Summer's here.

I am back in PA after 6 months of travels with the PhotogenX crew. Lot's of stories, lot's of God breaking through... more highlights than low lights. In the total duration of the trip I was in 17 countries, teaching 32 books of the Bible and a few other lectures for different YWAM courses and bases, and I wanted to share some pictures and stories from the last few locations our team went.

PhotogenX time with the Roma people

With time winding down on the road, there has been no shortage of highlights for my team and me as we traveled through eastern Europe. While most of our time there was in Hungary, three of the students and myself, took a week to visit central Romania, to do a project with a people group known as the Gypsies or, Roma people. We had an amazing time learning and documenting their journey and their struggles as a people group, and were able to minister to both the poorest of the poor, as well as meet, interview and pray with the Gypsy royal family. Part of this trip included me learning how to drive a stick-shift car in Budapest, and driving 12 hours to Hungary... kind of a "crash course," but without the "crash" praise the Lord!

visiting a Roma village in central Romania

a toddler demonstrating traditional Roma dancing

Humanities in Hungary

We had a fantastic time during our few weeks in Budapest, Hungary. It was an interesting place to study subjects such as "God' in Government, Economics & international relations." Hungary was behind the iron curtain 20 years ago, and has a fascinating history and culture, forged out of a volatile struggle centered on the subjects we were studying. One place we visited was "the House of Terror" which is a memorial to the victims of the communist and fascist governments that ruled Hungary last century. It was a sobering place for me as I discussed with students the roots of these forms of government, and the dire effects of taking God out of the authority structures of a nation. In addition to this, I think it was a powerful reminder to all of us, that we need to be crying out to God in prayer for our own nation.

bbq for our Hungarian love feast

climbing the stairs at the Fisherman's' Bastion, Budapest, Hungary

Open doors in Kashmir, India

God was preparing hearts and opportunities to receive our team before we even made it to India. While there, we were still doing classes, and had the privilege of having for our guest speaker, Vishal Mangalwadi, an Indian, Christian, thinker & writer who was able to share with us on Indian culture, worldview and religion. Our group was invited to share at the University of Kashmir, and after meeting the students there, we were able to explore the area with some of them as our guides. We did a photography exhibition sponsored by some local businesses, displaying photography from around the world, as well as a section revealing the beauty of Kashmir. It was also great to be able to partner with local ministries as the workers there reach out to the predominately Muslim population.

found a place to watch the world cup at our photography exhibit

a common Indian traffic hazard

local produce sold by the road

some pictures © Savannah Chastain, 2010. Used with permission

Live from Singapore

I am sitting in Singapore as I write this, but the update I am sharing this month is least of all about me, and more about the wave of God's spirit moving on the earth that I have been privileged to see some pieces of in the past month.

PhotogenX group on the move!

As our traveling group moves from Biblical studies into a new module called "Humanities and Science, a Christian Perspective," God has been rocking us with the way we view the world and relate to people and cultures around us. We had a week on "worldview" brought to us by an amazing guy from Kona, then I taught for a week titled "God's fingerprints in Human History." I've been away from the team for a few days, so when I get back to them at the end of the week I will get caught up on the rest of their studies. But we have a project coming up that I am really excited about, which involves trekking out to Romania to work in a community of "Roma" people, who you probably have heard referred to as "the gypsies." This is a people group scattered all over Europe, universally exploited and marginalized, longing for a hope and a future. I am hoping and praying that our time among them, both researching and identifying, will be the beginning of a move of God's church to reach out in a massive way to these people. I'm sure I will have more to share about them next month.

Teaching in a new Bible course in Bali:
I had the privilege last week of teaching the Gospel of Mark for a new Bible school being pioneered in Bali, Indonesia. All Indonesian students, on a campus brimming over with passion for the Lord, and compassion for the lost. Each morning of meeting together, someone was always practically bursting to share a testimony of how they had seen someone radically saved on the street, or in the store, or at the beach the day before. And their hunger for the Word is incredible! I simply brought them a book of the Bible, some background information and some study tools, and they ran with it, Pray for this group as they continue their study and their ministry. They are planning on going to East Timor for their outreach phase, a nation that has some deep-seeded wounds in their history from Indonesia. But God has given his children the ministry of reconciliation in the earth, administering the Revelation 22, leaves of the tree of life, for the healing of the nations.

Bali from the air

Bali: the last Hindu stronghold of Indonesia

Justice through the arts

God has been challenging me through my students in this area. Their vision is so singular, so focused, I find myself daily contemplating the way I use my gifts to serve God. Whatever our gifts and talents may be, God's dream is for us to use them to pour salve on the many wounds of our world. I am so thankful to know people like Lindsay, whose photography will reconcile nations, and Sam, whose passion for soccer is changing Cambodian kids lives, and Karen, whose hospitality ministry to ESL students breaks through all cultural barriers until these students simply see Jesus... the list goes on. I will leave you with this quote, and would suggest to you that whatever your talent, skill or profession, if you submit it to God he can turn it into an art form the world will notice. “The task of art is enormous. Through the influence of real art, aided by science, guided by religion, that peaceful co-operation of man, which is now maintained by external means – by our law-courts, police, charitable institutions, factory inspection, and so forth, - should be obtained by man’s free and joyous activity. Art should cause violence to be set aside.” – Leo Tolstoy

cliffs surround some of Bali's most famous surf spots, I went out surfing here on a fairly big day and could tell I was out of practice

Rice farmers work the mountainous landscape

Prayer for Nations: Indonesia
One week in Bali is enough to overwhelm me with the beauty of God's creation, but I know a lifetime there would not suffice to convey the depth of God's love for the hurting and the lost of Indonesia.
I was so encouraged to get to spend some time with the base leaders, Alan and Susie, and to hear about all the things God is doing through YWAM and partners in that nation. But the harvest is HUGE there! Indonesia is the largest (population wise) Muslim nation in the world.
God is raising up a battle tested army there. Religious persecution has tried and failed to stop them, natural disasters have only strengthened their resolve to be the hands and feet of Jesus, and more and more, the hearts cry of the Indonesian YWAMmer is being changed from "Lord send people to us" into "Lord send me!"
Pray for this young warrior movement when you get a minute, it's part of the harvest I would suggest not missing out on.
If you would like more information in order to pray, or if you think Bali might be a place you could visit and be part of what God is doing, check out http://uofnbali.org/ and maybe do a DTS there!

Some of the wonderful people you will meet when you visit YWAM Bali!

behold, a new blog name...

Okay, so I was getting self-conscious about the lameness of my self titled blog... This new title is actually the name of a poem I've written recently, which I guess I will post on here so you know where it came from.

Touch Belief

Within the spacious folds of time
Below the broken mountains’ rumbling
Mankind, for all their wisdom climb
not...
but crawl through darkness stumbling.
An iron grate conceals their shame
While beneath, the weary worker paves
And though each tombstone bears a deep-etched name
Oak trees grow upon their graves.

For not by wisdom owned or taken,
Do the lofty sages swear.
Nor before a fleeting phantom
Would honest lovers’ hearts lay bare.

A seed of faith weighs in the balance
Pensive, with no thought of time lost pondering,
Captive thoughts in darkness ravished
Brought back through endless days of wandering
A breath of hope to parch a desert of longing
Grasped at by starving claws unprepared
Fleeting, contagious, the life’s blood of nations
Brandished on banners, by kings proudly bared

But faith is presumption, hope ignorance’ dream
If not guided and guarded and gained from above
For as thoughts without actions are waves without oceans
Life’s measure and weight must be balanced with love.

(c) A. S. G.

picture (c) Joshua Greenplate.

Our little group spent most of the month of February in Israel. We stayed in the town of Bethlehem in the West bank, and got to experience Biblical history come alive in our studies, as well as the modern political tensions in this area. It is incredible to feel the spiritual atmosphere here, charged with tension but, as our team felt strongly during an all night prayer set on the Mount of Olives, also charged with expectation for God to do something amazing among the people of this divided nation. One of the most encouraging encounters for me was meeting a Brazilian missionary named Rodrigo at the house of prayer. He has been working with the youth in Israel for about three years, and was sharing with me how they have begun to see a movement among the youth in Northern Israel who are hungry for the presence of God to transform their nation. In a conversation with some Israeli soldiers I asked them what they thought was necessary to see lasting peace come to their nation. One of them answered me "change has to come from our generation, from the youth. We must learn the value of love and respect, then we will see peace." I thought that was pretty profound, and I've been praying that God, who is in his very nature, love, would reign as the prince of peace here in this nation.

At Peter's house in Capernaum and at the shore of the sea of Galilee.

I couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed as I read through some of the old testament prophets and some of the gospels in places like Nazareth, Jerusalem, Jericho and others. God has used this land in amazing ways to work his plan for Salvation into human history. While I guess I had read and studied that before it didn't really begin to hit me until I had the chance to walk here. To realize that even the yearly cycles of rainfall in this region were designed by God to teach his people things about His character, just amazing. Seeing things like the significance of the gates in Jerusalem, the watchtowers on the walls and the field where (supposedly) angels announced the birth of Jesus to Bethlehem's shepherds really has enriched my study of God's word, and I definitely recommend a visit to anyone interested.

Inscription in Jerusalem "He is not here, he is risen!"

All night worship on the Mount of Olives.

An issue that is raging here and is every bit as intense as apartheid was in South Africa, or civil rights movement in America, is the Palestinian / Israeli conflict. Getting to meet with Christian Israelis as well as Christian Palestinians was a real privilege, and it was really interesting to get to hear both sides of the Israel / Palestine conflict firsthand from people on both sides of the political issues. Also interesting was having a really nice conversation with someone, then a Christian friend mentioning later "oh yeah, that guy is a member of Hamas..." huh. Studying through the Gospels in the last two weeks has impressed on me God's heart for unity between people groups, as we see Jesus reaching out to Jewish people, Samaritans and Gentiles alike; and his command to the Church echoes this example in Acts 1:8, when he says "you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all of Judea [Jews], in Samaria [Samaritans], and to the ends of the earth [everyone else].

Reading Joshua at Jericho

Cairo

Life in the big cities of Egypt is much faster paced than sluggish Nile which winds it's way through them. A land of complete contrast; desert, farmland, metropolis, wasteland, Christian, Muslim, Mediterranean resorts, and communities built of garbage. The team's time here has flown by, but I wanted to post a few pictures of what's been going on along the way.

The first few weeks we stayed in the City of Alexandrea, famous for an ancient library (the old one is gone but they've built a new one) and a giant lighthouse (again, gone but now there's a castle.) We were blessed to be in fellowship with some believers along the way, and my friend Tristan and I had a great time in the evenings watching the soccer African Nations' Cup with some of our Egyptian friends.

Fishermen along the Alexandrea coast

We stayed right in the center of Cairo. If "the city that never sleeps" was not already taken, Cairo would have a fitting nickname, it's busy... all night long. We visited the Pyramids today, and a few days ago went to one of the biggest churches in Egypt, which is also I believe the worlds biggest church that meets in a cave!

St. Simon the Tanner Hall of St. Mark's church in the cave

Garbage city is something I wrote about in my newsletter, but I wanted to post some pictures for you to see. As a school, it was a difficult but good experience to process, as we consider God's heart for the poor, his desire for social justice, and how we partner with him in bringing these things on earth as his Children.

Children on streets of Manshiyat Naser "Garbage City."

One of the PhotogenX students watching her step carefully.

Our journey continues on Sunday with a long bus ride through Sinai and up to Jerusalem. We will keep on studying, keep on praying, keep on living for His glory! Blessings
Andrew

"All things may change"

A thousand silver ships have sailed a thousand silver seas,
and hosts of saintly lips sang songs suspended in the breeze.
Prodigals one day regret their foolish fall from grace,
while sweet expressions briefly paint the most suppressive face.
Mighty trees make music on their slow determined climb,
mocking mans' futility, our mindless march through time.
The waves of every ocean join to crash upon the sand,
while soldiers blindly follow every officers' command.
A runner's starting steps are vindicated by his last,
and bright potential futures can be squandered by their past.
Because a thousand golden ghosts can haunt a thousand gloomy graves,
while captains on their silver ships must stand and face the waves.
For nothing here created will forever be the same,
and everything that's wild can in time be rendered tame.
The chain that binds the captive's feet will one day turn to rust,
and this tranquil world's a raging fire beneath it's fragile crust.
Warm rain that falls in summer is the winter's fiercest ice,
as fortunes made with toil can be lost on rolling dice.
The lips that sang the morning's praise will grace tomorrow's dust,
and souls who once betray you may cross oceans for your trust.
Not hopes, nor fears, nor fallen tears, nor footprints in the sand,
will endure the test of time, but by God's grace we stand.

(c) A.s.G.