Back to school....

Hey everybody!

Hope this post finds everyone well and ready for the countdown to Christmas! It's not quite started here in Redding, but people in the UK will be waking up to December 1st.

So today was our first day back at school since the Thanksgiving break. We really enjoyed having a week off, relaxing with friends, spending time with my brother who had come over from Cheddar, and having our first ever Thanksgiving! It seemed to me to be a bit like Christmas-lite, where everything seemed like Christmas but there was no presents. It was great though, and having a day to be thankful is a brilliant idea. We should all be more thankful, it's definitely encouraged me to develop a more thankful attitude to life.

So yes, today we were back school. When we arrived the atmosphere was electric. Most people seemed to enjoy their holidays but everyone missed having school. We started with a worship session led by some of the second year students. They and the session was amazing. Really awesome. I'd happily buy a CD if they made one.

We then had a special guest speak to us. Tracy Evans is a lady with some amazing stories to tell.
She currently lives in Mozambique, Africa, where she has been for almost the last 10 years, but her life has taken her all over the place. She spoke to us about stepping out over the edge (not literally) but that as we do God will catch us and give us flight. Into her message she weaved many stories of her own life that to say has been adventurous would be an understatement! One story that stood out was how she literally was shipwrecked somewhere in the Pacific ocean, so she swam to shore and made the island she landed on her home for the next year. She didn't have any clothes, food, knowledge of the language or customs or anything. But she had God.

She finished by talking about the work she does in Mozambique, where Tracy and her team are responsible for about 800 orphans. She didn't ever think she would have this many or would be doing what she is doing but she is faithful to what God brings her way and looks after any that come to her for help. She has a clear revelation of our responsibility to the poor, and after outlining it to us we were almost convinced to join her and her work in Mozambique! that was until she started talking about the snakes that live there. So don't worry parents, we won't be leaving just yet for Mozambique!

We ended the day with our first session of a new module we had all selected. Izzy had her first session with the Kingdom Creativity track, which she will follow for the rest of the year. She's incredibly excited to see how God is going to use her through her artistic and creative ability. The first session was mainly outlining the rest of the course and hearing stories of previous years efforts, which all added to Izzy's excitement. I had my first session with Joaquin Evans, which is elaborately titled Cultivating the presence and Encounters. Joaquin oversees the Healing Rooms at the church and is an incredible guy. He shared many of his stories since he first came to the church 7 years ago, which started with a missions trip to South Africa. His experiences in South Africa were really powerful and have increased ever since. The session was brilliant, a great introduction and I'm really looking forward to the other 4 sessions I'll have with Joaquin. A great thing Joaquin reminded me was that it's all about relationship with God. Joaquin has seen many incredible things over the last 10 years, many healings for example through his work with the Healing Rooms, but it's all about spending time with God and developing the relationship.

Tomorrow is Sam's last full day with us : ( Sam has been our extra housemate for the last month or so as he's been doing some work experience with Bethel Media. So tomorrow night we're having a small party for him, as well as celebrating Emma's birthday. Tomorrow promises to be another great day!

Thanks for reading, we're really blessed by people reading our blog and keeping up with what we're doing. We still need money for our missions trip in March to Ecuador, so if you feel led to give or would like to contribute that would be awesome. You can give through:
https://www.ibssm.org/?action=donate&target=missions&student_id=212223 (- for Izzy)
https://www.ibssm.org/?action=donate&target=missions&student_id=212224 (- for Liam)

Just copy the link and paste it in your web browser bar. Any problems give us a shout.

Many thanks. We love you all and if you can't give, prayer would be more appreciated.

Have a great Wednesday.

Love and Blessings

Izzy and Liam x

Hi all,
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

So, Dan has left us, lil just dropped him at the airport and is now home and watching college football chatting to Adam. Dans flights delayed so he is waiting at Sacramento airport. Sorry Dan! :( We have loved having you stay with us, and hope you enjoyed your time here.

Thursday was Thanksgiving. We went to our home groups house and had wonderful food and company, and then the boys went outside and had a game of american football on the road, with us girls trying and failing to cheerlead. We went back in the house and the games started, which always end up being prophesying over each other. One game was putting someone in the middle blingfolded, and someone is picked to go and stand in front of them, the blindfolded person has to ask the Holy Spirit what he is saying to that person, and say what ever comes to mind, amazing results, everyone was spot on, and even could tell who it was who was standing infront of them!!

Yesterday it was 'Black Friday' which is a bit like boxing day sales. people camp overnight outside the bigger stores waiting for them to open at 3am for the 80% off sales, as they day goes on the % gets less.

Today we are catching up on homework and relaxing, its raining outside. :( Then tonight we are going to a friends house whose having a christmas party so we are looking forward to that.

Hope you all had a lovely day.
love izzy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

we went to mount lassen today. and heres what we found :)

Thanksgiving week...

Hello to all our readers, whoever you are. We love you!

Today has been Monday November 22nd. I've spent it mostly on the road as my brother Dan is here to visit! Had to travel down to Sacramento to pick him up which was nice to be able to travel outside of Redding for a change. And I am now in love with cruise control! I've always been a bit sceptical up until now, but after travelling south on the incredibly straight I-5 it has won me over. It was a joy. Ben, our Aussie friend, accompanied me on the trip, many thanks for coming mate! It was Bonza!

So Dan is here until Saturday. He's been in Kansas since last week making a bit of a pilgrimage to watch his favourite American Football team play. His team won at the weekend which was good. We're excited he's here to see a bit of our American life and to finally have some home cooked food after almost a weeks worth of fast food! Don't worry Mum, we'll make sure he eats properly.

Izzy has had an eventful day today, she had a bunch of girlfriends round. They have been making Christmas cards all day (I was gutted I missed out!) and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. They've all made some amazing cards, maybe some of you will receive one this Christmas.

Due to it being Thanksgiving this Thursday, we have the week off of school. Last week was Relationships week. We both got a lot out of it, especially the sessions for married couples, we picked up some really great tips on things like communication, which will no doubt come in handy over the years. We're looking forward to implementing some of the new skills we've picked up. The Thanksgiving break also meant we finally got to go to Bethel Church for a Sunday morning service! After being here for almost 3 months we hadn't ever been to the proper church building for a Sunday morning due to the rotation we've been assigned to. So this past Sunday we walked up to the church and found some seats in the sanctuary part of the church building. It was great, properly felt like a proper church service, rather than the services filled with students every sunday morning. We sat next to and chatted to 'normal' Reddingites for the first time!

The service was brilliant, worship was amazing and Bill was on fire as usual. Listen to this weeks podcast of the sermon if you get chance. It was great to feel part of a regular congregation again.

We spent the rest of our Sunday mainly relaxing, but went to the cinema late last night to watch a film called 'the next three days' with Russell Crowe. It was a pretty decent watch, but really intense, especially late at night. We headed to Walmart after the film finished, both thinking we were being followed by the police and needed to be quick and get out asap! So if you do decide to watch the film, don't do it really late at night.

The new Jesus Culture album came out today, so we've been listening to that. It's another good'un from them. Get it if you can, think it comes out worldwide tomorrow (Tuesday). We're hoping to head to one of the mountians this week sometime, as it's been snowing recently and it's due to get heavier. Hopefully be able to do some sledging. I think they call it sledding over here though.

We had our first meeting with the group we're going to Ecuador in March with this week. They're all amazing, a couple of other Brits which is exciting. Really excited about what we'll be getting up to; prison ministry, street kids ministry, maternity hospital ministry for starters. It's going to be epic! As a team we're linking up with the Toledo's who are heroes of the justice world. Jennifer in particular has been likened to Heidi Baker and here's a link to a page where you can download her testimony and other talks she has done. It'll rock your world!
http://www.heburnsforme.com/Jennifer_Toledo.html

Anyway, Dan is trying to sleep now in the room next to me, he's still suffering a little from jetlag, bless him. So I better go.

Hope everyone is good. Do keep us updated with whats going on.

Lot's of love
Lil and Izzy x

Hello Lovely people!! what a week. there so much to tell you all. im just gunna babble and say it all, sorry if it doesnt make sense,

its relationship week, which has been incredible, the singles get workshops, and so do the marrieds, its been amazing. a couple who run 'love after marriage' workshops all over the country are taking it. weve been out everynight this week, haveing so much fun. housegroup last night was incredible, it was a pre thanksgiving and there was so much FOOD, and so much glory, there was a lotta 1sts that night. haha.

Today we went out in our groups to different communities. so our group went to Shasta Lake City. I(izzy, incase you hadnt guessed) was a little scared. but it ended up being the best experience. we just went around talking to people we met in the center by the skate park and chatted to the skaters and met the folk who live near, and pray for healing. AMAZING. some kids who thought they were so cool ended up getting healed of pain in a broken collar bone. my friend prophesied over these 2 teens, and one started crying because the words were so accurate. she said ' i see you writing' and the girl was like woahhhh thats my dream, i work in the school paper, and loads more stuff, just that half hour with those 2 girls has probably changed thier lives forever. their destinys were called out. my friend told them what God was saying to them, the teens were so excited and are gunna start coming to the church we are at. Then the group all chatted and there were so many stories just from 2 hours of chatting to people of how God touched their lives.

ahh i gotta do my home work, its due tomorrow.
Dan, lils bro, he is visiting for thanksgiving so will be in redding on monday!! til sat, hes been travelling around watching american football games.
i have so much more to tell just i gotta go do my homework.
oh, had a art evening tonight, the 2nd years put it on. was AMAZING. like heaven, people showing their art, healing art on walls (which people look at and God heals them just from looking at a painting, crazy huh! and writing stands and photography and some performances, a rapper, who was OUTSTANDING. a singer, break dancer. who says christianity was boring, its the most exciting thing EVER. haha. its makes my heart race with excitment what God is going to do in me. yeyyyyyyy

So everyone, be blessed and have a lovely day.
love izzy (a beloved daughter of the most high) YES! com'on! :)

Hello all,

Izzy here, just wanted to let you all see the track i have signed up to do. There is only a certain number of places so please pray i will get in.

Kingdom Creativity Arts Track

We have a burning passion to equip and empower others in the Arts (art, photography, film, drama and theatre, music, and writing) and leave a legacy that infiltrates every level of society. Our desire is to raise up a company of prophetic art champions who can change history in their art form by partnering together with the Holy Spirit, peers, and mentors in the Arts field. We will be working on individual and group projects which center around each person’s specific arts preferences as well as releasing Bethel’s Kingdom healing and prophetic models through the Arts. Lastly, our desire is to partner personal dreams with projects which launch people into their personal destiny as well as advance the Kingdom in global transformation. A couple of projects we want to invest in are a Prophetic Art Testimony Card line and a film project for BSSM, & Missions Week film compilation- just to name a few!!! Let’s start an Arts Revolution of REVIVAL!


I have been outside playing with the kids on the lawn and made chocolate cake this morning, although it isnt as nice as i wanted it to be:(. My parents sent me a parcel this week, it was some lovely slippers from accessorize. i love them, they are so warm!
Tonight we are going to our friends Scott and Yaris for a games night, their aparentment is tiny but lovely, so it will be cozy and warm.
Trying to get on with homework, which is due tomorrow! Going to starbucks in a bit to meet up with our friend Dave from Romford. hes a sweetie.

Check y'all later innit (thats for scott)

love you all
izzi xxxxxx

ps. keep praying for money for us.

A break from homework...

Hello everybody!

Hope everyone is well and having a great Veteran's Day! We have a day off today, because of it being Veteran's Day. It's very strange having a whole day off in America, whereas in the UK we have a minute or two's silence. But obviously it's a brilliant idea and a great way of honouring the men and women who have served/given their life for us all.

So today the idea is to get as much homework done as possible. It's going pretty slowly....illustrated by the fact I'm writing this blog post. But progress is progress nonetheless.

It's really cold here today. Autumn is establishing itself now, the sun is shining brightly in the sky but the temperature is really low compared to the warmth we've previously been blessed with. As a result I've been contemplating getting the thermals out of the drawer. Will keep you updated...

Yesterday was an amazing day. We've said that quite a lot recently about various days which shows what a blessing it is to be here and just that we're having an absolutely awesome time. We had Kris Vallotton speaking to us about identity, and he was on fire. A lot of what he said will take some time to fully digest but here's just a sample:
'you can tell the size of a man by what it takes to discourage him'
'you can let your stances shape you, or you can let your circumstances shape you'
'we shouldn't do for the devil what he can't do for himself' - the devil only has as much power as we give him. So don't give him power! We're saints, died to sin but alive in Christ. We no longer have to strive or perform to earn God's love.
It was so good. So encouraging. If you get a chance, or even if you don't get a chance make one! have a listen. It's available for free for a short time at:
http://www.ibethel.tv/watch/901/bssm-kris-vallotton/2010/11/10
After a while I think you might have to pay a little bit of money but it's worth it.

We then had housegroup in the evening which was brilliant. We had a great time worshipping, prophesying over each other and fellowshipping together. We booked ourselves in with some people from our housegroup for our first ever Thanksgiving Dinner, really looking forward to that.

Anyway, should get back to some homework.

Enjoy the rest of your day and week everyone.

Take care and God bless you all richly

Lil and Izzy x

Good evening y'all!

As you can see we've picked up a little bit of the local lingo. We're still having an amazing time out here in California. I'll try and remember what we've been up to since we last post....

We had a very long weekend last weekend. Bethel Church hosted a Leader's conference for, you've guessed it, Church Leaders, from all over the place, which ran Monday til Wednesday. As they were using a lot of the church facilities it meant we had a few days off. The weather picked up as well so we had a really good few days. the idea beforehand was to catch up and get on top of homework but as the sun came out we all decided to take advantage and get up to various activities while we still could. So our weekend consisted of mainly hanging out with some good friends of ours and playing football.

Tuesday was a great day. Izzy had some girls round and they had a baking and Disney day. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Meanwhile, I decided to take advantage of America's slightly different laws concerning gun use and having never fired a gun in my life went out with some people to fire my first shots! The whole idea was completely alien to me but fascinating all the same. So we went to a nearby hillside where man made driving ranges seem to have been created. We all took turns having a go at shooting some clay pigeons, and after shooting the second one thrown I thought I was a natural, a James Bond in the making. I then proceeded to miss the next 30 or so, meaning Daniel Craig is safe in his job for now, even if I do have the right physique for it. But Ben, my Aussie friend and me had a great time, firing our first ever gun. We paid for it slightly, with bruising to our shoulders the next day but it was worth it. I felt very American. Thanks to Marty Reid for organising it all, and the two Chelsea's and lot's of the Tesauro family for accommodating us!

So we were back to school yesterday, Thursday. It was exciting to be back after having so many days off. The highlight of the day was undoubtedly Pastor Bill talking to us. He was amazing. He spoke a lot about the renewing of the mind, and how it comes through intimacy with God rather than just us memorising Scripture or just believing good things. He was very open, sharing some of his experiences and encounters he has had with God, which was very inspiring but also very challenging. One memorable line was:
'Your experience should equal your confession'
Which is very challenging. But awesome too! Come on!

Thursday night we were invited to the very lovely Lynda's house. Lynda is a lady in our revival group who is like our mum while we're here. She has taken it upon herself to invite everyone from our revival group over for dinner at some point. So Thursday was the couple's night. Lynda, along with her sister, Trina, and housemate Katherine, were amazing hosts, and the Sampsons, Pridmores and Rossiters had a brilliant time. Thanks ladies!

Today we had some Bible teaching from Dann Farrelly, followed by a time of worship and finished off with some time in our small groups. A great finish to a great week.

We really hope everyone back home in Somerset is well and being blessed. Please do keep in touch with us, we love to hear whats going in.

We're recently found out we'll be heading to Ecuador in March for our missions trip which is really exciting. We'll be part of a team of 28 and our trip will involve exciting things like getting involved in a maternity hospital impoverished families, helping to deliver clothes and food to the needy, ministering in youth prisons and feeding malnourished children to name a few things. We're really excited about it. We have to raise some money for the trip so if you feel like you'd like to help us out please get in touch.

Thanks for taking the time to read our blog we really appreciate it. Hope everyone is well.

Lot's of love and blessings from Redding.

Liam and Izzy x

P.S. Sorry about the formatting!