Drake's 2018 Early Summer Update

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Greetings!

We survived our 90 days of Incarnate and would like to give a report on how it went! It has taken us a while to get back into life here in the US but we are glad to be back and engage in our life here. We hope you enjoy the following report!

One of the joys of running the Arts in Mission School, Incarnate, is that we get to see with our own eyes, the fruits of our labor! And this Incarnate 2018 was no exception! This year we had theater artists for the first time as well as visual artists, musicians and a dancer.

We got to see 15 lives transformed, including one European artist being delivered from addiction to tobacco! If you think they look silly here, you should have seen them when they first got there! LOL

Some of our Asian students found the one and only Chinese family living in the small town we were in, and continued to reach out to them by inviting them to the conference center where we were staying. They came for meals, events, and fellowship as well as to the local church. By the end of our stay 2 of the 4 members in the family accepted Christ! Our hosts at the center will continue to follow up with them. They aren't pictured for obvious security reasons.

We've never had a baptism before and this time we had two! Both ladies here wanted to rededicate their lives to the Lord because they experienced so much healing and renewal after the 90 days of our intense discipleship program!

We taught them many things, but a primary focus was on their identity; who they are in Christ, how God views them and how to fight of the lies of the enemy who is the father of lies.

One of our artists made this display showing that what we focus on is important. The first picture the viewer is focused on what the enemy wants us to believe, whereas the second picture brings into focus how God views us. The piece of glass was suspended in front of the backdrop of declared truths.

The above pictures are from our visual artists. As you can see there was quite a variety.

One artist wrote a children's book! We were able to invite the local school in for her to share the story she wrote about how God made us all uniquely different.
Here she is telling her story through an interpreter.
*The leaders of the conference center had been trying to invite the local school to the facility for years and this time there was a breakthrough and it happened! Due to the strident Catholic majority there, Evangelical Christianity is not looked on favorably, so for the local school master to allow the students to set foot on the property was a huge deal.

Sometimes this is how we felt, flat out exhausted!

During Incarnate I wore many different "hats", along with the eight other staff members who also wore many hats. My title was "Lead Spiritual Mentor". Pictured above you see me in a teaching role! I taught about seven different times on various subject matters including, "Honoring the Body", "Hearing God's Voice", "Boundaries" and "Silence & Solitude" to name a few. I was also responsible for my own small group, also pictured above. We met twice a week to discuss and flush out deep issues and challenges more appropriate in a small group setting. There were many counseling sessions, prayer times, and just "being there" with other students as well. Sometimes I wrote and performed skits with others to illustrate a point in a fun way. Unfortunately (maybe I should say "fortunately") no pictures were taken!

Pictured here is the Italian way of making hot chocolate "cioccolata calda". In order for it to be considered excellent, the spoon must stand up straight as demonstrated here. For those in the USA the best way to describe it is chocolate pudding but better! We decided not to show some of the other delicious Italian food that we ate like the pizza, pasta, coffee and tiramisu, as we wouldn't want you to get jealous or anything like that!

The scenery was breathtaking and we enjoyed some snow as well! Some of our participants had never experienced snow before, so they went out and played like little kids!

Bill did a great job as director of the school with his co-leaders Dileep and Pat and "director in training" Amy! He had to leave for two weeks for South Africa in the midst of the school to attend the annual OM leaders meetings as well as do some fund raising concerts for the Aids and Sports ministries he helps to oversee. He still managed to teach the "God Story" Course which is a Biblical theology of Creativity and Beauty, incorporating God as Creator through to the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, and how those truths relate to artists and impact engaging the Arts in ministry. Bill is in his element at Incarnate and loves pouring into young artists who want to use their gift for serving God and reaching the un-reached.

Here are the lyrics to a song Bill wrote while we were there. He got the idea while visiting the ruins of an ancient church and monestary established around 700 AD right there in Tembrietta, Isola Del Gran Sasso where we hold Incarnate.

Bill says he just got the overwhelming sensation that God has been waiting, for all of us, to meet with Him in all these special places where He intersects our lives. He is always there for us. And He waits for us to acknowledge Him in all that we say and do, no matter where we go or find ourselves.

And such was the case for all of us - He met us right there, for some of us, at our deepest point of need - and for some of us, we will never, ever be the same again - forever changed by abiding in the presence of Jesus.

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YYou've Been Waiting Here

You’ve been waiting here, since the dawn of time
To unveil my eyes, and touch this heart of mine
For You...

Show me what You see, from my broken dreams
Restore my hope and view, for You make all things new
I rest, I wait, It’s You I praise

All that I have, and all that I am
Is Yours, Is Yours Lord
All that I bring, this song that I sing
Is Yours, Is Yours Lord

You’re my solid Rock, when the shaking starts
And when I cannot stand, You hold me in Your hands
  I rest, I wait, It’s You I praise

All that I have, and all that I am
Is Yours, Is Yours Lord
All that I bring, this song that I sing
Is Yours, Is Yours Lord

Though all falls apart, You anchor my heart
In You, In You Lord
In death or in Life, my Hope and my Light
Is You, Is You Lord

(In You, For You, With You, In You)

You’ve been waiting here, since the dawn of time
To unveil my eyes, and touch this heart of mine.

Written by Bill Drake
(c) 2018 Old Dirt Road Music

I found this on a walk and thought it was a profound picture of hope. The promise of new life after the harsh winter. Can you see the little green sprig coming up from the hard ground of winter through the snow?
For many this is a picture of all they have left, some don't even have that. We aim to bring hope, the confident knowledge that God has us, His children, secure in eternity and the knowledge of peace in the "now" while we wait for the "not yet".

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever...
Hebrews 6:19-20

Thank you for standing with us through prayer and financial support!
We were very blessed to be able to have what we needed for our costs incurred while being at Incarnate. God provided scholarships for our two students coming from Zimbabwe and Zambia as well!

UP NEXT...
Bill travels to Hungary later on this month for his annual concert tour.
Teresa in the meantime is corresponding with the Incarnate students for follow up upon their return home. After they left us we sent them on placements with four OM fields so they could put to practice what they learned at Incarnate. Teresa also continues to meet with young women here on the homefront, and continue with her health coach role with Optavia. If any of you living in the US would like to know more about the weight loss program just email her!
Of course being grandparents to little nearly 6 month old Micah is also a new joy for us!

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