I apologize for the lack of consistency in communication and in posting on this blog (and my previous) over the past few months. These past 7 months have been incredibly challenging, beautiful, stripping, life-givng, and growing. Every moment, detail, and step of which has been so saturated in the Lord’s faithfulness, leading, and steadfast love.

In a season that I expected to marked by an increase of communication, the Lord really put a clamp on the release of “my” words - in the best way possible. There have not been a lack of words or things to process (quite the opposite, actually), but nearly every time I would sit down to write, I just felt Abba say, “Alida, write only for me.”

So I did. I wrote and wrote and wrote. A whole bunch of raw, seemingly illogical heart pieces and blurbs. I asked a lot of questions and explored a wide gamut of possible answers. I wrote lots of bullet lists. I wrote some more polished essay style pieces and a lot of desperate prayers. I wrote about the past, I dreamt about the future, and I attempted to process the present.

Through the whole process, the Lord has been wrecking me and rebuilding me. He’s been breaking off the fear of man and my almost compulsive need to please people and meet some self-imposed, unrealistically high standard in every area of my life - be it physically, artistically, spiritually, academically, or in ministry or leadership. He’s teaching me what it means to lead from a place of humble dependence on Him, to give up my own focus and focus on caring for those around me, and to truly find Him as my audience of one.

This journey of following Jesus is raw. It’s a way marked by brokenness and yet the only path to complete freedom and a truly abundant life. I’m a complete mess without Him. I’m totally desperate for Him. There’s no hope outside of Him, but in Him unswerving, steadfast, emerging-from-the-shadows, bursting-forth-like-the-morning-sun, living Hope.

This was as season of silence, so to speak. And yet the Lord spoke so loudly through it.

But, now it’s a new season, and I feel Him nudging me that this time of “silence” is reaching an end. He spoke that this new chapter would be one filled with words, both secret and published, and the beginning of a long season (stretching far beyond my time here in Europe) of refining my voice as an artist, a writer, and a photographer. The stories are coming, both from the past few months and as I live out the next months and years. I’m wrestling through and discovering clarity of vision and voice. I’m an artist learning more and more what it means to lock eyes with the Father and have my creative expression flow from that place and from an identity firm in the Lord and not in what I do or what standards I may or may not “achieve”.

Right now, I’m just a girl getting buried daily in an avalanche of His grace, blown away by the ways He uses me and the pieces of vision the Spirit downloads to me, and hungry to move more and more toward the fullness of His heart. And, whether the words flow or they’re held back, I just want to be aligned with Him.

(And, as you can notice, there’s been some dramatic changes to the layout of this blog (due to Apple’s faze out of iWeb and needing to shift my hosting to a new site, and consequently a new design), and some of the design/finishing touches are still in the works. a few more touches and then hopefully this can stay the same for a long time!!)

So much has been happening since my last update post, it’s hard to know how to even begin to write and express it all.

April - May: RE:UROPE

Our team has come together as a result of each of us separately hearing a word from the Lord to “go” and follow His call upon our lives to be radically (and simply)  obedient, and the team the Lord has brought together - with a diversity of gifts, callings, and experience (and the unity He’s given us) - is truly only a team the Lord could bring together. We came not knowing what the Lord had in store for us during our short time in Europe, and since arriving, we have diligently sought the Lord in prayer, intercession, and worship and feel he has downloaded to us a vision to venture on a faith journey from Switzerland to five other European nations: Italy, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany.

Since getting the download of vision for this tour, we’ve been busy planning, building our contact list, writing/designing/filming our promo video and website (which has been my main projects so far - and which you can watch/see HERE) and continually seeking the Lord for divine strategy and details out of the place of prayer and worship. We know this is a journey of faith and only possible through the Lord’s provision and the Spirit’s leading in both the vision and the details. We’ve been so encouraged by the response locally, around Europe, and from North America and are incredibly excited for what God has in store for this trip.

The Lord has really lit a passion for Europe on our hearts and we know this journey to YWAM bases, churches, universities, and prayer house is something that is from Him. We plan to facilitate times of prayer, worship and ministry, to seek God’s heart and to pray for individuals, cities, and regions with the locals in each community. We feel called to strategic prayer and intercession in influential cities, universities, and cultural centres along our route through Europe as we send out a call for others to radically follow Jesus and purposefully pursue their destinies in the Lord. We also feel the Lord calling us to tell the stories of what He is doing in Europe - through interviews, stories, photo projects, and eventually a documentary style film  sharing how God is on the move and drawing the people of Europe deeper into His presence. You can track these stories, daily updates, and other information of what we’re doing as a team on www.re-urope.tumblr.com.

If you’d like to be a part of the Lord’s providence for our team budget for this RE:UROPE project (all donations tax deductible), please visit the “get involved” page on our website, which can be found HERE.

June - August*: London and the United Kindom.

As the Holy Spirit continues to guide our team to the vision and specifics He has for us, He’s also been continually gracious to download increased clarity of steps for me. I came to Europe with a one-way plane ticket, unsure of the amount of time the Lord would plant me here, but He, as He always is, has been so faithful to speak.

One of the things the Lord has spoken so clearly to me is that my time in Europe is supposed to extend beyond this tour with the team - and spread to the UK for a few weeks of visiting and telling the stories of prayer rooms and the 24/7 prayer movement throughout England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________

I currently have a budget of approximately $1000 (USD) per month ($5000 total for March through the first week of July) -  which covers my staff fees, my portion of team transportation (a portion of the above mentioned team budget), airline tickets (to, around, and returning from Europe), international travel insurance (required within YWAM), communication and visa fees, and any additional living expenses, of which I’m still in need of a bit over $3000 (USD).

Due to the transient nature of this season and in order to avoid large amount of currency exchange fees (since I’ll be in nations with a variety of currencies over these 6 months), the best way for me to raise support is online HERE.

I can’t even express the excitement and eager expectancy that fills my heart as I look into and continue to prepare for these next 4 months. What an incredible honour to seek and live out the Father’s heart in all nations. I can’t do this without you and pray that you too find it a blessing to be a part of the Father’s work in this way. I love that, while we each carry different roles and gifts, we are united in our single desire to see His glory come in all peoples, communities, and nations.

If you have any questions or would like more information, please do not hesitate to contact me at alidaoegema@gmail.com.

Blessings & Love! {Hebrews 13:20-21}