Support Update

Dear Family and Friends,
Aloha from Kona Hawaii! I’m writing to update you on my YWAM DTS training and to let you know what God has been doing in my life.

The training here has been so completely amazing. Every day I go to class with the anticipation that God is going to teach me something radical. My whole life has been completely turned around. My old thoughts that were focused on myself and my future have been replaced with the desire to follow God where ever He will lead me next. I have been growing in hunger for knowing God more. I wake up each morning eager to see what God will teach me through His Word and through the teachers here in Kona. I cannot wait to share the life and joy God has given me to others I meet, both in China and also back home in Grand Rapids.

I cannot thank you enough for all your prayer support for my journey here to Kona and also for this time of training. God has been creating friendships here that will continue to last far after the trip is over. He has been forming a community of support and unity with the common goal to share God’s love to the nations. I am excited to see how God will continue to use these relationships. Thank you for all your prayers.

Thank you so much for all of your financial support. God provided the money needed to pay for all of my training here in Kona and also to pay for my ticket to China. I cannot thank God enough for His favor in my life. I am still trusting God to provide the last $3,060 needed for me to be in China for three months.

I am so excited to share about what our team will be doing in China. Our team consists of two leaders, five guys, and eight girls. We will be leaving Kona and flying to Beijing, China on December 28, 2010. From Beijing we fly to Dailon, China. We will be staying in Dailon for most of the three months with a couple trips to Dangdong. We will be staying at a YWAM base when we are in Dailon. We are hoping to work with the university students leading Bible studies and discipling the students we meet. The area is so hungry for knowing more about God. I am so excited and eager to share with them.

I am trusting that God will provide the rest of the money needed for the trip. Please pray and ask God if you can give to help support me while I am ministering in China. Also ask other friends and family if they would be willing to give. Thank you so much!


You can send money to my home address:
Lanning Family Ministries
576 68th Street SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49548
or online using Paypal on my blogsite on the upper right side of the page.

May God continue to bless you with His love, peace, and grace,
Julianne Lanning

Rise Up in this Kingdom

Welcome to the upside down and backward Kingdom of God.

This is unlike any fairytale story book you have ever read about a kingdom. This is not a kingdom surrounded by a high wall to keep out people. This is not a kingdom filled with only rich people in fancy dresses. This is not a kingdom of hopelessness and despair with an evil king.

This is the Kingdom of God. It is unlike anything you could ever imagine.

The constitution of the Kingdom is God’s Word.

The law of the Kingdom is to love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your heart. And also to love your neighbor as yourself.

The language of the Kingdom is story and parable.

The currency of the Kingdom is faith.

The greatest in the Kingdom are servants.

To enter this Kingdom, you must become like a child.

This is the Kingdom of God.

You are called to this Kingdom. You are called to rise up and to become a part of the Kingdom. This Kingdom has no bystanders. Everyone who lives in the Kingdom is called to belong to the Army of the Kingdom of God. You are called to be a Warrior in this Army.

Welcome to the Army of God.

You are a Warrior. Your job is to fight for the Kingdom of God. Your job is to fight for the King.

So stop fighting for yourself. Stop thinking that this world that you live in revolves around you. You are the Warrior- not the King. It is your job to represent the King.

When two kingdoms go to war, it is really two kings fighting between each other. Neither of the Kings actually fight. They are too afraid that if they are killed, their throne will be taken over and toppled by another king. So stop trying to take control of your life and what is going on. You are not the king. If you try to be in control, you will begin to be afraid of what will happen next to you. Let the King be in control. When you let yourself be on the throne in your life, you will get attacked.

It is your job to become so focused on the King and His Kingdom and not yourself. You are only just a foot soldier in His Army. You are His Warrior bringing His Kingdom to the world. You fight to return what belongs to the King. You fight to make the King’s Name known to the world. You fight to bring glory to the King. You forget about yourself and strive to serve the King in everything you do.

It is time that the Warriors of the Army of the Kingdom of God arise and conquer and take back what belongs to the King.

This is no ordinary Kingdom. It has no walls. It does not need to protect itself. For God is the King. And nothing can come against Him.

This Kingdom is releasing its Army out into the world to reclaim what belongs to God. It is extending the borders of the Kingdom to reach every person alive. For all are welcome in the Kingdom of God.

Warriors rise up. Put on your Armor from God. Do everything you can do to stand firm. Wrap truth around your life as a belt. Protect your heart with the righteousness of God. Guard your heart with only thoughts of God and His love. Fit your feet with the readiness to run to the whole world to shout out God’s message of love and peace to a dying and hopeless people. Take up your shield of faith in Christ Jesus to protect yourself from the arrows of lies the devil will shoot at you. Protect your head and your thoughts and your mind by remembering your salvation through Jesus Christ. Nothing can ever take that away from you. And Warriors, sharpen your swords. Immerse yourselves in the Word of God. Know what God says about you and about those you are rescuing in the world. Live out His Word wherever you go.

And pray. All the time. Everywhere. For prayer is your greatest weapon against the evil schemes of the devil

This is the Kingdom you have been called to. Rise up and take your place.

shaking up my life

Hey!!!!
I realize that it has been basically forever since I last posted. I do apologize for not informing everyone what God has been doing in my life. He has just been so busy shaking me up that I've simply forgotten to tell everyone about it.

On Friday, October 29 I needed to have all of my school tuition paid for my lecture session here in Kona plus enough money to pay for my plane ticket to Hawaii. This sum was around almost $4,000. In crazy ways God provided more than enough money to finish all my lecture payments and purchase an $1,800 plane ticket. God is so good. I had people just walking up to me and handing me wads of cash. It was incredible. I ended up giving away a bunch of my own things, including my computer, which also explains why it's taken me so long to post anything. I know that God will continue to provide what I need. He is so faithful.

That week at school we had a crazy intense teacher named Andy Byrd. The fire of God just pours off of this man. I woke up on that Monday (October 25) with this burning passion in my soul that God was going to bring deliverance to my life and that I needed to fast. God met me like crazy. I was just lying on the floor, crying my eyes out, weeping in my soul. The next day a bunch of students in my class all got together to be baptized in the pool. I felt like this was something I needed to do as an outward sign of the new person I was inside. God has changed me so much that I don't even remember the person I used to be. On Wednesday I just got hit with the power of God. It was so crazy intense. I had also decided to fast Wednesday thru Friday in order to raise the money for the trip. The whole week was so incredible.

After a super intense week with Andy's teaching, I had hoped the next week would be a bit more laid back. I could not have been more wrong. We started off strong right away on Monday. Our class was divided into our Outreach groups and given a topic to discuss. After discussing our topic in my China group, we selected one member to present/preach what we talked about. Of course, that person was me. I went in front of the class and received the microphone. Instantly the power and confidence of God blew through me. I honestly could not tell you what I all talked/preached about for a good five minutes. It was simply God's words coming out of my mouth with my voice. I now that God has given me the gift of both preaching and teaching. I began to reach deeper into the heart of God to seek after the other gifts he has for me.
The rest of the week was super intense just growing closer to God and discovering what He all has in store for my life and my future. We heard some super powerful messages about truly living our lives for the gospel of Christ. I'm going to say these things and they are true. And the truth may cut deep and hurt:
Gossip is a sin. Talking about anyone negatively is a sin. God has given us our tongues to speak life into people not to cut them down.
Harry Potter is witchcraft. God hates witchcraft.
Rebellion is also witchcraft. (1 Samuel 15:23) So is any form of drug use that alters the state of your mind.
Lust, sexual immorality, and pornography are sins that hinder you from entering heaven. (1 Corinthians 6)
Worshiping God with music downloaded illegally is still stealing.

This past week has been so amazing. We have been going thru a book called "Freedom Class Manual: Knowing Christ Intimately, Experiencing Life Abundantly" by Brain Brennt and Mike Riches. Both of them have been speaking to us these past two weeks and have been teaching us about breaking thru strongholds in our lives. It has been a radical week. I have never felt so free before. In order to break down a stronghold in your life (such as anger, fear, passivity, shame, rejection, and unforgiveness) you must:
Repent of the sin. (Acts 3:19)
Receive God's forgiveness and cleansing. (Psalm 103:8-12 and I John 1:9)
Rebuke the enemy's hold on you because of this sin. (Matthew 4:10 and James 4:7)
Replace all lies with God's truth. (Galatians 2:20 and Ephesians 5:18)

God wants to give you freedom in your life as He has done in mine. I am not the same person I was six weeks ago when I got on a plane and flew to Hawaii. God has radically altered and shifted my life.

This past week I have been fasting from all foods and most drinks, besides tea, milk, and water. I started on Sunday, November 7 and will finish my fast tomorrow on Saturday night. God has just been drawing me so close to His heart. He has been showing me so many things and answering the questions I've been wanting to know for awhile. I have also been pressing in to Him for the gift of evangelism and healing and for even more outpouring for the gift of prophecy.
I want to share a story that happened this past Wednesday. A group of us were getting ready to go downtown into Kona to witness to people and tell them that God loved them so much and desired a relationship with them. Before we left I prayed and felt that I was going to find a man who: did triathlons, had wanted to do the IronMan here in Kona, had not be able to compete in it, and also had knee problems. So our group set out to the town. We talked to a bunch of people and asked if we could pray with them. We got rejected over and over, which quickly helped me get over my fear of man. You get used to rejection really quickly. We saw two men talking to each other on the beach and decided to talk to them. Don was Lutheran, and Dennis was Catholic. We talked with them for a while. Don was wearing a shirt that read something like "Tiki Triathlon," so I asked if he ran triathlons. He did and talked about how he had always wanted to do the IronMan in Kona. I knew instantly that this was the man that God had showed me before. I asked him if he had knee problems, and he did. I told him that God had told me that I was going to meet him and that I wanted to pray for healing. I also began to prophesy to him about things that God wanted to do in his life. He said we could pray for him but didn't really believe that God could heal. We prayed for the two of them and said goodbye. It was super amazing.

I don't know if Don was healed right then, but I do believe that God wants to heal him. I know my God heals. Yesterday I was praying with a girl in my class because she was suffering from a hemorrhoid for the past couple of weeks. She told me today that God instantly healed her. We also prayed for a little boy in class today that was unable to see out of one of his eyes. The doctors had said that his brain had stopped receiving images from that eye and that he may be blind. We prayed for him, and he started seeing. God is so good.

As you can probably tell, God has been doing super amazing and crazy things here in Kona. I am so excited what He will continue to do in the next 6 weeks here and also in the 3 months in China. My team leaves December 28 for China. Because God provided the money for the ticket, I am able to go. I still am in need of all the money it will cost for me to live in China for three months. This is probably going to be around $3,000-4,000. I also need to buy a plane ticket from Hawaii back home to Michigan, which is at least $500. Lastly I need to buy a new passport and have that expiated so that I can apply for a Chinese visa, which will be around $200. So, I need at least another $4,000 buy November 24. I know that my God can provided that. He is so big and so great.

Thank you all so much for helping support me in your prayers and also financially. Do not stop praying. I always need it. Please ask God if He wants you to give more or if you know of someone who would love to be a part of what God is doing thru my life.
And if anyone knows anyone with a spare Mac laptop, I am praying and trusting God that He will provide me one to replace the computer I gave away. :)

May God continue to richly bless you.

Julianne