To Know God and Make Him Known

_{“Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10 NASB}

Aloha McCalls on Mission Community!

No Striving

At the beginning of the year God began to speak to me, specific words, that would mark this new season in our family. Words that would begin in 2025 and carry us forward into the future. These words were: peace, rest, already in the breakthrough, and no striving. Living from this place of ‘release to the Lord’ has been such a place of refreshment. So often, I find myself toiling to find answers and to bring clarity to future plans. How many of you resonate with that?

Recently, our Pastor, here in Kona, was giving a sermon about the supernatural life of God working its way out in the normal, every day, mundane of life. Any part of our day is an opportunity to release the extravagant love Jesus. I have to be honest, I felt like I had heard this sermon before and was really working to try not and check out mentally. I had a little voice in the back of my head saying, “Even if you’ve heard this before, pay attention! I have something for you.”

So I did. I worked hard to keep my brain engaged. It was the very last story he told that hit me square between my eyes! It was a brief story about John Kavanaugh a renowned philosopher and ethicist. He went to Calcutta to work at the “house of the dying” for three months to reflect, with God, on how to best spend the rest of his life. When he met Mother Theresa he asked her to pray for him. He wanted prayer for clarity.

Mother Theresa’s reply was a simple ‘no’. When he inquired as to why she wouldn’t pray for him she said this, “Clarity is the last thing you are holding on to and must let go of.” Kavanaugh replied back with, “But you always seem to have clarity!” To that, Mother Theresa laughed and said, “I have never had clarity; what I have always had is trust. So I will pray that you trust God.”

I realized , in that moment, this is also one of the last things I am holding on to. I have been contending for years that God would give me clarity and let me in on the future plans. I, surprisingly enough, still have control issues (and don’t we all?). What He really wants from me is to trust him and simply spend time with him. His presence (God alone) is, actually, what I need.

Take a moment, this day, to release control, surrender afresh to God, and pray for an increase of trusting God. There is a refreshing on the other side of not needing to know everything.

Bilingual School of Worship

A couple weeks ago we wrapped up our first Korean/English School of Worship! It was such a beautiful and transformative time. Not only for our students, but for the staff…especially our new Korean staff. So often we hear that God did much inner healing while being part of the school; this school was no exception. It’s not surprising when you get people into the presence of God that He will address things and show himself faithful. Pray with me for the students who graduated the program; that they will carry everything that God did in and through them to the many nations that He has sent them to. That they will constantly remember and celebrate how great our God is. What an amazing time of breakthrough for each one of us and I really enjoyed pouring, into them, what God has taught me in songwriting.

Quarter 2 School of Worship

This past Wednesday, was arrival day for our second quarter students! This week marks the first ever time that we’ve had back to back Schools of Worship running. We are so excited for this new batch of students and what God has in store for them! We have a separate set of School Leaders and staff running this school. We are beginning to find a great rhythm of staff working in the school and staff working on outreach projects here in Kona and around the world. Please be praying for our first time school leaders. They have staffed for quite a while but it is there first time leading the school. Pray for rest, no striving, peace, and complete dependence upon God as their leader over all.

Additionally, we have a former student returning to staff so that she can pioneer the School of Worship in Papua New Guinea. This has been in the works for over a year now and we are excited to see God continue to multiply the school globally. Gilly, will also be leading an outreach team back to her home town in Papua New Guinea which will help to “prepare the soil for planting”. Currently we have three YWAM bases in PNG that would like to see this school started. Pray for more laborers with us and more leaders to be raised up. The harvest is truly ripe in PNG for salvation and for worship to arise in every language.

Oral Mother Tongue

As a final update, I currently have a colleague working in Pokhara, Nepal, on my behalf, for bridging relationships and seeing new scripture songs written in newly translated languages, in their own cultural expressions. I was supposed to be on this trip but the Lord made it clear that I needed to be home in Kona for other things. My dear friend, Gavin (a staff in School of Worship), has had this same burden in his heart and was willing to carry the torch to Nepal and see this work continue to move forward. Just the other day, he sent me a video of him with an older couple. When they had given their lives to Jesus, they gave up their cultural instruments. They had been encouraged by a fellow believer to use those instruments to worship Jesus; but they wouldn’t. My colleague was with them to help record a new worship song in their language where they redeemed these cultural instruments for Jesus. It was beautiful to watch that video and see God continue to bring redemption to cultures through scripture and song.

Thank you for carrying the torch to the furthest reaches of the earth with us. With great conviction in my heart, I know that our team is just getting started. The foundation has been laid and it’s time to build! Exciting times are truly ahead of us.

Blessing

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and may the Lord give you peace. Amen.  🙏

Grace and Peace be with you in Abundance,

-Chris, Lizzi, Kai, Laila, Rhema, Moses, and Zion ♥️-