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The InnerChange Voice is a bi-montly publication specifically for friends of InnerChange. In this issue, rejoice in the power of prayer to bring transformation and meet our summerXchange interns serving with InnerChange around the world. 
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Our Stories

Los Angeles, California: A Life of Prayer

by Alastair Rundle



Introducing "Salt + Light", a video series sharing simple stories of renewal and hope from InnerChange teams around the world.  This first one features Alastair Rundle from Los Angeles.  Enjoy!
 

Hope describes the work of God in Alastair's life.  Stripped of his English national pride when he moved to the States, delivered from selfishness through marriage to a wonderful wife (Catherine), rescued from cancer...twice, gifted with two amazing children (Zoe and Peter) and given a vision of cultivating life in a neighborhood overwhelmed with death and despair. 

Nairobi, Kenya: New Ways of Praying

by Brayden


Over the past year, I’ve gathered with a group of Kenyans in the empty storage room of a rec center to pray for our neighborhood.  The room is dark and dank, and we all barely fit inside, but I’ve started to call it “the furnace” because I believe our prayer times radiate the love of Jesus out into the neighborhood. 

Mutahi usually starts by sharing some scriptures, then Wacuka leads out in acappella worship.  When our hearts are sufficiently burdened and inspired, we launch into intercession.  Voices filled with passion, each person begins to pray loudly and at the same time.  With the pace and volume of our prayers rising and falling, we cry out to God.  We pray for our Muslim friends to open their lives to Jesus, for peace to reign in our city, and for spiritual power as we seek to proclaim the gospel among a resistant people. 

I’m grateful for this past year in the “furnace” with my prayer mentors. As the only non-Kenyan, it’s taken me awhile to come out of my quiet, conservative, midwestern shell and to learn to pray with the bold persistence of the neighbor in Luke 11:5-8.

Conversely, on the other side of town, I recently gathered with a different group of believers to teach on cultivating an inner-life with Jesus.  Travis, Olivia, Mallory, Kamau, and I all sat under a gazebo in a beautifully manicured flower garden and discussed various spiritual disciplines.  In this beautiful setting, we practiced a slow prayerful reading of the Bible known as lectio divina. Each person found a spot in the garden to practice listening to God in silence. 

We reconvened after an hour to debrief our prayer experience.  Kamau (the only Kenyan in attendance) seemed particularly emotional and wasn’t able to join in the group sharing.  I approached him after the session to see if he wanted to talk about how he was feeling.  Through tears, Kamau went on to tell me that the past few years of his life had been very difficult.  Despite all the hard things he mentioned, he assured me that the tears he was crying were tears of happiness.  He said, “I’ve never prayed that way before.  I’ve never taken the time to listen to God like that.” This kind of silent prayer was as new to him as the shouts in the storage room were to me. In the same way that God has pushed me out of my shell to seek him with greater fervor, He’s pulling Kamau into his shell to receive the healing that comes from taking time to listen to Jesus.  The willingness to be uncomfortable allows us to experience God in new and deeper ways.

Brayden and his wife Katie work in Nairobi, Kenya among urban muslim refugees.  As a family they long to drink deeply from Jesus and to be a deep well for all those that God brings into their life.

Praying Through Art

Have you ever experimented with praying as you create a piece of art?  Lyndy and Catherine share about their experiences conversing with God in the process.

"compass"  2013
by Lyndy Rutledge
Mixed media, acrylics, collage

I went on retreat recently and prayed through what God has done in my life: who he has used to lead the way, experiences that have shaped me, where I have been, and where I am headed. This painting is a prayer expressing my longing to live out of the center: who I truly am, rather than where I am or how I am.

"As I begin to see who I am truly, I may find serious discrepancies between the person who lives in the circumstances and the person God created me to be, in my deepest self. I will find shame, but I will also find glory. I will move closer to God who dwells in my heart, and the encounter will challenge me in ways I can not predict. This is the power of prayer and the risk of the inner journey." - Margaret Silf, from "Inner Compass"
Praying With Watercolors
by Catherine Rundle

Usually I am drawn first to the colors.  This day it was blue and gray, perhaps an articulation of my heart’s struggle to choose peace in the face of discouraging circumstances.   I love the simplicity of watercolors: more water, more flow.  This lends itself to ‘praying in’ the Living Water.  And as I pray, I play.  (Art prayers seem to be such a natural venue for holding the opposites:  the glorious intensity of coming before the throne of God juxtaposed with a childlike delight and freedom.)  As I painted this day I was thinking about the River of Life at the heart of the universe.  Perhaps I was even singing, “I’ve got a river of life flowing out of me...”  When I finished, however, I realized this river had turned into an x-ray of a bone.  A dry bone coming alive!  I prayed this over myself, my family, my neighborhood, and my city.  Now this painting sits in my apartment.  It is a living prayer, daily calling me to prophesy to the dry bones.

SummerXchange is Underway!

There are currently 10 summerXchange interns serving on four of our teams for a two month journey among the poor. We are so glad to have these interns walking with us. Meet them and their leaders below. 

Marielle, Kaija and Lis serving in London with Peter & Liz
Phil, Rosie and Richard serving in Miami with Laurie
Liz serving with Jess in San Francisco
Thomas, Karli and Danielle serving with Oupa in Soshanguve, South Africa
To find out more about summerXchange in case you are interested for the future, click here
Thank you for reading this edition of the InnerChange Voice. We're so glad to have you walking with us. We welcome your comments and questions. 
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