Ethnos in Prayer, Expect New Things!

Hello World,

I know it's been quiet on the ministry front, but Ethnos is currently in prayer for God's agenda so we've been pulling back and lying low. We've encountered some setbacks with our band and some closed doors, so please be praying for us to bounce back and for God to work things out.

One thing's for sure, God's re-aligning us to WORSHIP, which is the passion that started us. A passion to see young people in nations worship Him the way he created them to, to know, love and obey Him with all their lives.

Do pray for open doors into the nations. I, for one, am getting restless staying here! Wanna get out there to be with the people.

Isaiah 43
"Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert
and streams in the wasteland.
The wild animals honor me,
the jackals and the owls,
because I provide water in the desert
and streams in the wasteland,
to give drink to my people, my chosen,
the people I formed for myself
that they may proclaim my praise."

Doing Something About What You've Seen

Brooke Fraser. Writer of one of my favourite songs, 'Hosanna'. When she sings this song, strange things happen to me.... every time.

I'm plugged into my iPod, weeping at the bus stop. Or I'm walking along Braddell Road and *boom!* - I'm in tears. Or I'm going to Junction 8 and a prophetic voice is stirring in my gut, for this generation to be strong and rise up to make a difference. *Bam!* More tears. By now, I'm wondering what is happening to me! I see in my head the broken people I've met on my DTS outreaches/Go teams to India, China, KL, Cambodia. People crying out in their slums, on the streets, in rehab centres, villages, poverty-striken homes, hospitals, nursing homes. People being attacked. Dying of AIDS. Dying on the streets. Stuck in poverty, disease and hunger. Trying to overcome addiction. Trying to make a life out of nothing. Total brokenness.

I get visions and reminders of the people I've gone to to before, and visions of more hurting and dying, needing this generation to rise up to love, pray, heal, touch, and GO.

I thank God for taking me to so many places, to see so much. My heart breaks for the King to come and save them. My heart breaks for them to sing "Hosanna in the highest" in the midst of their pain and suffering, knowing that it is Him who carries them and has not abandoned them. It is my heart for them to worship Jesus as they find the answers in Him, just as I am worshipping him in the midst of my current pain and questions.

Back to Brooke Fraser. She went to Africa and made a decision to write this song, 'Albertine' to tell the world what she had seen there. One thing she wrote strikes me: "Faith without works is dead." My prayer is that many songwriters and worshippers would do what she does, stirring up love in action and prophetic prayers through the songs they write. Take a listen....

Now that I have seen, I am responsible
Faith without deeds is dead
Now that I have held you in my own arms,
I cannot let go till you are....

A Time for Everything, Your Will Be Done

Twice last week, God showed me this, and it's been guiding all my prayers.

Ecclesiastes 3

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

We know that He makes all things beautiful in His time. Trust the process, trust His timing. Your will be done.

How Do You Live Your Life?

It's not about the forms, songs or music. It's about your life being worship to Him. Anointing starts from true intimacy and obedience.

As worship leaders and musicians, let your life song speak louder than what you do in ministry. Because a tree is recognized by its fruit. (Matthew 12:33) The heart is what counts.

Casting Crowns with "Lifesong"

"Art is a collaboration between God and the artist,
and the less the artist does the better." - Andre Gide

It's About Who You're Becoming

Something to share about the present situation and what I'm gleaning as the dust is settling. You see, Ethnos hit a snag recently and it totally threw me into despair. I pulled back from everything and isolated myself, so the dust could settle and so I could process what happened. In the week of silence, I found myself led to plug into 2 particular songs on my iPod - Delirious' "History Maker" (from the album "Hillsong in London") and Corrinne May's "Everything In Its Time".

Go take a listen if you have those songs on your player. What struck me was the prophetic insight Martin Smith tapped on as he spoke and sang, and especially in the lyrics he chose... they had such gravity of meaning. It almost conveys the prophet's nonchalence towards the ignorant, as if saying, "Those who have ears, let them hear." Where did all that come from? What kind of a journey did he go through to come to such spiritual understanding?

Then Corrinne May's song.... it spoke straight into my despair. What depth of understanding she had into the questions, pain and disappointing journey I was walking through. Then she deals her trump card: Plain Truth. Now, Plain Truth has its own power to weave into your soul and bring closure to what you're facing. I must have listened to that song at least 20 times that sunny afternoon.

Now what I realised was: These aren't just SONGS. There's power in them. There's an anointing and the Spirit at work upon those who listen to them, ministering to the dark places of the soul, and calling out the depths of spiritual understanding.

These are songs that take the words right out of your mouth. And give you something Bigger to look for.

It made me think that to write such songs, it takes someone who's been through the process of questioning why, in spite of trying your best, there's no "Godly" answer. It takes a frustrated human who's questioned why there's no end to it - pain upon pain, angst-driven tears, failure after failure, disappointment after disappointment... your bones and spirit wearing thin and needing answers.

These 3 weeks of painful turmoil have taught me an important truth:
It's not about the outcome.
It's about the journey and the person you're becoming as you go through it.
It's about finding out what Jesus really is about - He accepts you no matter how messed up you feel.
It's about learning to love like Him, unconditionally.

God is looking for people who understand that to be His songwriters in this world. Songwriters who know pain, who've been though a journey that built their foundation deep. Songwriters who understand because they've been molded by trial and despair, and found that it's all about who they are inside.

A friend, Eeleen, sent me her newsletter a few days ago. She said, "It takes years for God to fashion a heart and produce a testimony that gives life." How absolutely true. Trust the process, and stick it out.

God has been saying this to me personally, and I hope it speaks to those of us walking through a tough time in your life that may be fraught with frustration, confusion, pain and disappointment:

"Don't beat yourself up for not being perfect. I am with you. Don't despise the pain you're going through. I know sometimes it's impossible to bear. Don't be ashamed at the process you're going through, even though it may be marked by tears, angst and brokenness, don't be ashamed of the turbulent emotional life that is within. I can use it to make you a better artist, musician, healer, teacher, speaker. I'm using this to build depth in your soul, so you can be more prophetic, insightful. Don't be ashamed."

Trust the journey, and look at the person you're becoming through it.

- Regina

A Picture Says A Thousand Words

Being A Disciple

"Yet our work only begins where God’s grace has laid the foundation. Our work is not to save souls, but to disciple them. Salvation and sanctification are the work of God’s sovereign grace, and our work as His disciples is to disciple others’ lives until they are totally yielded to God. One life totally devoted to God is of more value to Him than one hundred lives which have been simply awakened by His Spirit. As workers for God, we must reproduce our own kind spiritually, and those lives will be God’s testimony to us as His workers."
- My Utmost For His Highest, Oswald Chambers

These few days, I've been reminded what Ethnos is about. It's not about the music , the band, the forms, the expressions... it's about the heart of worship, the life of a disciple, and knowing God. Those of us in Ethnos have been shaken up to give God a blank page and let Him lay this foundation in our lives.

Regina

Courage to Decide

"It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are." - e.e. cummings

The Ethnos band had a session with Joe yesterday night, where we got talking about what we were into this for: to fulfill a calling on our lives OR simply because of an interest in music. CALLING OR INTEREST? CALLING OR INTEREST? Some of us couldn't even answer this.

We talked about core issues: managing expectations; pride & bad attitudes; our inner being; demands from family, from serving in church, from the daily grind of work. It was heavy, yet refreshing. Unnerving yet insightful.

For young adults, their inner life with God lacks nuturing because of the daily grind. They face burn-out everyday. Tension between serving in different areas. Lack of time for oneself.

But one thing struck me. It was the need to make a DECISION about what your life is gonna be.

In the hearts of young people are questions about their destiny: What was I made for? Who am I supposed to be? Yet when the rubber meets the road, they have little clue how to get from point A to point B. There's a dearth of processing sturctures within them.

There's the tendency to 'go with the flow' and see where this leads us. People shy away from the hard decisions. The sense of calling is a fuzzy idea, until the test comes and the courage to decide is called for. Courage to decide who you're gonna be and who you're gonna live for, how you're gonna live and run for what you're made for.

That's where the whole Ethnos band is at now. We wanna run for what we're made for. We're in the midst of making important decisions for our lives, because we know that this is a year of destiny and living fully in God. The road ahead looks difficult, entangled with family expectations, material desires, sacrifices and discouragement, but we're sticking it out.

If we're to impact any young people in this world, it starts with ourselves.

What's In The Pipelines... Pray for us!

Hi everyone!

Here's an update on Ethnos activity! Since I came back from Timor Leste, it's been a mad rush everyday: team-building, forming a core team, writing proposals, setting up trips, etc etc.... One thing I remembered in all this speed and often strength-draining activity was - our BEING (heart) is more important than the DOING (outward activity). And, we'd better not jump ahead of God or rush into doing more, coz building foundations is essential for the long-term and these take time to form in our lives. That's my little devotional for you!

Now, let's see what we have on our hands... please PRAY FOR:

Ethnos Band
Thank God for bringing a band together. It's a mix of working adults in their 20s who're trying to juggle ministry and the daily grind. Pray for us as these 3 months will be a crucial time of asking God to give unity and common vision, building team dynamics and deepening friendships. We wanna get on our way to see God worshipped in the nations!

Cafe Gigs
A place to meet the public and share our lives with them through music, nuggets of truth and conversations. We trust God for the song list and message. Pray that many will be blessed with a knowledge of Jesus through us being relevant.

Guitar Classes to RTC Boys
We're trying to start up weekly guitar classes in the RTC on Saturday mornings, so there'll be more time to get to know the youth there, walk through a journey together, model to them kingdom values, etc. We hope to recruit a pool of volunteer instructors who have a heart to walk through 6 months with these boys, and the more volunteers we have, the better. Sign up with me. *wink*

Street Artists/Painters/Street Dancers
There's lots of opportunity to reach out to youth in Singapore using these expressions. Painting a larger-than-life picture in a public place; hanging out at creative spaces; meeting people with the same hobbies. If you're interested, sign up with me *wink wink*

Our Needs: Join us in trusting God to provide.
- Able-bodied guys who can help us move equipment during set-up or pack-up
- Mike stands, music stands, an AER amp
- A van or transport to move our equipment for practices and gigs, OR taxi fare for the trips we have to make in doing so

And not to forget, Justin starts his DTS this week. I can't wait, haha.

Drop me a line anytime. regina@ywam.org.sg

Peace on earth,
Regina

Flashback: Amsterdam Team at the Esplanade

Here's a video of the Amsterdam DTS team hanging out at the Esplanade basement last year. We hope more teams will come by...

Ethnos Band at Food For Thought Cafe

Sorry Eddie, can't see you behind there, but sure can hear you!