Friday, December 9, 2011

Outreach Changes and Internships

            
Winter Asia Trip Canceled *PFFFFFFFFT you spit out your coffee at your desk*
            Last week I received news that all of our non-American team members were denied visas for the second time. The reasons are very strange and unexpected… ranging from missing US arrival stamps in passports to the consulate worker simply not being impressed by the quality of handwriting by some of the students on their applications. My focus is not on the reasons they were rejected, but that it’s the “first time in years” that this has happened to our visa agent and that most of our team still has no money, even to reapply for visas.
          Our Asia team sought the Lord over the weekend and met Monday where together we decided to put off the trip. One belief that is shared among all staff and students here is that this is a good thing. God has gotten our attention and does not want us to move a step further without being in complete unity. This situation has rallied the entire campus to come along the SOW(School of Worship) for support, and has brought each one of us in the SOW back to our knees in complete, daily obedience to the Holy Spirit. Many on the team have been getting word from the Lord about serving and continuing to grow in our school’s internship.  
                The leader of the internship has asked me to pray about staying with the SOW in its internship phase…a thought I had not thought would be possible until spring since I’d be out of the country. With their need of support and my families sensing a move in this direction I’ve happily agreed to stay involved but with a new role.
         
SOW Internship Quarter 1 2012

             The Internship is a continuation of the School of Worship, but is meant to shift our staff and students from ‘program’ to ‘community’. Where the school focuses around our classroom lecture times with a different speaker each week, the internship will provide more opportunity to apply and grow in what we’ve been getting infused with, while staying grounded in scripture and in prayer as a family.
From January 5th to March 31st we will…
  • ·         Serve, soak, and teach in the 24/7 prayer room here on campus
  • ·         Study music theory, grow in our skills as musicians
  • ·         Grow in songwriting and to record new songs in the recording studio
  • ·         Learn to lead in and play in a worship team
  • ·         Serve the campus community by leading worship for schools and departments
  • ·         Outreaches into Kona, the islands of Hawaii and international locations
  • ·          Prepare to plant future SOWs and to bring our message of intimacy and worship back to our churches, communities and families.
               Please continue to pray for us and for this pioneering school. These past two months have been two of the most important months in my own walk with the Lord. He is so good, the Spirit is so desiring to be among us in more personal and greater ways. We’re all fare from arrived, but my desire for more of the Lord and my understanding of His character is greater today than it was yesterday, just like my relationship with my wife. Jesus doesn’t call us His bride to be cute, or to make dudes feel uncomfortable and insecure in their identity, but because we have FULL ACCESS to the THROWNROOM OF GOD and have His heart.
                We’re continuing to pray and are taking steps in preparation for April’s Multi-Cultural School of Worship. This will be a bilingual school, English and Korean….which is an area of ministry that I have a great passion for.  At the same time we’ve been asked to help our friends with their Performing Arts DTS again in April. I guess it all depends on who cuts us a bigger check the word of the Lord. :p
                Regarding finances we’re still in need of new monthly supporters. We now have a growing debt to the campus that graciously doesn’t throw us out on the street. You can scroll down to find a paypal button if you feel led to support our families’ work.
                I’m really enjoying this blog, it’s way easier to update than my previous mailing list, and no one was really responding to the mailing (except for people wanting to be removed from my list ha ha) Also there’s an open invitation to spam my blog with advertisements for Apple in exchange for an iPad.
Blessings,
-Noah (and Family)


Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Asia Trip this December!!

              What We've Been Up To...



               Second post on the new blog! God has been doing a lot of awesome things in our school, and we're just 1 month in. I feel as much like a student as I do a staff since all but two of our guest speakers are all new to me. My notebook is filling up with awesome teaching and fresh revelation of God's goodness and the truth and the power of His word. Our small group that we lead is amazing. We're 8 people from USA, Korea, Kaz@khstan, Haiti and Australia! We're all on a journey together as we go deep into the study of worship in the scriptures as well as what God is doing through the worship/intimacy movements of today's generation.
                 Having my parents visit for a couple weeks last month was such a special time for our family. They had not yet seen Jubilee, along with the rest of my entire family. We had been planning for their trip for a whole year and it felt at times sureal that they were in Kona with us. I know it was a special time for them, being back 30something years later. God connected them with tons of new life long relationships and connections, and they left Kona refreshed and with a new excitement for what God will be doing in New England with help from Kona.

               Jubilee is now 11 months old, loves to put stuff into her mouth, randomly screams in corporate meetings and is still the cutest baby on the planet. We're getting ready to celebrate her 1st birthday, which is a very big deal in Korea. Not sure how we'll celebrate, Korean's usually spend a ton of money on food and invite everyone. I'm cool with renting the new Winne The Pooh movie, getting a pizza and inviting as many people as there are slices so we'll have to find a compromise :)
              Bora is an awesome mom and wife. She lead worship at church a coupleweeks ago, it always touches my heart when I get to hear her worship. I keep falling more and more in love with this awesome woman. It was nice going on one or two dates when mom and dad visited. Right now Jubilee is going through a stranger anxiety/clingy stage so we're in need of a date night!
               Myself, I'm really being rocked spiritually, in a very goodway. I've been learning more and more about God as the Bride-Groom and intimacy. It's so easy to get our priorities out of place and neglect intimacy with the Bride-Groom. This past month our car, laptop, tv and now my drumkit are all broken. At first I wondered if it were an attack, but after sharing my frustrations with my leader we both felt that God was stripping me and trying to get my focus back on Him. A hard lesson for my flesh to be going through, but the Holy Spirit has been sharing some really awesome truths with me these past few weeks, and I'm excited to be moving into a new level of closeness with my God.
             Bora runs hospitality for our school's break times, and she's great at it. She also translates English to Korean on a regular basis for different corporate campus events, since this is a bi-lingual school quarter. I've been managing transportation for our school's events as well as for our local church in addition to playing worship sets in the prayer room. It's a challenge with an 11 month old and often one of us has 'Jubilee duty' while the other works. We are so blessed to still be working together and staffing this school together.  The environment here is very family-friendly, and pleanty of grace and patience is extended to little ones when they 'squawk' from time to time in the back of the classroom :) There are days when it's a challenge, but it works and we wouldn't want to do it any differently.
            
ASIA TRIP DEC. 2011

             Bora and I have been asked to lead one of our school's teams into Asia! If you know who we are you know where we're referring to when we say 'Asia'. The Lord confirmed this desire of our heart on three ocasions, the first through the below stain on the pavement when I was picking up our school's first student, the second fro an email confirmation from a contact in Asia and lastly by being asked by our leadership (quite an honor, I love and respect them very much)
               We're excited, we'll be pioneering a 24/7 prayer room in one city. There we'll also be teaching for the final week of a Bible school on worship and intimacy. We'll be bringing our work to two other major cities and doing more of the same, as well as public performances and seminars.
               We're in the beginning stages of planning the logistics, like where we'll be sleeing, eating, how we'll move from city to city...ect. Students are praying about their own team location, and right now it looks like we'll be around 20 people.
               The trip will last 8 weeks and we'll be celebrating Christmas on the road as we'll be leaving mid December. This will be the first team Bora and I have lead together, and first with a baby! We know God will extend tons of grace for traveling with Jubilee, and she's already well loved by the entire school. Asia will be VERY cold, quite different from Kona, so we've now on the lookout for winter clothes for Jubilee. Please continue to pray for us. For visas and a good itinerary to all come together. Planning for 20 rather than 2 is a new venture for me.
               Please pray in finances and pray about giving to this trip or becoming a regular supporter of our family. As our schedule in Asia is finalized I'll be posting our expenses in detail.






                 Be sure to friend me on Facebook to stay up to date ondaily happenings and photos. You can reach me at noahlovesjesus@gmail.com
Blessings,
-Noah (with Bora and Jubilee)

Monday, July 11, 2011


Hello Everyone!
               Aloha from Y/W.AM’s National Office and University of the Nati0ns Campus in Kona, Hawaii! It’s been a while since I’ve sent out a proper update, so I’ll bring everyone up to speed…
          
               Last year my wife Bora and I both received clear direction from the Lord in prayer to move to Kona, HI to help manage Y(WA.M’s 50th Anniversary Jubilee Celebration in November. At the same time God also told us we were to have a baby! (pretty cool) and the due date ended up being a little more than a week before the massive event we were to manage! (wait, what?!)  Stepping out in faith and with little to no fund raising (also as directed from the Lord) we packed our bags and helped host one of the biggest events Y(W.AM has hosted, just a week and a half after Jubilee Kang Willson was born in Waimea, HI!



                This year has been an exercise in hearing God’s voice and also strengthening our relations with our family organization Y(W.AM.  First quarter of 2011 I managed  Y(W.AM’s first ever and archetype movie theater, working with film director David Cunningham (To End All Wars, The Seeker) and his awesome team at Global Virtual Studios. Mauka Theater is a 90 seat, hi-tech, ultramodern theater equipped with 7.2 digital surround sound and a top of the line HD projector. In its first few months Mauka Theater has hosted leadership conferences for many of the top global Christian organizations, regular free movie screenings for campus students and families, live concerts, school graduations, seminars and my favorite….game nights J    



               
                Second quarter Bora and I staffed Kona’s Performing Arts D1scipleship Training School. We were eager to join with this mostly Korean team. They were especially in need of male, non-Korean staff to meet the small group needs of their very international body of students, as well as English-Korean translation which Bora is very gifted in. Jubilee has become the school mascot and it’s been an unforgettable experience staffing as a family.  Working on projects like the 50th, staffing departments like Mauka Theater are all great experiences, but investing on individuals and seeing lives change week by week though this intense, intimate course….this training school has been the most important thing I’ve been a part of. It’s been a stretching season to be more initiative with one on one discipleship and  in a small group settings.  


      
             
                   This summer we’ll first be traveling to Bora’s home in South Korea to introduce Jubilee to all of her family, as well as support raise. Having Grandma out for Jubilee’s birth was wonderful, but we realize that the rest of Korea needs to experience Jubilees cutenessJ.  After returning in August we’ll join up with the worship and intercession department named Fire and Fragrance to staff the Elevate School of Worship! The school starts at the end of September, and a lot of work is still to be done. The School of Worship is a 5 month course, with a 3 month lecture phase and a 2 month outreach. I completed my SOW in Bangkok back in 2006, and I’m honored to be working with some of the people that were responsible for planting and teaching at the school I attended. Here’s a little bit about what the Elevate School of Worship is about and what we’ll be covering each month…

 The Motive for Worship - love for Jesus
- Passion for Jesus
- Character of God
- Personal Freedom
- The Character and Lifestyle of the Worshiper

 The Meaning of Worship - Biblical Foundations
- Biblical and Historical Basis for Worship
- Prophetic aspects of Worship
- Worship, Intercession and Spiritual Warfare
- The Gifts of the Holy Spirit and the Supernatural

The Method of Worship - Practical Skills
- Intro to songwriting, musicianship and recording
- Worship Leading and Teamwork
- Cross cultural Worship Expressions
- Taking it to the Nations - setting up prayer houses
               
                The Elevate School of Worship will have an outreach focus on 3 countries which are Japan, Haiti and China. My desire is to bring a team to China to lead seminars and worship events, as well as establish 24/7 prayer and worship rooms. Please be praying for us and our team that God would direct every step of the planning going into this school.
                Please keep us in your prayers! Please be covering us while we travel in Korea, that God would craft long term relationships with people and churches. Please pray that our car will continue to run well, and that the engine won’t fall out of the bottom the next time we hit a speed bump J. Please pray for Jubilees health and development…we know she’s remarkably cute but the other stuff is important, too. Please pray that the Lord would continue to bless me and Bora’s marriage and working relationship as we continue to work together in ministry.

                Thanks for all of your love and support! Please check back regularly for the latest on our family!
Love and Blessings,
The Willson Family