liberation & praise

the forty days of worship at davids tent has come to an end.

it has been a long month and a half, full of sleep adjustments, living with our marvelous moon rather than our sun, exploring a new city, finding the best burger and shake in all of dc, meeting beautiful people, hearing stories, learning new instruments, and endless nights full of praise to our poppa.

all of these things have shaped my life in a beautiful way. it's wild how six hours in a tent in the wee hours of the morning can impact you immensely.
i didn't have many expectations coming here, and i suppose it's because i didn't have much detail as to what exactly it was that i was going to be doing.

but it's when you're sitting in the low 30's weather, sick of peanut butter and jellies, sick of cold coffee, sick of the power going out, sick of the same songs being sang and the heat warmers failing your toes, that your heart gets stretched. 
you come to an end where you realize that it's not about your comforts. it's not about your surroundings. it's not about how many socks you have on or who is president. you come to the point where you realize your brokenness and desperation for your creator and his grace to fall upon you. and when it does, oh, how sweet it is. how sweet his tender adoration is for you. 
that he could love you, broken as you are, and see you as a complete, holy creature. and you are undone.

how could you not give him all of your worship with every breath you have?

and it's with this that i realize that no human is whole.
regardless of who is president, they will never be able to wholly, fully, and completely lead us into freedom.

a wonderful man name shane claiborne says this:

// Governments can do lots of things, but there are a lot of things they cannot do. A government can pass good laws, but no law can change a human heart. Only God can do that. A government can provide good housing, but folks can have a house without having a home. We can keep people breathing with good health care, but they still may not really be alive. The work of community, love, reconciliation, restoration is the work we cannot leave up to politicians. This is the work we are all called to do. We can’t wait on politicians to change the world. We can’t wait on governments to legislate love. And we don’t let policies define how we treat people; how we treat people shapes our policies. //

may God's love radically consume your heart and overflow onto the communities around us. may we be the hands and feet of jesus, bringing liberation and peace to every person we meet.

let us not wait.

let us sing praises from our lips as we dance about the streets.

for he is worthy.

it's been a delight dc.

now if you don't mind, i'll just be hopping on a train unto the mountains.

next stop, north carolina!

and then of to my beloved kona on the 13th.

xxx

a

connect

friends!

if you'd like to get a taste of what's going on in the tent over here, you can live stream our groovy corporate sets every night from 7-9 pm eastern time. you can also check out our webcast to see clips of previous nights and hear some rad testimonies. click this link yo!:
http://new.livestream.com/DerekPackard/events/1601418

if you want more information on David's Tent, what it's about, etc., here is our website that talks all about that and what's going on over here:
http://davidstentdc.org/

in recent news, hurricane sandy is headed right for the east coast & we have relocated to a local church for the next couple of days until it passes. keep us in your prayers!

i'm not sure this video will load (you'll need facebook), but a week ago our leadership track spent 12 hours of the night (7pm-7am) together and circa 6am-ish, we jammed hard. here's a little sound of the wild grooves that were made:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151122840222428


ps // we are now on the 1am-7am watch and the transition over has been rough but so full of goodness. we are hoping our bodies will adjust even more and be completely healthy and would appreciate prayers for that as well! only 11 more days!

all my love!

awake in the night

this is my home. the top left window is mine.

this is David's Tent during the night watch (the only time i'm there). & the beautiful full moon.

these are some pretty faces on my team.

Jason Hershey kicking off the first night. it was a full house and so beautiful! we observed Yom Kippur together for the first 24 hours.

the Washington Monument in all of its isolated eeriness.

we watch the lights go off in the White House every night. one time we had to evacuate the Ellipse (all that grass) because the President wanted to walk his dog.

professional.

learn more here at: www.davidstentdc.org

right now our team is split up into two night watches. i am currently on the 7p-1a watch and my other friends on the leadership track are on the late watch from 1a-7a.

come monday we are switching!

please pray that we will have an easy transition and all the energy in the world to lead sets through these late hours. 

all my love!

a

zombies, vampires, & jesus

the east coast has swallowed me up in it's goodness.

last night was my first time down to the Ellipse where our tent is set up, and i had to take a moment to let it soak into my bones.
how funny that a bunch of cement and metal can be so surreal.

i could throw a rock from our tent at the Washington Monument, and to be honest, maybe i've thought about it. i'm not very keen to it's red eyes that blink down at me and it's cold body that isolates itself from the creation around it.
maybe it's just lonely. maybe the grass and i aren't tall enough to admire it the way we should.

as i walked around our space looking at all these historical buildings rich in stories, the sun set right above the Lincoln Memorial. right above the man i share a birthday with.
and i think maybe it was then that i fell a little bit in love with DC.
it was then that i realized i would call this place home for a little bit. 

downtown is a bit different from where we live. 
the window next to my bunk bed sounds a bit more like Chicago, cop cars & ambulances talking late at night, and people hollering into the wee hours of the night.
i was told not to buy candy bars at the corner store across the street because they melt and then remold and melt again. most everything is behind glass and bars, but the people are warmer than the buildings. i like Anacostia's character. it has culture i'm familiar with.

to all my pen pals and wanna be's, this is for you.
if you would like to send me a letter, it gets sent right to me at our house of prayer.
if you'd like to send me a package, you'll have to put down a different address because the mailmen aren't very keen to them here.

FOR LETTERS:                FOR PACKAGES:
1300 Good Hope Rd. SE       2340 Q St. SE
Washinton DC, VA            Washington DC, VA
20020                       20020

can i just say that i didn't know i was in the state of virginia?
i can't tell you where i thought i was, but lord knows i need to study my states a bit more.

we did our first night watch last night in the tent from 7pm-1am and for some reason i am feeling like a zombie. it's not much of a vampire schedule yet, but i think the cold and the long day we had calls for a nap.

all is well.
the new mumford & sons album is on my ears and hot tea is on my tongue. 
all is very well.

a new adventure!

What a year this has been.

With your help financially, emotionally, and spiritually, I was able to follow God’s call to Kona, Hawaii to be a student in Youth With a Mission’s Discipleship Training School.

The time spent in Hawaii and months later in Cambodia, changed my life.

God’s presence was so tangible and He spoke so clearly to me in that time. I was called out of comfort to live a life radically for Jesus. His love and grace has touched my heart in tremendous ways, and through faith I saw it radically transform peoples lives as I traveled.

I know Jesus as my Savior, my comforter, an incredible provider, and as my deepest friend.

Through worship sessions, hours spent in prayer, intentional discipleship, close knit friendships, hundreds of healings and salvations, and incredible lectures in class, I know that this is the life that God is calling me into.

I am overjoyed to tell you that I have been invited to staff YWAM this September. My heart is so full of life & joy to be able to have this opportunity. Through much prayer and confirmation, I have decided to accept that invitation and run with YWAM for the next two years.

This journey will be absolutely beautiful. It will be full of life, love, growth, long plane rides, challenges, friendships, visas, stamps on my passport, financial provision, music, and laughter.

The next nine months of my life will be spent in intentional leadership training, preparing my heart and mind to lead students further into their relationship with Christ & walk into the fullness of their destiny. Come September I will be spending forty days in Washington DC, leading, and managing 24 hour worship in a tent behind the White House leading up to the election. After those forty days, I will be traveling back to Hawaii to continue growing as a family in leadership and in the Word, working in the community, and on the YWAM base. After Leadership Track is finished, I will then staff the Fire & Fragrance Discipleship Training School from the months of January through June, where I will lead a team to another country to do missions.

Knowing what’s ahead, I am overjoyed to be laying my life down to be doing missions work for the Kingdom. With this commitment comes a lot of sacrifice, but so much life and an abundant amount of fruit.

None of this would be made possible without the love and support of my community. So firstly, I want to thank you for all of the love, encouragement, and support you have already given me. If you feel lead to continue walking with me through this journey God has given me, there are many ways to do so.

Firstly, I am living a volunteer lifestyle. I will be living day to day by the support of people who feel like God is leading them to financially support me. While staffing YWAM, I need to raise $600 a month for rent, food, health insurance, and other living expenses. If you feel like God is putting this on your heart, please let me know! Even If you spare your money on a meal once a month, a coffee a week, or feel lead to be a monthly supporter at any cost, it would be GREATLY appreciated & help tremendously. But most of all, I want to ask you to partner with me in prayer, for hearts to be radically encountered by the love of God, and for this world to be transformed through his grace and mercy.

All donations, letters, questions, and support of any form can be sent to my address at:

Ariel Frey

2641 Albert Dr.

East Grand Rapids, MI

49506

If you would like to donate online, my paypal email is:
ariel.jenae@gmail.com

Once again, I am so extremely thankful and full of joy to be sharing this journey with you and can’t thank you enough for all that you’ve already done for me.

I am truly blessed.

a to b life

things have been interesting these days


i guess that's what you should expect when you're stuck in the middle of transition

through all of the excitement of being back home (or wherever that is), the familiar feeling begins to wear & the daunting pressure of our social norms begin to press in.


no, i do not have a permanent residency
& no, i do not have a salary that supports my make believe elaborate lifestyle
nor do i have a college degree to even potentially give me that.


but in between that awkward pause where we're all worried about my future and how i'll be able to survive, i'll tell you this:


my home is in the Lord. 
i may be a vagabond, but quite frankly i like the way that sounds (maybe i'll even get it tattooed on my knuckles).
i know i'll always have a couch to sleep on or a bed to share, food from some friends kitchens or even free sandwiches from your room mate at the coffee shop down the road (thanks again ipsento, but i'm pretty sure you don't know that).
i know that this counter girl bakery job won't last me forever, but it sure as heck helps pay the bills, fills my belly with sweets, and builds relationships with some wonderful people.  


i know that there are passions inside of me waiting to be molded.
waiting for that perfect, sweet timing for it all to unfold.
to make music
to write
to garden
to photograph
to craft
to explore
to have my own home
to live in the mountains, in the woods, and by the sea.


until then, here's to you chicago.

i'm just getting started...

it's funny how a place so foreign can become so familiar to you.
through these past 6 weeks here, i've fallen deeply in love with Cambodia.  it's a new home.
the view, the language, the songs, the dancing, the food, and the people.
oh, especially the people. 
some of them have become my dear friends. i've gotten to know the depths of their hearts, i've seen them grow, and i'm continuing to see them grow. heck, this place has harvested a lot of growth in myself as well. i finally know what it's like to have Jesus be first in my heart. a song that has built a home in my heart says this:

Everything I once held dear
I count it all as lost

Lead me to the cross
Where Your love poured out
Bring me to my knees
Lord I lay me down
Rid me of myself
I belong to You
Lead me, lead me to the cross

there is such sweetness in understanding His love. it's like honey that lingers on your tongue. it wipes away all that doesn't matter, all silliness or foolishness of the past and shows you the clear path you've been looking for all along. Jesus is my one and only. He really is the only thing that matters, and as i draw closer to His heart, all other cares fall aside.
what a sweet place to be taught these things. it truly is the cry of my heart for everyone to experience this kind of love and intimacy. from the people i work with in the Cafe here, to the students i teach English to in the afternoons.
forever & ever Cambodia will be in my heart.

unfortunately, the time is winding down & we are beginning to wrap up the lessons and ministries we have been pouring into for the past two months. in only a few weeks, we will be saying goodbye and heading back to Kona. with some pit stops in (hopefully) Thailand & South Korea, we'll be saying hello to our old DTS family & graduating June 8th! a few too many hello and goodbye's for me in a matter of a few weeks...with a lot less clothes to come home with & barely any money, i'll hopefully be back in the states within that next week. 


speaking of finances, if you'd like to help be a part of the process of getting me back home, that would be absolutely grand. right now, i'm a couple hundred bucks short for a plane ticket, but i know the Lord will provide! know that any amount would help, whether that be $5, $25, or $100. just hit the donate button on the right hand side of this post & it will go straight into my paypal account!


i'm so amazed at where God has brought me. every person and every place has been so instrumental in this journey & i'm so excited to feel like i'm just getting started. the world is in my hands! i am so ready to follow God anywhere He leads me...especially with what i think is next, but that's another blog post to write ;-)

can't wait to see your faces & hear your voices! thank you all for your continuous love, support, and prayers. 
every ounce of my love to you guys from Battambang, Cambodia.

anticipation

i am currently listening to Amos Lee & Whitney Houston at the same time. thank you boys downstairs for your desire to "dance with somebody." here's to living in community.

we said goodbye to our first team heading out for their outreach today. they're starting their long voyage for South Africa. it was so bizarre to see them leave, a little piece of my heart went with them, but that's family. the fun thing to think about is that little pieces of our hearts are all over the world with one another! mines in grand rapids, chicago, nepal, honolulu, africa, germany, turkey, china, amsterdam & the east coast. it's amazing to have this culture, this family, this worldview of unconditional love for one another. to see it lived out. God has totally shifted my heart into understanding what true family is & YWAM's culture truly shows the beauty of what it is.

that there is a culture of honor & respect for everyone

the desire to call each other higher & see one another thrive in the original design God created for us

the way each person lays their life down for one another, the servant heart, living in surrenderance 

the generosity in community, nothing is ours so everything is shared

the true love we have for each others hearts.

God has cultivated a new mindset of what family looks like. of what community is, a new heart that is understanding how to love in a whole new way. 

our team totally runs with this. 

we want to live in

honor

respect

unity

laying down our entitlements

humility

trust

communication

having un-offendable hearts

living in joyful repentance

focusing on the positive

and we leave in two days!

we will be leaving kona around 6AM flying to honolulu with a 4 hour layover there, an 11 hour flight to Seoul, Korea with a 3 hour layover, and then a 6 hour flight to Phnom Pehn, Cambodia & a bus ride all the way to Battambang! so we will be traveling for 25hours+bus ride. here we go!


please keep our team in your prayers!


can't wait to be there.


if you guys want to keep in contact, i will only have internet once/twice a week, so email me at: ariel.jenae@gmail.com 
i would love to hear from all of you!


off to pack...
xxxxx!

wildhearted love

okay, i'll admit it, i've been really bad at keeping up with my blog. but i guess that's pretty obvious, my last real post was last month. people told me it would be hard to do before i left & i didn't really believe them, but man, it is. i'm so sorry. 
whenever i have free time i just want to soak it up with reading, talking with friends both here & at home, or getting all the rest i can, so blogging has kind of hit the back burner. i'll try and kick it up a notch. i do have some competition anyways. if you guys don't read Gretchen Baldwin's blog already, you should. she's a dear friend i met at SpringHill Camps in the summer of '10. currently she's in Cameroon, Africa doing some form of God given political artistic wonders or something. check out her words here: gretchbaby.wordpress.com plus, she's a babe.


//


it's funny waking up to Koreans singing worship in the morning. you should try it sometime. not only does it make me giggle, it makes me so happy.
they sing to Jesus unlike anyone i've ever heard. they have such a freedom, such a joy & delight, and so much hope in every word. they praise Him because He's worthy, not because they feel like it. praise Him for such wonderful people. praise Him for them being my alarm. praise Him for the unity He's going to bring to their nation.


i also just need to thank the Lord for the overwhelming income of mail over these past three weeks. i can honestly say that i've gone maybe 5 days without a letter or a package the past 21 days. PRAISE HIM! He must have told you all that mail is one of my favorite things on this earth...
& i can say that i'm probably set on skirts for the next 5 years. THANK YOU SO MUCH! Cambodia here i come!!!
each one of you has shown me so much love over these past few weeks, just an abundance of it & i honestly don't know how to receive it all. on my birthday i seriously sat out on my porch and cried the most overwhelmingly-happy tears i've ever cried.
what beautiful people you are. thank you thank you thank you. (it was one of the best birthdays i've had, ps. 21 is going to be a very good year, i just know it.)


//


so just to let you guys know i'm not dead, i'm here & i'm learning so much.
every day is a new revelation. a new side of the unfathomable love God has for us.
that wildhearted love. 


it's opened so many things to me.
who He is
how He loves me
who I am
who He calls us to be
how to be a laid down lover
how to live in a culture of people who delight in brokenness. 
to live in joyful repentance. 
to hunger to live in humility, to want to have a starving heart, and to be addicted to loving each other radically.


because it's all about the Kingdom.
because who you are is the culture of Jesus, not what you do. 
it's all about your heart.
it's all about the Kingdom of the heart.


//


He's preparing me.
i can't wait to go to Cambodia.
I can't wait to go back to Chicago.
I can't wait to go back home.
to go wherever He leads me.


//


ps--prayer requests! this Friday is our DTS's last deadline for our finances. our team is really relying on radical acts of generosity in this time & know whole heartedly that God will provide the finances to send all of us as a team to Cambodia. please pray for this provision to come through! some people really have exhausted their options & are relying on miracles to come through. if you feel God moving in your heart to donate to our team, just click the donate button & it will go straight to them! please know that even the smallest amounts help!


pps--please be praying for health across the base! the enemy is really trying to counteract all of the goodness and fruit that is being bore here by making people incredible sick. we know that Jesus bore our sickness on the cross & we don't want our bodies to relent! please fight against sickness with us!

<< team cambodia!




















xoxoxoxox

the vision

So this guy comes up to me and says,

"What's the vision? What's the big idea?"

I open my mouth and words come out like this...

The vision?

The vision is JESUS: obsessively, dangerously, undeniably Jesus.

The vision is an army of young people.

You see bones? I see an army.

And they are FREE from materialism -they laugh at 9-5 little prisons.

They could eat caviar on Monday and crusts on Tuesday. They wouldn't even notice.

They know the meaning of the Matrix, the way the West was won.

They are mobile like the wind, they belong to the nations, they need no passport.

People write their addresses in pencil and wonder at their strange existence.

They are free, yet they are slaves of the hurting and dirty and dying.

What is the vision?

The vision is holiness that hurts the eyes.

It makes children laugh and adults angry.

It gave up the game of minimum integrity long ago to reach for the stars.

It scorns the good and strains for the best.

It is dangerously pure.

Light flickers from every secret motive, every private conversation.

It loves people away from their suicide leaps, their Satan games.

This is an army that will lay down its life for the cause.

A million times a day its soldiers choose to lose that they might one day win the great..

"Well done" of faithful sons and daughters.

Such heroes are as radical on Monday morning as Sunday night.

They don't need fame from names.

Instead they grin quietly upwards

and hear the crowds chanting again and again: "COME ON!"

And this is the sound of the underground,

the whisper of history in the making,

foundations shaking,

revolutionaries dreaming once again.

Mystery is scheming in whispers, conspiracy is breathing...

This is the sound of the underground

And the army is discipl(in)ed -young people who beat their bodies into submission.

Every soldier would take a bullet for his comrade at arms.

The tattoo on their back boasts "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain."

Sacrifice fuels the fire of victory in their upward eyes.

Winners.

Martyrs. Who can stop them?

Can hormones hold them back?

Can failure succeed?

Can fear scare them or death kill them?

And the generation prays like a dying man with groans beyond talking,with warrior cries, sulphuric tears and great barrow loads of laughter!

Waiting. Watching: 24 - 7 - 365.

Whatever it takes they will give:

Breaking the rules,

shaking mediocrity from its cosy little hide,

laying down their rights and their precious little wrongs,

laughing at labels, fasting essentials.

The advertisers cannot mold them.

Hollywood cannot hold them.

Peer-pressure is powerless to shake their resolve at late night parties before the cockerel cries.

They are incredibly cool, dangerously attractive inside.

On the outside?

They hardly care!

They wear clothes like costumes: to communicate and celebrate, but never to hide.

Would they surrender their image or their popularity?

They would lay down their very lives,

swap seats with the man on death row,

guilty as hell: a throne for an electric chair.

With blood and sweat and many tears,

with sleepless nights and fruitless days,

they pray as if it all depends on God and live as if it all depends on them.

Their DNA chooses JESUS. (He breathes out, they breathe in.) Their subconscious sings.

They had a blood transfusion with Jesus.

Their words make demons scream in shopping centres.

Don't you hear them coming?

Herald the weirdos!

Summon the losers and the freaks.

Here come the frightened and forgotten with fire in their eyes!

They walk tall and trees applaud, skyscrapers bow,

Mountains are dwarfed by these children of another dimension.

Their prayers summon the Hound of Heaven

and invoke the ancient dream of Eden.

And this vision will be.

It will come to pass;

it will come easily;

it will come soon.

How do I know?

Because this is the longing of creation itself,

the groaning of the Spirit, the very dream of God.

My tomorrow is His today.

My distant hope is His 3-D.

And my feeble, whispered, faithless prayer invokes a thunderous, resounding, bone-shaking great "Amen!" from countless angels,

from hero's of the faith, from Christ himself.

And He is the original dreamer,

the ultimate winner.

Guaranteed.

having things you don't need

i admit it, i kind of have an obsession with long skirts. the good thing about this is that Cambodia only allows me to wear long skirts, because it's disrespectful to show your knees. the bad thing about this is that i only packed one long skirt & the weather will be in the 90-100's, extremely humid, and monsooning the whole time i'll be there.

so i thought i'd write a little something on a few things that i'm in need of.

firstly, long skirts.

my friends, [especially you wonderful thrifters over there in chicago], if you come across any skirt that is below the knee & feel the urge to send it my way, please do!

these skirts are good examples, and very lovely.

another need clothing wise are tshirts/dresses that cover the shoulder. i should have thought more when i was packing, but once again, i only packed about 2 tshirts, and i only have 1 dress that covers my shoulders [but i still have to wear leggings because of my knees]! linen pants, or capris would be wonderful too. ha, i'm going to be sweating like crazy. so once again, if you find lightweight tshirts or tshirt-dresses in your closet or in a store, please send them!

these are just nice, shoulder covering dresses that i adore.

so if you are out & about thrifting, shopping, cleaning out your closet, or have that bag that's been  waiting to go to Goodwill, remember me! ; ) lightweight, linen, cotton, shoulder and knee covering clothes are my new favorite things [& would make great birthday presents]!

thirdly, please continue praying for us all on our journeys here. for myself individually, that i would continue to pursue Jesus with an undivided heart & a fire in my soul, for my team as we unite as a family and prepare to go to Cambodia, for safety, for financial miracles to happen with everyone here, for revival to come to the nations, and for Gods love to be spread like wildfire and welcomed with open arms.

here's my address:

Ariel Frey

Fire & Fragrance DTS #429

75-5851 Kuakini Highway

Kailua-Kona, HI 96740

[i'll post more soon about all of the revelations & teachings i've been experiencing & listening to. there's been so much! i'm exhausted, but it's been so good. be patient with me :D]


can't wait for my birthday! only 12 more days...

heaven on earth

i heard angels singing tonight.

glimpse

my sweet love, Zilah

some chickens

my dream life

our aquaphonic farm

a nice hike up to the coffee plantation to see some beans.

the first buds of the coffee tree

my first time eating lychee [it tastes like a grape]

a lovely view to wake up to. i sure ain't in the midwest anymore.

paradise.

my lovely Michelle.

the day of sea turtles.

say yes

will you follow me without having to have it all figured out?

"come.

follow me."

Noah said yes. 

He built a boat for 100 years with unwavering trust.

Abraham said yes. 

He was willing to sacrifice his only son.

are you ready to follow without understanding?

YES.

this past week has been a full on free fall. 

let me just tell you that i believe my DTS family has fully heard the voice of God. we have heard that whisper. we have felt His heart beat for us. 

it is His call that has brought us together. He has brought us from so many different backgrounds, so many different journeys, so many sicknesses, so many accidents and trials, so many bankrupt moments, so much brokenness and met us there. He met us there and said child, come follow me. and he continued to pull us out, to provide for us immensely, and brought us together as one family with the same desire. to be on fire for Him.

and each one of us is a warrior. completely on fire for God. completely in love & hungry to know our Maker more. we have heard!  through simple obedience we have followed! and now we lay down our lives together, a complete surrender, because what else do we have!? He is our inheritance.

"come follow me. come. come trust me, come fall into my arms. let me love you. let me show you your true identity. come."

this past week has taught me a tremendous amount.

it's taught me humility.

honor.

the UNFATHOMABLE amount of love that He has for me. i've felt it. i've been completely rocked by it.

i've learned God as my Lover. that He cherishes me. that i am the apple of His eye. 

i am learning daily how to chose His love, & not the false things of this world.

i am letting Him consume me. i am understanding how to dwell in His presence. how to linger. how to stay a while. 

i am learning that He is everything i have ever desired. 

that I AM NOT DEFINED BY MY SIN. WE ARE NO LONGER SLAVES OF SIN. i am defined by beauty.

how to live without fear, without inhibitions because it's THERE that deep intimacy lies. 

how to live in the urgency of the hour we live in.

what i yield to is what i operate in.

i am a new creation.

& i will follow Him into the darkest places.