I am happy to share this interview with two amazing revival chasers, Kevin and Allison Shorter. Allison and I interned together at Bethel Church when I lived in California. She is a prophetic visionary with strong administration skills and the author of Creative Intercession. Kevin is businessman with a tender heart for people. He runs and writes the excellent Prayer Coach Blog, and I have included one of his posts here at Revival Lifestyle, 4 Steps to Supernatural Breakthrough in Prayer.

Kevin and Allison recently started a non-profit, Josiah’s Covenant, in order to create a family and jobs for Chinese orphan girls so they can know they
 are wanted, have significance, and have things to contribute to society. They radically live out their faith and change lives wherever they go. This interview will give you insight not only on what they are doing, but it is easy to read between the lines for insight on how to go after our own callings.

1. When we worked together, you were learning to train leaders. How did you become interested in helping young Chinese girls who could become victims of human trafficking?

Yes, trying to follow God doesn’t always take a straight line. However, I have always had a heart for Chinese orphans. When I was a teenager, I read about China’s One-Child Policy and some of its unintended ramifications. Thousands of abortions were taking place every year just because the child was found to be a girl instead of a boy. I read about mothers leaving their female babies outside of police stations or orphanages because they wanted another chance to have a boy. My heart broke and knew someday I would adopt a Chinese girl to give her a chance to be loved and cared for, to let her know that being a girl was a blessing.

When Kevin and I were dating, I made it clear that I may never give birth to my own children, but I wanted to adopt a girl from China. It was that strong in me, if Kevin wasn’t interested, our relationship would have ended. Thankfully, he was not only willing but embraced my heart for these girls. We have since tried to adopt on two separate occasions. On the first attempt, we got pregnant with our second child, so we had to stop the process. And our second attempt at adoption ended because the little girl that was matched with our family was given to another family two weeks after our adoption agency told us she would be ours. Our little girl was gone before we could hold her in our arms. This second attempt left us emotionally drained, and we put a pause on the adoption process. After spending over $30,000 and countless hours between the two attempts, we were still left without the Chinese daughter I had always longed for.

The entire Shorter family.

2. What motivated the change from adopting one Chinese orphan to moving your family to China to help them?

I met you during a three-year pause on our adoption process. Looking back now, God was preparing us for this next calling. After that year we worked with Michael Brodeur, the desire to help orphans began to stir once again. Orphanages in China can receive State funding for orphans in their care who are under 18 years of age. By the age of 18 the orphans that have not been adopted have to leave. With a few exceptions of those who can find openings back in the orphanage as a housekeeper, orphan girls in China usually end up on the streets to fend for themselves.

Without family, relationships, and education, orphans fall easy prey to traffickers looking to take advantage of those without jobs and other protection. Currently there are an estimated 33.8 million more men than women in China (source: China’s National Bureau of Statistics). Kidnapping and trafficking of women is rising steeply, and the emotional strength of women in China is draining; every 4 minutes a woman kills herself. China is the only country in the world where more women than men commit suicide (source: World Health Organization.

We felt it was time for us to do more than trying just to save one. Now we dream to help many.

3. You created a non-profit, but what you are building is really a business venture. What does this look like?

Our target mission is for these orphan girls that have aged out of the orphanage. We are not looking to start another orphanage as there are many of those here. We want to create a business where we can hire these girls and keep them off the streets and out of the lures of sex slavery. We are currently starting an organic farming business as this will create jobs for us to hire orphan girls, and it would give us land to house them.

For their whole lives, these orphans have needed people to take care of them, providing for their food, shelter, and daily activities. More than likely, neither people nor experiences have told them they had anything to offer their world, especially since they are females. By offering them a job where they get a wage and provide a benefit toward a business, they are more ready to believe they can bring something of worth to those they are around. We desire to help them see they have value in themselves by giving them an opportunity to earn a living wage.

Beyond being their employers, we will invite these girls into our family. They will be like daughters to Kevin and me, and they will be like sisters to our girls. These girls need to be offered something that is beyond themselves. They need to know they are not alone, and they need to see that someone wants them.

4. Tell me about the God experience that led you to this specific mission?

In the fall of 2012, my husband and I felt a discontent in our spirit for where we were. It was just one of those things where we kept asking God what He was doing. We liked where we were living and the friends that we had, but several times we thought we should ask Him whether He wanted us to move. Each time we asked, we felt we should stay. Finally after a couple of months, we felt God said to move… to China! That wasn’t quite what we had in mind.

To be honest, when He first started speaking we only knew we were supposed to move to China. We didn’t know why or where. But that initial push drove us to start asking questions and dreaming with God. In the process we began thinking of ways we could work with teenaged girls aged 14-18 to give them a home after their orphanage excused them. The farm idea came about because it will create jobs and give us space to house them. And from there the vision has grown into a business structure that will span at least two cities, and we envision our work becoming a hub for teen girls to come get their hearts healed and find life and hope.

Now we talk all the time with our two daughters about helping orphans, giving, and excelling in kindness and generosity no matter who comes across our path. Everyone is on a journey and needs love, no matter who they are. Our goal is to love those God puts in our lives, help them heal, and allow them to dream about life again. In the meantime we will give these girls a trade like English, baking, farming and other marketable skills so they can earn an honest living and stay safe from traffickers.

Now I am sure you can see why I like these two – they are the real deal when it comes to a revival lifestyle. If you are interested in joining with them, check out their website for internship opportunities and how to give. You can also follow their Facebook page for more regular updates about their work. I’m honored to have brought these wonderful people to you.

Mark Bustos is a hair stylist at an upscale salon in New York City, but not all of his clientele have to be wealthy to get a quality trim. Sometimes, they don’t need a penny.

Bustos spends every Sunday — his only day off from work — venturing through the city in search of anyone in need who’d appreciate a haircut. Approaching each person with the same, simple phrase — “I want to do something nice for you today” — Bustos provides cuts to up to six people every Sunday, capturing many stylings on his Instagram account.

Bustos has been cutting hair for the less fortunate since May 2012, when he traveled to the Philippines to visit family members. While abroad, he paid an owner of a barbershop to rent a chair and provide services to impoverished children in need of a fresh look.

“The feeling was so rewarding, I decided to bring the positive energy back to NYC,” Bustos, 30, told The Huffington Post in an email, noting he’s also given haircuts to the needy in Jamaica, Costa Rica and Los Angeles.

One of Bustos’ clients, Jim from Long Beach, California, who’d just been released from prison two weeks before his haircut. “Every human life is worth the same,” Bustos wrote in the caption. “We all deserve a second chance.”

Of all the meaningful haircuts Bustos has given over the years, one recipient sticks out.

“Jemar Banks — I’ll never forget the name,” Bustos told HuffPost. “After offering him a haircut and whatever food he wanted to eat, he didn’t have much to say throughout the whole process, until after I showed him what he looked like when I was done … The first thing he said to me was, ‘Do you know anyone that’s hiring?'”

Bustos said he intentionally cuts hair for the homeless in open, well-traveled spaces like street corners and sidewalks so that the public can watch — “not to see me,” he notes, but so that others can find inspiration in the good deed, and be kind to those less unfortunate as well.

“Even a simple smile can go a long way,” Bustos told HuffPost.

This raises the question how much more Christians could do to impact the world, if we spent less time talking and more time doing?

Everyone should watch this video at least once and ask themselves in how far this applies to their lives.

But how does true community look like? I wrote more on this topic here.

Magician prankster Rahat wanted to give a gift to the homeless guy who lives down the block from him.

But rather than simply walking up to him and handing him some cash, the YouTube user instead wanted the man to feel like he literally had stumbled upon buried treasure.

The homeless man’s reaction to his good fortune is easily the most touching thing you’ll see all week.

Isn’t it amazing how much hope a little practical love can create in someone’s life?

This is a guest post by my friend and BSSM graduate Travis Young. If you’d like to see your writings published on the Revival Lifestyle Blog, just click here for more info. Now enjoy this great read!

Pulling people out of wheelchairs, raising the dead, seeing eyeballs recreated as you pray, scooping brains back into a head and watching the scars disappear and the man who was dead sit up, walking on water and being transported across the world to another nation. I’ve heard stories of such things but I haven’t personally experienced stuff like this … Yet!!!

I have seen the small beginnings of a journey to a life like this. I’ve seen people cry as depression and fear leaves because they were given the gift of peace. I have felt cartilage regrow underneath my hands in the knee of a person I’m praying for, and I have seen a man collapse and fall into my arms as demons literally leave his body, I will never forget his smile and laugh after being freed. I’ve seen miracles and signs to make you wonder, and as I journey into a life where extraordinary things happen on a day to day basis this is what I have discovered.

Here my list of 10 things I have learned that are helping me change the world:

1. My life is never marked by events of ministry, rather, it’s marked by a lifestyle of it. No matter where you are or where you work, there are always opportunities to help people encounter the love of God.

2. Arguments will never help you win.  People are who they are because of the life experiences that they have had.  You can never argue someone out of an experience, but you can give them a new one that was better then their last one.

3. Conquering fear will change your life. Fear will be your greatest adversary in anything, whether it’s a dream inside your heart or a mission you have been given by the Holy Spirit. I heard a quote that said, “Nothing cures fear faster then action”. Don’t wait to do what you know you should. Time won’t wait for you.

4. You may be the only Jesus that people ever see. People will get an impression of Jesus by how the people who claim to fallow him act. How will you represent him?  Bill Johnson said, “Everyone wants a king like Jesus”. Some people have poorly shown the true qualities of Jesus; “We need to represent him well”.

5. Let your life do the talking. If people badmouth you, slander you, and don’t believe you, you have to be ok with that! I tell people to come hang out with me for a day and you will see why I believe what I believe.

6. Boldness isn’t so much to do with you not being afraid of what people think as much as it is being sure of what He thinks of you. “Who you are is Whose you are”, and “Confidence comes from knowing whose you are”

7. Don’t let disqualification decide who you are going to be and what you are going to do. There is always going to be someone more qualified for the job and better prepared. The only choice you have is to decide if feeling unprepared is going to prevent you from doing something great, assuming someone else is going to man up, or taking charge, will only lead to never even trying at all. Trust that the Holy Spirit will provide everything that you need in that present moment to accomplish the tasks that have been set before you.

8. Sometimes we are waiting for God to move when he is actually waiting for us. Jesus commissioned us to change to world and to preach the good news. He called us to heal the sick, cast out demons and raise the dead! Realize what he told you to do, understand what you’ve got, and do what he did. Stop waiting, start doing.

9. Create opportunities for others to grow and be ok with people not being where you are at.  Not everyone is going to have all the revelation you have, and you won’t see eye to eye with everyone. Jesus called us to love those around us and teach and guide when called upon. This is how people will change – although you can’t let this stop you from healing and prophesying over people; that has the tendency to change minds quickly too.

10. It is ok to not know the answer to every question. This lesson I would stress almost higher then any other. Being able to say “I don’t know” will save many people from being hurt at the expense you pretending to have it all together. Saying “I don’t know” shows that you have much more to learn and will provide you with opportunities to learn from others. I mean, let’s face it. We will never have all the answers; the universe is just too big. Let’s just remember that every day is an opportunity for Jesus to teach us something new.

And there you have it. Do you think I missed anything? What would you have added to the list? I would love to hear your thoughts! (Leave a comment in the section below)

I’ll close with this amazing quote by Theodore Roosevelt.

“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”

God bless you as you continue to change the world with the One who created you!

Summary

Subject to divine visions foretelling the end of the world, Noah attempts to tell his people to cease their mistreatment of the Earth in order to be saved. No one listens to his warnings, and Noah and his family are cast out to fend for themselves in the wilderness. Noah approaches a race of giant six-armed angels known as the “Watchers” to rally them to his cause.

Will the Movie Accurately Reflect the Biblical Story?

According to Wikipedia, when Christian screenwriter Brian Godawa acquired a copy of the script in October 2012, he posted an evaluation on his website with the title “Darren Aronofsky’s Noah: Environmentalist Wacko,” predicting that the film

“will be rejected by millions of devoted Bible readers worldwide because once again it subverts their own sacred narrative with a political agenda of pagan earth religion that is offensive to their Faith.”

Producer Scott Franklin told Entertainment Weekly,

“Noah is a very short section of the Bible with a lot of gaps, so we definitely had to take some creative expression in it. But I think we stayed very true to the story and didn’t really deviate from the Bible, despite the six-armed angels.”

“Worrisome” feedback from largely religious audiences at test screenings in October 2013 led The Hollywood Reporter to report on tensions between Aronofsky and Paramount over control of the final cut.

It sounds to me like the story may be told fairly close to the it’s biblical origin, but probably won’t reflect the meaning the story carries from a Christian perspective.

Your Opinion

Are you looking forward to this movie? Do you think Hollywood should produce more biblical movies, or stay away from the genre all together? Let me know in the comments below!

US Army veteran Jim Wolf, who was homeless, and has struggled with alcoholism and depression, undergoes a stunning transformation in this time-lapse video by dégagé ministries.

Did you think a simple makeover could have such an effects on a man who had given up himself for decades?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

I don’t know if you knew it, but Jesus actually was a pretty happy camper. As a matter of fact he was happier than “any on his companions” (Hebr 1:9). Scripture also says that “in His presence is the fullness of joy” and “pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11).

I think it’s safe to say that there’s plenty of reason for believers to be the happiest people on earth. If you’re still not convinced of the benefits of joy, have a look at these scientifically proven facts about what laughter can do for you: