Moved for All Nations

Wim and Jenni Dufoort

• it's a girl!

• nice music for you!

  Via one of my colleagues here at Heidebeek, I received the opportunity to have one day free in a recording studio last year.  So, I recorded three of my songs and had a lot of fun!  I added one song that I recorded on my Macbook a while back, and I made a CD: Hephzibah!I've been "selling" them, for donations here in Holland and Belgium, but I wanted to make it available to a wider audience.  Since Wim and I live by the grace of God and generosity of people (sounds really spiritual, I know...!)-- individuals and groups give a certain amount of money every month to enable us to live the life we live-- I thought that this was a way that we could bless people with some nice music and also raise some funds for current expenses and expenses that we foresee having.  One current expense would be paying off the rest of our tuition for the School of Intercessory Prayer that we did beginning of this year.  Expenses that we foresee include purchasing a new laptop (my Macbook has been faithful since 2007, but it's on it's last legs and needs to be replaced).So, since I'm not the most technologically sound person, it might be a bit of a stone-age method... but it will work nonetheless.  If you would like to "buy" my CD, click on the picture below and you will be directed to PayPal.  You can give a donation-- however small or great is not really of significance-- just give what you have on your heart! When you give a donation through PayPal, you don't need to have a PayPal account, but do you need to have a valid email address and a debit/credit card.  Once you have sent your donation, I get an email telling me that "youremail@email.com has sent you a payment".  When I see that, I will then send you the link to download the CD.What do you say, you want to try it?  Click on the picture if you dare... :-)

• consistency

  I was reminded today of a song I wrote like forever ago.  Hope that it will be an encouragement to you!In this world that is constantly changingOh, it seems that I've lost my wayThings are growing and fading and movingBut never staying the sameI struggle to know what I'm feelingAnd it's hard to feel what I thinkBut my heart really is aching forConsistencyOh the ground, how it is shakingAnd shifting underneathBut how firm is the message You speak"Do not let your hearts be troubled,trust in God-- trust also in MeI Am your Consistency"I believe You are what I needYes, I believe You are what I needMy ConsistencyHelp me to stay on my feetOr on my kneesOr on the streetBut not, in defeat

• a joyful expectation

  We're happy to announce that in the end of August or the beginning of September, we will have an addition to our family... a baby!  I'm now about 20 weeks pregnant, so it's becoming more and more of a reality as my belly grows!  We're so much looking forward to this new season-- with much joy, excitement, and a bit of uncertainty.  While patience is neither my strength or Wim's strength-- we're glad that this process takes nine months.  We see that we really need this time to comprehend the huge change that is about to take place.  And I'm thankful for that God-given "mother instinct" that will hopefully help me to know how to take care of such a small, precious, vulnerable person in the best possible way!  Here's to a new adventure... !

• faith is not something you wear on sunday

  I wrote a new song last week, wanted to share it with you.  Blessings!(v1) I used to think that I, didn’t have to try I could silently observe, privately preserve my Faith inside my mind, separate from my life I was dead while still alive, and I didn’t even mind... (ch1) Faith is not something, you wear on Sunday It is more than just a book upon your shelf Faith is not something, you wear on Sunday (v2) I used to think that I, could “speak” them to the truth Convince them with my words, always have the proof that My story was correct-- how could they refuse? I’d memorized the lines and they only had to choose... (ch2) Faith is not something, you share on Monday Convincing others of the truth with clever words Faith is not something, you share on Monday (v3) I used to think that I, had given my whole life Committed to the Truth, completely surrendered, I gave my all to do the best, felt guilty when I rested Had no time to spend with you, there was just too much to do... (ch3) Faith is not something, you can prove everyday By crossing tasks off of a list, feeling accomplished Faith is not something, you can prove everyday (bridge) It’s sitting at His feet, the One who made the heavens Filling up your heart, with His love and His Spirit Pouring out your life for the sake of His creation This is what He wants, this is what He wants Sitting at His feet, the one who formed the nations Filling up your mind, with His Truth and His Spirit Pouring out your life with the heart of a servant This is what He wants, this is what He wants... (end) Faith is not something, you wear on Sunday.

• 16:07

  So, here we are-- November 28, 2012, a lovely autumn day.  And what are we doing exactly?We began the morning with prayer and worship together with our team.  After that, Wim went to be a "taal maatje" (language coach) with a man from Ivory Coast (he's been doing this for a few months already).  And now he's busy working together with DTS students cleaning up leaves at one of the Heidebeek buildings.  That's one of the dis/advantages (if you could call it that) of living in a forest-- lots of leaves! ;-)I've been busy most of the day working on our songbook for the Prayer & Worship Centre.  Since we sing quite a lot, it's really nice to have a good, updated, relevant songbook with both English and Dutch songs.  I'm revamping the style of it a bit, trying to make it more user-friendly and it sure is tedious work!  But it's a much easier than making the songbook in Tbilisi-- having to find songs that are in English, Russian and Georgian... all three of which have different alphabets-- read:  completely different letters, ways of reading, etc.  And then, trying to make all 3 translations of one song fit on one page while trying to make it look as least confusing as possible...ummmm, yeah.  Let's just say that that project makes this project look like a piece of cake! But since I'm sitting a lot, I decided to take a walk at coffee break.  Here it's dark when we wake up and dark when we get home (like, it's 4pm now and the sun is setting), so sometimes I feel like I don't experience the day because I'm in the office most of the time!  There are days that I don't really care to "experience"-- especially when it's cold and rainy, as it often is here in The Netherlands... but today was really beautiful and sunny!  I couldn't resist!  (By the way, if you are living in Norway or Sweden or someplace that has like 23 hours of night in the winter, please forgive my complaining...) Another thing I think is a bit funny, is that miniature ponies are just like normal here.  They're almost like pets, like everyone has them (exaggeration...) and I still feel a bit of that childlike excitement when I see one!  There was a "herd" of them today and so I took a picture...and yes, they are drinking water out of a bathtub... normal, right?!) :-)Have a nice Wednesday!

• "aan Zijn voeten"

  God is looking for worshipers that will worship in Spirit and Truth.  We want to be those kind of worshipers!We've been busy preparing for "aan Zijn voeten - aanbiddingsavond".  We're looking so much forward to spending this time with our beloved Belgians worshipping God!  We're praying that people will be able to find and express their own unique ways of showing love and worship to God, as well as finding their place in the corporate expression of worship!

• gifted

  It is such a GIFT to know God.  Sadly, Christianity, and even God Himself has gotten sort of a "bad name".  I can understand many reasons why that has happened, I can even give examples of myself contributing to that negative view (by my immature actions at times!).  But that doesn't mean that God and Christianity really ARE bad.I always like to think of the example of a family:  loving parents and kids.  After some time, the kids start to get involved in drugs, gangs, other things that are considered "bad"... and then the kid is himself considered "bad".  But that doesn't necessarily mean that the parents are bad.  (I'm not talking about child raising here... I don't have much authority on that topic!  But I'm just sharing a picture that helps me to understand)  They even try to help their child, but sometimes the child doesn't want to change. It doesn't mean that because the child is acting that way, that the parents are the same.  And so I think:  of course Christians have a responsibility of reflecting God's characteristics to the world.  Jesus said, "If you love one another, then they will know that You are my disciples".  But sadly, many Christians don't do this.  They give the world a bad picture of God and Christianity.  But that doesn't mean that God and Christianity are bad.  There are people out there who truly love God and who really make it their life-pursuit to learn to be like Jesus and to bring honor to God.I pray that that number of people (who truly love and pursue) will increase.  So that the world may see and believe that God is good, and it's a gift to know Him!

• Let's GO!

  The past days have been really great!  The GO Fest has come to Heidebeek, with so many young people ready to go out into the world to represent Christ to the Nations!  Here's a photo of all of the teams (leaders and participants) who will be going out!  The festival is over today, and the teams head out (some have already left).  They'll be gone for 2 weeks and after that they'll come back to gather again for a reporting service.  Can't wait to hear all of the good things God will do through these people!Wim and I both have been helping out as volunteers:  Wim as a referee for the volleyball tournament, and I with the worship band!  Here's a photo from one of the worship times, I'm there sitting at the piano!  It's been so much fun-- I think being around all of these young people just gives a youthful atmosphere that affects all around!  Feeling very youthful, joyful and excited about life!

• normal life

  Last Monday Wim and I celebrated our one year wedding anniversary!  It seems crazy to think that a year has passed already, and even crazier to think that there will be many more years to come...!  Our wedding ceremony in the U.S. June 25, 2011We had a week vacation in Zeeland, a province in the west of Holland, by the North Sea.  What's interesting is that much of this province is actually below sea level, and sadly in 1953 it was massively flooded.  We had the opportunity to visit the "watersnoodmuseum" in Ouwerkerk, which was really very interesting and I think important to also understand more about this country!During the week of vacation, we had to attend an introduction day for the inburgeringscursus.  This is sort of a "naturalization course" (I think that's what you'd call it in English) for spiritual workers in The Netherlands.  Wim came with me for that day, but he is not required to take the course because he is from an EU country, so I will be attending alone.  There I will learn Dutch language and culture, and also many practical things about the country.  The interesting thing is that it is for all spiritual workers, so I'm in class with not only YWAMers, but also Catholic nuns and priests, Muslim imams and so on!  An interesting and challenging environment for sure!  Please keep me in your prayers as I study with this group over the course of a year and a half! Click on the image to read more info about the course, but sorry it's only in Dutch!