I’ve done a terrible job at keeping my blog up the last couple months and I apologize for that. I hope to be posting quite frequently now that I’m home and I try to expand more on WISE school and include various musings about what I learned and things that God brought me through.
The last 3 months of my life have been quite interesting. It is hard for me to describe WISE school and how it went. In many ways it was exactly what I expected yet in many it just wasn’t. Classes were great; we had speakers from all over the place and many various organizations such as Global Awakening, Wisdom’s House, YWAM and others. We had topics such as Prophetic Worship, Spiritual Warfare, Prophetic Evangelism, the book of Daniel, Prophetic Lifestyle, Healing Evangelism and many others. We also got the chance to do a lot of evangelism in Mazatlan, we visited orphanages, we prayed over the streets, we saw people healed in Centro, and we worshiped in restaurants. We took a trip to Durango and helped out with a church and we spent a week in the mountains learning about solitude and silence.
One of the highlights for me was probably our trip to Mexiquillo (the mountains). Just being able to hike off by myself and spend 7 hours alone with the LORD in silence enjoying His beautiful creation was just amazing. God spoke so much to me about my identity, my future, and about things I was going through at the time. It really gave me a true encounter with what God means when He says "Be still, and know that I am God. (Psalms 46:10)
It is weird to think that I will not be living in Mazatlan anymore. I do plan to go back many times throughout my life maybe even as soon as next March for their Carnaval outreach. However it is time for me to move onto a new season of my life. God is calling me to college in the fall in Rochester, New York at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT – www.rit.edu). I will be studying film and hopefully business alongside of that. I know God has great plans for me as I press forward to take what I’ve learned and start impacting the 7 spheres of society, particularly the spheres of business and media.
However before school, God has one more pit stop for me. From July 22-31 I will be a leader on my church’s high school mission trip to the country of Panama. We will be working with YWAM doing various kinds of evangelism, kids’ ministry, and serving. While I’m excited to go to Panama I am just as excited to work with the youth from my generation and to pour into them and help them to take hold of their faith and step out into the power of the gospel. I would again appreciate your prayers for this trip. First off for myself that God would help me be a leader not just as a name but in my actions. Secondly pray for the youth coming along that they would encounter God as they serve Him. And finally for the country of Panama and the people that we are reaching out to that they would see the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge.
I want to thank you all again for all your support whether it has been through prayer, encouragement, or money. For Panama I am still short about $700 and am trusting the LORD to provide. If you do feel God calling you to give you can write a check out to North Heights Lutheran Church and send it to:
Chris Brands
1302 Folsom St.
St. Paul, MN 55117
Thanks again for all your support, may “the LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. (Num 6:24-26) Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
(Jude 1:24-25)
God bless!
Brother Chris Brands
My WISE school at our Graduation Ceremony
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