Overflow from San Francisco, and headed for Norway!

Hey Family and friends!

I honestly have no idea how many people still read this because, in my busyness, I've neglected it so much! But for the sake of the few who may still read, I wanted to post a quick update before I head off to Bergen, Norway tomorrow morning! For starters, my trip to San Francisco about a month ago was ABSOLUTELY incredible! It was honestly the best missions trip I've ever experience and co-leading the team with Kate - my best friend in the world- was a total joy in every possible way! We're STILL putting together all the testimonies of what God in pouring His radical, unconditional love over the city through us, but I have some I'd love to bless you all with :). This first portion describes our mission of love to a transgender bar in the city, and the second is a  story from our  healing meeting at Promised Land church :). The rest of the stories I will post soon will be from our other outreaches in the city (Hippie Hill, UC Berkeley campus, etc) plus just fun ministry along the way :).

In other news, I JUST had my 21st birthday and was SO blessed by all my friends and family! I'm SO looking forward to what this year holds for me - I know it will be one of partnership and unity with Jesus like never before! :)

I'm also adding to this email my itinerary for Norway, and SO covet your prayers over me and my team! We are expecting Norway to experience the unconditional love of the Father, healings and miracles as displays of His goodness and power, and for people to be transformed by the creativity of God as we release the Arts all throughout the city! PLEASE PRAY specifically for us on FRIDAY because we will have been traveling for 24 hours straight and will be doing a youth meeting THAT NIGHT. I have NO doubt that Holy Spirit will come in a mighty way because we'll be SO utterly surrendered to Him :).  I'll start with the schedule for Norway, and then the testimonies from San Fran! 

I love you all SO much, and declare that THIS is the year of the FAVOR of the Lord being radically displayed over you!

Melissa

Bergen Itinerary

 

Friday March 13th
•    5pm arrive at the airport. EXCHANGE 1/3 OF MONEY AT AIRPORT. Cars will be there to pick us up and drive us to the church.
•    6pm Dinner. The church will serve us pizza! J
•    7.30 pm – 10pm Youth meeting. (BSSM team)(70 teenagers)

Saturday March 14th   

•    9am BSSM Team Meeting
•    10am – 1pm Seminar on inner healing (Theresa and team) (100 people, open conference to church network)
•    1-2 pm Lunch at the church
•    2-4 pm Two different Outreach seminars 1)Treasure hunt (50 people) and 2)prophetic art (30 people) (1 hour teaching + 1 hour outreach to multiple sites in city)

•    4pm Testimonies from Outreach!

     5: 30 pm Dinner at host homes
•    8 pm – Open Conference “Rik Nok for Alle” (Rich Enough for All) 200+ people.

Sunday March 15th   

•    10 am  BSSM Team Meeting
•    11 am-1pm  Sunday morning service at Christ Church (250 people) (Theresa speaking and  team does ministry J)
•    12 pm Separate Sunday service at Fellesskapskirken (Peter speaking and portion of team with him) (50 people)
•    3.30 pm Half of the team drives to Voss (1.5 hours away, possible snow) for Sunday night meeting at Sverre’s latest church plant (Jesus Fellowship). Theresa and team (40 people) 
•    5.pm Dinner in Voss. 
•    7 pm Evening meeting in Voss. (Theresa and team)
•    7 pm Other half of our team will minister to two new house churches in Bergen. (At Sverre’s home) (30 young people)

Monday March 16th   

 •    8.30 am Worship at Veien Bible School
•    9.00 am Class (Open teaching time in school for Bethel Team)
•    10:45 – 11:15 am lunch (eating at the school)
•    11:15am – 1:00pm Class ( Open teaching time in school for Bethel Team) Possible visit to public High Schools to minister during lunch time…

•    1:15 pm – 4:15pm Sightseeing in the city! Play time! J ( Exchange the remainder of team money)
•    4:15pm – 6:15pm Team Connection time and worship together.

       Evening FREE to REST at host homes! TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS NIGHT!

Tuesday March 17th   

•    8.30 am Worship at Veien Bible School
•    10 am – 12pm OUTREACH throughout the City! Treasure hunt, prophetic art, feed the poor etc.
•    12 pm Lunch at different locations in city.
•    1.30 pm Share outreach testimonies together back at church!
•    2.30 pm BSSM Team Meeting
•    7.00 pm Celebration party with Ministry students! (Dinner, worship, and Holy Spirit FUN!100+ people. First and second year ministry students with  BSSM team)

Wednesday March 18th   

•    8.30 am Breakfast with senior pastors and youth leaders from the city (30 people).
•    10 am – 1 pm (Same Format as Monday – Open teaching time in Veien Bible School). Lunch at the school.
•    1:30 pm BSSM Team Meeting
•    7.00 pm – 9.00 pm Healing House at Christ Church + Mobile Healing Units to visit people in homes. (Invites sent to ALL churches in city to have the sick come for healing!) We are pioneering this event for the FIRST TIME! Set the atmosphere for encounters with worship, dance, prophetic art stations, etc.

 

Thursday March 19^th

 •    8.30pm Worship at Veien Bible School
•    9.00 – 1.00 pm (Same Format as Monday – Open Teaching in Veien Bible School). Lunch at the school.
•    1.30 BSMM Team Meeting
•    7 – 9 pm Healing House at Christ Church. Same as Wednesday!

Friday  March 20th   

 •    10 am Leave for outreach to four different cities and churches! Divide the team between Voss, Sandane, Stavanger and Haugesund!

Saturday March 21th    •    Outreach to other cities/churches!

Sunday March 22nd    •    Morning services in other cities/churches!

 

• Arrive back in Bergen – soaking sessions to refresh, meet with team at 6PM! Testimonies from weekend! GO TO BED EARLY! We must be at the airport the next day by 5:30 AM!

On a Mission to Be Lovers in San Francisco!

(Testimonies from SF Team led by Kate Eifert and Melissa Cordell)

 

This entire trip was so strategic and empowered by the Lord, and we were in awe at His radical grace, love, and goodness that overshadowed our team throughout our time in San Francisco. We knew that above all things, He was calling us to be radical lovers of the people in the city, and that was our heart and mission when we went to a transgender bar on Friday night.  No agenda – just to LOVE these people toward a revelation of the desire of God FOR them. I cannot even begin to describe the supernatural grace that empowered us the entire time we were there! 9 people from our team spent about 4 hours in the bar, and during that time, one man received Jesus as His Lover and Savior, multiple people got healed including a man who’s leg grew out, and countless people told us that they had NEVER experienced anything like this love from Christians before! A man and woman from our team were talking with a transgender man in the bar, and at one point he just stopped the conversation, turned to the woman and said, “I saw you when you came into the bar tonight – I watching you, and I KNEW you weren’t transgender or lesbian. You are clean and pure.” Another woman from our team was spending time with a gay couple, and one of the men, throughout the whole conversation, couldn’t stop saying (in total sincerity), “You are so beautiful… You are SO beautiful.” The radiance of God’s glory and love emanating from us, and THEY could see it!! One thing that we felt led to ask the Lord for was the birth names of the people in the bar because many of the men were dressed in drag, had undergone major surgeries, and now went by “alias” names like Tiffany or Marisela when their true names were Richard or Steven.  So as one team member was talking to a particular man named “Victoria”, the name “Steve” dropped into her head. She asked him, “Does the name Steve mean anything to you?” He responded, “Well, that’s the owner of the bar- but you can’t have access to him!” Immediately we knew that was an assignment of the Lord because we had also been praying for connection with influencers in the city! Finally, at the very end of the night, the team was standing on the stairs, asking people if their names were “Steve” because we hadn’t found him yet, and SURE ENOUGH, he walked right up to us! We thanked and blessed him for being such a wonderful host, and asked if we could pray for him – he said yes, and as the team proceeded to prophesy over him, he began to cry and was totally touched by the presence of God!! It was truly amazing! As we left, countless people thanked us for coming, and said they’ve never felt so loved by Christians before!

 

Throughout the time those of our team were inside the bar, myself and another team member were out on the street in front of the bar, creating a prophetic painting for the city, and ministering to people on the street! We had more divine encounters than I can count! Two men driving by suddenly stopped in front of the bar, SHOCKED that I was painting on the street at 10:30 at night! We got to pray and prophesy over them, got a word of knowledge for one of them about his back pain, and he felt tingling in his back as we prayed! Another man who came by matched a Treasure Hunt clue from earlier in the day – “heartbreak” had been on my list, and we got to pray over for his heart to be healed from a painful relationship split. He had come from Sweden to San Francisco, drawn by the city’s promise of community but had been left alone and hurt – BUT we got to show him that GOD saw him and loved him! We also met the most incredible, Spirit-filled, Jesus-loving homeless man! He prophesied the meaning of my painting before I’d even finished it, and couldn’t stop praising Jesus for us being there! He kept telling me over and over, “I’ve been PRAYING that people/artists would come and do things like this!” At one point, in awe and worship of Jesus, this man took a ton of costume jewelry that he had in his suitcase, and threw it at my feet. I was SO blown away as he released his adoration to God. But about 30 minutes later, something even more profound happened – two transgender women came out of the bar and began to talk with me about my painting. Then one of them noticed all the jewelry and said “Is this yours? May we have some?” I told them “YES, of course!” And they proceeded to take ALL the jewelry that he poured out on Jesus in worship, and PUT IT ON THEMSELVES! They adorned themselves with that which was given in love for Jesus! I was stunned! More and more of that sort of thing happened throughout the entire night. I planned a second painting – it was to be the silhouette of a male and female figure (representing Jesus and San Francisco) about to kiss, with the words “Grace and love, like mighty rivers, flowed incessant from above – Heaven’s peace and perfect justice kissed a guilty world in love” written across it. As I began to paint the very basic outlines of the people, a beautiful woman off the street suddenly came up, talked to me for a minute, and then proceeded to commandeer my paintbrush, and painted the ENTIRE painting herself!! She, representing San Fran, depicted His love and radical devotion to her! And then, as the icing on the cake, JUST as I finished writing the words on the painting, a girl I had met earlier (who was REALLY under the influence of drugs and alcohol) came by again and read the painting LOUDLY, almost proclaiming it, for everyone on the street to hear! I was BESIDE myself with awe to hear the desire of the Lord released over them THROUGH HER!

Finally, at the end of the night as we were packing up our supplies, a woman named “Marisela” began asking me about one of my paintings – she wanted to buy it but I said that I had painted it in love for her and the city so I wanted her to have it for free. I don’t think she really knew what she was in for or if she had read all I’d written on the painting but she joyfully received it, and even wanted us to take a picture together holding it. After a loving hug and kiss on the cheek, she walked down the street carrying a soon-to-be-life-changing encounter with the radical love of Jesus. The painting read, “Do you know the way you move My heart? I love you – I want you – I choose you, San Francisco! I’m not disappointed, I’m not angry, I’m IN LOVE WITH YOU! This is the heart of God.”

"At the healing service on Saturday… Rachel and I (Melissa) got a word of knowledge for depression and that someone was struggling with addiction to medication because of it. A sweet, sincere man named Mark came up for prayer in response to the word.  He loved Jesus with all his heart and had been saved for 7or 8 yrs. He told us that he had been set free from alcohol but because in reaction to the lack of alcohol, his body was launched into depression. In his love for the Lord, he had attempted MANY times to break free from the depression and addiction but never experienced that healing and breakthrough which left him in hopelessness. Over and over he tried but could not get free! As we prayed with Mark, he began to receive the Father's heart for him - that He wasn't disappointed, and didn't see him as a failure. Hearing that TRUTH of the Father's love and delight in him changed EVERYTHING, and broke the lies that had been filling his mind! That night during the message, something Kate shared REALLY captivated his attention -  about the fullness of deity being inside of us, just as it was in Jesus. This message SO resonated in his heart – I said I would partner with him as HE declared freedom over his OWN body, according to that fullness which dwells in him! I knew the Lord wanted him to KNOW that HE WAS POWERFUL. So Mark began to declare that the cycle of depression was OVER, that he was taking authority over his body and releasing FREEDOM from those addictions! His face lit up and he was overwhelmed with the love of the Father for him, realizing all that Jesus had done to make him powerful! I could see the victim spirit leaving him, and he left a changed man!"