A Beautiful Month!

We were fed carbs the whole weekend.....lovely!!
the three finishers!
Ilsa - one happy finisher!
Ilsa again :)
Maddie and I off for the second leg of the race- the 10 mile bike :)
Eli- Jonah- Luke: cousins!!
Ian with his new cousin Ally and his new auntie Kelly :)
Ilsa finishing the last leg of the race!
Me getting out of the swim...I don't look happy but I AM!!

the family!
Ian and his family and my parents :)
the Trinona/Thooft canoe!
Maddie finishing the swim leg!
Mads :)
Eli and his cousin Jonah :)
Ian and I
My sister Chris and niece Anha :)
Me and my sisters!
sister shot
Hey Family!

We got a phone call the other day from one of our very first international students- Sudhir. He has had some trouble with his visa this year- some long story about not finishing a test and not getting accepted back into the university and being in Nepal for a visit and coming back....he made it back in, but our university did not accept him back. So he moved to Pittsburgh and began the re-application process. He had nothing to eat. So he prayed to our God, because we had been telling him how much God loved him and wanted to provide for him. He said, "I know your God is real, and I give praise to Him, because when I had no food or money, I asked Him to get me through. And He did. And I know you guys were praying for me a lot, and He got me through. And I give the praise to your God because He did this for me."

WOW!!! This is one of our Hindu friends, giving praise to the living God. Since that hard time, he has been accepted to St. Cloud State- and the university in Pittsburgh. He is planning to come back to MN and attend St. Cloud. While we are so sad to lose him here at BSU, at least he will be close, and we will connect him with our chi alpha family there. What a wonderful story!! We are so encouraged.....you live your life in front of these guys, take them in, feed them, love them, listen, hug on them, speak the truth- all while doing our best not to just preach at them but honor them as people we enjoy even as Hindus :) - and fruit comes. God is just faithful, and he honors our loving his sheep. We've known Sudhir for three years. He hasn't prayed a "sinners prayer" or renounced Hinduism- but he is on a path to knowing the True God. We love this process!

A personal praise- we finished the Trinona Triathlon! Ilsa, Maddie, and I (Michelle) ran it last Sunday. 1/4 mile swim, 10mile bike, and 3.1 mile run. Ilsa won 2nd in her age division, and Maddie and I finished under the time we were hoping to finish. I had a blast. We all did! I couldn't wipe the silly grin off my face for the whole thing!! My son Ian and his adoptive family were reunited with his birth family- both my parents and their spouses spent time together in the same place for the first time in 35 years. It was a beautiful thing. And on top of all of that, I won a We-no-nah Canoe. Every time I see it sitting outside I remember the faithfulness of God- I had to write a note on facebook telling why I thought I should win the canoe- and while "should" isnt' a word I would choose- I wrote of Ian's adoption and the reunion all commencing around the triathlon. They chose my entry, and I won this amazing canoe. Pictures are all from this weekend- enjoy!!

Thank you so much family for your continued support! You're amazing and we love you!!

Us Thoofts

SPRING!!

Hello Family!

I am sitting in my livingroom and outside my window the grass is 8" high in some places! Why don't you MOW, you ask? Because Phil and the girls bring the horses over to eat it now and then. Yeah. So I have long grass a lot. Oh well.

We're enjoying three or four days of rain, so I am actually catching up on a few things! You know how those indoor to-do lists just get ignored when it's gorgeous outside? I have been able to cross off a bunch today!

All the students who are off for the summer have gone. Eli still has three weeks of school, so it's kind of weird- our summer has started but not officially. Our girls want jobs, but want to set their own hours, so instead of me gardening and selling to restaurants and grocery stores this summer, we have decided to pool our gardening efforts and start a CSA. (community supported agriculture) Maddie is our only college-bound child thus far (or so they've said) and they all have things they want to do but need to support themselves. So my hope is that they will take off with this thing and make it their own. Kind of like home-school-on-the-job-training! Our time with them is running short- Grace will be 20 this year, Ilsa 18, and Maddie 15. So the time with them is fabulous. Students have been enjoying the garden time as well- getting in a good afternoon of hauling and digging and tilling and planting! My camera has died (again, yes, again) or I would share pictures!

ALSO- we had a GREAT end of the year gathering with American and International students! We have had some of our students jokingly tell us to apply for Extreme Home Makeover because even though we have a 30x30 room we just don't have enough room. Trying to cook in the kitchen with 20 people just isn't working so well. So I have seriously thought about it. (haven't done it though!) So at this last gathering, we had probably 20 Americans and 20 internationals. Something like that. We cooked Nepali and Indian food, had an egg hunt (thanks to student Cody who bought and filled 450 plastic eggs!!) and then took the crowd down the road for a hay ride! It was one of those perfect early spring days....warm and bug-free. I just have never seen people so relaxed and having so much fun. It was almost nostalgic. Again, my camera is broken. But John took photos- I'll try to get them for you. They're on the facebook page for our international friends- if you're on facebook, shoot me a note that you want to be invited to that page. Then you can totally keep track of everything we do!

Otherwise, we have three weeks left before the big Triathalon.....yikes. It's been up and down, honestly. I am 90% sure we can finish the race, but I have NO idea how we will do. I am pretty confident for myself for the swim and the bike, but the run..... I still can't run very far. I can walk a pretty fast mile, though. That, coupled with race day adreneline, and all the training we've put in should get us through! I really don't want to come in last, but I guess someone has to :) But you never know, I might surprise myself!

Summer plans here include getting our girls working, a few trips to visit family, Friday Night Worship, Thursday night men's group, finishing the school of ministry (we're done in July), getting geared up for fall (which starts mid August for us!), some Sozos and Sozo training, and hopefully, many good times by the fire pit and on the swing. What are you all up to?

Love you family! Will post pictures as soon as I get them!

And, Another Sozo Story

Hello Family!

I have a great story for you. In about 2005, we had a young one coming to chi alpha who had some troubling stuff going on. In fact, this one handed me a note one day that said "PLEASE HELP ME!!" and I am sorry to say that after reading it, I decided I could not help them. I didn't have the tools. I didn't know what to do. So this one sort of wandered off and we only saw them intermittently.

Fast forward six years. We have been doing sozos with people, watching God save, heal and deliver. I am at a coffee house with a local pastor friend, and there is this young one, the one that handed me the note so many years ago. We chatted a little, and exchanged phone numbers. Later, they found me on facebook, and we began a conversation about the weather. :) But that didn't last long, because I had to know- and I asked how they were doing- what was going on since that note. I wasn't sure if they would be offended or angry or what....and they were excited that I asked, and gladly informed me that they were lost and in need of more help than ever. We made a coffee date and I explained the whole sozo thing. I was also able to apologize for dropping them years ago. I was graciously forgiven, and they excitedly set up a sozo appointment.

I have just returned from that sozo. The hard thing about talking about sozos is that I can't talk about them- !! But suffice to say this: today I was privileged to watch a young person go from darkness to light, from the sincere and strong temptation of demon worship to quite literally being in the arms of their Father. I watched our great and amazing God shine light on every lie this young one was living in, and heal the hurts, and redefine the truth for them. I saw the gift this person has come shining out like sunlight after a tornado. Not all people we have "sozo'd" have left skipping, but this one did. Skipping and laughing. Seriously.

And this one was seriously contemplating Wicca a week ago. Now the friend in Wicca wants a sozo too.

Just thought I'd share!!!! Thank you for your love and support that allows us to do this!

love, us Thoofts :)

Transformation

Hey Family!

Good things are happening in Bemidji! We are seeing people's lives transformed. Last month- or quite recently (can't remember !) I told you about the Sozo (Saved, Healed, Delivered) tool we've been learning. Did I say it was amazing? Oh, yeah, I think I did :) Well- not only have we "sozo'd" all of our family and many of our friends, we are beginning to sozo students and people in our community. We have been getting calls for appointments. We hosted a training, where we trained another 13 people in the method, so we can get this tool in other people's hands and broaden our ability to work with more people.

Currently, we have one church in the area who wants the training so they can start helping people see freedom :) Two other churches have graciously opened their facilities to us so we have a place to meet with people. How cool is that?!?

One young lady we met with recently had gone through some super traumatic stuff- and at one point during her sozo we had to kind of help her out of a post -traumatic stress panic attack. I don't know if that is exactly officially what it is called, but that is what it felt like to us! But God is SO FAITHFUL.....he brought her out and healed her. She literally came bouncing in to the next Friday night worship meeting.....and the next......and the next...... I asked her how she was doing recently, and she said, "GREAT!!!! I have my LIFE back!!" She has gone through the training now and wishes to help others get their lives back with the Sozo tool. This week we have our first Sozo on campus :)

We are so excited about this.

So pray with us, family -school is out in five weeks and we are planning next fall. We will keep you posted! Our kids are doing well- Grace is finishing her requirements to graduate and working on ACT pre-testing, Ilsa and Maddie are plugging away at schoolwork and enjoying their horses and training with me to run the Triathalon in June :)(although Ilsa threw her kneecap out last week...praying for a swift and full recovery so she can still compete!) and Eli is still enjoying first grade at Lincoln Elementary. His teacher adores him and often emails me about all the cute things he does in class :) We are enjoying every stage of life with our kids....what a blessing they are!!!

In regards to Ilsa's knee accident- we do not have insurance :) So if anyone is able to help out with the medical bills, that would be amazing. You can use the donate button on this blog and it comes right to us and you receive a tax-deductible receipt. We don't know how much they are yet, but it involved a 3am emergency room run (long story!! they were up watching movies with students!) about six x-rays, two trips under to get the kneecap back in place, two shots of morphine, and another trip to an ortho. Yay. But she's doing great now, and hoping to still compete in June. (www.trinona.com)

One resource that we want EVERYONE in the world to experience is Loving on Purpose. http://lovingonpurpose.com/ We have never found anything more compelling, Biblically sound, motivating, and empowering than his stuff. We use it now with our students, our kids, and ESPECIALLY anyone planning to get married. In fact, we don't marry anyone anymore until they've gone through a personal Sozo and Danny Silk's Defining the Relationship. Our thinking is, "get as cleaned up as we can before we get married!!" There is just nothing better out there, and we've read the other stuff. Check into it- you'll love it.

We recently had a night with internationals over- that was wonderful, as usual. The kitchen was so packed with Americans and internationals we didn't have room to move. We made homemade pasta and had a blast. Our next gathering is to have them all over the day before Easter and treat them to an American Easter dinner, and dying eggs, and an egg hunt! Should be fun!

So family....thanks for reading :) We love you, and we love getting your email updates! I still haven't figured out how to upload videos on here- I'm having trouble changing their format somehow- but when I get it figured out, I'll email you the link.

Have a wonderful April!!

love love love

us Thoofts

A Little Personal Snapshot

Well, family, we are enjoying watching people change around us. For the better I mean. Since we have learned to use the Sozo tool I blogged about a few weeks ago, we are seeing many people give up old grudges and resentments. We are seeing curses and vows broken. We are seeing people change the way they think about God and about themselves. We are seeing people learn how to think like a loved son or daughter, and live according to that, rather than a powerless victim.

In fact, we are seeing so much and learning so much, I hardly know how to communicate it all to you. This is a small snapshot.

I never used to understand what it meant when it was said that Christ came to set us free. Yes, from death- I knew that much. Say the prayer and you get to go to heaven, after your body dies. I used to think that was as far as "freedom" went. I used to think that until then, we had to just hang on for dear life, because this world is so evil and rotten that there is no hope for it. Jesus come soon, 'cause I can't stand it!!

Now - although Him coming just sounds incredibly exciting- I want Him to wait a bit. There are too many people who are walking around in bondage. And it seems like there are as many in the church as out of it that are in bondage- to every kind of slavery I can think of, or you can think of.

I want to see His Kingdom come- on earth as it is in heaven. Now. I want to be the one standing in the gap in the wall of my county, my city, my university- interceding for those within - for mercy. 'Cause they just don't know why they do what they do. They live for themselves and their pleasure to numb the pain of their lives. They don't know they are children of the Most High God, and their lives have a calling and a destiny.

Once they know that, look out. All creation groans waiting for the Sons of God to be revealed. All creation groans waiting for the sons and daughters of God to figure out who they are.

We were working out at this resort the other day (the kids and I go, 'cause Ilsa and Maddie and I are competing in a triathalon this summer) and there was this native american man in the weight room. I walked in, and the first thing that runs through my mind is "he is a man of peace."

I have been learning to listen to this kind of thing. We hear from three sources, right? God, the devil, and your own brain. The devil wouldn't tell me that this dude was a man of peace. My brain wouldn't. All I wanted to do was lift weights and get in the pool - I was focused. So when I heard that in my head, I listened. Frankly, I was a little chicken to share it with him, 'cause he was a big guy doing some pretty impressive lifting. I don't tend to just start conversations with men I don't know, you know?

But then I heard this: "And the grieving in his family is going to end, soon." This gave me more compassion for him than when I first walked into the room.

So, after some internal struggle, I asked the guy if he believed in God. "What?" he looked at me strange. I asked again. He shrugs his shoulders, but he's not combative or rude. Then I said, "because He just told me that you are a man of peace." The guy stopped pacing (he was resting in between lifting) and was just stunned. He thanked me several times. I, in my brain, am thanking God. Then I hear, "well, aren't you going to tell him the rest?"

Dang. That part was harder. What if I was wrong?

But by this time I had finished my lifting. I told him to have a nice day (yes, I was totally going to wuss out) and he said, "Yeah, you too. You already made mine."

What? Seriously? "That meant something to you?" I asked him. "Yes!" he said. Ohhhhhhkay. "Well there's more," I finally gave in and told him. "He also said that the grieving in your family is going to end, soon."

He stumbled a little in his pacing. Not huge, but I noticed. He said, "wow." Then he said, "Wow, wow." I asked what was up, and he told me that they had just lost a family member. By this time I was bold and asked if I could pray for him. I had already seen God touch him. He said yes - I asked if I could put my hand on his shoulder. He said yes. And I prayed for mercy and love and peace to permeate his family, his life. I can't even remember all I prayed, but it wrecked me. I was crying by the time I was finished. He was just happy.

God is so good, family. He is teaching Phil and I and our children and our students to walk like this all the time. He is teaching us that we do not need to be afraid of anything. Those people that look like they are so demonically oppressed, or so full of judgment or anger or negativity- God can reach them. We are learning that we do not have to convince them of anything- we just get to love them with the love and power of God, and He convinces them.

I'm not sure why I ever used to believe any other way, but I did. I think I am just becoming free.

For those of you that wondered about Grace attending an Emilie Autumn concert, let me tell you how it turned out. Unbeknownst to her, she had been gifted with VIP tickets, which enabled her to actually meet Emilie and talk to her. Our Gracie lou went in there and loved on Emilie, hugged her, gave her a gift. During the concert, she released the opposite of what she felt- if she felt fear, she released faith, if she felt anger, she released peace. By the end of the concert, three hundred some gothic, punk, corsetted and mohawk spouting kids were ballroom dancing and laughing to the song "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life."

How's that for cultural transformation? Or at least the beginning of it? We have appointed ourselves Emilie's prayer guardians. That talented young lady will someday know who she is, and that she is greatly loved by her Father.

Anyway, family, I just want to give you snapshots as I can. We love hearing from you and pray when you ask us to and rejoice with you and mourn with you. I'm sorry I don't always let you know that individually. Know you're loved!!

xoxoxo

Us Thoofts

Knees Healed and Sozo Stories

Hello family! I just had to update you on a few cool things.....

Last night at Friday night worship (which was packed out - sweeeeeet) when we had finished the singing part of worship, I was asking the Lord what He wanted to do, what He was doing. One of our students, Cody, said, "Does anyone's knees hurt?"

HA!! I love it when this happens, 'cause it's an indicator that God is already healing knees! (or whatever it might be) Four people stood up, and 3-4 of them got their knees healed. I forgot to ask about the last one :) Then He healed a sprained ankle. She jumped on it and it didn't hurt :) Then I got to do some Sozo prayer with another campus pastor - an Inter Varsity gal who is adorable and has been coming to Friday nights - and God is just so cool.

Yesterday I drove our daughter Grace to Brainerd where she was staying with a friend because they are leaving for the Cities today to go see an Emily Autumn concert. Maddie came along so we could have face time in the car on the way home. Grace said to me, "Mom, since I had my Sozo, I'm not afraid anymore to tell people I'm a Christian. I used to kind of be embarrassed to tell people, but now, I just tell them. I really like that."

This is huge for us- and for all of you who have been praying for our daughter- because there was a time when we were not sure what she believed. God is taking our kids through their own transformation. We are so encouraged! We talked more of the concert, and I told her, "you know, you might get slimed at this concert..." meaning- Emily Autumn isn't exactly Lady Gaga, but she isn't Amy Grant, either. We talked about what she could do at the concert to bless the kids around her. If she felt something "yukky" coming at her, she could release the opposite into the atmosphere. ie- she feels depression, she can release joy. If she feels death, she can release life. Confusion- release clarity. It goes on and on. Our words carry such weight....they release realities, they create worlds. I told her, who knows, maybe you'll get to pray for some kids at the concert!

She was totally up for that. Most likely she'll come home with new facebook friends.

We're really excited about all the kids we're seeing around here. New faces every week. God is good, and He is bringing them in.

Back to homework. For class we're reading Culture of Honor by Danny Silk. Before that it was When Heaven Invades Earth by Bill Johnson. I highly recommend them both- life changing!

Love you family!!!!

Phil & Michelle & Clan

SOZO

I wanted to update you on some pretty exciting happenings here at BSU!

Within the Bemidji Area School of Transformation, (BAST) of which Phil and I and 5 of our leaders are a part, we have gone through training for a prayer ministry called Sozo. The word means "saved, healed, delivered." And it has nothing to do with screaming minions and scary manifestations. We do not "filet people open." God simply shows up, and we direct. He, and the person being ministered to, does all the work.

I have seen 10 people, and counting, get free this week of life-debilitating stuff.

The training, which is available through http://www.bethelsozo.com/, (go to the site and scroll down and watch the video) has given us the tools to pray with anyone, anywhere and help them get free. The devil does not have any power in our lives except what we give him through agreement. He didn't give Eve the apple by force. She believed him and agreed with him. As do we. Anytime we do not guard our hearts against the enemy crouching at our door, we invite crap into our lives. As long as we allow it, it has a right to stay. Stuff like debilitating fears, unforgiveness, bitterness, anger, debilitating habits, addictions, hatred, judgment, wrong beliefs about God. These things can lead to all kinds of sickness and disease (dis-ease). Sometimes generational stuff can affect our lives and we don't even know it. Meddling with fear, hatred, sexual sin, and the occult can open doors in our lives to all kinds of stuff. Sometimes we build walls in our hearts to protect us from further pain or disappointment, walls that keep us from God and from those we love.

Sozo is quite literally, "taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ." It is learning to think well and rightly about yourself in relation to God and everyone around you.

We were all created uniquely and wonderfully, with innate abilities to give and receive love. These have been called our "love languages." The enemy knows what those things are for you and for me and has worked overtime in our lives to make sure we were wounded in those very areas, therefore creating lies in our lives that we believe about our God.

Those lies need to come down in order for us to experience the freedom with which Christ came to set us free. I have seen people so bound up with fear that they couldn't function and struggled with using alcohol to numb the pain get free this week. I have seen people cursed, albeit unknowingly, by their parents get free this week. I have seen vibrant God-lovers bound up with hatred and unforgiveness set free this week.

We are seeing people shed this stuff and step into the destiny God created for them. We saw it yesterday, and the day before, and the day before. Becky and I have two appointments with two more people today- people hungry to be free of pain.

So family, this is crazy amazing stuff. My hope is to provide this prayer ministry for every student who comes through Chi Alpha. We have already talked about beginning next fall, taking appointments for Sozo sessions during our Tuesday night meeting. While most of the group is worshipping, we are ministering to one or two students a week in the next room.

We have been through the basic Sozo training. Once this session of BAST is complete in July, we plan to go through the advanced training, which among other things, has seen huge success in working with disassociative issues- multiple personality disorders. This is SO EXCITING!!! God is beginning a revival in HEALING!

So much harm has been done in the name of Jesus by people who mean well but do not understand that they are acting out of their own fear or hatred or addictions. We are really excited about this tool and hope to see hundreds more captives set free!

love you family!