lighter things...

so this week has been a lighter week for us...

the school hours and work isn't overly demanding for us, however the processing is substantial and each week we need lots of time to work through that which we have heard and then establishing what that means for us...

it has been a huge week for processing, and we have been hanging out with some friends and discussing stuff in small groups - it's been really productive.

we have had less time commitments this week which has been nice - we have had a chance to play some tennis, get to the gym (i think i forgot how to do most of the exercises...) and get in front with our studies...a nice and all to new sensation...DOH!!!

Lou came with a mate and i on a community outreach the other day. it was great to see her in action. she is so confident and has a great ability to connect with a broad range of people and make them feel really safe and confident - she credits some of this to her last job at CRS. With one guy, who i will call Bob (original i know), she was so good. she really encouraged him, spoke prophetically into his life and called out the greatness in him - he was totally encouraged and made it clear that he felt loved - this by the fact that he said he was keen to see us again!

it's just good fun seeing people who are ordinarily considered as "outcasts", lighting up and beaming just because some people cared enough to show some love in an honest and empowering way. we prayed for him, blessed him and just enjoyed who he was.

today, while we were at our friends place processing, a person came to the door selling some cleaning products. after a few minutes the young lady was sitting inside and sharing some of her life with us. we had the chance to pray for her and prophesy over her too. she was stoked - she came thinking she might get a sale, and she left getting sooo much more.

if you feel inclined to pray for us, you could pray about:

- our trip to Mexico City (leaving mid March)

- our movements whilst back in Australia (Jun - August) - there are a mix of ministry opportunities plus we just want to hang out with our family and friends.

- that the stuff that God is teaching us would go deep within us.

next update is sure to be soon - keep checking back

love Shane n Lou

PS - the pics are of some of the local scenery (not us the landscapes...lol - one is of whiskey town lake and the other of Mount Lassen) - both places are naturally spectacular!

Neck & Back along with Rotator Cuff testimony.

Shane says:

so yesterday (being Thursday for us), we have an outreach slot - 2.5hrs of just going out into a specific area of the community (that is we are all in small groups and go to the same area each week). Lou and I are in separate groups and are both in really poor areas.

a couple of weeks back a few of us were just knocking on doors to see if we could help or bless the people in any way, and one lady had 3 of us come in for an hour or so. she has some difficulties that she is working through and we just encouraged her etc. as we were leaving she mentioned that she was stiff and sore from a car accident some 4 weeks earlier. we prayed for her and she was completely healed - total freedom in her neck and back and NO pain - we were stoked!

so back to yesterday..., we went to visit her again but there was no answer (collective sigh...), so as we are walking back to meet up with other members of our group, we see a man, woman and little guy in a stroller just sitting out the front of a physio's. we walked over and introduced ourselves and they have had some contact with students from Bethel before. we asked if we could pray for them for anything and they kinda laugh and say yes because they are standing in front of the physio's because she had torn her rotator cuff and couldn't mover her right arm.

they have little cash and the physio had just come out to them and said "this community is a real blessing to me, i will see you for free in 2 weeks time as a way to bless you". the couple were stoked. we asked her to show us how much movement she had before the pain got intense - she could only move her arm about 10-15cm (measured from her elbow as she tried to extend her arm out to the side). we pray for her, and ask her what she feels, she didn't feel anything in her arm but felt encouraged, so we asked her to see if she could mover her arm more. she slowly raised her arm up and the blood drained from her face - she was a little shocked. then she is throwing her arms around in big circles and putting resistance against her arm as she tried to raise it - completely healed in JESUS name!

we talked to them for a little longer and blessed them and then said goodbye. i stopped and looked back and as they were walking off i saw her just spinning her arms around and around - she was still in shock...

God is in a good mood! (ALWAYS). if you have a sore shoulder check it out right now!

till next time,

love the Mandl's

an Attempt at something New...

Okay, so we are trying something new (thanks Harvey's).

we want to keep you all informed of how we are going and what we have been up to but to be honest it was just getting really hard to speak to people individually. this way you can catch what we have been up too and you can ask questions etc.

we are behaving ourselves and are quite the model students (even if i do say so myself - shane speaking)... we have both really enjoyed our classes and have grown heaps and in so many different ways.

in just over 4 weeks we head off to Mexico City for a ministry trip - it will be amazing! we didn't plan on being on the same trip, actually Lou doesn't know (humanly speaking), how she got onto this team, but she is and we are both excited to know that God has us both going together and smack in the middle of His will. Lou was as surprised as the team leaders as she didn't put Mexico City down in any of her choices at all.

Lou is more prepared for the trip than I am, she has undertaken some spanish lessons and can stutter out enough to have the very basic conversations - i however am limited to some silly phrases i have learnt from various movies (thanks encino man - i hope the phrase - "the cheese is old and moldy" is not required.).

socially we have found some awesome Aussie couples (i wont mention any names just in case they check this page out and get swollen around the shoulders), who have kept living in the US real and enjoyable. we have got together on a few occasions to celebrate Australia Day, and pray and prophesy over our great country.

about a month ago i felt as though i was to invite my little sister and Lou's little brother to consider coming and doing school here starting later this year. they have both put applications in and i will keep you informed as to how this all works out.

if you are keen to pray for us, please pray that we would drawer closer to God, that we would see an increase in effectiveness as we take the love of God out onto the streets (we have so many cool stories already, of people who have experienced God and have begun being transformed by these encounters). you could also pray about the mission trip mentioned above - the team that went last year saw just under 2000 miracles take place, and hundreds of people gave their lives to Jesus and got connected to local churches - we are pushing for an increase this year.

please feel free to add your comments, we really want to stay in touch.

love Shane n Lou