Coming & Going – LUV Mid-Year Update

Dear friend,

In recent months the Lord has been speaking to me about the “come” and “go” of ministry. We often focus on the command to “go” – Go and make disciples, “go and bear fruit, “go into all the world,” but it can be easy to neglect Jesus’ invitation to “come.”  Yet we cannot “go” until we have first “come.” For the non believer it is an invitation to come to Him for eternal life. For the the believer it is an invitation to come to His rest, to be restored, renewed, replenished and empowered to Go.  Jesus invited the disciples to “Come with Me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest” because there were so many people “coming and going” they didn’t even have time to eat! Mark 6:31

Our workshops and weekly groups are an invitation for women to “come” to spend intimate time with Jesus, to hear from Him, to rest in Him, to be transformed, equipped and empowered by Him before “going” to bear fruit and make disciples.

Here are some of the highlights of our coming and going in the last month.

EUROPE I am currently in the UK with my parents, after two weeks ministry in Greece with our Agape Europe leaders from Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus and Switzerland. As these leaders come apart with Jesus in our workshops every six months, He is transforming, equipping and empowering them for ministry in their countries. When I asked how they have grown in the vision to reach and disciple women since we began meeting in 2019, one of our Portuguese leaders replied:  “I’m much more aware of my potential in Jesus and in what He can do when we have intimacy with Him, when we trust Him even in hard times. In the cocoon, we can know Him closely and intimately, and are able to take Him to the women that have no hope and feel no love. He can transform their hearts and lives, not by our strength but by the Spirit’s strength, so that they believe that God created them in a perfect, beautiful, and wonderful way in His image. They can know they don’t need to live as if they were only surviving but can live with the full potential of a butterfly, flying, and spreading the fragrance of Jesus to other women.”

Pray for God’s anointing to bring His transforming word in spirit and truth to our European leaders, to conform us into His will and the image and love of Jesus. Pray leaders will continue to grow in freedom and boldness, equipped in His word and empowered by His Spirit to spread His fragrance and make disciples in their countries.

ORLANDO – WORKSHOP ONE. In early May I started a new 3 ½ year Leader & Discipleship group for women coming from Montana, Pennsylvania, New York, and locally in Orlando. We were a beautiful tapestry of God’s image reflected through our different cultures – China, West Africa, Puerto Rico, UK, and USA. One butterfly commented – “these workshops are not just teaching!” Whatever our culture, our hearts can be broken in our experience of life and ministry. Before we “Go” to make disciples and minister to other women, the Lord invites us to come to Him. I was in awe watching the Holy Spirit move across the room each day, touching women’s lives, removing layers of brokenness, and revealing hidden wounds as He poured out His love and healing through His “divine exchange” (Isaiah 61). The group later summarized their experiences in the Workshop as “Unbound,” Spiritually Alert,” “Life changing,” “Filled up with Jesus,” Abiding in Him,” “Awakening, I feel alive,” “The Divine Exchange!” “Glory to glory”.

Pray the Holy Spirit will continue to help each woman grow in the truth of her identity, transformation, and freedom in Jesus before we meet again in 6 months.

JAPAN In April we had an exciting ZOOM meeting coming together with women in Japan, Brazil, Orlando and N.Carolina – our Japanese translators, butterfly disciples, and the leaders discipling them. Marli, our butterfly leader from Brazil was in Japan in person to meet her disciple leader Tani and her group. Sally our butterfly from CRU in Orlando had just returned from Japan working with the Jesus Film Project.  We celebrated the recently completed translation of our Japanese Butterfly Story book, now going to print, and prayed for the Holy Spirit to open doors for our butterflies to reach women in Japan.

Japan is one of the world’s largest unreached people groups. Fumiyo, one of our Japanese translators said “We are excited to finish the Butterfly Story. Now we must finish Workbook 1 quickly. Many women need this. The believers in Japan are saved but not discipled, not growing in knowing God, and many fall away and get discouraged. We need this in our churches. The reason there is no growth is because there is no discipleship in this way.  We have found growth and encouragement in meeting together, praying together, sharing God’s word together in our butterfly group. We need the word, and the heart of the mentor who empathizes with us, who has the heart of the Spirit, to lead us. Our pastor and his wife are excited to have these materials and are waiting for them.”

Pray for Japan. God has heard the cries of this huge population of broken-hearted living in darkness. The Holy Spirit is opening doors, to bring truth, healing, and freedom to Japanese people. We are excited to be a part of this! Pray for wisdom and boldness for our butterflies to bring Jesus’ love and His word to Japan, and for spiritual eyes of Japanese people to be open to receive Jesus.

LITHUANIA: Following our LUV Conference in February in Lithuania, in May, six new workshop groups started their transformational journey in three difference locations across Lithuania. They were responding to Jesus’ invitation to “come” and grow in knowing Him.  This included a group of Ukrainian women. Two women attending the Ukrainian workshop were not believers. One received Jesus as her savior when Diana shared the Butterfly Story and gave the invitation to “come”.

I was delighted to see photos of some of Diana’s butterfly leaders leading these new groups. Multiplication is happening as a result of first coming then going!

Pray God continues to work across Lithuania as these women grow as disciples of Jesus living in freedom and being transformed in identity to His image. Pray the new group leaders will be filled with wisdom and strength to mentor and disciple the women.

Pray for anointing for Diana as she hopes to begin the Ukraine translation of LUV materials soon.

News Flash: This week we finished the CHINESE translation of the Butterfly Story which is very exciting!  Please pray for the Russian, Arabic and German translations which are in process. There is much spiritual warfare which hinders the work of translation!

Please continue to pray for God’s anointing on our leaders around the world, to fill them with His empowering Spirit to transform women’s lives and set them free to live in His image of beauty!

Your prayers and financial support are helping us to disciple and make disciples around the world!  Thank you for partnering and investing with us to take God’s word to women and equip them to build His kingdom in their own language and communities!!

With sincere love, gratitude and appreciation,

Liz

Liz Dickson

Founder & Executive Director, Love UnVeiled