Begining a new season of trusting the Lord completely

Dear Friends and Family,

I pray your 2015 year has started off well. This year for me certainly has started off as an adventure. The beginning of January was spent in Israel with the most amazing group of people you could ever ask to go on a journey with. It was such a gift to get to walk with these 16 people not only through the scriptures in these historical sights but also to watch as the Lord transformed all of our lives through the process.

Our time around the Sea of Galilee would be some of the sweetest and most profound moments. One of the days, towards the beginning, we were on a shoreline similar to where Jesus would have called some average fishermen to cast their nets in again when it made no sense to them but to show who He really was. Then He would ask them to walk away from their identity as fishermen and their security in their business and follow Him into the unknown. There on that shore I surrendered to the Lord my future and that I would trust Him even when things didn’t make sense. That evening I would check my email to find out that myself and several other Calvary Chapel missionaries all lost our sponsorships for our visas in the UK. And to make things more complicated Pastor Tonye (who is also effected) and I were out of the country and they weren’t sure if we would be able to get back in.

The very next day we take a boat ride on the sea and look at when Jesus called Peter out of the boat to walk on water. You see the storm didn’t stop when he stepped out in faith but it was under him. It was only when he took his eyes off of Jesus and put them on the wind and the waves did he start to sink. So we say we trust you Lord, You are good! Help us to keep our eyes fixed on You!

The rest of the trip had this theme of putting all of my faith upon Him and just trusting that He knows exactly what He’s doing. It was so powerful to walk through this as well with exactly who God had hand picked to be on this trip. Glory to God we did get back in the country without any problems.

Visa Situation:

So what does this mean that we lost our sponsorship? Well to be able to be issued a visa in the UK you need to have a licensed sponsor, someone who you are under that is responsible to the government for us being in the country. There were 19 of us missionaries that were all sponsored under the Calvary Chapel Bible College in York, England. Due to a lot of political stuff going on with immigration, especially with that being a hot topic in upcoming elections, the Calvary Bible College along with a few other larger Christian ministry organizations all got their licenses to sponsor missionaries revoked. Leaving us all with a short amount of time to find a new sponsor or else leave the country. Here is a link to an article that explains more about this whole situation (http://calvarychapel.com/resources/article/view/19%20CC%20Missionaries%20under%20threat%20of%20being%20removed%20from%20the%20U.K./)

What the Lord has continually been speaking to us all is that the battle isn’t ours it’s the Lord’s. None of this is a surprise to Him and He has a plan in it all to bring Him great glory. We are already seeing the Lord move in some pretty cool ways through all of this.

Where do I stand currently?
As of right now I have the possibility to obtain another one year Charity Worker visa through a Calvary Chapel in Inverness Scotland who is licensed to offer sponsorships. Nothing would change as far as the ministry I’m doing in London it’s just a new person that I have to give account to as far as the government in concerned. However, with new changes in visa stuff there are now stricter guidelines and more hoops to jump through to get this visa.

The main thing hindering me getting a new visa is that they need me to prove that I will ‘earn’ at least UK minimum wage. Which this last year I did not. Which means that I need to raise my committed monthly support for this next year by at least $400/mo. I would need to get this amount pledged on paper before I can finish applying for this new sponsorship and renew my visa. 

Please pray about committing for this next year if the Lord might lead you to become a financial supporter or to raise your current support amount. Click the link in the top menu for more info on ways to give. Also, please email me at naomielissa84@gmail.com if you would like to become a committed monthly supporter. Let me know too if your church or someone else you may know may be interested in getting involved with supporting this ministry here in London.

Also please keep in prayer as I will need to be getting a plane ticket back to the States before March 18th to renew my visa.

Ministry Continues:

It is really good though to be back in the swing of regular ministry after a break around Christmas and then being in Israel. God is doing an amazing work in so many people’s lives in our fellowship. It’s been so great to see especially those that went on the Israel trip come back with such a greater hunger and passion for the Lord and to be bold for His name.

Our outreach to those that work at Red Room has started back up. The Lord has been opening some amazing doors to get to share the Gospel. Please especially be praying for a couple of girls very heavy on my heart, Lauren and Tabi.

It is also great to be back in the Word regularly doing discipleship with Anna and Lauren. Love these two girls hearts for the Lord and desire to grow.


Prayer Points:

• For all those effected by this current visa situations. As you can imagine it impacts several different churches across the UK, include our senior pastor and others. Pray that the Lord uses this to unite and ignite the body for His glory and for this nation to be greater impacted for Jesus.
• Pray for the financial support to come through so that I can renew my visa
• For God to keep my eyes on Him at all times and drawing ever closer into His love, not only in regards to the visa stuff but in ministry as a whole.
• For greater vision and passion to see the lost reached and believers raised up in Christ
• For the salvation of those that work at Red Room and others trapped in the sex industry

Sorry for the long update. Thank you all so much for your continued prayers and support!

Our God is amazing and I’m excited to see all He has in store!

““O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You…Thus says the LORD to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.” 2 Chron 20:12, 15a

Red Room Ministry Update

The last couple of months we have only been able to go out every other Thurs night due to health and really busy schedules this time of year. However, the nights we have been out we have seen the Lord really moving.

We have seen a real change in the Muslim bouncer, H as he has opened up a lot more to the idea of Christ. Please continue to pray for his salvation.

It’s been great to see the girls trust us more and more and some of them really begin to consider us as their friends. Which has opened the door for us to be able to speak with them on deeper levels. Also, this has set the tone for a lot of the new girls that have been coming in more recently. The new girls see our relationship with the others and feel instantly more comfortable with us. Some of them have been giving us their really names straight away. We have been able to share the Gospel with some of these new girls as well. One in particular, M, was somewhat defensive and vocal about it. However, I was able to have an amazing conversation still with her and not shy away by any means on truth and love of the Gospel. The next time I saw her it was obvious I really gained her respect and we have since really connected. She has said how much she likes having us out there.

The last Thurs. night we were out before Christmas Sarah and I hand wrote verses about Jesus in 30 cards for each of the girls and brought them some special little cupcakes and cookies for Christmas. Pray that the Lord would use these to impact the girls. Doing these cards gives us a touch point with Christ for all the girls we don’t get to meet inside because they don’t come out to smoke.

Guys Being Raised Up

There have been a couple different weeks were Pastor Antonye has been away which provides such great opportunities for a couple of guys that are being raised up to really step up in his absence. Daniel Taylor pictured above is one of the main young guys that has been stepping up and teaching. Continue to pray for him and some other young guys being raised up.

Pictured is Daniel teaching at UTurn Rehab. Please be in prayer for those guys as we have seen a few guys quit the program and one of the main leaders suffered a heart attack. 

Praise Music & Carol Service

The Sunday night before Christmas we put on a praise music and carol service night at Cafe Eterno. Our theme this year was ‘Why is this Child so threatening?’ It was a beautiful night worship, outreach and Gospel message.

The week leading up to the event Lauren Shibata and I organized a lot of outreach. Also, during the event it was really great to have several different people from the fellowship take turns being out front on the street inviting people in. As always for events like this it is so great to see people decide to step in of the street and get to hear the Gospel.

Turning 30!

November 10th I turned the big 30! I was so blessed beyond belief by my amazing church family here that made it such a special birthday. Lauren, who I disciple, is a mastermind at putting together great surprises. Including stocking friends and family of mine from the states on facebook to contact them to get them to send messages and photos from my lifetime that she had printed out and up at my surprise birthday party. The biggest blessing though was just getting to spend my birthday with such amazing people that I love so dearly.
This last year has been such an amazing year falling so much more in love with Christ than ever before. I’m so thankful for all that the Lord has done in my life and privilege of getting to serve Him another year.

Reuben Parker - Rebirth Dance Network

Rebirth Dance Network, that a guy in our church started and several from a fellowship are in, had their first full dance theatre production in Nov. They put on such a powerful and talented production that shared the Lord in a beautifully creative way. I’m proud of them for stepping out in faith to put this on and for their heart to share Christ with those in the production as well as their viewers. Pray for them as they look to move forward with making this piece bigger and performed elsewhere.
I had the privilege of coming alongside some of the leaders of Rebirth both through prayer and encouragement as they prepared for the event. I was also able to photograph the production for them. The best part about it isn’t that I’m getting to do photography but that it is merely a tool by which I can very practically invest in them as individuals and a dance company to encourage them to continue to step out in faith and be bold for Jesus. Plus just being there during tech rehearsals and performances it opens up ministry opportunities with members of the company. Love getting to combine my passion for the arts with ministry!