Anthony & Mandy Inchaustegui

The more I live, the more I’m convinced that God calls us to a real and authentic life.  We got the opportunity to go see Chuck and Cynthia Swindoll speak about what they’ve learned from ministry in the setting of a pastor’s forum.  The number one thing that Chuck said a minister can give his ministry is authenticity.  I would argue the same for the number one thing we can give our friends, spouses and children.  I come into contact with too many people, including myself at times, who live with all this “stuff” beneath the surface.  For one reason or another, we only show the good side of us and don’t deal with what really is going on in our hearts and lives.  We begin to get further and further away from knowing who we truly are.  As a result, we don’t deal with some of the sin in our lives.  Or, because we’re keeping the sin in the dark, it continues to have power over us as we try to deal with it on our own.  It is amazing to me how that power is immediately broken when we choose to confess what’s going on to people who we’re in community with.  So many of us are walking around with so much going unsaid.  We’re lonely in our struggles and think that “we’re the only ones.”  This isn’t how God created His church to be!  What if we had communities where people didn’t judge each other but had compassion and concern for each other?  What if we all were in touch with our own brokenness and didn’t try to appear picture perfect all the time?  What if we shared what struggles we’d been through or are going through and that opened up doors for people to feel free to share their own stories?  What if we really cared about people walking free and not just looking like it?

I guess you could say this is my soap box.  It’s not really a new one but one I’m pretty passionate about.  I just see over and over again how the enemy wants us to not be real with each other.  He doesn’t want us to band together to pray about what’s really going on in our lives.  He wants our small groups to be superficial and he wants families to look so perfect on the outside yet have issues (like everyone does) on the inside.  This can be such a pitfall in leadership.  As young leaders, we want to live up to people’s expectations for us so it’s hard to be vulnerable.  People think we’re “so great” and we really don’t want to let them down.  So, we begin to hide things or just not deal with them.  The problem with that is that they don’t go away.  As we get more and more responsibility, the issues get bigger and hiding them becomes more important.  Then there’s a major fall and people ask, “How could this have happened?”  I’ve been told a lot of different perspectives and I understand sharing deep things with people you trust.  However, I think that there’s a difference in attitude.  I don’t ever want people to put me on any sort of a pedestal.  I don’t belong there.  I make many mistakes and will fail them.  I don’t want the pressure of having to live up to some false expectation of me.  As a leader, I want to cultivate communities of realness, rawness, and honesty where people are free to confess so that we can pray for each other so that God may bring true freedom and healing.  I believe as leaders, we must lead in this also.  May we be the first to admit our brokenness, how much we need God’s grace, and what that love and grace has done in our lives.

I feel that we may have been brought here to this time and place and with this unique group of people to join together and figure out what this looks like in healthy, Biblical community.  We’re learning how to discover who we really are by telling all of our stories, not just the fun, pretty ones.  We’re learning how true intimacy is developed with each other and with the people we’re in community with as we share our struggles and temptations.  Chances are, those struggles are also part of their story, too, in some way or another.  There is a humility that comes and a mutual responsibility to each other that is so deep.  I believe this is how Jesus intended us to be in relationship with each other.  We’re learning what this practically looks like and are enjoying walking in the light and freedom that comes from it.  We pray that we as the church will rise up and choose authenticity and invite the same from others.

We are coming home!  We will be home June 12-20 for Anthony’s cousin’s wedding.  His aunt is blessing us by flying us out…we are so grateful!  While we are there we will need to do some more support raising and would like to make contact with people who are supporting us, financially and through prayer.  If you would like to host anything in your home, please let us know!  Also, we would like to get more experience doing strengths coaching so if you’re interested in that, as well, contact us and we can get you more information!

The past three weeks have been some of the most crazy yet great of our lives.  My mind is still swimming with all that we’ve done and taken in.  It’s still taking me time to process!  We escaped to Disneyland last night and are getting away today to celebrate our 6 year wedding anniversary (which is tomorrow!).  In the midst of all of this, we’re learning the importance of taking a breath, connecting with our God, and making sure we’re connected as a family.  Xander has been such a trooper through all this but last night as he was just hugging the both of us as we stood in lines for rides, I realized how important it is for us to live out a healthy rhythm of life with our family.

Our whirlwind began with spending two days in a group of 12 to 15 people with Nancy Ortberg.  She is more commonly known as “John Ortberg’s wife,” who was one of the main teaching pastors at Willow Creek and a great author.  (Right now they’re pasturing a church in the Bay area.)  She, however, is a very successful woman on her own.  She took over Axis, Willow’s college/twenty-something ministry, and built an incredible team and reaped a great harvest there.  She was one of Willow’s top communicators and leaders.  Now she is a consultant for ….  And travels around the country doing teambuilding and leadership workshops for businesses and organizations.  We learned too much in the two 8 hour days to even begin to explain.  We spent at least 3 hours one day talking about how to have healthy conflict…the importance of it (especially in the church) and how to do it right.  We went through the Killman model of conflict which compares the value of the relationship and the task.  There’s forcing (low relationship, high task), withdrawing (low relationship, low task) and smoothing (high relationship, low task).  The best is collaborating or confronting which is high relationship and high task.  This is defined as “unfiltered, passionate ideological debate.”  This is where we want to be.  We talked about the other three that aren’t so good and where our default mode is.  I tend to force (with those who I can) or withdraw.  I was convicted that every time I play that “force” card in leadership or in my marriage, I am communicating that the relationship is not important.  Also, when I withdraw, I’m not only communicating that the relationship is not important but that the task is also not important…which in the church is the farthest thing from the truth!  If I believe that true intimacy can only come through conflict, I am telling someone that I do not wish to have a real relationship with them when I avoid conflict.  So good to ponder and work on in my leadership style and just in being on any team, in general!

The favorite part for me was to just sit under Nancy’s teaching.  She is in her early fifties, about to have an empty nest after parenting three kids, and is extremely comfortable in her own skin.  Her passion for the Lord and the local church was contagious.  She was extremely intelligent and confident.  As a woman, I don’t feel like I get to spend a lot of time with successful, women leaders in the church.  It was inspiring to see how her and John have “worked out” their family so that both of them can do and be everything that they were created for.  I’m pretty sure neither one of them has suffered in their career and ministry by choosing to give and sacrifice for the other.  I’m still in the process of finding my leadership style, with my strength mix and personality.  It was so refreshing to me to be with a woman whom I would aspire to be like and model a lot of my life after.  She comes and spends time with us protégés every year so I will look forward to the time again next spring!

Then came Origins!  It was amazing to be a part of a team with so many incredible people.  Our protégé group worked so hard behind the scenes to make the conference happen.  I was so proud of us!  Unfortunately, I didn’t get to sit in on many of the sessions…but I will enjoy listening to the CDs this summer.  My main task was taking care of registration.  I not only headed up the morning to make sure it all went smoothly but I also took care of payments and dealt with any problems that may have arisen.  Before, it has been something that has been very chaotic.  However, in my mind, it’s the first impression that people get of Mosaic, so I wanted it to represent us well.  I had about twenty volunteers to help take care of the over 500 people registering in a short amount of time.  There was a lot of information to get to them when they registered so it took a great amount of teamwork.  Word on the street says that it was the best registration ever!  I learned a lot about my attitude, leadership style, and how I learn the best.  With each thing I do around here, I’m gaining more and more confidence.  It’s nice to do something well.  Besides that, Origins was incredible.  Ministers and church planters from all over the world were here to be encouraged and inspired.  I loved meeting them and having conversations with them about their own ministries and what they were learning here to apply back home.  The impact of the three days is beyond my comprehension.  The major feedback has been people’s impression of how the leadership of the church is all on the same page and passionate about the vision and mission here.  Mosaic does an incredible of sticking to their core values and having everything flow from those.  People were also impressed by the service of our volunteer staff.  People took off work to be here to serve throughout the week.  It’s beautiful what happens when people are a part of things and serving in community.  I’m learning the value of this and am becoming very unafraid to call people to a higher standard of loving and giving.

Next came Gallup Strengths Finder Training for two full days!  The head of the faith division for all of Gallup was our trainer.  We spent two eight hour days diving into the idea of strengths and becoming very familiar with the 34 themes that have been designated by Gallup.  We are now in the process of being certified coaches from a faith perspective.  We learned how to coach people to see how their top five themes are evident in their lives and how they can continue to turn them into strengths that maximize who God created them to be.  We received 10 books to give to people in order to coach them.  I love doing strengths coaching!  It is so wonderful to sit across with someone and let them talk about what makes them great and to cheerlead and affirm those things in them.  This is something that we will use regularly to help people find their place in this world and the church.  I’m excited to become even more an expert on the topic and am interested in furthering my knowledge of strengths to be able to coach teams in terms of strengths.  Someday!!

Well, there’s the last week or so in a very big nutshell!  We are working harder than we ever have in our lives.  We are learning and growing so much.  Thank you for all your love and support and for making it possible for us to be here.  We love you!

The learning process has officially begun!  We’ve had a great three months of making new friends, getting used to LA culture, and figuring out how we are going to balance all we have going on in life right now.  The month of April has brought a whole new experience to our lives.  For me (Mandy), it is the most intense pruning I think I’ve ever experienced.  I feel like I’m at boot camp and totally being torn down in order for the Lord to build me back up.  As I receive His discipline in my life, I’m drawn to Him even more because I know He loves me and has big plans fo my life.  I just need to learn some major things in order for Him to take me there.  It’s been a crazy ride!  Here are some “events” that have brought about these times of learning in the last few weeks.

On the first of April, I participated in the healing prayer ministry here at Mosaic, called Ation.  I went to a friend of mine’s appartment and there were three women there to pray with and for me, as well as two other women who were there just to pray for all of us through the whole thing.  It lasted for about two and a half hours and was pretty emotionally intense.  It’s a little difficult to describe but consisted mainly of me listening to God as He brought to my mind lies that I was believing about myself, Him and others and specific situations that communicated those lies to me.  It was a time of being honest with the Lord about what I really felt about those things, renouncing the lies the enemy wants me to believe and claiming the promises the Lord is speaking to me instead as truth.  I know that God intends for us to walk in total freedom.  I also am well aware of the lies that run through my head that keep me from doing and being all that God has called me to do and be.  I want to live free and live the full life that is promised to me in Jesus.  This was a significant part of my journey and I will probably go back to do this again at some point.  I also feel drawn to get trained to lead others through this type of ministry so I can do this wherever we end up in the world.  I left feeling so connected to my God and so free.  Two major results came from it.  First, one of the woman’s ears got very hot on the inside as she was praying for me.  She said she really felt God saying that I needed to focus on listening to him.  Incidentally, that’s been my prayer for myself the last few weeks.  There have been many things the Lord has been communicating to me in many different ways lately.  I know that I need to take time to get alone and quiet to listen and process through what He has for me to hear.  Another thing that came from our time together is that they prayed that my emotions would be released.  I feel very strong emotions but sometimes hold them back for a variety of reasons.  The last few weeks have been so emotionally intense as I have walked into those moments.  I’m learning how to use my emotions in a healthy way and to allow them to fuel my passion and ministry.  In that, I’m learning so much about myself yet it has made all these learning experiences so much more intense.  However, I don’t think I’d be growing as much if I didn’t allow myself the fullness of all this.  It’s hard but truly beautiful!  After this, I’ve had some strong spiritual attack on my mind centering around things I believe God has called me to.  I won’t go into it but I know now what the enemy does not want me doing and he’s trying to do everything he can to stop me.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen that as clearly as I have in the last few weeks.  Honestly, it makes me want to fight back so hard and strive even harder for what the Lord has called me to do.  I will not back down or be afraid for God is with me!  I guess I write these things so that you will know that we are in a spiritually tough spot sometimes and under attack a lot.  Please pray protection for us.  We’d also love to receive your encouragement.  We get worn down easily without a regular dose of it!

This past weekend, we went on a retreat with all our other proteges to Big Bear.  My parents donated time at their time share thing for us to all go.  It was a sweet time of bonding and encouraging one another.  The theme for the weekend was connecting with God.  Each of us were in three different teams to create a two hour experience based on three different books.  To do it, we played the Apprentice.  We voted for three project managers and they drafted the teams.  I was voted as one of the project managers and had my own team.  It was a leadershp exercise to the max.  We are all crazy busy and only had two weeks to prepare an amazing experience.  After our two hour experience, we went to the “board room” in front of everyone else and talked about how we did, what could’ve been done better and what we thought about the planning process.  Steve, the leader of our program, intentionally pressed sensitive issues to create tension, stress and conflict.  My leadershp flaws and the flaws of others were quickly exposed as we processed through everything.  At the end, we even had to say who we thought should be fired and why, as well as actually have someone be fired.  His point was that conflict is healthy and we don’t engage in it often enough, especially in the church.  We need to hear people speak truth into our lives in a healthy way and to have the boldness to speak that truth into other people’s lives.  There’s a lot that I’m still processing through in why I have a hard time with that but I know that it’s so important as a leader to do.  I shy away from conflict most of the time for many different reasons.  The whole experience was so good for me.  I feel like a toddler on wobbly legs in my leadership abilities.  But I’m thankful to be in a place that creates intense learning opportunities for me to fail and learn.  I’m learning to embrace them and how to deal with failure.  All very important lessons, but very hard to walk through sometimes.

This pretty much sums up the month of April so far!  The next three weeks are crazy for us with a lot of class work going on, as well as Origins, Mosaic’s big conference coming up at the end of the month.  Please pray that we’ll stay healthy and get everything done.  It’s pretty non-stop for both of us.  Xander’s a trooper through it all but I know it’s hard on him, too.  We’ll be thankful when June is here!

On Wednesday, we got the opportunity to see Marcus Buckingham speak at Universal City Walk…for free!  If you don’t know who he is, he’s written a few books like Now, Discover your Strengths and The One Thing You Need to Know.  The background on him is that he used to work for the Gallup organization.  Together, they did a huge study of outstandingly successful people, in all lines of work, to find out what it was that made them successful.  What they found was that these people spent most of the day doing what they are best at, instead of focusing on their weaknesses.  It’s a totally different way of thinking then how I was raised to view excellence.  The whole “strengths” concept is rocking our world.  Here’s what we’re learning!

So much of the way we do things is with a focus that we need to be good at everything.  To truly be “smart” in high school, I needed to get straight As in all the honor’s classes.  Every single one.  I needed to be good at both math and language arts.  If I brought home a grade card that had all As and one Bs, which was the grade that received the most attention?  Like most other households in America, the B did, especially from myself.  I was conditioned to look at where I was lacking and put my energy in to raising that up.  The strengths idea is different.  I am really good at lots of things.  What would happen if I put all my energy into those things and learned to manage around my weaknesses.  We have to do “damage control” to a certain extent but what would my life look like it I poured my energy and my resources into doing what I already love to do and are excellent at?

A few years ago, we took the Strengths Finder indicator.  From a list of 34 themes, it gives you what your top five themes are.  Mine were Learner, Input, Intellection, Connectedness, and Relator.  It would take a few pages to go through and explain what I’ve learned about how I use those themes in my life and how I’ve turned them into strengths.  It’s been a two year process but has changed the way I see myself and others.  I need to be learning all the time.  It’s what I’m good at.  Also, I naturally love to have deep, significant conversations.  This is where I’m at my best.  The Relator one is my favorite!  I have a natural ability to get very close to people very quickly.  This is just how I’m wired.  I’m learning how to combine all of them so that I am living at least 80% of my day, doing something that plays to my strengths.  It leaves me feeling fulfilled and I also naturally do an excellent job.  It’s what I was created to do!

Anthony’s top five are Woo, Adaptability, Positivity, Includer, and Communication.  He is at his best when he is with people!  He is the ultimate team player.  He brings a positive attitude and outlook as well as an adaptability to go with the flow.  We are talking through a lot how he can turn those themes into strengths and live in them most of the time.  It’s very cool to see how those play out in our home as we work on our relationship with each other and parent together.  He values what I learn and what I can see and discern about things because he knows that’s my area of strength.  I value his ability to not have stress in change and the fun and joy that he brings to our home.  Already, we are looking at what Xander’s strengths might be and how we can put him in situations that play to those.  It’s exciting to see how when we live in our strengths, we are passionate and filled with energy to do what we need to do during the day.

In May, we will be trained by Gallop to be Strengths Coaches.  We will be able to sit down with someone after they have taken the Strengths Finder Indicator and help them to come up with a plan to turn their themes into strengths as well to help them learn to live most of their life in their strengths and to manage around their weaknesses.  I am anxious to learn more and have official certification in how to do this.  It had truly changed the way I see things and has changed our marriage and lives.  I am passionate about helping other people discover who they’ve been created to be so they can live the full life God intends for them to live!

I think that’s the biggest thing I’ve learned through all this, as well.  Marcus Buckingham is changing how business does its thing and it’s spreading to many other organizations.  However, this is not a new way to look at effective management and organizational functioning.  It’s exactly how God set up the body of Christ to function.  As the church, we’ve all been given certain gifts and talents that we’ve been called and commanded to use and do.  How great is it when you’re on a team and everyone values the other and you get to do what you’ve been gifted to do!  We are strong when we are living in our giftedness and strength.  The church should be the example of what this looks like.  Instead of looking at Best Buy, Marcus Buckingham should be studying our churches to see why and how this truth works so well.  The problem is that oftentimes, we aren’t doing things the way God called us to do them.  We create a structure and a system and just need people to fill a spot instead of looking at their passions and gifts and getting them in places where they can excel in that.  How much easier would it be to “recruit” volunteers for a ministry if it was something that they walked away from knowing that they just did what they do best?  You’d have to tell them to go home instead of fighting to get them there!  I want to be a part of an organization that values my strengths and wants to put me in places where I am using those.  I also want to lead in a place that is helping other people to find their strengths and giftedness so that I can help them be everything that God has designed for them to be.  The “strengths revolution” started a long time ago…it’s called the church.

P.S.  Mosaic is in a place to have influence with Marcus Buckingham.  How cool would it be if this man would choose to follow Jesus?!?!  Please pray for opportunities with him.

P.P.S.  He was signing books at the thing we were at and it was Anthony’s birthday.  So, Anthony asked Marcus if he could have a free book because it was his birthday.  He got one and had it signed, “Happy Birthday, Anthony.”  That’s my Mr. Woo!!!

Hey everyone, I’m finally posting on our site! Thank you all so much for the support and encouragement that you have been to us in this journey we’re on. You have all made this dream God has placed in our lives a reality, and for that we are so grateful.

There is so much to say and such little time.  So let’s start.  As many of you know I got a part-time job at UPS. This has probably been one of the most challenging and fulfilling experiences during my time out here. It is amazing to see the way God has been working in me, humbling me and molding me in that place.  Coming from a previous job that required me to be in an office for a lot of my time, to now working in a trailer, loading packages has been a very unique change.  Many of the people at UPS, especially the managers, have asked me why I’m working there. I have driven home many early mornings forming an answer to that question.  So do you guys want to know?…

I’m at UPS for several reasons. 1) They have amazing health benefits (which won’t kick in until after my 6 months). 2) They have a tuition reimbursement plan  for continuing education ($1,500 per semester). 3) For an opportunity to be a light in the darkness and to be friends with people who don’t know Christ personally.   I’m learning so much from my interactions with my co-workers and supervisors.  I’m learning how to have spiritual conversations with guys who don’t care about God nor his church, yet are so hungry to find meaning to this life.  The area that I work in is called “the dungeon” and there are nights that it feels just like that. But the light that is within me is radiant and alive, and it’s starting to really shine in this so called “dungeon”.  Working at UPS has been a very purposeful way of choosing to humble myself and have God work on my character.  This week I’m submitting a letter of intent to move up to part-time management.  I’ve only been working there for 2 months and I’m already being encouraged and nudged to begin this process by those above me. Who knows what position this will take me to, but I know that God is moving and creating some neat opportunities for His glory to shine through me. Please keep this in your prayers.

Spring is right around the corner and it is obvious out here in Southern California. Every morning the sun is shining bright on our back patio, the flowers are budding with magnificent colors, and my skin is beginning to change its color from white to a golden tan.  The changes of seasons remind me of the new life that God is constantly creating in our world today.  I am convinced that there is a future that is waiting to be created and that it will not happen if I don’t choose to act now.  Last night I went to lead a small group with kids who are out here in LA chasing their dream of either acting, modeling, music, and all the stuff that the “industry” has to offer.  Many of them live in this community called Oakwood. I believe it has its own zip code because so many people live there. It’s amazing, and the potential to reach so many youth and their family is unbelievable.  As these kids seek to follow their dreams, I seek to inspire their lives to have incredible meaning, by allowing God’s dreams to become a reality for their life.  The potential that these kids have is powerful, yet it all boils down to this question:  “Is life all about me… or am I here to truly serve others?” Tough question for us to all wrestle with, especially if we call ourselves followers of Christ.

There are so many stories I want to tell… so many people I want you to know… but for now, that’s all I have time to share.  Keep living life to the fullest, and begin to ask yourself that same question, What is my life all about?

Until next time…

We are loving living in California for so many reasons, however, the most fantastic one right now is the beautiful weather! We spent Saturday at Santa Monica beach at a sand volleyball tournament. Xander played in the sand and the water all day…it was fabulous! We meet people at parks and play outside all the time. Last night we ate grilled hamburgers, sitting out on our patio, by candle light. We already have a bit of a tan. You can’t beat it! (Sorry, Kansas friends!)

We’ve been keeping very busy, yet learning how to protect and create our Sabbath. Things move so fast and are going all the time around here. With email and cell phones (most people have blackberrys so they get everything no matter where they are), it’s hard to shut off “work.” We are choosing to make Fridays our “unavailable” days. Sometimes it doesn’t work out that way (we have a class this Friday) but most of the time we can protect it. We take the day to do something fun like Disneyland or the beach or we spend the day relaxing at home, just enjoying being together as a family. It’s kept us sane and given us the emotional strength to be able to do all that we’re doing. Please pray that we can continue to guard it and make it a priority.

I’m learning some valuable lessons right now. My heart is really searching after what it looks like to be a female leader. How do I lead in my strengths and be confident in who God’s created me to be? I’ve gone back to the book Uprising by Erwin and have been studying the journey to courage by way of humility through integrity. Courage to lead can never come out of arrogence. As I humble myself and my character becomes consistant, I will lead with courage. Integrity isn’t just making the right choices all the time. It’s having my actions be consistant with my character on the inside. My behavior will flow from my heart. Even better as it flows from a humble heart, right? I’ve always been a big fan of being authentic and vulnerable and I’m learning how within the context of humility that it will lead to me having the courage to take risks, encourage others, and to lead with integrity. I’m still figuring out how that plays out in everyday life but I’m getting the opportunity to be in positions of leadership where I can expiriment and discover that and I love it!

I have a few favorite parts of my week. One is meeting with my friend, Dana. She is thirty, single and works for Mosaic. She’s been here for a little while and is taking me through Life in Christ as my “mentor.” (I’ll explain more what Life in Christ is in another blog.) She is a developer of people and is very positive. I have appreciated her investment in me as a mentor as well as her friendship. She has already taught me a lot about leadership and has provided a space for me to be vulnerable and honest as she speaks truth into my life. We are getting to partner together to change the way Mosaic focuses on developing people and I’m thankful to her for providing a space for me to get to be a part of that.

Another part of my week that I love is meeting with Jessica every Wednesday night. She’s the leasing agent for our apartment complex. I knew when we came that we were in this place for a reason and I think a friendship with her is a big part of that. I love talking with her and learning more about her life. She loves Xander and has made us feel so welcome here. When we meet, we get to have real conversations about some pretty deep things. I’m praying that God would use me to reveal His love to her as our friendship continues to grow.

We are in a unique place and life situation here. We are surrounded by so many singles or young marrieds with no kids. Our apartment is a home. We have a dog, nice furniture, and a kid. We have a “normal” life in the midst of craziness. People love coming to our apartment. They say that they experience a peace here and feel comfortable and warm as they spend time here. We love opening up our home and lives to minister to others. I’m learning what it means to be hospitable. It’s not just having people over for dinner after you spent three hours cleaning and cooking and being stressed. It’s inviting people into your world to focus on and meet their needs. I can only do that as I’m comfortable here, too, and enjoy my own space. Even when we are away from our house, we are able to do this. I’m learning to invite people into our “space” as they see how we do life, marriage and family. Due to our different life situation than most around here and because we are both so active in all the activities, we are being watched all the time. A lot of people around here have negative views of kids in that they believe parenting is “SOOOO” hard and that it takes you away from everything that you want to do. These people are amazing and have such incredible gifts and character and passion for the Lord that it makes me sad to think that they might not have kids for those reasons. It’s my desire that we will model (as we’re learning what this looks like) how to do ministry as a family. We are missional no matter what we do! I want them to know that family is one of the greatest ways to pass on the Gospel to the next generation. I’m so thankful for doing family in community where we’re all helping each other. Xander gets loved on by so many people and is learning about the world, diversity, and how Jesus loves it all. Please pray for us as we know we are on display and that we will bring glory to God in that as people watch us learn and grow. It’s a “ministry” that I didn’t really expect but that I see how God is using us here in that.

One last thing I’ve been corresponding with the girl from home who I had in the detention center who killed her mom. We’ve gotten into some pretty significant discussions over how we are “known” and our deep desire to be known and understood. The doors have been opened for all sorts of spiritual conversation and for me to reveal things I’ve learned and what I believe. Please pray that I will be wise in my correspondence with her. It’s very exciting to me! She has so much potential and I know must carry so much guilt. I want her to know the grace and love of Jesus, even for murder. It’s a good lesson for me, too.

Loving California weather!
mandy

I want to first apologize to you who read this for not keeping up with writing what has been going on in our lives. It didn’t take long for us to jump right into things here so we’ve been in the process of figuring out what our time looks like to do school, work, being parents, our different areas of service at Mosaic, and building relationships with people here. It’s been a crazy last few weeks but I’m ready to recommit to staying on top of this part of it. Sorry!

1. We wanted to share a unique experience that we had two weeks ago. Our neighbors are from Indonesia so we assumed they weren’t Christians. It is a husband and wife and their three kids who are triplets, age 20. Anthony was really reaching out to San, the dad. San likes to do bonsia trees so Anthony was using that as a connecting point with him. One Friday night, I was back in the apartment after putting Xander to bed and I hear a lot of young people over at the apartment. It’s quiet a lot and then I hear singing. It’s in Indonesian, but I think to myself, “I wonder if they’re Christians! Who else gets together on a Friday night and sings?” That Sunday, I hear Third Day being played and I knew my suspicions were confirmed. I went over and we talked about how we were both Christians. It turns out that they have a small group of Indonesian teenagers, all who are here going to college, who meet together every Friday. That next week, we were coming back from the beach and the kids were all coming to the house. We put Xander to bed and then joined them for their small group time. It was beautiful! We sang with them, prayed with them and listened to a devotional and got to contribute to the discussion. We also asked to hear some of their testimonies, especially the ones who come from a Buddhist background. I can’t even begin to describe the unity in Spirit that we felt worshiping together with them in two languages but with one heart. We are praying that we will be an encouragement to them in their faith and are excited to discover what we can learn from them, too!

2. I am amazed at the number of significant conversations that I have with people almost every day. Whether it be a girl in Starbucks who sees me reading my Bible and asks me if I “study the Scriptures” to my new friend that works the leasing desk at our apartment complex who is looking for a “real friendship” or the person at Mosaic that comes to the “Ten Minute Party” after service who is questioning and searching for God…there are so many people who I feel we are beginning to connect with. We are surrounded by an amazing community of people who are following Jesus but we are also developing significant relationships with people who do not know how much God loves them. I love it! My heart has been filled with such compassion as I hear and see the brokenness, frustration, and lonliness in people around me. I think this has been even more clear as I have found it also in myself. I am able to listen in the midst of my own brokenness and understanding that I need God and to know Him. We are so busy yet I am learning to focus that business on the things that truly matter and not just on needing to be busy. I am learning to make the time to meet with people, to spend time in the Scriptures, and to play with my son. I am also learning that God has wired me to enjoy and be filled from having deeper conversations with people. I get so jazzed from stuff like that! Therefore, I am learning to open up myself more to those opportunitities and to make the most of them. I feel so out of control and it’s beautiful!

3. I wanted you to know what exactly was on both of our plates as far as areas that we are serving in. For me (Mandy), I am involved with the Staff Development team. Mosaic calls all their “members” staff. To become volunteer staff, you have to go through a Life in Christ process which is where you meet for six weeks with a mentor and go through the five core values of Mosaic and some other stuff. I am on a team helping to get a structure into place to make sure this is happening as often as it needs to and also to make it more relationally organic. My focus is the Mayan (the nightclub) venue. I am also involved with small groups. Right now this means I enter in all the guest cards from all the venues into the database and am helping to lead a women’s small group of USC med students. I also am helping more with the Mosaic Alliance which is a uniting of churches across the nation and also globally to provide resources and networking of like-minded churches. Another thing that is in the works for me is to help be a part of taking Yelo, a leadership experience where we do Meyers Briggs stuff, StrengthsFinder, and character matrix, to at-risk students. There are five different locations that we are hopefully going to be able to get into within the next few months. As we are doing that, I am in the process of developing a curriculum to take the principles that are taught in Yelo and reconstruct them specifically for at-risk teenagers. My dream would be to make this something that could be used in many different envronments where this would be beneficial. Please pray for synergy as I work with others to create something that can hopefully be used to help students, as well as proclaim the love of Jesus in places where it might be hard to reach them.

4. Anthony’s having fun jumping into things, too! His UPS job is taking up a lot of energy for him right now. It’s very physically strenuous but already all the supervisors are encouraging him and letting him know that they have thier eye on him. It’s our prayer that he will “work his way up” quickly to get better pay and to have more influence. He’s loving working in a secular environment and being around so many guys who don’t know Jesus. He’s already developing friendships (surprise, I know) and is looking forward to what the future holds for that. Around Mosaic, he’s working with Junior High students at the Pasadena site. His primary role is working with 5th-6th graders, which is perfect for him. He has also worked with the artisans and has already been a part of a performance where it was a choreographed, construction thing where they built a bridge with a 16 foot tower in three minutes while music played. Erwin came out on the bridge, spoke and then there was a sketch on the bridge…all of it going along with the message on intimacy. It was so creative and very impacting! Anthony is also working with college students at East Los Angeles College. There is not a Mosaic connection at that particular school so he’s trying to get something started there. He is working on partnering with the Intervarsity group there on campus and seeing how he can help them be more effective at reaching the lost. He’s already met with the Dean of Students and others in administration. He’s working on getting a Yelo there with the student government leaders. Very exciting!!!

Well, that’s a “brief” update of what we’re doing. We will write more of our “being” later. We are growing in so many ways that it’s almost hard to keep up with it. I guess life transformation is like that when it’s not necessarily a step-by-step process but more a becoming because of what the Spirit is doing in your life. There’s no slowing that stuff down sometimes!

Today, at our protege meeting, we talked about self-leadership. So often, we spend most of our time and energy focusing on who we’re leading and how to lead others. This is very important but I totally related with Bill Hybels’ talk that we listened to as he explained how we need to refocus to spend a significant amount of time in leading ourselves. It is so much easier to focus on others. We spend our time and energy “investing” and “teaching” so that we can, in a way, seek to control the actions of others, those whom we are seeking to lead. Doing this takes the focus off of ourselves. We don’t ask the tough questions about ourselves because we are so much more concerned with those around us. However, I have experienced the emptiness of this type of leadership and want nothing of it. It is so much more “messy” to deal with yourself, not just first, but most of the time. I have to make sure that things are right with me before I can even begin to lead others. This is where I am at right now…learning how to lead myself as I will then be able to lead those who God has called me to lead.

Bill Hybels gave us a few questions to regularly ask ourselves to guide our self-leadership. At our meeting we discussed which one was most relevant to us today. I thought I’d share the questions and ask you the same thing. Which one do you need to spend some time contemplating and praying over?
1. Is my calling sure? (What are you called to do? Do you know what that is and are you focusing your energies there?)
2. Is my vision clear? (What is God’s vision for your life and where do you see yourself going?)
3. Is my passion burning hot? (What is it that really gets you passionate about your calling and vision? What do you need to do to keep that passion alive?)
4. Is my character fully submitted to Christ? (walls of pride? fears keeping you from truly living? psychological baggage affecting your decisions or relationships? ears open to the Spirit? is your pace sustainable? is your heart for God increasing?)

For me, right now, I’m really dealing a lot with my pride and my fear. They are both pretty entwined for me. God and I are still working out how this plays into things and how I need to humble myself to get rid of those fears in my life. We have officially entered into the “molding” period of our time here…the honeymoon was over fast! Please be praying for us as we enter into the refining fire. I love knowing that my character is being shaped and molded but that doesn’t mean that makes it an easier. Please pray that we will be able to humble ourselves to allow God’s Spirit to do the hard work in us. Please pray that we will not focus so much on leading others that we neglect leading ourselves. I do not want to chose the easy way but desire to do the hard work of all this now so that we will be who we need to be to do what we need to do later. Here’s to character development!

I can’t believe that we’re really here and that all is going as well as it is! With the help of my parents, we got here and got unpacked in a little over 48 hours. We absolutely love our apartment and will have pictures up soon. I am so thankful that we worked so hard to get it all done because we began class on the 2nd and were in class for three whole days. It was an incredible class! The title of the class was Intercultural Communications and it was taught by one of the executive pastors here at Mosaic. The coolest part was the actual intercultrual communication that took place in the class. In it we had a Germany, Ireland, Australia, Mexico, Canada, China, Philippines, Korea, Japan, Holland and others all represented. It truly was a diverse classroom! I learned so much about how to communicate with people who are different than me, whether it be race, sex, sexual orientation, age, nationality or any other difference that I might be tempted to sterotype and misjudge. I will blog more about various things discussed in the class later.

I came here to go to school but I’m already realizing how much we are on the mission field right now. We are no longer in the Bible belt. LA is a totally different culture. Our apartment is in a part of the city that is half Asian. Advertisements that we get in the mail are in three languages: English, Spanish and Manderin. Our neighbors are from Thailand and most of the people in our complex are not caucasian. I can go days without seeing another person that looks like me, if I wanted to. The sad part is that we live among so many people and very few of them know how much Jesus loves them. I feel very overwhelmed with the mission of everything yet still battling my own self-absorption with the huge change that we’ve made in our lives. We have so many new relationships to develop and invest in right now. I am absolutely certain that God has placed us here for a reason. Even though things are so different, we feel so comfortable and at home. Please be praying for my continued adjustment to all this. I want to be at a place where I can concern myself more with the people around me as we settle into life here in LA.

The group that we are going through classes with (the other proteges) are incredible! They had a party for us on the 3rd. I’d already been in class with all the guys so I was really looking forward to meeting their wives. There is another couple with a son that’s two months older than Xander so it’s fun to watch them play together. It’s a very safe community of people who are all striving to learn more of how to live like Jesus and change the world. We are going to benefit so much from dialoguing with them about all that we’re learning. We are looking forward to figuring out exactly where we are going to be serving within the Mosaic community. We’ll let you know as soon as it gets all worked out!

Closing thought: Jesus’ call to the disciples was, “Come and follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” His draw to Himself was not a promise of health and wealth or even eternity in paradise. His promise was one of mission and purpose. As followers of Christ, we are all called to serve with Him on His mission. We give Him everything so that we may serve Him in an incredible adventure that is not at all about us but that is about Him and His kingdom of love, grace, peace and hope. I don’t know why you decided to become a follower of Jesus. I, at the age of eight, was scared to go to hell. My life drasticaly changed in college when I realized that I was called to a mission and purpose. This is when I believe that I truly began to follow Him and He turned my world upside down. My prayer for you is that you will come to understand the mission God has called you to and engage in that with everything that you are. This is what I am seeking to discover and understand more and more. There is nothing else I can do.