Exciting Update!

Well, in less than 24 hours I’ll be on a plane heading to my beloved Kenya! It’s been a whirlwind past month and I wanted to update you before I left to catch you up on some exciting things going on in my life and to ask for your prayers.


Michael Blaser: Yep, that’s right – I met someone! God has brought the most amazing man into my life and our past month and a half of dating have been a gift straight from heaven. Michael went to Kenya with ELI in May and I conveniently got to help plan his trip. Though I thought he was amazing before he left, God didn’t let the sparks start flying for either us until right as he returned. As I talked with him to debrief his trip the day after he returned, I found a kindred heart that I have never connected with in such a powerful way. Michael is such a man after God’s own heart! He is deeply in love with Jesus and loves His people so sincerely. He’s a lover through and through and he has definitely won my heart. He’s goofy, totally fun, extremely caring, gentle, deep, passionate, humble, a leader, and so much more. Everything about him and our relationship is beyond my wildest dreams and imagination and I have sensed God’s peace, leading, spirit, and favor over us in a way I’ve never experienced before. So needless to say, we’re really excited for what God has in store for us and the journey ahead.

WOTH Retreat: What a joy to watch God refresh, heal, restore, and love on His precious daughters on this retreat. We had women attending who serve in 48 different countries around the world! Wow, talk about a powerful weekend to minister into the nations as we ministered to these mighty servants. I was amazed at how many women showed up to the retreat totally burned-out, depressed, depleted, hurting, lonely, and dry. But as we loved them throughout our time together, prayed with them, listened to them, pampered them, and asked God to minister to them, I watched Him breath hope, life, joy, peace, and energy back into his tired vessels.

The massage time was powerful for me! I massaged for 5 hours straight each day and was amazed at how much strength God gave me to persevere and finish strong. Thank you for your prayers – He definitely answered! One interaction stands out to me that I want to share with you as an encouragement. As I massaged one woman, I asked the Lord what His heart was for her. This is what He said to me:

“Kierra, you know how your heart has overflowed with love for Michael so much that it’s gotten to the point where you feel like it’s going to burst? Where the love you feel for him is too much to contain inside you and you feel like you might explode and it almost hurts? Well, that’s only the tip of the iceburg of what I feel for this daughter of mine. My heart is overflowing with more love for her than I can contain. And this is how it’s felt since the day she was born and how it will continue to feel into all eternity. For though human love comes and goes and has heights and lows, my love remains constant. I never fall out of love with my children and the intensity of my love never changes.”

Wow, I was blown away as I heard that. And the amazing thing is that this is how he feels about you and me and every other person in this world. Now if that’s not enough to put a smile in your heart today, I don’t know what is.

Hope Walks: I’ve mentioned in past updates that we’re holding an event called Hope Walks on November 1st to raise money for our kids in D.R. Congo. Basically, it’s an opportunity for kids here to raise money and walk on behalf of orphans and vulnerable children affected by the AIDS crisis in Africa. It’s a fundraising and awareness building day that we’re hoping will also unite churches and the community of Brea. I encourage you to read more about it at www.hopewalks.org/brea. And I also encourage you to be involved! If you live near the Brea area (Southern California), you can register to walk online and join us for a fun day! Or, if you’re unable to attend, you can sponsor me to walk at www.active.com/donate/hopewalksbrea/KHiggin16. Or, if you work for a company that might be interested in sponsoring the walk, you can give them the attached letter. We are looking for event sponsors right now to help us cover the cost of the event so that all money raised by the kids and other walkers can go straight to Africa without paying for any overhead. We’re hoping to raise about $9000 from event sponsors, so please talk to your companies, or pass this info on to others who might be interested. Let me know if you have any other questions, and feel free to pass my contact info to others. Thanks so much!

Kenya and D.R. Congo: As I leave for Africa tomorrow, I have a sense that God is inviting me on a 6-week honeymoon with him (others have told me this as well as they’ve been praying for me). I am excited to go and dive into depths of a friendship with him that I have yet to enter. I have such a deep desire to grow in my friendship and intimacy with Him right now and am excited to have six weeks away to do just that. I’m also excited to serve, love on our staff and kids, host the team coming, etc, but mostly I’m looking forward to soaking in God. I’ve felt Him say that this trip isn’t so much about going to “do” for Him, but to go and “be” with him. In John 15, Jesus says to His disciples, “I no longer call you servants, but friends.” In the past, I’ve always gone to Africa with the mindset of a servant, but this time I hear God inviting me to come as a friend. Jesus’ ministry flowed out of an intimate friendship with God – not just trying to do a bunch of things FOR God. That’s my desire as well. So please pray for me as He leads you in this! I would also love prayers for my health and protection (especially as I travel to D.R. Congo in Sept).

Thanks friends- I treasure you so much and truly love walking this journey with you!

He Restores My Soul

All right friends, I’m calling all prayers to enter into battle for me this coming week! I leave next Tuesday, July 8th to start set-up for the Women of the Harvest Retreat that we’re hosting from the 10th-13th. I’ll be serving on the volunteer staff team along with 33 other women to host a weekend of refreshment, healing, encouragement, joy, and restoration for over 100 women coming home for furlough after years of service for God’s Kingdom in countries all over the world.
The goal of the retreat is to provide spiritual, physical, and emotional refreshment for these ladies. We hope to remind them of their true identity as beloved daughters of the King, provide refreshing times of worship, study of the Word, prayer, and rest, demonste God’s lavish love through gifts, pampering, beauty, healthy physical touch, fun and laughter, and create a haven environment where we provide listening, counseling, small groups, and a chance to interact with others who “get their life.”
Wow, what a joy to participate in bringing this type of love and refreshment to God’s precious daughters! Throughout the weekend I will be providing massages, leading a small group of 7 women, helping with set-up & clean up each day, and providing love and encouragement in any other way I can.
I covet your prayers for the week as you intercede for me and these women. Please pray for:
Finger, hand, arm, leg, and back strength for me! I have never given more than 4 massages in a row before, so I am going to need some extreme Holy Spirit power to flow through my body the whole weekend.
Anointed hands for healing. I long for God’s healing power to flow through my hands as I massage and pray over these women. Pray for emotional, spiritual, and physical healings.
Wisdom, discernment, and a sensitivity to God’s Spirit as I lead my small group. Pray that his Spirit mightily touches each woman in my group and fills our conversations and prayer times together!
Thanks so much friends! I am excited to report to you all the incredible ways that God moves during this week!

Sonship

God has been taking me on an incredible journey of freedom this past month and I am excited to continue down this pilgrimage with him. I learned about an 8-month course called “Sonship” when I was in Colorado last month, and I am now three weeks into it. Through readings, homework assignments, cd lectures, and phone discipling sessions with a professional counselor each week, the course leads people from living as orphans under the law to sons and daughters of the King living in the freedom of grace.
I have been challenged to the core as my perfectionist and people-pleasing tendencies have been rooted up and exposed for what they really are - the desire to promote the greatness of Kierra rather than the greatness of God. I’m realizing that my desire for the praise and approval of everyone around me is actually the desire for them to worship me instead of the King of Kings. It’s humbling to learn, but so healthy and freeing! I’m breaking free from the bondage of worrying about the opinions of other people as I understand my identity as a completely forgiven, deeply loved, sinner saved by grace alone. I am a daughter of the King free to simply point others to HIM! You can read more about the sonship course at www.whm.org/grow.

What I've Been Up To

Speaking - Thanks so much for your prayers for my preaching time at Sun Hills Church in Sacramento! God gave me a clear message for his children there about the fullness of life that He longs for them to experience, along with every other person on this planet. It was a joy to watch him move in many lives that morning - including my own!
I also had the joy of recently sharing at a VBS where the theme for the week was ‘Love Ilula” (one of the Kenyan villages we work in). The children spent the week doing odd jobs around their homes and neighborhoods to raise money to help us care for our 96 orphans in Ilula. It was amazing to hear parents tell about the attitude shift in their kids throughout the week, especially in Wal-Mart and grocery aisles. Suddenly children who used to whine and complain for every toy in the store were educating their parents about children around the world who don’t have toys or even food most days.
Still Writing - Though the process is slow, my book is still coming along. I am now completely finished with the first 7 chapters and should have the next three finished soon! The last five are works in progress, but I’m hopeful that I can finish the entire first draft by September.
Oh friends, as I listen to God’s heart and write, I am learning much about the fullness that he longs for us to live in. He longs to give you a life-transforming revelation of His love so that you might be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:19). He longs for us to live, serve, and love out of fullness! So often we do these things out of obligation, duty, guilt, or a striving spirit. But His heart desires to overflow your cup with His intoxicating love and fullness and for your life to simply be characterized by the overflow of that cup. The world doesn’t need to see more striving Christians - it simply needs to taste and drink of the living water that freely overflows out of our cups.
Training - I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to receive and give a lot of mission training these past few months.
The training weekend in Colorado was amazing! My ideas about community development, discipleship, empowerment, and the Kingdom were deeply challenged, stretched, deepened, and transformed. I came away from the weekend with such a heart to truly disciple people as Jesus did and lead them into an experience of His Kingdom in every area of their lives. I want to see His Kingdom come to transform communities across the globe!
It has been fun to also provide training for our teams and interns who are heading to Africa this summer. I love getting to challenge our short-termer’s mindsets about their purpose in going, their focus during their time in Africa, their approach to ministry, and the attitude of their hearts. It’s fun to watch light bulbs turn on in people’s eyes and the heartbeat of God begin to beat with their own.

Coming Up!

Hawaii!!!
That’s right, my friend and co-worker Diana Hom and I head for Oahu on July 23rd! We’re excited for the SuDance events we get to serve at and for the lives in Sudan that will be touched and transformed through the help of the funds raised. We’re excited to be a voice for God’s forgotten children in Sudan at the events and churches we’ll be visiting. And we’ll be honest, we’re also excited for some fun girl time on the beaches and in God’s incredible creation! We’re hoping to learn some hula worship moves - who knows, maybe we’ll bust it out at church when we return.
Kenya & Congo!!!
I leave for Kenya on Aug 1st for a month of re-connecting with our staff and kids, hosting teams and interns, helping with the ELI annual Youth Camp, and providing massage, prayer, and love for our staff there. Then I’m off to D.R. Congo for a week with a couple others to reconnect with our staff and kids there, get updated info and stories for our Hope Walks Event coming up on Nov 1st, and seek to provide encouragement for those living and serving in this war-torn country. I can’t wait to see what God has in store and to get back on African soil! Bwana asi fiwe! (Praise the Lord!).