Happy New Year!

Sitting here just hours before the clock strikes 12 and the world sings the words of my favorite Scottish poet Robert Burns, I am thinking of all of my acquaintances, my friends, and my family. What an incredible gratefulness swells in my heart when I consider the blessings God has poured out upon me. 2009 has truly been a year of new beginnings for me. This was the year that I stepped back into the nations, the year I first visited Africa, the year I reunited with dear friends and grew closer to new ones, the year I stepped out in new levels of faith, and a year of discovering new paths of my destiny unfolded from the loving heart of my Father. This year has brought me to 6 countries and 3 states. My sister had a beautiful baby girl; my baby brother started driving, my sister Micah got married and brought J.D. in as a great new brother; my nephews and nieces grew older and even cuter; and all of my family stood together through the joys and trials of life, encouraging one another in faith and love.

One of the unending reasons I love my Savior is that He came in love and sacrifice for ALL. Each human being on this planet has a real and complete need for the Lord, and one of the most special aspects of this year has been experiencing this wide spectrum. In Ethiopia, I got to spoon feed precious handicapped children in a Mother Theresa home, and back home in Texas I got to practically serve the wealthiest in Dallas as a waitress. Both were privileges of identifying with Jesus as I serve and love the ones He has created.

If 2009 was a year of transition, then I believe 2010 will be a year of . . . more transition, ha! Actually, though I expect more changes and adventures, it does have the feeling of settling in. More traveling and more doors to walk through, but being surer of walking into God’s deeper plans for my life brings a deep peace in my soul. On January 11, I head out again. I get to take a week to visit friends in Germany en route to Cyprus. Yes, I am returning to Cyprus! I will be on staff again with Gateways Beyond International. This year has the feeling of a new day as we have expanded to Geneva, Jerusalem, and Spokane, WA. We also will be in a new base and walking out a greater level of leadership on the island. Personally, I am also very excited about the new level of leadership in which I will be growing as I help lead the children’s ministry

Thank you to each of you who have been a part of this special year. Once again, I would like to ask you for your prayers. Please pray for the students in the GTS 2010 as they walk through a season of consecration and growing in Christ. Please pray for me as the Lord brings me to your mind, and if you feel led to be a personal intercessor please let me know! There is nothing more encouraging than to know that people are praying for me. Also, please let me know if you would like to support me financially this year. My monthly expenses will be $550, and I will also be raising funds for our trip to Israel in March and our outreach in May/June.

I am full of anticipation for the coming year and looking forward to communicating with you. May you be full of life, love, gratefulness, joy, and hope in Messiah with the coming of this New Year.

Hannah Briscoe

To make a tax-deductable donation online go to www.modernday.org/field-workers or www.gatewaysbeyond.org/donate

To see a recap of 2009 in photos click on the following links: 2009 part 1; 2009 part 2

Trust

So I have been meditating on Proverbs 3:5-6 lately--"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." The depth of the power in this verse is profound. We hear it quoted so often that we don't let it resonate in our hearts. This is a life-changing, a life-yielding word. It is a challenge and an invitation. We are invited and commanded to trust. Can I trust Him with all my heart? It is easy to answer yes, so perhaps I should ask myself if I can refrain from trusting in anything(one) else. My job, family, friends, abilities, all are gifts from God who is my true and only source of strength. It is so easy to lean on our own understanding, but this is exactly what can lead us astray so easily. How often I catch myself trying to "figure things out" rather than listening to the Lord. How often I excuse my actions or lack thereof based on how I feel or what I think I know. But when we get down to it, here is the beautiful invitation, "in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths." With every step, every breath, every desire in my heart, I get to think on Him. I get to set my gaze on Him, to praise Him, to ask Him his opinion, and listen for His answer. I get to "roll off onto" Him the things that try to weigh me down; decisions, desires, hopes, fears, accusations, praise, everything! I give it all to Him! It's like we're hiking through a mountain in thick woods weighed down with a heavy pack full of cares, following a compass of half-conceived dreams and hopes, led off-course by trails blazed by lost wanderers, and following a map that leads to fools gold. When all the while we have the option of following a guide who knows the journey (both the short-cuts and the scenic routes), who will personally carry our bag of dead weight in exchange for His lighter and easier pack, and who is leading us--not to fools gold--but to a treasure field more vast and beautiful than our wildest dreams. I want to walk in this guides ways, and follow His steps. Lord, help me to trust in You with all my heart. Help me not to lean on my own understanding. I acknowledge you in my life and say that my desire is to do your will. Lead me and guide me according to your good pleasure. amen.

cooking, creating, laughing

So I just had my birthday on Sunday and I must say it was one of my favorites. My family and just a few friends got together and we had a make your own pizza party. Even though I was standing in the kitchen for hours making pizza dough, I was enjoyin myself so much. I loved seeing everyone's individuality and creativity come out as they decorated their perfect pizza. I loved how much thought my brother Josh put into tasting and judging each creation, being sure to comment on each one. It is so fun to make a nice meal for people, but it was a blast cooking together. I think kitchen memories are often the fondest memories. I love how we can come together and enjoy each other's company over food. And now I think of the holidays coming and I get very warm and fuzzy. Rather than focusing our efforts on creating the perfect meal to impress people, maybe we can just have fun and spend some time together in the kitchen as well as at the table. Just a thought

Germany 2009

If you would like to read a brief artical about our trip to Germany, you may click on this link: http://www.gatewaysbeyond.org/resources/articles.php?article=91. It was such an incredible trip, and I am still processing all that the Lord did. You can also read my trip blog for more details: http://www.herrnhut2009.blogspot.com/.

What's a church to do?

I believe most of you reading this are members of Shady Grove Church, and this blog is for you.
At church on Sunday morning it was announced that Nathan and Courtney and their family will be moving to Brussels, Belgium in the spring. I am sure there were many who were very surprised, but also many of us were excited to hear the news officially announced. Jonathan and Destiny are also moving to Brussels, only much sooner. This got me thinking about the many leaders in Shady Grove that have been sent forth into the nations, and this got me thinking about different leaders and members who I see a calling on for the nations. And the common question is, with so many leaders being sent out, what's a church to do?
I understand the challenges of restructuring. I understand the tension between being excited for people stepping out in faith to follow God's call and feeling somewhat bewildered as to who will take their place or what will happen when they leave. I understand these challenges, but I have to admit that the challenges make me excited. Call me an enthusiast if you will, but my faith is stirred.
You see, I just spent a month and a half in a small village in eastern Germany called Herrnhut. We have been talking about Herrnhut lately at the Grove. When God's Spirit fell in Herrnhut in the 1700s, not only was a 24/7 prayer movement begun that lasted over 100 years, but also this little village of refugees became a missions sending community that birthed the modern day missions movement. At one point, Count Zizendorf was exiled from the country for 10 years. When he returned, there were only a handful of people he knew because so many had been sent out on the mission field!
Now I am sure this constant turnover of people being discipled and then being sent out was difficult and challenging; nevertheless, the people chose to live this life, to sacrifice those who were probably great leaders to reach the uttermost ends of the earth with the Good News. This inspires me. I am so grateful for the different leaders at Shady Grove. And I have watched as some have faithfully stayed to support the church even though they felt that their portion was in the nations. And what I am suggesting is that our gratefulness transfer into generosity in releasing those who feel called to go. It takes courage to go and it takes courage to stay, and I believe that there are people who are called to go and people who are called to stay. But I do think that as a church, we are called to send. Let us rise up in courage and complete dependence on the Lord. And as we send people out, let us rise up and say, "Here I am Lord, use me." One benefit of being a sending church is that people who perhaps never thought of themselves as leaders are brought to the place where they can stand up, where they can serve, where they can lead. I don't think that Shady Grove will ever be the "comfortable" place, but I believe this church is called to be a family, a community, of those who will say, "all for Christ!" "We will sacrifice, we will give, we will send, we will serve, we will pray, we will worship, we will look to You for our sustanance, we will fear not but will hide ourselves in the shelter of the Almighty."
I know that it might sound funny for me to say all of this since I myself have been sent out; nevertheless, Shady Grove is still my home, still my family. But I believe I speak for many missionaries when I say that I still care deeply for everything God is doing back home. And so much of the strength I feel is from the support back home. I may have physically left, but I have not abandoned. And just as I am encouraged by your support, I want to encourage you with what I see that God is doing.

Light and Beauty

I have been spending a lot of time on my other blog about my time in Germany with the Gateways team. Being in charge of the team blog, I have been put in a situation where I have to be faithful with writing. And it has been such an amazing experience. Writing about things really helps me to process what God is doing, and it is also a way of declaring those things and encouraging others. Posting pictures and telling stories helps me to remember--life changing moments and moments as trivial as what I had for lunch. All this to say, I would really like to endeaver this same faithfulness with my own personal writing. I created this blog for two reasons. First, I wanted a way to begin to cultivate the habbit of writing. My desire is to be a missionary and a writer, and I realize that to be a writer I must write. The second reason I created this blog is because I had a cry in my heart to see people cast off the limitations they have lived under, and discover their beautiful destiny and life in Yeshua. It is interesting because this is very similar to the theme of my other blog and our time in Germany--"Forgotten Seed: Unveiling the Treasures of our Inheritance." So, through this blog, "Hidden Royalty," and my Germany blog, "Field of Pearls," I want to release my gifting in writing to call others to break forth into theirs. Let us allow the light and beauty God has placed in each of us to be revealed today.

Maranatha!

It is so easy in our doing to lose sight of our motivation—our calling—our vocation. Throughout the world, God has created men and women with a myriad of differing gifts and talents, and not all are meant to perform the same function; on the contrary, our diversity is what makes us beautiful and serviceable as the Body of Christ: “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit” (I Corinthians 12:12-13). God’s heart is not for division—neither is it for all to be the exact same. If you look up into the sky on a brilliant, cloudy day, it isn’t simply the clouds that take your breath away, but the host of shades, shadows, textures, and colors. What makes a family so special is the common likeness intermingled with the individual personalities and characteristics. Our Creator God made no two snowflakes the same; no two people the same and no culture the same. So often, we give way to the secret villain of arrogance that creeps in so cunningly. In our desire to fashion our lives after Christ, we begin to think that our measure of revelation must be the fullness, and we find no room in our theology for different expressions. Yet this is not the heart of our Messiah. We have a picture of God’s heart because we know whom He will draw to Himself: Revelation 7:9-10 tells us, “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’” To help hasten the soon coming of our Lord, we must seek unity with our brothers and sisters; for Jesus is coming back to one Church, for one Bride. We must also allow diversity amongst our family in the Lord, for God is worthy of a complete, beautiful, and radiant Bride; and He is worthy to have every feature of His Creation to be turned back to His praise. Let us not rob God of the glory due His name by attempting to mold His Bride into our own image. Let us rather seek to see every nation, tongue, and tribe be transformed into His likeness and bring to the Body of Christ the beauty and gifts that God has placed within them. “If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them in the body just as He pleased” (I Cor. 12:17-18). Let us love one another, “For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?” (I Cor. 3:3). It is so important that we come together as the Bride of Christ, and with all of our differing gifts and callings, lend our voices in unison to agree with the Spirit and cry out, “Come, Lord Jesus!” This is our motivation—our calling—our vocation: to devote our lives to preparing the way for the Lord’s return.