the UNDERCURRENT newsletter (Volume 3)
See the real newsletter — photos and all — in PDF format)
VOLUME 3.1: Seasons_05.20_20.10
Returning to Y.W.A.M. Montana this summer
Yup. We’re doing it again!
Really, I think they missed Eoghan more than anything…but the YOUTH WITH A MISSION base in Lakeside, Montana invited us to come back and staff their T.E.S.O.L. program which starts in July. So as the rain still pours here in Portland, we are making the most of it — like eating lots of Ramen noodles, and warm beans and rice dishes — and saving up our resources for another hot summer training folks like you and I to teach English to speakers of other languages. There’s a few ways you can help us do this, too>>
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1. BE ONE of our Financial Supporters
If this is something you can contribute toward—then by all means, please help us do this! We are not paid to teach the school, in fact we actually pay them just to be there. Shelter, food, utilities, laundry…are all paid for by the staff. And the services we offer by teaching and being a part of the community at YWAM are all voluntary. Unlike full-time staff, we also have additional rent and utilities to pay (on top of YWAM expenses) if we are to keep our home here in Portland.
So would you pray, and ask God if this is something you can help us with? This isn’t a plea for your money, this is a simple opportunity for the body of Christ to support one another so that—together—we can all share in the same blessings.
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2. GO TO our website, {often}
Let’s Get Connected
Learn more about us and what we’re doing next by coming back here again and again. This is the best way to stay up-to-date with occasional thoughts, photos, updated prayer requests, info about TESOL, and more.
Subscribe To The Goods
When you do, you’ll receive an e-mail informing you anytime we post something new. Just click the “Sign me up!” button on the top right.>>> It’s that easy.
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3. TELL THREE more people
Spread the word
Tell those around you about TESOL, and YWAM, and what the Brooks’ are doing there. The more that you become our mouth and ears, the more we are free to be His hands and feet.
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4. PRAY FOR our needs
Here’s where you come in
Will you pray that God would complete this work in us? We can’t do it alone. Bless you as you read this.
We love you all,
Andrew & Cortnie Brooks
Prayer Points
To provide for finances (God blessed us with two jobs in the midst of a broken world’s economy. Thank you! Now, may we be able to gather the money and resources to spend more than a month away from our life and work in Portland, and still be able to return)
May God bless our mission (Giving us continual vision, direction, and wisdom for His future plans for our lives, specifically regarding the invitation to do full-time—24/7, 365—work at YWAM, “Lord, light the way”)
Pray that God opens the doors for us supernaturally (that with His vision, direction, and wisdom guiding us He will turn the wheels and bring transformation in our lives as well as to everyone and everything around us…All for His glory
{“TEE-sole”}
T.E.S.O.L.
TEACHING ENGLISH TO SPEAKERS OF OTHER LANGUAGES
{WHAT}
Four-week intensive course, more than 100 hours of lectures + small group presentations, oral and written assignments + assessments, practicum
{WHY}
Over half the population of the world lives under governments that restrict the entry of foreign religious workers. Although regular missionaries are not welcome, people with nation building skills, such as English teachers, are welcomed. For approximately 60 nations in the world, being a skilled worker is the major means of gaining entry. For 33 nations, it is the only means of entry.
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{WHEN+HOW MUCH}
STAFF COST: $420
ADDITIONAL PERSONAL EXPENSES: $1,000
TOTAL $1,420
July 5 – August 6
Q: How will He provide?
ANSWER: If God owns the coffee trees on a thousand hills, what’s a few beans?
LIFE AS COFFEE
SO…CORTNIE AND I HAVE BEEN SPENDING A LOT OF TIME AROUND THOSE LITTLE BEANS (and we’ve been thinking)
Handpicked from the tree
Only fruit that’s ready
Many layers need to be removed
Eventually, the usable parts are uncovered
What’s left gets broken down and refined…Transformation Complete!
>>>Ready to be Consumed<<<
[provided you have the right tools]
Picked In Season – When the time is ripe
When it comes to producing mature fruit, most coffee trees produce theirs—known as beans, or cherries—in an inconsistent manner. One by one, each ripened cherry signals that it’s ready to be harvested by turning a shade of deep red; as if to say to the world, “It’s time to see the fruit that’s been waiting inside.”
The best Coffees on the market are handpicked by their harvester, who skillfully chooses when each piece of fruit is ready to leave the tree. From its branch it is carefully plucked, stuck in a basket with other mature fruit, and sent away from the field to begin its transformation.
A New Stage – A New Creation
After being chosen by the harvester, the coffee cherries are stripped down to the innermost usable parts, and for a period of time they are washed and dried, tested by fire, further refined, until eventually they are ready to be consumed. Finally, the coffee tree has produced fruit that is valued and pleasured by many. Whether it’s the caffeine that’s hidden within, or the precious oils that give flavor to your cup, or simply the pleasing aroma— the tree with the dark red fruit has reached its purpose.
How beautiful is it—to live your life in such a way? To find your purpose and fulfillment at the end of the many stages God has set in place for you. To be handpicked at the right time, for the right purpose. To be refined and transformed into a pleasing new creation.
[Pray for us, that we would be handpicked by God for a specific purpose, that He would bless our efforts as we pursue our goal in full-time missions. And that we would follow his leading through whatever door he chooses to open.] May He bring the next season .
M is for Montana,
W is for Wheat
“Honey, tune the banjo…I’ll tighten the fiddle bow…Eoghan, put your foot-stompin’ boots on. And turn up that bluegrass music for one more go‘round. It’s back to Montana for the Brookses. Maybe this time for keeps.”
We had an amazing time last summer with our friends at the YWAM base in Lakeside, near the shores of Flathead Lake. We were there staffing a TESOL—an intensive program designed to train the average American in the methods of “Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.” The people we met there in the summer have left us with lasting impressions that have remained with us throughout the wet Oregon winter.
As we left Montana in early September the local farmers were just beginning to plant their next crop of Winter Wheat in the grassy fields of the Flathead Valley. The wheat sprouted just as the Montana nights became cold and frozen, and the sprouts became dormant as the snow gathered above the ground. Dormant and asleep, the growth of the Winter Wheat was suspended until the Spring sun thawed the snow and gave way to new life and new opportunity. With warmer and longer days ahead the wheat is still growing and maturing and by the time we arrive in Montana this July for another round of TESOL the farmers will be preparing their tools for another harvest.
Just like the Winter Wheat, it’s been a sleepy and restful winter for our family as we’ve adjusted to life here in Portland. We’ve spent this season waiting and listening to God. Asking Him,“What new opportunities for new life do You have for us, Lord?” In return, He’s blessed us with the chance to share our lives and our story with many here in Portland. He’s given us a clearer vision for ministry to this city, exemplified often through the teachings of our Church and the community that exists there.
We’ve also kept a strong tie with our friends in Montana. Jeff, the current leader of the TESOL program and once a DTS leader for a few friends back home (folks like Michel Musacchio, and Joy Nielsen) asked us a few months ago to consider a full-time commitment to YWAM and he’s repeatedly encouraged us to quit our part-time jobs and move to Montana—he’s even threatened to slash our tires so we can’t leave after our summertime commitment. Jeff is actually in Australia right now getting further training so he can instruct this year’s school.
Jeff’s vision is this: if we were to join YWAM full-time he’d pay for our Australian training so that we’d be qualified to fully instruct future TESOL courses on our own. We would then head up YWAM Montana’s TESOL program, with him as our mentor, and start offering two TESOL schools a year and ESL (English as a Second Language) classes throughout the year. Beyond that, there would be further opportunities to pursue other visions we may have with YWAM.
This is a big step for us. Let me restate that…it’s huge. On the plus side, we have the opportunity to expand our TESOL training (already on Cort’s “To Do List”), then get the experience of actually operating an existing TESOL program here in the states, with Jeff and others as our mentors, while fostering those skills from within the community at YWAM. Training, experience, mentorship, community. Of course, what comes with this is a missionary lifestyle that includes raising your own financial support (at least $800 a month) just as everyone in YWAM does—even the founder, Loren Cunningham, raises support to pay for his day to day needs. Perhaps, more than that, we’d also be making painful sacrifices such as leaving Portland (which has become our favorite city and home), and postponing plans to finish our college degrees.
Our original intent was to live in Portland for a few years, if possible, while we finished our degrees at a secular university, then find a way to apply those degrees to our goal of being involved in some form of long-term mission work, either local or overseas. While joining YWAM in Montana wasn’t in our immediate plans when we moved to Oregon, we’ve often experienced God’s way of bringing us to one place, only to get us to be willing and open to move to another. With our limited roots tying us down neither here in Oregon, nor in California, moving to Montana could be viewed as just another baby step for us. And this work would place us on the “fast track” to accomplishing some of our long-term goals and visions.
Would you pray with us as we consider this opportunity? And please, let us know your feelings regarding our potential decision to pursue full-time mission work. Your thoughts and advice mean so much to us. We’ll keep you updated via the blog and let you know how things progress. Thanks for taking the time to read this…
Many Blessings, Andrew & Cortnie
“I saw above me that endless skyway, I saw below me that golden valley, When the sun came shining…And the wheat fields waving…A voice was chanting, As the fog was lifting: This land was made for you and me.” –Woody Guthrie
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