). But to meet these people, especially the women, has been an eye opener and a privilege. They are so warm, friendly and intelligent.

I am advancing in my Swedish and have definitely improved. At this stage I can understand quite a lot and have basic conversations about familiar subjects. However the more I learn the more I see how much MORE there is to learn, especially as I learn more and more grammar. Still, I am so encouraged to know that I CAN learn languages!

Coming-up: Next week I will go to the middle of Finland for another ‘UniQuip’. This time I will be a part of the leadership team and also will teach a workshop of “Learning Unleashed”. The topic is about creating classroom and teaching environments that are effective and relevant to the way people learn. I really love this topic and find it so exciting to see people realize that they can learn and the school can be an exciting place to be. The event is one week long but I will go a little earlier to help set up. The rest of the summer I will be working on base and with school related projects, with also a few weeks holiday (likely camping around Southern Sweden) somewhere in there.

From August onwards my focus will be on the upcoming School of Communication Foundations (SCF). I have 5 accepted students already and am very excited to see who will come. The school will run from September until December and you can read more about it here:
http://www.ywamrestenas.se/index.php?id=scf&L=0

In December I plan to come home (NZ home) and hope to be there for two months. YIPPPEEE!!!
Thank you for your friendship, love and support!
God Bless,
Helen

Prayer Points:
• For the UniQuip and my leading and teaching there.
• I step more into the areas that God has gifted me in.
• I clearly recognize the doors that God opens in front of me.
• There is an increase in financial support.
• A good end to my focused time in language learning.
• Good preparations for the SCF.

25 Random things about me

1. Movie soundtracks are some of my favorite CD’s to listen to
2. I do not like bananas – although I wish I did
3. Alaska is one of my favorite places in the world
4. I would love to write a novel and children’s books
5. If I am reading a good book I can lose track of time and be disorientated answering the phone.
6. If I get a new CD I can listen to it several times a day for a long time
7. I considered doing the training to do a solo parachute jump after I enjoyed my two tandem jumps a lot
8. I often chorography ice dancing routines in my head when I listen to music – even though I do not really ice skate myself
9. As a child I liked to act out the ‘evil’ characters in stories on tape (like Psalty the Singing Songbook tapes) because they were more dramatic
10. I think Agatha Christie is one of the greatest crime writers of all time
11. I did not like Coke Cola until I was a teenager – still not my first soda choice
12. After visiting the Pacific Island of Samoa when I was 18 wished I was not white, and felt at home with the Islanders
13. Loves the fact that I am left-handed
14. Really dislikes using the telephone and would much rather communicate over email or face-to-face
15. Thinks being brought up on a farm has helped me be a better missionary
16. Favorite TV show are crime-based like NCIS, Bones, Without A Trace
17. Wants to go to Prince Edward Island in Canada, just because of Anne of Green Gables
18. Is looking forward to the day when traveling home to NZ takes only a few hours (space travel!!)
19. LOVES to learn new practical things
20. I love to make people laugh – although wonder if people really find me funny or are just laughing at me laughing at myself….
21. Can easily switch driving on the left or right side of the road depending on the nation driving in
22. Would rather walk than ride a bike
23. Likes the fact that I have spent 5 weeks in East Greenland – not so many have done that
24. Would really love to travel to every continent in the world someday
25. Do not normally respond to these sorts of internet questions….but this one seemed like fun.

First Newsletter of 2009

2008 has finished its final minutes as I sit in my apartment in Sweden, looking at my Christmas tree which is leaning oh so slightly to the right.

It seems like a good time to reflect over the past year and muse a little on the year ahead. But oh gosh…you have properly already received 20 such newsletters in your inbox this past week, so how do I make this one more interesting to read….perhaps I shall take my inspiration from the movie I watched ….the 1951’s version of Scrooge.

Well in my own version I shall have no ghosts, Tiny Tims or ‘Bah Humbugs’….but a look back, at the present and future……(OK not much like Scrooge...but you read this far!!!)

Enjoy and Happy Holidays….

BACK; What a great year when I think about it. I started 2008 on the plane from NZ and spend the first six months in Switzerland. I loved being a student the Advanced Principles of Communication School and can see how I have grown in being a deeper thinker with a greater understanding in how God and His Word is so relevant for this World.

Next I co-lead the School of Communication Foundations (SCF), which as usual, was a good growing time in my leadership skills and character.

July saw me move to Restenäs Sweden...my new home for at least the next two years.

I have settled very fast and really feel at home. I am very much enjoying the people here and see there is potential for me to be challenged and grow in who I am and the ministry I work in.

The final three months of 2008 saw me lead the first SCF in Sweden. It ended up that I only had one other staff for the school which meant a lot of work for both of us. In the end though, while it was busy, the base staff helped a lot and the work load was quite manageable.

A week before the school started we had 12 possible students but in the end we only had 6 come. The others dropped out for various reasons like finances, visas and health issues. But in the end the 6 we had were so great that I cannot imagine the school without any of them.

This group of students were so easy to lead and get along with. Our classroom was often full of laughter and I am very grateful to them for being so willing to learn.

What makes this job of leading so worth while has often so little to do with me, but seeing the change in the students. To see each person gain more revelation about who God is and created them to be, and start to practice the skills of good communication is the reward.

An example has been one student who had even a physical change as she grasped a deeper understanding of God’s love for her and how He saw her as a beautiful woman.

On the night of public event for the school she had undergone a secret makeover and wowed the audience as she came out in a ball dress, hair cut and a new confidence in who she is. The atmosphere in the hall was electric and the standing ovation revealed not only the power of what God had done in this student, but for each person on the school. This positive influence has also been seen in the whole base as they really got behind myself and the school to support us, many times being blessed themselves.

I have also seen my own growth as a leader as this is the first school where I have not felt like I have ’failed’. Many times in the past I have had huge, rather unobtainable, expectations on myself. This has lead to disappointment when I felt like I kept letting others down by not being that perfect leader. In this school (while far from perfect!) I have been much more realistic in my self-expectations...which overall has meant a happier me, staff and students.

Leadership is a great facilitator of character growth!

PRESENT; At this very moment I am sitting at my kitchen table looking at the frosty view outside. The aforementioned Christmas tree has been thrown out the window because the days have marched into January while my unfinished newsletter mocks me for being lazy....the irony of being a communication school leader vs my lack of communication is not lost on me.

Honestly I am not sure what to think of 2009. The year stretches before me with new possibilities, and there is a sense that more of God’s promises will start to be fulfilled. The potential there is....but potential is only that...the capability and possibility of being or becoming. I really desire to step up and out to see this potential actually work itself out in reality.

It is in those day-to-day decisions on how to spend your time; which choices you make; how to relate to the people around you, that determines if that potential is achieved.

So for me that means stepping out more in leadership, using the God-given gifts to influence and serve those around me. I would love to travel and teach more this year as well as serve this base and Sweden in the best way I can.

I want this year to count towards God and His purposes!!

FUTURE; So what is this year 2009 shaping up to be….

I will continue to be on a team that works with YWAM staff training and University (UofN) development in Northern Europe. This also includes a newly developed role as the UofN point-person for Sweden—which is basically serving the Swedish YWAM bases.

I will travel to Amsterdam in January for two weeks to be apart of UniQuip—A YWAM staff training event.

February is when I will start to learn Swedish fulltime. I have learnt from past experience that language learning is vital...and will not happen unless I am very deliberate about it. So I will spend at least 2 months (possibly 5 months) in Swedish lessons in the closest town to the base.

I am looking forward to meeting the Swedish immigrants—properly mostly Muslims from the Middle East who will be in the class with me.

There is a possibility of attending a three week training conference in Germany in May. Also in May I have been invited to speak in a DTS in Bulgaria and will also teach at a training event in Finland.

In the summer I would love to go on a short outreach somewhere...not sure where or what yet. From August onwards I will be preparing fulltime for the next Communication School which will run from September 17th until 11th December.

Then my plans are to go home to NZ for two or three months from Christmas onwards!!!!

Thank you all for your friendship, prayers and support...I could not be doing what I am doing without you! Love Helen

…….2009…..Bring it on!!!

There are specific things you can pray for if I come to mind....

· Help in learning Swedish!

· Good connections with the immigrants in class.

· Wisdom to know how I can step up and make this year count.

· Finances for specific needs:

· New glasses—the protective layer is coming off so my view is a little foggy.

· Computer—My broken computer screen is getting worse and the dream of a MacBook still seems very far away.

· Travels—The cost of my ministry trips