Prayers for the family of a fellow warrior in Christ

Asking for prayer support for the Tamanisau family, and Island Breeze. This week Island Breeze lost a faithful member of it's team, Jerry Tamanisau. Jerry had been serving with Youth with a Mission for over ten years, using his talents of playing musical instruments, his love for youth, his soccer and rugby abilities, and his ability to dance to spread the gospel of Christ throughout the nations. I had the honor to serve with him at Island Breeze until this past January when he was married and stayed in his home country Fiji with his new wife Amanda (from America). He was diagnosed in June with an aggressive stomach cancer that had spread to his liver and other organs. We all mourn not only the loss of a ministry partner but also a faithful friend and example of generosity and faithfulness to God's call. I've copied a portion of his wife, Amanda's , words to us because she is inspiring in her response to the circumstances around her. Please continue to pray for Amanda as she is expecting Jerry's child in May. May we all be inspired to live the life we've been given to the fullest, not in Jerry's honor, but as he would say , "To Give Glory to God".... Amen

From Amanda:
"About a month before Jerry got to the worst, we were talking… I was asking him what are some of the main things he thought God was teaching us through all this… he said it was all about THE CALL… he was determined that when he got through all this, he was going to be that much more dedicated & committed to pursuing the true Call of God on his life – why he started missions in the first place...  In January, when we were given Psalm 90 about numbering our days to gain a heart of wisdom, we had NO idea how spot on that would be for our lives in 2011…

 

One of the saddest things I have seen as I travel around the world is a wasted life – whether it is wasted because people don't know what to do & wander through life aimlessly,unsure of God's hand-crafted plan for their lives,OR whether it is wasted because they focus on selfish & temporary pursuits rather than count the cost, focus on ETERNITY, & let God be the Lord over every area… one thing I would like to challenge all of Jerry's friends & family that the best way you can honour his life is to take that scripture to heart, lay down your lives & fully pursue the call of God RIGHT NOW…don't put it off… "waste" your life for Him in whatever sphere He takes you into & create impact for His glory."

Jerry in heaven

Just found out that our brother Jerry has left this earth to worship in the heavens.... We will greatly greatly miss him.
Here is a copy of what I wrote on his facebook wall as tribute:

Taking comfort in prophesies spoken over you a year and half ago:
Jerry
"The day will come when watchmen will shout from the hill country of Ephraim, 'come let us go up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord our God'." Jeremiah 31:6
(You are the one to call to worship even to non-Christians)

Jerry
"Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge. I said to the Lord " You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing"… I have set the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore, my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will be secure." Psalms 10:9-11
(Validating that He is hearing the cry of your heart and the consistency of your walk.)

Amen Bro- God has always had the cry of your heart, and now we can be jealous of your perfect heavenly worship ~ You are irreplaceable.... praying for the Tamanisau family

Please pray for Jerry

Sending a request to please be praying for my Fijian brother Jerry Tamanisau. He has faithfully served with YWAM for over ten years and I was blessed to spend last year serving with him in Community Center with Island Breeze Brisbane. He returned to Fiji, married Amanda (an American) last January and has recently been diagnosed with cancer in the stomach. It has progressed quickly and he now needs a liver transplant, has lost weight and is unable to walk etc. As we are praying for healing and miracles we are also keeping Amanda in our prayers as she cares for him in his family's home.
After having been through some frustrations with my own body, I can sympathize all too much and feel the agony that they must be going through. I praise God for my own health and well being and continue to pray for those who suffer from long term pain or illness. Our God is a god creator, and a God who can heal. Sometimes this is through our medical knowledge, technology and doctors...but other times its through that special touch of the Holy Spirit.
The Bible says God needs only to send His word and healing can spread throughout the land
""He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions." Psalms 107:20

I leave you with one of the verses that has been an encouragement to me:
 "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He guards all his bones; not one of them is broken." (Psalm 34:19)

Thank you!

Newsletter Part 2 Finances

FINANCES

Praise report: a local church in Australia paid for my plane ticket home in July, praise the Lord!

My past financial needs for housing and food were at 200 dollars a month, however Island Breeze has made a change requesting 400 a month which leaves me with an extra 200 dollars a month to fundraise. I have just barely been making my monthly needs with the dues being at 200 dollars. I am asking you to pray about becoming a financial supporter either with a once a year donation, or a monthly donation (tax deduction available). This past year was challenging with travel expenses (outreaches) as well as other ministry expenses. Due to the fact that our YWAM base is primarily made up of staff from the Pacific nations, their ability to pay monthly dues is limited. This leaves other needs (such as paper for the office, food for hosting community outreaches, train/bus fares or gas money for outreaches to the community), on us as staff. For instance, on a weekly basis I may donate money to pay for transportation for our staff to chaperone a local youth night, buy socks for the bare feet of our Pacific islanders experiencing the cold for the first time, as well as paying for myself to get to church on Sunday and not to mention the regular toiletries and vegetables for the week (our base depends on donations from two local food banks to support our low budget- we thank God for their generosity but often are not able to get fresh fruit or vegetables from this source). All these add up quickly and God has always provided faithfully but I feel this is a season to strengthen my financial support team. I've learned this year that speaking out in faith those dreams, visions, and desires that God grants on our hearts is part of the process of receiving the blessing, so I must admit that my ideal is to be receiving over 500 dollars a month of financial support, to best equip myself and the Island Breeze Brisbane ministry team.

Could you be someone that can make a small (or large) sacrifice and join me as I continue to reach out to the nations with the gospel, discipleship and redeeming our cultures?

Current medical bills: I currently have a bill of over 17 000 dollars pending with my travelers' insurance. I'm asking that you intercede in prayer with me for the majority of that bill to be covered by insurance. I hesitate to leave the country without my medical bills resolved and am trusting God for a response in the next 2 weeks.

Return to the ministry: I am planning on purchasing a return ticket by next week with an expected price of 2000 dollars. Therefore, I'm also trusting God for the provision of those funds.

Update: since writing this letter I have purchased a ticket to Brisbane, leaving on the 21^st of November, with a 2 week stop in Mongolia, for the bargain price of 1650 dollars~ praises!

Please contact me if you have further questions, encouragements or prayer requests~

Newsletter Part 1 Challenging Seasons

Instead of complaining at his lot, a contented man is thankful that his condition and circumstances are no worse than they are. Instead of greedily desiring something more than the supply of his present need, he rejoices that God still cares for him. Such a one is "content" with such as he has (Heb. 13:5). —Arthur W. Pink

Challenging seasons

"Never will I leave you nor forsake you"~God

We all have the challenging seasons, each person's story equally challenging in our trust of God and relying on His faithfulness to get us through. My year has not gone as planned due to medical issues. I was positioned to attend a YWAM school in New Zealand (Principles of Redeeming Cultures) in September but had to cancel due to an unexpected return to the USA. I had been suffering from dysentary since my outreach to Vanuatu, losing weight and energy. During that time of hospital visits etc I also developed a side pain which was revealed to be a tumor/cyst on my ovary. After the followup visit to the doctor in Australia was postponed and rescheduled for over a month away, I made the decision to head home to get quicker care in my home town in Iowa. (I had been sick since April and returned to the States the end of July). There is nothing better than being cared for and encouraged by family. I had surgery that ended up removing the ovary, as well as discovering endometriosis and polycystic ovarian syndrome. Praise God for no signs of cancer. As one can imagine it did stir up some emotions, and I am thankful that God was faithful in providing reminders of His protection of even my future children. I will continue to experience some pain and discomfort but have been cleared for travel. It's been my goal to make the most of the unexpected leave from ministry and pray God uses this time with family and rest to prepare me for the next season. Thank you for those of you who have been keeping me in your prayers. We know God is the ultimate healer and He has been faithful, in His timing (obviously not mine , ha!)

A nutshell

This time away from ministry has allowed me to continue casting dreams and visions for the future of Island Breeze Brisbane and also my role in spreading the gospel to the nations. I also have a heart for being involved in the pioneering of new ministries and new YWAM bases across the nations. Here is a reminder of my role in Gods Kingdom:

-- Discipleship ~ I have a heart for helping new Christians, or disillusioned Christians, have a passion to follow God with abandon. Keys to this are accountability, serving, the disciplines of reading the Scriptures/fasting /prayer, training and times of healing/counseling.

--Teaching ~ I was privileged to be challenged in this area in April and found this to be a new gift that I want to continue pursuing. I enjoy facilitating the learning about the Bible, about our relationship with God and the nature of God. Specifically I feel there is an ongoing need to continue educating about and practicing sharing the gospel, creating individual testimonies, and revealing how God is speaking.

-- Facilitating ~ One of the most rewarding roles I have at Island Breeze has been to position our staff into the community through coordinating of events and creating opportunities to minister. Sometimes this involves the logistics of visas and grants, other times simply being the communicator between church leaders and our available staff.

-- Redeeming Cultures ~ Island Breeze stands apart from other YWAMs due to our heart to seek God's fingerprints in our culture and encourage the expression of the beauty that God has given us, often through worship. This also involves breaking down barriers and other influences that have affected our cultures in the negative. This continues to be a passion of mine no matter the ethnicity.

Dreaming

I've learned this year that speaking out in faith those dreams, visions, and desires that God grants on our hearts is part of the process of receiving the blessing

Praying and writing up a financial support letter as I am seeing the end in sight, returning to australia in one month. I am hoping to have a good sense of tickets by this weekend.
Feeling better, one day at a time, and currently experiementing with different vitamines including Vitamine B for energies. Praise God for progress!

wise

Wise friend reminded me : "Every day might not be a good day but there is good in every day "

CULTURE

Kia mau ki to Maoritanga..It's a Maori proverb and it means hold fast to your culture

August Update

Medical update !  Saw a great doctor today in Belmond, very thorough. I will need to have surgery. The "complex" cyst that is on my ovary has grown even since I was in Brisbane so they are doing bloodwork again to make sure no cancer cells. That comes back in two days, if its concerning than Ill have surgery the next day. If not, than ill have surgery within the next couple of weeks. Im going to call and see if I can postpone my ticket back to Brisbane (even if I have surgery on Monday, it would be less than a week recovery before my ticket back on the 20th). There is also a 30-40% chance that they will have to remove the ovary, but they wont know until they are in surgery (this would be a month recovery). Taking it one day at a time! Feel thankful that God answered my prayer, my prayers were for some direction and answers... and I did get that!

A comforting verse for me this week: The Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the wya you went until you reached this place. Deut 1:31

So prayer requests: discernment in travel plans/decision making, finances to cover medical bills, and also the actual surgery and recovery.
A praise report: church in Australia has offered to pay the ticket home that I bought last month -praise God!

Thanks for all your support, am thankful for each of you!  ~Alissa

July Update

Just a quick update, with another one hopefully next week. For those who have not heard I have returned to the USA (parents home in Iowa) for brief bit of rest following a health struggle (dysentery after outreach to the Pacific). They also found a cyst on my ovary and I have an appointment here in the USA this Wednesday to get further advice ( I am scheduled to fly back to Australia on Aug 20th). Will be having to make decisions about finances, return to Australia, and the school I was scheduled to take in September in New Zealand. Please join me in praying for discernment. Hopefully my next update will have GOOD news! God remains faithful always and am thankful to be able to trust Him. Thank you for your prayers.  ~Alissa

Pic from Vanuatu

Rugby boys and I

Pictures from Teaching at Survivor DTS in Aore, Vanuatu (beautiful!)

Newsletter Part 3

 

AORE SURVIVOR DTS

Clarifying some teaching Burning our 'Barriers' to hearing God

For two weeks during this time I left the Island Breeze crew to teach on the island of Aore. I flew onto the island of Santo and took a motorboat to the next island Aore. The YWAM base is right on the water, with no roads and no electricity. I welcomed the well water bathing but preferred to avoid the rats under my bed! I experienced translation as my teaching was translated into French and Bislama. I spoke on 'Hearing the Voice of God' and truly saw the Holy Spirit go before me, preparing the students by speaking to them in their quiet times. One student from Vanuatu was a new Christian and on my second day of teaching started to cry during intercessions, saying he had heard God for the first time (The message? Not to worry about his family back in his village because God will watch over them while he is faithful to do his DTS).

A key barrier to hearing God that we addressed was unforgiveness. I know we only started the process of digging deep and I am thankful I was speaking on the second of twelve weeks of teaching. We also were challenged to explore new ways of worship, even making up new worship songs. There was a time of discussing our cultural differences and I also lead a team unity building time with the staff. God was also speaking to me during this time- showing me a symbol of His presence by showing a moth/butterfly during those times.

A funny story I shared with my class on the first day of teaching is that upon arriving on the island, the night time darkened everything and I searched through my bag for my torch (flashlight). I clearly remembered throwing it into my duffel bag and prayed that God would show me where to find it.I heard God nudge me to check my makeup bag. My thoughts? "That doesn't make sense, I remember throwing it in the duffel bag. Why would it be in there?" As I continued rummaging through my duffel bag I heard God clearly say " Here you are teaching on 'Hearing the voice of God' and yet you ignore me- why did you bother asking me?" I chuckled as I pulled out my make-up bag, only to find my torch! Ha! What a good reminder that hearing from God requires action. He can speak all He wants but He desires a relationship, where we respond to what He is saying.

The second week I was able to relax ( after squeezing nine teaching sessions into four days)...and spent some time on the beach and listened to the next speaker teach on the character of God. I enjoyed getting to know the staff and students from New Caledonia (French speaking), Vanuatu and China. I did get sick half way through that week but recovered quickly. However, by the time I returned to my rugby boys in Port Vila, I had lost weight and had stomach pain every time I ate. Once back in Brisbane I've been hoping to get back into a healthy eating habit but have been struggling to keep any food down. I am working with a local doctor and recently had some blood tests come back fine (Praise God!). Please continue to pray that God heals me and gives me strength. I love the island of Vanuatu and learning Bislama (like a pigeon English) and have prayed that God would allow me to return again next year. Teaching taught me some further passions and opened some new avenues of ministry.

Newsletter Part 2

 

During my time in Brisbane, I continue to build up the Missions Resource centre. We recently hosted Iain Muir (one of the top three leaders of Youth with a Mission) and ran a Missions Evening event at a local church which went well and I pray starts a trend of hosting conferences/events. We are planning an 'international dinner' next month involving food, dress, education and intercession. We also continue to focus on coordinating outreaches, and developing further education about local church ministries, and other missionary organizations. I still am able to participate in the local youth group and taught them a worship dance from the Caribbean that they took on outreach. We continue to support the local food bank and other community needs. I often fill in spots that don't have a present staff (example: helping some boys from Fiji apply for their Australian visas in Vanuatu, applying for a Volunteer Grant from the Australian government etc). We continue a 'rebuilding season' here at Island Breeze and continue to 'pray in 'new, committed and passionate staff (a prayer request!).

**Goal for the rest of the year: improve my communication with supporters!

**Goal for next three months: plugging in with local body of Christ

**Goal for the rest of this month: rest and healing

Vanuatu outreach

The trip to the Pacific island of Vanuatu (same island as last year) was in two phases- the first involved me helping out with the Discipleship Training Schools outreach (Rugby and missions focus) while the second was a teaching experience on the island of Aore at Survivor YWAM base .

The Rugby DTS (stationed in Port Vila, Efate main island) focused on two rugby tournaments, practicing with local teams, hosting a rugby clinic and training local rugby players. I was honored to be time keeper at the rugby tournament as it made me pay attention to the game, and learn some

new rules. Island Breeze was also blessed to present the national Vanuatu rugby team with a new set of jerseys from Kooga (a brand name similar to Adidas that we regularly collaborate with). They also helped to build a roof to cover a new church site and a toilet stall for this church also. They were invited to some churches and Christian events to dance their traditional Fijian dances and fellowship. We were spoiled by staying in a home that including television and internet! Instead of staying at the YWAM base, this allowed us to further interact with neighbors and students from USB (local university).

Newsletter Page 1

 

Alissa's Missionary Updates June 2011

I always tend to end with a financial update and future plans but this time I have decided to start with it! I was scheduled to visit the Cook Islands in July for two weeks but just this week have decided to postpone that trip due to illness. I feel God will use this time for other things instead and am planning on attending the Island Breeze national leaders conference in Perth for one week during that time. "Principles of Redeeming Cultures" school is running in New Zealand in September and is a requirement as I represent Island Breeze. I am beginning fundraising and asking for financial support as the class fee is 3500 dollars for three months of lecture and outreach, not counting the airfare from Brisbane to Tauranga, NZ. Please consider praying about sponsoring me for this school. The website for this school can be viewed at : http://ywam.org.nz/ywam-nz/principles-of-redeeming-cultures/.

Something new! I have decided to try my hand at "Tweeting". My twitter name is Lisskennedy. On the internet there is an application called " Twitter" where you can "follow" your friends, and write regular updates and thoughts. My intent is to keep closer contact with my family, friends, and supporters as SO much happens during my day that can't fit into a prayer update letter....For example this week I wondered how Fijians always know which tree leaves make fabulous tea! Or why does a Nivan (from Vanuatu) say " Stret one time" (meaning 'Im good' or 'okay') ....what about two times? And my new Australian word: 'Fair dinkum' meaning "oh true?" "wow really" . I also regularly use facebook as a means to update pictures, status, prayer requests etc...

Road trips get tiring Sharing testimony in church Fundraising night with youth

My contact details for support remain the same!

(direct deposit to my Australian acct is also available but not tax deductible)

Alissa Kennedy

c/o Belmond Evangelical Free Church

2796 130^th Drive

Belmond, IA 50421

email: skillet25@gmail.com

facebook: alkennedy@excite.com

twitter: Lisskennedy

blog: alissalynnkennedy@blogspot.com

Newsletter Page 1

 

Alissa's Missionary Updates June 2011

I always tend to end with a financial update and future plans but this time I have decided to start with it! I was scheduled to visit the Cook Islands in July for two weeks but just this week have decided to postpone that trip due to illness. I feel God will use this time for other things instead and am planning on attending the Island Breeze national leaders conference in Perth for one week during that time. "Principles of Redeeming Cultures" school is running in New Zealand in September and is a requirement as I represent Island Breeze. I am beginning fundraising and asking for financial support as the class fee is 3500 dollars for three months of lecture and outreach, not counting the airfare from Brisbane to Tauranga, NZ. Please consider praying about sponsoring me for this school. The website for this school can be viewed at : http://ywam.org.nz/ywam-nz/principles-of-redeeming-cultures/.

Something new! I have decided to try my hand at "Tweeting". My twitter name is Lisskennedy. On the internet there is an application called " Twitter" where you can "follow" your friends, and write regular updates and thoughts. My intent is to keep closer contact with my family, friends, and supporters as SO much happens during my day that can't fit into a prayer update letter....For example this week I wondered how Fijians always know which tree leaves make fabulous tea! Or why does a Nivan (from Vanuatu) say " Stret one time" (meaning 'Im good' or 'okay') ....what about two times? And my new Australian word: 'Fair dinkum' meaning "oh true?" "wow really" . I also regularly use facebook as a means to update pictures, status, prayer requests etc...

Road trips get tiring Sharing testimony in church Fundraising night with youth

My contact details for support remain the same!

(direct deposit to my Australian acct is also available but not tax deductible)

Alissa Kennedy

c/o Belmond Evangelical Free Church

2796 130^th Drive

Belmond, IA 50421

email: skillet25@gmail.com

facebook: alkennedy@excite.com

twitter: Lisskennedy

blog: alissalynnkennedy@blogspot.com