end of june special.

This week I'm offering free worldwide shipping on all orders from my etsy shop. Please check it out! And keep your eye out for new posters and prints coming soon.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/aubreywebbdesign?ref=si_shop

etsy shop

the beatitudes posters I designed about a month ago are now in my etsy shop so you can buy them from anywhere in the world! Check it out here etsy shop

fresh start.

I'm bored now. time for a fresh start and a new blog.

stalk me here: http://aubreywebb.tumblr.com/

last days

I only have a week left here in Ålesund, and two weeks in Norway.  It's sad but exciting at the same time.  I'm so excited to be back in the states where everything is "normal" and there are some nice people there and chicken nuggets cost $1 rather than $15.  But in other news, we had a pannekakes party. yum yum. boy I'm sure gonna miss these ladies. I wish I could take them all home with me. waaaaaaahh. I'm not sure what I'll do with out them... I really need to go pick up some more 19 year old friends.

European things

Yesterday was the 17th of May. Not such a big deal in the States, but in Norway people dress up like this:

Then they have one of these:

Then everyone eats ice cream and bbq's all in celebration of the beautiful land of norway and it's independence from the rotten swedes and danes. It was pretty wonderful, despite the fact that I was sick and it rained all day.

In other news, last sunday was the eurovision contest.  It's this awesomely horrible competition between all the countries in Europe.  Every one's really cheesy and dramatic and there's boy bands galore. The winners were Azerbajan a country I've never even heard of), and I'm still unsure what they were singing due to their broken english. You can watch it here:

And.. I wasn't sure if I should do this, but whatever. My wonderful friend Sadie helped me make this video for Phil. After one year of dating it's my declaration of love to him. Enjoy!

que es amor?

Sorry about the lack of updates from Mexico! Our ability to use the internet has been limited.  Last week we arrived in Tijuana after a 29 hour bus ride from Mazatlan.  It actually went by pretty quickly except the 6 or 7 times when we had to get out of the bus in order for it to be searched for drugs.  It's not so fun to be woken up at 3 in the morning by a mexican police officer.  We arrived in Mexico with a warm welcome from Carlo's family. I was actually really surprised by how nice and clean Tijuana looks compared to the southern parts of Mexico we've been in.  It's such a huge contrast from seeing it by driving through California.  It looks nothing like I remember it. We actually feel very safe here. Although there is danger here,  it's obviously hyped up a lot on the news. There is a spiritual battle going on here, but I think that just makes it more evident how God is at work here.  God is fighting for the people here an He is winning.  We have already seen people accept Christ and miracles happen. I think the greatest miracle God is doing is love. It's already been a huge theme in our time here.  Last Thursday I preached to a group of young people at the church.  I spent all day working on a teaching about missions but as soon as I got to the church I could tell God was about to do something.  Right before I went up to preach God changed my plans. I ended up sharing my testimony and preaching about God's love and grace.  We were all so aware of the Lord's presence in the room.  The worship band was worshipping from their hearts and Kelly ended up doing some worship dancing which she had never done before.  We were all amazed by God's power and how everything just clicked.  He spoke to many hearts that night and  we had the opportunity to minister and pray for many teens and young adults.  The next day we held an event at a mall called "what is love" It was centered around music and testimonies about God's love.  We'll be holding 5 of these events while we're here in TJ and each one will be a bit different with elements of music, dance, and fine art.  Those of us who weren't on stage spent time evangelizing and praying for people.  Many people were changed that day!  I felt like God had asked me to make a drawing for a woman and share with her how beautiful she was.  She was really touched and said no one had ever told her that.  The next day we were at an orphanage and There was a really shy little girl who was hanging around me a lot.  I started talking to her I told her that she was really beautiful.  When i said that she put her head down and looked really sad. I asked her if she knew she was beautiful and she said no with tears in her eyes.  It broke my heart. This beautiful  little 5 year old orphan had never been told she was beautiful. I felt that God was giving me a mission to tell people how beautiful and special they are. On sunday we had another event in a park. I made some drawings to give to people so that I could share with them how beautiful they are.  I began asking God who they were for, but I didn't get an answer. Some little girls came up to me and I tried talking to them but we had a hard time communicating in spanish, so i asked them if they wanted to color with me. They were happy with that so I drew them some pictures and wrote  "eres muy bonita!" on the back.  Their eyes lit up when they saw that. I continued to ask God who my drawings were for while more kids kept coming to me. I eventually decided to give a drawing to a woman who was sitting by herself.  She didn't have much of a reaction from it and I felt a little discouraged.  After that like 5 more little girls came and colored with me and I made drawings for all of them.  They loved them so much that their friends would come over and ask for one. That's when I realized that God was bringing me these children to tell them that they were beautiful and spend time with them.  They all loved the concert and I felt like we were there that day  for those children.  Some people in the team were disappointed because  a lot of people left and there wasn't as much enthusiasm as there was at the mall, but I was reminded of how God cares so much for even those little children, that they're just as important as the adults! I thought that was pretty awesome.  This week we've visited an orphanage and have been preparing for our next events this Saturday and Sunday. Tomorrow we'll be doing some street evangelism.  It's hard to believe that we have less than 2 weeks left here!  But God still has a lot of work to do! Please pray for strength, endurance, and lots of love to share  in our final weeks here. Gracias amigos!

update from Colima!

Hi all! I just wanted to give you an update from Mexico!  Our whole team is loving it here in Colima. The weather is very warm and a nice change from Norway, and the food is amazing!  That's also a nice change from Norway!  We've met so many warm and hospitable people here in Mexico, we feel very blessed by the church, Groupo Amor here in Colima and our contact people Mauricio and Diana.  They treat us very well.  Our first day off was spent at an amazing restaurant on the beach where we ate and swam all day!  And we've been invited to many wonderful homes for delicious meals and great fellowship. Our first full week of working was spend running activities at two different orphanages.  The kids were so awesome and fun! We loved spending time there. This weekend we led a youth meeting at the church where I taught about God's calling with about 50 teens and in the evening we participated in a children's ministry in the park that the church runs every saturday.  We've also been doing random things like praying for families, painting, and having concerts (the musicians in our group at least).

On Sunday we went to a very nice home for dinner.  It was a huge modern style home in a very rich neighborhood. The entrance is guarded by security and there's huge trees that block the view of the homes.  But right across the street from the entrance there was a little shack that someone was living in and we felt really heavy from the extreme contrast.  We decided to go buy some food and take it to the person who was living there.  The boys got out of the car to talk to the man and the girls stayed in the car to pray, even though we could still hear everything they were saying. Turns out the man who lived there was a security guard who was working for the school and he had to change jobs because he had had 3 surgery's on his leg in the past month.  We prayed for him that his leg would be healed and he said that his leg got really warm and then he said it felt better! We're believing that He was healed and won't have to have any more surgeries.

This week we're painting a mural at the church, having another concert at the gallery, and teaching another workshop on creative missions to the young adults in the church.I have to go now, but I miss you all very much and thank you for your prayers!

hasta luego

Abril

Adios!

We're leaving for Mexico in less than 8 hours! ahhhhhhh!

blessed to be a blessing.

This is a phrase we've been hearing over and over in our teaching the past few weeks. Sunday was my birthday, and it seems my friends have really taken an effort to live this theory out. I have never been so spoiled: parties. cakes. cards.  presents galore.  Just remember that these are DTS students that don't have any money.  Yet they still went to great lengths to make my birthday so special. It all started on Friday. Sadie and I had a little combined party with some of the staff girls.  We ate junk food for hours and they all gave me the sweetest cards and a couple gifts.  On Saturday Silvia took some of us to the art studio and then up to the lookout at night over the city of Aalesund.  It was beautiful and the moon was huge! These pictures hardly do it justice. After that we all turned into werewolves.

On Sunday I was woken up by Caroline with breakfast in bed! After that I went over to Gabby's house where I got another amazing breakfast of banana pancakes, eggs, coffee, and oranges and then I got to relax  and use her awesome bathtub. At supper I got a cake  and a card signed by everyone at the base.


Usually your roommates plan your birthday here, but mine were gone since it was winter break.  This means I got 2 birthdays! On Monday when I woke up at 7 to do my morning chore my roommate Anne Marthe told me that someone else was going to do it for me! Then she made me a french press with Starbucks coffee (The coffee we usually have tastes like dirt) For lunch they got me McDonald's. After dinner they did my dinner dishes for me (the worst chore ever, that  I get to have this week) Then they surprised me with a brownie cake! Just when I thought the spoiling was over they gave me an envelope with the exact amount of money that I needed to finish paying for my DTS! I was so excited I actually made myself dizzy and had to sit down. God is good.


My point in all of this is not to brag about what an awesome birthday I had, but to show how simple blessings can make someone feel so special.  These friends didn't have to do anything for my birthday, but so many people went above and beyond to make me feel special. They have truly learned how to be generous. They have inspired me to be more generous.  They have learned what it is to be a blessing.  And of course I'm not forgetting about my friends and family at home who also sent me love on my birthday! I am a very blessed girl...now I hope I can pass it one to someone else!

What do you get with 4 Norwegians, 2 Mexicans, 2 Americans, 1 Canadian, and 1 Dutchie?

TEAM MEXICO!

hmm.

"The enemy is not afraid of us praying, as long as we're not praying what the Father wants" -Jonathan Helser

I can tell it's gonna be a good day.

Yesterday was so sunny and beautiful! It's been a long time since i actually felt the sun on my face. We went to the art studio and I just sat on the floor by the window and it was glorious.  Our assignment yesterday was to make something new out of something old.  I found a beautiful tablecloth and decided to make a skirt out of it. I like to sew by hand, which is impractical, but there's also something so personal and beautiful about the process. Must be the fine artist in me.

next weekend is winter break. It's also my birthday.  I think I'm going to spend some time preparing for Mexico. Brushing up on my Spanish, maybe do some drawing to display at the gallery in Colima, and researching ideas for my official job title as "fun coordinator". I'm also going to learn how to make things out of paper (aka oragami). Our leaders thought it would be a good thing to share with the children in the orphanages.  If you know anything simple to make, please pass it along my way!

23 days until Mexico!

how can you support missions?

Pray: for missionaries, intercede for a specific country, pray for unreached people groups who have no access to the gospel, etc.
Council others
Spread awareness
Help mobilize
Be generous (with time and money)
Sponsor through finances
Use your talents to raise money (concerts, events, sell art work, dinners, auctions, etc.)
Invest in the kingdom
Run a business and give the surplus 

Facilitate for others to go

Short term teams

Be wiling let your kids go

Go
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2/3 of the world's money is held by Christians. The number one reason missionaries come home is because of lack of funding.

0.5% of all offerings go to work among unreached people groups (Countries with most unreached people: India Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bangaladesh)

make a difference!

PTL

Today I'm thankful for financial blessings.  First of all, thanks to my Mom for buying me a plane ticket home! I fly from Oslo to seattle on June 7th. Secondly, thank you to the US government for the $270 tax return that I will receive next week(and thanks Dad for doing my taxes!). yay!  I'm so close to having the school paid off. Only about $500 to go now (it would have been less, but the exchange rate has gotten worse, so pray for that!)

need a designer?

(i miss this)

www.aubreywebbdesign.com

letter from the bad guy

Remember that creative project I mentioned a few weeks ago? Well here's the letter that goes along with the cage sculpture we made. It's modeled after the screwtape letters by C.S. Lewis. 

My dearest Jr. Deceiver,

I must congratulate you on your continued diligence to this most important war of disconnection. You have done a wonderful job so far in keeping people at odds with each other and drawing them into our trap. Although the Enemy has undoubtedly more strength then we, I fee l our race to draw people apart is on a steady increase.

Your installation of the Jantelov (a law in Norway) has done miraculous wonders for our side. It has caused a wave of generational dysfunction, convincing the men and women of Norway that they are of little or no value to the world. It has taken form like an invisible plague, infesting their minds so deeply. We now have parents teaching their children for us, that the best value is to keep quiet, cut off all ideas of self worth and stay as a ghost in the background. These beliefs are a great tool in our pursuit for separation. The humans think they have nothing to offer and therefore no reason to contribute and connect. Continue to press into this most ingenious virus. Rot their minds with voices of doubt, too busy to hear the Truth of the unmatchable worth He has given each one of them, which we only have the power to twist.

The business of living, lucky for us, has become just that: busy. So often you find the creatures running this way and that. Good! Loneliness can so often be found in this sort. Constantly scurrying to meet eternal deadlines they are caught up in their own abilities; making it, doing it, surviving on their own. Keep them believing weakness is the sin, that they themselves are powerful, and that they don’t need anyone else. And be sure to bring up doubt when He plants seeds of His strength and power. It’s most favorable for our side if we can just keep them too busy to notice His greatness at all! Ah yes, what great victory we can have!

When they do have a bit of what they call ‘free time’ make sure you emphasize the toll of their busy week and their need to be alone. But take care; while an empty head can be filled with trash, it also leaves room for our Enemy to speak and be heard. Fortunately for us, you need only to distract them with a single one of the million things they have filled their lives with: a trashy magazine, the World Wide Web, or the television where they will sit for hours, goggling at “reality”. This is a great opportunity to send in comparison and bathe the little vermin in self-pity driving them into further isolation. Point out how she doesn’t have golden locks like hers, how his six pack refers more to a bag of roles then chiseled abs and if they only worked harder and had more money, they could be just like those people.

But if on the other had He reminds them of their innate need to connect with a real person, which He has the power to do above anything we may prevent, and they manage to squeak in a dinner date or weekend hangout with friends, I suggest the application of these simple ploys to keep their mind fixated on alone-ness. For one, you can fill their mind with a frenzy of worries. Along with comparison as mentioned above, insecurity is a great friend of ours.  You can highlight the stupid thing they said, or the fact that they picked a horrible shirt to wear that makes them look fat and oh my what their friends must me thinking about them. Yes, they really are the small and pathetic. Or on the contrary, you can stroke their pride. Point out the nasty state of that mans teeth, the horrible fashion of that girl who thinks she’s so cool and the lowly furnishings of a shaggy house containing even more pitiful conversation. Use their verbal skills to cut into friends with sarcasm and arrogant remarks. In this way, you can knock out two birds with one stone. You have the ability to make your subject believe he deserves far higher quality friends than this and that he’s better off alone. His spiteful words can in turn reinforce his targets own insecurity: he really is as bad or worse then he thought.

However the path is fashioned, whether by too much noise or not enough, once you massage the pain of living and coax them into the cage, make sure to point out the comforts of being alone. Although a portion of them will inevitably be longing for further contact and relationship, strike on past hurts like a knife into warm butter. Such wounds remind the being that even though they feel disconnected, being alone is much safer then risking further injury and deeper scares. Not only do they avoid injury, they are liberated from the limitations they believe others put on them. You can then have the sheep believing the trap is a morphed nest of freedom: free from disappointment, free from complying with others demands, and free from meeting others needs. Note that one doesn’t have to appear alone, as a loner would, to feel alone. The social butterfly can feel the sting of loneliness just the same amidst a room full of her busy friends. Be attuned to the individuals state of mind more then their physical alone-ness.

Once these are clearly established, your job of enforcing what has become in their mind, a desirable comfy habit, is all the easier. The sex drive, most favorably exhibited in the one night stand, is one of my favorite cycles! Conditions have already been arranged in our favor: a world flooded with sexuality, ‘everybody’s doing it’, and, especially in the younger ones, an animal-like drive to pursue pleasure. Encounters such as these let the pitiful human think they are connecting with another on a ‘deeper’ level when in reality it is a not even a hint of what their Father has planned for them. But if you can keep them in the dark and catch their souls when they once again become weak with insecurity and longing for something more, you can convince them next time, always next time, it will be enough.

Oh, how easy our work has become! They can practically do it themselves! I can’t for the life of me understand the un-dieing love our Enemy has for His beings, but keep in mind He has wired them to discover it if they choose to open the door. This is why our work is so important. To the untrained human eye, our Enemy is hard to see, so we must put weight on the importance of physicality. Being alone, feeling alone, that’s where we want them, where they are most vulnerable and weak. From the very beginning He designed them to be in relationship with Himself and others, so we must do our best to taint, mutilate, and abolish all possibility of such relationships. If we do our work wisely, and install the right conditions, it can breed and fester like black mold on the human heart. And no one wants to hang out with smelly black mold. So keep up the good work!

Yours truly,

Master Deceiver

Living from the heart.

Hei Hei

Sorry I haven't been so motivate to blog lately. Here's another update: Last week our teacher was Ken Helser from North Carolina.  You may have heard of his son, Jonathan Helser. He's a worship leader from the states. Ken is just the sweetest old man who lives a life of servanthood better than anyone I have ever met. During one of the teaching sessions I spilled my tea on the floor and he stopped teaching and insisted that I let him clean it up for me! After meals he was always taking everyone's dishes and helping clean up. He is so in love with his wife that he's been married to for 40 years and he love's to talk about his children and grandchildren.  Their ministry in North Carolina is called "A place for the heart" He truly has a heart bursting with love for others.  The reason he's like this is because He's allowed his heart to truly become one with God's heart.  He kept telling us all week how he would love for us to have the life he has. It was so inspiring. here's just a few of Ken's wise words that I wrote down in my notes:

-We don't always get what we want, but because God the father loves us, he gives us what we need.

-Anything that does not flow out of a heart of worship comes from the flesh. Worship is giving my whole self to God for Him to enjoy.

-You cannot understand yourself, by yourself.

-Our greatest weapon against the devil is rest "When we work, God rests. When we rest, God works" rest=trust

-would you want someone else to be you? If not then the words coming out of your mouth don't have any power.

there were so many other wonderful things that he taught us, but most of all what he taught us was to learn with our hearts.  To not just store information in our mind,  but to really learn it in our hearts by doing something about it. To take action! So, that's what I'm trying to do right now.This week was really life changing for me.  I'm still wrestling with a lot of things that I learned about myself and God. A lot of things in my life came into the light.  But that's what I'm here for and God is continually reminding me how precious this time is and how blessed I am to have this experience.

*This week we're learning about missions, next week evangelism, then winter break from the 17-20, creative week, outreach prep week, then outreach! That means we only have four weeks until we leave for mexico! I'm nervous and excited all at the same time.  please pray for our safety, good health, and God's strength and provision as we travel and serve. And especially that my skin and eyeballs won't boil once I meet the sun again.

update.

I realized that I'm long overdue for a post, so here's a quick update...  My first week back after the break was spent at the Grimerud base near Hamar, where everyone had been for the worker's gathering (i skipped out) We had a few days of teaching there on prayer and fasting and we had the opportunity to fast for a day and participate in their 24/7 prayer room.  It was a really great time to refocus and find peace. I really longed for more time with the Lord after those days.

This past week was our creative project week. At the beginning of the week we were told that we would be having an exhibition in May with the theme of "loneliness" since Norway has one of the highest rates of "lonely people" in the world. So we all got in groups and worked on projects all week. My group ended up creating a sculpture that loosly resembles a bird cage made of wire, string, and branches. It's large enough that you can actually crawl in it.  We also wrote a letter based on the screw tape letters by C.S. lewis and on the outside of the cage we pinned photos of groups of people where one person was cut out on each and glued to the floor of the cage.  I'll put up photos soon! Another group made this video.  It's pretty awesome I'd say. check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1kBL5OMXkY

Next week we're going back to Elnesvaagen for another mini outreach, and this time we get to go to schools and teach art/ hang out with kids!

Fundraising has gone well lately, and I finally sold my laptop! I only have $650 to go now. Photos are still for sale if you'd like to help: http://aubreywebbdesign.dotphoto.com/CPListAlbums.asp

and now for the most exciting news.... outreach!
We've finally found out more information about what we'll be doing in Mexico. This schedule is still very tentative, but here's what it may look like: On March 7th (happy birthday Phil!) we fly to Mexico City and find a way to get to Colima. We'll spend three weeks helping at Mauricio's gallery in Colima and help him start up a cafe there. Then we'll spend one week in Guadalajara at a home for street kids (I'm very excited for this!) Next we may possibly spend around 5 days in Cuidad Obregon (not sure yet what we would do there). Then we plan on spending around 3 weeks in Tiajuana where we will hopefully be helping at some orphanages and at an after school arts program in Tecate (http://studiodelcreador.org) after that we have to find a way back to Mexico City! I'm so so so excited about everything we'll be doing. I'm practically counting down the days until we leave Norway, which is pretty easy when we only have 6 hour days...

Adios!

photo sale

For My last fundraising effort I've set up this website to sell my photographs. Check it out and please buy one (or two?) ! I still need to raise about $900 and this payment is already a month late so I need the money asap. Any photos that you order are sent directly to you by this company. After printing costs I'll make about $30 for each photo ordered.
ready.set.go.

http://aubreywebbdesign.dotphoto.com/CPListAlbums.asp