Hi everyone 🙂 I have a little update for you on our last few weeks at Enjoy Cafe + all the things the LORD did in month one!!!
The other day we said goodbye to our dear brothers + sisters at Enjoy Cafe & Transformation Church. And man, do I miss them already!!! They threw us the sweetest going away party – guys, I was blown away!!! Truly, it felt like such a glimpse of the banquet feast in heaven – the air full of rejoicing + celebration, tables pushed together in unity, bounties of fruits + all other kinds of goodies, candles lit, and most importantly, brothers + sisters gathered together. The night was spent sharing stories of the past month, and then each person got up to share a personal thank you + heart of gratitude for the rest around the table. So many tears were shed + warm embraces met. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever been a part of – true community as brothers + sisters, rejoicing in + encouraging each other in the LORD, pointing to all of the ways the LORD is so clearly seen in each of us. The night closed with our Mongolian brothers + sisters praying over us and us praying over them. And if it hadn’t been clear before, through all the words of encouragement, our hearts of deep love + gratitude shown through in this time of fiercely + passionately bringing each other before the LORD. WOW hallelujah !! It reminded me of the prayers Paul wrote over the churches in some of his letters and the depth of his love and affection for them. mmmmmMmm ~ what a sweet unity + incredible family we have through JESUS!!! such GOODNESS!!! hallelujah
“I thank God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine, for making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work within you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel,” – Philippians 1:3-4
In sum, my heart for my brothers + sisters runs deeper than truly, I thought possible. I am forever thankful for this past month partnering alongside them in the work of the gospel!!
But let’s take a rewind real quick. I want to highlight + share a few stories, following my prayer requests from my previous update!!! (Read that one first if you haven’t already)
We finished up our english camp ~ it went SO well!!! Those 60+ kiddos and adults I talked about in my last post truly only grew in number! These students were so faithful to the class + eager to learn. Plus, it was SO cool seeing the Church + cafe full everyday, as the classes drew so much attention to everything going on there + opened so many doors for our brothers + sisters to connect!
my friend you prayed for ~
I worked in the cafe everyday, (still thriving) and had the opportunity to teach english to the cafe workers and talk with the customers. I could tell you lots of really cool stories of what the LORD did through this, but today, I want to tell you about my new friend Eddie.
Eddie’s home is in UB (the capital city), but he has to travel to the countryside a lot for work. He ended up turning Enjoy Cafe into his ‘office away from the office’, haha bringing his printer in and everything. Naturally, this opened up such a sweet opportunity to build a relationship with him – Eddie + I quickly became good friends. He had lived in the states for a little bit, so his english was good, but he really wanted to practice. He told me stories of his life. I told him some stories of mine. Super simple, super sweet, just having a lot of fun chatting as I made him smoothie after coffee after smoothie after coffee. Then one day, he asked me about my tattoo ( I have a moon on the interior of my arm). I proceeded to tell him another story of mine from a dark season of my life, where the LORD was my hope and light shining in the darkness!!! Eddie then opened up to me about his history with the Church and how hurt he had been by it. He told me how he started going to a youth group in highschool, but hated it because they were so strict and judgemental. He said he tried to go to Church again when he was in the states, but was met by the same judgement. He pointed out that this was especially over his tattoos.
(These kind of stories hurt my heart the most, but I think that’s really because the LORD has put a deep passion in my heart to speak into this + show people the fullness of life Jesus invites us into.)
Something in my heart (Holy Spirit) burst within me and my mouth poured out the gospel and the goodness of the LORD, with such heart + passion (Thanks LORD!!). I could tell that was the first time Eddie had ever heard somebody talk about the LORD out of love instead of fear. His eyes shone curiosity. We talked for quite a long time that day. Towards the end of our conversation, I asked him if he would ever be willing to give the LORD and the Church another try. Hesitantly, he allowed me to connect him with the Transformation Church in UB and also connect him to one of my brothers there and they chatted for quite a while too.
Eddie still comes into Enjoy quite a bit and is met with love + smiles + hospitality + really good coffee & food each time, all pointing to the love Jesus has for him. I really believe the LORD is doing something within him. I can see it and it’s really really cool.
Please be praying for my friend Eddie!!! There is a lot of hurt holding him back, but I know the LORD is slowly breaking those walls with the love of all of us at Enjoy! hallelujah!! Can’t wait to celebrate the day when we have a new brother!
the woman’s event you prayed over ~
Like I said before, one of my teammates shared her testimony at church one Sunday and it truly touched a lot of women’s hearts. Even before then, a few of us had been feeling the LORD move us to pray about hosting a Beauty for Ashes event (focused on teachings, activities and discussion that draw women to find healing + hope + identity + worth in the LORD ). The women leaders at the church had also been wanting to do a women’s event ~ so the LORD put all the puzzle pieces together and it happened!!!!
AND WOW did the LORD MOVE!!!!!! I wish I had the words to paint a picture of all that happened that night, but instead, I’ll quote Isaiah 61.
“The Spirit of the LORD is upon me , because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn ; to grant to those who mourn in Zion – to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, a garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.” (v. 1-3)
Now, if you don’t recognize this passage from Isaiah, Jesus also quotes this as a declaration of his purpose on earth when he began his ministry!!! And as his disciples, we (my team + I) got to partner with JESUS in this work that night in pointing the 40+ women to HIS hope + healing + freedom. Tears were shed. Walls were broken down. Hearts chose to forgive. Lies were replaced with truth. Memories were healed. The women spent hours listening to each other’s stories and praying over each other following the different promptings and teachings. They saw that they were not alone in this sweet community of women. And even more importantly, they saw the LORD’s heart for them to be brought deeper into His love + wholeness.
Truly, it was a beautiful night. I was so so proud of my team, as each one of us played a special role in making the night come together: Gabi, Jen & Kaysha each shared their heart + stories through teaching lessons, Trina so intentionally made the room + atmosphere be beautiful + welcoming with fresh picked flowers + glitter + journals for each of the women, Hailey killed it in the kitchen, spending the whole day baking cupcakes and decorating them so beautifully, Jordan led worship in Mongolian (wow), and I got to host the night (MCed) creating a welcome + safe space for women to come in and share ( my fav thing). Wow, what a night. What a God we serve to bring it all together because he loves the hearts of these women SO MUCH!!
Truly, that’s only two stories out of the many. If you want to hear more, give me a call sometime! I would love to catch up with each one of you + hear what the LORD is doing in your life and share more of what he is doing with us on the other side of the world!
I’ll end with a few pictures with all the kiddos who grasped my heart this month~
This is sweet, sweet Khulan. She is full of wisdom + grace + kindness + compassion + beauty + love for the LORD and all those around. I will miss her dearly.
My man T!!!! This kiddo has my heart, even though he beat me in chess a lot!! He is smart + kind + funny + adventurous + sassy + has such a tender heart!! I will miss him!!
This sweet girl and I became best, best friends. Here is us on our icecream date after we spent the afternoon coloring 🙂 Truly, she is so kind + loving + servant hearted. Honestly, she kind of blew me away. When I was cleaning up tables, she would always come up and help me. And we would go on walks and we would just smile at each other + hold hands. So simple + so sweet, yet my heart for her runs so so deep.
Lastly, here is a little glimpse into the wild + fun + beautiful world of helping with the Kiddos every Sunday 🙂 love love love
So with that, I say goodbye to my sweet family here. My heart + prayers will be with you guys forever!
a little logistical update~
Since leaving Enjoy we had our month one debrief where we met back up with the entire squad + our mentors + coaches came to the field. It was a good time of resting + reflecting + investing in each other.
Now my team and I are staying in the city in a hostel, making really cool connections here, ( a whole other blog post to come about spreading KINGDOM within a hostel – wow!!!!) while we are working out our Chinese visas!! We head there quite soon!
More updates to follow!
lastly, but truly most importantly, prayer requests
~The LORD has been teaching me a lot lately of what it means to be BOLD for him and visibly live SET APART – please pray over me in this that I more fiercely + boldly proclaim HIS NAME + love
~ Pray for our friends we have made at the hostel + the conversations we have had. For Ellie, Taz, Hero, Orko, that the LORD would grow the seeds planted + for more opportunities for conversation and to love + serve them
~ Pray over my team as we head to Chin, for safety + protection, and open ears to hear the LORD’s guiding moment by moment
Thank you for reading! I would love to hear from each one of you with how I can be praying or the things going on in your world!
I am so thankful for each one of you!!!
with love + gratitude,
Annie
