Faith – Page 4 – No Small Talk

From empowered to being empowering

In recent months, I have had both external and internal confirmations urging me to take a hold of my proper authority, both authority as in status and authority in wisdom and knowledge. I believe now that the stagnation that I have felt over the past few months has been mostly due to me failing to step into this authority. Half of me does not know how and the other half is scared of this. I know in my head what it looks like, but my heart is weary and unsure. Moving the knowledge from my head into my heart and then actually asserting this authority is a scary thing. The Lord is urging me to do this quickly, deep down I know in some strange way it is only I that has this authority.

To step into this new territory is going to require a lot of administration, emails, scheduling, and much prayer. Some of it I am walking into completely blind, feeling as if I have no tools (weapons in some cases) to be victorious, yet I know that He never lets go. A mentor of mine gave me Isaiah 30:15 a couple of weeks ago, I have taken until just a few minutes ago to read it. This is what it says (click the verse reference for the content):

This is what the Sovereign LORD,
the Holy One of Israel, says
“In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it.

In the full content of the chapter, I realize that God

Need a battering ram.

If I had a battering ram to knock down the wall that I’m up against right now, I would be so happy.

But for now, I’m searching for the stregnth to pick up a battering ram first, and then I’ll try to find the right wall to knock down.

Anouncement!

The news of 2007 is:

Alexis and I are having a baby!!!

Back on our anniversary we thought we may have been pregnant, although we were on the “pill”, Alexis took a few different pregnancy tests, all came out negative. Then on our trip there were a few symptoms that we decided Alexis should see the doctor, so on Tuesday of this past week she did exactly that.

By Wednesday at 9am she found out, she is 12 weeks pregnant! Which means our little one has already been to France and Poland 😛

The baby is due March 11th at this point. It’s crazy, it’s kinda fast, but we were ready to start trying in September anyway! So God’s provision we know is coming!

Love you all! Thanks for your prayers and support!

I digress

Poland is a wonderful place. Thanks to everyone who has sent encouraging words, yes it’s a little tough, but then I am reminded that God’s creation is beautiful even the parts that irritate me, I am simply human. I am reminded that we are here for a reason, a reason that surpasses my understanding and the feelings around me. We are here for his work, his amazing, glorious work. We have friends here, true friends, and we have brothers and sisters in Him, the two are not necessarily the same, most of the time yes, some of the time not. It’s the some of the time that get’s me irritated. Alexis and I should go and take a walk, enjoy the God’s creation, and simply be, instead of trying to do, that seems to be God’s desire for the moment.

Thanks again,

Live from Poland..

Hey!

Alexis and I are in Poland right now, I find myself very tired at the moment, irritable, and I simply want to be away from people. Normally I like to be with others, but even people like me have a limit to how much time you can be around people. So as we spend time with our friends here, we realize the need for healing and restoration here. If only people were aware of the freedom that true grace brings, not just here in Poland, but all around the world. God’s grace is 100% sufficient for everyone. Problems occur and fellowship is distrupted when hurt people hurt other hurting people, most of the time this is caused by people not knowing what their identity is as a Christian. We have authority, we are created in God’s image, not other’s, and most of all we choose to be like Christ. No one can tell you what Christ has given you, only we can choose that for ourselves, we choose to believe it, and to walk into it. We submit to Christ, we allow his counsel, his hands, and feet (this is the church) to mentor us, through mutual friends, our pastors, and his Spirit. This is what our ministry in Poland is based on. Applying His word to our lives, living as Christ did, and walking out grace. There is hope.

Serving him,

In Poland

Hey everyone,

We’re here in Poland now, been here since Wednesday. The youth camp in France went very well, I plan on posting some videos and pictures soon. The theme of the camp was “Coming together, going deeper”, each night (except one) a French pastor spoke to the campers. Before we left I felt the Lord tell me to have no expections, and simply observe, this is precisly what I did. It was good, although at times I wanted to minister and wanted to feel God’s touch, just to recieve, yet none of that happened. Instead the Lord had me obeserve, and intercede for others. God is creating in me a sense of peace through all of this, I’m learning to process things, and listen to his instructions, instead of jumping on knowledge and instinct.

Here we GO!

Hey everyone,

Well Alexis and I are almost packed, just a few things to put away before we head to the airport tomorrow morning! Thanks for all of your prayers, financial support, and simply being our friends! While we are in France and Poland we’ll be seeing many of our friends there, many whom we only see about once a year. Our hearts are to encourage them in their faith and walk with God. As Paul says in Romans 1:12 (NLT) – “I’m eager to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours. In this way, each of us will be a blessing to the other.”

We are still in need of financial support, all of the bare minimum things are paid for, such as transportation and lodging, and food for most of the trip. However, due to a strong Euro and weaker US Dollar, and an unanticipated two night hotel stay in Lyon (due to overbooking at the camp’s location) our team is short by about 1,000 Euros (that’s $1,370.8996). We know God will provide for us, if it’s through people’s donations or through provisions in other ways we are confident that God’s will is at hand. Any amount would help us in offsetting this deficit for the rest of the team.

Thanks again!

To donate please send a check payable to “Mission Dispatch” and put “Mielonen” on the memo line. OR donate via PayPal on the right!

Mission Dispatch
RE: Travis & Alexis Mielonen
21911 76th Ave W., Suite 211
Edmonds, WA 98026

Thanks!

In the Swiss mountains.

In spring of 2004 I had the opportunity to go to our denominational meeting for Europe, it just so happened to be in Emmeton (I think I butchered the spelling), Switzerland (near Luzerne). During that time I was privileged to hear from the outgoing European leadership, who were Americans living in Frankfurt, Germany. The Shaws had been living in Germany for 16 years, first as missionaries to plant churches in Germany, than as the head of Foursquare Europe.

While I was listening to how God had moved them into different seasons the Lord moved on my heart with such passion that I really can not explain how I felt, except that it involved tears for the better part of two hours. I also knew one thing for sure, God was calling me back to Poland; and more than just another year, he called me to an undetermined amount of time, the question, at that point, was, how long?

It has been a little over three years since that day, and I don’t regret a minute of it, and the desires, dreams, and visions only get stronger. With each trip back to Poland it becomes more apparent that it is the place for us to be. Hearing God’s voice in such an emotional way can be very confusing, yet he promised it, so we seek, we ask, and we knock. With each and every step of obedience, from school, to ministry, to focusing on our personal priorities and walks with Jesus, we know we are in the grace and will of our God.

This one day in Poland…

I was driving to the next town, about 20 minutes from where I lived in Zakopane, Poland and listening to a CD that a friend had sent me, of this group that at the time I had never heard of called “Casting Crowns“. Then it happened, track three came on “Voice of truth“.

You see I was by my self that week, the missionaries I was helping were off in Switzerland for a sabbatical. I was on my way to pick up a couple of people for our Wednesday night meeting with young adults. Earlier in the day a number of people had pretty much cancled, and the two I was going to pick up weren’t even really sure they wanted to be there. I was very upset, and when that song came on it’s like a flood gate of emotions came out. I so badly wanted these friends of mine to understand the relationship that Jesus wants with them. I also was feeling rejection, unqualified, and not so motivated to be in a place that seemed so dray, so unforgiving, and uninteretsed in the ONE that I love without condition.

On that day I learned a valuable lesson, that Jesus is the voice of truth, I can not let the opinions, actions, and words of people sway the calling on my life. In the short year that I was there I went from being very excited and optimistic, to down right depressed. Yet God was quietly spoke the truth of who he was calling me to be. Although I ranted and raved and told God I hated the country, He created an even bigger passion than I thought I could ever have, and I love Poland, her people, her history, and everything about her in a way that only God could ever lay on a person’s heart. Alexis is right here with me in the same boat reading the same page, it’s a journey and a promise bigger than us, keeping us humble for his service.

Choices

I’ve noticed something about people, we either react to choices or we respond. Those who react, normally leave a wake of “drama drama drama” behind them, and those who respond, leave a trail of wisdom.

We all know that life throws crazy things at us, deaths, divorces, unmet expectations. We all know the people that have reacted or do react poorly to these kinds of things. These are the ones that have the tendency to get up and leave, they drop their commitments, never to be heard of again, if so it’s long afterwards and “as if it never happened” they are hard to trust, and even harder to know.

Then we have the people who respond, they take these crazy times, and yes maybe they react at first, but then they take the opportunity to grow through it. They stick it through with patient endurance and cling onto the promises in life that God has given them. It is these people who can be trusted when nothing else makes sense, when life is falling apart, even around them, they can minister to the heart of another broken person, because they’ve put their faith in the Lord.

I’ve been on both sides of the fence, many times. When life gets rocky, I dig in, but sometimes I just want to run. However, these past four years have taught me an invaluable lesson, always move forward with what God has told me. The second I stop, is the second that I lose motivation, and meaning. Sure, if I react and do a quick “course correction” in order to gain stability, life seems okay, but soon I realize that my calling is to be in his grace and not in my own works.