Transformed by Love

My dear wonderful art friends!

This past week we met again at the art building. This
time was a different, because although we usually pray
for the art building, this time we felt that we had to
know what the Lord was saying. Psalm 127 encouraged
us to seek what He was saying for us this day, this
semester..."Unless the LORD builds the house, its
builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over
the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain."

The time of waiting on the Lord was refreshing for all
of us, and though the directions from the Lord were
not given to us like a order of business, I am glad it
was not. God is our Master, but He is more also our
Lover, our Friend, closer than a brother, loving as a
Father.

Love. Instead of a list, or a strategy, He told us how
He longs for us, loves us and wants us to show this
love, build up, encourage, plant more trees and
disciple. It seems like it would be so simple to know
this, but I think so often, who am I that He would
love me? It is in this season I feel that we must
know this love. We must receive this love.

Why must we receive this love? In order to give away
we must already have what we want to give away,
usually in abundance. God has shown me recently that
when I ask for Him to expand my heart to love others I
must receive even more of His love. It is the
deepening of a well. I will not instantly be able to
love people more. I must receive more of His
precious, unconditional, undeserved love to fill this
deepened well. Nothing else matters unless this love
is first received. It sounds backwards to me...that I
should need to love people first, prove to God that I
am good at something, and then I can receive His love.
But that is what is backwards. Without all my
impressions and deeds God wants you and I to come, so
that He can love us, and He deeply longs for us to
receive this love.

That is what I pray for all of you that this will be
your joy this week...receiving in abundance His
extravegent love and finding exceeding joy in the
moments that He overflows through you to others!

Dear CIVA-AZ

Christian’s in Visual Arts @ ASU 2008

What is God calling you to? In order to give your life you must know what you were born for. It can be an overwhelming question, but just one life fully given to God and His purposes can CHANGE THE WORLD!

This is my purpose overall—to change the world. What is revival? What does it look like to possess the land (art college, ASU)? We have already started, laying a foundation of prayer, and now we must step out at the same time with love if we are to go with God in transforming our lives, those around us and the world!

I want you to possess this place—I want you to know that YOU are important and that you have a role in the transformation happening around you! There are many ways that God uses us, all of them unique. What are you called to?

There is a Biblical outline of the purposes of the body of Christ—the five-fold ministry, although there are many more.
The concept of the five-fold ministry comes from Ephesians 4:11, "It was he who gave some to be (1) apostles, some to be (2) prophets, some to be (3) evangelists, and some to be (4) pastors and (5) teachers." Primarily as a result of this verse, some believe God has restored, or is restoring, the offices of apostles and prophet in the church today. Ephesians 4:12-13 tells us that the purpose of the five-fold ministry is, "to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." So, since the body of Christ definitely is not built up to unity in the faith and has not attained to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ, the thinking goes, the offices of apostle and prophet must still be in effect.

Other areas that God uses us in:
Worship
Intercession
Mercy
Healing
Disciple-making
Networking
Lover of God
Art/Creative Worship
Business management
Encouragement
Etc.

We can be many of these at the same time and God wants to help us walk more fully in all of them! Please pray and consider what God is calling you to, in this group specifically and corporately for the Body. The more we are focusing on God and walking in the gifts He has given us, the faster we will see Heaven coming to Earth!

This semester I will be graduating from ASU. I will not be leaving the campus, but I feel that the Lord is moving me into different role for the Fall. Rather than coordinating and leading the prayer-walking, I feel that I will be networking with other artists in Arizona and nationally, moving more fully into creative worship and helping to build the community among the artists at ASU, specifically undergraduates, and following God to lead other colleges into the prayer base we have started in the art collge. My vision is to see a community started in the art college at ASU that will be implemented all over the campus, to see missional communities started in pockets of unreached people groups (specifically in arts), and connect the Christian art community with one another to more effectively know our purpose and calling as Artists in this hour.

This semester I want you to get a vision (it doesn’t have to be this one), and start to ask God to reveal mysteries of His heart to you!

I love you all! You have become like a family to me, and also like my children as I have prayed for you and come to know you and the unique place you have in God’s heart!
Love,
Heidi

Please take a moment and think about what you are good at, where God has gifted you and how you would like to take ownership of CIVA-AZ.
Some of the practical things that are involved with this group:

• Networking—Calling and e-mailing people to organize prayer-walking and other events
• Administrative—Sending out updates to the group about the previous meeting, testimonies and encouragement http://civaarizona.blogspot.com , civa.az@gmail.com
• Prayer-covering—praying for the group on a daily basis (intercession)
• Encouragement—calling group members, listening, exhorting
• Leading—facilitating the prayerwalking (having a knowledge of how the prayerwalking is done practically, and being willing to decide groups, locations and focus.
• Prophetic—Discerning where the Holy Spirit is leading on the prayerwalk, asking the Lord what strongholds need prayer, and sharing with the group what they feel the Lord is saying for group and for the school at that time.
• Apostolic—Stepping out in faith where God is leading to start something new: art community, 24-hour prayer, etc.

For Such a Time....

Hello fellow artist's and friends,
I have loved being with all of you this semester seeing how the group has grown and reading how God has been placing it as a desire on your heart to use your gifts and talents for what God is doing Now.
In this time it becomes more and more apparent to me the way in which God is networking and unifying His chosen artist's for such a time as this. This past year here at ASU, as many of you know, we have been praying for the art school, reaching out to the students and more recently have begun to realize the urgency of the hour, as I wrote to you in my last message.

This time I want to encourage you that we have really been seeing the artist as a prophet in these coming years. It seems to me that in the past years the artist has been devalued, ignored or at the very least shunned as a profession. But in this past semester I have noticed, by no coincidence, that God is drawing His artist's back for this appointed time. The battle is coming! He needs His artist's just as He did in the old testament, to go before the army, playing music, painting His truth, singing of hope and setting the captives free!I hear almost every week of students changing their major to art here at ASU. Students who didn't know what they were going to major in are taking art classes. Some are even realizing again their gift of music, and are pursuing it again!

As I listen to students and teachers talk to one another I hear new things, prophetic things. We have been praying for truth to be manifested in the school of art, and it is! Through the mouths of the students and teacher's! One of the students in the group has overheard and talked with students who are speaking deep and profound truths in their classes about their artwork. Just last week my painting professor told my class that he felt there was going to be another social revolution in the next 5-10 years (another Great Awakening!), saying that he also felt that our society would be less individualistic and more built on community. I think that God wants His artists to begin to usher this social revolution in! I said last time, as artisits, we have credibility to address what most other's cannot. Injustice, our own culture and reform. I feel the baton is being passed on to us. But it is not an opportunity of fear, but God's ability to work out His Courage in us!

COURAGE: An Audacious, Unhibited, Extremely Original, Recklessly Brave, Unhindered, Highly Capable, Imaginative attempt to CHANGE THE WORLD!

Does this happen instantly? Of course not. But how we start is: choice by choice, step by step and yes by yes. We say, I am yours Lord, and You are Mine! Blessings on all of you as we go into the Winter Break and Merry Christmas! Be refreshed and reunited with God's presence as we wait on Him for His coming glory! And keep painting, singing, playing music, drawing and creating!

Planting Campus Churches

The Method 5 Steps to Starting Campus Churches that Reproduce (Adapted from Neil Cole):

1. Practice of Prayer:
The first step to planting a campus church is to start on our knees. We must see what the Father is doing and simply join Him. Before we send out any campus church planter they are to seek the Lord in prayer and fasting for His direction. Prayer must precede planning. Practically, pray for God to bring you a team. You can begin to talk to other believers you know who can join you on or near campus or even flyer bulletin boards that there is a new church starting on campus. (Campus Church networks can connect you with a CCN coach to equip and mentor your team in the church planting process.) Shortly after, start a prayer chain or begin prayer walks over an area of students the Lord is leading your team to start a campus church in. Begin to ask the Lord for the harvest and to raise up student workers from within it. Ask the Lord what are the spiritual strongholds of and in the different areas of the campus? Then pray for God to destroy the strongholds. "For our battle is not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places (Eph 6:12)." We must pray it out before we walk it out! Campus Crusade the world largest Christian organization was started by a 24-hour prayer vigil on the UCLA campus.

Founder Bill Bright decided before he would try to plan, strategize or reach out to the students, he would first pray for them. He formed a 24-hour prayer chain with college students from his local church asking God to open a door at UCLA to preach the Gospel. A short while after this prayer vigil God opened a door for Bill to preach to a sorority house where half the students gave their life to Jesus and in the following weeks 250 students on campus were saved including the Student Body President, Top Athletes, and Yearbook Editor!

2. Pockets of People:
The second step is to look for "pockets of people", who are un-reached with the Gospel. In Luke 10 Jesus sent out the 70 to towns and villages (specifically the lost sheep of Israel). We are to look for the lost sheep, not those who are well, but those that are in need of a physician. Jesus came to call not the righteous, but sinners to repentance. As a campus church planting movement we are specifically targeting pockets of students normally un-touched by other fellowships on campus. Don't try to recruit and win believers, but always focus and start with unbelievers. Go to the campus hang outs, cafes, bowling allies, fraternities, sororities, sports teams, campus clubs/organizations, local clubs, downtown, movie theaters, parks etc. Our goal is not to bring the students to the church, but the church to the students.
At San Jose State University a student from a campus fellowship began to feel God's burden for the lost young women in the sororities. So instead of trying to invite them to a campus fellowship she acted like a missionary and brought the fellowship to them by joining the sorority! She is now a leader in the sorority and leading her sorority sisters to Christ!

3. Power of Presence:
The third step is to simply "show up." Jesus commanded His disciples to "Go" and make disciples, not wait for them to come to a church building. As we pray and are led by the Holy Spirit to pockets of un-reached students, we are to then show up and befriend those lost groups of students. The most effective way of befriending a lost group of students is by serving and caring for their needs. We do this before we share with them the Gospel, by finding out their needs and meeting them. For example, college students are hungry for a good meal, so hold free dinners. If the international students want to practice their English, hang out and talk English with them. Whatever it may be, meet the students felt needs. So we pray for them, we then care for them & when the door of opportunity opens we share with them the Good News of Jesus Christ! Jesus sent out the 70 telling them to take nothing with them. We should not be hindered in our church planting and evangelism because we don't have a facility, staff or finances. The resources are in the harvest field, our job is to show up, preach the Kingdom, pray for the sick, deliver the oppressed and expect God to open a dorm, apartments, classroom, cafe, or home etc for us to start a campus church.
In Cal State Long Beach a campus church planter started praying for students near the school art building. Pretty soon he developed friendships with students in the art department and eventually led them to Christ on the front lawn of the Art Department. They ended up meeting each week on the front lawn for church! That campus church ended up planting 8 more churches at Cal State Long Beach University.

4. Person of Peace:
The fourth step is to find the person of peace or the student of peace within the pocket of students. Jesus said to his disciples to go into the town and villages looking for the person who would welcome the gospel and open up their home. The student of peace is critical, because they will be the indigenous leader to win that community of lost students. They become the conduit for passing the kingdom message to the entire community of friends. Could you imagine if you won the leader of the fraternity to Christ, the whole frat could follow & come to Christ! A person of peace is (student of peace):

Receptive: They are open to the message of the person and peace of Christ.
Relational Connections: They know lots of students on campus and in the community
Reputation: They are people of reputation good or bad (Cornelius/Samaritan Women)
Reborn: They are normally a seeker whom you win to the Lord and are born again. I

n San Francisco State University a campus fellowship led a star-wrestling player to Christ and very soon the same star wrestler led almost the entire SFSU wrestling team to Christ also! Look for the natural student leaders who already have influence with other students on campus. 5. People of Purpose:The fifth step is as the student of peace brings his/her friends and family to Christ a church is born.

The uniqueness of this birth is the church was born out of the harvest and is found among the harvest and is bent on a mission to continue to reach the lost as its main purpose. The student of peace could have the new church meet in his/her home, apartment, dorm or wherever is convenient on or near campus and may be even the new leader of the emerging church. The key is once the new church is born on campus it is imperative for the campus church planter to work his/her way out of the new church plant by modeling & training the new emerging student leader to lead & pastor the new campus church. In this way, the new campus church will not be dependent on the church planter to pastor them, but they will indigenously take responsibility to lead themselves and reproduce leaders of their own kind naturally. This kind of a church is not hindered by cultural Christianity (where it becomes a social club) or a church that is dependent on a full time pastor/staff, because the students from the start learn how to reach their friends, depend on God, each other and don't know any better than to follow Jesus and expect Him to save their friends, family and ultimately the nations!

In Los Angeles a major campus ministry realized their full time campus staff members did not have enough capacity to manage 8-10 campuses by themselves. In order to remedy this problem they took the above "student of peace" approach and started campus fellowships by winning students of peace & empowering them to win their lost friends immediately. Once a fellowship was formed the campus staff would model for the new student leader how to lead the campus ministry. After a short while the staff member would coach the student of peace from a distance so they would lead or pastor the new campus fellowship and reproduce likewise. This approach worked so well this ministry has since adopted this model and growth has exploded exponentially on different campuses. If they were still relying on full time campus staff workers to manage & lead all the different campus ministries they would never have the capacity to reach so many campuses with such effectiveness. Evangelistic Tools:There are many tools for evangelism that have proven effective in church history. Our philosophy is to not choose anyone over another, but to work with what works. We may use a variety of methods to win the person of peace on campus and his/her networks of friends and family. Possible methods to be used are:

Prayer evangelism: Prayer, Care, Share
Power evangelism: Praying for signs, wonders and miracles
Persuasion evangelism: Handing out tracks, 4 spiritual laws or other creative Gospel materials
Proclamation evangelism: Holding evangelistic rallies, open air preaching during school
Personal evangelism: Befriending them, inviting unbelievers to, free dinner, coffee, cell meeting etc
Pasta evangelism: AKA: Alpha dinners 10 week intro to Christianity, seeker Bible study/forum, etc.
Prophetic evangelism: dream & vision interpretation, word of knowledge or prophetic booths on campus at Starbucks.
Present evangelism: Use whatever present creative means to be culturally relevant in sharing the gospel in a way they can understand.

A Burning Bush

Hi everyone!
Sorry the weekly updates have been sparse recently, but I want to let you all know that it has been such an encouragement to hear from some of you and to know that God is doing a work in your lives and the lives of others!
I have found that recently all I want is to know Jesus more. Nothing else matters. I realized this past week that I was all about the DOing part of faith--putting too much importance on the ministry and not on the joy of walking with our Father, with our Bridegroom.

This week at ASU we did not prayerwalk the art building. I felt that God was calling us back to our roots; back to intimacy with Him. This week we worshiped together and then closed the meeting by praying for eachother individually. It seemed like the main topic for prayer was a re-discover of intimacy with Jesus. We all have been hungery for His presence in our lives. Like the song Breathe says, we are LOST without Him!
Apart from Him we can do nothing, but I want to encourage you--we are NEVER without Him! All things are possible!

Let God take your heart this week and make it a burning bush of His presence. This week at ASU, the Memorial Union caught on fire. I was astonished and in shock as walked by thousands of studenst standing outside this building very close to the center of campus. When something burns, especially when it REALLY burns, like our union, people can't help but stop and stare in awe and wonder. In the same way God wants to set us on fire, purify us, call us to repentence and baptize our hearts in His Holy fire so that other's will stop and watch us burn!
If you have been discouraged or felt a loss of hope, do not despair. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and future.'"
All this is a part of the burning process--complete surrender for God has the perfect plan for you! My life is a testimony of this truth and I pray that God will show Himself to you in this coming week and put you on fire for His glory!
God bless you all!

Dear CIVA

Dear CIVA,

This past Sunday God has convicted my heart of something and it will have an impact on this week's meeting at 2:15, so I wanted to give you an idea of what might be happening this Friday.

First of all, I want to apologize. I have not been focused on really connecting with each of you individually this semester and seeing what God is doing in your lives, where you are struggling and how we as a group can unite and support one another.
I thank God for His grace though. I am learning more and more that what we are doing (praying) is not an obligation out of duty or guilt, but something that should come as an overflow as we realize the great love of our Father.

Last night I realized just how much I love all of you. As a mother cares for her children I felt as though I was your mother. I was mad at the enemy for all that he has done to steal, kill or destroy in your lives, and this mother's love broke me down to tears praying for all of you and wanting to care for you more.
Honestly, I do not know my Father's heart enough. I pray that He will expand my heart to carry this knowledge so that I can love you as He does. At times I am afraid that I cannot be a good enough mother, that I don't even know how, but God tells me that it out of my weakness and lack of "knowledge" that He can work in His mighty strength and wisdom.
Please know that FATHER LOVES YOU, JESUS IS PASSIONATELY PURSUING YOU, SINGING OVER YOU (ZEPH 3:17) REJOICING OVER YOU, YES, EVEN IN YOUR WEAKNESS, IN YOUR FAILURE, IN YOUR SIN, YOU ARE STILL LOVED AND ENJOYED BY FATHER GOD. Love to love Him, live to know Him, know that "LOVE LOVES YOU!" God is love! He loved you first, always had and always will, His love for you will never change, forever and ever.
I pray that I can learn to love you as our Father does. That is why this Friday may be different.

This week God put it on my heart that as the prayer group for the art building we need to come together this week at the prayer house, repent for the sins of the art school and also repent among one another as the Bible tells us to do. This won't be an hour of judgement on one another, but an hour of release and cleansing. I will be honest with all of you with what I have been struggling with and I want to encourage all of you, have all of us pray for one another, and spend time loving eachother as God has loved us.
I believe God has been showing me that when we are divided we are conquered, but when we are united we are victorious. Whatever you need prayer for, whatever is on your heart, please come and share it with us as we meet this Friday.
We will meet at the Danforth Chapel across from the Library this week, rather than at the art building. I know it will probably be empty and we will be able to spend more time together without interuption.

I love you all. I will be praying unrelentingly for all of you this week and I really look forward to seeing you if can make this Friday.

God's Goodness!

Hello fellow artists!
This week has been a new week of breakthrough here at Arizona State University! As I have sent you testimonies since this group began, thank you so much for praying and for praying for your realm of influence! Do not grow weary now in doing good, for God is moving in even greater waves of His glory as He finds those who are faithful to obey Him!

This week I was invited to talk to one of the Christian clubs on campus about prayerwalking, which we have done at the art college now for almost a year. The response was so encouraging and I am praying that more and more students begin to ask God for His heart for their college and the people groups that they can touch.

Also, a new desire for community has arisen in the art college among the students! One of our prayerwalkers, Bethany, listened in her class as students expressed their hope that the students in the art college would not be isolated and lonely, but establish a group where one could recieve support.
This is why we have come together as Chrisitians in our prayer group, but it has also been the vision that it could also expand to the rest of the art college, where no one would be left alone, but always have somone praying for them and encouraging them! Please pray that we will have wisdom and revelation from the Spirit to work with the Lord in this vision! We even felt that this would be the development of a community among the art students that would be modeled after and emulated by the rest of the university!

So many more relationships are being developed among the students now that I cannot list them all! Testimonies are being shared and God's name glorified and spoken in classes!

All the glory be to God and may He encourage you to press on for the prize! I thank God for all of you and I will keep you in my prayers!