Our Final Australia Update

Our incredible supporters,

We have reached our final 11 days in Australia. It is surreal to think that in two weeks we will be boarding a plane to head back to America. As our departure date gets closer, our reflection of this past year at Hillsong continues to take over our thoughts. First, we would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the support that each of you have sown into us. We didn't know how God was going to keep us here for the entire year, but He did through you. We hope that you will understand the impact you've had on our lives. We have learned what sacrificial giving looks like from your continued prayers and giving of your finances. Our time at Hillsong wouldn't have been possible without you and we sincerely thank you. We couldn't be more humbled and grateful that you made an intentional decision to sow into our year of unforgettable growth in ministry.

As we reflect on this past year at Hillsong College, we have completed over 489 hours of class time. This is separate from time in chapels, serving during the week or weekend, various meetings, and conferences. When we think about each hour spent in this college and in this ministry, there's no way drastic change wouldn't occur! Then when you add the Holy Spirit moving in us, the growth was astronomical! Our confidence in Christ has grown, our knowledge of the bible has strengthened, our love for the Church has made a permanent home in our hearts, and our love for one another has been rebuilt on a solid foundation. 

Thinking about returning home is both exciting and frightening. We have so much to look forward to but also realize the importance of not getting caught up in our "old comfortable ways." Going back to a familiar place can be challenging, but in this case we are ready for the challenge. One thing that we have both been feeling in our Spirit's is that we have been living in a desert season, not in a bad way, but a season of preparation like Moses or Jesus in the wilderness. As satisfying and amazing as this season has been for us, we know that our mission field will begin full force once we step off the plane in America. We will see the fruit of what has actually changed in our hearts. We will be faced with the choice to either fight for what God has done in us this past year or fall into complacency. Thankfully, we believe that God has been preparing us for this. We have been going through a desert season for the past few months knowing that it was our time to have God build us up, know Him more, and become strengthened by His character. Once we get off the plane, our battle is before us. Our battle to be transparent to those around us, our battle to fight for our relationship that we've worked so hard on, a battle to keep our vision alive in moving to Cambodia, and our battle to encounter the Holy Spirit daily. Saying all this, we are more than ready to return home. We are beyond excited for what this next season will bring us and cannot wait to continue on this adventure of life that God has brought us on thus far. As Pastor Brian Houston always says, "The best is yet to come," and we fully believe that for this next season of our lives that statement holds truer than ever. 

We are so blessed to be heading home with such a clear vision on what God has called us to next. During this next year at home, we will begin raising support to become missionaries in Phnom Penh, Cambodia through a Christian organization called Compassionate Touch International (CTI). We are ecstatic about the opportunity to serve the people of Cambodia and cannot wait to share our vision with each of you. Our decision to partner with an organization was finalized after great prayer and consideration into what God specifically has asked us to do in Cambodia. Our goal is to make Jesus' name known to all of Cambodia by sharing His message of love in Phnom Penh. We believe that by partnering with CTI, we will be able to do this on a much greater scale than we could have ever imagined on our own. We are honored to be working with our dear friends, Daniel & Elizabeth Budzinski, the founders of CTI, as we begin our life in Cambodia. 

As the end of the year draws closer, we know that people consider giving tax-deductible donations to certain organizations of their choice. One of the benefits of partnering with CTI is that we are now able to receive donations that are tax-deductible! When you give either online or by check, just memo our names in and your donation will be directed towards our missions fund. (Click on the 'Donate' tab at http://www.compassionatetouchinternational.org/). We would love to sit down and share more of our vision with you, but wanted to pass on this information as the end of the year is drawing near. We will be sending out another email in the next few weeks with a more detailed vision of what we are going to be doing in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. 

Our upcoming schedule is as follows: 

From December 4th-12th, we will be in San Bernardino, California and would love to come and visit with you and/or your local church. If you would like to set up a time to meet with us, please email us back and we will schedule appropriately. 

From December 14th-16th, we will be in Grayling, MI. 

From the 16th onward, we will be in the Grand Rapids area.

Thank you again for all that you have done for us. Coming to Hillsong Church, living out our dream, and fulfilling the call that Christ has placed on our lives would not have been possible without each of you. We appreciate all that you have sacrificed and sowed into our lives. Looking forward to catching up with each of you when we return to the States. Thank you!

All our love,

Ryan Cooper & Kristen Hoffmeyer

August/September Update

Our Faithful Supporters,

These past two months have gone by in a whirlwind of adventure, learning, and trusting in what God is doing in our lives. It is hard for us to wrap our minds around the opportunity that He has placed our way in preparation for this next season of our lives.  

Let me first give you a glimpse into what has been happening these past two months. We have been blessed with some of the best classes that have greatly challenged us to know what we believe in and why we believe what we do. We have been encouraged to use new evangelistic tools as we step out in our faith and have been studying different world religions and how to best relate to each religion through Christianity. Every class that we encounter places another building block onto the foundation that we are building for our own individual lives as well as our future ministry. Ryan and I are beyond blessed to be in a season of continual learning, growth, and practical ministry experience. Not a day goes by where we are not incredibly encouraged and blessed to be in this season of life. 

As this season of life begins to come to an end we have been preparing for what is to come next. We have been in prayer over what this next season of life is going to look like for us as individuals as well as a married couple. So much excitement, anticipation and confirmation has been placed over what is going to unfold this next year! Ryan and I are incredible excited to share with you that we will be partnering up with an organization when we move to Cambodia. There are so many details to share and we will continue to keep you updated as things continue to unfold and as time gets closer but we were so excited to share this news with you! 

The organization that we will be coming under is called Compassionate Touch International. Our two amazing friends, Daniel & Elizabeth Budzinski founded this organization three years ago and are having us to come under their organization as their first full time missionaries. This is an amazing opportunity for Ryan and I to partner with an organization that we truly believe in and cannot wait to become a part of. More information will be released towards the beginning of 2014, but we wanted to share this with all of you as soon as we could. By coming under Compassionate Touch International one of the benefits that we are now able to offer is tax-deductable donations. As we begin this next year of fundraising we know that this will allow us to partner with many of you as well as the local church. One of our greatest passions is the local church and seeing how the local church can have a global impact. As we return back to California the beginning of December and back to Michigan mid-December we are hoping to connect with as many local churches as possible to share a vision that we believe God has given us to build His church in Cambodia. 

Because of the economic climate in Phnom Penh, the average person lacks educational resources, which forces people with no practical skills into desperate situations where they have to reluctantly offer themselves at a price. Understanding the relevant societal problems allows us to respond in the most effective way possible; by creating long-term, sustainable solutions for the people in Phnom Penh. The main answer to the heavy burden of human trafficking is to offer practical skills to local men, women, and children. When people have a skill or trade, they are eager to use it, however, as unfamiliar of a concept as it may be to Americans, many people in Cambodia have an education equivalent to a 7th grader at the highest level. Our goal is to start a micro-enterprise where we offer women job training in the garment trade, including the use of a sewing machines and screen printers. By teaching women profitable skills that can provide for themselves and their families, they no longer have to experience dehumanizing and devaluing "work" in the sex trade. A part of their work day will include an hour of English language training, the key to gaining legal, higher paying jobs in the city. Their day also includes free employee lunches, where the women join together to have fellowship meals. In the morning, they have prayer and discipleship classes for the women to learn about their God-given value and their innate purpose in this world. This operation is modeled after an existing training center that was self sustaining (through their own profits) after 9 months of being open. It is highly successful and effective in doing what we also aim to do, and that is to get women off the streets and for us to begin offering women an honorable alternative to sex work.

We are incredibly excited to begin this next step in our lives and could not wait to share with you our greater vision. We currently plan on moving over to Cambodia January of 2015 to live as full-time missionaries. This next year will be spent living in Grand Rapids, Michigan working and fundraising for our move to Cambodia. We would love to share with you in more detail what our timetable looks like along with the goals that we have set out to reach. If you would like more information or feel that this initiative is something your home church would potentially like to come behind, please send us an email so we can continue to connect with you and pass along more information to you and your church. 

In Him,

Ryan Cooper & Kristen Hoffmeyer

coope1rk@gmail.com

hoffm2kr@gmail.com

http://www.compassionatetouchinternational.org/

June & July Update

My Faithful Supporters: 

July is coming to an end, second semester has officially begun, & our time here continues to get shorter and shorter. These past few months have been incredible. God has done such beautiful things in Australia & in our hearts. 

June was full of excitement as Ryan & I were able to spend some valuable time with my parents. We had the opportunity to travel around different parts of Australia as well as show my parents everything that we have been up to so far at Hillsong. I could talk about our amazing trip forever, but overall it was incredible [especially having the chance to swim at the Great Barrier Reef]. We were so blessed by my parents & soaked up every minute that we had with them! 

As June continued we finished up our first semester of classes & jumped right into conference intensives. Classes this semester were incredible. I was able to take away so many practical principles that I will be able to apply into ministry one day. Conference intensives were a blast. I had the opportunity to work with getting things ready for all of our special guests that were going to be attending Hillsong Conference. By doing this I learned the importance of treating your guests like royalty. It is amazing to see all of the people who take time out of their busy schedules to be a part of conference so it was amazing to see what Hillsong does to make each guest feel valued & important. Ryan was a part of working with A21 where he was able to learn a little bit of how this incredible anti-human trafficking organization works. 

Hillsong Conference was an experience like none other. It was the most exhausting, challenging & rewarding experience ever. Our days began at 5:30 am and wrapped up around 11:30 pm. I think that we each learned how to rely on super natural strength.  I was involved in leading a hosting team & Ryan was able to interact with many of the delegates selling resources. The messages spoke were amazing. The conference brought the atmosphere of revival which has been stirring among the church sense the beginning of the year. It was an honor to be a part of this conference & hear words that were so in season. 

As soon as conference finished up we were preparing to jump on a plane to spend 16 days in Cambodia. I'm not sure how to sum up our time in Cambodia... besides the fact that it was incredible. God moved in ways that we couldn't even have imagined. We had the opportunity to visit some of the most amazing organizations which allowed us to dream big into our future. We also had the chance to have two of our dearest friends join us for the last week of our trip. The four of us were able to dream into the future & believe for break-through among a broken country. Among all of the incredible things that God did, one day touched my heart above the rest... We had the opportunity to go to an English class outside of the local garment factories. These girls are amazing. They work between 8-14 hour days and only make between $80-$140 per month. Many of the girls only have education up to grade 7. It is incredibly difficult for them to find jobs. After working at the garment factories for several months they hear about work at local KTV's (which are karaoke bars) in Phnom Penh and find out that they can make from $20-$30 a night. Once the girls start work at a KTV it is usually just the starting point to them eventually falling into prostitution. This organization found out that by knowing English you are able to remove yourself from working in a garment factory & are able to find other reliable means of employment.   We were able to sit in on one of their English classes and then had the opportunity to hang-out with the girls after class. During our hang-out session we were able to paint their nails, talk with them & practice English. The Lord had his hand over this day as we were able to pray with the girl on the right as she gave her life to Christ. I learned that even though teaching English is a significant skill to have the purpose of this class is for the girls to find everlasting peace and comfort in Christ. This organization helped change my mindset on how ministry needs to be run in Cambodia. I learned that there are many important skills that these people need to have but if Christ isn't working through every detailed part then something needs to change.  

As Ryan and I begin to look through the different options that God has laid in front of us for when we return to Cambodia we have realized that we must do something where the gospel is able to be worked out on a daily basis. Our heart behind returning to Cambodia is to share the love of Christ Jesus with everyone we encounter. Being able to go this July was truly a God ordained trip full of divine appointments & opportunity. Our vision is able to be cast clearer than ever before and we are able to take our soon to be official first step of committing to an amazing organization. 

Our last semester at Hillsong is going to be more critical than we can comprehend. We are able to step into this semester with goals set out, a language to learn & hearts open to hearing the details of our futures.  We cannot express our appreciation for all of your prayers & support. We are so excited to soon be updating you on what this next step of our lives is going to look like. Until then, we send you all of our love and thanks. 

With love,

Ryan Cooper & Kristen Hoffmeyer

May Update

To my faithful supporters,

I cannot believe that May is almost over. This month has been full of classes, assessments & work. I am so thankful & quite ready for our mid-semester break next week! I also have the joy of welcoming my parents to Australia on Thursday. This has been a long awaited trip and it couldn't come at a more perfect time. 

This past month has been full of surprises, blessings, hardships, faith challenges, and opportunities.  Ryan & I are starting to understand what it means to truly walk by faith during this season of our lives. As I mentioned school this month has been full on! Even though it has been a lot of work, the material that we have covered has been critical for this season of life. One of our assessments that we had due this past week was a goal setting portfolio. This was one of the best things to do. It challenged us to create our own personal mission statement, core values, and to plan out long-term goals, short-term goals, and now goals. I was reminded of the verse in Habakkuk 2:2-3  "Write the vision: make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end-it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay." This section of scripture reminded me of the importance of writing out my dreams and visions because if it is something that God has placed in my heart then the time will surely come & I can hold fast to the promises given to me. So, my visions, goals, and dreams are wrote down & I am expectant that they will come. In my public speaking class I just finished giving my first ever mini-sermon. It was such an amazing experience & I walked away feeling that God told me, "Kristen, get ready for this, your destiny has just begun." I do not take those words lightly and cannot even imagine what God is training me to do!

My SHINE class has been going well. I feel that I am finally starting to reach a break-through with my 7th grade girls. It has taken a few weeks to break down walls. During this season God is reminding me that this is my training ground. Everything that I am experiencing right now is training for the future. This is one program that I cannot wait to bring to Cambodia as it emphasizes worth, value, and empowerment among women.  

Ryan & I have both been given the opportunity to be on our chapel key team. This is a group of 10 students that are selected out of our intake who will be running our first year chapel next semester. This is such an honor to be a part of. We just had our first meeting the other day and I walked away saying, "Okay God, this is what I have been waiting for. I've been waiting for this opportunity and now it is here!" I believe that by learning how to run a chapel service that it is only going to continue to equip Ryan & I for where our future may bring us.

Finally, Cambodia. I cannot thank each of you enough for your prayers, finances and most importantly donations. WOW. I was completely blown away by the amount of support that we received. My parents are brining over two 50lb. pieces of luggage that is full of HUNDREDS of hygiene items. We are so thankful for all that each of you do to back up our vision. I cannot wait to bundle together and wrap up each of these items and bless the people that we meet. Thank-you from the bottom of our hearts, we would not be able to do this without you. Human trafficking has come up in countless conversation lately & I know that God is starting to stir in the hearts of many to becoming the answers to individuals prayers. When I think about what a global issue that human trafficking is I get overwhelmed, but as soon as I remind myself that we have the opportunity to answer one girls prayers this season of life instantly is worth it. My heart & vision is to return to Cambodia to rescue children from human trafficking & to share with them their value and worth. Thank-you for allowing me to be in Australia for this season of my life. Each day I am being trained, stretched & equipped to go out into the world & be a messenger for our heavenly Father. 

As always, your prayers & support mean the world to me. Each day I remind myself that I would not be experiencing all of this if it wasn't for your commitment to the vision that God has instilled on my life. If you would like to continue to support me while I am in Australia I have attached a link to my PayPal account on the right hand side. Every donation is greatly appreciated & handled with the utmost care as I understand what a sacrifice that it is for each of you to support me. Each day I realize that I am being trained an equipped to fulfill the future that God has set out for Ryan & I.  Thank-you for all that you do to allow me to be here. I know that there is so much to come this next month & I cannot wait to share it with each of you, my faithful supporters, my family, and my dear friends. Until then - keep being a light of Christ to those around you like you've done for me. Your lights are shinning brightly & the world needs to see YOU. 

In Him,

Kristen Hoffmeyer

hoffm2kr@gmail.com

April Update

Hello APRIL: I cannot believe that as we begin this month that it means that I have been in Australia for three months. Time is going by much quicker than I anticipated. Each week brings a new adventure or experience to embark in. I LOVE IT. This past month has been a month of favor. The Lord continues to reveal himself to me more and more each day as well as reveal his visions & plans to me. I have been waiting for the perfect timing & best way to share some exciting news with all of you, so what a better time than now...

During a session that occurred week two of Colour Conference we were hearing about many different causes that Colour was raising money for. Once an organization in Cambodia was announced my heart skipped a beat. I desperately miss this country but didn't think that it would be possible to return until Ryan & I were ready to move there (tentatively July 2015). When your heart aches for a country this seems like an impossible countdown. While the organization in Cambodia was being discussed I felt like God told me, "Why not go in July". I sat back for a second & my next reaction was why WOULDN'T I go back in July! I immediately texted Ryan & shared with him that I really feel like we NEEDED to go back to Cambodia in July. I felt that it would be an opportunity where we could assess the need that is there, figure out what we can do to help with the need, as well as visit the country that we both love. Then reality kicked in, how in the world could we afford to go here? As soon as that thought entered into my mind God told me that He would take care of it, so that is what I continued to believe in. As Ryan & I began praying about what it would look like to go to Cambodia during our school break in July God started to reveal His vision for us. Some of the things that God shared with us are crazy, exciting, & extreme! I feel honored once again that God would pick us to do this! Ryan and I are so blessed to have our plane tickets bought for us by my parents. As we began to calculate out the final cost of what it would realistically be for us to spend 17 days in Cambodia we came up with $500 each. This includes our transportation while we are there, living expenses, and food. Yet, as we have been in classes we are constantly being reminded to live ON MISSION. I was brainstorming ideas of what could be done to be on mission while we are in Cambodia and I felt that God placed it on my heart to package up personal hygiene items (toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, and travel size shampoo & conditioner) to bring with us. I realized that if we are going to a country where our hearts are at then we need to be intentional about loving & building relationships with the people there as well as start to envision what our long-term situation will look like there. This is where I need you help. I am already so incredibly grateful for all of the support that you have given to bring me to Australia & I am looking at this as an opportunity that we've been given to really begin the first steps of our ministry! If you have any questions at all, please feel free to contact me & I would love to share more of our vision with you!

There are several areas that I would greatly appreciate you help in. The first is to be in prayer for us. We are praying for God opportunities with organizations while we are there. We are believing that opportunities and meetings are going to come our way that only God could orchestrate. The second thing that I need help with is collecting hygiene products to bring to Cambodia with us. My parents are coming to Australia May 22 & have decided that they will bring us over an extra piece of luggage that will hopefully be full of hygiene products! I feel that there is such a need for this as I remember the last time that I was in Cambodia and I gave a nine year old boy named Me his first "bath". He never had access to soap or shampoo & God blessed me with these resources before & we are believing that He will do the same this time around. I've learned that sometimes the best way to show someone Christ's love isn't by giving them a bible but by meeting a practical need that they have. If this is something that you are interested in partnering up with us on please send any of the following: toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, travel size shampoo & condition and washcloths to: 3582 Elk Drive.Zeeland.MI.49464. Ryan & I are so expectant and ready to build relationships & love on the people of Cambodia with these items! The final need that we have is in finances. If this is something that you would like to partner up with us on please visit my website or send a check to: 3582 Elk Drive.Zeeland.MI.49464 & my parents will make sure to bring what is donated with them in May. Attached I have a Paypal link that you can donate to & it will go towards the direct cost that we will have while we are in Cambodia. 

Apart from all of the excitement that has been brought forward with going to Cambodia in July Ryan & I have so many amazing things that we are soaking up & looking forward to! Classes have been amazing! Each day I am being challenged, stretched & grown. It is confirmed each day that God has so much to teach me here during this season of my life. One of the greatest things that I have recently learned is the importance of setting goals! As many times as I have learned this before, this time it sunk in. Our senior pastor, Pastor Brian Houston gave us a challenge a month ago to take out a blank piece of paper and to write down our vision & dreams on it. If the things that we wrote down could be accomplished by ourselves then our dreams were not big enough. He challenged us to create God dreams that could only be accomplished by God. This is a challenge that I have finally accomplished & let me tell you, it challenged me to my core. Some of my dreams are crazy & impossible to man. That is why they're on there, they are impossible to man but NOT impossible to God. So to wrap everything up, Australia is amazing. I miss each of you so much but am so encouraged by your continual support, you continual prayers & your continual faith in what God has called me to do.

Love you each so much.

In Him,

Kristen Hoffmeyer 

There is a time & season for everything.

Proverbs 31:10-31 [selected verses] MSG. "A good woman is hard to find, and worth far more than diamonds. Her husband trusts her without reserve, and never has reason to regret it [He knows that she is committed to him alone & he knows that she is his greatest supporter]. Never spiteful, she treats him generously all her life long.[love & respect have been deeply established in their lives]She's up before dawn, preparing breakfast for her family & organizing her day [she knows that this may be her only time alone with the Lord]. First thing in the morning, she dresses for work, rolls up her sleeves, eager to get started. She senses the worth of her work, is in no hurry to call it quits for the day. She's skilled in the crafts of home & hearth, diligent in homemaking. She's quick to assist anyone in need, reaches out to help the poor. She doesn't worry about her family when it snows; the winter clothes are all mended & ready to wear [she is always prepared].Her husband is greatly respected when he deliberates with the city fathers. Her clothes are well made & elegant, and she always faces tomorrow with a smile.When she speaks she has something worthwhile to say, and she always says it kindly [living out the fruits of the spirit]. She keeps an eye on everyone in her household, and keeps them all busy & productive. Her children respect and bless her; her husband joins in with words of praise: [respect & words of praise are earned] Many women have done wonderful things, but you've outclassed them all! Charm can mislead & beauty soon fades. The woman to be admired & praised is the woman who lives in the Fear-of-God. giver her everything she deserves! Festoon her life with praises!"

As the months quickly go by before I become a wife I often find myself meditating on this section of scripture. There is so much wisdom out there & so many different ideas on what it means to be a "good wife". I've been blessed to have several role models speak into my life over the years that have taught me a great deal of information through their lifestyle and the words that they have spoken over me [A very special thank-you to my Mom & Mrs. Budzinski, you two have forever challenged me, changed me, & have grown me into who I am today]. But I still constantly find myself back at this portion of scripture. I don't know if it is the simplicity that speaks to me, the beautiful poetry, or the lifestyle that this woman lived that moves me so deeply. Whatever it is, these characteristics are ones that I aspire to grow in [especially as I've seen the fruit of them play out through my role model's lives]. I feel that each day God is challenging me with something new & for this season in my life I am just suppose to take each new lifestyle change one step at a time. For those of you that know me personally, this is one of my greatest challenges. When I see something in me that I want to change I am hoping/expecting an immediate change and that rarely is the reality. 

This morning when I was spending my quiet time with the Lord He quickly rested the verse in my heart "She's up before dawn". I am not a morning person but ever sense moving to Australia I have decided to make myself a morning person. [This is a characteristic that I always saw my dear mentor Mrs. Budzinski doing. I could never understand how she received this energy or motivation to get up before dawn DAILY & to run one of the most incredible households of all] I was taken back this morning as I sat in awe of the impossible change that I saw in myself. I couldn't believe that sense I've been here that nearly every morning I've managed to wake up several hours before I had to be someone just so I could "be up before dawn" & start my day out with the Lord. This isn't said to give myself praises but to give all of the praises to God. I thought getting up early in the morning was IMPOSSIBLE for me & I was right. It was impossible FOR ME to do on my own. I needed to realize that I NEEDED God's help in order to succeed with this one. 

I'm sharing this not out of self praise [especially because I am no where near the woman that I'm called to be], but as an encouragement to those out there who are in this season of life preparing for marriage. As I continue planning Ryan & I's wedding I quickly loose focus of the women that I am called to be & am too focused on temperamental issues or emotions. But we must join together & not loose heart because this is one of the most beautiful seasons of growth that we will ever have! 

This morning God just told me to STOP. Instead of living in condemnation for the things that I am not, I needed to quickly give Him praises for the things that I AM. So now I can confidently say that through Christ, I AM a morning person who desperately desires time with the Lord before the sun arises. 

Now time to focus on one of the next areas that I highlighted...

To Be Continued: As God continues to reveal new things to me & molds me towards the woman that He has designed me to be.

Also anyone who is married, let me know what your best advice would be to someone preparing for this season of marriage.

March Update

To my faithful supporters,

I cannot believe that March is already here! This past month has been one of the greatest months that I have ever experienced. God has been so faithful and has answered so many of my prayers. Each day continues to be filled with so much excitement, so many challenges, and great growth. As much as I am missing my family and dear friends, I know that God has called me here for such a time as this. As I continue through my days so much gratitude fills my heart because I know that I wouldn't be experiencing all of this without each one of you. This truly is a season of growth and preparation for me. I fully believe that opportunities are going to present themselves; I believe also that these opportunities will change the rest of my life, my families' and the ministry that God has called Ryan and me to one day. 

ANSWERED PRAYER:

For a little update on last month's prayer requests, I was employed by a company called Go Fresh which sells salads, juices, and frozen yogurt. God had His hand over me in receiving this particular job. I was submitting many applications during the day and I decided to check one more place (Go Fresh). When I handed the owner my resume he saw that I attended Hillsong College and the next words that came out of his mouth were, "Can you come in next Saturday to start training?" It is amazing to see how God knew exactly where I needed to work and opened up an incredible opportunity for me. 

CLASSES:

Classes are incredible. I frequently find myself saying, "Wow, this is the type of learning that I've been waiting for my whole life." I have lectures Monday-Wednesday and each lecture has a tutorial which consists of a group of 20 students who review lecture material with a trainer. By doing things this way, it helps me apply so much of what I learn in lecture and teaches me how to practically apply it in ministry. Throughout my week I am assigned to work with an organization called City Care. This is one of those opportunities that I feel like I have been waiting for my entire life. I have the opportunity to work with a group of inner city high school girls on a weekly basis. I have been given the opportunity to teach them for an hour each week through a program called SHINE. The program is designed to show women that they are beautiful, intelligent, have value, and have a voice in the world. Not only is it amazing that this is where my heart has always been, teaching in an inner city school, but this program also has world wide influence. This also means that I will have the opportunity to bring this program and the men's program called STRENGTH to Cambodia. (STRENGTH is the program that Ryan is placed in). God couldn't have picked a more amazing weekly service opportunity for us to be a part of.  

SISTERHOOD:

On Thursdays we have a weekly women's gathering called Sisterhood. Let me tell you, this is a ministry that is done with excellence. I have never been a part of such a fruitful women's ministry program in my entire life. You walk into the church Thursday morning and see stations set up around the foyer with signs that say PAMPER, stations with coffee and tea, and men serving you hand picked special treats. Pamper consists of someone giving you a manicure, a massage or getting your hair done. There are also places for women to sit and chat over coffee and tea. Afterwards, all the women gather together to hear a teaching by either our main pastor Bobbie Houston, or one of her hand picked guests. Sisterhood has shown me so much about the voice that women can have in ministry. I have had the opportunity to see so many incredible, determined, confident women speak to Sisterhood during the week and then preach in front of the whole congregation the following weekend. This shows me that I don't need to limit my dreams because I now see the blessing that women can be to the Kingdom of God. 

COLOUR CONFERENCE:

This past week I was able to serve in my first ever Colour Conference (yes, this is how Australian's spell color). This is a women's conference that I've always wanted to attend, so it was so surreal to finally be there. Colour is a two week event with two separate conferences. The first conference occurs in downtown Sydney where 15,000 women gather together for three days. The second conference occurs at our church at the Hills campus. The conference also travels to several other locations around the world including London, Cape Town and Kiev. It truly is an experience like no other. This past week I was assigned to serve as venue safety which is very similar to security. I had the opportunity to sit by many of our key speakers at this year's conference which allowed me to listen to many of the messages, including one by Christine Caine! It was one of the most exhausting yet exhilarating weeks that I have experienced.  This week the conference is at our Hills location, which is an opportunity for me as a first year student to experience conference first hand. I cannot wait to see what Christ does through this next week.

PRAYER REQUEST:

This past week I meet a man named London who I believe will have an impact on the rest of my time here and potentially the rest of my life. I was sharing with him my background and how I just graduated with my bachelor's degree in communications, have a passion for teaching, and have a desire to end human trafficking in Cambodia. He listened to everything I said and he just paused. He then told me that he was in charge of implementing a system that brings A21 to local school districts to educate students on human trafficking and ways they can prevent it. (A21 is Christine Caine's anti-human trafficking organization http://www.thea21campaign.org). London then told me that he was looking for someone with a communications degree, someone who enjoyed teaching, and had a passion to end human trafficking. This was a God ordained moment. I am still in awe that the only reason I met him was because I decided to work through my allotted break time so someone else could receive a break at conference. God is so faithful. I cannot comprehend this new opportunity. Please partner with me in praying that this opportunity would fit my timetable.

I continue to come to each of you with gratitude and complete thankfulness because I know I wouldn't be in Australia without you. As difficult as it is to be away from everyone and everything familiar each day, God continues to confirm that this year will be a year that changes the rest of my life. I am once again honored that Christ asked me to go out and preach the gospel to all nations. As I have come to terms with this, God has started to expand Ryan's and my vision for the future. This means not just limiting ourselves to Cambodia, but believing that we have been called to many more countries as well. God is so good and so faithful. Thank you for your support and believing in me. I am honored to be a part of your prayers and your financial contribution. Praying that through this next season of your life that God only continues to make himself more known to you. We all have the potential and capability to be growing and developing the characteristics of Christ!

Praying for each one of you and your precious families.

In Him,

Kristen Hoffmeyer

hoffm2kr@gmail.com

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