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I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. (Jesus in John 14:12)

You are called! You've been chosen before the foundation of the world! A proud, loving Father, He formed you in your mother's womb, all the days of your life He had already ordained, a great plan for your life in mind, a hope and future, and a great calling of knowing Him and being His reflection. You were chosen to KNOW Him and to make Him known. You were chosen to be like Jesus, and to do the same things Jesus did - preach the gospel, heal the sick, cast out demons, raise the dead, make disciples, and reveal the Father to the world.

Today, as multitudes have prayed for years for the nations of the world, and for the 10/40 window, He is answering those prayers, and looking for those who will hear His heart's cry, "Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?" (see Isa 6). And those who respond, He will give them nations as an inheritance (see Ps 2:8), for His glory will cover the whole earth! Where are the ones that will go to those who have never heard? Where are the ones that will leave all comfort behind, that will die, die to themselves, to their desires, and will go do HIS will? Your kingdom come, your will be done! How often do we pray that, but do we really mean for HIS will to be done, or rather for Him to do OUR will?

You are called to DO what Jesus did.

Yet, why do so few Christians fufill the Lord's commission? This past month I've been giving people three keys that I've found, three things necessary to fulfill our destiny.

1. You are called to BECOME the way Jesus was.

Are you foolish, weak, lowly and despised? If so, you're in good company, because Jesus made Himself weak and lowly, and was despised by the people He came to save, looking foolish in their eyes. And if you are broken, despised, thrown aside, not wanted, then you are the PERFECT candidate for HIM. You are QUALIFIED to become a testimony of the power of God, you are qualified to be picked by Him, to be used by Him, because you know that you are utterly incapable by yourself.

Jesus was despised, rejected by His own, betrayed, and yet He was WHOLE. Yet, He had no unforgiveness, needed no inner healing - contrary to us. We've all been hurt in our lives, but we cannot afford not to forgive, not to allow Him to heal our hearts. If you don't forgive, He will not forgive you. If your heart is broken, if you've been hurt, if you don't know love and don't love yourself, how can you fulfill the greatest command? How can you love the Lord if you don't know love? How can you love your neighbor as yourself, if you don't like yourself?

To do the works of Jesus, you need to lay yourself on the operating table of heaven and allow Him to rip open the wounds, take out the ugly stuff, and completely heal your heart, as if it had never been hurt.

If God can do it with me, He can do it with anyone. I surely qualified to be picked, because I was one of the most unlikely candidates anyone could do anything with!

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, ... how often I have longed to gather your children together... (Jesus in Mt 23:37)

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them ... The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. (Jesus in Matt 9:36-38)

2. You are called to FEEL the way Jesus feels.

We so often act as if the problem was with the harvest, but Jesus clearly states that the problem is the lack of workers. Millions of people in this world have never heard of Jesus. And yet, millions of Christians in this world sit in their comfortable homes, leading their comfortable lives, seeking even more comfort. If only one percent of Christians left their comfort zones to go to the millions that die without Christ every day...

But the problem is that we DON'T have the Lord's heart for the lost. We DON'T shed tears over our cities and those who don't know Him, in our nation and the nations of the world. We DON'T have compassion that makes us consider others more important than ourselves. We will never act unless we have compassion. Compassion always leads to actions. And all miracles flow out of compassion. If we want to do the works Jesus did, we need to allow Him to break our hearts for what breaks His heart. We need to shed tears for what He sheds tears for. Jesus told His disciples to PRAY. For years, I prayed for the 10/40 window, and shed tears for those perishing every day. And you know what He did? Have you ever read the next verse? In Mt 10:1 Jesus says GO, sending out His disciples. The Lord gathers our tears, and often we become our own answer to prayer. After 8 years of praying for Mali, He finally said GO, and I went.

I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. (Jn 17:22-23)

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Cor 3:18)

3. You are called to BE like Jesus.

When I look at my kids in Mali, my heart is moved with compassion, and all I want is to take them in my arms, and love on them, and never let them go. The same way, our heavenly Father longs to take us into His arms, and hold us, and pour His love into us. Jesus prayed that we would have the same union with the Father that He had. Wow! What a goal! ONE with the Father! When people saw Jesus, they saw the Father. What do they see when they look at you? Do you gaze upon His beauty day and night (see Ps 27:4), so that His glory shines through you, blinding those around you? Is His glory shining through you so brightly, that people are healed by your shadow? You become what you gaze upon. I just want to gaze upon the lover of my soul, and the more gaze upon Him, the more I become like Him, from glory to glory to glory.

Offer your life as a living sacrifice to Him. Lay yourself on the altar and invite His fire to come, to consume you, so that only your ashes are left, and He will breathe His breath of life in you. Dying isn't fun, but it's necessary. The more you die, the more you become like Him. I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.

The more you die, the younger you will become. If you ask me who I am, I'm simply a little girl at the hand of her Father. Hand in hand we walk forward, and I love to hear Him speak and do, and I simply copy Him, like all little girls do. It's the saftest and the best place to be, and my greatest fear is that I'd divert my eyes from His and let go of His hand. May it never happen!

PRECIOUS WEEKS IN EUROPE

These past four weeks I have traveled in Austria and to Hungary, and I've had many wonderful opportunities to preach this message above to hungry people, to Christians who are not walking in their full potential. It's been a great time of seeing friends again, as well as making new friends.

I've spent some time in Western Austria, and several weeks in my home town Vienna in Eastern Austria, as well another town an hour away, and two days in Hungary. I had the honor of preaching in 4 churches, and was invited to several small groups to minister, as well as sharing with students in a Christian school. I felt so incapable, so weak, like having so little to give, yet I handed it all over to HIM, and He is always faithful. He came to touch His people, to minister to them, and draw them closer to Him. I was overjoyed and excited for my Father to come and move, and for the privilege to be His instrument.

I also enjoyed my time with friends and family. It was the first time I was staying with my brother and his girlfriend since they had just finished building their house. My original reason for coming was my Mom's wedding to her boyfriend of 20 years, and it was also a beautiful day. I also got to see my remaining grandmother (I have two grandparents less than last time I was here), and my father and his wife. And of course, I saw many of my precious friends again, some of them friends for many years, some from my time before I was saved, and many from the time since. I spent precious time listening and talking, often over great Austrian food, and I loved the great quantity of snow everywhere. And I also made a couple of new friends, which is always a great joy.

I've also run errands for Mali, have been to the dentist, had an interview for a radio station, and have received gifts of clothes, toys and baby stuff to take with me to Mali. Thank you to all those who have made this possible!

So, you can see, it's been a very rich time in every way. If you want to know more details and see some pictures, just go to my BLOG page.

BACK HOME IN MALI

Every couple of days I'm on the phone with Mali, to hear how things are going. I have to say, it seems that everything's working out very well. Simeon is responsible for the events during the week, and Emmanuel for the weekends. Every Sunday somebody else is preaching, and they are also alternating teaching the kids. Little Hama is asking for me all the time, and some people have not shown up as faithfully as when I'm there. On the other hand, there have been new people in the services and prayer meetings. In any case, I've been told that I'm missed and that they're looking forward to my return next week.

GOING HOME

On Sunday I'm flying to Paris, where I'm staying for two days at our sister church there. They are having special speakers for those two days, and I'm looking forward to be on the receiving end for a change. And on Monday I get to share about Mali in a Christian school, which I love doing a lot. I'm also looking forward to spending some time with the two powerful ladies who will come to Mali two weeks later to help us out for 2 weeks.

If you still want to contact me in Vienna, you can do so until Sunday morning, calling (+43) 676 426 7617.

May you abide in HIM, so that you will bear much fruit, for apart from Him you can do nothing (see John 15).

My all for HIM,

Claudia