Craig and Debbie Rayner

2009 has been a very interesting year for us both. Many people asked us if we were enjoying our extended holiday, and some of those people still believed that we were on extended holiday regardless of what we said. We have now started our training with Y.W.A.M. at Colorado Springs. One of the first things that we have learned is found in word 'glory.' One of the things we had highlighted to us was "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the MD, as the waters cover the sea." You may notice that the writer is implying that glory already fills the earth, but that knowledge of that glory is lacking. We were asked to consider the implications of such a statement for our own lives. The implication is that we need to be intentional about why we help people. We help people because we ourselves have been helped. We see the love of the father showered on us and we know that he is showering it on these people that we help as well. We have the opportunity to say that we help you because we have been helped. Who help me? Let me tell you...

Pike’s Peak, part of the MD’s Glory

It is this intentionality that we need to keep in focus. We need to keep this intentionality in the forefront of our thinking as we train, write newsletters and setup our base of operations in Kazakhstan. Our personal intentionality to live a life that imitates the MD. Together we need to be intentional in making the glory of the MD know to those people who are currently blind. Not all will see, but we still need to be intentional to maximise their chances of seeing the glory that is the MD.

We are in Colorado Springs at the *Strategic Frontiers Y.W.A.M. base, doing a Discipleship Training School. We are doing the three months of theory that prepares the team to then go overseas to impact nations and people for the MD. So every week for the next ten weeks we will have a speaker come in to talk on an area they have been working in. Last week our speaker came from Australia and spoke to us on principles of how to hear from the MD. This week is all about seeing myself and seeing nations the way that the MD does and how that impacts my world view.

As well as lectures we also have a mentor time, one on one with a member of the staff. We are part of a small group, Craig and I both joined the one that looks at using various disciplines, like fasting or meditation techniques. We are also each doing a local outreach. This time we are in different groups – Craig is doing one on one tutoring, and I am playing with a huge youth group of totally insane kids. ( I love it!) Once a week we have a community night where there is teaching and the community comes to us. As well we have book reports to write every couple of weeks on a book that covers one of the topics we are learning about. Weekly we have an assignment that covers another book and feedback on the lectures. Twice a week we meet as a base and have great times of corporate song and chatting for each other and the nations. Daily we are given work duties for about 2 hours, Craig is on lunch clean up (chief pot scrubber to you!) while I am part of the housekeeping team. Everyone on base does a volunteer time slot in the week, so going into the kitchen before the lunch, you can find the lady running our school, and accountant and the lady who works at reception. The chef is in culinary school at the moment…we are well fed!

We just found out today that we will be using one skill we love as a part of a team to put on an event in the community linked to helping one of the countries this base works with. That will happen in the next five weeks! Also we are meeting some wonderful people, most of our school is late teens and twenty- something year olds and they are great fun. As well as the staff of the Strategic frontiers who are all linking work with specific people groups to support here in the States: people passionate for specific areas of the world who have so much to teach us. Sometimes I stop to catch my breath and remember that we have only been here a couple of weeks, the new ideas and growing has been awesome! Thank you for lifting up this time, feel like we are being enabled to do everything and learn all the lessons the MD has for us.

Our DTS Class Photo

Last week in the corporate time, the group was asked to just be quiet and see if the MD had anything for us to say to other people in the room. The policy here is if a man has something for a lady that he grabs another lady to go with him and same for the girls. So Craig felt he had a word to give to one of the girls in our school and took me along. As he spoke over her, she started to cry, and I started to sob. I was truly shocked because I was not feeling any emotions, just tears streaming down my face and deep sobs as I tried to breath. Two other ladies joined us, and Craig and I both knew we were to step back. This was the first time in doing “knee work” for others that we felt we were working together for a purpose sent to us by the MD. I love trying new things and being totally surprised by how the MD uses us. This is also what we want to happen to you, that you would be surprised by how the MD uses you, no matter where you are in your relationship with Him.

We are starting to learn more and more about the issues of security in the land we are heading to; mostly that it is needed. As an example, we need to have a secure email address within 4 weeks of arriving. (Ours already is.) We are therefore going to need some help from you. We love being able to use tools like FACEBOOK to touch base with you but are not able to have any Christian content on our pages, unfortunately that means we will delete messages as needed. The chat facility on FACEBOOK is not secure, so we will not be speaking freely on it. An alternative is to use Skype which is more secure or if you have something deep and meaningful to share please use our e-mails. We have had some concerns about the coding. If we have not been clear about something or it is confusing, please, please, please let us know and we can clue you in. Our newsletter uses this coding as it appears on a public web site.

Last thing, if you are the only one in your family getting our newsletter, could you please ask if anyone else wants to receive it, we have had a few funny moments where the husband knows what’s going on with us while the wife does not. Even better the teen knows and the parents are in the dark. We are happy to include more into our list to make life easier for you all, just send us an e-mail!

We do love hearing from you and knowing what you are up to, but we wanted to share some principles to help us be safe.

Joys and Concerns

• That we capture all that the MD has for us to learn during this time in Colorado Springs.
• That we build strategic relationships during this time in Colorado Springs.
• Fine detail plans for Kazakhstan would come into being. (Visa, accommodation, work, language, etc.)
• Thanks for: teapot, kettle and bathtub.
• Health issues: Community living is a share germs and share germs alike.

Contact Details

Phone:
Australian Phone: +61 (0)2 6100 3637 This phone number connects with my Skype account and has a messaging service.

Our E-Mail Addresses: and

Current (Kazakhstan) Postal Address:
10a Basenova St
Almaty 050060
Republic of Kazakhstan

Please ensure that any parcel that you post to us is marked as NCV (No Commercial Value.) Parcels with value are often held for ransom.

Donations

We can only do the work we do because of the people who support the vision that we have shared with them. Should you wish to support our work, please click on the appropriate nation to find details of how you can go about blessing us with finances.

Hong Kong

Canada

Australia

U.K.

U.S.A.

Contact details were last updated on the 18^th December, 2009.