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11/12/2021 0 Comments A New Adventure Awaits A quick update summary:
 Our Journey this Year Final Year at Bethel ( BSSM) Since our last update I (Mollie) have completed my third year of ministry school and have interned for an incredible couple ; Ruth & Steve Moore who oversee BSSM Online. I have had the privilege of learning how God is not limited by a screen and had an awesome year watching people be transformed by an online school. I had the chance to be involved in mentoring students from all around the world and walking some through inner-healing and freedom journeys. I have had the chance also to help lead a group ministering to the homeless camps and missionaries from around the world. It has been stretching but wonderful and I feel I have grown so much. Steve was able to do another year with Michael Brodeur who is one of the most incredible leaders in church leadership and planting and had the chance to also mentor students and oversee a church plant focused on women rescued from trafficking in the Philippines (via zoom).  We have also had the joy of watching the children grow so much and see them develop into such caring and kind kids who are such big encouragers and who love Jesus! We are all so incredible grateful for our time at Bethel/ BSSM and want to thank everyone who has been part of it ! We have been forever impacted and changed by everything we have received and feel so much more equipped to step into the ministry God has for us next. We are excited to pour out all we have received and learned.  A gift from Heaven In July we were delighted to welcome our daughter Abigail into our family. She has been such a joy to our hearts and is so loved and doted upon by her big brother and sister and the rest of her family, God is so wonderfully good.  A Renewed Call Since leaving Cambodia 4 years ago we have dreamt of returning and knew in our hearts we would but every year we asked God we felt Him say “not yet” In February this year during a worship meting I (Mollie) very clearly heard the Lord ask me, “Will you lay America down and pick up Cambodia again?” Through tears of grief and joy I said “yes” and then after a couple of days we were invited by the Iris Global leadership to go back to Cambodia to help serve the team there. Around this time I was also reminded of a vision I had the previous year (before being pregnant) of having a little baby on my knee and travelling in a tuk-tuk (Cambodian taxi) with loads of suitcases - which to me seemed to mean we would be moving back once we had another baby.  We were already a few months pregnant in February and we began to get filled with joy and excitement for a return to the nation that is so dear to our hearts. Then in March the door seemed to very firmly slam shut, and we were pretty shocked and disappointed. Through events that we couldn’t control on the ground in Cambodia our return was seemingly blocked, and we both were heartbroken and confused. In the months after I graduated from my final year of Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry and then we left America for the UK in May.  Waiting on God This transition out of America has been our most difficult so far. It’s honestly not always easy following God and His leadings from continent to continent and it’s not always comfortable waiting on His timings especially in this season of having small children, not having our own home and waiting on God in the midst of seemingly regular disappointments and closed doors.  However even in all of the discomfort and uncertainty Jesus has truly been so faithful to us. It’s a lot easier to experience the comfort of the comforter when you are going through discomfort! This stretching process has helped us to know Him even more deeply than ever before. He is so worthy, faithful and we have complete trust that He is good! It was in these times of pressing into God that He reminded us of what He had clearly spoken earlier in the year and through a series of events the Cambodia door that we thought was closed God had miraculously made open again. We really prayed and asked many trusted leaders in our lives about what we should do and laid out a fleece to God to see if we should be returning. We asked the children to pray too as we feel it’s important, they are as involved with this process as much as possible.   Returning to Cambodia. At the beginning of October, after many confirmations, we made our decision to return and will be helping to lead the ministry that we helped to establish for the five years we were in Cambodia (now called The Mission Worldwide). We have the full support of Iris Global and will be returning as co-directors of the ministry with another missionary couple and a local leader. We are so excited to see all God has been building since we left and how we can support and serve the incredible Cambodian team who have been serving so faithfully through the challenges of Covid and other transitions they have navigated so well. We also look forward to reuniting with our friends and family in Cambodia who we love and have missed greatly. We also have a long term vision to plant house churches in the slums and raise up local leaders who can raise up leaders after them transforming communities from the inside out for the long term. We could potentially fly back to our new home in Phnom Penh as early as January! But this could change depending on some circumstances mentioned below. As it stands now Covid restrictions are easing up as most of the city (over 99%) has been immunised. We are praying things continue to open up for us and that we have no issues returning! Where We Are At Now Over the next couple of months we are going to be raising support. We have about 15% of our monthly expenses covered and in order to get there we need more monthly partners to join with us in the work. It’s a bit of a bigger personal jump of faith going out as a family of 5 rather than before when it was just the two of us and a little baby. However, we feel confident in our provider! We would love to share more about this with you if you are interested or if you would like to partner with us and the work we are doing you can find out more here. We are also preparing our hearts as it has been a huge transition from USA to UK and now to Cambodia. We feel very blessed to have some incredible mentors in our lives who we hope to connect with lots over the next few months. We will also be language learning and preparing our prayer support team and all the other admin involved with moving across the world 😂. Steve has been having some fatigue over the last few months so we are just making sure there is nothing underlying these symptoms and he is focusing on getting as healthy as possible before we go. We will be meeting with his neurosurgeon from 6 years ago to make sure everything is fine before we leave. Please pray for continued improvement in his health. How You can be Involved.  We cannot do this alone and want to invite you to consider being part of the support team for our little family of world changers. If you would like to be part of our team ; in prayer, in finances or if you would like to come to Cambodia either for a short term visit or a long term stay then please click here or email us at stevebrown@irisglobal.org for more information.
Thank you so much! We very much love and appreciate you all!!! 
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6/23/2020 2 Comments Unexpected Blessings Wow what a year it’s been !We apologise for the lack of updates !! We hope you are all doing well and managing to navigate this unique season well knowing God is with you and for you ! We so appreciate your love and support to our family over this year ! We could not be here without you !
I (Mollie) have just graduated from my second year of BSSM ! It’s truly been a very unique and challenging year for many of us. We started our school year with an emotional charge from our Papa Bill Johnson that our class was a “class marked for glory”. This felt like a marking moment for many of us as we felt the weight of his prophetic declaration over us. In the time that followed I personally had many incredible unique and powerful encounters with Jesus and the realities of the heavenly realm which we already have access to.  A few weeks later as a community we contended for the life of a precious baby girl who died suddenly. She was the daughter of our worship pastor. Our school and church contended for 5 days for this baby’s life with all night prayer and worship. It felt like as a body we were being so unified in our pursuit to see Gods power move. The atmosphere during that time was heavenly, thick and Gods nearness and presence was so apparent! Although precious Olive was not resurrected we saw an awakening happen in each of our hearts ! We watched as Kalley ( the mother of Olive) worshipped wholeheartedly and stood in such faith in the midst of heartbreak - this marked each of us with a new standard of faith. As a class our hunger went to a new level and the weeks following were incredibly sweet; God was really moving and revival was tangibly in the air. In addition to pursuing His face we also got the opportunity to learn so much and be taught by the best teachers on the planet. It has been stretching, hard and scary at times but I am so thankful I got to be here at this time. It seemed like just as we were seeing God move powerfully in our school and church COVID19 happened. It was such a disappointing blow to me personally as I was truly expectant that something special was happening. Plus it meant mission trips and any travel was cancelled.  In my moments of grief and heartbreak for what was going on in the world God met me powerfully and held me in my brokenness and despair. I had such a powerful time of resting in His love ; He is my fortress and strong tower ! I think I had bought into the illusion that I had control and independence - when I realised the truth that I am fully dependent on Him and He is so good I felt so much peace. God is so good !! A week later our school and church moved online !! This was a hard transition for me because I love people and there wasn’t really much closure as people left Redding without saying goodbyes etc. ;however it’s been extraordinary to see what is possible through a computer screen and now on Sunday’s there are people from all over the world checking into our ministry rooms to receive a touch from God ! The healing rooms and encounter rooms have also opened up to people around the globe and so it feels like the possibilities are endless with what God can and will do ! I was also incredibly honored and shocked to receive a special award at my graduation. This was a kiss from God as I know only He could have made this happen ! What's ahead?I received a word that in February we would get more clarity on whats next and on the 1st February I had a dream where God asked me if I would stay another year at Bethel for what he was doing in my kids’ lives. Throughout our time in Redding I have received so many words from people about my children and I know God has great plans for them. Our hearts dearly miss the mission field and long to be back but I felt like I couldn’t ignore this dream. We sought advice and council from multiple different leaders in our life to discuss this; they mainly confirmed that we couldn’t ignore Gods leading. When Covid hit we felt like it was another factor that helped us in our decision to delay moving continents. I was then invited to intern for a couple who I love dearly and respect who are truly powerful revivalists and apostolic leaders ( Ruth & Steve Moore ) . They oversee BSSM online / school planting / allumni /raising up the body of Christ in the supernatural . I received a word from a close friend that I should be with them and I didn’t think there was any chance this would happen but God opened the door for me to serve them ! I also have my third year tuition fees paid for because I received the award! So it seemed like God is being very clear that we should stay for a final year here!       Throughout the year I have felt and been in awe of Gods incredible intentionality - from the Revival group pastor, to the mentors he has put in my life, the groups I was a part of and the lessons God was walking me through each week. He is truly so in every detail of our lives and I am in awe of such a beautiful and majestic Father!  Currently we are trying to find a way to get a new stamp for our student visa before the beginning of August, this will probably involve doing a border run of some kind. We really wanted to return to the UK but we felt with the current international situation that we should stay and serve here. We are praying that either the Canadian border opens up otherwise we might fly to Mexico for a few days. In all honesty one of the hardest things we have navigated is financial challenges and keeping our faith that God is our provider for us to stay here in the USA. The living costs are significantly higher than anywhere else we have lived and the visas don’t allow us to work. So it has felt like finances has been the mountain that we have faced on a constant (sometimes daily basis) for the time we have been here. We want to stay full of faith and hope and also discern what God is asking us to personally do. (Please be praying for us as we navigate this and plan and pray for the year ahead.) Steve has felt the leading of Holy Spirit to learn and study the financial markets and stock trading with the aim to eventually help towards provision while on the mission field. This has been such a hard and challenging journey and at times very humbling for him too. However he has felt God’s hand upon it and there have been some encouraging testimonies of the Lord’s specific direction. He has been working hard studying to learn this with a view to have it as a skill that will help us in the long term. He has also been continuing to volunteer in the church planting side of BSSM and also at Iris Global; which he will continue to do this year. It has been such a joy for him to mentor BSSM students as they have planted their micro churches across the city.  The kids are doing great and we are truly amazed by them. Grace has such a heart for the homeless and loves to pray for them. She also has a dream to have an orphaned and rescue babies . She has such a heart for others and for justice. She is growing in understanding of her faith and loves Jesus. Benji is a comedian and loves to bring joy wherever he goes. We are excited at the prospect of him going to the Bethel Christian Preschool in the autumn as we believe it’s a great opportunity for him to grow in his relationship with God. Over the summer I am assisting Ruth and Steve Moore and also helping with online ministry for people from around the world. (Bethel Sunday ministry teams / encounter rooms) I am also wanting to go deeper with God as I have more time to focus on Him and pursing a deeper friendship with Him. I have made some beautiful friendships with my neighbours and have started a little weekly discipleship and bible study group which has been great and I’m excited about; they have been such gifts to me ! I am hoping to spend more time observing ministry in the transformation centre (Sozo ministry) when that opens up again. Also we just want to stay obedient in the big and the small everyday leadings of the Holy Spirit.
6/17/2019 0 Comments 11 Years A Servant…what’s next? A tornado warning over Redding a few weeks ago. For the last 11 years every major decision in my life has actually been made by someone else and not myself. In 2008 I had a powerful and tangible life changing encounter with the living God. Since then He has guided, me directed me and led me. Jesus has been the Master and I have been the slave. “Leave your job as a teacher” “Yes Lord.” “Get rid of your house and things and go to Mozambique” “Yes Lord.” “Go to Thailand on outreach”. “Yes Lord.” (I might add that most of these decisions were actually quite joy filled and life giving in the moment - and not reluctant and pain filled as some might envision the usual definition of slavery to be!) “Move to Cambodia”, “Yes Lord” “Move to Sihanoukville” “Yes Lord.” “Live in a slum for a month” “Yes Lord.” “Move to Phnom Penh again to help there”. “Yes Lord.” The list goes on, and it leads us up to this point and America. Following His lead. The apostles when writing their epistles often introduced themselves as slaves, for example in Romans 1:1. (They used the word δοῦλος doulos “...this means 1- a “slave,” who completely belongs to his owner and has no freedom to leave, or 2- a “servant,” who willingly chooses to serve his master”. - NIV study Bible). In nearly all modern English translations of the Bible they either use the word “servant” or “bondservant” and barely use the word “slave” even though that is exactly what it means in the Greek. Maybe that is because of the negative connotations of the word “slave” but I think slavery is not always negative, it depends on what or who you are a slave to. If you are a slave to one who is evil, who destroys and steals from you (like being a slave to sin) then slavery is a terrible concept. But what if you are a slave to a Master who is perfect Love, perfect kindness, overwhelming generosity and endless wisdom? A slave to someone who is a better leader for your life than you are? One who has all foresight and perfect insight. Then I believe that kind of slavery is good. We are all a slave of something! We just need to choose the right master!  I write this to give a bit of a context for the things we have been wrestling with in the last few months. In every major decision since fully trusting Jesus we have habitually (and rightly so) waited for a command and then obeyed. So when a major decision (about what’s next for us as a family) is to be made and you wait on the Lord for a specific command and you get something different to the “usual” it is really unsettling. It certainly was for me anyway. After praying lots and waiting for a specific direction; all we kept hearing back through trusted prophetic voices we know, mentors and leaders was; “What do you want? You are free to choose”.  I (Steve) am going to be quite honest and vulnerable when writing this. When I first heard Mollie coming back home from Ministry School with these kinds of prophetic words (“I feel like the Lord Is saying “What do you want, You choose”) some not so very gracious judgments popped up in my heart. “That’s not real Christianity, this is some twisted Westernized version”. I thought. Or “Maybe this is “Bethel culture” and not Kingdom Culture”? As Mollie kept getting these words and we started praying more into what the Lord has for us for after her BSSM first year. We sent out a prayer request and update asking friends and family to join us in praying as we try and make a decision. We also had a really wonderful nearly 3 hour conversation with our Iris Cambodia directors to hear their hearts, needs and honour them by asking their thoughts. The same theme kept coming back to us. Then one Sunday I was in church and I went to the front to receive prayer from the ministry team (responding to the specific preach that day about something completely different, not requesting any guidance for decisions or the future). The kind elderly gentleman who prayed for me stopped mid way through praying and He said; “I hear this phrase; “What do you want? You are free to choose””. I was taken aback, I didn’t ask for prayer on decision making, nor did he know a thing about me or my situation. As I (slowly) started to listen to the constant and clear prophetic words and not dismiss what God was consistently saying. You mean You want me to choose?? All sorts of insecurities that were in me started to raise their ugly heads. In a way it’s sometimes easier having all the big decisions made for you (being a slave). You receive specific guidance and you do it. You are not responsible for the consequences of your actions because you were just doing as you were told. But with this new level of input and responsibility I was entering a whole new realm insecurity and doubt. -What if I make the wrong decision? -What if I mess up? -What if people don’t understand the decision I make? -Can’t you just decide God? Then if the decision upsets people I can just blame you.... “well sorry guys but God said so, so you know, I have to be obedient.” I started to share my journey with some friends and mentors, and they all said the same thing. “It looks like God is moving you into a deeper level of relationship with Him, where you are not just a slave but a friend also", "He trusts you to be more involved in the decisions”. Others said it was a part of deeper maturity in knowing Him and Mollie shared her journey with her revival group pastor and he encouraged her in some similar things.  After the long Skype chat with our Iris Cambodia directors and receiving some other prophetic words Mollie and I chatted together and for the first time, instead of listening to a command from the Lord and following, we sat down and dreamed with God. It may sound strange but sitting and “dreaming” was a very weird and very new experience for us. We had just spent many years on the missions field purposefully “dying to self”, “dying to our dreams” and now God was gently and lovingly encouraging us to dream again! But this time WITH Him and according to His purposes! You can see how much of an uncomfortable shift in thinking this was for us compared to what we had gotten used to; just listening and then doing. As we dreamed we thought through some things. Ok, what would things look like if we had an extra year in Redding? Or what would things look like if we went straight back to Cambodia now? What equipping could we receive and benefit from if we stayed? What further training do we need for the things God has called us to do in ministry? Ministry School planting training? (Only available In BSSM second year). Further leadership training (also in second year). What mentors could we connect with and go deeper with if we stayed in this environment a little longer? And there was so much more we thought about and processed. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. John 15:15 (NASB) I am very much at the beginning of this friendship journey with Jesus so there is still so much that I have left to learn. But I do know this; Friendship with God does not take away from obedience, servanthood and Jesus being our Master. It just adds another dimension of relationship with Him on top of that.. When the apostles Peter and Paul used the term “a slave of God” to describe themselves when introducing themselves in their letters it was often even towards the end of their ministry (as in Romans 1:1 and 2 Peter 1:1). To me this shows that there is no growing out of slavery to Jesus!! So I intend to still see myself as a slave (to a wonderful and perfect Master) just as the early church did. BUT we have been asking to know God more and we are not going to pass up an opportunity to experience another dimension of relationship with Him in friendship (even if this has exposed some insecurities in me, but even that is good because they now they can start to be dealt with!)  BSSM1 Graduation Below Mollie writes about what we are dreaming of ahead….. I have been so blessed and impacted this year at BSSM. It has been full of life changing moments ; incredible highs encountering Jesus and realising the vastness of the inheritance we have been given ; as well as dealing with hurts and pains I didn’t realise I had and allowing Holy Spirit to do whatever He wanted in my heart. For me the biggest change I have encountered is really truly knowing the goodness of God ! 100% knowing in every fibre of my being that He is so good, so faithful , so trustworthy , so kind and that He is for me and loves me. I “knew” this before coming but I had some lies I believed which caused me to sometimes doubt the nature of God. I had so much focus on being “dead to sin” and dying to myself but I have been learning so much about the vast inheritance we have in the resurrection life. The supernatural is a huge part of that; the Kingdom of Heaven that we are seated in and have access to. The abounding hope and joy that Paul writes about us a reality we CAN live in !  It’s been a year of recognising the cracks in my foundations, the subtle deceptions I had partnered with and then relearning the truth. I feel more alive than ever before and yet I still feel there is some building work to be done. I dearly miss Cambodia and the people there ; but I don’t want to return there whilst this specific process is “half finished”. It’s a huge cost and a huge sacrifice to us but we believe that staying another year is a better decision for a more sustainable and effective long term future in ministry on missions. We are currently in the UK for two months for visa reasons. We are so excited to be reconnecting with our families, friends and our church family. We hope to come back to Redding early August and I aim to do the second year of BSSM!
(If you would like to donate towards Mollie's tuition for the coming school year please click here https://my.bssm.net/donations/transactions/new?student_binder=511281) |
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