YWAM

Yesterday I went with Sean to visit a Youth With A Mission (YWAM) base just outside of Nashville.

and it was so good...

after telling them my heart for YWAM and germany, they invited me to join some others to venture out and help pioneer a new Discipleship Training School (DTS) in Berlin Germany.
please check out the base profile. www.ywamberlin.org

i need your help.

the DTS starts April 5th, and will cost about $3,000 USD including the plane ticket.

that leaves just under two months to raise the tuition.

God is more than capable. i am trusting that He has already started laying it on the hearts of His people.

for any of you who don't know my heart...
we are called to love in real ways. to bring heaven to earth.
this world is filled with hurting people, with real pain.
parents who don't know how their children will eat today...
women and children who don't have a choice but to turn off their emotions as they are used again for sex...
people who have to ask passerbys for money so they can have a drink that night and forget about how cold it is and how hungry they are.
men and women who have to live with their choice to end a human life, their baby's life, because they didn't feel they had what it took to be parents.

and these people are our brothers.
our sisters.
our parents.
our children.
our friends.
we graduated with them.
passed them by.
we have chosen to look past them.

if i recall, following Christ means to act and love as He did.
to care for those in need.
to love those who have been beaten by the world and considered mere garbage.
to choose to reach out and share in their afflictions...

i can't sit back and do nothing anymore.. lets stand for what we believe in.

i invite all of you to venture out to the unknown with me and trust God.

these are real people, with real needs.

i'm not going to stop praying for them whether i am able to go or not...

you shouldn't stop praying for them whether you give or not.

please do more than consider this...

act.

pray.
and please send support.

if you need to reach me:

ph: 541-731-9468

email: this.is.a.real.fake.email@gmail.com

address:

israel boyce
3741 canyon lake dr. 2-307
rapid city, sd
57702


Father, thank You for all opportunities to reach people, and bless others. may we realize our blessings, and reach out to touch others lives with them. it's not about us. it's not about what makes us secure or comfortable. it's about something so much bigger. about saving mankind. about reaching the ends of the earth, even our own backyards. may Your will be done with this.
i love You, and choose to trust You! most of all, Thank You For Your Love and Filling Us With It.
amen

i challenge you to stand for what you believe in.

darn, i wish i would have taken a picture

i saw my first octopus today...



then i ate it!
i also had scallop for the first time.

i'm suprising still in tennessee.

i'm at the least suprised, but it has been really good!

we will see, but Lord willing i plan on leaving towards the atlantic coast this weekend.
as for where exactly, there are a couple places floating in the air.
chances are though, that i will come back to clarksville for a short time afterwards, and then to dallas.


and as for right now....

i was just reading some blogs i have posted and it's weird to think about then vs. now.
even just over three weeks ago, talking about leaving, and the hesitants that followed.
however, God has done countless amazing things, and trust me, all the glory is His!

first thing that's on my heart is the people i have met because of this trip.... already....

there has been so many that are now part of my life. i pray our relationships will continue to grow.
i don't know if i thought it was possible, but tennessee now has a place in my heart.

what started as a trip for relationships has shown true to be a blessing of relationships.

and i thank God for that.

i don't want to leave, but at the same time i feel a peace. and i do hope to be back too.


today was super fun!

i was humbled to play bass on the worship team this morning and tonight (sunday).
this evening after church, a bunch of us went out to a chinese buffet (and this one was good, they even had sushi), where i enjoyed the tasty little sea creatures among mandarin chicken and eating pudding with chopsticks.
unfortunately we accidentally lost marge on the way back to eric's and thus we missed out on her attendence at the showing of a movie.

sorry marge!

i'm also sorry if i spelled your name wrong.

thank You much for this day our Father. may tomorrow come when it does, and that we give You praise right now!
thank You again for everyone You have blessed me with knowing. help us to live as the Church in our real lives, with our real friends, and during our real day. no more building mentality.
real fellowship, real people, real love to those around us. as You would.
amen

and if anyone reading this is one of my newly found friends from tennessee....
thank you for your kindness, and joy you have brought my heart for being you.

and to all i have been away from, i look forward to seeing you again as the Lord wills it. i also look forward to sharing ears to what God is doing in our walks.

Ich liebe dich.

kindness at the bottom of the states

chirp chirp, originally uploaded by israelboyce.

i had the priviledge of going to nashville with pastor carlo and aaron today for a meeting with some other pastors and the district director for first assembly of God in Tennesseee.

afterwards, we all went to lunch where i enjoyed a conversation with my new friends and subtlely chuckled because i'm still not used to everyones southern accents.

all in all, i have come to realize that the rumors are true about the south, everyone here is friendly, and it's been a blessing.

on the way back from finding out the hard way that walgreens was closed due to power outage, and rite-aid has a horrible film developing process, a random man who barely spoke english offered to give me a ride.

"you don't want ride, yes?"
"uhh, what? uhh, where are you going?"
"where are you going?"
"that way..."
"ok, i give you ride..."
"wow, ok, thanks"

after he dropped me off, i had to look back to make sure it wasn't an angel...

i like this whole trusting God thing.
i started to get soaked, but knew that something would be hooked up.

and it was.

Daddy, thank You so much for today.
and thank You that You are my strength.
i love You, and i believe that You love me!
amen

thanks again to all who have been keeping up with the Fortschritt.
blessings to all of you! and to all a good night.... ugh...

unpaved trails

paved trails, originally uploaded by israelboyce.

i like the church.

in fact, i love the church.

think outside the box with me on this one...

before i go into that.... follow me with this.

the picture above shows scottsbluff national monument.
don't ask me why it's name that....
as you can probably see, there is a hiking trail for those who would like to hike to the top....
a paved trail.

a paved hiking trail.

for the hikers convenience i'm sure... as well as for preserving the area...la de da de da...
and they even have a road to get to the top if you don't feel like walking, or if you can't walk it.

here is the 'outside the box thinking.'

this trip has been quite the challenge.
physically
mentally
relationally
and spiritually.

i feel as if i'm on an unpaved trail.
i'm not sure what's going to happen next.
no real right way of doing it.
trial and error.
but most of all,
a faith-stretching hike towards the top.

along this hike i've had the priviledge of meeting many others. and i'm slowly starting to realize that these people... these wonderfully made and greatly loved people who i have never met before

are

the

church.

it's about relationships, right?


Father... how can i ever thank You for Your love except to pass it on to those around me.
i ask God that you will be filled with compassion for those around you to use whatever blessings you have to bless them. and that you wouldn't forget what YAHWEH has done for you.
amen

i wish i could help you understand how important it is to love others.

if you like reading, then i suggest rob bells newest book
"Jesus wants to save Christians"

i thank God for all of you, for reading these tremendously long and intermission-needed posts (this one being better in length then some). and thank you so much for you prayers.

i ask You Father to bless those who have been so kind to me with their time or other blessings, with a revelation of who You are. that they may use that to bring others to know you too. amen

worship by being a sacrifice

a wonderful garden

und, originally uploaded by israelboyce.

today i saw a child smile... not just any child though....

here is the thing. i've seen children smile before, as we all have. everyone of us can recall seeing a cheerful glee smear across a toddlers face at some point or another... whether it being in a picture, a movie, or even a baby in a stroller that you saw in the grocery store who was crying until they gazed their fresh milky blue eyes on you, and you reacted by commanding your face to look suprised with a sudden withdrawl behind your own shopping cart you sneak a glance around the mother's shoulder from a distance creating a silence of cries, a subtle grin, and then a confused look on the parent's face as to why their child who is now in the terrible two's stage has stopped it's hissy fit for a quick moment in time which could untimately create a pulse of joy in hearts of those around but in yours for a whole separate reason then your aisle-neighbors.

if you haven't seen a child smile, then you may have learned the wrong definition of child in which you understand it as an endangered animal that looks an awful lot like a cross between a llama and a bull dog, often mistaked for a pony who walked into a barn wall at a young age....

please forgive my tangents...

i don't have any problems recalling multiple smiles from little ones.

but as for one that reaches deep inside, causing a new dimension to open up inside of me, with multiple levels, all filled with a certain presence other than my own, creating a warm comfort and joy that can only be disturbed for a short time by the one you give the power to do so to, this is a first...

picture walking in a garden filled with a variety of plants, flowers, and beams of sunlight. the smells remind you to breath, and the colors can only help you realize beauty comes from below the surface. and as you walk in this garden the sun continues to lower itself in the sea of a billion varieties of blue that comes to a halt just behind some trees, causing the light to send a living glow on everything around you. the colors, the feel of a slight breeze cooling the surface of your face and chasing through you hair, the smell constantly reaching in your lungs as if to coat them with beds of color and vines reaching far up their walls. and while you continue to walk, you feel a gentle touch at your finger tips. but as you turn around, all you can begin to comprehend is as if the sun and all it's glory... were giving you a hug.

it may be that this is the first child that i have ever let use my fingers as teething comfort, or scared me to the extend of my heart clocking out as i thought the safety gate guarding the stairs was open, only to clock back in a second later when i was told it was closed.

but i can only claim to seeing a glimse of this joy that underlies the surface of my heart anticipating the day when i have children of my own, but i can admit this wonderful garden is all for being discovered.

now here comes the question that can break a dam.

...is this a glimpse of how our Father views His time with us?

...could this be a fraction of a piece of how

God

loves

us...?

i wonder if God enjoys helping us keep balance as we try to walk in His steps just as i enjoyed helping teagan keep her footing... so she wouldn't get hurt.

if i can love and care for my friend's child i didn't know a week ago, how much more does my Father love and care for me...

this trip has been nothing but blessings. and nothing would be possible if it weren't for those loving hands holding me.

Father, i ask that You would help us see Your hands in our lives. nothing we do that is for good is done outside of Your grace. please help us acknowledge You more. i love You!

amen.

i'm not sure if anyone has gotten to the end of this one, but.... i congratulate those who did. i'll try to keep anologies to a more condensed form next time, or possibly just get to the point...

a sign that reads 'EAST'

being currently in tennessee... it's enjoyable watching teagan be cute....

my favorite quote from my newest friend...

"what are people going to think when i tell them i picked up a hitchhiker and let him drive...?"


yesterday was a day of firsts...
including walking on the interstate...
walking on the interstate with wind gusts at -26 degrees
being picked up by a state trooper
meeting another hitchhiker at a truck stop
riding in a semi
being stuck at a rest area for too long
feeling alone on this trip
holding a sign that reads 'EAST'
visiting ill. ken. and ten.
meeting daniel.

God has been so good.


i am learning how hard it is to really trust God
His faithfulness has never left...

there have been some really hard times on this trip alone
but i know they are needed


Father, lately it's been hard to trust in You, but please help me not to give up. also, i pray for all who are struggling with trust. may we look past our losses and be willing to give it all. our time. our comfort. our all. You are so good. GO GOD!
amen



'and i'm sure that when i come, Christ will richly bless our time together.' rom.15:29



paul wrote this to his friends in different places.

i write this to all of you that i am away from.

i miss and love you guys!

Lord willing i'll see you soon.

gering then omaha

between the virtual golf and fake argueing with my second mother,

i'm enjoying my last night in rapid, well.... blackhawk...

tomorrow starts the journey to the SE.

of all the traveling i have done or thought of, these past few nights have reviewed something new to me about my desires for this trip and ones to come...

i have never had the desire to go to the south, or places such as tennessee, oklahoma, iowa.... just the names give me more of a "slight smile and turn of the head" attitude.........
however, each of these places, with stops on the way, hold a certain value of relationship.

i'm looking forward to the people that will be encountered more than the places i will visit.

my first stop is my fathers place in gering nebraska...
i'll be planning on leaving there monday and headed to omaha neb. for time with cody g....

after that i should be on to tennessee and so on...

i was having a conversation with a friend of mine who had done some heavy traveling himself. one of our talks was about how it is all hype until the departure date arrives... then the logical thinking, or should i say over logical thinking starts trying to strangle your once fully doable and slightly crazy but completely adventurious desires and plans.

we both came to the agreement that there is no backing down. because if that happens, you kick yourself with so much effort that you can hike to the moons of jupiter without water or clean underwear...
you just have to go for it... i remember him saying, or at least something close to that...
the point being, as i sit here and type this or as tom drops me off in a matter of hours, i need to remember the peace God has given me about this trip.
one reason all the doubt can try and leak in is because this trip may just happen to be quite meaningful after all.......eh?

i'm trusting God. Vertrauengott.
ja?!

Father, may Your will be done on this journey. and may it encourage others as well as bless them. thank You for the opportunity to trust in You. i love You, but most of all
THANK YOU FOR YOUR LOVE!
amen

may your days be full of real love, and may you take the opportunities to humbly love real people in ways outside of your power.
you are blessed!

shalom