OUR AWESOME GOD

Trusting in God, Not in Our Understanding

By Jenni Halseth

This year, God has been working in particularly dramatic ways in our lives. We practically just stand back in amazement and watch to see what He will do next!  He is an awesome God who is filled with mystery, wisdom and power.  He owes us nothing, yet He gives us everything we need.   

There was the day we received notice about discontinued financial support from a significant long standing church donor.  Then there was the day we realized God was calling us to look into becoming missionaries in the UK.  And then came the day He made it clear we are not now to move to the UK, but instead to be found faithful right exactly where He has us.  Mixed in with it all has been our heart to start an adoption and how all these things have played into that decision.  It has by no means been a dull year of ministry for the Halseth family! We want to end by sharing a quote we recently read from Desiring God Ministries which has spoken to us: 

“Much of the Christian life is spent trusting Jesus now and understanding him later. Jesus typically does not feel it necessary to explain on the front-end why he is doing something the way he is doing it… Our understanding his purposes in a particular providence tends to be not as important to God as our trust in his character. So together let’s continue to “trust in the Lord with all our heart, and… not lean on our own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5). Because one day we will understand. And we will, with great joy, proclaim, “The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works.” (Psalms 145:17)

Thanks for praying and hanging in there with us through thick and thin. We are so incredibly grateful for all your love and encouragement!

REACHING THE WORLD FROM HERE

By Jenni Halseth

After much prayer it has become clear that at this point in time, God is not leading us to serve in the UK.   We definitely had excitement about the possibility to serve full-time overseas.  However, we are EVEN MORE excited about the way the Lord has CLEARLY answered us! 

He has shown us and given us a heart to continue WHOLE-HEARTEDLY in the ministry He already has us in!  For a long time it was not a clear or simple choice; we feel it really could have gone either way.  But eventually God was so faithful to make it clear that He wants us right where we are.

We are not moving overseas right now, but we do know that God had his purposes in our pursuit of this possibility. He has revealed to us on a deeper level the heart He has for ALL the peoples on the earth.  We are also more deeply united as a couple in our continued growing desire to serve in whatever role He calls us to – here or anywhere.

Moving overseas at a future date is not out of the question, but not in the immediate future. Our vision to reach the world for Christ through our current position with Royal Servants has been confirmed and affirmed via friends, colleagues and prayer partners. Thank you so much for praying for us as we considered this move!

November Prayer & Praises

Please pray for us as we prepare for our mission to Sierra Leone. Pray God would be drawing students to join us in reaching out to this country for Jesus.

Thanks for praying for us as we considered a move overseas. We are thankful for a clear answer from the Lord—to remain faithful where he has us in MN!

Pray for us as we are finalizing adoption paperwork. Pray God would meet us throughout the process this next year.

CHURCH SUPPORT—Thank you to many of you who have been praying for us in regards to a major supporting church who discontinued their support due to some changes in the church. While we are still official missionaries receiving prayer support, we currently do not receive financial support from them. Please pray as you feel led, and also join us in trusting prayer to see God re-raise up these funds.

RAISING UP WORKERS FOR THE HARVEST Changed-lives on our ministry team to Northern Ireland & London

"Then he [Jesus] said to his disciples. “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore to send out workers into his harvest field.” Matthew 9:37-38

I confess! I love my job!

This summer, 53 students and staff left family and familiarity to embark on a 5 to 6 week, life-changing journey to central Illinois, Northern Ireland and England. Though I have been in missions now for 10 years, I never tire of:

* Seeing the raw faith and enthusiasm of young people on the mission field
* Helping them grow in truth and deeping their calling through Gods word
* Giving them opportunities to live out their faith through actively reaching others for Christ

One of my most encouraging times of the year is to read about “changed-lives” in the student reports from my team. Here are a few quotes I wanted to share with you:

“I have had the time of my life on Royal Servants this summer. From the teachings we received, to learning about God in our Quiet times to the many successes our team experienced in planting so many seeds in peoples’ hearts. I stopped worrying about rejection and I saw that God was faithful. Learning to have faith in God has been a huge step forward in my walk with him and I couldn’t have learned it in such a powerful and permanent way without having dedicated this past 5 weeks to a Royal Servants mission trip!” Ashley Shellenberger

“The theme of this summer for me was, “Learning to live and serve fully for others benefit and completely for God’s glory.” God helped me to see that I can’t do it all and that he uses each member of the body of Christ. I learned to love and appreciate the body of Christ so much more through seeing God work through others on this trip. He has developed in me an ever more selfless attitude in leading others to glorify Him. It has been a great summer and a brilliant first step into foreign missions.” Andrew Zulker

“This summer has impacted me in so many ways. But now that the mission trip is over, that doesn’t mean that the ministry or the growing stops. I plan to continue memorizing scripture, and re-igniting my youth group with a passion for Christ. I am going to live out my faith boldly and have Christ be at the center of everything I do!” Kaila Yim

“My mission trip with Royal Servants to Ireland and England has opened my eyes so much to the world’s need for Christ. I am so grateful to God for all the many blessings we received, and for the people we planted seeds in and led to Christ. This summer has been the most impacting and amazing summer of my life!” Austin Carlin

Now many students like Ashley, Andrew, Kaila and Austin are back home actively involved in ministry through their local church and reaching others for Christ in their own schools and communities. Our desire is to see these disciples sent out into his harvest fields, whether in their own communities or around the world. Please pray!

And now, thanks to you. We could not be in this ministry without the encouragement of praying friends and praying financial partners. We are grateful.

Matt & Jenni

What a Summer... What a Team... What a MIGHTY GOD WE SERVE!!

“O LORD God Almighty, who is like you? You are MIGHTY… and your faithfulness surrounds you.” Psalm 89:8

Hey Friends… After a long and rewarding summer Matt is finally home from leading a Royal Servants team of 50 students/staff to Ireland and London! Next month we’ll share a more detailed report on the summer but for now we wanted to send out a quick report to rejoice over what our mighty God has done through our team:

* 7 local church services we were involved in leading
* 45 street performances or creative outreach teams
* 80+ children involved in the Holiday Bible Club (VBS)
* 34 Bible study and team teaching sessions
* 36 Bible verses memorized by each individual
* Hundreds of individuals hearing the gospel message

Wow! We praise God for his faithfulness and mighty hand in all that our team accomplished this summer. Thanks for being a part through your prayers and gifts to our ministry!

Matt, Jenni, Nathan, Abby & Josh

“COME OVER AND HELP US!”

Matt Leading a Team of 50 Students to Impact Ireland and England

And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. – Acts 16:9-10

Do you believe God can still give people visions today? I believe God is still alive and active among his church today and he is still calling people to come join him in ways just as he did during the early church.

A couple of months ago I picked up a book titled “St. Patrick: Pioneer Missionary to Ireland.” And can you believe that the Lord gave Patrick a vision to go to Ireland similar to the one Paul received to go to Macedonia in the book of Acts?

Yes, that is right! Several months after Patrick had escaped his slave life in Ireland he had a vision in the night that changed his life… “I saw a man named Victoricus, coming from Ireland with countless letters. He gave me one of them, and I read the opening words which were: ‘The voice of the Irish…’ I thought at the same moment I heard their voice: ‘We beg you holy youth, come and walk among us once more.’”

From that time on Patrick prepared for the ministry and eventually made it back to Ireland to fulfill Gods call in bringing the gospel of Jesus Christ to Ireland!

Ok, so I did not receive a specific vision from the Lord to go to Northern Ireland or England this summer, but I have received several emails from our Irish and British brothers and sisters in Christ to “Come over and help us!”

The need for the gospel to be proclaimed in Northern Ireland and England today is just as great as it was when St. Patrick received his call. So we have responded to their cry for help!

Please pray for Matt in July as he leads a team of 50 students and staff to serve and partner with churches in Londonderry, Northern Ireland and Tottenham, England for the sake of the gospel. Thank you for coming alongside us and helping us in the work he has called us to!

Highlights of our Trip to the UK

Last month Matt and I went to England for a week to visit with our Reign UK staff team and to explore the possibilities of a long-term UK missions/ministry position.

Here are some highlights:

We sensed the power of people praying for us - throughout the trip.  On four different occasions we had British ministry leaders express to us a specific prayer, word, verse, or vision that God put on their heart specifically regarding us.

We were encouraged by how many open doors were shown to us regarding how He has specifically equipped us in the ministry to train up new youth and youth leaders to reach the UK.

We sensed continuous confirmation along the way that He is leading us to be exploring this possibility.

We were able to clearly see the great need and unique circumstances that make reaching youth in the UK especially strategic.

We  were excited to see the heart of the ministry which our colleagues there are involved with – to reach teens in the UK for Christ. There is an entire generation missing from the local church and less than 1% of teens attend church.

What now? We are taking several months to “soak in prayer” the decision of whether the Lord is in fact leading our whole family to move to another continent!! 
Please join us in praying for this rather large decision.  Pray we will be really in tune with Him.  Pray we will be able to hear clearly and consistently if this is His will for our family. Please pray also that if we are to go that placement details would become more clear. 

We hope to make a decision sometime this fall.  Before leaving we would have to raise additional financial support.  Should we move, it would be sometime in 2010 or 2011.