Bethany Hess        Network 21 Missions
 
thank you to everyone who prayed for my mom!  she was released from the hospital yesterday.  they cleared her heart...come to find out, it was her gall bladder.  she will be having it removed in a couple weeks, but nothing serious!  such a wonderful releaf.  it was so encouraging to talk to her while she was in the hospital!  she spoke with such faith and peace!  God is so good to cover every side of it, her health, but also her spirit! 
now lukus and i are preparing to go to asia...but we still do not have our tickets purchased.  we are still needing around $800 for the tickets and $100-$200 for living expenses while there.   we have prayed and prayed, and still feel like it is the thing to do right now.  so please agree with us in prayer!  thanks  you! thank you!
 
We recieved a phone call last night from my family.  My mother was having intense pain in her chest, shoulder and jaw, and finding it hard to breath.  My dad said she lost all her color and asked to go to the hospital.  They arrived there safely.  They did an EKG and it came back normal, and an enzyme test, and it was normal as well.  They kept her overnight and will continue to run some test.  When i spoke with her last night, she was feeling like herself and not suffering from any pain.  She believes God intervened and that is why the test came back normal!  Please be praying for my mom, and that the other tests will show no problems!  I know God can heal, so please be agreeing with me in this prayer.  Thank you!
 I will post any new happenings.
 
 
Well, after a 12 hour bus ride, we are back in Amsterdam!  We will be here for about a week before we head off to Asia! 
Our time in Harpenden, England was very good!  We were able to stay at the YWAM base and learn about what is taking place in London, Luton, and Harpenden, England.  The base was in a beautiful location, with woods in the back of the property for some nice daily walks.  It is amazing how much you hear God speaking when you remove yourself from all the noise of life! 
As most of you know, the Olympics will be taking place in London in 2012.  With this comes a huge opportunity for all types of ministries to be released and birthed. 
During the Olympics and World Cups, human trafficking reaches a high!  The last world cup, they estimated 40,000 -60,000  men and women were trafficked in to meet the sexual demand!  The clencher for me, the men and women remain there.  Somehow the demand does not go down after the tourist leave! 
The Harpenden base is now in the process of coordinating YWAM International's approach to this issue focusing in on the Olympics.  They are also bringing together other organizations that specialize in different areas of human trafficking. 
We were able to be a part of a few meetings with the team working on this, as well as pray with them.  What a rich time it was!!

In Luton, there is a spirituality and faith center on the university campus.  We went to the center and met many people of all different faiths and backgrounds.  Young people from all over the world, gathering together to build relationships and continue in their faith.  We visited the center a few times while in staying in England........we now have some new, wonderful friends on facebook! :)
And now, as i mentioned, we are back in Amsterdam before heading off to Asia.  We are not sure what day we will be leaving b/c we have not yet purchased our tickets.  Since the last blog, we have received $1,100.  Yay God and yay friends!!!
Because ticket prices are going up, we still need around $800+ to leave by June 3rd(which is our tentative departure date).  If you have any questions on what we will be doing there, we would love to share in a personal email.  For security reasons it is not wise of us to post the details here:)
Thanks for your understanding!

As for my next blog, i will be sharing about a process that God has been taking me through!  God is so good at timing!  He knows us all so well!  Anyways, this blog is now lengthy, so i will expound on this next time!  Until then, love you all, and appreciate your prayers more than i can say!!!!!!
 




 
The coffee shop my sister works for now offers a Roaster's Direct monthly program. For each person that signs up from this website, lukus and I get a percentage of the profit!        www.abcreserve.com/collins
It is really fresh and good coffee, and you can get tea as well! Thanks Hubert!   If you have any questions, please email my mom at [email protected] (she is our Roaster's Direct  representative).
 
  a guy friend of ours bought a new pair of pants. he was bragging about how good he would look in them the next morning...i saw him the next morning, but i saw no new pants! i said (amongst a large group), "what? i was expecting to see your new pants!". the brits at the table looked a bit suprised! i knew i had said something wrong, but what? one guy, tactfully informed me, in the uk, pants means underwear!!! whoops!!!
needless to say, we are now in the uk for a week and a half: )
after leaving amsterdam about a week ago, we started out by visiting some missionaries in berlin. the conversations we had with them were incredibly informative on what is going on in berlin, as well as the needs of berlin. we were able to be involved in one of their group worship times, as well as with a prayer house...we have been so blessed to meet such beautiful, dedicated people! berlin for me, was a city of many colors! there are all types of people, and a huge problem with human trafficking and prostitution! there is so much need all around us!
we are now in england for a week and a half, visiting a few different ministries. lastweek we went to a faith center on a university campus. there were students with a need for friends, and some with searching questions. is was really cool to be there. we still have about 2 weeks left of this networking portion of our trip. after this, we are planning to go to asia for a month to work with a few organizations there. as some of you know, i lived in asia for 2 years, teaching english with a friend. she is still living there, and is our main contact in asia. she recently got engaged! hooray! and they have decided to have the wedding while lukus and i are there. so the first bit of our time there will be helping with the wedding, and then the rest of the month will be working with other people there. i will blog more about that later...
we have our  visa, but we do not yet have our airline tickets. we are lacking the funds to buy them. we need to leave by june 3rd, so that means we needed to buy our tickets yesterday: )
i realized i have been praying for the money to come in, but had not let anyone know of the need! we are lacking around $1,600 to get us to a if any of you could help financially, it would be greatly appreciated. we will keep you updated on our happenings and what God is doing around the world!
thanks for your time and perseverance through this lengthy update: )
bethany

Here is the address money can be sent to:
ATTN: Culture Shock Trip/lukus & bethany hess
P.O. Box 793
Waxahachie, TX 75168
(Make checks payable to Network 21 Mission, Lukus & Bethany on the memo line)