E-mail Update ~ 1 week until Outreach!!!
Every week, I send out an e-mail update to people who want to recieve one, and people who support me in some way (prayer, encouragement, financially, other). This is basically just a copy of the e-mail update I sent out on April 13th, 2007.
If you're not recieving these updates and want to start - please e-mail me at chrispalasz@yahoo.com and make the subject stick out so I don't think it's junk mail, and just let me know that you want me to add you to the mailing list. Or, let me know if you want a copy of all of the e-mail updates I've sent out so far, if you want to sift through them and see the progression of my attitude and what's been happening here.
Cheers! Here's the latest e-mail:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Holy Bible (English Standard Version)
The New Testament
The Book of James, chapter 4, verses 6-10
But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
Challenges ~ Brokenness ~ Pride ~ Humility ~ Submission ~ Love ~ Determination
It has been four and a half years since the first time I heard Jesus and knew that he is God. My favorite name for God is “The Living God.” I used to think of God as very distant; maybe dead; maybe gone – just not active in our lives. It still amazes me that people can actually know God personally – that He actually interacts with us in our daily lives. I have no words to describe what it’s like to “hear” God so clearly; when He places ideas in my head or thoughts and I absolutely know they didn’t come from me; or when we pray as a group and Jesus answers us immediately. So many people see coincidences instead of God.
This week has been hard. Let me take you through it.
The overseer of the school, here in Cyprus is Ashraf Farhat (Egyptian). On Monday after lecture, he gave the students an assignment. He asked everyone to make a timeline of experiences in our lives – starting with birth and ending in the present day. We were to pick important experiences that really impacted our lives, and on Tuesday, those who wanted to share could share. In doing this, the point was that we should take the class through our experiences and explain why we picked them as significant in our lives, and how they changed us. Then we were to answer which experiences were “life giving” experiences – which basically means, “what good has come from those experiences?” The last question we were supposed to answer was, “How do you see yourself and how do other people see you?”
I made my timeline, which Ashraf calls a “lifeline.” And for some reason… I’ve realized that almost all of the experiences I wrote down on my timeline that have impacted my life the most… were negative or sad. After a few people shared their lives, I went up to the front and volunteered to share my life also. Why? Because we’re going on outreach soon and I want the team to know me; I want them to know who I am and my past. It was a mistake to think that I could just stand up front and read what I wrote and then sit down. That’s not what happened. Standing up there, reading through the list, after sharing just two points, it got difficult to continue. After the fourth point, I started to cry. If you don’t know me, you should know that I don’t cry very often. The last time I cried was probably about 3 years ago; and I’ve probably never stood in front of a big group and cried, but I forced myself to continue. So I cried and laughed and shared all about my life. I cracked.
It was very emotionally and mentally draining – but it was a step in the right direction. Some bad habits, built long ago in my past, are still trying to hold onto me – and its time I confessed that to God and let Him have them.
I shared with everyone that – of course everyone needs love and encouragement – but truthfully I feel most loved when I am challenged and humbled. God knows this; it’s how Jesus first showed me himself, that he’s alive still.
So I’ve been challenged to open up, let go, and be a leader. This is from God.
I love being humbled so much – those times when you don’t want to let go of your opinion, your pride. You know you’re right about something! Maybe it’s an argument or maybe you’ve been insulted. Jesus says, “Swallow your pride. Put it to death. Let it go. It has no place with me.”
Swallowing pride and putting it to death in your life HURTS. It hurts SO much – comparable to having a broken heart. But in the end it feels SO good! Because the one it hurts MOST is God’s enemy! And God loves to see this in our lives! (Go back and read the verses I have at the beginning of this e-mail, now, AGAIN – please).
The day after that, God gave me another chance to feel the pain of shattered pride. You see, this school, this DTS… the leadership is very weak. This is Miled’s first time as leader of a DTS. He’s a very quiet man with a big heart. He’s a little shy and he likes to do things by himself. Since the beginning, I’ve loved him and respected him as a person, but hated and disrespected his authority. Sanna and Mona are pretty good staff members, but very inexperienced. This is also their first time on staff with YWAM. As a result – in general, we are treated like children. It’s very, very comparable to the rules in a high school. In addition, the staff members are selective about enforcing the rules and giving consequences for broken rules. It’s not consistent at all. As a result, I have developed somewhat of a “hatred” for the DTS, while still loving all of the people. Most of what I’ve learned has come from living in this small community with little privacy. I would recommend that part of this experience to ANYONE. It’s INVALUABLE. I’ve learned a little from the lectures (but mostly I don’t agree with basic YWAM theology, only the important things and foundation: Jesus Christ and other basic Christian teachings); and lastly, I’ve learned a lot from quiet times and relationships. At this point in the DTS – I and many other students have more or less started to completely ignore the rules that were laid down for us. This has caused lots of conflict between staff and students – and as a consequence I labeled the staff “hypocrites” and “poor leaders,” even though I know everyone is a hypocrite in this world.
I always told myself that I didn’t care about following the rules – that being here was about God and getting to know Him more and learning how to follow Jesus more closely. Many times came when I wanted to give up, here, and go home. Just take what I learned in lecture phase and leave. I can do outreach in America, right?
The next day, I felt a fraction of what Job must have felt when God spoke to him from a whirlwind (The Book of Job in the Old Testament). I told God that this DTS wasn’t about rules and staff, but that I would seek Him and just focus on Him, and He hit me with it. God clearly told me – VERY clearly – UNMISTAKABLY clearly – He told me, it IS about the rules and the staff. This is also why you’re here. I am in the rules. I am with the staff. God said that He gave these authorities their position, and if I don’t obey them or the rules, I’m not obeying God either.
In the Bible, some of the weakest people became some of the greatest leaders. One example is King David – a man after God’s own heart. He was young, the youngest of many brothers, he was small, and he was just a boy watching over his father’s sheep. When Samuel came to his father, Jesse, and announced he would choose the next king of Israel from Jesse’s sons, Jesse didn’t even invite David to the dinner. He never though David would stand a chance! But Samuel met each of David’s brothers and said, “God’s anointed one is not here. Are you sure you have no more sons?” And that’s when Jesse sent for David. We all know what happened after that.
How convicting for me. How humbling. What a blow to my pride. Am I right about the staff? Are they hypocrites? Maybe. But I am underneath them, and I need to obey the rules and their authority. So I swallowed my pride again, for another day – this time it was much harder. MUCH harder.
And I realized something else. How is outreach going to look? God convicted me again. I need to give this DTS 100% - not 50%, 75%, or 90% - ONE HUNDRED PERCENT. Not less. I need to focus on learning these dramas for sharing the gospel – I need to practice obeying the rules, being submissive, forgiving those that are close to me here, and above all I need to put them FIRST, treating them as better than myself.
In the New Testament, the book of Philippians (chapter 2 verses 3 and 4) says this:
Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than ourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
God wants to have a relationship with us – ALL of His children – ALL people of ALL nations who will accept the gift of what Jesus has done for us by dying on the cross and being raised from the dead – God will forgive their (our) sins. All who follow Jesus will be forgiven.
And God wants us to have a relationship with those who don’t know about what Jesus did – He wants us to get to know these people and LOVE them. Well????? HOW can we love them if we don’t love each other? I’m saying this to myself, by the way. How can I love the people in outreach we’re going to help if I can’t love the students and staff at this DTS and put them before myself? It’s hard to do… but I will try hard to do it – and I know I can’t do it without God’s help and His strength.
I am humbled. I am convicted. I am broken – and my pride I shattered. It’s a good step.
Friday came and went. We did not hear from the Mexican embassy. We did not get the visas. We are not going to Mexico.
We’re going to ******* for outreach.
At this point, I have almost no funds to go to ******* – so this should be a prayer focus for the week. Thanks so much!
We took a little test on spiritual gifts, and guess what? It said my strongest gift – by a lot – was “giving.” I always knew that I love to give.
I have a strong heart to go with the team to ******* and finish this DTS. I know God is preparing me for something much bigger. I also believe all of this is happening to prepare YOU, also – and God is turning gears in your hearts and minds and lives RIGHT now.
I don’t like to ask for things from people – and yet I love to give things to people ESPECIALLY when they ask me. And more – I know God wants to give what is good to ALL who ask of Him! So I’m challenged to challenge you – you who love Jesus, know Him, and support the great commission, to make disciples of all nations. Will you pray and ask Jesus if you should take part in this cause with financial support for my team?
(Matthew 28:18-20) “And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
If this is not something you agree with or believe in – I’m not asking you to give anything. For those that want to, I am asking them to be a part of something big.
At least one person who receives these updates, I know, wants to see me work for funds if I believe in this cause so much – well, I do believe in the cause that much; and if you can think of ANY way for me to work and receive funds for this – I WILL do it; only, I am not willing to borrow money and have debt for this. I already have school debt that I’m putting off for a short time because I believe in God calling me to this DTS in Cyprus.
As a person who has the heart of a giver – I know that God blesses this gift. And when there is need, He provides, even when there doesn’t seem to be anything there… like the woman Elijah stayed with and her jar of oil that never ran out; and like the woman that gave everything she had and put it into the church offering box (Luke 21:2-4). God looks after us and provides everything we need.
Sincerely, I believe the finances will come one way or another – but I pray they would come through you, and that I might be blessed to show our team here love and generosity of the Body of Christ in America – that we are one Church with one God, one purpose – that we are one family – and that we are willing to sacrifice and be used by God to advance His Kingdom.
As I said, there is one more week before we leave – but I might send two short updates between now and then to let you know anything important.
And if you want to contribute any financial support for our team, it can only be done one of two ways. I will not post any of this information on the internet, so please e-mail me at chrispalasz@yahoo.com and I can get you the information you need.
I will keep you ALL in my prayers, as usual, and if you want me or the team here to pray for you in any specific way – please share and I’ll be happy to!!!
God bless, with love!
~Christopher Palasz
If you're not recieving these updates and want to start - please e-mail me at chrispalasz@yahoo.com and make the subject stick out so I don't think it's junk mail, and just let me know that you want me to add you to the mailing list. Or, let me know if you want a copy of all of the e-mail updates I've sent out so far, if you want to sift through them and see the progression of my attitude and what's been happening here.
Cheers! Here's the latest e-mail:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Holy Bible (English Standard Version)
The New Testament
The Book of James, chapter 4, verses 6-10
But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
Challenges ~ Brokenness ~ Pride ~ Humility ~ Submission ~ Love ~ Determination
It has been four and a half years since the first time I heard Jesus and knew that he is God. My favorite name for God is “The Living God.” I used to think of God as very distant; maybe dead; maybe gone – just not active in our lives. It still amazes me that people can actually know God personally – that He actually interacts with us in our daily lives. I have no words to describe what it’s like to “hear” God so clearly; when He places ideas in my head or thoughts and I absolutely know they didn’t come from me; or when we pray as a group and Jesus answers us immediately. So many people see coincidences instead of God.
This week has been hard. Let me take you through it.
The overseer of the school, here in Cyprus is Ashraf Farhat (Egyptian). On Monday after lecture, he gave the students an assignment. He asked everyone to make a timeline of experiences in our lives – starting with birth and ending in the present day. We were to pick important experiences that really impacted our lives, and on Tuesday, those who wanted to share could share. In doing this, the point was that we should take the class through our experiences and explain why we picked them as significant in our lives, and how they changed us. Then we were to answer which experiences were “life giving” experiences – which basically means, “what good has come from those experiences?” The last question we were supposed to answer was, “How do you see yourself and how do other people see you?”
I made my timeline, which Ashraf calls a “lifeline.” And for some reason… I’ve realized that almost all of the experiences I wrote down on my timeline that have impacted my life the most… were negative or sad. After a few people shared their lives, I went up to the front and volunteered to share my life also. Why? Because we’re going on outreach soon and I want the team to know me; I want them to know who I am and my past. It was a mistake to think that I could just stand up front and read what I wrote and then sit down. That’s not what happened. Standing up there, reading through the list, after sharing just two points, it got difficult to continue. After the fourth point, I started to cry. If you don’t know me, you should know that I don’t cry very often. The last time I cried was probably about 3 years ago; and I’ve probably never stood in front of a big group and cried, but I forced myself to continue. So I cried and laughed and shared all about my life. I cracked.
It was very emotionally and mentally draining – but it was a step in the right direction. Some bad habits, built long ago in my past, are still trying to hold onto me – and its time I confessed that to God and let Him have them.
I shared with everyone that – of course everyone needs love and encouragement – but truthfully I feel most loved when I am challenged and humbled. God knows this; it’s how Jesus first showed me himself, that he’s alive still.
So I’ve been challenged to open up, let go, and be a leader. This is from God.
I love being humbled so much – those times when you don’t want to let go of your opinion, your pride. You know you’re right about something! Maybe it’s an argument or maybe you’ve been insulted. Jesus says, “Swallow your pride. Put it to death. Let it go. It has no place with me.”
Swallowing pride and putting it to death in your life HURTS. It hurts SO much – comparable to having a broken heart. But in the end it feels SO good! Because the one it hurts MOST is God’s enemy! And God loves to see this in our lives! (Go back and read the verses I have at the beginning of this e-mail, now, AGAIN – please).
The day after that, God gave me another chance to feel the pain of shattered pride. You see, this school, this DTS… the leadership is very weak. This is Miled’s first time as leader of a DTS. He’s a very quiet man with a big heart. He’s a little shy and he likes to do things by himself. Since the beginning, I’ve loved him and respected him as a person, but hated and disrespected his authority. Sanna and Mona are pretty good staff members, but very inexperienced. This is also their first time on staff with YWAM. As a result – in general, we are treated like children. It’s very, very comparable to the rules in a high school. In addition, the staff members are selective about enforcing the rules and giving consequences for broken rules. It’s not consistent at all. As a result, I have developed somewhat of a “hatred” for the DTS, while still loving all of the people. Most of what I’ve learned has come from living in this small community with little privacy. I would recommend that part of this experience to ANYONE. It’s INVALUABLE. I’ve learned a little from the lectures (but mostly I don’t agree with basic YWAM theology, only the important things and foundation: Jesus Christ and other basic Christian teachings); and lastly, I’ve learned a lot from quiet times and relationships. At this point in the DTS – I and many other students have more or less started to completely ignore the rules that were laid down for us. This has caused lots of conflict between staff and students – and as a consequence I labeled the staff “hypocrites” and “poor leaders,” even though I know everyone is a hypocrite in this world.
I always told myself that I didn’t care about following the rules – that being here was about God and getting to know Him more and learning how to follow Jesus more closely. Many times came when I wanted to give up, here, and go home. Just take what I learned in lecture phase and leave. I can do outreach in America, right?
The next day, I felt a fraction of what Job must have felt when God spoke to him from a whirlwind (The Book of Job in the Old Testament). I told God that this DTS wasn’t about rules and staff, but that I would seek Him and just focus on Him, and He hit me with it. God clearly told me – VERY clearly – UNMISTAKABLY clearly – He told me, it IS about the rules and the staff. This is also why you’re here. I am in the rules. I am with the staff. God said that He gave these authorities their position, and if I don’t obey them or the rules, I’m not obeying God either.
In the Bible, some of the weakest people became some of the greatest leaders. One example is King David – a man after God’s own heart. He was young, the youngest of many brothers, he was small, and he was just a boy watching over his father’s sheep. When Samuel came to his father, Jesse, and announced he would choose the next king of Israel from Jesse’s sons, Jesse didn’t even invite David to the dinner. He never though David would stand a chance! But Samuel met each of David’s brothers and said, “God’s anointed one is not here. Are you sure you have no more sons?” And that’s when Jesse sent for David. We all know what happened after that.
How convicting for me. How humbling. What a blow to my pride. Am I right about the staff? Are they hypocrites? Maybe. But I am underneath them, and I need to obey the rules and their authority. So I swallowed my pride again, for another day – this time it was much harder. MUCH harder.
And I realized something else. How is outreach going to look? God convicted me again. I need to give this DTS 100% - not 50%, 75%, or 90% - ONE HUNDRED PERCENT. Not less. I need to focus on learning these dramas for sharing the gospel – I need to practice obeying the rules, being submissive, forgiving those that are close to me here, and above all I need to put them FIRST, treating them as better than myself.
In the New Testament, the book of Philippians (chapter 2 verses 3 and 4) says this:
Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than ourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
God wants to have a relationship with us – ALL of His children – ALL people of ALL nations who will accept the gift of what Jesus has done for us by dying on the cross and being raised from the dead – God will forgive their (our) sins. All who follow Jesus will be forgiven.
And God wants us to have a relationship with those who don’t know about what Jesus did – He wants us to get to know these people and LOVE them. Well????? HOW can we love them if we don’t love each other? I’m saying this to myself, by the way. How can I love the people in outreach we’re going to help if I can’t love the students and staff at this DTS and put them before myself? It’s hard to do… but I will try hard to do it – and I know I can’t do it without God’s help and His strength.
I am humbled. I am convicted. I am broken – and my pride I shattered. It’s a good step.
Friday came and went. We did not hear from the Mexican embassy. We did not get the visas. We are not going to Mexico.
We’re going to ******* for outreach.
At this point, I have almost no funds to go to ******* – so this should be a prayer focus for the week. Thanks so much!
We took a little test on spiritual gifts, and guess what? It said my strongest gift – by a lot – was “giving.” I always knew that I love to give.
I have a strong heart to go with the team to ******* and finish this DTS. I know God is preparing me for something much bigger. I also believe all of this is happening to prepare YOU, also – and God is turning gears in your hearts and minds and lives RIGHT now.
I don’t like to ask for things from people – and yet I love to give things to people ESPECIALLY when they ask me. And more – I know God wants to give what is good to ALL who ask of Him! So I’m challenged to challenge you – you who love Jesus, know Him, and support the great commission, to make disciples of all nations. Will you pray and ask Jesus if you should take part in this cause with financial support for my team?
(Matthew 28:18-20) “And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
If this is not something you agree with or believe in – I’m not asking you to give anything. For those that want to, I am asking them to be a part of something big.
At least one person who receives these updates, I know, wants to see me work for funds if I believe in this cause so much – well, I do believe in the cause that much; and if you can think of ANY way for me to work and receive funds for this – I WILL do it; only, I am not willing to borrow money and have debt for this. I already have school debt that I’m putting off for a short time because I believe in God calling me to this DTS in Cyprus.
As a person who has the heart of a giver – I know that God blesses this gift. And when there is need, He provides, even when there doesn’t seem to be anything there… like the woman Elijah stayed with and her jar of oil that never ran out; and like the woman that gave everything she had and put it into the church offering box (Luke 21:2-4). God looks after us and provides everything we need.
Sincerely, I believe the finances will come one way or another – but I pray they would come through you, and that I might be blessed to show our team here love and generosity of the Body of Christ in America – that we are one Church with one God, one purpose – that we are one family – and that we are willing to sacrifice and be used by God to advance His Kingdom.
As I said, there is one more week before we leave – but I might send two short updates between now and then to let you know anything important.
And if you want to contribute any financial support for our team, it can only be done one of two ways. I will not post any of this information on the internet, so please e-mail me at chrispalasz@yahoo.com and I can get you the information you need.
I will keep you ALL in my prayers, as usual, and if you want me or the team here to pray for you in any specific way – please share and I’ll be happy to!!!
God bless, with love!
~Christopher Palasz
posted by CarbonChris at 6:39 AM
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