Jun 24, 2014

Business as usual...maybe?

     Life around here has been what some may call, "business as usual".  While that may fit the bill for most of what we are doing lately, it is far from the truth.  It would be a disservice to our Maker to just call the last month "usual" because of the blessings He has poured on to us.  

     We are working like crazy lately, trying to save as much money as we can for DTS, but also really getting involved as much as possible downstairs.  Justin had the chance to speak on something God has placed on his heart.  God has shown him that we need to look more closely at how we evangelize.  The focus needs to be on the individual receiving love from a believer.  Too many times do we focus directly on conversion, that we miss an opportunity to really love on people the way Christ did.   

Justin was blessed to be a part of this church by sharing his heart on evangelism.  We are excited to further extend our knowledge on this subject as we approach our start date.

     God is also preparing our hearts for a special healing service that we are going to be a part at Singing Waters.  The leaders have been earnestly seeking after the heart of God and what it means to be bold.  He placed it on our hearts to have a healing service here at the church.  We could not think of a better way to be bold for Jesus and count on Him to show up at this service.  Tons and tons of prayer has already gone into this and will continue to as we near the service.  We just want to show the city of Avalon that we serve a God who heals, all you have to do is call on His name.  We are asking Lord, thank you in advance for your presence.

     So, I think we are down to something like 68 days until we move off the island and 88 days until we hop on a plane and head to the Green Isle.  Every couple of days we are finding out more information regarding our DTS.  There are currently 12 students attending our DTS in Sligo, with the count being 8 men and 4 women.  We know that for the duration of our stay in Sligo, we will be in a hostel called the White House which is situated near central downtown (if one would say that there is a downtown Sligo).  The hostel has been rented out to YWAM so we will have full rein over the place.  This is super exciting because we will be able to make it our home and be able to live right in the city that we will be serving in.  From the White House, we will be attending our lecture at one of the local churches, just a short walk away.

  
The White House (not a great pic, sorry!)
 
     After lecture phase, we know that there will be a small group performing outreaches in both Lebanon and Morroco.  Please pray for clarity for us as God show us exactly which country He wants us to serve in.  We aren't quite sure how we will be serving in these countries, but will update as soon as we find out.  
 
     Support raising has been going very well, but we still need a large chunk of our DTS covered while we are saving.  We have our plane tickets (as we posted last week), which is a huge blessing from God.  Besides our plane tickets and the support that we currently have, we are still in need of about $6,000.  God has been so gracious with us and promised us the full amount once we reconcile a previous debt.  He has asked us to be bold in using money that would otherwise go to our DTS and put it toward this debt.  We will have this paid off in about two weeks and couldn't feel more blessed.  

     Funding is necessary for us to attend our DTS, but we are also looking for support in ways of some supplies.  We would love to invest in a nice DSLR camera like a Canon Rebel T3i or similar.  Also, Justin is in need of a camping backpack since his bag is just a little too large to take internationally.  We have a fair share of necessary clothing, but may need items that we just don't seem to own like rain boots, light rain jackets, and other light, waterproof clothing.  If you would love to help us out with these items, we would be forever blessed by your support.

In the meantime, we are choosing to dig deeper into God's word and not fall complacent as we look forward to DTS.  It is not easy by any means because our hearts are already there in Ireland (as well as Oakhurst!).  The Lord has blessed us with a calmness that seems confusing at times, but is greatly appreciated.  We are planning a support dinner here on the island for mid July and may even have one in September in Oakhurst before we leave.  If you want to help out in any way, let us know!

Action photo on the Rib Runner looking for dolphins!

     Lastly, we would love to thank each and every one of you.  By reading this blog, you are supporting our desires and dreams every day.  We can never thank you enough for all of your support.  

     If you would like to know more about our fundraising campaign, please visit https://www.youcaring.com/justinandkorina.  You can donate online via WePay or PayPal (for online donations, we recommend PayPal).  If you want to be old school, you can mail your checks to the church (check our website above!).

Once again, thank you for all that you do.  We love you all dearly!


Jun 10, 2014

Leaving on a jet plane!

We bought our plane tickets yesterday. I woke up, looked at my husband who was already on the ipad looking up any last minute deals he could find, and then, just like that, we bought them. A few weeks ago we had close friends offer to purchase our tickets as their way of getting involved in the movement Justin and I have committed to. It was humbling and overwhelming to say the least.
(photo from Korina's first DTS 2007)
Ready or not, we are going. Praise God! We also have had more friends and family voice their commitment to prayer and financial support in just the last few days alone. It's looking as though God's favor really is on us in this new season. In all reality, once our paychecks pay off the last few bits of personal debts, our committed supporters and our savings will get us there! Seeing our flight confirmation has really made it so much more of a reality.


We still need to raise enough in financial support to cover the rest of our tuition and travel costs to our outreach locations, about $6,600. If you would like to be involved in any way our church here at Singing Waters has offered to be our median so that checks made out to them can go to us for tax deductible donations. I'll touch more on that later. 

We can continue to raise support while we are there as well, but would love to be able to commit as much time as possible to the ministry and not as much focusing on support raising. Either way, this continues to be a faith growing and God-perception shattering experience. We hope, that those of you who read this are also encouraged to see just how powerfully God can move as well.

We are currently praying that God would prepare our hearts for all of the things we will encounter while on our DTS. We are praying for flexibility, for safety, for peace, that we would be impactful, and be impacted. We are praying that God would go before us and provide ample opportunities for us to serve people and be infectiously genuine.

Please join us in these prayers specifically as we prepare. If you do feel a leading to partner with us financially, donations can be made via check to:
Singing Waters Christian Center
PO Box 1544
Avalon, CA 90704
(on memo line write "Justin Barigian YWAM")

Also, you can visit our fundraising page here!

We love you all and pray for you often. If there are things we can pray specifically for please comment below or shoot us a private message. Love and blessings from Catalina!
-Justin and Korina

Jun 6, 2014

A Generous God (plus a little something about you needing to get a free catalina vacation)

"I love you soooo much I'm going to provide enough funds for you to not only pay off your personal debts before you leave for your DTS, I'm also going to place someone in your life who will pay for your flights....but I'm not done yet."

Sligo, Ireland (photo natgeo.com)

THAT my friends is the kind of God we serve! With all assurance and expectation our God is paving the way for us to embark on this exciting new journey. We are experiencing Him in every thread of this amazingly complicated and intricate life. 

Your prayers for us are heard and felt and appreciated! Thank you to every one of you who has supported us thus far in one way or another. The gifts we have been given have been overwhelming and so confirming at the same time. 

As of now we are on track to leave for Ireland in September. We have found out that our outreach location could be either Morocco or Lebanon, both largely Muslim cultures, both steeped in rich history and lively people, both desperately needing to know about the God that pursues them daily and wants to know them intimately. 

Lebanon ruins (photo natgeo.com)

We have been blessed with the plane tickets to get there and we are inching our way to our financial goal. We still need to raise enough funds to cover the rest of our tuition costs but we are remaining faithful in how big our God can be. 

Morocco (photo travel.natgeo.com)
Right now we are looking at leaving the island on the 2nd of September and spending a few weeks in Oakhurst before our departure to work out storing our things and tying a few loose ends. Next month, on a date to be determined, we are going to have a fundraiser dinner and silent auction to go towards YWAM.

Otherwise, things are going pretty well here in Avalon. We are working a lot and serving a lot here at Singing Waters. We are seeing God do a lot of breakthrough in this community. In our time in prayer we have seen people healed, watched people find their spiritual gifts, heard God speak in powerful ways, and gained vision for more long term ministry. 

Plus it was Angie's birthday and we had a "Your Team" party for her. Which subsequently involved all of her celebrity crushes making up "her team" and her getting her own throne for the night and top hat with all of her "team mates" and then this happened...


We are looking forward to the summer season and having more friends and family visit before we leave the country for a little while. Which reminds me....

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN VISITING WE WILL HAVE THE HOUSE TO OURSELVES JUNE 14TH-26TH!

All you need to do is get here! Free accommodations on Catalina Island?! Get over here!

But really, come visit us while you can because this opportunity comes once in a lifetime- not to mention we can get you on countless tours for free, we can save on food by eating at our house, all you have to worry about is your boat ticket ;) just sayin'

Alllllrighty folks, till next time, 
J&K